New Wave Outpost Forum

Just pulled out "Into The Gap" from the Thompson Twins. It is a great album and back in the day I had worn out the record cause I played it so much.

What a great album from a slick band.

Damn there was alot of good stuff in the eighties

Fall Apart, Golden Heart, too late, too late, too late to start.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Surly[/i]
The tour for that album was my first concert - summer 1984 at Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, OH with Berlin opening.
[/quote]

I was at that show!

It was like my fourth show or something.

I seem to remember that one of the local radio stations gave away all of the tickets for that show for free.

I misse dout on the free ones, I had to buy a seat from a pal of mine.

I agree 100% with DJ Craig about how "Into the Gap" is forgettable fluff. "Quick Step" was a very good synth pop record...the not amazing "Into The Gap" was a good example of a band writing an album where the label demanded it be a success ---"over-song writing" and the forced hooks were insulting.

Doctor Doctor and You Take Me Up are classic songs in my opinion. They simply can do no wrong or harm in my book. Hold Me Now is as fluffy as any Wham song but I like it. They kind of had a unique sound. And there was WAY worse crap back then.

I think Into The Gap pales next to Quick Step & Sidekick, but the TT's big albums, ITG and Here's To Future Days are easily their worst.

If you have not heard it track down their last album as the Thompson Twins, Queer, from 1991 - it's the best thing they ever did.

I think there's a good argument for the lack of record company polishing and refining on earlier works by most artists. However, for me, there is an added element, that being that the more popular a band became, the less they were "mine." I lived in a small rural southern town, so my best friend and I took great pride in "discovering" new wave bands that none of our peers knew. I was happy for bands to achieve success, but a little less enthused by these more popular works. For the record, I loved "Into the Gap" and "Side Kicks."

[quote][i]Originally posted by BigManRestless[/i]
If you have not heard it track down their last album as the Thompson Twins, Queer, from 1991 - it's the best thing they ever did.
[/quote]

well, admittedly it is unjustly forgotten- because it is pretty stellar work, and i remember it not sounding like anything else back then- but their best? we'll agree to disagree.
as for "into the gap" being one of their worst? no.
i'd direct your attention over to a little something called "big trash." prophetic, that title.

[quote][i]Originally posted by bruiser[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by BigManRestless[/i]
If you have not heard it track down their last album as the Thompson Twins, Queer, from 1991 - it's the best thing they ever did.
[/quote]

well, admittedly it is unjustly forgotten- because it is pretty stellar work, and i remember it not sounding like anything else back then- but their best? we'll agree to disagree.
as for "into the gap" being one of their worst? no.
i'd direct your attention over to a little something called "big trash." prophetic, that title.
[/quote]

For the record I don't think Into The Gap is a *bad* album, I just happen to prefer A Product Of, Set, Quick Step & Sidekick, Big Trash and Queer, possibly even Close To The Bone.

Day After Day, The Gap and No Peace For The Wicked are some of my favourite TT tracks. You Take Me Up, Sister Of Mercy - I never liked these at the time and I still don't. Passion Planet, b-side to You Take Me Up is a little gem.

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
Some of it depends on what stage of a band's existence in which you discovered them. Like the milieu of fellow music/ musicians coming out at the time, and how your band fits in.
I don't know if this makes any sense, but this is something I've thought about forever. A band's earlier material vs. later material. What does it really mean, anyway ?

[/quote]

This makes a lot of sense to me. I get a litte uncomfortable sometimes when people start discussing earlier vs. later, because chances are that I'm going to like the later stuff simply because that's what I know. (I think it's an age thing). The bands that mean a lot to me are the ones where I've gone back and "discovered" the early stuff (The Cure, Duran, Depeche).

People automatically assume you're sort of cheesy when you prefer the newer songs to the olders ones (DM, especially). And maybe I am sort of cheesy--when I do take the time to make the comparisons, I still gravitate toward the newer songs.

But really, I just like what I like. Older, newer, whatever. [:)]

On topic, I was never a big Thompson Twins fan, but I absolutely love the song "In The name Of Love".

As for the older vs. later material, I agree that the stage of the band's career when you discovered the band makes a big difference. U2 is a great example whose earlier material is so much more meaningful for me (and, in my opinion, U2 lost its New Wave label sometime not very long after War).
I think Depeche Mode is a bad example. While I prefer their earlier material, I think Violator is an outstanding album.

As always, just one man's opinion.

I totally agree with you Club80...In the Name of Love is a fantastic song.

It's funny that I was not a huge Depeche Mode fan until after 101 was released...I think I gravitated towards their darker melodies starting with Music for the Masses.

...just one woman's opinion...

[quote][i]Originally posted by StaciCaz[/i]
<br>I totally agree with you Club80...In the Name of Love is a fantastic song.

It's funny that I was not a huge Depeche Mode fan until after 101 was released...I think I gravitated towards their darker melodies starting with Music for the Masses.

...just one woman's opinion...
[/quote]

Understandably so. Depeche Mode seems to have so much to offer and they certainly went through phases, all of which I like.

I love this album! Always have and always will. It's in my Top 10-alltime favorites. It's one of the few albums from the 1980's I still listen to start-to-finish whenever I'm listening.

When my son was 3, the first pop song he learned to sing was "You Take Me Up." He's 12 now and he's still a fan of that song and others on that CD.