2000 - Clive's Top Albums of Every Year Challenge

March 28, 2025 by Clive in Clive, Music, Clive's Album Challenge

Since 2020, I’ve been ranking and reviewing the top 5 albums - plus a fair few extras - according to users on rateyourmusic.com (think IMDB for music) from every year from 1960 to the present. If you want to know more, I wrote an introduction to the ‘challenge’ here. You can also read all the other entries I’ve written so far by heading to the lovely index page here.

And so we enter another decade, the ‘noughties’ as people like to call them. I was entering year 8 in the year 2000, and so we’re starting to get into the years where I can actually remember albums coming out. Most of these though, I was totally unaware of at the time - being more interested in catching all the Pokemon, and other such year 8 things.

More widely, 2000 was the year that mad cow disease panicked Europe, Yugoslavians overthrew Milosevic, and the abortion pill won approval in the US.

We’re here for the music though - and here’s rateyourmusic.com users’ top 5 of the year:

#1 Radiohead - Kid A
#2 Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
#3 The Avalanches - Since I left You
#4 Boris - Flood
#5 Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

And as always, some others from further down the list - including some to make sure we have at least some female artists.

#6 Deftones - White Pony
#7 D’Angelo - Voodoo
#8 At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
#9 Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
#10 Sheena Ringo - Shouso Strip
#11 Erykah Badu - Mama’s Gun
#20 Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
#21 PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
#38 Advantage Lucy - Station

That’s 14, when I was supposed to be cutting down the amount of albums per year. This is quite probably the highest scoring year of the challenge yet, so the glut of albums was entirely worth it.

“Flood is the third studio album by Japanese experimental band Boris. It consists of a single 70-minute title-track that is broken into four movements.

While Flood did not receive many reviews upon release, it has become a cult classic among fans, prompting the band to play it in its entirety every night of their 2013 US-based Residency Tour.” - Wikipedia

An ambitious sprawling 70 minute album that is essentially one 30 minute instrumental piece padded out by 40 minutes of noise. Some say the noise adds to it, which I get to some extent, but I think it milks it just a bit too much, and an edit of this album down to 40 minutes would have made it genuinely amazing. Flood II (particularly Wata's transcendent solo) and Flood III are a genuinely spectacular heart to a bloated album.

SP: Flood II, Flood III

7/10

“White Pony is the third studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones. The album marked a significant growth in the band's sound, incorporating influences from post-hardcore, trip hop, shoegaze, progressive rock, and post-rock into the alternative metal sound which they had become known for. Upon its release and retrospectively, the album was met with critical acclaim, and is regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the band's most mature outings at that point” - Wikipedia

The quintessential Nu metal sound. Dense riffs, metallic whispers, and that vocal style. The riffs on this one could shake mountains. Strange that I didn't listen to this growing up, as this would have been my jam.

8/10

“Shōso Strip is the second studio album by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena, The album debuted at #1 and has sold over 2,332,000 copies. It was certified two million copies by the RIAJ. In September 2007, Rolling Stone Japan rated the album at number 89 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time." - Wikipedia

It sounds like an album crushed within an inch of it's life onto one of those 128mb mp3 players back in the day, coming at you at 12kb/s or some other ghastly quality. It fizzes like a broken bottle of coke in a tin can. I kind of wish there was a version that sounded a bit less raw, but I guess it adds to the charm somewhat. The songwriting and vocals are superb. I mean I've no idea what she's singing about, it's Japanese, but she does it with passion and some crescendos that are surely the most magnificent of the year - e.g Gips. A Jackson Pollock painting of musical ideas crushed through an alt-rock filter.

Song Pick: Gips

8/10

Station, Advantage Lucy’s second album, is another irresistibly joyful record from the Japanese band. It’s a little more eclectic than Fanfare, but it’s equally well composed and just as infectious. I’ve no idea what is being sung, but I feel the need to go running through a field of sunflowers while looking at the sky. I feel happy.

Song Picks: How Do You Feel?, Memai, Kaze ni Azukete, Shumatsu

9/10

“Dopethrone is the third studio album by English band Electric Wizard. Vocalist and guitarist Jus Oborn has stated that drug issues and other personal problems led to the production of Dopethrone being a "difficult process". The album was recorded in three days. The music on the album has been described as both doom metal and stoner rock, with influences of British groups like Black Sabbath and Motörhead.” - Wikipedia

I had no idea what to expect going into this - but I certainly didn’t expect it to immediately become one of my favourite metal albums. Dopethrone sounds polished in terms of the performances, but there’s a raw edge to the rumbling guitars and bass, which are dropped so low they often sound like the roar of some primordial beast. The riffs are clearly Black Sabbath inspired, but these are gnarlier. Osborn’s vocals are distorted - often beyond intelligibility - and this, along with his gritty style, makes for a perfect spice on top of the mass of noise, adding to the tapestry of the sound, rather than doing anything front and centre. After 76 minutes of being pulverised by this, I immediately wanted to put it on again, which is high praise.

9/10

9. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

PJ Harvey

“Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is the fifth studio album by the English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. It contains themes of love that are tied into Harvey's affection for New York City. The album became the second major commercial success of her recording career, following her successful breakthrough To Bring You My Love (1995). Upon its release, the album received acclaim from most music critics and earned Harvey several accolades, including the 2001 Mercury Prize.” - Wikipedia

Stories from… is PJ Harvey’s The Bends in that it’s her most poppy and accessible album. Gone are the serrated edges of her previous records - replaced with sumptuous reverb and floating melodies. It’s also her The Bends because it’s packed front to back with great songs, a real display of Harvey’s songwriting talent.

Song Picks: Big Exit, A Place Called Home, This Mess We're In, You Said Something, This Is Love, We Float

9/10

“Voodoo is the second studio album by the American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, Produced primarily by the singer, Voodoo features a loose, groove-based funk sound and serves as a departure from the more conventional song structure of his debut album, Brown Sugar (1995). Its lyrics explore themes of spirituality, love, sexuality, maturation, and fatherhood. Voodoo has since been regarded by music writers as a creative milestone of the neo soul genre during its apex.” - Wikipedia

Silky falsettos and soft beats, whole grain soul food. Infinitely relistenable - this is music.

Song Picks: Playa Playa, The Line, Send it On, Feel Like Makin' Love

9.5/10

7. Relationship of Command

At the Drive-In

“Relationship of Command is the third studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In. The album combines an aggressive edge with a melodic drive, harmonious, emotive vocals, and surreal lyrics. Initially received positively by critics, the album is now seen not only as one of the most influential post-hardcore albums of the 2000s, but also as one of the most accomplished recent works in the wider rock spectrum. It was the band's final album to feature founding guitarist Jim Ward.” - Wikipedia

I’m not quite as obsessed with this album as I once was, but I still think it’s an absolutely superb mix of anger, insatiable energy, melodies, and chaos. Their famous Later With Jools Holland performance sums up what they must be like to see live (brilliantly mad), but what’s more impressive is how that live, messy energy comes across on the recorded album. I think I can count on one hand the albums that have managed that, and I think this is probably the best of them.

Song Picks: One Armed Scissor, Sleepwalk Capsule, Invalid Litter Dept

9.5/10

6. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

Yo La Tengo

“And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. The album received acclaim from critics and is generally considered one of their best.” - Wikipedia

On And Then Nothing… Yo La Tengo drop down a gear in terms of urgency, but turn up the depth and atmosphere. This is a gorgeous, contemplative record of melodic mumbles over lush, spacious backing. It makes a perfect 'walking through the city at night' double-header with the Clientelle album on this list. Its instruments twinkle like far away windows in a tower block - hundreds of lives illuminated but mysterious. The whole album is a masterpiece of gentleness and empathy, and on that note, Tears are In Your Eyes is surely one of the prettiest songs ever written.

Song Picks: Last Days of Disco, Tears are In Your Eyes, The Crying of Lot G, You Can Have it All

9.5/10

“Mama's Gun is the second studio album by American singer Erykah Badu. A neo soul album, Mama's Gun incorporates elements of funk, soul, and jazz styles. It has confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, personal relationships, and social issues. The album has been viewed by critics as a female companion to neo soul artist D'Angelo's second album Voodoo (2000), which features a similar musical style and direction. Critics have also noted that while Badu's first album Baduizm contained its share of cryptic lyricism, Mama's Gun is much more direct in its approach, and places the artist in a subjective position more than its predecessor.” - Wikipedia

Voodoo and Mama’s Gun are so closely linked - having been recorded in the same studio at thesame time - and they’re both masterpieces, but Mama’s Gun just takes the crown for me. The luxurious grooves and melodies are aided by Badu’s silky smooth vocals, and a touch more variety than D’Angelo’s effort. It also has a punkier, more in your face sensibility that I like.

Song Picks: Penitentiary Philosophy, Didn't Chat Know, Green Eyes

9.5/10

“Since I Left You is the debut studio album by Australian electronic music group the Avalanches. The album was recorded and produced at two separate, near-identical studios by Chater and Seltmann, exchanging audio mixes of records they sampled. After the album's positive reception in Australia, the duo considered an international release. Since I Left You was acclaimed by critics. It became one of the best-reviewed albums of the 2000s, and was listed at number ten in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.” - Wikipedia

Their self titled follow up to this has always been one of my favourites, so it's no surprise I love this one too. Sampling at its most pure and brilliant, Since I Left You combines a plethora of samples to create something completely joyful, cohesive, and full of soul. It's like a front row ticket to one of the best DJ sets of all time, where everyone, including you, is on happy drugs. Its deliberate tilt to more of a 60/70s sound than most sampled music helped it stick out, but it's the musical execution and brilliance of the Australian duo that makes it what it. Since I Left You is a miracle.

