Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground

Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground
Compilation album by various artists
Released	October 5, 2004
Genre	Alternative rock
Label	Rhino

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[4]
Pitchfork	8.3/10[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Stylus Magazine	A[7]
Uncut	[8]

Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground is a four-disc alternative rock compilation album released by Rhino Records in 2004. Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork notes that "the mandate of Left of the Dial — to showcase anything that fit on college radio in the 80s — means you'll find everything from punk and post-punk to synth-pop and dream-pop".[5] The term "left of the dial", taken from a Replacements song (that does not appear in this collection), refers to the college and other non-commercial FM radio stations in the U.S., with frequencies typically in the reserved band on the left (i.e., lower) end of the FM broadcast band of the radio spectrum.[9]

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Radio Free Europe"	R.E.M.	4:06
2.	"Going Underground"	The Jam	2:56
3.	"A Forest"	The Cure	4:55
4.	"Holiday in Cambodia"	Dead Kennedys	4:39
5.	"I'm in Love with a German Film Star"	The Passions	4:01
6.	"I Will Dare"	The Replacements	3:19
7.	"That's When I Reach for My Revolver"	Mission of Burma	3:53
8.	"Johnny Hit and Run Paulene"	X	2:50
9.	"Just Like Honey"	The Jesus and Mary Chain	3:02
10.	"Black Celebration"	Depeche Mode	4:53
11.	"Tell Me When It's Over"	The Dream Syndicate	3:33
12.	"Hollywood (Africa)"	Red Hot Chili Peppers	5:03
13.	"Temptation"	New Order	5:44
14.	"Ghosts"	Japan	4:32
15.	"A Song from Under the Floorboards"	Magazine	4:11
16.	"Oblivious"	Aztec Camera	3:12
17.	"Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely"	Hüsker Dü	3:32
18.	"Rise Above"	Black Flag	2:26
19.	"Back in Flesh"	Wall of Voodoo	3:43
20.	"Cattle and Cane"	The Go-Betweens	4:01

Disc two

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Message of Love"	The Pretenders	3:26
2.	"Vienna"	Ultravox	4:40
3.	"Freak Scene"	Dinosaur Jr.	3:37
4.	"This Charming Man"	The Smiths	2:44
5.	"Stigmata"	Ministry	5:45
6.	"Ways to Be Wicked"	Lone Justice	3:26
7.	"Wardance"	Killing Joke	3:47
8.	"Enola Gay"	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	3:32
9.	"Mirror in the Bathroom"	The English Beat	3:08
10.	"Fairytale in the Supermarket"	The Raincoats	3:00
11.	"Behind the Wall of Sleep"	The Smithereens	3:24
12.	"Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing"	Minutemen	1:32
13.	"Punk Rock Girl"	The Dead Milkmen	2:39
14.	"Still in Hollywood"	Concrete Blonde	3:45
15.	"Love Will Tear Us Apart"	Joy Division	3:27
16.	"Blister in the Sun"	Violent Femmes	2:26
17.	"Lake of Fire"	Meat Puppets	2:00
18.	"Amplifier"	The dB's	3:08
19.	"When Love Breaks Down"	Prefab Sprout	3:46
20.	"Goo Goo Muck"	The Cramps	3:07
21.	"This Corrosion"	The Sisters of Mercy	4:29
22.	"Senses Working Overtime"	XTC	4:36

Disc three

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"The Cutter"	Echo & the Bunnymen	3:55
2.	"Pay to Cum"	Bad Brains	1:28
3.	"Birthday"	The Sugarcubes	3:59
4.	"Madonna of the Wasps"	Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians	3:07
5.	"We Care a Lot"	Faith No More	4:05
6.	"Teen Age Riot"	Sonic Youth	6:58
7.	"To Hell with Poverty"	Gang of Four	3:28
8.	"Fa Cé-La"	The Feelies	2:03
9.	"Ana Ng"	They Might Be Giants	3:21
10.	"Swamp Thing"	The Chameleons UK	6:00
11.	"The Mercy Seat"	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	5:12
12.	"I Look Around"	Rain Parade	3:07
13.	"All That Money Wants"	The Psychedelic Furs	3:52
14.	"Under the Milky Way"	The Church	4:59
15.	"Rise"	Public Image Ltd.	6:08
16.	"Kundalini Express"	Love and Rockets	5:51
17.	"Gravity Talks"	Green on Red	2:34
18.	"Adrenalin"	Throbbing Gristle	3:58
19.	"She Bangs the Drums"	The Stone Roses	3:45

Disc four

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Monkey Gone to Heaven"	Pixies	2:56
2.	" Uncertain Smile"	The The	4:54
3.	"Bela Lugosi's Dead"	Bauhaus	9:34
4.	"Christine"	Siouxsie and the Banshees	2:59
5.	"Straight Edge"	Minor Threat	0:46
6.	"Help You Ann"	Lyres	2:30
7.	"Our Secret"	Beat Happening	2:48
8.	"Jane Says"	Jane's Addiction	4:53
9.	"World Shut Your Mouth"	Julian Cope	3:34
10.	"Running Up That Hill"	Kate Bush	5:00
11.	"Sex Beat"	The Gun Club	2:48
12.	"Take the Skinheads Bowling"	Camper Van Beethoven	2:30
13.	"Institutionalized"	Suicidal Tendencies	3:49
14.	"Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"	Cocteau Twins	4:11
15.	"24 Hour Party People"	Happy Mondays	4:38
16.	"I Want You Back"	Hoodoo Gurus	3:11
17.	"Suburban Home"	Descendents	1:42
18.	"A Pair of Brown Eyes"	The Pogues	4:53
19.	"Jet Fighter"	The Three O'Clock	3:27
20.	"Moving to Florida"	Butthole Surfers	4:31
21.	"A New England"	Billy Bragg	2:13

References

1. "Reviews for Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground by Various Artists". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
2. Unterberger, Richie. "Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground – Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
3. Powers, Ann. "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches the 80's Underground". Blender. Archived from the original on December 10, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
4. Weingarten, Marc (October 29, 2004). "Left of the Dial: Dispatches From the '80s Underground". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
5. Dahlen, Chris (October 19, 2004). "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the 80s Underground". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
6. Wolk, Douglas (October 28, 2004). "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground". Rolling Stone: 104.
7. Unterberger, Andrew (October 19, 2004). "Various Artists – Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the Underground – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
8. "Various Artists: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground". Uncut (93): 94. February 2005.
9. "Left of the Dial". KCRU.org. 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-05. Left of the Dial takes its name from the Replacements song of the same name, and is a reference to the position of the radio dial on which non-commercial radio stations are typically located.

External links

• Left of the Dial at Metacritic