Stereo Review In Review: April 1983

By Wm. on April 30, 2026

During my high school years, I’d greet the arrival of a new issue of SR by tucking into it as soon as possible. As a college student, well, things would have to wait. No specific memories of this issue, alas–would I even have seen it before going home for summer break following my first year at Transy?

Article
Hands on the Digital Disc, by David Ranada
Subtitled “Things you need to know before and after you buy a CD system,” Ranada gives us the state of play in the brand-spanking-new world of Compact Discs. Supplies are extremely limited not only due to the tiny number of production plants, but also to the relatively low yield rate (he says he hears that somewhere between 50% and 80% of discs produced meet playability standards). Sound quality is exceedingly variable, as digital recording is still a fairly new innovation. We’re also treated to sage advice on disc care.

This month’s reviewers are Chris Albertson, Phyl Garland, Paul Kresh, Alanna Nash, Mark Peel, Peter Reilly, Steve Simels, and Joel Vance. This is Nash’s first issue in this role, taking over for Noel Coppage after he passed away in late 1982.

Best of the Month
–Michael Jackson, Thriller (PG) “…(Quincy) Jones’s super-spectacular production is Jackson’s co-star here. There are as many special effects as in a Steven Spielberg film. Combined with Jackson’s gripping performances, these may help give it a commercial success even greater than that of its predecessor, Off the Wall.”
–Liz Meyer, Once a Day (AN) “If Buck Owens and Kitty Wells had ever had a daughter, she would probably have turned out to be Liz Meyer…Once a Day unearths…well, if not a diamond in the rough, at least a sapphire.”

Recordings of Special Merit
–Peabo Bryson, Don’t Play with Fire (PG) “Even if you aren’t in love right now, after you hear these songs you may feel that you are—with Peabo.”
–Mental As Anything, If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? (MP) “At its best…a smart, upbeat collection of rockabilly and Tex-Mex-style originals. You might think you hear Buddy Holly or Doug Sahm, but Mental As Anything really gets its roadhouse sound secondhand, by way of Dave Edmunds, right down to the pristine, treble-heavy production.”
–Musical Youth, The Youth of Today (MP) “Of course, there is an undeniable cuteness factor in The Youth of Today, but I defy anyone to resist these cherubic Jamaican voices…”
–Prince, 1999 (MP) “The search for a perfect human mating call goes on at the Prince Institute for Sexual Research and Recreation…As Prince continues to explore the possibilities of dance music as sexual stimulus, his work continues to grow in sophistication, if not subtlety.”
–Jerry Reed, The Bird (AN) “When it comes to being entertaining, it’s pretty hard to beat ol’ Jer, and The Bird is guaranteed to get you out of a funk.”
–Squeeze, Singles (45s and Under) (SS) “…displays most of (their) strengths—adorable melodies, evocative singing, lyrics as sharply observed as good short stories—and few of their weaknesses—a parochial Englishness, a tendency to be overly clever.”
–T.S. Monk, Human (PG) “While it does not offer the sort of highly sophisticated and innovative music the senior Monk created, what there is is well done.”
–Steve Wariner, S/T (AN) “As for Wariner himself, he’s quite a polished young performer. His voice isn’t exactly ‘big,’ but he uses it expressively and fully, moving up and down his register with ease and control. A good deal of this album sounds like Glen Campbell in his Jimmy Webb period.”

Featured Reviews
–Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Keystone 3 (CA) “On this album, the Marsalis brothers erupt with creativity, spewing exciting sounds in all directions while Blakey keeps the earth rumbling rhythmically…If you buy only one jazz album in 1983, you make no mistake by selecting this one.”
–Chaka Khan, S/T (PG) “Producer Arif Mardin deserves our gratitude for letting Khan range through such a variety of material. Now how about an album showing us what she can do concentrating on just one area?”
—Little Shop of Horrors (Christine Barter) “…veers giddily from doo-wop to parody-pop with a healthy measure of semi-soft rock and salsa in between. Eclectic, yes, but wonderful inventive, full of great good spirits, and basically all of a piece.”
–Amina Claudine Myers, Salutes Bessie Smith (CA) “There is no attempt to sound like Bessie Smith, nor does Myers seem particularly bent on capturing the style of her era, but she has imbibed the essence of Bessie’s blues and lets us share that experience.”
–Holly Near, Speed of Light (AN) “Some of her songs are reminiscent of the styles of Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, whose voice is similar to Near’s, and even Laura Nyro in her prime. Through it all, Near fuses music and poetry with stirring conviction and emotional force.”
–Billy Stewart, The Greatest Sides (SS) “…it makes clear what a superior stylist he was in a territory somewhere between gospel, blues, and legit crooning. He was a minor artist, to be sure, but also an original.”