Song Picks: Since I left you, Stay another season, A Different Feeling, Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life, Frontier Psychiatrist, Summer Crane

9.5/10

“The Moon & Antarctica is the third studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse. The Moon & Antarctica received acclaim from critics, who praised its subject matter and change in sound from earlier albums and frontman Isaac Brock's introspective lyrics. It was also hailed for being an expansion of the band's sound, much due to their new major label budget as well as the production of Brian Deck.” - Wikipedia

The Moon and Antarctica is such a perfect amorphous gem of an album, to spend too much time describing it is almost impossible for me. As weird as its cover, it strips back some of the trance inducing riffs of The Lonesome Crowded West, making it a little more immediate. Brock has one of those voices that sticks out in a good way, and his melodies and lyrics are on absolute peak form here, worming their way into my subconscious and making my soul smile. The guitar work is absolutely superb too - with winding riffs and spacey progressions befitting the album’s title and theme. It’s more than the sum of its parts, and its parts are superb.

I think The Moon and Antarctica will forever remain mysterious to me, much like the bodies it's named after, and it’s that sense of mystery that makes me feel like I’m discovering an absolute favourite for the first time every time I put it on. I can’t think of any other album that so reliably gives me that feeling.

Song Picks: I think the opening three songs is one of my favourite trios to open an album ever.

10/10

“Suburban Light is the debut studio album by English indie pop band the Clientele. Suburban Light contains several tracks originally released on singles and compilations from 1997 through 2000, causing some websites such as Pitchfork to label it a compilation album.” - Wikipedia

As Wikipedia says, technically, it’s a compilation album, but I don’t care. Like that lovely cover (the less common of its two covers), Suburban Light is a blurry, colourful, rain soaked drive through the night on a bus. McKeen’s vocals are hushed and melodic, the guitar twinkles are undefined, the drums are brushed - everything is done with a kind of relaxed uncertainty. It’s one of the most comforting albums you’ll ever hear and I’ve yet to find, in probably hundreds of listens, a time when I haven’t been completely charmed by it. If I was asked to recommend one album that most people hadn’t heard of, it would be this. But, I’d add to go listen to it sat in the back of a city bus at night. I’m pretty sure everyone would end that journey in love with it. It also contains, what I think, is one of the most beautiful songs ever written: (I Want You) More Than Ever.

Song Picks: I Had to Say This, (I Want You) More Than Ever, Bicycles

10/10

“Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. Departing from their earlier sound, Radiohead incorporated influences from electronic music, krautrock, jazz and 20th-century classical music, with a wider range of instruments and effects. The singer, Thom Yorke, wrote impersonal and abstract lyrics, cutting up phrases and assembling them at random.

In a departure from industry practice, Radiohead released no singles and conducted few interviews and photoshoots. Instead, they released short animations and became one of the first major acts to use the internet for promotion. Bootlegs of early performances were shared on filesharing services, and Kid A was leaked before release. In 2000, Radiohead toured Europe in a custom-built tent without corporate logos.

Kid was certified platinum in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, France and Japan. Its new sound divided listeners, and some dismissed it as pretentious or derivative. However, at the end of the decade, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times ranked it the greatest album of the 2000s, and in 2020 Rolling Stone ranked it number 20 on its updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” - Wikipedia

Kid A is an album I’ve loved since I first got into it. It took a few listens, but the first time I listened to it at night, I got it and it blew me away. Somewhere on a night-bus in Central America I was whisked away to a world of melancholy electronic music that lit the lonely, beaten road ahead in a gorgeous hue. The bumps, the stars, the dark behind the trees, everything somehow became even more beautiful under Kid A’s gaze. Thom Yorke’s vocals don’t get enough praise, but he sounds like a beautiful, tormented angel as always, and they tie together this album’s many influences brilliantly, as does the crystal clean electronic sound of the record. Kid A is an album that has soundtracked so many phases of my life - I’ve turned to it in sadness in the past, and in contentment more recently - and it never fails to light a swaying candle somewhere inside me. It’s also another album that has great tracks but is so much more than the sum of its parts - perfectly paced, cohesive and bewitching from start to finish.

The album feels to me like a musical expression of a city’s quieter streets at night-time. A sprinkling of humans struggling with the daily task of being human - while looking left and right and finding solace in those they don’t know doing the same.

Song Picks: Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, Idioteque, Motion Picture Soundtrack

10/10

1996 - Clive's Top Albums of Every Year Challenge

April 25, 2024 by Clive in Clive's Album Challenge, Music, Clive

Welcome to 1996 y’all, the year Britain was alarmed by an outbreak of mad cow disease, the world’s first sheep was cloned and named Dolly, Tupac Shakur was shot, and Clinton appointed the first female US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

Here’s rateyourmusic.com users’ top 5 albums of the year:

#1 Fishmans - Long Season
#2 DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
#3 Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
#4 Outkast - ALiens
#5 Belle and Sebastian - If You’re Feeling Sinister

Obviously 5 isn’t enough now is it? So I’ve grabbed this lot from further down the list:

#6 Cryptopsy - None So Vile
#7 Burzum - Filosofem
#8 Unwound - Repetition
#9 Tool - Aenima
#10 Weezer - Pinkerton
#11 Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album
#16 Ruyichi Sakamoto - 1996
#26 Modest Mouse - This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About
#17 Tori Amos - Boys for Pele

And finally, One in a Million by Aaliyah, the only album from the year on NPR’s best albums of all time by women list that I haven’t already got in the mix.

Right, let’s go.

As smooth as those secret agent sunglasses she’s wearing on the cover, One in a Million is a remarkably mature effort considering Aaliyah was only 15 at the time. At times this maturity is somewhat alarming, considering the topics she is singing about. Linked to that, I’ll not mention the producer of this album, who is thankfully now in prison, but I will mention Timbaland who’s simple and effective beats work a treat with Aaliyah’s great vocals. Looked at purely from a musical perspective, One in a Million is a real treat.

Song Picks: Choosey Lover

8/10

“Filosofem (Norwegian for "Philosopheme") is the fourth studio album by Norwegian black metal solo project Burzum. It was recorded in March 1993 and was the last recording before Varg Vikernes was sentenced to prison in 1994; the album was not released until January 1996, however. It was released through Misanthropy Records and Vikernes's own record label, Cymophane Productions. The album is noted for its experimental sound when compared to most other second wave black metal. Vikernes considers Filosofem an "anti-trend album." - Wikipedia

Imprisoned for stabbing another leading guitarist in the Norwegian black metal scene and burning down three churches, and notorious for his controversial views and a period of neo-Nazism, Varg Vikernes is hardly someone you want to model yourself on. All that aside though, and knowing close to nothing about the Norwegian black metal movement (other than it seems a bit mad), this is an album of pulverising riffs and screams, all seemingly routed through a distortion pedal with the drive knob on max. It’s a fuzzy sandstorm, where Vikernes’ screams are indecipherable above the din, which is probably for the best. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this, it’s fuzziness seemingly the equivalent of drinking a pint through a straw, it goes to your head that much quicker.

It will also now forever remind me of a time at Rock Im Park festival when a Norwegian bloke was brought back to our campsite after a Rage Against the Machine gig. He spent the next morning charging around the campsite naked screaming ‘let’s burn churches!!’ while throwing peoples’ tents around before being arrested.

Song Picks: Jesus’ Tod, Erblicket die Tochter des Firmaments

8/10

13. This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About

Modest Mouse

“This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is the debut studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse. Many of the album's tracks focus on traveling by automobile and the loneliness associated with rural life.” - Wikipedia

Modest Mouse’s debut is long, simple and repetitive musically. But it’s also full of Isaac Brock’s unique vocals, and lyrics of loneliness and long journeys. It rumbles along like a rusty car along a long, empty American highway. Reflections of the past and visions of the future like alternating magnets to the mind.

Song Picks: Dramamine, Tundra/Desert

8/10

“Ænima is the second studio album by the American rock band Tool. It is the first album by Tool to feature bassist Justin Chancellor, who replaced original bassist Paul D'Amour the year prior. In 2003, Ænima was ranked the sixth most influential album of all time by Kerrang!, Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 18 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.” - Wikipedia

Weird time signatures, pulverising riffs and drum beats that pound like a blue whale’s heart. This is a powerful album from a band on the way up. The album is clearly hugely influential, so much so that listening now it all sounds a bit generic. Effective, head bangingly enjoyable, and with a satisfying ‘mathiness’ to it, Ænima is a little too repetitive to blow my socks off completely, but they have been slightly dislodged.

Song Picks: Stinkfist, Forty Six & 2

8/10

“None So Vile is the second studio album by Canadian death metal band Cryptopsy, None So Vile is the first album to feature bassist Eric Langlois, and the last to feature vocalist Lord Worm, until his return on 2005's Once Was Not. The art featured on the cover of the album is a painting by Italian Baroque painter Elisabetta Sirani titled Herodias with the Head of John the Baptist, reversed. None So Vile is critically acclaimed as one of the most influential death metal albums of the 1990s, influencing many later acts and musicians in both technical death and brutal death metal subgenres.” - Wikipedia

I think I’ve called albums a barrage of noise before, but forget I ever said that, this album makes those feel like your ear being tickled. The bass drum barely stops bashing out 16th notes, there’s roaring, guitars churning hyperactive riffs and general ordered chaos. A slice of relentless brutality.

Song Picks: Crown of Horns, Slit Your Guts, Orgiastic Disembolwment

8.5/10

“1996 is a 1996 album by Japanese composer and pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto. It contains a selection of Sakamoto's most popular compositions plus two new compositions, all arranged for a standard piano trio. The arrangement of "Bibo no Aozora" that appears on this album has appeared in several film and television projects; one notable example is the film Babel, whose soundtrack features both the 1996 version and the /04 version of the song.” - Wikipedia

Where this could have been in danger of sounding like a greatest hits collection, the re-arrangement of songs for a standard piano trio means there is a real cohesiveness in the sound throughout the album, which helps to reign in some of the thematic inconsistencies. This is a wonderful collection of evocative and yet understated soundtrack pieces.

