no it was just a whim a few weeks back... I am always digging back through my older stuff.... I did however see the Perlich review recently...thanks for the alternate guardian point of view... i think i have to start buying everything that perlich hates in t pop music.... His jazz advice is much better...

I have the follow-up album "All Is Dream" which is pretty good but not the memorable listen that "Deserter Songs" is.

Did you bring up Mercury Rev purely on a whim or did they come to your attention via the ever moronic Tim Perlich's review in yesterday's Now magazine of their new album? Contrast and compare with the Guardian's review.

I pulled out mercury revs' deserter songs a week ago and I am amazed at how great a cd that it is....it has aged very well and damn almost every song is great... i had completely forgotten about this record....if any of you missed this when it cam out , it comes highly recommended...did anyone buy any other of their cds ???

Wondering if anyone else here has listened to 'The 1980s: Were They Really That Bad' podcast?

Listened to it yesterday on a long drive and burst out laughing quite a few times, so I recommend downloading it and giving it a listen.

Apart from the just skewering of ripe targets (hair metal bands, Hall & Oates), I think they kind of missed the boat on a lot of really great English pop bands (The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen) that I guess weren't as popular many places stateside. The urban/rural divide seems to inspire either a wary regard for, or slavish devotion to, Guns n Roses, depending on where you lived as a teenager. Will be interested in hearing other comments.

Consider this an assignment, which of course you can, and likely will ignore.

the posts of dear stu
(spelling and grammar aside )
evoke smiles, haiku

My lake of appearance buoys.

Such rich poetry, surely this blog site doesn't deserve. Stu, you're a gem.

And "Berlin" is a great choice for an underrated record.

brian you are right , that was damn good poetry.....

sorry for my lake of appearance bouys but work has been mental .....by coincidence i was just listening to an album last week that really struct me as unbelievably under rated....at least according to rolling stone who typically love this guy....Lou Reed Berlin.....It has always been my favorite album of his solo career by a long shot and some critics tend to just tear it apart.... I dont get it... I cant say I know the records you guys mention , i will check them out...

Underated? One that comes to mind immediately are the Trash Can Sinatras in general and their second album, "I've Seen Everything", specifically. Here's one of the tracks from this disc.

Will try to come up with some more.

Sure I'm in.  I guess my first thought is, when we say underrated, by whom?    These things change over time of course.    But pedantry aside, how about Sebadoh's Harmacy (the one after Bakesale), Malkmus' first solo record, or The Rolling Stones Between the Buttons?    All considered relative disappointments but outside of the context of their other releases, are great records.   I will throw out some others with a bit more thought.

We are in need of a new topic, and I propose "under-rated albums". I was listening yesterday to "The Vegetarians of Love" by Bob Geldof. I really love that album. It's got a folkier feel than the Boomtown Rats material, with accordians and violins. The songwriting is strong from start to finish, with songs ranging from wistful to exuberent. It's one of those albums that seems to have been overlooked, but it deserves to be heard. Based on the strength of this album, I later bought "Sex, Age and Death" (which is coincidently the only Geldof album on emusic), but it is much darker and less appealing to my ears.


Mike

Realize this is way old but I just thought of an instrumental song from the previous list exercise that I enjoyed in the 80s. Love and Rockets' "Saudade".

Enjoy.