The Albums of 1982: The Alan Parsons Project: Eye in the Sky

 Release Date: May 1982

Members: Alan Parsons; Eric Wolfson; 

Produced by Alan Parsons

Track List: Side One: Sirius; Eye on the Sky; Children of the Moon; Gemini; Silence and I; You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned; Psychobabble; Mammagamma; Step by Step; Old and Wise

Eye in the Sky was the sixth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, featuring two of their most played songs "Sirius" and "Eye in the Sky."

"Sirius" serves as trippy prologue suggesting excitement and menace with its synth thumping riffs (Parsons made little money when sports teams began using it). "Eye in the Sky" would've made for an excellent theme for a James Bond film accompanying a Maurice Bender credit sequence. "Children of the Moon" leans into a Sci-Fi prog rock vibe, imagining humans on the moon watching the earth decay. "Gemini" is a two minute New Age hymn of melodic vocals. "Silence and I" is the longest track with a a melodic instrumental placed in between melancholy musings. 

"You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned" is a pleasant enough power pop with surreal imagery. "Psychobabble" questions dream interpretation, "Mammagamma" is pulsating instrumental that's pure cinematic. "Step by Step" also deals with mental health, taking things day by day in catchy soft rock mode. Closing track "Old and Wise" is a ballad musing on mortality and gaining knowledge, bracketed by a syrupy string section. 

An album emblematic of 1982 with its use of studio technology and themes of emotional and spiritual malaise, Eye in the Sky sustains an aura of blissful detachment.  

In Search of the perfect synch . . .

 

The practice of synching rock albums with movies came to popular attention when fans started playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz. They noted the uncanny connections between the lyrics on the album with what's going in the film. Over the years there's been a small community seeking out the perfect synch - there's websites. It's been pointed out by many that putting any piece music against any visual media and they will start to synch. There's something mysterious about it. Recently, I experimented a little on my own. An important approach is to find an album and a film with similar themes. So play any Radiohead or Pink Floyd album against a dystopian Sci-Fi and you'll start to see connections. Ideally, the synch will reveal multiple layers of meaning within the film and the music. Here are some of the ones I tried.

 (12 Monkeys - Radiohead: Ok Computer) - Terry Gilliam's 1995 dystopia dealing with time travel, deadly viruses, secret societies, and madness may be his best film. Bruce Willis stars as a confused and weary man sent back from the future to stop a deadly plague from decimating humanity. Radiohead released Ok Computer in 1997, one of the epochal albums of the decade. Thom Yorke's lyrics are filled with apocalyptical imagery and rock/electronica music mimicking how a machine might compose music goes along quite well with the film. Bruce Willis wondering through a desolate landscape as "Exit Music (for a film)" plays captures the wide eyed melancholy of the movie. 

(The Matrix - Radiohead: Kid A) There are many albums to play alongside The Matrix, ranging from heavy metal to prog rock. Radiohead's Kid A perfectly synchs with Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity, the first line of the film "Is Everything in Place" practically introduces the opening track "Everything In It's Right Place." Placing together two important pieces of art at the dawn of the Millennium hits all the right notes as they move between themes of despair and personal liberation. 

(American Graffiti - Paul McCartney and Wings: Red Rose Speedway) A perfect synch. Paul McCartney's retro 1973 album is romantic and nostalgic, going for the energy of the early Beatles records and the epic sounding latter day Fab Four. Tracks like "Get on the Right Thing "and "When the Night" are ideal with the neon/nighttime energy of the film. Even Paul's maligned hit single "My Love" works well.

(Three Days of the Condor - The Alan Parson Project: Eye in the Sky) - Maybe the most enlightening synch, adding much to the experience of the album and the film with paranoia and surveillance being at the center of both works. "Sirius" is often used by sports teams to pump up the crowd before a game, here as the opening credits roll it has the feel of encroaching doom. Condor plays less as a post-Watergate paranoid thriller and more as a European art film with a Sci-Fi bent when played with Eye in the Sky, especially in the scenes between Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. 