Song Picks: Bibo No Aozora, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

8.5/10

“ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. The record features outer space-inspired production sounds, with Outkast and producers Organized Noize incorporating elements of dub and gospel into the compositions. Several songs feature the duo's first attempts at producing music by themselves. Lyrically, the group discusses a wide range of topics including urban life as hustlers, existential introspection, and extraterrestrial life. The album's title is a portmanteau of "ATL" (an abbreviation of Atlanta, Georgia, the duo’s hometown) and "aliens", which has been interpreted by critics as a commentary about the feeling of being isolated from American culture. Since its release, ATLiens has been listed by several magazines and critics as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.” - Wikipedia

I bloody love 90s hip-hop, and this album encapsulates why. Smooth beats, slick rhymes, not taking itself to seriously - and space noises. Okay the last one is specific to this album. It’s a bit long, and front loaded - though more in a first half is magical, second half just great kind of a way. I didn’t think I’d ever rate an album with the lines ‘put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care’ this highly, but it’s delivered with a knowing wink and the larger-than-life personality that’s spread thick throughout this odyssey.

Song Picks: "Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac)", “ATLiens“

8.5/10

“Repetition is the fifth studio album by the American post-hardcore band Unwound, the album has been hailed as a masterpiece among those in the punk rock scene.” - Wikipedia

Taking a more studio-orientated approach than is perhaps common in punk, Repetition goes far beyond the usual ‘three chords and the truth’, live oriented sound of the genre, with sleek production and intricately thought out arrangements. The title is apt, as songs often feature repetitive, rumbling bass which create a foundation for the album’s more experimental guitar screeches, synth drones, gongs and bells. Repetition can be as emotional (Lady Elect) as it is energetic (Corpse Pose), and it’s easily one of the most interesting and varied punk albums I’ve heard.

Song Picks: Corpse Pose, Lady Elect, For Your Entertainment

8.5/10

“Pinkerton is the second studio album by the American rock band Weezer. The guitarist and vocalist Rivers Cuomo wrote most of Pinkerton while studying at Harvard University, after abandoning plans for a rock opera, Songs from the Black Hole. It was the last Weezer album to feature bassist Matt Sharp, who left the group in 1998.

To better capture their live sound, Weezer self-produced Pinkerton, creating a darker, more abrasive album than their self-titled 1994 debut. Cuomo's lyrics express loneliness and disillusionment with the rock lifestyle; the album is named after the character BF Pinkerton from Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly, whom Cuomo described as an ‘asshole American sailor similar to a touring rock star’”. - Wikipedia

Voted the third worst album of the year by Rolling Stone readers at the time, it has since become known as a masterpiece, and a huge influence on the emo scene. Pinkerton’s lyrics are simple, at times cringeworthy in content (sniffing an 18 year old fan’s knickers anyone?), but I feel like that’s the point. It’s written from the perspective of the asshole touring rockstar Cuomo is referring to, which is of course him. Matt Sharp’s bass rumbles throughout, determined to make his last album with the band count. The guitars saw, and the drums sound massive. It’s an album that sounds raw, but that hits hard, a perfect backdrop to Cuomo’s self-pitying, immature musings, which are sung to an endless selection of catchy melodies.

I have no desire to be friends with the Cuomo who wrote Pinkerton, he sounds insufferable. But I do appreciate how honest he is about it, and how his and the band’s energy practically explodes off the disc, or cloud streaming service - whatever the case may be.

Song Picks: Why Bother?, Butterfly, El Scorcho

8.9/10

“Richard D. James Album is the eponymous fourth studio album by Irish-British electronic musician Richard D. James, under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. Richard D. James Album was composed by James on his Macintosh computer, and took longer to complete than his previous efforts. The album features faster breakbeats and intricate drum programming which draw influence from jungle and drum and bass, combined with lush string arrangements, unstable time signatures, and slow ambient melodies reminiscent of James' earlier work, as well as modulated vocals by James.” - Wikipedia

32 minutes of electronic madness. The beats sound like a drum machine becoming sentient and expressing a complex bewilderment with the world. The instrumentation goes from ambient (though with notes not quite starting or finishing when you’d expect) to completely off the wall (Carn Marth). The cover would have you believe this is somehow sinister. It isn’t, it’s just completely unpredictable and glorious fun, and the final salvo of tracks are some of the most life-affirming I’ve heard for a while.

Song Picks: To Cure a Weakling Child, ‘4’, Goon Gumpas, Girl/Boy Song

9/10

“Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos. P Despite the album being Amos's least radio friendly material to date, Boys for Pele debuted at number two on both the US Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart, making it her biggest simultaneous transatlantic debut, her first Billboard top 10 debut, and the highest-charting US debut of her career to date.

Boys for Pele was recorded in rural Ireland and Louisiana and features 18 songs that incorporate harpsichord, clavichord, harmonium, gospel choirs, brass bands and full orchestras. Amos wrote all of the tracks, and for the first time, she served as sole producer for her own album. For Amos, the album was a step into a different direction, in terms of singing, songwriting, and recording, and is experimental in comparison to her previous work.” - Wikipedia

70 minutes of varied instrumentation, wonderful songwriting, and vocals that are constantly engaging, with melodies seemingly falling to Tori like raindrops in a British drizzle. Boys for Pele captivates for its full, significant running length.

Song Picks: Beauty Queen/Horses, Father Lucifer

9/10

4. If You’re Feeling Sinister

Belle and Sebastian

“If You're Feeling Sinister is the second album by the Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. It is often ranked among the best albums of the 1990s, including being ranked #14 in Pitchfork's list of Top 100 Albums of the 1990s. Band leader Stuart Murdoch said If You're Feeling Sinister is probably his best collection of songs in 2005.” - Wikipedia

Murdoch’s vocals are understated, sung shyly, and atop gorgeous arrangements that bounce along like a more relaxed Blonde on Blonde. All that considered. it’s pretty remarkable that his vocals demand your attention, and that is a testament to his great lyricism, story telling, and subtle expression. I hadn’t realised how far ahead they were (in terms of timeline) of obvious bands they’ve influenced like the Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and pretty much any indie-pop band that followed them. They set a template here, but they also made an album that more than stands the test of time almost 30 years on.

Song Picks: Get Me Away from Here I’m Dying, The Stars of Track and Field, Seeing Other People. Me and the Major, If You’re Feeling Sinister

9.5/10

“Endtroducing..... is the debut studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow. It is an instrumental hip hop work composed almost entirely of samples from vinyl records. DJ Shadow produced Endtroducing over two years, using an Akai MPC60 sampler and little other equipment. He edited and layered samples to create new tracks of varying moods and tempos.

Endtroducing was ranked highly on various lists of the best albums of 1996, and has been acclaimed by critics as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. It is considered a landmark recording in instrumental hip hop, with DJ Shadow's sampling techniques and arrangements leaving a lasting influence. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Endtroducing 329th on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.” - Wikipedia

There’s not much left to say about DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing that hasn’t already been said. A masterpiece of sampling, clearly ahead of its time, and put together with a level of research akin to a PhD thesis. It continues to influence music across the spectrum today, while maintaining an alluring individuality that hums under its atmospheric beats and instrumental lines.

Song Picks: Building Steam With a Grain of Salt, The Number Song, Mutual Slump, Midnight in a Perfect World

9.5/10

“Long Season is the sixth studio album by Japanese musical group Fishmans. It consists of a single 35-minute composition based on the band's earlier song "Season". The album was released to modest success in the Japanese alternative scene, but was scarcely known outside Japan until the 2010s, and has since garnered critical acclaim and online media attention. Fishmans performed the entire Long Season album as one piece during their final live shows in December 1998, a recording of which was included on the album 98.12.28 男達の別れ.” - Wikipedia

Long Season feels like a 3 part symphony to me (though it is split into 5 sections on certain issues). It starts as a meditative walk through the park with your favourite album playing; reliably comforting. The middle section feels like a frantic distraction - you check your phone and the state of the world shatters your peace; Motegi’s drums are quiet but chaotic like the background hum of everything happening out of sight and earshot. Finally, you catch yourself, put the phone away, and look at the path winding off into the distance. There’s a feeling of elation as your favourite song comes on, but now you let the birds in as well as the shuffling stream. It’s all too much, you start running for no reason other than you feel too elated to stand still. There’s no one else around, you laugh, you collapse on a patch of grass, you feel about as happy as you ever have, maybe as happy as you ever will. You thank your fellow humans for the music, for without it you’re not sure you’d feel very much at all.

9.5/10

“Soundtracks for the Blind is the tenth studio album by Swans. It was intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a "soundtrack for a non-existent film." Upon its release, it received critical acclaim, but was the last studio album released by the band until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky.” - Wikipedia

Regularly listed among the 90s’ best albums, Soundtracks for the Blind’s Brian Eno influence is obvious. This is more in the ambient category than previous crushing efforts of theirs. In its over two hour running length it builds a whole new world around you through its numerous samples, grainy conversations and the occasional cathartic release. It sounds huge, but without stacking instrument upon instrument to create a wall of sound. Rather it creates these grinding, industrial soundscapes that are surprisingly tuneful. If the film this thing soundtracked did exist, I’d be very keen to see it. I imagine it as a tale of isolation, a factory worker taking the floor day by day with thousands of others, trying to restrain his soul from bursting through his enforced mechanical exterior. The machines rattle around him, he turns their noise pollution into melodies, and imagines talking over the top, or the odd scream.

Soundtracks for the Blind is completely unique, and completely unforgettable. Its not the kind of album you’ll be recommending to everyone necessarily, but for those among us seeking inventive, atmospheric music that goes beyond an idea of songs to focus more on creating an atmosphere than a set of hits, then you’ll be hard pressed to find another album that does that better than this.

1990 - Clive's Top Albums of Every Year Challenge

April 01, 2023 by Clive in Clive's Album Challenge, Music, Clive

And so here we enter the second half of this fun, but rather time consuming, challenge nearly 3 years after I first started it. So what happened in 1990? Well, Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 and a half years, Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister, East and West Germany were re-united and The Simpsons debuted on Fox.

