Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground [Original recording remastered]

Amazon.com
As a sequel to 2004's similarly packaged Rhino box No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion, this four-disc set tackles the punk/indie/modern rock of the 80s with equal panache. Subtitled "Dispatches from the 80s Underground," these 82 non-chronological tracks play like a great college station from the later part of the decade. Encompassing a dizzyingly diverse musical palate, styles range from the artsy Southern twang of R.E.M., to the sugary pop of Aztec Camera, the blistering hardcore of Black Flag, the ghostly techno of Japan and the chilly, noir dance floor attack of New Order. And that's just on disc one.

Sure, there are some omissions, but the box does a remarkable job balancing more popular acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymenwith cult faves like Green On Red and obscurities from the Lyres and the Three O'Clock . Even those who were radio fanatics during these years will likely find tracks they aren't familiar with, along with getting a flashback rush from those they are. A colorful 64 page book provides track-by-track background information as well as a handful of essays about the decade that approach the music from different perspectives. There are no public service announcements or aspiring DJ's to interrupt the flow and the remastered sound brings the music to life with crispness low powered FM radio could never rival. --Hal Horowitz

Product Description
In his notes for this passionately compiled box, producer Gary Stewart writes, "the diversity from the late-70s punk/new wave scene turned into a full-blown, variety-fueled, genre-busting orgy in the '80s...The music became, in the best sense of the words, more complex, more literate, a bit more serious, and as a result, made astrong impact on mainsteam rock culture." From funk punk to revisionist roots rock to hard-core to smart-ass clever pop-and every musical nook and cranny in-between-Left of the Dial presents many of the '80s' most important tracks. Savor the far more influential flip side of the "Where's the Beef?" decade's musical output!

Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground,Various Artists,Rhino / Wea,Alternative Dance,Alternative Pop/Rock,American Punk,American Underground,British Punk,College Rock,Dream Pop,Goth Rock,Hardcore Punk,Indie Pop,Indie Rock,Jangle Pop,L.A. Punk,Neo-Psychedelia,New Romantic,New Wave,Paisley Underground,Pop,Pop/Rock,Post-Punk,Power Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Roots Rock,Singer/Songwriter,Synth Pop,V/a Compilations

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Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground [Original recording remastered]

Average customer rating: I Never Knew What I Was Missing... FANTASTIC Indulge in your 80s nostalgia Excellent listening for '80s music junkies The music that really matters.

Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground Various Artists Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Goth | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music British Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music American Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music New Wave | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Post-Punk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Dream Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Power Pop | Rock | Styles | Music Dance Pop | Compilations | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion Children of Nuggets: Original ARtyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era - 1976-1996 Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box Just Say Sire: The Sire Records Story Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond ASIN: B0002XL2X4 Release Date: 2004-10-12

Tracks:

1. Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.
2. Going Underground - The Jam
3. A Forest - The Cure
4. Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
5. I'm In Love With A German Film Star - Passions
6. I Will Dare - The Replacements
7. That's When I Reach For My Revolver - Mission Of Burma
8. Johny Hit And Run Paulene - x
9. Just Like Honey - The Jesus And Mary Chain
10. Black Celebration - Depeche Mode
11. Tell Me When It's Over - The Dream Syndicate
12. Hollywood (Africa) - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
13. Temptation - New Order
14. Ghosts - Japan
15. A Song From Under The Floorboards - Magazine
16. Oblivious - Aztec Camera
17. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du
18. Rise Above - Black Flag
19. Back In Flesh - Wall Of Voodoo
20. Cattle And Cane - The Go-Betweens

Tracks:

1. Message Of Love - The Pretenders
2. Vienna - Ultravox
3. Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr.
4. The Charming Man - The Smiths
5. Stigmata - Ministry
6. Ways To Be Wicked - Lone Justice
7. Wardance - Killing Joke
8. Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
9. Mirror In The Bathroom - The English Beat
10. Fairytale In The Supermarket - The Raincoats
11. Behind The Wall Of Sleep - The Smithereens
12. Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing - Minutemen
13. Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen
14. Still In Hollywood - Concrete Blonde
15. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
16. Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
17. Lake Of Fire - Meat Puppets
18. Amplifier - The DB's
19. When Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout
20. Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps
21. This Corrosion - Sisters Of Mercy
22. Senses Working Overtime - XTC

Tracks:

1. The Cutter - Echo & The Bunnymen
2. Pay To Cum! - Bad Brains
3. Birthday - The Sugarcubes
4. Madonna Of The Wasps - Robyn Hitchcock 'n' The Egyptians
5. We Care A Lot - Faith No More
6. Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
7. To Hell With Poverty - Gang Of Four
8. Fa Ce-La - The Feelies
9. Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants
10. Swamp Thing - The Chameleons UK
11. The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
12. I Look Around - The Rain Parade
13. All That Money Wants - Psychedelic Furs
14. Under The Milky Way - The Church
15. Rise - Public Image Ltd.
16. Kundalini Express - Love And Rockets
17. Gravity Talks - Green On Red
18. Adrenalin - Throbbing Gristle
19. She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses

Tracks:

1. Monkey Gone To Heaven - Pixies
2. Uncertain Smile (Original 7 Inch Version) - The The
3. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
4. Christine - Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. Straight Edge - Minor Threat
6. I Want To Help You Ann - The Lyres
7. Our Secret - Beat Happening
8. Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
9. World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope
10. Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
11. Sex Beat - Gun Club
12. Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven
13. Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
14. Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops - Cocteau Twins
15. 24 Hour Party People - Happy Mondays
16. I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus
17. Suburban Home - Descendents
18. A Pair Of Brown Eyes - The Pogues
19. Jet Fighter - The Three O'Clock
20. Moving To Florida - Butthole Surfers
21. A New England - Billy Bragg

Amazon.com

As a sequel to 2004's similarly packaged Rhino box No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion, this four-disc set tackles the punk/indie/modern rock of the 80s with equal panache. Subtitled "Dispatches from the 80s Underground," these 82 non-chronological tracks play like a great college station from the later part of the decade. Encompassing a dizzyingly diverse musical palate, styles range from the artsy Southern twang of R.E.M., to the sugary pop of Aztec Camera, the blistering hardcore of Black Flag, the ghostly techno of Japan and the chilly, noir dance floor attack of New Order. And that's just on disc one.

Sure, there are some omissions, but the box does a remarkable job balancing more popular acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymenwith cult faves like Green On Red and obscurities from the Lyres and the Three O'Clock . Even those who were radio fanatics during these years will likely find tracks they aren't familiar with, along with getting a flashback rush from those they are. A colorful 64 page book provides track-by-track background information as well as a handful of essays about the decade that approach the music from different perspectives. There are no public service announcements or aspiring DJ's to interrupt the flow and the remastered sound brings the music to life with crispness low powered FM radio could never rival. --Hal Horowitz

Album Description

In his notes for this passionately compiled box, producer Gary Stewart writes, "the diversity from the late-70s punk/new wave scene turned into a full-blown, variety-fueled, genre-busting orgy in the '80s...The music became, in the best sense of the words, more complex, more literate, a bit more serious, and as a result, made astrong impact on mainsteam rock culture." From funk punk to revisionist roots rock to hard-core to smart-ass clever pop-and every musical nook and cranny in-between-Left of the Dial presents many of the '80s' most important tracks. Savor the far more influential flip side of the "Where's the Beef?" decade's musical output!

Customer Reviews:

I Never Knew What I Was Missing..........2007-01-13

Having been born in mid-1984 and being only five years old when even the most recent of these tracks were released, I never knew most of this music existed. Of course, youth is no excuse for ignorance, and I've always made it a personal priority to seek out great music from before my time, from kitschy lounge sounds and dusty 78rpm relics to the Russian Romantics and honky-tonk troubadours (just so you don't go getting the idea that I'm a music snob, I've sung along to my share of cheesy disco records.)

Older music, especially the rare "underground" stuff, isn't just shoved in front of you, a facet of every popular entertainment medium, bound to get stuck in your head whether you want it there or not. You've got to go LOOKING for it, as if on a hunt for an abandoned relic nobody else can guide you to. In the case of the 1980's, the problem wasn't that I didn't think to seek it out, but that I was under the false delusion that there was really nothing worth seeking. MTV and my local radio stations all lied to me, and many others of my generation. Not a big lie, but enough to shut us off from experiencing some pretty powerful music. We were led to believe the '80s were all about hair metal, pastel-clad yuppies in skinny neckties, and the "Me Generation." Well, the contents of this eye-catching pink box tells an entirely different story, one of boundless creativity, musical innovation, disgust with authority and convention, and unexplored horizons which still haven't been charted by commercial radio or experienced by mainstream audiences. This is the quirky, iconoclastic, progressive, and politically conscious music of the decade that somehow managed to evade notoriety in all but the most "clued in" of music-lovers.

