The Hideaway: issue 439

In 1985, Rolling Stone was still HERC's primary source of music information. Spin would debut in March of that year and it slid nicely into the slot vacated by his beloved Trouser Press which celebrated its ten year anniversary and ceased publication with the April 1984 issue. (The main man behind Trouser Press, Ira Robbins, contributed a few album reviews to Rolling Stone in 1985.) Lesser influences included copies of New Musical Express read in the basement of the University's library and the occasional issue of Musician, Smash Hits, Creem or Circus he purchased or read at the newsstand or record store.

Issue 439 has a cover date of January 17, 1985 and was the first issue of 1985. The eleven albums below were reviewed and rated in that issue. HERC had purchased, or was about to purchase in the coming months, nine of them. eventually replacing all of them with CDs. Only recently did he acquire the Aztec Camera disc which leaves Barry Gibb's solo album out in the cold. Sorry, dude. Barry, HERC knows you're reading this so feel better knowing that he streamed the entire album on Spotify while writing this in the hopes of earning you a fraction of a cent. Don't spend it all in one place my man.

In addition to cover art, each album below has the title (with Spotify link when available), album artist, label, release date, the critic's name and the original 1985 rating (number of stars) as well as the ratings from Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) and The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004). HERC Included those last two ratings because sometimes history doesn't repeat itself - it rewrites or revises itself.

Follow HERC's record buying adventures in 1985:

1985: A Vinyl Odyssey