(The Shining - The Beatles: The White Album) - My own concoction, an attempt mash up Kubrick with the Beatles, there's a slight historical connection. Kubrick made his home outside of London while the Beatles were in their heyday, they even approached him about directing their adaptation of Lord of the Rings that never went beyond the talking stage. So, the Beatles with Kubrick makes for a funky concoction. As the iconic opening credits roll, McCartney sings about about "snow peaked mountains way down south" on "Back in the USSR," while "Dear Prudence" takes on a more menacing tone as Jack enters the Overlook. John's satiric "Glass Onion" plays during the interview scene. The synch makes both works stranger and even more mysterious.

To sum up, synching albums with movies is fun and makes you see both from a new angle. Perhaps our brains are designed to find patterns, the synch approach to media helps us become aware of how our minds work. 

The Albums of 1982: Siouxie and the Banshees: A Kiss in the Dreamhouse

Release Date: 5 November 1982

Members: Siouxie Sioux (vocals); Steven Severin (bass); John McGeoch (guitar, keyboards); Budgie (percussion)

Produced by Siouxie and the Banshees

Track List: Side One: Cascade; Green Fingers; Obsession; She's a Carnival; Circle

Side Two: "Melt!"; Painted Bird; Cocoon; Slowdive

The fifth album by Siouxie and the Banshees, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, continued to expand their post-punk sound into neo-psychedelia. 

"Cascade" opens the record in dark but alluring note, love as both a destructive and instructive. Infectious bass hooks and Sioux's powerful and futuristic vocal creates a electric atmosphere of struggling through fog and woe. The psychedelia of "Green Fingers" creates a Sci-Fi type of power. "Obsession" takes the view of a possessed lover, a set-up for a Hitchcock film. The verses appear to switch point of view from the obsessive one and the one being stalked, but sometimes blurs. Spoken word, sensual, and haunting in delivery the track creates a sensual murkiness.  "She's a Carnival" follows another mysterious woman seducing and poisoning all she meets, the carnival atmosphere of the song adds to the fantastical grip of the record. "Circle" offers searing social commentary:

Pretty girl of 16 - has fun and runs crazy

Ruined girl of 16 -- like mother grows lazy

Next a 16 year old baby -- like mother grows lazy

The song comments on how cycles of abuse and lost potential are perpetuated by parents to children. It takes on a despairing sound the chorus repeats, but there are always off ramps if one has the courage and knowledge to take them. It's also a critique of the nuclear family and how it serves to reinforce bad tradition and patriarchal attitudes. 

"Melt!" is a swinging dark love song, returning to the theme of possession. "Painted Bird" uses bird imagery as a metaphor for human personality. "Cocoon" seems to be a metaphor for creativity, taking refuge for regeneration, "tapping out rhythms." There's a cabaret style to the song through a post-punk approach. "Slowdive" closes the album, emerging from the cocoon and taking on everything. 

A Kiss in the Dreamhouse still sounds modern in sound and theme 40 years later.

The Albums of 1982: Kate Bush: The Dreaming

Release Date: September 13, 1982

All songs written and produced by Kate Bush

Side One: Sat in Your Lap; There Goes a Tenner; Pull Out the Pin; Suspended in Gaffa; Leave it Open

Side Two: The Dreaming; Night of the Swallow; All the Love; Houdini; Get Out of My House

Kate Bush's fourth album The Dreaming is rife with dense intensity, possessing its own power. The quixotic opener "Sat in Your Lap" features Bush's versatile vocal styles in a song about the frustrating quest for knowledge and spiritual knowledge. References to world religions, the sense of wanting part of and apart from humanity:

I see the people working

And see it working for them

And so I want to join in

But then I find it hurts me

Youthful impatience meets head on with yearning for wisdom, the quest, the war within oneself continues.

