Best Ever Albums

Round 19: 1990

dihansse — Wed, 8 Apr 2026 16:02:50 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 04/08/2026 20:02

Two albums of 1990 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990) by Sinéad O'Connor
I always considered The Lion And A Cobra a masterpiece and that's maybe why I have never thought much about this second album as it's completely different from the first one. But after listening to it again I have to admit that this is also, maybe not a masterpiece, but definitely a great album. The general tone of the album is maybe a bit softer (although: if you listen to The Emperor's New Clothes) but that doesn't minimize the intensity: although Nothing Compares To You it's still very emotional but the best track on this level You Cause As Much Sorrow in which you can just sense the emotions put into it. So also a very good album and after that it all went a bit downhill but this album moves up from the 53rd to the 31st rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Hey Spinner! (1990) by Able Tasmans
Again an NZ offspring from that great Flying Nun label with songs that are inspired by The Byrds, The Chills and so many other bands. The Theory of Continual Disappointment is even a mix between Krautrock and The Velvet Underground. All in all not a bad one and enters my year chart at the 61st rank.

Round 19: 1989

dihansse — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 16:12:13 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 04/06/2026 20:12

Two album of1989 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

President Yo La Tengo (1989) by Yo La Tengo
To me this is the start of the real YLT and covers tracks which are slow and languid in the best VU tradition like Alyda and real feedback tracks like Orange Song and of course one of those long signature YLT tracks like The Evil That Men Do (Pablo's Version). This is the kind of albums that made me love this band (and their live shows) and it moves up from the 23th to the 15th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:
Unfortunately I was only able to find a few tracks I could listen to from the third album of Death of Samantha so I had to choose another one:

The Years Of Decay (1989) by Overkill
I was really doubting if I should add this Overkill album in my year chart. First the voice of the singer is becoming a bit annoying and the first few tracks feel rather derivatives and seem to trash versions of children's songs and that also goes for the longest track Playing With Fire/Skullcrusher which seems to go in all kinds of directions except the right one. That all changes starting from Birth Of Tension which feels like a real trash song as well as Who Tends The Fire and then it feels like it's going wrong again with the title track which starts as one of those over the top metal slows which are just too over the top when the tracks arrives in trash territory it seems that it works somehow.
Overall I was really doubting but decided against adding this one to my year chart. I know many Overkill fans regard this as their best album I think they have made better ones.

Round 19: 1988

dihansse — Sat, 4 Apr 2026 15:31:02 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 04/04/2026 19:31

My 2 choices for 1988 are:

An album I already own/know:

Isn't Anything (1988) by My Bloody Valentine
I must admit this album is a bit more in my league than Loveless but there's so much shoegaze band I love more than MBV so this album doesn't end very high either but nevertheless goes from the 50th to the 42nd rank of 1988.

And an album from my wishlist:

Where The Women Wear The Glory And The Men Wear The Pants (1988) by Death Of Samantha
And another album from this American underground band (wink wink) led by Dave Petkovic and Doug Gillard and again a very good one with Harlequin Tragedy and Blood Creek as the two highlights. It enters my year chart at the 24th rank.

Round 19: 1987

dihansse — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:03:21 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/31/2026 20:03

Two albums of 1987 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Warehouse: Songs And Stories (1987) by Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü is my favorite band and Zen Arcade and Flip You Wig are my two favorite albums of all times. Which also means that I sometimes forget to listen to their last two albums and especially to this last double album of theirs which was a great pleasure to again listen to. It's clear that Bob Mould and Grant Hart could drink each other's blood at this stage and some of the songs seem to be already meant for their post-HD period but wow this is still a magnificent album. Unlike the two aforementioned ones, this one doesn't contain one of my absolute favorite tracks of the band but it certainly has enough tracks which follow just after that, even six of them. And although most people including me think that Bob Mould was the better songwriter and performer, Grant Hart also contributes a lot here like on the wonderful Charity, Chastity, Prudence and Hope. And the album and the band ends with a bang: the desparately rocking You Can Live At Home, also by Grant Hart. At this time Hüsker Dü was nearing its expiry date with bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Pixies stepping in their footsteps but here they showed they could end in greatness and the album goes from the 14th to the 5th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Lolita Nation (1987) by Game Theory
This is a fairly peculiar album. Allmusic keeps on insisting it's heavily indebted to Big Star and of course that's partly true but it's weirder than that. First of all it consists of a whopping 27 tracks with a lot of short snippets and a number of not really good track. But cut through those weeds and you end up with a more than decent album with highlights like The Waist And The Knees, Nothing New and Chardonnay. I don't really know the band very well but it's worth discovering more. This album ends up at the 43rd rank.

