Various Artists - Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground (CD)

Music That Mattered From The Decade That Didn't

By Michael T  Mar 19, 2005 | 0 out of 1 found this Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground review helpful

Pros: Many Artists That This Box Set Highlights

Cons: The Order Of The Selections

At last- Rhino gives us an extensive and comprehensive chronicle of the Alternative movement prior to the grunge explosion from the Pacific Northwest in 1991. The difference between this and other compilations that would attempt to define the era is ...that those behind this project were astute enough to exclude acts such as Fine Young Cannibals and Howard Jones which far too many would mistake as akin to the the underground that college radio stations in the Eighties would emphasize. Sure there is the array of lightweight acts whose principal instrumental source was the synthesizer (such as Depeche Mode) or other artists from Great Britain which would characterize the worst trends in this movement (such as the Morrissey led Smiths) that you can find on "Left Of The Dial" but that still leaves much in this compilation to recommend. Examples whose impact was much more durable are found in this four disc set thanks to the appearance of Black Flag; Husker Du; The Dream Syndicate; Lone Justice; The Minutemen; The Replacements; The Three O'Clock; 10,000 Maniacs; and of course R.E.M. Throw away your Korn collection- as well as your interest in such "music" itself- and embrace instead the material which would serve as the inspiration to Kurt Cobain Courtney Love and Eddie Vedder. Read more Less