"There Goes a Tenner" tells the surreal tale of a bank heist, a 1940s Warner Bros. gangster flick filtered through a futuristic pop song. "Pull Out the Pin," Bush attempts to tell the Vietnam War from the prospective of one fighting the invading Americans, "I look in American eyes/I see little life/See little wife", confronting the Western armies who only have a vague notion of why they are waging war. The anti-technology ethos of the revolutionary narrator provides the upper hand in a violent and hypnotic song. 

"Suspended in Gaffa" is adventurous with its melodic pianos and use of low brass instruments, similar in theme to "Sat in Your Lap." "Leave it Open" shifts moods from conniving to introspective, the idea of how knowledge changes us and sometimes not for the better, but we must encompass all. Exploring ourselves must be done with caution, bravery, and curiosity. "We let the weirdness in" becomes anthemic. 

"The Dreaming" deals with white Australians using Aboriginal land for nuclear testing and mining uranium. The off-kilter rhythms and instrumentation create another unique soundscape; Bush's frenzied vocal emphasizes defiance and strength directed at injustice. "Night of the Swallow" is a dialogue between a husband and wife with "the troubles" as backdrop providing the song with an Irish ambience, a complex song on gender politics. "All the Love" deals with loneliness, the courage it takes to face solitude. "Houdini" takes the point of view of the magician's assistant, full of suggestive lyrics and mystery. "Get Out of My House" took direct inspiration from Stephen King's The Shining. Told from the hotel's point of view, but the song takes a life of its own. Creating an atmosphere of anger, loss, and fear, it sounds like a message from the beyond.

The ten tracks of The Dreaming are all works of art that stand on their own; as a whole, the album is a labyrinth of sonic landscapes, edgy ideas, and innovative arrangements. Bush's vocals linger and enrich the imagination. Ranging in theme from world politics to the spiritual battles within, a panorama of sound and imagery.

The Albums of 1982: Pete Townshend: All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes

Release Date: June 14, 1982

Produced by Chris Thomas

Pete Townshend's third studio record met with a cool reception from critics who found it uneven, yet its moodiness and honesty have made it a stand-out work from the early '80s.

"Stop Hurting People" - Alternated between spoken word and singing supported by thumping bass and synth, Townshend reflects on the nature of love and what it all means. Like many of the tracks, it's got a lot on its mind. The first verse reflects on how love can disappear,"a spark that burned, then died, leaving cinders to be flamed,"  and leave one to close out their hearts and "kill in God's name." Later verses refer to lost love with some poetic grace

My "beauty" needs an understanding of what I am

Her is enough, earned through eons, for that is what true beauty is

Time's gift to perfect humility

He's hoping to be "matched" with her again despite knowing "it's bad," but without it there's "no flame." The repetitive chorus "Stop Hurting People" is a message to the self and the listener, despite what happens - try to break the chain of being hurtful. A song of complex and contradictory feelings adds to the appeal of the record. 

"The Sea Refuses No River" - A song searching for transcendence as the narrator realizes youth is long gone and the path ahead is filled with multiple strains and challenges. Musically resembles songs from Quadrophenia, albeit with a more jaundiced eye.

"Prelude" - The shortest track on the album, effective with the piano and strings creating the send, a late 20th Century dirge.

"Face Dances (Pt.2)" - A single from the album, catchy and in the vein of The Who. Reportedly about Townshend alienation from his wife and bandmates. 

"Exquisitely Bored" - Another song with spoken word verses matched melodic choruses in which Townshend makes observations on American Gigolo era L.A, "There's a whole lot of crazy people up there, living out a life in sweet ennui." Sort of sounds like Mark Knopfler. 

"Communication" - More of an experimental track with more stream of consciousness lyrics

"Stardom in Action" - Another song reminiscent of Quadrophenia, also inspired by Southern California, with reflections on fleeting fame.

"Uniforms (Corp D'Esprit)" - Militarism was in the air in 1982, unlike the directness of The Clash, Townshend takes a quirkier approach.

