This is the series put out by the very well known Time Life company. They've been doing compilations for as long as I can remember, and they always have been fairly expensive. My recomendation on this series so far is to avoid it. If you really want a Time Life series, buy the Rolling Stone set, otherwise go to the record store and buy cheaper compilations where you can get twice as much for the same money. The claim Time Life seems to like making is that each CD is equal to two full length LP's, yet that would be well over 70 minutes in my book, since I have Def Leppard's Hysteria on vinyl and it's 63 minutes long! Not only that, but I bought an eighties compilation from the UK as an import, and it cost me $20 and contained two discs, each longer than each disc in this series, sorry, that's false advertising.

As I've gotten more of this series, I'd have to say the first two discs (1980 and 1981) are some of the worst compilations I've ever bought. In hind sight I should have sent them back (though I did want "Fame" which is on one of them). The rest of the series is pretty good though, I'd recomend everything from 1982 onwards, although 1988 isn't all that great, and 1989 is back to the same quality in the series as 1980. If the cost was about $5 less I'd probably recommend it heavily, especially if you weren't so much into New Wave as you were into popular music. This series is very, VERY mainstream. I still prefer the Rolling Stone discs over these. Of course, if I was going to recomend anything, it would be Rhino's New Wave Hits or Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites. I'd say the series as a whole is a 4, unless you factor in cost, then it's a 3.

Title   : Guitar Rock 1980-1981
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 69:21
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Call Me                                Blondie
Shake It Up                            The Cars
What I Like About You                  The Romantics
Urgent                                 Foreigner
Keep On Loving You                     REO Speedwagon
Love Stinks                            The J. Geils Band
All Night Long                         Joe Walsh
Cheap Sunglasses                       ZZ Top
Tom Sawyer                             Rush
Rock Brigade                           Def Leppard
Hold On Loosely                        .38 Special
Head Games                             Foreigner
Tired Of Toein' The Line               Rocky Burnette
Don't Misunderstand Me                 Rossington Collins Band
Flirtin' With Disaster                 Molly Hatchet
Take It On The Run                     REO Speedwagon
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky              Outlaws
Winning                                Santana

Comments:
        It seems like all the early eighties CD's from Time Life needs to
have the "Toein' The Line" song by Rocky Burnette on it, I personally don't
understand their infacuation with it.  There are however some great songs on
here, until you near the end of the CD, with Molly Hatchet and Rossington
Collins Band, it starts off strongly and then finishes so lamely... take five
of the last six songs off the disc and you'd have a disc worthy of a 5 rating
for sure.  I'm not sure why they used Foreigner twice on here, though if
anyone is deserving of inclusion on a guitar rock compilation, they are (for
the eighties anyways).

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties, The Early '80s: Take Two
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 67:51
Notes   : Pictures and descriptions of the groups and top chart position for
 all the songs.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 3 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Love Stinks			                       The J. Geils Band
Heart and Soul			                   Huey Lewis and the News
Church of the Poison Mind              Culture Club
It's A Mistake                         Men At Work
While You See A Chance                 Steve Winwood
Saved By Zero                          The Fixx
Sexy Eyes                              Dr. Hook
Misunderstanding                       Genesis
Sukiyaki                               A Taste Of Honey
Our Lips Are Sealed                    Go-Go's
Just Between You And Me                April Wine
Working For the Weekend		             Loverboy
The Stroke                             Billy Squier
Heartbreaker                           Pat Benatar
Angel of the Morning                   Juice Newton
Making Love Out Of Nothing At All      Air Supply
'65 Love Affair                        Paul Davis
Baby, Come To Me                       Patti Austin and James Ingram

