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Song of the Day #4,938: ‘Glory Days’ – Bruce Springsteen

Last week I wrote about my five favorite albums from the year 1984, as part of my recurring Decades series. This week I’ll shift to five albums from that year that I know primarily through their singles. I can’t say I’m familiar enough with any of these albums to include them in my personal list of faves, but I know enough to separate them from the true unknowns to come.

It probably seems crazy that I’m including Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. among this group. After all, it’s by far his most popular album, 15X Platinum in the U.S. with sales north of 30 million worldwide.

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Song of the Day #4,937: ‘Lady Madonna’ – The Beatles

Is there a band in music history with a better batting average than The Beatles? The Fab Four recorded under 200 songs (excluding covers) during their eight year career and you’d be hard-pressed to find 20 worth skipping on an extended playlist.

1968 B-side ‘The Inner Light,’ penned by George Harrison, might be among the throwaways, but its A-side, ‘Lady Madonna,’ certainly isn’t. This straightforward rocker was a return to the band’s roots after the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour detours into psychedelia.

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Song of the Day #4,936: ‘Without Me’ – Eminem

When I first started today’s post, I was going to write that Eminem had ceased to be commercially relevant for the past decade or so. But when I checked the numbers, I was surprised to see that his last five albums have combined to sell more than 15 million units. Every one of them went either Gold or Platinum.

If that seems like a letdown, it’s because the five albums preceding those sold 66 million, all multi-Platinum, two Diamond. That’s a string of success unmatched by most recording artists through history.

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Song of the Day #4,935: ‘7 Chinese Bros.’ – R.E.M.

Continuing my look at 1984, first by counting down my own top five albums of that year.

#1. Reckoning – R.E.M.

Thirteen years ago, I named R.E.M.’s Reckoning as their fourth-best album, an opinion I’ll stand by today as I declare it my favorite album of 1984. The alternative rock legends’ second full-length release captures so much about when makes them one of the all-time greats.

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Song of the Day #4,934: ‘Life During Wartime (Live)’ – Talking Heads

Continuing my look at 1984, first by counting down my own top five albums of that year.

#2. Stop Making Sense – Talking Heads

The greatest live album ever recorded, and the greatest concert film, Stop Making Sense finds Talking Heads in peak form. Touring in support of 1983’s Speaking in Tongues, my favorite of their albums, the band tears through songs from that record and its predecessors, bringing new energy and warmth to already exhilarating material.

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