Round 19: 1986

dihansse — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 09:24:34 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/28/2026 13:24

Two albums of 1986 I listened to:

Skylarking (1986) by XTC

I still like the more punky Black Sea better but this is a very consistent good old pop album with a lot of musicality. No real highlights or hits here (Dear God is no part of this album) but the overall album goes from the 34th to the 23rd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Strungout On Jargon (1985) by Death Of Samantha
And as promised starting my discovery of the music of bands Cleveland guitar player/singer John Petkovic played in and in fact also his long time mate Doug Gillard: so I will focus on the two of them. Their first band together was Death Of Samantha (the band name comes from a Yoko Ono song) they started in 1983 and this was their first full album which I only found on Youtube. But a great album it is: it has a real punkish atmosphere but also has good songs and hooks. Coca Cola & Licorice, the opening song of the album had already made a name for itself and has indeed a good baseline. And from there it goes on with lots of good DIY like tracks which promises the best for the rest of their career and I think Repo agrees. This album immediately enters my year chart at the 29th rank.

Round 19: 1985

dihansse — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:32:49 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/25/2026 21:32

Two albums of 1985 I listened to:
First an album I already own/know:

This Nation's Saving Grace (1985) by The Fall
I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with this band which is often described as similar to Pavement. But if I had to choose I certainly wouldn't choose The Fall. But nevertheless this band and this album have their place in rock history and there are certainly some good songs here. And the album moves up from the 36th to the 32nd rank of 1985.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Evening Visits... And Stays For Years (1985) by The Apartments
The Apartments are a peculiar band fronted by a peculiar singer who was a very peculiar singing voice which cannot really be described as pleasant. But somehow a lot of songs have sort of an appeal and that is best proved by Mr. Somewhere which was also fantastically covered by This Mortal Coil. Conclusion: a good but not a great album which enters my year chart at the 37th rank.

Round 19: 1984

dihansse — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:20:13 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/23/2026 21:20

Two albums of 1984 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Couldn't Stand The Weather (1984) by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
This is a very decent album by Stevie Ray Vaughn, one of the better blues guitar players as his magnificent cover of Voodoo Chile proves (if you ever have the chance to seen one of his versions on Youtube...). There are a few other covers on this album and they all sound good but his own songs prove he was also a good songwriter: just listen to that wonderful jazzy Stang's Swang. Which means this album moves up from the 34th to the 22nd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Icicle Works (1984) by The Icicle Works
One of those positive albums in the style of Echo and The Bunnymen, The Alarm, The Sound and also U2 and Simple Minds but never with the popularity of those bands. It's true the songs are not really memorable but still very much alright as Love Is A Wonderful Color, In The Cauldron of Love, A Factory In The Desert and Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream) and Nirvana prove. And Ian McNabb was going to do better on his solo albums. This album enters my year chart at the 42nd rank.
And btw: this day is also the 42nd anniversary of this album: speaking of coincidences.

Round 19: 1983

dihansse — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 17:08:08 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/21/2026 21:08

Two albums of 1983 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

War (1983) by U2
Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Years Day are the U2 songs I really love. The rest of the album is good but not great but certainly more than filler so this album remains at the 15th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

In Heat (1983) by The Romantics
Only the hits One In a Million and especially Talking In you Sleep are OK. The rest doesn't really stick out so not an album for my year chart.

Round 19: 1982

dihansse — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 16:31:51 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/10/2026 20:31

Two albums of 1982 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Imperial Bedroom (1982) by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
This must be one of his best albums. As on all his best albums there is a really good ballad and here it is Man Out Of Time although it doesn't always succeed in being a ballad. But there's also the jazzy Almost Blue. Beyond Belief, Shabby Doll and The Loved Ones are typical Costello songs in which he just shows his great talent in writing those amazing songs. So for me a masterpiece which goes up from the 12th to the 7th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

...Famous Last Words... (1982) by Supertramp
This is the last Supertramp album with Roger Hodgson as a singer and a composer so it's clear that after this it could only go downhill. But Many people also consider this album as not good at all because too polished. And in a way it is but Supertramp has never been a wild band and I can't help but like it very much; not as dearly so their main albums but that's difficult I suppose. In Europe the band had only one hit with this album: It's Raining Again which is already very much ok but there's a few others with C'est Le Bon (only tarnished by the incredibly bad French) and the great closer Don't Leave Me Now. Still a good album but I guess it would be their last and this one ends at the 31st rank.