On the musical front, here’s what rateyourmusic.com’s loveley members rate as their top 5 albums of the year:

#1 Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
#2 Depeche Mode - Violator
#3 Megadeth - Rust in Peace
#4 Judas Priest - Painkiller
#5 Fugazi- Repeater

I’m also grabbing this lot from further down the rankings:

#6 Slayer- Seasons in the Abyss
#8 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
#11 Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
#12 Sonic Youth - Goo
#15 A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

And, the below from a couple of all-time lists by female artists:

Mitsuko Uchida - 12 Études
Sinead O’Conor - I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got

“Painkiller is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1990. It was the last Judas Priest album to feature long-time lead singer Rob Halford until his return for the 2005 album Angel of Retribution and the first to feature drummer Scott Travis.” - Wikipedia

This album is as mad as its cover - I mean just look at the thing. If you can embrace that madness, and get beyond those stereotypical wailing hard-rock vocals and the lyrics about metal meltdowns and leather rebels, then you’ll have a good time. It’s K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton’s technical guitar work and dual soloing that makes the album what it is for me, which is a frenetic and unbridled roar through a burning post-apocalyptic cityscape on the back of a Harley Davidson with saw blades for wheels… you get the picture.

Song Picks: Pain Killer, Night Crawler

7/10

“Violator is the seventh studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. Preceded by the singles "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" (a top-10 entry in both the United Kingdom and the United States), the album propelled the band into international stardom.” - Wikipedia

Violator sounds sumptuous, I mean just listen to those lovely midi drums. Dave Gahan’s baritone vocals create a generally sombre atmosphere, but unlike many baritone vocals they can still carry a lovely tune (see Sweetest Perfection). You can hear a whole heap of today’s artists in their music, particularly today’s darker pop.

It’s rare that an album that is so heavily electronic from over 30 years ago sounds like it could have come out today, but Violator truly does. There’s a slight glumness to the record which hasn’t made it one that I’ve been dying to come back to regularly, but there’s no doubt about it’s influence and artistry. Oh, and did I mention it sounds bloody perfect.

Song Picks: World in My Eyes, Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence

8/10

10. Fear of a Black Planet

Public Enemy

“Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on April 10, 1990, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records, and produced by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded on the sample-layered sound of Public Enemy's 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” - Wikipedia

Public Enemy are back with another all-anger, all-dancing hip-hop classic. This one doesn’t quite have the consistent energy or the great samples that made their previous album so fantastic, but that’s asking it to jump over an unfairly high-bar, and this still packs its hour run-time with cracking hip-hop beats and political anger.

Song Picks: Brothers Gonna Work it Out, Welcome to the Terrordome, Burn Hollywood Burn, Who Stole the Soul

8/10

“Dame Mitsuko Uchida, born 20 December 1948) is a Japanese-British classical pianist and conductor, born in Japan and naturalised in Britain, particularly noted for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. Claude Debussy's Études (L 136) are a set of 12 piano études composed in 1915. Debussy described them as ‘a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands’. They are broadly considered his late masterpieces.” - Wikipedia

I can’t find all that much information about this recording in particular, but Uchida’s performance of Debussy’s 12 Etudes is bewitching. I guess the thing that came through most for me was that although there is considerable skill and precision on display here, the pieces never stray into feeling at all machine-like, the pieces are filled with the complexity of humanity. 12 Etudes is yet another testament to the power of the piano as an instrument with such range that it can convey the power of a whole orchestra, or the delicate quietness of a single plucked string.

8.5/10

8. I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got

Sinead O’Connor

“I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is the second album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in March 1990 on Ensign/Chrysalis Records. It contains O'Connor's version of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 U, which was released as a single and reached number one in multiple countries. The album was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1991, including Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Music Video, Short Form for Nothing Compares 2 U, winning the award for Best Alternative Music Performance. However, O'Connor refused to accept the nominations and award.” - Wikipedia

Nothing Compares 2 U was one of the best selling singles of the decade, and a rare occasion where a cover is so massively more well known than the original. Of course nothing I say about O’Connor’s stupendous vocal performance on that song will be new, so I won’t say anything other than it is surely one of the most emotionally charged vocal performances of all time. It’s a break-up song, but apparently O’Connor was more channeling the death of her dad 5 years earlier. The most remarkable thing though is that the rest of the album, though never quite eclipsing the uneclipsable, does more than hold a candle to it, and feels less like a necessary home for it and more like a record where a lot of the other tracks deserve more attention than they got. Sinead goes political, personal, experimental and even uses sample drum beats. She does it all with the confidence of someone who would go on reject all the nominations and Grammy awards the album was nominated and awarded for, and proves once again that she is the voice of heartbreak.

Song Picks: Nothing Compares 2 U, Black Boys on Mopeds, I am Stretched on Your Grave

8.5/10

“Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990, by Capitol Records. It was the first Megadeth album to feature lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. Since its release, Rust in Peace has often been named as one of the best thrash metal records of all time, by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang!, and listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.” - Wikipedia

I’ve very much enjoyed the plethora of thrash-metal albums coming through in the last few years of this challenge, and this is one of my favourites. The album is very much carried by Dave Mustaine’s guitar riffs, and the late Nick Menza’s (he tragically collapsed and died while drumming at a concert in 2016) great punctuation of them on drums. It’s an album that’s technical prowess keeps your brain firing, and keeps things engaging from start to finish. The songs are generally about politics, religion, warfare (the title refers to leaving nuclear weapons to ‘rust in peace’) or Mustaine’s personal battles and have a straightforward punk style to them, which suit Mustaine’s vocals well.

Song Picks: Holy Wars… The Punishment Due, Tornado of Souls, Five Magiks, Dawn Patrol

8.5

“Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 9, 1990, through Def American Records. Recording sessions began in March 1990 at Hit City West and Hollywood Sound, and ended in June 1990 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, California. It was the band's last album to feature their full original lineup with drummer Dave Lombardo until his return on the band's 2006 album Christ Illusion.” - Wikipedia

Nothing hugely new when compared to their previous albums South of Heaven and Reign in Blood, but I loved both of those and I love this too. The riffs cascade at breakneck speed, the drums persistently rumble, and Araya’s vocals growl. No one thrashes quite like Slayer.

Song Picks: Blood Red, Skeletons of Odyssey

8.5/10

“Goo is the sixth full-length studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990 by DGC Records. For this album, the band sought to expand upon its trademark alternating guitar arrangements and the layered sound of their previous album Daydream Nation (1988) with songwriting on that was more topical than past works, exploring themes of female empowerment and pop culture.” - Wikipedia

Sonic Youth’s first album on a major label proves you can ‘sell out’ and still be cool. They’re sound is perhaps a little more accessible here, but it’s still dissonant, punk and intensely alternative. The early 90s was very much when ‘alternative’ (I won’t go into the oddness of that genre name) became sellable, and that was in no small part thanks to Sonic Youth and their success with Goo. Musically, it’s the same guitar barrage you’d expect, but with a little more of Kim Gordon’s influence with two of the album’s best songs written by her, Kool Thing and Tunic (Song for Karen). The latter is about the death of Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters, who died of anorexia. It’s one of Sonic Youth’s most touching songs, packed with lyrics that cut to the core like the verse line.

I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller every day
But when I open my mouth to sing, I'm bigger in every way

It brings about sadness not via the usual minor chords and melody, but via Sonic Youth’s typical dissonant guitar chugs, and Kim Gordon’s hollow vocal, which sounds like it could be coming from the afterlife itself.

Goo is another triumphantly punk album, both in sensibility and sound, and that cover is surely one of the hippest of all time.

Song Picks: Tunic (Song for Karen), Kool Thing

9/10

“Repeater is the full-length debut studio album by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was released on April 19, 1990. Repeater is often regarded as a definitive album for the band and a landmark of rock music.” - Wikipedia

Ian McKaye (previously of Minor Threat) didn’t fit in with a lot of the punk scene with his straight-edgedness, and Repeater distances himself from that scene yet further. The anger is still there, but it’s packaged in a band keen to be cerebral as well as visceral. Riffs turning on each other, riffs morphing into other riffs, riffs so huge that they carried the whole of 90s grunge into the mainstream in their wake. Albums like Repeater and Goo didn’t make waves in the mainstream due to them being more accessible, but by making music so creative and sonically powerful that one couldn’t ignore them.

Song Picks: Repeater, Song #1, Two Beats Off

9/10

3. The Good Son

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

“After two dark and harrowing albums with Your Funeral... My Trial (1986) and Tender Prey (1988), The Good Son was a substantial departure with a lighter and generally more uplifting sound.” - Wikipedia

The more uplifting sound is attributed to Cave falling in love with a Brazilian journalist, and indeed the Brazilian influence seeps into the opener Foi Na Cruz in obvious ways. The Good Son is a big sounding album, tracks like the Witness Song feature climaxes with backing vocals and a whole host of instruments in what can only be described as a triumphant cacophony, while others like Foi Na Cruz sound more hopeful than triumphant, but sound equally atmospheric. Cave is one of those singers who owns his lyrics in a way that means you have to pay attention to them, a skill not all that present in the musical world, and that works well here where a less interesting vocalist would get lost in the in the gorgeous melodies. The Good Son is a chamber-pop album that leaves an imprint, beautifully textured with harmonies driven by the ethereal melodies throughout, as timeless as Cave’s vocals.

Song Picks: Foi Na Cruz, The Witness Song, Sorrow’s Child

9/10

**2. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm**

A Tribe Called Quest

“People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is the debut studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on April 10, 1990 on Jive Records. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was met with acclaim from professional music critics and the hip hop community on release, and was eventually certified gold in the United States on January 19, 1996. Its recognition has extended over the years as it is widely regarded as a central album in alternative hip hop with its unconventional production and lyricism.” - Wikipedia

Push it Along and Luck of Lucien open things with what will surely be two of the best grooves of the decade, and we’re only in 1990. There’s a laid back and open jazzy feeling to the beats, which Q-Tip’s equally chilled rapping gives plenty of room to breathe. His lyrics are refreshingly simple and yet jump from topic to topic from couplet to couplet in a way that makes any overall meaning quite opaque. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is so relaxed it’s a miracle it exists at all. Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s beats, production, and vocals create that most marvellous thing; something so perfect in how loose it is that it would have taken two industrious and meticulous individuals to create it.

