issue 446 - the end? 'fraid so.

Issue 446, dated April 25, 1985, featured Richard Gere on the cover and only 2 albums reviewed near the back of the issue.  It was with this issue that the magazine dropped the star rating system. Through the years, the system has come and gone - over on his site, in a comprehensive review of Linda Ronstadt's 2012 Original Album Series box of five albums released from 1975-1980, the soft rock kid notes that none of the five received any sort of starred rating when reviewed in the pages of Rolling Stone.  HERC's research shows the starred reviews platform didn't resume again until the first issue of 1988.

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

Diamond Life

Sade

Portrait

July 16, 1984

Christopher Connelly

1985 rating: -

1992 rating: 3½

2004 rating: 4

"Alf"

Alison Moyet

Columbia

November 5, 1984

Christopher Connelly

1985 rating: -

1992 rating: 3½

2004 rating: -

THE END
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