Round 19: 1981

dihansse — Sun, 8 Mar 2026 17:34:24 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/08/2026 21:34

Two albums of 1981 I listened to:

Dare (1981) by The Human League
The synths on this album sound really dated. And the synths are exactly what makes this album great together with the special voice of Phil Oakey which sounds warm and cold at the same time. And of course the album is brimful with hits and still great hits like, well like nearly all the tracks; except a few ones which are also not very good. I can't help but still like this album very much although maybe I shouldn't and it moves up from the 50th to the 45th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Rage In Eden (1981) by Ultravox
This album has one great track which is also the only single I know of the album: The Voice. I know there are a lot of lovers of this album but to me it's is ok but not great as a whole. And enters at the 52nd rank.

Re: Round 19: 1980

dihansse — Sun, 8 Mar 2026 17:21:19 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/08/2026 21:21

Romanelli wrote:

dihansse wrote:

And an album from my wishlist:

Beat Crazy (1980) by Joe Jackson Band
Another very enjoyable album by Joe Jackson whose music style ranges from punk to dance hall but always in the typical Joe Jackson style which can't be compared to someone else's. On this album there isn't much punk any more but a song like Beat Crazy still shows a lot of energy. But Joe Jackson has a knack for wonderful ballads and there is also one on in this album: One To One and easily the best track of the album. As a whole it enters my year chart at the 41st rank.

Don't sleep on this track...one of Jackson's greatest assets has always been his bass player, Graham Maby. He absolutely burns this track:

Link

I can't see the YouTube thing because of regional prohibitions but I see that you mean Someone Up There which has indeed a great bass line.`

Re: Round 19: 1980

Romanelli — Sat, 7 Mar 2026 17:02:46 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 03/07/2026 22:02

dihansse wrote:

Don't sleep on this track...one of Jackson's greatest assets has always been his bass player, Graham Maby. He absolutely burns this track:

Link

Round 19: 1980

dihansse — Sat, 7 Mar 2026 15:36:31 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/07/2026 20:36

Two albums of 1980 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Kaleidoscope (1980) by Siouxsie And The Banshees
Siouxie and The Banshees were one of those punk band which weren't really punk. You could call them goth but their music goes beyond that and just represents its own (dark) style which is the best thing you can aim for as a band. This album doesn't have anything to do anymore with punk and a song like Happy House just shows how stylish they could be. The other classic on this album is Christine (to which you immediately connect The Strawberry Girl) and also the rest of the album is good so it moves up from the 34th to the 23rd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Beat Crazy (1980) by Joe Jackson Band
Another very enjoyable album by Joe Jackson whose music style ranges from punk to dance hall but always in the typical Joe Jackson style which can't be compared to someone else's. On this album there isn't much punk any more but a song like Beat Crazy still shows a lot of energy. But Joe Jackson has a knack for wonderful ballads and there is also one on in this album: One To One and easily the best track of the album. As a whole it enters my year chart at the 41st rank.

Round 19: 1979

dihansse — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 16:05:17 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/02/2026 21:05

Two albums of 1979 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Communiqué (1979) by Dire Straits
One of those great Dire Straits albums maybe with less hits (with the exception of Lady Writer) than on their other albums but to me again a top album. Apart from Lady Writer the absolute highlight on this album is Where Do You Think You're Going? which has a fantastic groovy ending. For me as much as a classic as their other classic albums and it goes from the 9th to the 3rd rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

New Values (1979) by Iggy Pop
Released as a real solo album after his great collaborations with David Bowie. And however much I like the rest of his ongoing solo career, this album does absolutely nothing for me. I just don't find any memorable songs (maybe the title song is the best). So all in all: no, nothing for my 1979 year chart.