Song Picks: Push it Along, Luck of Lucien, After Hours, Can I Kick It?, Description of a Fool

9.5

“Heaven or Las Vegas is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 17 September 1990 by 4AD. Heaven or Las Vegas peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and number 99 on the US Billboard 200, becoming the band's most commercially successful release.” - Wikipedia

I have no qualms in calling Heaven or Las Vegas our first masterpiece of the 90s. Its guitars are bathed in ethereal levels of reverb and Fraser’s lyrics are only occasionally understandable, but always emotionally relatable. I think the power of what is an otherworldly vocal performance is best described by bassist Simon Raymonde, as mentioned on the album’s Wikipedia page:

Raymonde recounted that he would record Fraser's vocals alone for days at a time, during which he first "fully appreciated how amazing she was": "She'd come into the control room and say, 'What was that like?' and I'd scrape the tears away and say, 'That was alright, Liz'. She didn't get off on praise. If I said. 'That was fucking amazing', she'd say 'I thought it was shit.' I learnt not to be too effusive, which was difficult because I was so blown away with what I was hearing.

Luckily, I can be as effusive as I damn well please, and Heaven or Las Vegas is one of the most beautiful albums out there. Recorded while Raymonde dealt with his father’s death and Fraser and Guthrie (the latter programmed all the album’s drums) contemplated their new lives as parents, it was clearly a time with a lot of emotions flying round for the band. On the record those emotions seem to rotate like a slow tornado going languidly in and out of focus, given some direction by Fraser’s extraordinary vocals as they make you feel everything there is to feel.

Songpicks: Fotzepolitic, Wolf in the Breast, Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsommer Fires

1989 - Clive's Top Albums of Every Year Challenge

December 12, 2022 by Clive in Clive's Album Challenge, Music, Clive

Over what will likely be the next few years I’m going to be ranking and reviewing the top 5 albums - plus a fair few extras - according to users on rateyourmusic.com (think IMDB for music) from every year from 1960 to the present. If you want to know more, I wrote an introduction to the ‘challenge’ here. You can also read all the other entries I’ve written so far by heading to the lovely index page here.

We’ve made it to the final year of the 80s, but what happened outside of music before the turn of the decade? Well, thousands were killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders took a hard line towards demonstrators, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was named Soviet President , the Berlin Wall fell after 28 years and the Game Boy was released.

Here’s what our trusty rateyourmusic.com users rank as the top 5 albums of 1989:

#1 The Cure - Disintegration
#2 Pixies - Doolittle
#3 The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
#4 Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique
#5 NoMeansNo - Wrong

And here’s some others I’m grabbing from further down the list:

#6 Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness
#7 Julee Cruise - Floating into the Night
#14 De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (also Pitchfork)
#20 Hats - The Blue Nile

Pitchfork’s top albums of the 80s includes some of the above, but also Minor Threat - Complete Discography at number 30, so we’ll add that in.

Finally, as usual, to add more female artists to the equation, I’ll be grabbing anything from 1989 from NPR’s list of the best albums of all time by female artists, as well as the same list as voted on by their readers. This year we’ve got a whole host of albums to throw into the mix:

Janet Jackson - Rhymth Nation 1814 (Also on Pitchfork’s best of the decade)
Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen
Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time)
Kate Bush - Sensual World
Madonna - Like a Prayer

Well, that’s 16 albums to cover, which I believe is a new record. No pun intended.

“Nick of Time is the tenth studio album by the American singer Bonnie Raitt, released on March 21, 1989. It was Raitt's first album to be released by Capitol Records. A commercial breakthrough after years of personal and professional struggles, Nick of Time topped the Billboard 200 chart, selling five million copies, and won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which was presented to Raitt and producer Don Was. In 2003, the album was ranked number 229 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, then was re-ranked at number 230 on the 2012 list.”" - Wikipedia

I’m not the biggest straight country guy, and Nick of Time isn’t about to change my mind. I can appreciate Raitt’s songwriting and vocal skills, and she certainly has a knack for melodies, but it’s still not doing a lot for me.

6.5/10

“Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and Prince on the album, with her co-writing and co-producing all the songs. Her most introspective release at the time, Like a Prayer is a confessional record. Madonna described the album as a collection of songs about her mother, father, and bonds with her family. It was dedicated to Madonna's mother, who died when she was young.” - Wikipedia

The production has taken a step-up up since her debut, which we covered in 1983, sounding a bit less like a karaoke backing track, though it still sounds a bit Casio keyboard at points. Like a Prayer sets the tone with some funky flittering guitar work, and while the bass is still a little synthetic, the instrumental sections and overall sound really give the track a sense of scale and emphatically announce the arrival of a really solid pop album. Brass stabs and funky guitar riffs are tastefully lathered throughout, with tracks like Love Song (which features Prince) giving a slightlier edgier resbite to the general pop-fare. It’s not one with much depth to it, mainly because a lot of the music still sounds a bit soul-less, but Madonna’s melodies, and more interesting lyrics make it rise above her debut.

Song Picks: Like a Prayer, Love Song

“Altars of Madness is the debut studio album of Florida-based death metal band Morbid Angel. It was released on May 12, 1989 through Combat Records/Earache Records. The album was recorded in December 1988 at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida. The album is one of the earliest examples of death metal and is considered to have helped pioneer the sound along with Possessed's Seven Churches in 1985 and Death's Scream Bloody Gore in 1987, and set a new precedent for heaviness and extremity, both musically and lyrically. It is one of the most celebrated albums in death metal history, and one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time.” - Wikipedia

This influental business is all very good, but is Altars of Madness still any good? Yes. Though the mix is a bit thin, there’s a pleasing raw garage sound to the thing. Even David Vincent’s vocal sounds like it’s reverberating inside a box of breezeblocks. Peter Sandoval’s drumming is frenetic, and refreshingly off kilter compared to the artificial sound of many of the drums on today’s metal albums, where the perfect snare hit gets pasted across the whole track and other such trickery. This is punk death metal, maaaaan.

Song Picks: Lord of Fevers and Plagues, Suffocation

8/10

“Indigo Girls is the second studio album and first major label release by American folk rock duo the Indigo Girls. It was originally released in 1989 by Epic Records, and reissued and remastered in 2000 with two bonus tracks. Upon its release, the album received mostly positive reviews from critics, went gold after six months and eventually went platinum. The duo was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy (losing to Milli Vanilli, who later vacated the award), and won one for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.” - Wikipedia

It feels like an age since we had some folk-rock so this is a more than welcome addition to the list. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ vocals harmonise beautifully (Michael Stipe’s backing vocals on track 3 are great too), injecting the album’s melodic choruses straight through into your veins (see opener Closer to Fine for what I mean). The acoustic guitar is so crystal clear it feels like it’s caressing your ears, with just the right amount of energy to accompany the prominent vocals, while never overpowering them.

This is just really great, melodic, accessible and heartfelt music.

Song Picks: Closer to Fine, Kid Fears

8/10

“Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson, released on September 19, 1989, by A&M Records. Although label executives wanted material similar to her previous album, Control (1986), Jackson insisted on creating a concept album addressing social issues. Collaborating with songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, she drew inspiration from various tragedies reported through news media, exploring racism, poverty, and substance abuse, in addition to themes of romance. Although its primary concept of a sociopolitical utopia was met with mixed reactions, its composition received critical acclaim. Jackson came to be considered a role model for youth because of her socially conscious lyrics.” - Wikipedia

Growing up, I was a fan of the Michael & Janet Jackson duet ‘Scream’ on Michael Jackson’s History compilation. It had a kind of industrial and grimey riff to it. Rhythm Nation 1814’s heavier tracks are dominated by a similar sound, and they’re my favourites. The blunt social commentary works well with this angrier presentation, but falls flatter for me on some of the slower songs in the album’s second half, where it comes across as a bit cheesy. Thankfully this is only a couple of tracks among the album’s 20. The slower more personal songs such as Lonely and Come Back to Me are effective 80s ballads.

Black Cat wins the award for the most 80s sounding track on the album with a bass drum and snare drum like a battering ram, and a guitar riff that should come free with a really long wig, glorious.

Song Picks: Alright, Rhythm Nation, Black Cat,

8/10

“All Hail the Queen is the debut album by hip-hop artist Queen Latifah. The album was released on November 28, 1989, through Tommy Boy Records. The feminist anthem, "Ladies First" featuring Monie Love remains one of Latifah's signature songs.” - Wikipedia

All Hail the Queen is old-school hip-hop at its best. Infectious beats, notable in particular for their unassuming but bloody fantastic basslines (see opener Dance for Me for a great example). This is the kind of thing you could put on at a house party and have the whole place grooving for its duration. As for Queen Latifah’s rapping, it has a great flow, and I like the rhymes. All Hail the Queen might not be as revolutionary in terms of its lyrical content as some of the decade’s more political hip-hop output, but the whole thing slaps from start to finish, and its a bona fide mood-lifter. When you combine this with the fact female rappers weren’t exactly a dime a dozen in 1989, and she was only 19 at the time of this album’s release, you get a pretty all round impressive piece of hip-hop history.

Also Ladies First is a superb feminist anthem.

Song Picks: Dance for Me, Latifah’s Law, Wrath of My Madness, Ladies First, Queen of Royal Badness, Evil that Men Do

9/10

“Complete Discography is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three EPs, the Out of Step album and Flex Your Head compilation tracks.” - Wikipedia

Ok, it’s not technically an album, more a collection of EPs, but Pitchfork included it on their best albums of the 80s and they know more than me, so I’m counting it too. This punk-rock gem seems to have influenced all the music on Tony Hawk Skater 2’s soundtrack along with much of the 90s alternative scene too. A collection of punchy tracks with bouncy guitar riffs and vocals that seem to be rasped through a megaphone over the relentless din of amp stacks. The whole thing sounds like it might just crash and burn any moment, but they somehow manage to keep the train of carnage reasonably on course, as it obnoxiously smashes everything in its path. Never has an entire band’s back catalogue fit into one hard-hitting sitting in quite this fashion.

