Search - Various Artists :: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground

My 20s relived... ignore the nitpickers

Erik K | Austin, TX United States | 12/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every single song on this collection, all 82, are happy memories of a time before "alternative" hadn't been coopted by MTV and a raw spirit of experimentation and musical excitement was possible amid a sea of mainstream radio dross. Inspired choices abound, along with some that are obvious but also essential in a round-up of this era. I'm worried that I'm becoming trapped in my youth for listening to music, but it's so rare for me to hear new music that has this energy and drive.



Complain all you like about Joy Division being represented by "Love Will Tear Us Apart," that song was emblematic of it's time and essential for inclusion here. So are many others.



There will always be nitpickers who don't appreciate what they've got. Sure, there are things I would have included, and anyone familiar with this era can play armchair record producer. But what the producers have done here is such a joy all around that you hope they simply plan to do a Volume 2 to include more of this material.



Oh, and to the confused fellow who somehow believes that the "Left" in the title refers to a political leaning: You really seem so driven by a political motivation that you simply ignore the origin of the title. This is college radio stuff. College radio stations almost always sit in the FM high 80s through low 90s. On the left of your dial. If some of the material on this collection is of a liberal leaning, that's because the right gives them so much to be disgusted by. But the name originates elsewhere."

Good alternative history lesson

David Sheridan | Fanwood, New Jersey USA | 11/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I will probably wind up purchasing this box set because to me it represents a lot of the post-punk era's best work, but it might be too scattered for a lot of people. Great box sets like No Thanks! and Nuggets have unifying musical themes. The closest Left of the Dial has to a theme is that these artists weren't Madonna or Michael Jackson or any of the other zillion-selling money machines of the 80's.



And that's great, but unless you actually like both the Bad Brains and the Cocteau Twins, or Kate Bush and the Cramps, or the Go-Betweens and the Dead Kennedys, this collection might be too artistically unfocused. But if you want to get a good overview of what eventually came to be known as "alternative" because we ran out of other things to call it, there are a lot of classic tracks here that no discriminating record collection should be without. And yes, as one reviewer pointed out, it seems as though there must be a law requiring "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division in every box set this side of Pat Boone, but it is just about the greatest song ever written. I'd like to have seen the Fall, Wire and Cabaret Voltaire included and I can't understand how Prefab Sprout wound up surviving the cut, but I admit that's nitpicking. And sticking in artists like the Raincoats and Throbbing Gristle was a good move, they're the types of bands who often get overlooked for these projects.



Now I'm waiting to see a good box set of '78-'80 skinny tie/pointed shoes new wave pop like the Cars/Knack/Vapors/Split Enz, etc.



Oh, and Amazon, the Dead Kennedys' track is "Holiday in Cambodia," not "Holiday in China." Wrong regime."

Indulge in your 80s nostalgia

Esther Schindler | Scottsdale, AZ USA | 10/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."