Comments:
	It's amazing how across the board a Time Life CD attempts to be
sometimes.  I would have never thought of putting Loverboy and Juice Newton
on the same CD, but I guess that's why these guys get the big bucks. (I'm
sure you've seen plenty of other comments about their expensive discs on this
compilation ranking, so I won't go into it again).  I never thought of "Sexy
Eyes" as having been an eighties song, it sounds sooo Disco oriented, and
definitely next to a Genesis song, followed up by "Sukiyaki" which is another
soft rock ballad, which is listed as having hit number 3 in 1980, though I
must confess I don't remember it.  The only reason I consider this a keeper,
is because it has some songs I just don't have on CD yet like Genesis and
Huey Lewis. As a plus, if I wanted to make an eighties soft rock compilation,
there's plenty on here for me to use like "Making Love Out Of Nothing At
All", which is one of those songs you expected the DJ to play at almost every
dance.  The liner notes are interesting, as they list the Fixx as new
romantics alongside Duran Duran, which I find to be a rather humorous
classification, and Dr. Hook as having scored the only country-rock disco hit
(which I dare you to say without cracking up). All things considered, it's
an OK CD, nothing special.

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1980
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 70:35
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 2 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Crazy Little Thing Called Love         Queen
What I Like About You                  The Romantics
Brass In Pocket                        The Pretenders
Let's Get Serious                      Jermaine Jackson
Sara                                   Fleetwood Mac
Call Me (Theme From "American Gigolo") Blondie
Funkytown                              Lipps, Inc.
Too Hot                                Kool And The Gang
Little Jeannie                         Elton John
Hit Me With Your Best Shot             Pat Benatar
Tired Of Toein' The Line               Rocky Burnette
Cars                                   Gary Numan
The Wanderer                           Donna Summer
Cruisin'                               Smokey Robinson
Fame                                   Irene Cara
Magic                                  Olivia Newton-John
He's So Shy                            Pointer Sisters
Sailing                                Christopher Cross

Comments:
        These discs have come out of order, this being the fifth or so I
have received so far.  They have gone from great to lousy.  The only saving
grace on this disc is the fact that it has "Fame" by Irene Cara on it,
otherwise the disc is pretty uninspired.  Let's face it, people don't really
think of Kool and The Gang, Donna Summer, or Smokey Robinson when they think
of the eighties. My guess is this disc (like 1981 by Time Life) was created
by some aging Baby Boomer who couldn't let go of the fact that the sixties
and seventies were long gone, so they dug up a few aging relics that were all
but buried by 1980 and said, "Oh look, they still made albums in the
eighties, they must have been cool songs."  Too bad they didn't listen to
them, and thank God for remote controls on CD players.  Time Life bills the
CD as a double length LP (as if people forget that a full length LP can be 60
minutes with both sides), if you cut the crap off the disc, you can come up
with a total maybe 10 songs that aren't total crud, which is about 40
minutes. Certainly not worth paying more than twice the cost of a decent
Rhino compilation which has better liner notes to boot.

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1981
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 69:20
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $10
Rank    : 1 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Celebration                            Kool and The Gang
Morning Train (Nine To Five)           Sheena Easton
Keep On Loving You                     REO Speedwagon
Waiting For A Girl Like You            Foreigner
Slow Hand                              The Pointer Sisters
A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)  Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio
When She Was My Girl                   The Four Tops
Being With You                         Smokey Robinson
The One That You Love                  Air Supply
Queen Of Hearts                        Juice Newton
Jessie's Girl                          Rick Springfield
Bette Davis Eyes                       Kim Carnes
Kiss On My List                        Daryl Hall And John Oates
Let's Groove                           Earth, Wind And Fire
Super Freak (Part 1)                   Rick James
This Little Girl                       Gary U.S. Bonds
Gemini Dream                           The Moody Blues
Crying                                 Don McLean

