Classic Albums Reviewed And Rated - Day 28

Throughout this month we are going to take a look at albums regarded as classics from the 80s and one or two from the late 70s and give you our comments, and our rating of each album.

Each day, during November, we will focus on one album.

To rate the albums we rate each track on the album as either 3 (Outstanding), 2 (Good), 1 (ok) and 0 (Hate it). Those points are totalled up and then divided by the maximum points the album could get (EG 10 tracks would equal 30 points, 10 x 3). Then times the figure by 100 and that gives you your percentage rating. This is a very good indicator of how you rate an album.

Today's album under the microscope, is "Quick Step & Side Kick" by The Thompson Twins. I first heard the album at a friends house and really liked it, so I bought the album on cassette initially, as that included a wealth of bonus tracks. I always felt this band didn't get the recognition they deserved, despite some excellent releases in the 80s.

The first single to be released off the album was the track "Lies" in October 1982 and it didn't set the world on fire as it only reached number 67 in the UK Singles Chart. Their next single "love On Your Side", provided the big breakthrough for the band in the UK, where it reached the Top Ten in the Singles chart.

The album was released in February 1983 and was a big success, reaching number 2 in the UK Albums Chart, this was followed by the release of the brilliant single "We Are Detective", again taken off the album, it reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The final single released off the album was "Watching", the album version featured some vocals by Grace Jones, but these were removed from the remixed single version. It only managed to break into the Top 40, making number 33 in the UK Singles chart.

This is one of those albums I play now and again these days as I find some of the songs a bit grating, however, there was no denying this was a unique and fun album when it first came out

Our track recommendations for this album, are, "We Are Detective", "Judy Do" and "Love On Your Side". Most tracks on this album got a score of 2, however, the tracks "Kamikazi" and "All Fall Out" I just don't like at all and scored 0.

Not quite a classic 80s album for me.

Our overall rating for this album is 53/100

The album is available as a 2CD Deluxe edition from Amazon for under £8 here