Hey folks!

Today I have five more albums that have been named by Bluesky Best Album Bracketeers as particular 1988 favorites that they believe will be overlooked and hope you will consider for the tournament. (Did you listen to the seven I highlighted last week? Here they are, if you need to jog your memory.) Please try to hear, or at least sample, one of these albums each day. An informed electorate results in a diverse tournament slate!

If you’re reading this and haven’t suggested one (1) obscure 1988 album you think I and others should consider, send me a line either on Bluesky or at [email protected]. Thanks! (If you emailed your suggestion and didn’t get a return reply saying I logged it, do it again and/or send me a line via Bluesky. Thanks!)

Since I haven’t heard these albums yet, instead of my usual incisive and delightful commentary, we have quotes from YouTube, AllMusic, and in some cases, the recommending Best Album Bracketeer in question. Enjoy!

The Bears, RISE AND SHINE (YouTube, Spotify)

“What happens when you drop one of the most celebrated prog rock guitarists of the decade into an Ohio-based power pop band? And why would you do so? I guess that’s a question for Adrian Belew, who did it to himself. So Adrian: Why would a guy whose guitar playing had gotten him gigs with Zappa and Bowie and Talking Heads and King Crimson decide to form a band with his old Cincinnati pals, and why would they focus on a genre that prizes melody and harmonies and hooks over guitar fireworks?

This album is new to me, but I am already loving how all-over-the-map it is, with its juvenile horniness and earnest Cold War pleas for peace and choo-choo whistles and, above all, melodies and harmonies and hooks.” — the nominator

Don Baron, YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK (YouTube)

“this is an underrated classic!!”

“This should get some recognition in the dancehall reggae genre, because it's a completely known
reggae dancehall classic. But nobody knows about it in the dancehall reggae community, because it's
considered a rap album. But really it's dancehall reggae... It would be more appreciated as a dancehall
reggae classic.”

“TRUE CLASSIC SUPREME”

Guy, GUY (YouTube, Spotify)

(Ed note — this album went double platinum. Is it technically “obscure”? Possibly not, but I know for me, this is exactly the kind of album I would never have thought of and wouldn’t seek out normally. By those metrics, for me, it’s obscure, and I thank the Best Album Bracketeer who recommended it.)

“One of the most seminal and influential releases of late '80s, Guy's self-titled debut album did more than its part to popularize new jack swing, a style that would soon become inescapable on urban contemporary radio. Teddy Riley didn't actually invent new jack swing with Guy -- he'd already gotten the ball rolling on Keith Sweat's 1987 debut Make It Last Forever -- but this album did more than any other to make it so incredibly popular in the R&B world. With their tough blend of hip-hop, R&B, and Gap Band-influenced funk, hits like "Groove Me" and "Teddy's Jam" defined new jack swing and served as the blueprint for countless new jack recordings in the late '80s and early to mid-'90s. One shameless Guy clone after another would pop up on urban radio, the vast majority of whom weren't even a fraction as inventive as Riley's distinctive trio. For anyone with even a casual interest in new jack, this CD is absolutely essential.” — Alex Henderson, AllMusic

Timbuk3, EDEN ALLEY (YouTube, Spotify)

“Critics bowed at the feet of Beck when, in the mid-'90s, he was able to successfully fuse elements of such disparate genres as funk, folk, and retro-rock. Few remembered that several years earlier, husband-and-wife duo Timbuk 3 had brought a similar (if more homespun) eclecticism to alternative rock with their programmed drums, willfully clunky rhythms, and lyrics clever enough to rival those of the best singer/songwriters. Eden Alley, the follow-up to 1986's Greetings From Timbuk 3, didn't result in a Top 40 hit the way its predecessor had -- there's nothing as outright funny here as "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" -- but it contained the same brand of irony-fueled lyrics and smart songcraft as the band's debut. "Easy" and "Dance Fever" were thinly veiled morality tales set to sweet pop melodies. "Eden Alley," "A Sinful Life," and "Little People Make Big Mistakes" remain the best examples of Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald's amiably gentle vocal harmonies; the title track, with its country-ish melody contrasted by a flamboyantly synthetic beat, is particularly striking, while guest Ponty Bone lends accordion to the pop-reggae tune "A Sinful Life." On the funkier tracks, however, the rigid groove of the drum machine proves too limiting, leaving songs like "Reckless Driver" and "Tarzan Was a Bluesman" locked in the ‘80s.” — Kenneth Bays, AllMusic

The Toll, THE PRICE OF PROGRESSION (YouTube, Spotify)

“An odd duck of an album. Rock but arty. Two 10+ minute tracks. Songs about stealing Native American lands and catholic guilt. U2 and Alarm-isms. I head about this band performing at a local nightclub; the singer table-walking and kicking beer bottles everywhere. I was intrigued. How this Columbus, Ohio band got on a major label is a wonder in itself. Clearly the band was given a good deal of rope on this debut album. Their second album was pretty generic rock. I chalk that up to the label wanting a hit. They were dropped after that one.” — the nominator

Happy listening!

Kent