Comments:
        Whew! What's that smell? Oh, it's this month's disc from Time Life.
Somewhere, in some god foresaken corner of the earth, some radio station
might have been cursed with actually playing some of these songs.  That
thought makes me wake up screaming.  This disc has some of the songs that
remind me why people hate the eighties.  Yes, they're all big name groups,
but how many people remember "Crying" by Mr. American Pie Don McLean?  How
many people want to? "Let's Groove," "Jessie's Girl," "Slow Hand"?  How many
people out there associate the Four Tops with 1981? Or Smokey Robinson?
"Celebration" is one of those songs I picture drunk secretaries at office
Christmas parties dancing to, that, and hairy gold chained men lusting after
them.  I was talking with a Time Life representative about the Time Life
series (they do have a habit of calling every now and then to sell people
more discs) and the guy happened to say something to the effect of, "The
Sounds of the Eighties series does seem to have some rather unpleasants discs
in it" and I volunteered this disc and he made a sound which defies
description.  He did however convince me into buying the Rolling Stone
series, which I had seen Martha Quinn plug once, so I know that has some cool
stuff on it.  Let's hope so.  If you decide to buy this series, tell the rep.
when you're placing your order to skip this disc.

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1982
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 67:39
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $10
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Mickey                                 Toni Basil
Who Can It Be Now?                     Men At Work
Shake It Up                            The Cars
Freeze-Frame                           The J. Geils Band
Heat Of The Moment                     Asia
Harden My Heart                        Quaterflash
Rosanna                                Toto
I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're
Near)                                  Michael McDonald
Up Where We Belong                     Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
Gloria                                 Laura Brannigan
867-5309/Jenny                         Tommy Tutone
Maneater                               Daryl Hall And John Oates
Tainted Love                           Soft Cell
I Ran (So Far Away)                    A Flock Of Seagulls
Only The Lonely                        The Motels
Keep The Fire Burnin'                  REO Speedwagon
The Other Woman                        Ray Parker Jr.
Eye In The Sky                         The Alan Parsons Project

Comments:
        This came with a second disc, as a promotion to get you hooked on the
series of discs which is why it's only $10, the rest will cost around $18 a
piece, making them the most expensive compilation discs I own.  However,
unlike most other compilation discs I have, this disc has nothing but big
hits from the eighties. It's fairly diverse in the music it picks, but Top 40
would be the best description.  My biggest complaint is that the liner notes
with the CD aren't what I would consider to be complete, there's only a
description of a couple of groups.  Worth the cash if you like the majority
of the songs listed, definately a good party disc.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1980-1982
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 71:30
Notes   : Descriptions of some of the bands and photos
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Abracadabra                            Steve Miller Band
Do You Believe in Love                 Huey Lewis and the News
Gypsy                                  Fleetwood Mac
Rapture                                Blondie
Please Don't Go                        KC and the Sunshine Bamd
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)        Daryl Hall and John Oates
Dob't Talk To Strangers                Rick Springfield
Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)  Christopher Cross
All Out Of Love                        Air Supply
On The Radio                           Donna Summer
Upside Down                            Diana Ross
Working My Way Back To You             The Spinners
Key Largo                              Bertie Higgins
Caught Up In You                       .38 Special
Hurt So Bad                            Linda Ronstadt
Hearts                                 Marty Balin
Real Love                              The Doobie Brothers
Shining Star                           The Manhattans

Comments:

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1983
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:41
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Cum On Feel The Noise                  Quiet Riot
One Thing Leads To Another             The Fixx
(She's) Sexy + 17                      Stray Cats
Come On Eileen                         Dexys Midnight Runners
Say It Isn't So                        Daryl Hall And John Oates
She Blinded Me With Science            Thomas Dolby
China Girl                             David Bowie
Time (Clock of The Heart)              Culture Club
Sexual Healing                         Marvin Gaye
Maniac                                 Michael Sembello
Always Something There To Remind Me    Naked Eyes
Our House                              Madness
Africa                                 Toto
Stand Back                             Stevie Nicks
Jeopardy                               Greg Kihn Band
Come Dancing                           The Kinks
Too Shy                                Kajagoogoo
True                                   Spandau Ballet

