NICK MASON'S FICTITIOUS SPORTS [1981]

Nick Mason, the only constant member of Pink Floyd, apparently released Fictitious Sports as his debut solo album but in reality it's songwriter/jazz enthusiast Carla Bley's show where she's merely assisted by the rock drummer as co-producer.
What this all results in is a relatively catchy alt-rock/bizarro jazz album that's more or less disappeared into the sands of time.  The amusing songwriting and coarsely captivating vocals by Robert Wyatt (who sings on 7 of the 8 tracks) stand out amongst the so-so inoffensive musicianship.  As a Bley album, it's a pretty average outing that simply leaves you not regretting the 30+ minutes you invest in giving this album a chance.

2½ creepy rust-lickers out of 5

Songs of Note: Can't Get My Motor To Start; Do Ya?

OINGO BOINGO / Only A Lad [1981]

With folks like Mr. Bungle, Nirvana, Joss Whedon, blink-182, Seth MacFarlane, No Doubt, Primus and even Sir Patrick Stewart speaking highly of Oingo Boingo it's a wonder why they were never that popular.  

Well praised through the artistic crowd, the dance pop band blended ska, new wave, punk and even chamber music to create the unique sound  frontman Danny Elfman would later on embellish with his film scores.  Their debut album (as a rock band) 1981's Only A Lad was filled with touchy lyrical subjects such as pedophilia and masturbation all put to catchy nerd rock.  The Boingo haven't quite established their sound on this album and are still lingering on their theatrical style from before but it's a great start.

3½ Kinks out of 5

Songs Of Note: Only A Lad; Nasty Habits

NEW ORDER / Movement (1981)

A very transitional album. Released just one year after Joy Division had ended, it has the ghost of that band drifting in and out of every song. The production is often criticized for having a mournful sound, but it's those moments that I enjoy most. I can ignore the bits I don't like and be left with the sound of Post-punk in a state of flux. The bits I ignore introduce the Dance-friendly Pop that would become the soundtrack to many a pill-head's Saturday night in later years. Bernard Sumner took vocal duties only because no one else wanted to, and he did okay.

Songs of Note: Truth; ICB

4 senses in denial out of 5

IRON MAIDEN / Killers (1981)

The second and last Maiden album to feature Paul Di'Anno on vocals treads similar ground to their eponymous début. The production is better and the riffs are heavier, which gives new life to the dual guitar assault. Steve's bass is again the driving force - seeing as how he's the main songwriter that makes a kind of sense musically. Di'Anno seems less at home with the material but he still gives it full force. However, there are two tracks upon which he doesn't feature at all. It's Adrian Smith’s first album. Enough boring chatter. It's another classic.

Songs of Note: Killers; Purgatory

5 hands of Thatcher out of 5

KILLING JOKE / What's THIS For...! (1981)

The dynamic second album from Killing Joke set the standard by which their career is judged as a whole. Jaz Coleman is maybe off his rocker in real life, but on record he's a focussed machine gun. Tribal drumming from the legendary Paul Ferguson is the heartbeat. Throw in Youth's bass lines and Geordie Walker's echoing guitars and you have a classic that inspired everyone and everything that followed in the industrial genre. I'm not exaggerating its importance. Listen to Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) after hearing What's THIS For...! and you'll wonder why Jaz didn't call his lawyer.

Songs of Note: The Fall Of Because; Butcher

4½ Killing Joke told me how out of 5

PINK FLOYD / A Collection Of Great Dance Songs [1981]

The 1981 Pink Floyd compilation A Collection Of Great Dance Songs is generally nothing more than a quick cash grab for Columbia Records.
With that out of the way, I can't help but admit it's a really nice little sampler package though. It flows from song to song with grace and never sounds awkwardly out of place. It contains new mixes of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Another Brick In The Wall" plus a newly recorded version of "Money".
It's not an essential record but for the uninitiated to Floyd it might be a good place to start.

3 super groovy dance tunes that you can't dance to out of 5

Songs Of Note: Money; Shine On You Crazy Diamond

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD / The Flowers of Romance (1981)

I didn't think PiL could go any more experimental than their previous albums had managed, but they did with Flowers of Romance, a landmark release. It's mostly percussion-based songs with John Lydon doing his weird voice thing over the top of unusual and/or repetitive drum beats. The percussion is provided by both Keith Levene and the masterful Martin Atkins, so it never sounds less than amazing. There are occasional jangly guitar moments and keyboards as well. I can imagine the record execs panicking like gazelles when it went to press.

Songs of Note: Flowers of Romance, Under the House

5 chocolates instead out of 5

DISCHARGE / Why? (1981)

Discharge were a British punk band that embraced hardcore and merged it with the traditional British punk sound. They were hugely influential. Why? will be your jam if you can appreciate the no-production, recorded in a draughty shed distorted guitar sound, but it won't make you hate punk music any less if you're not already a convert. Average length of tracks is about ninety seconds. The CD reissue adds 12 more of them, bringing the total number of tracks to a respectable 22.

Songs of Note: Ain´t No Feeble Bastard; It's No T.V. Sketch

3½ shouty stuffs out of 5