"North Country Girl" - A version of the Bob Dylan song, reimagined as a swinging synth heavy pop song sounds quite nice. Slightly altered lyrics as well.

"Somebody Saved Me" - Perhaps the moodiest and most confessional track on the album, many references to rehab and possibly the events leading to it and the aftermath.

"Slit Skirts" - Builds into an anthem of encroaching middle age malaise, a relationship running on fumes, everything blurred by conflicting emotions. Townshend's evocative lyrics and passionate vocal crystallizes into an epic rocker. 

All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, unwieldy title, and all, is an earnest and quite impressive after repeated listening, existing from within and without its era. 

The Albums of 1982: The Time: What Time Is It?

Release Date: August 25, 1982

Produced by Morris Day & The Starr * Company (Prince)

Track List: Wild and Loose; 777-9311; Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody; The Walk; Gigolos Get Lonely Too; I Don't Wanna Leave You

Prince was the genesis of The Time as an outfit to continue to expand his funk and R&B "Minneapolis" sound and to be featured as his opening act when on tour. With Morris Day as front man, The Time released a string of successful records during the 1980s, What Time Is It? was the second album and peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200. Prince played all the instruments, while Day contributed the vocals. 

"Wild and Loose" brought the record to nice start, setting up the playful party vibe going on throughout. At over eight minutes "777-9311" features infectious bass lines, flamboyant synthesizers, and Prince wailing on the guitar. "Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" and "The Walk" are foot stompers "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" and "I Don't Wanna Leave You" are slightly more serious in tone, musing on loneliness and longing. 

With adventurous production, melodious hooks, Day's refined vocals, with Prince's musicality taking center stage - What Time Is it? stands as a solid record from 1982.

The Albums of 1982: The Dream Syndicate: The Days of Wine and Roses

Release Date: October 28, 1982

Members: Steve Wynn (guitar and vocals); Karl Precoda (guitar); Kendra Smith (bass); Dennis Duck (drums)

Produced by Chris D

Track List: Tell Me When It's Over; Definitely Clean; That's What You Always Say; Then She Remembers; Halloween; When You Smile; Until Lately; Too Little, Too Late; The Days of Wine and Roses

The Days of Wine and Roses was the debut LP by the L.A. based band The Dream Syndicate, a seminal record of the Paisley Underground sound generally associated the early 1980s and centered on the West Coast. Incorporating a multitude of influences from the 1960s, the style also drew upon Punk and New Wave. The debut record is melodic with fuzzy guitars and Steve Wynn's versatile vocal style.

"Tell Me When It's Over" set the album's tone with its melodic guitars reminiscent of The Beatles Revolver record, but still danceable. Wynn's weary deliveries create a sense both angst and ease. "Definitely Clean" is more punk in tone, with the angst rising a bit. The moodiness continues on "That's What You Always Say", Wynn laments "you know how the moods change all the time" after numerous attempts to connect with subject of the song. Once again the onslaught of melodic guitars sustains the track. "Then She Remembers What She Said" recounts a physically abusive relationship with a sense of both anger and irony.

"Halloween" is the centerpiece of the record, setting an irresistible atmosphere of abandon and menace, both minimal and surreal. I saw The Dream Syndicate perform live in 2017 and seeing "Halloween" played live - it took the show to another level. 

The Velvet Underground influenced "When You Smile," features the hypnotic refrain "It seems like the end of the world, When You Smile." The manically gleeful "Until Lately" satirizes the nascent Reagan culture taking hold in America, adding in some harmonica for a bluesy vibe. Kendra Smith takes over vocals on the quietly effective "Too Little, Too Late" The album closes with "The Days of Wine and Roses," a fuzzy jam filled with reverb about an onlooker witnessing a girl drawing a crowd by standing on a ledge while he tries to recall "the days of wine and roses."

An album worth repeated spins, The Days of Wine and Roses invites the listener to get lost in its sonically pleasing landscapes and sardonic observations.