Comments:
        Another great disc from Time Life, these guys are the ones you
measure other compilations against.  There's no radical choices here, all
very mainstream, top 40, instantly recognizable stuff.  If you were more
heavy into punk or new wave, forget it.  This is a radio playlist from an
eighties top 40 station from 1983, no doubt about that.  Fun disc for
background music at a get together (one of those "Oh wow, I haven't, like,
heard this song in ages" discs).  Most songs are on other compilations, the
only one I don't think I've seen elsewhere is David Bowie's "China Girl"
which I woulda thought was too big an artist to end up on a compilation, but
I guess not.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1980-1983
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 68:23
Notes   : Descriptions of some of the bands and photos
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
I'm Coming Out                         Diana Ross
Get Down On It                         Kool and the Gang
Family Man                             Darly Hall and John Oates
I Know There's Something Going On      Frida
Kids in America                        Kim Wilde
Turning Japanese                       The Vapors
Lies                                   Thompson Twins
More Than I Can Say                    Leo Sayer
Just The Two Of Us                     Grover Washington Jr. &Bill Withers
Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy          Sammy Hagar
Hold On Tight                          Electric Light Orchestra
Fire And Ice                           Pat Benatar
Fantasy                                Aldo Nova
Games People Play                      Alan Parsons Project
Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)   Sheena Easton
Cool Change                            Little River Band
An American Dream                      The Dirt Band
The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)   Juice Newton

Comments:
        Not a bad disc, lots of stuff on here that I haven't heard or
remembered in ages.  First the bad news, tracks one and two, skip them. Do
that and you have a good compilation.  The hard to find, Aldo Nova's
"Fantasy" is one of those songs I forgot all about, a great track. "Your Love
is Driving Me Crazy" by Sammy Hagar, I forgot Sammy even had a real hit
before "I Can't Drive 55".  Hard to find? Frida's "I Know There's Something
Going On," depends on wether or not you want the last hit from the ABBA clan,
I hated ABBA myself, (detest, loath, etc) but this one song is fine by me
(plus it was produced by Phil Collins). I thought it strange that Time Life
neglected to mention that "Turning Japanese" is a Brisith euphemism for
masturbation, though they did summarize the song as a fascination of
prisioner with a picture of a woman (guess that's a good enough clue for us
Americans).

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1984
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 72:09
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Ghostbusters                           Ray Parker Jr.
Talking In Your Sleep                  The Romantics
Jump (For My Love)                     Pointer Sisters
Somebody's Watching Me                 Rockwell
Missing You                            John Waite
Out Of Touch                           Darly Hall and John Oates
The Warrior                            Scandal
You Might Think                        The Cars
That's All                             Genesis
Footloose                              Kenny Loggins
Let's Hear It For The Boy              Deniece Williams
Caribbean Queen(No More Love...)       Billy Ocean
Hold Me Now                            Thompson Twins
Karma Chameleon                        Culture Club
Blue Jean                              David Bowie
99 Luftballons                         Nena
The Glamorous Life                     Sheila E.
Joanna                                 Kool and the Gang

Comments:
        "Somebody's Watching Me", there used to be a time that just having a
close relative that was a big success almost guaranteed somebody a hit.  In
this case it was Michael Jackson, "Sidewalk Talk" (which isn't on here) was
the other one that comes to mind for Madonna and some relative.  Of course
the other route to success would be a pop song on a popular movie, like
"Ghostbusters" or "Footloose" (both are on here).  This disc is great,
(unlike some of the others in this series like 1980) it is definately for the
pop minded though, certainly not a New Wave compilation by any stretch of the
imagination.  The only clinker on here would have to be Kool and the Gang,
these guys deserved to be one hit wonders (though I think this wasn't the
only one, how very sad for the pop world), at least it's at the end of the CD
which makes it easy to tell when it's time to change the cd.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1983-1984
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 73:37
Notes   : Comments and pictures on a few of the bands
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
I Want a New Drug                      Huey Lewis and the News
Head Over Heels                        Go-Go's
Electric Avenue                        Eddy Grant
Miss Me Blind                          Culture Club
Cruel Summer                           Bananarama
(Keep Feeling) Fascination             The Human League
Twilight Zone                          Golden Earring
Promises, Promises                     Naked Eyes
Love Is a Battlefield                  Pat Benatar
She Works Hard For the Money           Donna Summer
Sunglasses at Night                    Corey Hart
I Feel For You                         Chaka Khan
One On One                             Daryl Hall and John Oates
Puttin' On the Ritz                    Taco
I'm So Excited                         Pointer Sisters
Suddenly Last Summer                   The Motels
Rock Me Tonite                         Billy Squier
She's A Beauty                         The Tubes