Song Picks: Filler, I Don’t Wanna Hear It, In My Eyes,

“The Sensual World is the sixth studio album by the English art rock singer Kate Bush, released on 16 October 1989 by EMI Records. It reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments in excess of 300,000 in the United Kingdom, and Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in the United States.” - Wikipedia

Is the Sensual World the album that best describes its sound with its title? Probably. Bush creates yet another singular sensory experience with unique soundscapes and a voice about as expressive as any we’ve ever had. The Sensual World feels like Bush working well within her capabilities, but in a good way; a way that makes it feel a little more intimate than her other records, something the more personal lyrics help with too. The Sensual World may be more open and honest than anything she had made up to this point, but it still has that trademark fairy-tale dreamlike quality to it, a quality making it disperse on impact like a cloud of stardust.

Song Picks: Love and Anger, The Fog, Deeper Understanding, The Woman’s Work

9/10

“Wrong is the fourth full-length album by Canadian punk rock band Nomeansno. It was released in 1989 through Alternative Tentacles record label.” - Wikipedia

Wrong came out of nowhere and smashed me round the head like a sledgehammer, with every hit’s timing less predictable than the last. Wrong is a punk masterpiece, and a clear influence on the mathier rock bands to come in the 90s and 2000s. Rob Wright’s screams appeal to me more than those in your average death metal band, as I generally prefer screaming to roaring, and the guitar and drum work is superbly intricate and yet still makes you want to jump around. Wrong is one of those albums where instrumental skill is used in tandem with just making damn good music, and not against it. It’s completely ‘wrong’ that most people haven’t heard this… I’ll get my coat.

Song Picks: It’s Catching Up, Rags and Bones

9/10

“The Stone Roses is the debut studio album by English rock band the Stone Roses. It was recorded mostly at Battery Studios in London with producer John Leckie from June 1988 to February 1989. Despite not being an immediate success, the album grew popular alongside the band's high-profile concert performances, which also helped establish them as fixtures of the Madchester and baggy cultural scenes. The record's critical standing also improved significantly in later years, with The Stone Roses now considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time.” - Wikipedia

This album is now so synonymous with the ‘Madchester’ movement, I feel entirely unoriginal even mentioning the fact, and indeed I find it more interesting to talk about the influence this has had on music since its release. Tame Impala, Oasis (and pretty much any britpop band), the Manic Street Preachers (I could go on…) all clearly descend from the Ian Brown led Manchester quartet. I think it’s true that perhaps the album’s most famous track Fool’s Gold, is not a particularly great indication of the rest of the album, and it’s the only one that extensively employs electronic dance beats and synths. The rest of the album features more of a standard rock band formation than many would have you believe. What’s different about The Stone Roses is the dreamy reverb on Brown’s vocals, and the way the guitars drench everything with an emotional fizz. Many have pointed out the similarities the band has to 60s jangle-pop, and I think that’s very true in terms of the melodies and guitar progressions, but the presentation is completely different. The Stone Roses feels like what would happen if you injected the Byrds with a penchant for rave, long meditative instrumental passages, and a need to sound massive. It sounds like the perfect modernising of a classic sound, and it’s one which hasn’t really been modernised much since, quite the achievement for an album over 30 years old.

Song Picks: I am the Resurrection, I Wanna Be Adored, Fool’s Gold

9/10

“Hats is the second studio album by Scottish band The Blue Nile, originally released on 16 October 1989 on Linn Records and A&M Records. After a prolonged delay in which an entire album's worth of work was scrapped, The Blue Nile released Hats to rave reviews, including a rare five-star rating from Q magazine. It also became the band's most successful album, reaching number 12 on the UK album charts and spawning three singles: "The Downtown Lights", "Headlights on the Parade", and "Saturday Night".” - Wikipedia

Hats is the album version of driving through a neon sprinkled city at night-time as a light drizzle patters on the windscreen. It feels meditative, contemplative and full of opportunity. The puddles glow and blur, the wipers go back and forth in time with the distant murmur, and the mind smiles.

We’ve talked a lot about albums being places recently, and if that’s the case, then Hats is where I want to live.

Song Picks: Over the Hillside, Downtown Lights, Headlights on the Parade

9/10

“Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 2 May 1989 by Fiction Records. The record marks a return to the introspective gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of 30, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album.”

I love it when an album ends up being the culmination of everything a band has done before, particularly when what has come before has been a mix of the experimental and the more mainstream. Disintegration is such an album. It’s the Cure’s Abbey Road, its synths are heaven and its melodies as affecting as they’ve ever been. Disintegration’s songs float seamlessly on a plane very much their own.

Song Picks: Lovesong, Closedown

9.5/10

4. Floating Into the Night

Julee Cruise

“Floating into the Night is the debut studio album by American singer Julee Cruise. It was released on September 12, 1989, by Warner Bros. Records, and features compositions and production by Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch. Songs from the album were featured in Lynch's projects Blue Velvet (1986), Industrial Symphony No. 1 (1990), and Twin Peaks (1990–1991).” - Wikipedia

I’ve not seen any of the above Lynch productions (though I am a fan of Mulholland Drive), so this music is all new to me. I feel quite lucky about that, as I’m not sure this album would have hit me the same had I recognised any of it.

Floating Into the Night feels like being completely immersed in a solemn, soft world: Julee Cruise’s vocals are the perfect balance between warm, mysterious, and slightly haunting, while the often simple instrumental backdrop strikes much the same balance. The padded synth taps, the gently plucked guitars, everything seems to disappear into space. It’s an album about atmosphere for sure, but it’s also more than that: with a real melodic beauty to it. Floating into the Night is perfectly titled, as there’s no better way to describe what this beautiful record feels like.

Song Picks: Floating, Falling, Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart, Into the Night,

9.5/10

“3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, released on March 3, 1989 by Tommy Boy Records. It is the first of three collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. The album title comes from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". The album contains the singles "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know". Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It is consistently placed on lists of the greatest albums of all time by noted critics and publications, with Robert Christgau calling it "unlike any rap album you or anybody else has ever heard".” - Wikipedia

While Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was angry rap perfection, De la Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising achieves similar levels of perfection in a much more chill fashion. We’ve got beats as laid back as a mojito on a lilo, and vocals riding waves like Eddie Aikau. While Nations is a marching for equality with its fists in the air, 3 Feet High and Rising is chilling on an urban beach with a ghettoblaster and a can of Pepsi. Both are just as enchanting to listen to.

Song Picks: Magic Number; Eye Know; Me, Myself and I

9.5/10

“Doolittle is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in April 1989 on 4AD. Doolittle was the Pixies' first international release, with Elektra Records as the album's distributor in the United States and PolyGram in Canada. Although it is considered the most accessible Pixies album, Doolittle is often regarded as the band's strongest and greatest work, and has continued to sell consistently well in the years since its release, being certified Gold in 1995 and Platinum in 2018 by the Recording Industry Association of America.” - Wikipedia

More polished and less raw than Surfer Rosa, which is an aspect I didn’t think would necessarily suit the Pixies, but it does. Doolittle is a masterpiece in accessible edginess. The songwriting is constantly engaging, and tracks vary enough to keep you enthralled while sticking within the band’s spontaneous and energetic sounding template. This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, the timelessly simple Here Comes Your Man, and Debaser are probably the album’s best known tracks. They’re superb, but so is everything else on this album, which is where it just pips Surfer Rosa to the post for me, which had a few songs in the second half that dropped slightly below that album’s otherwise high bar.

Doolittle is an album that’s influence echoes through time so much that everything sounds familiar, but in a way that if listening in a vacuum, you’d never guess this was recorded in 1989. It’s a celebration of expression and of creative freedom. As Pitchfork put it in their original best albums of the 1980s list (where this came fourth): “Doolittle is almost senselessly varied—mood-altering hooks, poetically insane lyrics, larynx-demolishing screams and surreal croons, surf, thrash, pop, slow burns and races to the finish line... Let me put it this way: if not for Doolittle, there would be no Pitchfork. In other words, the influence of this record is so vast that, 15 years on, it has altered the course of your life at this very moment.”

Song Picks: Crackity Jones, This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven, Debasser, Hey, I Bleed

“Paul's Boutique is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two years at Matt Dike's apartment and the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Paul's Boutique did not match the sales of the group's 1986 debut Licensed to Ill, and was promoted minimally by Capitol. However, it became recognized as the group's breakthrough achievement, with its innovative lyrical and sonic style earning them a position as critical favorites within the hip-hop community.” - Wikipedia

The Dust Brothers’ sampling work on Paul’s Boutique is fun, effortlessly smooth and flawless. Every beat and groove emits a kind of wholesome joy. It’s like eating 15 spoonfuls of brown sugar with each tasting as fresh as the first. Couple this with Beastie Boys’ unbounded vocal energy, the fact they have more chemistry than a secondary school chemistry lesson, and their enthusiastic and yet often pointed lyricism and you get one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

Any album that rhymes ‘selfish’ with ‘shellfish’ deserves a 10 in my book. Paul’s Boutique oozes slick, it’s the College Dropout of the 80s.

Song Picks: Shake Your Rump, Johnny Ryall, High Plains Drifter, 3-minute rule, Hey Ladies, B-Boy Bouillabaisse, Looking Down the Barrell of a Gun

1980 - Clive's Top Albums of Every Year Challenge

August 03, 2021 by Clive in Clive's Album Challenge, Music, Clive

And so we begin with the 1980s. I’m going to make a couple of changes (don’t worry they’re not that radical!) to the format of these going forward:

I’m going to make a concerted effort to make reviews shorter, so probably more of a summary feel than the song by song narrative I’ve been relying on fairly frequently. I’m still very much finding my review style, something I hope this challenge will help me with, so I’ll keep experimenting with this until I find a style that seems the most ‘me’.
Instead of doing a roundup at the end of a decade, where I check other lists and review any from the decade that have passed me by I’m going to try and incorporate a few from other lists - particularly female artist lists - as I go.

So, before we get onto music, what happened in 1980? Ronald Raegan was elected President of the USA, John Lennon was shot dead in New York City, CNN was launched as the first all-news network and Janice Brown made the first long-distance solar-powered flight in the Solar Challenger.

