VARIOUS ARTISTS / The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)

A soundtrack album that collects together good old Country music songs from the good old comedy film of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of a stage musical. The big draw is that it features the wonderful Dolly Parton, who lends her vocal talents to a number of tracks. She even does a duet with the moustachioed Burt Reynolds! That alone should be reason to check it out.

Songs of Note: A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place; Sneakin' Around

3 wipes with soap and water out of 5

ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE / We Are...The League (1982)

ANL are funny. The music is balls-out British Punk with real passion but the lyrics, covering everything from sexual perversions to self-defacing slogans with a ton of Fuck You, take the piss out of the things they love. It's anthemic tongue-in-cheek defiance delivered as a straight-faced offensive and it's glorious. It'll invigorate the youth, shock the middle-aged and make the aged titter. Their début album contains what's possibly the greatest punk love song ever recorded.

Songs of Note: Animal; Woman

5 Animal growls out of 5

OINGO BOINGO / Forbidden Zone [1982]

Oingo Boingo's frantic Forbidden Zone soundtrack to the even more frantic cult crap classic by Richard Elfman is notable for a few reasons.  

First off, it's frontman Danny Elfman's first dip into the world of composing for film and secondly it's Oingo Boingo's first album that saw their transition from a fucked up arthouse act to an off-kilter surf-pop band. It might be a little more listener friendly than their previous works but it's still far from anything even remotely normal.   If you can imagine what Cab Calloway would sound like if he were in an animated version of The Rocky Picture Horror Show composed by Mr. Bungle, then you might get an idea as to what it all sounds like.  It might lack the precision and quality of Elfman's later film compositions but the raw arrangements and surrealism is what shines here.  

4 moochers out of 5 

Songs Of Note: Forbidden Zone; Squeezit The Moocher

KATE BUSH / The Dreaming (1982)

The Dreaming is impossible to pigeonhole, which makes reviewing it a problem. It also makes listening to it an unbridled joy. ♥
Even if you attempt to prepare yourself for musical performance art that incorporates Cockney, Opera, Waltz, Pop and much more, you'll still be ill-equipped to completely assimilate the themes that it explores.
There's a lot of layered avant-garde weirdness going on beneath the surface if you care to listen for it. Kate called it her "mad" album. I shouldn't have attempted a review, and instead just written: Her. Mad. Album.

Songs of Note: Suspended in Gaffa; The Dreaming

4½ signals given out of 5

IRON MAIDEN / The Number of the Beast (1982)

Bruce Dickinson's first Maiden album fully deserves its place in history. The soaring vocal ability of Bruce is a perfect match for the galloping rhythm section, which is now tighter than a nun's ass. Steve Harris and Clive Burr work together on bass and drums, respectively, like two parts of the same beast, while the twin guitar attack thunders along, breaking the charge with some classic solos.
Every one of my friends in high school owned the album, and I'd guess every one of them still do. It contains my all-time favourite Maiden track (the second of the ones linked below); it still gives me the jollies to this day, twenty-five years on.

Songs of note: The Number of the Beast; Hallowed Be Thy Name

5 fires burning bright out of 5

CHARGED GBH / City Baby Attacked By Rats (1982)

A fantastic début album from the Brummie punks. It fused elements of metal and hardcore into the traditional Brit punk formula, producing an exciting hybrid that was musically angry but lyrically focussed. Expect two and a half minute bursts full of raw, aggressive guitars, pounding thrash-style drums and enthusiastic vocals. It sounds primitive now, and it lacks diversity, but it was instrumental in helping to launch the UK 82 scene. A worthy addition to any Punk collection.
They later dropped the 'Charged' part of their name and became simply G.B.H.

Songs of Note: Time Bomb; City Baby Attacked By Rats

4 bones spat out of 5

OINGO BOINGO / Nothing To Fear [1982]

California's nerd wave group Oingo Boingo ironed out the kinks in their sound on their second album, 1982's Nothing To Fear.

Making use of a vast array of bizarre instruments (some of which the band created and built themselves) makes for a unique sound that fits well with frontman Danny Elfman's erratic mood swings and sometimes offensive opinions.  The musical confidence is apparent in Elfman's cocky vocal delivery but it's fine considering the 8-piece band that he's juggling.  

Widely trashed by critics yet universally acclaimed by artists of all sorts, Nothing To Fear is a career highlight for Boingo.

4 rumba-phones out of 5

Songs Of Note: Grey Matter; Reptiles & Samurai

KILLING JOKE / Revelations (1982)

There's a belligerent melancholy infused within much of this lazy sounding release. It holds that feeling close to its chest for the longest time. You keep hoping it'll get better, but by the end you realise that the best was actually in the first half. Lyrically, it's initially cryptically insane, as always. Jaz Coleman fled to the Arctic after its release to await the end of the world, and have himself a nervous breakdown. I'm not even kidding.

Songs of Note: The Hum; Chop, Chop

2½ slowly, slowly, all fall down out of 5

KILLING JOKE / Birds of a Feather (1982)

The Joke's second E.P. of 1982 has three studio tracks (that are also found on the CD reissue of HA!). It marks the beginnings of a slight shift in style for the band, something that would be more evident a year later on the Fire Dances album. It's still primarily percussion driven, but is much softer and safer than what had come before. It confused some fans and intrigued others.

Songs on Note: Sun Goes Down; Birds of a Feather

3 flock, flock, gather, gather out of 5

KILLING JOKE / HA! (1982)

A live E.P. that was originally only available on 10" and Cassette. If you have that 10" I will throw moderate amounts of money at you in exchange for it. There are only 6 tracks (the CD reissue adds an extra 3 tracks, which are really from the Birds of a Feather EP). Killing Joke are a formidable force live; when Jaz Coleman stares into your soul with those eyes of his, you'll never forget it. Obviously, that can't be reproduced on a recording. Nor do you get a sense of the tribal bonding that takes place through the music and its delivery. It's not an essential purchase, because the sound is a bit shit at times, but it has a few good moments.

Songs on Note: Sun Goes Down (Live); Unspeakable (Live)

2½ sussed someones out of 5

ALICE COOPER / Zipper Catches Skin (1982)

I'd walk almost any distance, with no shoes, even over glass, to see Alice in concert, but I wouldn't walk across the street in my comfy slippers to see him if he was to just play ZCS in its entirety. Alice claims to have no memory of recording it, suffering from an alcoholism haze at the time. It's not entirely awful. His vocals are okay, but the music is lazy, uninspired, the production is flat and the melodies utterly forgettable. Despite all that, it's still better than Trash (1989).~

Songs of least fail: Tag, You're It; I'm Alive

1 dead pet back from the dead saving your life out of 5