Other Disks Reviewed
–Adam Ant, Friend or Foe (MP) “…seems to be entirely about Adam himself, and mostly about what a bitch it is being a pop idol. It’s the worst kind of self-indulgent preening—especially coming from a guy who can barely carry a tune and doesn’t know the first thing about phrasing.”
–Blotto, Combo Akimbo (SS) “While I respect Blotto’s sass and showmanship, their targets on this new album are pretty safe and their satire pretty limp.”
–Bow Wow Wow, I Want Candy (MP) “The ones who are really exploited by music like this are the prematurely world-weary kids who buy it…subscribing to Bow Wow Wow’s philosophy of no-holds-barred gratification isn’t an act of defiance; it’s one of utter resignation.”
–Kate Bush, The Dreaming (MP) “…a potent remedy for ears suffering from an excess of bland, breathy pop starlets, but, like iodine on an open wound, the cure may be even more painful than the injury.”
–Tané Cain, S/T (MP) “Tané handles love with a positively intimidating superficiality. Confronted by her concept of temptation…I felt as if I’d stumbled—pale, skinny, and knock-kneed—into a Palm Springs country club.”
–Chic, Tongue in Chic (PG) “As in past albums, the emphasis here is on repetition of catchy but slim melodies, little more than riffs that are instrumentally embroidered to please those more interested in dancing than listening.”
–Chilliwack, Opus X (JV) “…plays refreshingly straightforward rock-and-roll with great panache and no frills…the album is well worth having for the high spots.”
–Culture Club, Kissing to Be Clever (SS) “The group recycles black styles from Motown to reggae, yet it still manages to sound thoroughly bleached out and prissy…It’s not as silly as Haircut One Hundred, though, and after the overwrought Bowie-isms of ABC it’s attractively unpretentious.”
–The English Beat, Special Beat Service (SS) “If you can imagine a French cabaret accordion over a Jamaican rhythm section you might get an idea of some of what’s happening…strikes me as tortured and unnatural musical Esperanto, but it is intriguing enough to these conservative old ears that it’s possible these guys may be onto something.”
–Crystal Gayle, True Love (AN) “Crystal Gayle can sing just about anything, and she’s not afraid to stretch herself on a variety of material. I just hope than next time out she finds a slightly more interesting set of tunes.”
–Heaven 17, S/T (MP) “Much of the songwriting is lightweight and predictable (after all, this music is for dancing, not debating), but several songs here…might be worth sitting down and figuring out if the doggedly danceable beat and disco-ritualistic vocals didn’t trivialize them.”
–Robert Kraft, Retro Active (MP) “Robert Kraft’s beat is the singles game, the love matches played at office parties and health spas, in night clubs and taxi cabs…He offers just enough insight to strike a responsive chord but not so much that you’d want to give up on the game altogether.”
–Led Zeppelin, Coda (SS) “Most of it sounds as if it remained in the can precisely because it was substandard material.”
–Barry Manilow, Here Comes the Night (PR) “Every musical edge has been polished down to marble-like perfection; every production bump has been sanded down to satin. Unfortunately, the result is more glitzy than glamorous.
–Bill Nelson, Flaming Desire and Other Passions (MP) “It is sort of a heavy-metal Rubaiyat, weaving together vaguely allegorical lyrics delivered in Nelson’s strident but oddly emotionless way over layer upon layer of distorted guitar, sledgehammer drumming, and wheezing keyboards, almost all played by Nelson himself. Unfortunately, the arrangements are sometimes so dense they’re impenetrable.”
–Kevin Rowland & Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Too-Rye-Ay (SS) “The rebel stance notwithstanding, this is an interesting outfit with an idiosyncratic but oddly effective synthesis of Irish balladry and American r-&-b; if you can imagine the Chieftains backing up Sam and Dave, you might get the idea.”
–Supertramp, …famous last words… (MP) “Supertramp gets more embarrassing with each new album, embarrassing because they squander their crisp, polished sound, catchy melodies, and capable vocal and instrumental skills on some of the most mawkish pop since the King Family stopped doing telethons. They even commit the unforgivable act of employing a children’s choir.”
–The Waitresses, I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts (SS) “Patty Donahue’s deadpan, sexy vocals remain charming, and the band continues to mutate soul and funk riffs with a certain panache, but, having already demolished male sexism on their last album, (Chris) Butler has resorted here to a sort of vaguely countercultural cynicism that seems old hat.”
–Dionne Warwick, Heartbreaker (CA) “…dreary fare all around…its arrangements are meandering clichés, and the lead vocals are as bubbly as a leftover glass of beer.”
–Tammy Wynette, Good Love and Heartbreak (AN) “Quite simply, Tammy Wynette is country music, in voice, in background, and in life style. If she didn’t exist, somebody on Music Row would have to make her up.”
–Yaz, Upstairs at Eric’s (MP) “Clarke and Moyet’s thin, synthesized compositions cloak melodramatic though convincingly delivered lyrics. In a more imaginative setting Moyet could emerge as the soul queen of synth-pop.”