#278 The Best Album of 1989, Round 1 Match #37: Madonna vs. Peter Murphy
Hey folks!
Today’s Best Album of 1989 match is:
#15 Madonna, LIKE A PRAYER
vs.
#114 Peter Murphy, DEEP
To vote, follow this link to the Google Form. You will need a Google login to vote. If you can’t or won’t have one, let me know ASAP (either through this newsletter, my email [kentmbeeson@hey.com] or on the Best Album Brackets Bluesky account) and I’ll see what I can do.
We have one Designated Cheerleader today, it’s from • @nanette.bsky.social and it’s for DEEP! Take it away, Nanette!
Over the last year, I’ve done far too much thinking about what makes an album “the best.” Some of it is obviously very subjective; we all like what we like. But to me, there are two criteria that I want a solid Best Album contender to meet: it needs to make a cohesive statement (not necessarily a serious statement), and it needs to have minimal, if any, filler. Plenty of albums pass the first test but not the second and vice versa; I’ve discovered that it’s rare for an album to pass both. This is as it should be–not every album can be the best. We have to draw the line somewhere.
And during this tournament, I’ve had my share of disappointments–albums that weren’t nearly as good as I remembered, or albums where I realize my impression was based on the quality of the singles (hello, Like a Prayer, I see you here in today’s match!) rather than the quality of the album as a whole. It’s unsurprising–1989 was a big year for music discovery for me! I was 14-15 years old and had just discovered that there was an entire world of music outside what was in regular rotation on the radio and MTV, and I was bingeing everything that I could. I was a glutton for it, really. And sometimes the things that blew me away as a teenager don’t resonate with me as strongly as an adult, so that’s an added layer on top of everything.
Which brings me to Peter Murphy’s Deep, an album that I owned as a teenager (and still own!) but haven’t listened to in years. I’ve heard “Cuts You Up” plenty of times, whether it’s because Apple Music serves it up to me when I’m bingeing similar music or whether it’s at a retro dance night. (Every goth of a certain age loves swooping around the dance floor to “Cuts You Up.” It reminds us of our youth.) I figured this was a case of “great single, meh album.” I am pleased to tell you that it is not, and that this is an album that makes a cohesive statement AND has minimal filler. Which makes it shocking that it’s seeded so low in this tournament!
From the very beginning, Deep hits hard. It’s of its time but in the best possible way. All of the typical adornments of 1989 are present here, but they’re not gratuitous or unnecessary. Peter Murphy’s baritone sounds gorgeous and rich, the lyrics are what you expect from this kind of fare. The first song, “Deep Ocean, Vast Sea” is solidly good; the second, “Shy,” is spectacular, proving that there’s more to Deep than “Cuts You Up.” It’s not difficult to get me on a dance floor, but it is difficult to delight me with an unusual choice, like when I requested a Cocteau Twins song and the DJ played “In Our Angelhood” and I went bananas. I would have been happy with “Iceblink Luck” or “Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops” but nah, he reached back and chose something unexpected. You want to delight me with a Peter Murphy song at retro goth night? Play “Shy” instead of “Cuts You Up.”
I don’t want to proceed through this album track by track, but there isn’t a weak moment here (except maybe “Roll Call (Reprise)” which is apparently a bonus track that was only on the CD). Aside from “Shy” and the obvious “Cuts You Up,” there’s the lovely “Marlene Dietrich’s Favourtie Poem” and the propulsive “The Line Between the Devil’s Teeth.” Murphy demonstrates his range effectively; nothing is out of place here.
Deep is cohesive, it’s full of beautiful moments that get better with repeated listening, and (ducks) it’s the best thing Peter Murphy has released in his career–yes, including Bauhaus. It’s unfortunate that it’s been so forgotten over the years that it ended up with this ridiculously low seed. I’m calling for the upset of the tournament here–let’s keep this masterpiece of late 80s gothpop in the tournament for at least another round. It’s a worthy contender.
Click here to see the current results for the entire tournament, and click here to see the current results for the prediction bracket contest.
Yesterday, #34 Bonnie Raitt, NICK OF TIME defeated #95 The Field Mice, SNOWBALL 79-79-1. In the case of a tie, the match goes to the higher seed, in this case, NICK OF TIME.
Thanks for the nailbiter of a match!
Kent