Nice review and an eclectic list for sure. I’m always surprised when I hear that a certain album is 40 years (or more) old especially when I can remember buying them on release. The Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan albums are such wonderful records. I don’t know much about the heavy albums on your list but music is an intensely personal thing particularly when it was part of our youth. I’d add Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits to my list if I ever compiled one. Cheers for getting us thinking about the music of 1983.
Swordfish Trombones / Rain Dogs / Frank's Wild Years is probably my favorite run of Tom Waits records there is :) That could (should?) have made the list. Thank you for the comment and kind words!
Interesting topic! I can relate to the first half of the list. I'm lost in the hard rock era, haha (but now I want that Motorhead!). "Infidels" is very high on my all time Dylan list and 100% my favourite album from 1983. He was on the money both lyrically and vocally and the inclusion of Mick Taylor and Mark Knopfler on guitar just makes it over the moon. 'Jokerman' and 'Sweetheart Like You' are my two favourite cuts from that record. "Texas Flood" is killer and I agree that SRV's first two albums are his best. Although I think Reese Wynans is brilliant, I feel that he watered down their sound. "Bloodlines" is terrific, a great discovery thanks to you. While I'm not a fan of '80s music (I hate it), there were some great albums from '83, which is the last year of that decade which was good before MTV and synth rock just took over completely. John Cougar Mellencamp's "Uh-Huh" is a terrific roots rock/Americana record. "Pink Houses' and 'Crumblin' Down' are great tunes; I think he's a vastly underrated songwriter. My two favourite bands as a young kid also put out excellent albums. Men At Work's "Cargo" is a fun and smart as hell record I've always loved. Colin Hay has a superb voice and they were a tight, sharp band with a knack for hooks. The Police had their smash "Synchonicity", which is my least favourite of theirs. But I just listened to it the other day, and man, what a weird album. Their last of only 5 albums and one that has some good deep cuts outside of the hits, which I don't care much for. I think there were some nice bluegrass albums from that year too, but I'd have to go through my stash. Always a treat, Brett!
Thank you, friend :) Yeah, there are some other gems from that period, I just don't have a lot from then. Colin Hay is a tremendous talent who I'm glad is still active! The Police... I tried & tried to get into their music years ago but it never took. Perhaps now that my ears are open to SO much more music, I can try again. Always worth finding new-old music to enjoy. I introduced another good friend to Infidels last year and he was blown away! He's seen Dylan on the Street Legal tour but lost track after that, and Infidels had flown under his radar. The production is a little "80s" but the songs and arrangements are among his best. I think I once did a Top 3 Dylan albums video, I may have to revisit that and make it a Top 10.
@@brettsmusicreviews2641 I love the Police's first three albums. Such a terrific blend of Punk, New Wave and Reggae. And three absolutely spectacular musicians, especially Stewart Copeland, who I put up in the top three greatest Rock drummers of all time. I like the production on "Infidels": I don't mind a bit of gloss as long as the musicianship is authentic and not overpowered by synths and strings. I also love the Street Legal era too, although it took me longer than any other of his periods to get into. Oddly enough, my son knows the Dylan classics via "Live at Boudakan" which is the strangest entry point to Dylan that I can imagine. I do realize that I referred to the Terry Allen album as "Ghostlines". I am going to blame night shift. Now corrected.
@@roblabelle7874 That live Dylan record is a curiosity in and of itself, let alone being one's intro to his work *lol* I saw that Terry Allen title but knew what you meant :) I've never taken away from The Police as musicians. Copeland is phenomenal! Definitely gonna have to revisit their work :)
