Time-Life's MODERN ROCK series (1999-2002) Part 3

Maybe you've noticed maybe you haven't but the graphic above features all twenty-one covers of the albums in Time-Life's Modern Rock series in the order we'll be reviewing and rating them. We've made it through the first six volumes and today in our third installment we'll knock out the three pictured directly above: 1988-1989, Early '80s, and Mid-'80s.

While I admire the writing of Ira Robbins immensely, it does seem to me like his formidable talents are being squandered commenting on the music from the ass-end of the Eighties. This is Ira Freakin' Robbins, Mr. Trouser Press! However, it makes perfectly logical sense that Warner Special Products was manufacturing so many Modern Rock discs (Modern Rock: 1988-1989 included) as Time-Life owned Warner Music back then - the official company name at the time was Time Warner and soon they would become AOL Time Warner and then it all blew apart. Just like Modern Rock: 1988-1989. Over half the tracks on the album are all-time personal favorites, including those by Terence Trent D'Arby, The Bangles, Tears For Fears, Love and Rockets, INXS, The Smithereens, The Church, and Michael Penn. But, as great as those thirteen tracks are, the other eleven tracks are skip-worthy. Two of the songs stand out for their sheer unmodern rockness: "Wild, Wild West" and "Waiting For A Star To Fall". Modern Rock: 1988-1989 coulda been a contender but will have to settle for a

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Now we're talking. Ira Robbins writing the liner notes for Modern Rock: Early '80s means everything is gonna be alright and EMI/Capitol Music Special Markets returns from the very first volume to once again handle the manufacturing duties. Not a stinker in the lot for me and too many favorites to list though it looks like the music of 1983 dominates Modern Rock: Early '80s with thirteen tracks with my beloved 1982 coming in as runner-up. Bonus points for the inclusion of the original Hib-Tone version of R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe". The album just barely misses perfection so it gets

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🎶Bonus Playlist🎶

Vintage remixes of songs from
Modern Rock: Early '80s:

Modern Rock: Mid-'80s features Arion Berger on liner notes, Universal Music Special Products on disc manufacturing and Jam Master Jay on the wheels of steel. (For one track, at least.) The ninth volume in the Modern Rock series gets off on the wrong foot inmediatamente with the album version of Duran Duran's "The Reflex". While I kept it true in the playlist above Just know that the playlist I listen to has the remix refix of "The Reflex". While I've been down with Run-DMC for about a minute, hearing "Walk This Way" with the rest of these tracks was a little weird but I guess hip Rock of the 80s stations like KROQ jumped on the track early on - it landed at number 86 on the station's year-end Top 106.7 Countdown for 1986, just two spots behind "I Wanna Be A Cowboy". Ugh! The inclusion of "How Soon Is Now?" and "Something About You" almost make up for those blemishes on an otherwise attractive tracklisting. 1984 and 1986 account for sixteen of the tracks on Modern Rock: Mid-'80s which is somewhat of a chilled listen to these ears.

The Discography part of the booklet, as usual, is illustrated with a few covers from albums containing some of the songs and among the four pictures is Wang Chung's Points On The Curve. There is a Wang Chung song on Modern Rock: Mid-'80s but unfortunately, it is not from Points On The Curve.

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🎶Bonus Playlist🎶

Vintage remixes of songs from
Modern Rock: Mid-'80s:

Next time around, we'll feature the three Modern Rock albums pictured below: Late '80s, Early '90s, and 1980-1984.