Thank you everyone for submitting. All in all, this was a solid round filled with some fairly decent music. This was a difficult one to rank, a lot of the songs switched around repeatedly. In the end though, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. With that being said, here's the rankings.
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1. tennisplayer963: Head Over Heels (ABBA): This tune is far darker in tone and more synth-heavy than their previous hits, and despite the internal politics, this song is one of the most sonically mature and interesting they ever made. Even as they fell apart, ABBA were able to put out more great music, and this is a testament to that.
2. coolKat: Good Morning Heartache (Diana Ross): A cover of a Billie Holiday staple recorded early in Diana Ross's solo career, this is the kind of single that proves that Diana Ross very much deserved to be such a dominant figure in popular music for decades. Compared to the original, this doesn't really add or change much to make it stand out, but the fundamentals are so solid it doesn't really matter.
3. Symmetry888: Hounds of Love (Kate Bush): Kate Bush is such a music nerd artist that it's a crime I haven't dug as far deep into her discography as I should yet. On the spectrum of 80s pop artists, this is definitely on the artsier end, unashamedly unique and grandiose. I'm not sure it's one I'll go back to compared to others on the album, but it's one I have a lot of respect for.
4. FromAWindow: Rosanna (Toto): The local classic hits station used to play this one constantly along with Toto's other big hits, like Hold the Line or Africa. This is that classic 80s soft rock cheese; yacht rock, I've heard people call it. It's corny and lame, but in an enjoyable way; it's not deep or intriguing, but it's silly fun, and sometimes that's all you really need.
5. bigdizzleyomama: Nasty (Janet Jackson): This is a song that exudes confidence. It's the song that would give us New Jack Swing, an extremely turn-of-the-decade genre that remains both dated and timeless to this day. It's not a song I go crazy about, it feels sparsely produced, but there's no doubting how important and genuinely good it is, both to Janet's career and music as a whole.
6. camell22: If I Could Turn Back Time (Cher): Released in the second half of 1989, this one barely counts, but it very clearly couldn't have come out in any other period of time. It's a perfectly acceptable power ballad, all things considered, built for arenas and concert venues, but as a result it feels a bit less impactful outside of that context, and I fully admit Cher's voice isn't my favorite, but it's good all things considered.
7. Demgirl6: The Human League (Don't You Want Me): If "If I Could Turn Back Time" is the most late-80s thing ever made, then this is the most early-80s thing ever made. Some say she's still working as a waitress in that cocktail bar to this very day. Generally catchy, but if I had to complain about anything, it's barebones and I'm a little sick of it after hearing it so many times over the years. Nothing against the song, just overplay.
8. Jaxon: Silver Springs (Fleetwood Mac): Fleetwood Mac were a group with a lot of great songs, tracks like Dreams and Little Lies are genuine classics, and I will always shoutout The Chain and Tusk when given the opportunity. This really isn't one of their better songs, which isn't to say it's bad. It's well-performed, and everyone on board puts in a good effort; mostly, it's just fairly slow and dull, it makes me feel tired when I listen to it; overall, not bad, but the group did better.
9. Absol: Did not submit.
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Which means that Absol will be eliminated. It was good to have you here, but unfortunately someone has to go.
And we are down to 8. When will I post the next round? Tomorrow, probably, maybe. If not, stay tuned for round 3, whenever that comes around. See you then.
