Cupid & Psyche 85

80's pop music was such a strange scene in retrospect. Out of all the era's this is definitely the most jarring. It sounds so dated now, almost kind of alien.

In terms of this album, it's very gentle. Shades of Prince, with other 80's trappings. It's kind of faintly ridiculous, so... why am I kind of into it? I seem to have found a sense of equilibrium while listening to this one. It's not unpleasant.

Yuck. All the cheesy nonsense of the 80's with nothing fun to offering a bit of saving grace. I can't think of single reason I would ever listen to this again.

Had no idea what to expect. Kinda reggae, sort of a modern/Bruno Mars'ish voice on the opening track. And then it got very 80s. SO 80s, and not in an innovative way, but in a beige template way. 2*
Flesh and blood had some keyboards that tickled the ear in the right way.

I found this album to feel a little bit long and samey and a bit repetitive at times however its not the most unlistenable thing.

low 3/5

I’ll pile on. No reason for this to exist. Not even Perfect Way - a nominally passable pop song - saves the juvenile and cloying cringefest that this album is.

Boom! 💥 Roasted!

Pop.. light? Somehow grows on you.

I don't think I have ever come across Scritti Politti before and if I had I likely would have immediately written it off as some weird 80's boy band of sorts. And maybe that was my initial feeling but then I found comfort in how it both sounded like it was from the 80s and modern at the same time, how it sounded like it was a boy band but also a band emulating and subverting the sounds of a boy band. At times I found it to be a little funny because it sounded so corny. But that is exactly why I also enjoyed the entire album. It's so cheesy at times it feels like an SNL skit. And there is a weird discordance in the music too. Like something is off. Like it wants to be catchy so bad, but it can't, but the lack of catchiness in itself becomes catchy? I both liked this and laughed at this, but in laughing at it I liked it more.

Such an 80s sound, but all the better for it; that density of sounds and layers and those butter-smooth vocals. Reminds me a lot of Prince and George Michael. So interesting to hear the band's story as well, they took the ethos of punk and rebelled against punk by becoming a pop band.

Gonna be honest, couldnt even get halfway through this thing (although I did skim the later songs just to confirm I wouldn't like those either).
This album feels like it was specifically designed for me to hate it. It's excruciatingly 80's. You couldn't make a more 80's sounding record. The vocalist is insufferable to my ears and it's like they tried to take every 80's music trope, sound, and production technique, and cram them all into one 40 minute album. Like they took a soundboard of every cliche 80's sound that exists and made sure to hit every button on the board.

If Michael Jackson and Prince had an illegitimate son, he would sound like this.

Double meh. Even the hits were unremarkable. 1/5

Pretty sure you really have to love 80s music to enjoy this. Unfortunately, I do not.

This might just be the most unapologetically '80s album I’ve ever heard. Initially, I wanted to hate it—but somehow, it grew on me. That said, I don’t think I’ll be revisiting it anytime soon.

Favorite Tracks: The first three songs are genuinely fun, full of energy and catchy melodies. Unfortunately, the momentum fades as the album progresses.

Least Favorite Track: Flesh and Blood is a bizarre clash of ska and ‘80s synth-pop, and the result is pretty rough. It just didn’t work for me.

Album Artwork: The cover is undeniably cool—easily one of the album’s strongest points.

How is this, in any way, an essential album? I can't find anything beyond super generic 80s pop.

Scritti ma nittis

Super 80s cheesy synth pop. I admit it grew on me after a couple of listens, but I don't think I will revisit. Favorite tracks: Small Talk, Absolute. Liked the end of A Little Knowledge. Wood Beez kind of grew on me.

Written by someone who's only been exposed to a Michael Jackson slow jam cover band and performed using only a toy Casio keyboard. Somehow this is rotting my teeth.

What kind of crap was that? The 80s were really weird. Strange music developed and strange oddballs crawled out from under their rocks. But there were also great things. This album is not one of them. My life would be nothing poorer if I had never heard of the band and the album. This purring, irrelevant and boring pop even managed to fail as background music. The album got on my nerves so much that I only played 3 tracks and then switched it off in frustration. 1/5

Not for me. Will Lee on bass is always great though.

That was legitimately painful.