Comments:
        An excellent disc, these guys seem to do a much better job when they
do they do these double year single length cd's opposed to some of the single
year discs.  There isn't a song on here I would put down, and I'm sure I
could play it in mixed company without too much of a problem, one of my
favorite discs in the series, almost makes up for the 1989 disc I got the
month before!

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1985
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:02
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Take On Me                             A-Ha
We Built This City                     Starship
Sleeping Bag                           ZZ Top
Some Like It Hot                       The Power Station
Everytime You Go Away                  Paul Young
Walking On Sunshine                    Katrina And The Waves
Relax                                  Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Sea Of Love                            The Honeydrippers
I Want To Know What Love Is            Foreigner
Miami Vice Theme                       Jan Hammer
The Heat Is On                         Glenn Frey
California Girls                       David Lee Roth
St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)        John Parr
Everybody Wants To Rule The World      Tears For Fears
Broken Wings                           Mr. Mister
Voices Carry                           'Til Tuesday
Freeway of Love                        Aretha Franklin
Nightshift                             Commodores

Comments:
        Yet another great disc, I love these CD's, this one has a couple of
songs that haven't made it onto other compilations which probably should.
Songs like "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Broken Wings" for instance, and especially
"Sea Of Love" which has to be the coolest thing Robert Plant has done (it's
so unlike his normal style, it's fresh, it's a great make-out song, better
than "Thank You" from his 'Zepplin days).  I didn't even remember the
Commodores having a hit in the eighties, so this disc was really full of a
lot of suprises and also a lot of fun songs.  I have an uncle whose a DJ, and
he has them ship them every other week now, I don't blame him.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties: The Mid-'80s
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 72:07
Notes   : Comments and pictures on a few of the bands
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Smuggler's Blues                       Glenn Fry
Are We Ourselves?                      The Fixx
If You Leave                           Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)        Glass Tiger
Sister Christian                       Night Ranger
King For A Day                         Thompson Twins
Who's Zoomin' Who                      Aretha Franklin
I Can Dream About You                  Dan Hartman
All I Need                             Jack Wagner
Owner Of A Lonely Heart                Yes
Self Control                           Laura Branigan
Neutron Dance                          Pointer Sisters
Cool It Now                            New Edition
If Ever You're In My Arms Again        Peabo Bryson
Tonight She Comes                      The Cars
Crush On You                           The Jets
Two Of Hearts                          Stacey Q
Secret Lovers                          Atlantic Starr

Comments:

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1985-1986
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:29
Notes   : Comments and pictures on a few of the bands
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Higher Love                            Steve Winwood
Head Over Heals                        Tears For Fears
Obsession                              Animotion
Lay Your Hands On Me                   Thompson Twins
The Search Is Over                     Survivor
Take Me Home Tonight                   Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector
Axel F                                 Harold Faltermeyer
Amanda                                 Boston
There'll Be Sad Songs(To Make You Cry) Billy Ocean
Party All The Time                     Eddie Murphy
Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody       David Lee Roth
Rhythm of the Night                    DeBarge
Oh Sheila                              Ready For The World
All I Need Is a Miracle                Mike + The Mechanics
Your Wildest Dreams                    The Moody Blues
Perfect Way                            Scritti Politti
Throwing It All Away                   Genesis
Cheerish                               Kool And The Gang