Onto music, here’s the top 5 rated albums for 1980 on rateyourmusic.com, which - as usual - automatically get added into my list:

#1 Talking Heads - Remain in Light (Also #5 on Pitchfork best of 1980s list)
#2 Joy Division - Closer - (Also #12 on Pitchfork best of 1980s List)
#3 Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
#4 John Williams - Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
#5 Peter Gabriel - Melt (Peter Gabriel 3)

Of course, we can’t stop at five, so I’ve grabbed a few from further down the list:

#6 Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
#9 Rush - Permanent Waves
#12 David Bowie - Scary Monsters
#14 Kate Bush - Never for Ever
#20 The Cure- Seventeen Seconds

Then, in a futile attempt not to miss anything I’m grabbing the below from a mix of Pitchfork’s best of the 80s list (anything from their top 40 not already included), NPR’s greatest albums by female artists list, and a reader version of the same NPR list.

Prince - Dirty Mind (#33 on Pitchfork best of the 1980s list)
The Pretenders - Pretenders (#60 NPR’s 150 Greatest Albums Made by Women list)
X - Los Angeles (#87 NPR’s 150 Greatest Albums Made by Women list)

And finally a recommendation from a friend: The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us.

That brings the total to a hefty 14 albums. I’d best get on with it. Let’s see who emerges victorious.

Black Sabbath’s 9th album is their first without Ozzy Osbourne, and first with replacement vocalist Ronnie James Dio. It’s also where the 2006 band, again featuring Dio on vocals, gets its name from. The album sold well, becoming the band’s third best selling album, and best selling since 1975’s Sabotage. Critically, a lot of reviews at the time seemed to focus on whether it did or didn’t sound like Black Sabbath.

I’d say it doesn’t sound like Black Sabbath massively. Dio can certainly sing, and his style suits well here, but he doesn’t have Osbourne’s vocal charisma in my eyes (or ears), and sounds a bit cookie-cutter 80s metal to me. I think Heaven and Hell is a really enjoyable album, it’s not as interesting or varied as the previous Sabbath albums we’ve looked at, but it is quite infectious. Iommi’s guitar riffs are on point, and his soloing on tacks such as Die Young is stratospheric. Bill Ward’s drumming pounds more than ever, and Butler’s ever reliable bass playing provides a great foundation to everything.

Heaven and Hell sounds a bit like a band that are really bloody good at what they do playing it safe. Everything sounds clean and rather predictable, but their considerable sonic skill still makes it a very fun listen.

Song Picks: Children of the Sea, Heaven and Hell, Lonely is the Word

7.5/10

Rush’s seventh album see them them turning away slightly from longform songs and towards a more radio friendly format, though the closing song, Natural Science, is still over 9 minutes long.

Permanent Waves is probably one of the band’s most accessible albums, opener Spirit of the Radio is one of their most poppy songs, featuring a wavy arpeggio from Alex Lifeson on the electric guitar, and fluttering and yet completely on point drums from Neil Peart. It’s a pop song written by a band with considerable instrumental talent who aren’t afraid to show off. When the instrumental section lifts off and shifts effortlessly between reggae and metal as the track closes, it’s clear the band have lost none of their inventiveness. Lyrics are never Rush’s strongpoint I feel, and it’s the slightly on the nose nature of Freewill - which is otherwise excellent, especially Lee’s high pitched finish, which was the last time he’d sing like that on a recording - and other songs like Entre Nous, that make the album less interesting than it could be in my opinion. On the epic closer, Natural Science, the band focus on what they do best, flitting from one time signature to another like restless children who also happen to be musical virtuosos, it’s another surprisingly moving epic from the band.

Song Picks: Spirt of the Radio, Natural Science

7.5/10

X’s debut album was produced by ex-The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek and ranked at number 286 in Rolling Stones’ best albums of all-time list.

As soon as the starting pistol fires, Los Angeles hits full speed and never lets up. The opener Your Phone’s Off the Hook But You’re Not perfectly displays the band’s unique combination of punk rock and rockabilly in a song about lead singer Exene Cervenka’s sister. Tragically, Exene’s sister died in a car accident on the night of the band’s first gig in support of this album in 1980. The album is energetic, with John Doe and Cervenka’s vocals being consistently great, and working together particularly well on one of the album’s highlights, the haunting The Unheard Music as well as what is quickly becoming one of my famous punk songs The World’s a Mess; It’s in My Kiss, where the rockabilly influence once again adds an unadulterated energy to proceedings.

Inexcusably, in the album’s title track the band drops the ‘N’ word, something an all white band rightly wouldn’t get away with now. The song itself personifies a case of tunnel vision, about someone blaming everyone and everything around them for their problems rather than perhaps once taking a look in the mirror. Apparently the band no longer use the ‘N’ word when performing the song live, changing the lyric to “every Christian and Jew” instead. Unfortunately, it’s still here on the re-release, and somewhat tarnishes what is otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable album.

Song Picks: Your Phone’s Off the Hook But You’re Not, The Unheard Music, The World’s a Mess; It’s in My Kiss

8/10

11. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Dead Kennedys

American punk-rock band Dead Kennedy’s debut album is clearly inspired by the Sex Pistols, and is generally seen as an important album in the hardcore punk genre.

The album is energetic and simple, with much of its appeal being the humour and warble of Jello Biafra’s lyrics and vocals respectively. California Uber Alles is the album’s most famous track, a pop-perfect song about his unfounded belief that California hippy-ism was going to be imposed on the whole of the USA. It’s the only song that prominently features multiple vocal tracks, creating a real punch to the chorus which is further emphasised by East Bay Ray’s searing power chord riffs. It shows Biafra’s vocal energy and humour perfectly. The album’s other banger, Holiday in Cambodia, is a perfect critique of the privileged guy who self-righteously talks about those less fortunate than himself, while never actually doing much to help. The mix isn’t as punchy as California Uber Alles, and again there’s an uncomfortable dropping of the ‘N’ word, but the song is brimming with the liveliness that the band is known for. You could certainly criticise the rest of the tracks for being samey and not all that inventive, but there’s something to be said for the infectious vigour the whole album has. It feels like a musical kick in the arse.

Song Picks: Kill the Poor, California Uber Alles, Holiday in Cambodia.

8/10

Prince’s third album was produced, arranged and composed entirely by Prince in his home studio. He also played the vast majority of the instruments. As you might expect from the title, it’s completely filthy, and is often considered one of the main albums that smashed open the gates for sexually explicit albums and songs in later years.

Quite probably the sexiest album of all time, Dirty Mind is nevertheless a bit too unintentionally comedic to actually be an aphrodisiac. The opening title track sets the tone, managing somehow to be funky and yet entirely on the beat with a synth powering the piece forward like a disco fuelled train. When You Were Mine is one of Prince’s most famous songs, with cracking melody after cracking melody and that synth part combining with the twangy guitar work to create a truly iconic musical moment. Things start to get more comedic as Do It All Night enters the fray. There’s no point me even talking about the subject matter, the title says it all, but that bass part is some of the cheesiest and funkiest disco brilliance I’ve ever heard. Prince’s productions are intricate, and brilliantly measured, which is all the more impressive considering he’s playing most of the instruments here.

It’s difficult to take proceedings particularly seriously as Prince talks about sexual fantasy after sexual fantasy, but damn is this record a lot of fun. It’s rather impossible to sit still, and even trickier to wipe that stupid smile off your face as the album emits a beam of positive energy. Dirty Mind is quite literally ridiculously funky.

Song Picks: Uptown, When You Were Mine

8.5/10

The Pretender’s debut album very much put the band on the musical map, and is regularly mentioned in best albums of all time lists, such as that by Rolling Stone where it came 152nd in the latest iteration.

Pretenders is an intriguing mix of punk - with songs such as the opening Precious with its marching guitars and lively vocals from lead singer Chrissie Hyde - and pop, with hits such as Brass in Pocket and Stop Your Sobbing. Chrissie Hyde is just as at home with either style, and can certainly carry a catchy melody with plenty of personality. There’s a refreshing honesty to all the album’s tracks and Chrissie is unafraid to tackle more promiscuous topics such as on the explicit Tattooed Love Boys. Of the other band members it’s guitarist James Honeyman-Scott who provides the most memorable performances, with his guitar work on Kid being particularly fantastic, from the excellent riffs that follow each verse to the perfect solo that’s just the right side of cheesy. Oh, and there aren’t many better pop songs out there than Brass in Pocket, which blends the band’s punk attitude brilliantly with their growing pop sensibilities.

I think anyone can enjoy Pretenders, it’s a great pop record with some punk smattered in to keep you on your toes.

Song Picks: Stop Your Sobbing, Kid, Brass in Pocket

8.5/10

English rock band The Cure’s second album was their first to yield a UK Top 40 single, A Forest. The band’s lead vocalist and songwriter Robert Smith wrote most of the album’s music and lyrics at his parents’ home on a Hammond organ with a built in tape recorder. Bassist Michael Dempsey didn’t like the direction the band was going in and so left and was replaced by Simon Gallup.

Seventeen Seconds is regularly cited as an early example of gothic rock due to its gloomy atmosphere, and its that atmosphere that makes this record. The album is blurry, undefined, and rumbles along while you fill out the gaps in your mind. Guitar and piano lines are often repeated seemingly endlessly as you’re lifted into a quiet, calming, and ill-lit dream. Robert Smith’s vocals are often barely audible over the instrumentation, a distant, melodic mumble about failing relationships and the endless existential struggle. The album does occasionally pop out of the clouds and hint at The Cure’s poppier side, with songs like Play for Today perfectly demonstrating their penchant for bouncy guitar riffs perfectly accompanying Robert Smith’s quietly tortured vocals, with each as capable of a hook as the other. A Forest provides a slightly murkier demonstration of the same talents.

Seventeen Seconds is not the kind of assertive album to drill your brain with ideas, it’s a more passive, contemplative album for your brain to add its own notes and thoughts, for which it provides a rather gorgeous foundation.

