Various Artists - Vh1: I Love The 80's / Various (CD)

All Music Guide

Released at the same time as its sister compilations, I Love the '70s and I Love the '90s, I Love the '80s is another spinoff set from one of VH1's most popular nostalgia fests. Again, these compilations aren't attempting to be definitive in any way. That's more evident in I Love the '80s than I Love the '70s and I Love the '90s, since there's an abundance of TV and movie themes (Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright," Joey Scarbury's "Greatest American Hero," the Waitresses' "Square Pegs"), and almost everything included is viewed as either a guilty pleasure or a novelty hit by somebody not exactly the height of artistry in any case. More seriously, it's impossible to not notice that there's absolutely no RB; and Grandmaster Flash the Furious Five's "The Message" as the only rap representative is very wrong, especially when there were so many rap singles from the decade that crept into the mainstream. Anyone who watched the televised series won't be surprised by the amount of new wave that's ...here, including the Vapors' "Turning Japanese," the Knack's "My Sharona," and Madness' "Our House." The second half of the disc hovers around the same era and rushes through the remainder of the decade, with people like Robert Palmer, INXS and the B52s chosen to close it out. And this is an educated guesstimate, of course, but there are probably seven or eight male musicians here that Lisa Marie Presley thought of as hot at some point (Loggins included). - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide Read more Less