Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
If you want to know what the '80s really sounded like, take a listen to Bourgeois Tagg's eponymous debut album from 1986. This is where all the disparate trends of the early '80s came together to create the sound of mid- to late-'80s mainstream rock: there's the remnants of pre-MTV arena rock, the synths of new wave, the post-Rundgren blend of power pop and stadium anthems, and the immaculate studiocraft of mainstream pop, where it was possible to hear every individual drum in Phil Collins' 11-piece kit. There are lots of synths, lots of basslines played on synths, lots of clean, post-funk rhythm guitars, breathy vocals, and big hair on nearly every member. It's the kind of record that sounds like nothing was actually was made by a human, outside of (perhaps) the lead vocal. This wouldn't be a bad thing if the songs were even recognizably melodic. Instead, the songs get buried beneath the studiocraft, which reigns supreme through the nine songs. But that's what mainstream album rock radio sounded like in the mid- to late-'80s, and perhaps that's why this is so emblematic of its era; it relies entirely on studiocraft, so that's all that can be heard, thus it winds up sounding of its era. And that's why this is quite a curiosity for those pop fans who like records just because they sound like their time. (By the way, Bourgeois Tagg got a whole heck of a lot better the next time around, delivering an album that was the polar opposite of the debut -- an album that captured everything that was right about mainstream album rock in the '80s instead of everything that was wrong.)
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From £10.83/month
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Rick Walker, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Brent Bourgeois, Producer, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ian Ralph Samwell, Producer, Executive Producer - Lyle Workman, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Hall, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ian Matthews, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Larry Tagg, Producer, Vocals, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Ray Leonard, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Michael Urbano, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Jackson, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David j. Holman, Producer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mary Ann Bourgeois, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Lionel Conway, Producer, Executive Producer - Scott Moon, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bourgeois Tagg, MainArtist
℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
If you want to know what the '80s really sounded like, take a listen to Bourgeois Tagg's eponymous debut album from 1986. This is where all the disparate trends of the early '80s came together to create the sound of mid- to late-'80s mainstream rock: there's the remnants of pre-MTV arena rock, the synths of new wave, the post-Rundgren blend of power pop and stadium anthems, and the immaculate studiocraft of mainstream pop, where it was possible to hear every individual drum in Phil Collins' 11-piece kit. There are lots of synths, lots of basslines played on synths, lots of clean, post-funk rhythm guitars, breathy vocals, and big hair on nearly every member. It's the kind of record that sounds like nothing was actually was made by a human, outside of (perhaps) the lead vocal. This wouldn't be a bad thing if the songs were even recognizably melodic. Instead, the songs get buried beneath the studiocraft, which reigns supreme through the nine songs. But that's what mainstream album rock radio sounded like in the mid- to late-'80s, and perhaps that's why this is so emblematic of its era; it relies entirely on studiocraft, so that's all that can be heard, thus it winds up sounding of its era. And that's why this is quite a curiosity for those pop fans who like records just because they sound like their time. (By the way, Bourgeois Tagg got a whole heck of a lot better the next time around, delivering an album that was the polar opposite of the debut -- an album that captured everything that was right about mainstream album rock in the '80s instead of everything that was wrong.)
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 9 track(s)
- Total length: 00:36:40
- Main artists: Bourgeois Tagg
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Island Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 1986 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.