Comments:
        Weird captilization on some of the songs on the back of the cd case,
and weird how this is the only series of eighties discs seems to get better as
the decade goes along.  Most of the compilations I've bought tend to have all
the good stuff in the early eighties instead of the late eighties. This is
also one of the few discs I've ever owned with Eddie Murphy's only successful
foray into the music business, "Party All The Time" which is a fun inclusion.
The order of the songs is also pretty good, from upbeat songs to slow songs
back to fast songs, no rap music. Overall it is a very conservative selection
of mostly big name, mainstream bands from the eighties, not a song I didn't
recognize. A definite improvement over the last two discs I was sent in the
mail from Time Life (1980 and 1981 were miserable excuses for discs, deserving
of a 0 if anything was).

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1986
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:39
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 5 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Addicted to Love                       Robert Palmer
Everybody Have Fun Tonight             Wang Chung
Don't Get Me Wrong                     The Pretenders
Sara                                   Starship
So Far Away                            Dire Straits
Rock Me Amadeus                        Falco
Talk To Me                             Stevie Nicks
Invisible Touch                        Genesis
Glory of Love                          Peter Cetera
Walk This Way                          Run-D.M.C.
Word Up                                Cameo
The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear
  Shades                               Timbuk 3
Venus                                  Bananarama
Mad About You                          Belinda Carlisle
Kyrie                                  Mr. Mister
Burning Heart                          Survivor
Life In a Northern Town                Dream Academy
No One Is To Blame                     Howard Jones

Comments:
        A great disc from Time Life, glad I didn't stop getting them after
the first few discs of this series.  Big hits, big names seems to be the
common refrain of this disc.  I would have perfered "Things Can Only Get
Better" by Howard Jones over "No One is to Blame" and something, anything
other than "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" which seems to be the most overplayed
Wang Chung song, these guys did do better music than this.  Nice change of
pace also to hear something other than "Eye Of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Overall a great disc if you liked top 40 music in the middle of the eighties.
There wasn't much New Wave by this point of the decade, so I can't really
picture them putting any on a disc from 1986.  Definately better than the
Billboard CD from 1986.  Oh, and the version or "Rock Me Amadeus" is the
German version (naturally) I don't think it's the normal radio edit, but I
don't have too many copies of this song, so I can't say for sure which edit
it is (no clues in the booklet either).

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1986-1989
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 73:18
Notes   : Descriptions of some of the bands and photos
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 2 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
New Sensation                          INXS
Opposites Attract                      Paula Abdul
Together Forever                       Rick Astley
Don't Rush Me                          Taylor Dayne
Stuck With You                         Huey Lewis and the News
Just Like Paradise                     David Lee Roth
Poison                                 Alice Cooper
You Got It All                         The Jets
Seasons Change                         Expose
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car   Billy Ocean
Need You Tonight                       INXS
Let's Go All the Way                   Sly Fox
Only In My Dreams                      Debbie Gibson
Your Love                              The Outfield
Move Away                              Culture Club
Roam                                   The B-52's
Chains of Love                         Erasure
Is This Love                           Survivor

Comments:
        ... Zzzz... hphm.. what? Why'd you wake me? Oh, the CD is over.
Thank God! There's like two or three somewhat loud songs to try and make up
for the most boring sleep inducing music produced.  Ever wonder why people
think eighties music sucked? Make a tape of this one, remove Alice Cooper,
INXS, Sly Fox and Erasure and you have a tape to remind yourself.  Very slow
and popish.  Whoever put Alice Cooper on this CD must have been someone who
was about 40 when this music came out, and said something like "I love all
these songs, but I better put an Alice Cooper song on it to make it look
cooler."  Too bad the only cool thing on this CD was the Cooper tune.  The CD
is recent enough though to mention last year's (1996) problems in Van Halen
in reference to David Lee Roth, so you'd think someone would be able to look
back and remember something better from ten years ago.