Sheer curiosity grabbed hold of me and forced me to buy this set as a birthday present for my younger sister. As it turned out, I ended up listening to the set far more than she did! Something about the mix of all of these seemingly unrelated styles, artists, and musical approaches struck me like a comet, and I realized just how versatile, inventive, and exciting the music of the 1980's really was, underneath all of the MTV trivialization and spin. From these four discs, I uncovered gems from artists who would soon become my idols, namely The Replacements, The Cure, The Smiths, and the incomparably brilliant Pixies. They changed my life for the very first time on this set, and I shudder to think of who or where I would be without their influence. I know the seasoned experts here decry the set's "obvious" song choices, but I would implore them to reconsider whether or not this is a bad thing. For someone like me who never heard any of these songs before "Left of the Dial," these "obvious" songs have been an absolute revelation.

In closing, if you enjoy this music, have never heard it but want to, or even possess the slightest curiosity about what the "good stuff" must sound like, you owe it to yourself to hear this earth-shattering compilation. Also recommended: Nuggets, Children of Nuggets, and No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rock Rebellion.

FANTASTIC.......2006-10-31

This box is fantastic, amazing 80's songs!!! An interesting compilation of a lot of groups from the manignif era!!! Enjoy, probable you never will see these bands together in a box again!!! amazing!!!

Indulge in your 80s nostalgia.......2006-10-07

It's obvious from the long list of reviews that purists will quibble over which tracks from which artists represent their quintessential 80ness. But us ordinary folks, who just want a cross-section of the playlist from the alternate radio station we listened to in the 80s, won't care nearly as much. If you like a particular artist from this selection (and there are 82, so you probably do), you probably have several albums by that band or performer. I know I do.

Where this collection of songs shines -- and it does shine -- is in making you feel like you turned on the radio on a very good day. For every artist whose stuff I own (REM, The Pogues, They Might Be Giants, Kate Bush) there were three who made me say, "Oh wow, I hadn't even thought of that band in ages!" The Jesus & Mary Chain? Husker Du? Wall of Voodoo? In some cases, the tracks reminded me why I was willing to forget them, but that's what you get from any anthology.

Personally, if I had a long car ride coming up, I'll grab this set of four CDs and bring 'em along. I don't think I'd be bored for a moment.

Excellent listening for '80s music junkies.......2006-08-11

This is a very comprehensive collection of all the "unheard" classics of 80's alternative/underground music scene. I use "unheard" in quotes because many of the songs were heard on college radio, independent music stations, etc. I was surprised by the inclusion of a few songs ("Message of Love" by Pretenders and "Ways To Be Wicked" by Lone Justice) as I wasn't too sure how "underground" they really were. I'm sure some more mainstream stations played them. But anyway it was really good to hear the Lone Justice song again after so many years. And I was REALLY pleased with the inclusions of "Swamp Thing" by The Chameleons and "When Love Breaks Down" by Prefab Sprout.

All of the complaints about songs that were excluded, I think, can only be remedied by adding another disc or two. Four discs just isn't enough. I would have added songs by Throwing Muses, Shriekback, Comsat Angels and Wire to name a few. But overall, it's a great collection. And the booklet with pictures, notes, essays is worthwhile too.

The music that really matters........2006-07-05

I bought this box set when it first came out and it still holds a prominent place on my shelf and on my iPod. Broad blanket statements are often useless, but in this case, they apply: This box is the best collection of 80s college rock/alternative rock for your money.

You want Jane's Addiction? Sonic Youth? X? The Replacements? They're here. The Pixies? R.E.M.? Black Flag? Husker Du? You'll get them too.

You'll also get bands that always had a cult following but never broke out in their peak years or in some cases, not at all: Camper Van Beethoven, the Butthole Surfers, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, the Passions, Cocteau Twins, Bauhaus, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Happy Mondays.

Plus, classic tunes by The Jam, Dead Kennedys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Roses, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Kate Bush are also included. This set has a variety of styles that is mind-blowing, and it proves once and for all that 80s music did not suck.

While it is true that this box doesn't include Dumptruck, Fugazi, Galaxie 500, Skinny Puppy, Big Black or Cabaret Voltaire...that's nit-picking, and the absence of those artists doesn't really hurt this set, because the quality of the music on the four discs here is so good you won't notice what's missing.

Buy this. Drop the 60 bucks. You won't regret it.

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6. Logic Will Break Your Heart
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8. Love Lifts Us Up: A Collection 1968-1983 [Original recording remastered]
9. Nightsongs
10. No Wow [Explicit Lyrics]

Rap Music

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