 | Dream Into Action Howard Jones Elektra 60390 Produced by: Rupert Hine |
U.S. Album Chart Peaks
| Billboard | Cash Box | RS |
| 10 | 11 | 10 |
Ratings:
| Rolling Stone | ★★★ |
| Allmusic | ★★★★ |
| Virgin | ★★★ |
| Christgau | D |
| Smash Hits | 7/10 |
| U.S. charted singles: | Hot 100 | AC | Dance | Rock |
| Things Can Only Get Better | 5 | 38 | 10 | 21 |
| Life in One Day | 19 | 16 | 36 | |
| No One is to Blame | 4 | 1 | 20 |
Top 3 Tracks
"No One is to Blame"
"Things Can Only Get Better"
"Look Mama"
It's no secret I like my Euro synthpop, but the remarkable thing about this album is its consistently strong writing. This thing surprised me on the Billboard charts: the album reached #65 on the R&B charts and only placed one song on the dance chart. Huh? Easily Jones' best album and, by my reckoning, his last good album.
 | Stay Tuned Chet Atkins Columbia 39591 Produced by: David Hungate |
U.S. Album Chart Peaks
| Billboard | Cash Box | RS |
| 145 | 130 |
Ratings:
| Rolling Stone | ★★★ |
| Allmusic | ★★★★ |
| Virgin | - |
| Christgau | - |
| Smash Hits | - |
| U.S. charted singles: |
| none |
Top 3 Tracks
"Sunrise"
"If I Should Lose You"
"Please Stay Tuned"
Yes, this is instrumental easy listening. Yes, Atkins made many better albums. This is just one of those albums that I got at the right time and liked it. It still gets a lot of play around here, particularly with a cup of coffee in the morning. This album was produced by Toto's bass player David Hungate and Chet was joined by other guitarists, including Larry Carlton, George Benson, Mark Knopfler, Steve Lukather, and Earl Klugh. And somehow "Cosmic Square Dance" won a Grammy award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
 | Soul to Soul Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Epic 40036 Produced by: Stevie Ray Vaughan/Double Trouble and Richard Mullen |
U.S. Album Chart Peaks
| Billboard | Cash Box | RS |
| 34 | 24 | 16 |
Ratings:
| Rolling Stone | ★★★★ |
| Allmusic | ★★★ |
| Virgin | ★★★★ |
| Christgau | B+ |
| Smash Hits | - |
| U.S. charted singles: | Rock |
| Look at Little Sister | 17 |
| Change It | 17 |
Top 3 Tracks
"Say What!"
"Look at Little Sister"
"Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love"
The first SRV album I purchased and, probably as a result, my favorite. Love the addition of Hammond organ to the mix. Other fans prefer his In Step album, but it doesn't get much better than side one of Soul to Soul for me.
 | Brothers in Arms Dire Straits Warner Bros. 114734 Produced by: Mark Knopfler, Neil Dorfsman |
U.S. Album Chart Peaks
| Billboard | Cash Box | RS |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
Ratings:
| Rolling Stone | ★★★★½ |
| Allmusic | ★★★★ |
| Virgin | ★★★ |
| Christgau | B- |
| Smash Hits | 10/10 |
| U.S. charted singles: | Hot 100 | Rock | AC |
| Money for Nothing | 1 | 1 | |
| Walk of Life | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| So Far Away | 19 | 29 | 3 |
| One World | 8 | ||
| Ride Across the River | 21 |
Top 3 Tracks
"So Far Away"
"Money for Nothing"
"Why Worry"
I remember this thing being everywhere in the summer of 1985: radio, Live Aid, MTV, and the tape deck in my car. In terms of quality and consistency, this rivals the group's debut album. In terms of commercial success, this album made a lot of people a lot of money.
 | Listen Like Thieves INXS Atlantic 81277 Produced by: Chris Thomas |
U.S. Album Chart Peaks
| Billboard | Cash Box | RS |
| 11 | 33 | 9 |
Ratings:
| Rolling Stone | ★★★½ |
| Allmusic | ★★★★ |
| Virgin | ★★★ |
| Christgau | - |
| Smash Hits | - |
| U.S. charted singles: | Hot 100 | Rock | Dance |
| What You Need | 5 | 3 | 20 |
| Listen Like Thieves | 54 | 12 | 34 |
| This Time | 11 | ||
| Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain) | 24 |
Top 3 Tracks
"What You Need"
"This Time"
"Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)"
I'm not sure how I came up with it, but I had a dubbed cassette with this album on one side and Wang Chung's To Live and Die in L.A. on the other. And that thing took up residence in the Markmobile's Pioneer deck. If "What You Need" doesn't get your blood pumping, then you're at the wrong blog. This album is just slightly behind Kick in the running for best INXS album, but some parts are every bit as strong. Released in October '85, it was so good it was still in heavy rotation in my car & Walkman® during spring break of 1986.
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| Your humble writer sporting his Sony WM-10 at some point in the mid-'80s. |
These are my personal top 25 albums released in 1985. The following criteria was used on a very slippery sliding scale:
- How often I enjoyed the album at the time of release
- How often I've enjoyed the album over the past 30 years
- Overall quality of the album
References:
- Billboard magazine chart information is available from the Billboard website, the American Radio History archives, Google Books, or any of the wonderful Record Research books.
- The Cash Box chart information was taken from The Cash Box Album Charts, 1976-1985 (1987).
- The Rolling Stone chart information was compiled using Rolling Stone magazine's DVD-ROM set, Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years (2007).
- The Rolling Stone ratings were taken from either the Rolling Stone Album Guide, 3rd ed. (1993) or the Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999).
- The Virgin ratings were taken from The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (1997).
- The Robert Christgau ratings were taken from Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990). They are also available at his comprehensive website.
- The Smash Hits ratings were taken from the archives at Like Punk Never Happened.
Your #15 album is also my #15 album for 1985. Small world.
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