Re: My discoveries per year

dihansse — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 15:56:57 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 03/02/2026 20:56

Thx for the reactions MadhattanJack and Repo. MJ, I agree that I made a lot of shortcuts in describing the careers of the two bands but I tried to focus on the three people I wanted to highlight: Pete Shelley, Howard Devoto and Steve Diggle. Of course I agree with you on the quality of first three Magazine albums but I admit I still have to listed to Magic, Murder and The Weather and No Thyself to form my own opinion on their other albums. And not to be forgotten Shelley and Devoto also made an album together under the fantastic band name ShelleyDevoto and released the album BuzzKunst in 2002, also still on my wishlist.
And @Repo, of course Fiction Romance is one of the greatest punk songs ever. I both adore The Buzzcocks and Magazine (at least their first three albums) and I'm sure that you'd like Magazine as well: it's a bit more relying on synthesizers but to me they do have the punk spirit as well but flavored with a bit of artrock (hence the part Kunst in the aforementioned collaboration album).

Re: My discoveries per year

Repo — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:38:54 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 02/26/2026 16:38

The Buzzcocks are easily one of my favorite Punk Rock bands. I worship their first three albums & of course that singles comp. My favorite is AMIADK. "Fiction Romance" is my jam and a desert island single for me. I bought their box set Product the week it came out and just adored it the packaging. Probably one of the best Box Sets ever released.

What's weird considering how much I love Post-Punk, is that I never could really get into Magazine. 🤷‍♂️

Is there a truly GREAT Buzzcocks album after the first three?!?! 🤔 I've never heard anything even close to the the quality of their '70s stuff, but tbh I don't think I've tried that hard.

Re: My discoveries per year

MadhattanJack — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 18:53:16 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 02/25/2026 23:53

dihansse wrote:

So this all started with The Buzzcocks being formed as a punk band in the middle of the start of the punk wave by three names to remember: Pete Shelley who had his roots in the metal scene, Howard Devoto and joined a bit late by the bass player Steve Diggle whom they met a Sex Pistols show.

This is actually a slight problem, data-wise. Diggle did play bass on the Spiral Scratch EP before they hired Garth Smith, at which point Diggle moved to the guitar. That lineup recorded the "Orgasm Addict" single, but then Garth quit (probably due to withdrawal symptoms), so then they brought in Barry Adamson (who at that point was already in Magazine) to fill in for a few gigs. Adamson doesn't appear on any Buzzcocks recordings at all. Then they hired Steve Garvey, and that became their "classic" lineup despite Garvey having to split time between the band and playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Discogs page goes into even more detail about this... 🤔

The problem here is that we've got Barry Adamson listed as a Buzzcocks member on BEA's Buzzcocks page, which seems wrong because he was only a temporary fill-in guy. (Devoto is listed too, but at least he was on that first EP.) I don't know what the rules are for this, but personally, I'd remove Adamson from the list.

Quote:

Pete Shelley became the main leader of The Buzzcocks wit lots of up and downs (including splits and reunions) but unfortunately died in 2018. After that Steve Diggle became the front man and they still released a number of good albums.

Well... they only made one, Sonics In The Soul, prior to the new one they released a couple of weeks ago. The new one is pretty good, but Sonics In The Soul is... well, I won't say "terrible," but it should really be their lowest-ranked album.

Quote:

What do you think is the best of the two or do you think the two bands have better albums.-?

I'm more of a Different Kind of Tension guy, myself. But as for the Magazine albums, the first three are all equally great if you ask me. After that they fell off a cliff and never recovered! It was actually kind of heartbreaking at the time, since they'd been one of my favorite bands. 😢

Round 19: 1978

dihansse — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:50:08 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/25/2026 21:50

These are the albums of 1978 I listened to:
Two albums I already own/know:
Why 2 albums? Because it's good to have a competition between two debut albums that are linked an which are both contender for best album of the year and they are:

Another Music In A Different Kitchen (1978) by Buzzcocks
and

Real Life (1978) by Magazine
So this all started with The Buzzcocks being formed as a punk band in the middle of the start of the punk wave by three names to remember: Pete Shelley who had his roots in the metal scene, Howard Devoto and joined a bit late by the bass player Steve Diggle whom they met a Sex Pistols show.
So they started as a punk band but even before the above first full album was released Howard Devoto left the band because he didn't like the way in which The Buzzcocks were moving to form Magazine which was more post punk/art rock and more centered on keyboards although the guitar sound was still there. Many things happed to the two bands in-between but where I want to come to is that Pete Shelley became the main leader of The Buzzcocks wit lots of up and downs (including splits and reunions) but unfortunately died in 2018. After that Steve Diggle became the front man and they still released a number of good albums. And that's how I saw them live a week ago in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.
And somehow, I don't know exactly why, I didn't really like the show. Diggle and his surrounding younger band members showed a lot of energy but somehow they gave a tired impression. They played a lot of tracks from their more recent albums but it was only when they played (and there were not enough of those) their older songs that the concert really exploded.
This all to say that I love the two albums to pieces (The Buzzcocks also released Love Bites that year but that one will be for later) and before I relistened to both, Another Music was at the 2nd rank and Real Life at the 4th.

First Another Music:
The big hit on this album was Fast Cars (not even played at the concert) and what a good and fast song that is. The other major hit at the time but not on the original version of the album was Orgasm Addict, another punk anthem. But the number of punk classics on this album is countless and I consider it as one of the major punk classics.

And then Real Life also with one signature song: Shot By Both Sides but also Motorcade, Light Pours out of Me and Parade are classics. Especially the latter is special as it is very slow and contains all the synth bleeps that in other songs would be considered wrong but here they absolutely work.

And you know what, both albums have about the same score but Real Life wins by a small margin and ends up as the best album of the year and Another Music as the second.
What do you think is the best of the two or do you think the two bands have better albums.-?

And there is also an album from my wishlist I listened to:

Ace Frehley (1978) by Ace Frehley
At this moment in their career the four members of Kiss decided to each do a solo album and the general consensus is that this is the best of the four. I must say I'm not a big fan of Kiss and their juvenile lyrics are also to heard on this solo album. The guitars are ok but not very original and the songs can be compared with the general Kiss fodder. So all in all not a great album in my view but it still ends up at the 55th rank of the year.

Round 19: 1977

dihansse — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:56:18 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/24/2026 20:56

Two albums of 1977 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Talking Heads: 77 (1977) by Talking Heads
I would call this one of the greatest debut albums better. The signature sound that the band obviously had was already fully formed with this album and already had the fantastic songs and the great rhythm that would be developed more in their latter albums.
To sum up:
Psycho Killer is one of their greatest classics and will live on for ever
Pulled Up and The Book I Read are near classics
New Feeling, Tentative Decisions, No Compassion and Don't Worry About the Government are also highlights
And the rest of the album is also great.
So with this first album they already topped most of the competition so no wonder that it moves up from the 14th to the 5th rank of this for me one of the most important and pivotal years in rock music.

And an album from my wishlist:

Rock City (1977) by Riot
This is the debut album by this band which was somehow influential in the hardrock metal scene and also formed somewhat of a bridge between the two scenes. There's clearly still a big influence from bands like UFO or Boston (although the guitars are good but not as fantastic as the ones in Boston but the twin guitar attack here does appeal) while songs like Warrior or Overdrive already shows the beginnings after what would later be called speed metal. I don't really find excellent tracks here but overall this is a very solid debut which enters my year chart at the 38th rank of the year.

Round 19: 1976

dihansse — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:49:51 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/23/2026 20:49

Two albums of 1976 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Coney Island Baby (1976) by Lou Reed
One of the iconic Lou Reed albums with a few iconic tracks like the title track, She's My Best Friend and in my view especially that special track Kicks. Overall this album doesn't contain one average track so it's normal that it goes from the 6th to the 5th rank of 1976.

And in this year Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel released two albums so I listened to both of them:

Timeless Flight (1976) by Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel
Overall not a bad album but it lacks some real outliers and just good enough to enter my year chart at the 40th rank of the year.
And:

Love's A Prima Donna (1976) by Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel
This album contains two good tracks: the title tracks and a great cover of the Beatles' Here Comes The Sun. But besides that this album only contains in my view absolute mediocre tracks. Which makes me conclude that a nice hit and a cover song are not enough to make this a good overall album so I decided not to include this album in my year chart.
So all in all I should maybe conclude that this band had some really good hits but nothing much more so it suffices to stick with the greatest hits album.
After that the band broke up and Steve Harley started a solo career. From what I'm reading he continued in the main direction he took with his last album so I don't think I will do the effort to follow the rest of his career. If somebody thinks there is a worthwhile solo album which deserves to be listened to please let me know.