Another 1984 album I know only vaguely, Building the Perfect Beast was Don Henley’s second solo album and the home of his greatest solo song, ‘The Boys of Summer.’
A collaboration with members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (specifically, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Stan Lynch), Building the Perfect Beast is the sort of adult pop album that Henley would hone to an even finer point five years later with End of the Innocence.
Bryan Adams’ Reckless isn’t exactly Born in the U.S.A., but it shares at least one thing in common with the Springsteen classic. Six of its singles reached the top 15 on Billboard’s Hot 100, a feat matched (at that time) by only Born in the U.S.A. and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
I know four of those singles well: ‘Run To You,’ ‘Somebody,’ ‘Heaven,’ and ‘Summer of ’69.’ Say what you will about Bryan Adams, but those are four absolute bangers, totally in place on any list of the best 80s songs.
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.
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.
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.
Meet Me In Montauk 