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, 1987
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 71:52
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Heaven is a Place On Earth             Belinda Carlise
C'est La Vie                           Robbie Nevil
(I Just) Died in Your Arms             Cutting Crew
Head To Toe                            Lisa Lisa And The Cult Jam
You Keep Me Hanging On                 Kim Wilde
Shake Your Love                        Debbie Gibson
Something So Strong                    Crowded House
Midnight Blue                          Lou Gramm
Here I Go Again                        Whitesnake
I Think We're Alone Now                Tiffany
Let's Go!                              Wang Chung
I Heard A Rumour                       Bananarama
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now            Starship
We're Ready                            Boston
Talk Dirty To Me                       Poison
Little Lies                            Fleetwood Mac
Looking For A New Love                 Jody Watley
Lean On Me                             Club Nouveau

Comments:
        Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.  If there are two words that strike fear
into any music lovers when they think of the eighties (or at least a strong
loathing) these are the ones.  I could have given this disc a 5 otherwise,
this compilation has a lot going for it, the best remake of "Lean On Me"
(there have been much worse made since Club Nouveau popularized it), the
best remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On" (which has been made a hit every
decade since the fifties almost like clockwork), and one of my favorite Wang
Chung songs, "Let's Go!". "Here I Go Again" is also the only Whitesnake song
I've ever liked (video especially, I'm a perv ok?), so I'm more than happy to
have it here, a true eighties power ballad if there ever was one.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1988
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 73:43
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 3 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Hazy Shade of Winter                   Bangles
Simply Irresistible                    Robert Palmer
Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley  Will To Power
Kokomo                                 The Beach Boys
Don't Worry, Be Happy                  Bobby McFerrin
Every Rose Has It's Thorn              Poison
Make Me Lose Control                   Eric Carmen
I Don't Want To Live Without You       Foreigner
I Get Weak                             Belinda Carlise
Wild, Wild West                        The Escape Club
Don't Be Cruel                         Bobby Brown
The Loco-Motion                        Kylie Minogue
Shattered Dreams                       Johnny Hates Jazz
Perfect World                          Huey Lewis and the News
The Flame                              Cheap Trick
Foolish Beat                           Debbie Gibson
Don't Shed A Tear                      Paul Carrack
Hold On To The Nights                  Richard Marx

Comments:
        An ok disc from Time Life, nothing to write home about here. If Mtv
had a show called, "Here's the Mainstream" this would have been the contents
for 70 minutes (minus commercials of course!).  Even the one hit wonders
(like Paul Carrack and Kylie Minogue) will be instantly recognized by most
people, it's just a matter of, would you want to listen to these songs now.
The answer for me is no, especially to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (the Simpsons
had a great parody of this song on Homer's car radio one day, "Out of Work,
Need Money" which seems so appropriate now).  Of course, there's some great
tunes on here that I don't usually come across on eighties compilations like
the Beach Boys, or my favorite Bangles tune, "Hazy Shade of Winter" the old
Simon and Garfunkel tune that was spruced up for the very eighties movie
"Less Than Zero" and Huey Lewis' last real hit, "Pefect World". Overall, the
disc tends to highlight some of the most bland music on the radio at the
time, I tend to program less than half the disc when I play it so maybe a
three is too high a rating here.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties 1989
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 75:03
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 2 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
The Look                               Roxette
Sowing the Seeds of Love               Tears for Fears
So Alive                               Love and Rockets
Toy Soliders                           Martika
When I See You Smile                   Bad English
Soldier of Love                        Donny Osmond
Rock On                                Michael Damian
Lost In Your Eyes                      Debbie Gibson
When I'm With You                      Sheriff
Funky Cold Medina                      Tone-Loc
Walk the Dinosaur                      Was (Not Was)
Once Bitten, Twice Shy                 Great White
Right Here Waiting                     Richard Marx
I'll Be Loving You (Forever)           New Kids on the Block
The Living Years                       Mike + the Mechanics
Angel Eyes                             Jeff Healey Band