I drown at night in your house
Pretending to swim, pretending to swim

Song Picks: Play for Today, Secrets, A Forest

8.5/10

7. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

David Bowie

David Bowie’s 14th album followed his critically lauded and massively influential Berlin trilogy. Scary Monsters sees Bowie turn to a more commercial sound, with a removal of the more experimental electronic tracks prevalent on particularly the first two albums of the trilogy. Scary Monsters was regularly talked about as Bowie’s last great album, until the releases of The Next Day and Blackstar in 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Scary Monsters feels like a culmination of the poppier aspects of Bowie’s 70s recordings, with catchy melodies, slightly overblown production, and that line between accessibility and weirdness that Bowie always treads so well. Songs like Ashes to Ashes and the bouncy Fashion are perfect examples of this, while Teenage Wildlife treads similar sonic grounds to Heroes, with Robert Fripp’s guitar - which is prevalent on many of the album’s songs - once again providing a perfect dramatic and melodic backdrop to Bowie’s howled vocals in what I think is one of Bowie’s more underrated songs. An album full of 80s pomposity while still being very Bowie, Scary Monsters is somehow both simple and complex at the same time. The sugar rush of a sweet, and the depth of flavour of a good vintage cheddar. Obviously those two things together would be disgusting, but hopefully you get what I mean.

Song Picks: Ashes to Ashes, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), Teenage Wildlife, It’s No Game (Pt. 2)

8.5/10

6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack

John Williams

Composed by John Williams and recorded with him conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, the Star Wars soundtrack is unarguably one of the most iconic soundtracks in cinema, and nowhere is that demonstrated better than in this soundtrack release for Episode V.

Obviously the main theme is quite probably the greatest main theme of all time. Nothing gets my excitement flowing quite like the start of a Star Wars film as the text scrolls and the horns blare out that fabulous, triumphant tune. But it’s the lesser known pieces that make this collection what it is; the gentle, meditative beauty of Yoda’s Theme, the tentative hopefulness of The Training of a Jedi Knight, and the tense, winding The Heroics of Luke and Han. The latter first introduces the famous melody of The Imperial Death March, which is then elaborated on in Darth Vader’s Theme, one of the most perfect pieces ever written for a soundtrack, perfectly capturing the menace that is The Empire, while the gentle flute sections make it clear there’s hope of some humanity beneath the mask.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back does exactly what you’d want a soundtrack to do, it transports you to another world, in this case one of the greatest universes ever created. It’s a cinematic, nostalgic and glorious testament to the power of music in elevating everything, even if that thing is already damn fabulous.

Song Picks: Main Theme, The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme), Yoda’s Theme

9/10

Kate Bush’s third album was the first ever album led by a female artist to enter the UK charts at number 1, and sees her trademark high vocal grace numerous inventive productions - much like her debut.

The album contains three top 20 singles, which summarise the album well. Babooshka, a tale of a woman who poses as someone else to test her husband’s loyalty, and one of Bush’s most famous songs. A great example of how she can make the slightly weird wonderful, with her Babooshka chorus being rather difficult to remove from your head once you’ve heard it. Army Dreamers is a more delicate number, featuring great interplay with Kate Bush’s clear vocal and the murkier male backing vocal, it’s a Waltz that skips along with a sad acceptance of a son’s death in war. The album is closed by Breathing - which is a good example of the effective production present throughout the album - which Bush herself worked on alongside Jon Kelly - skipping from ominous, almost orchestral sounds to a beautiful floating bass and synth section that Bush perfectly complements with a vocal that sails from softly piercing highs, to comforting lows as effortlessly as only she knows how. It’s a masterpiece written from the perspective of a foetus growing in the womb and frightened by nuclear fallout, musically portraying the juxtaposing tone of comfort and fear perfectly.

The rest of the album’s tracks live up to those, continually highlighting Kate Bush’s considerable talent for singing, songwriting, and intrigue. Like a lot of my favourite albums, you never feel like you can grasp it completely, it slides slowly and delicately out of any attempts to catch it.

Song Picks: Breathing, Army Dreamers, All We Ever Look For

9/10

Released two months after Ian Curtis’ suicide, Joy Division’s second album was again produced by Martin Hannett, who’s sound had such a big influence on their first record. As with their debut, it’s regarded as one of the best albums of all time, and particularly important in the post-punk movement.

Closer is as desolate, industrial and bleak as its predecessor, but it’s a little more tight, with less of what could be called ‘jams’. The album opens with Atrocity Exhibition, featuring a rather jolly tom riff from drummer Stephen Morris, which is accompanied by a screeching racket and Curtis’ characteristically deadpan delivery, painting a world of chaos. ‘This is the way, step inside’ he sings as he invites us into the uncomfortable, dissonant noise of his mind. The synth on Isolation is surprisingly catchy, one could even say positive, but Curtis’ detached lyrics about an affair he had on his wife are anything but:

Mother I tried please believe me
I'm doing the best that I can
I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through
I'm ashamed of the person I am

Passover features some of Sumner’s best guitar work, and is a great example of how the band always wrote around the bass and drums, the guitar and vocals providing power from that jumping off point. This is something again evident in the glorious A Means to an End, where Curtis repeats ‘I put my trust in you’ to infinity like a disappointed citizen of the Earth.

By the time we get to the closer, Decades, which again juxtaposes something hopeful - that spritely synth part - with the majority of the track sounding like oblivion itself, it’s been another journey into the a bottomless, dark pit. But one of inescapable beauty.

Song Picks: Isolation, Passover, A Means to an End, Twenty Four Hours

9/10

The debut album by American punk rock band The Cramps was recommended to me for inclusion on this list by my good friend Alasdair.

Let’s be honest, the rock ‘n’ roll that shocked and offended many of our ancestors now sounds pretty tame. Songs the Lord Taught is perhaps as close as we’ll get to understanding how they felt in the 1950s. Although the album’s influences are clearly rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly, their smothered in so much grime that they become barely recognisable. On the cover of Jimmy Stewart’s Rock on the Moon the guitar is treated with so much echo and reverb that its tight percussive sound becomes a mush only just recognisable as a rock ‘n’ roll riff, and yet still infinitely danceable. Lux Interior’s vocals have great immediacy and freedom to them which complement the band’s messy theatrics perfectly. On Garbageman, the instrumental section in the middle sounds like some sort of garbage disposal centre; crunching, full of sludge and undefined. Interior’s vocals blend in perfectly, like a man who’s just walked into this monstrosity and decided to spontaneously howl along to the centre’s futile attempts to deal with capitalism’s waste. Producer Alex Chilton called the band the night before the album was due to be mastered asking them to re-record the whole thing. Obviously, they refused, and it’s that insistence on being an unfiltered version of themselves that makes this album the messy and unfettered piece of timeless brilliance that it is.

Songs the Lord Taught Us is quite unlike anything else, but while that often comes hand in hand with something being challenging to listen to, I don’t think that’s the case here. Buried beneath the wholesome mud are accessible melodies and riffs that anyone could enjoy, and indeed this is one of the most straight up enjoyable albums I’ve ever heard. A cathartic reminder that even when utter chaos unfolds in front of you - as I’m sure it did during these recording sessions - just going with the flow is sometimes the best thing to do.

Song Picks: Fever, Garbageman,

9/10

Talking Heads’ fourth album, and final album produced by Brian Eno, sees the band experimenting with polyrhythms and funk heavily inspired by Fela Kuti. Regularly considered the band’s magnum opus, it features more side musicians than any of their previous albums.

Remain in the Light is a whirlwind of grooves starting with the perfectly produced and grooviest song ever written about the Watergate scandal, Born Under Punches, and finishing with the eerie and sparse The Overload. It’s a journey of musical creativity, never afraid to repeat itself to burrow its ideas deep in your brain, and punctuated by enigmatic and spontaneous vocal performances from Byrne. These combine perfectly with his new stream of consciousness lyrical style, something he adopted due to struggles with writer’s block, as well as due to inspiration from early rap and African academic literature. The band are on infectious top form and the Fela Kuti afrobeat influence is obvious, but it's the unexpected touching moments like the darkly atmospheric Listening Wind, featuring some superb howling guitar work from Adrian Belew, that makes Remain in the Light not just an album of enjoyable tunes, but an album of continual intrigue and mystique. I had to read into them to work out what many of the album’s songs were about, but I’d actually advise against that. Byrne’s bursts of lyrical energy plant images and ideas in your mind that differ with each spin of the record. It seems to morph into whatever you most need that day, and for that reason it’s one of those albums that’ll be a companion for life.

Song Picks: Born Under Punches, Listening Wind, Once In a Lifetime

9.5/10

1. Peter Gabriel III (Melt)

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel’s third solo album is technically called ‘Peter Gabriel III’, but has taken on the name ‘Melt’ due to its cover art. Melt is widely thought of as Gabriel’s breakthrough album as a solo artist, demonstrating his willingness to push things in new directions.

Melt feels like the perfect introduction to the 80s. It kicks of with Intruder, which triumphantly introduces us to the sound of the decade, a gated snare drum played by Gabriel’s former bandmate Phil Collins. Collins features on many of the albums tracks and even performs a very ‘In the Air Tonight’ fill on No Self Control. Gabriel’s vocals are engaging throughout, showing much more variation than any of his Genesis work with everything from a resigned croak on the aforementioned Intruder, to a triumphant scream on the powerful And Through the Wire. Production wise it’s colourful, with saxophones (yes, I told you this was 80s), xylophones, synths and a whole heap of guitar effects creating a futuristic, dramatic atmosphere. The album is notable for the way it nails its crescendos - No Self Control’s nearly takes your head off for example - and how it manages to nail drama while somehow not quite dropping into the cheese that most of the music attempting the same in the 80s did. There’s echoed saxophones on Start, reverb worthy of the world’s largest cathedral on No Self Control and cascading power chords on I Don’t Remember. It all threatens to become too much, to collapse under its own sense of pomposity, but it never does. Every song hits an all-conquering home-run, flooding life into fatigued veins. It embraces the dark, and then obliterates it with light, finishing with a magnificent ode to the murdered anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, a seven and a half minute call to arms which finishes, most fittingly, with two gated snare drum blasts. The 80s are here my friends, the 80s are here. Melt is an ambitious, perfectly executed album that’s a perfect representation of its decade.

You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher

Song Picks: And Through the Wire, No Self Control, Family Snapshot

9.5/10