Comments:
        Suck?  What do Donny Osmond, Debbie Gibson, and thedNew Kids on the
        Block all have in common (besides being on this disc)? This disc
starts off with three GREAT songs, has the decent remake of "Rock On" (from
"Dream a Little Dream" and has "The Living Years" which was another great
song.  It also has "Funky Cold Medina" in place of "Wild Thing" which got too
much airplay anyways.  The rest of the music on here though could best be
forgotten, which is close to half off it.  If it wasn't for programmable cd
players, I'd probably never play this disc.  I would have sent it back, if it
weren't for the fact that I don't see a lot of the good songs I mentioned on
compilations very often (and don't have them on CD, just vinyl).

Title   : Sounds Of The Eighties, The Rockin' Eighties
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 71:51
Notes   : A small paragraph about a couple of bands and a few pictures
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $10
Rank    : 4 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Another One Bites The Dust             Queen
Modern Love                            David Bowie
Stray Cat Strut                        Stray Cats
Middle Of The Road                     The Pretenders
Walk Of Life                           Dire Straits
I Didn't Mean To Turn You On           Robert Palmer
The Tide Is High                       Blondie
Can't Fight This Feeling               REO Speedwagon
Shout                                  Tears For Fears
La Bamba                               Los Lobos
Love Shack                             The B-52's
Legs                                   ZZ Top
Manic Monday                           Bangles
Down Under                             Men At Work
Vacation                               Go-Go's
Urgent                                 Foreigner
Hold Me                                Fleetwood Mac
You Belong To The City                 Glenn Fry

Comments:
        This disc isn't one of the normal CD's in the series, it's a
promotional disc, which is why it was so cheap.  This disc like the other
discs in the series has a lot of big hit songs on it, and it spans the decade
instead of sticking with a year.  My complaint with this disc lies mostly
with the fact that the songs were so mainstream that I already have all of
these songs in some fashion, and the inclusion of "La Bamba" which I never
cared for.  Decent disc if you don't already have most of these songs on CD
or just want them in one place.  These certainly weren't one hit wonders.

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties, The Late '80s
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:25
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 2 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Tell It To My Heart                    Taylor Dayne
Valerie                                Steve Winwood
What I Am                              Edie Brickell and New Bohemians
When Smokey Sings                      ABC
Funkytown                              Psuedo Echo
Out Of The Blue                        Debbie Gibson
Waiting for a Star to Fall             Boy Meets Girl
At This Moment                         Billy Vera and the Beaters
Could've Been                          Tiffany
Jacob's Ladder                         Huey Lewis and the News
In Your Room                           The Bangles
Hungry Eyes                            Eric Carmen
Is This Love                           Whitesnake
Wait                                   White Lion
Carrie                                 Europe
Just Between You and Me                Lou Gramm
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)       Aretha Franklin and George Michael
Never Gonna Give You Up                Rick Astley

Comments:

Title   : Sounds of the Eighties, The Late '80s: Take Two
Label   : Time Life
Medium  : CD
TTime   : 74:06
Notes   : A small paragraph about each bands and a few pictures.
Reviewer: Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Paid    : $20
Rank    : 2 out of 5.

Track Listing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title                                  Artist(s)
-=-=-                                  -=-=-=-=-
Change of Heart                        Cyndi Lauper
Together Forever                       Rick Astley
Everywhere                             Fleetwood Mac
Electric Blue                          Icehouse
Don't Disturb This Groove              The System
I'll Always Love You                   Taylor Dayne
Say You Will                           Foreigner
Eternal Flame                          Bangles
Shake You Down                         Gregory Abbott
Don't Be Cruel                         Cheap Trick
Nothin' But A Good Time                Poison
Hangin' Tough                          New Kids On The Block
Buffalo Stance                         Nenah Cherry
Parents Just Don't Understand          D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Girlfriend                             Pebbles
Roni                                   Bobby Brown
Always                                 Atlantic Starr
Lost In Emotion                        Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam

Comments:

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