My discoveries per year
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #701
- Posted: 01/12/2020 19:47
- Post subject: 1990 and Comes A Time
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Before I go to 1990 I just want to talk albout something else. On his own website www.neilyoungarchives.com Neil Young is gradually introducing all his albums (and there are many to his website in his own high resolution format he also uses on his Pono player. Each week or so he's including another album for free and I try to follow it. This week it was this album:
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Comes A Time by Neil Young
I remember that on May 26th 2016 on this very own blog I listened to this album and categorized it as a near miss on the basis that it was too country-is. And I still think the same way although I do think now I should include it in my 1978 top chart not only because of the title track which is one of his best slower songs but also because of Goin' Back and Lotta Love. There's still a lot of tracks I really don't like much but there enough here to make me introduce it at the 39th rank of my 1978 year chart.
And then the two albums I chose for 1990:
An album I own:
Goo by Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth has four masterpieces and this album is their fourth ranked (after Daydream Nation, Sister and Dirty) and after listening to it again it remains this way. But I increased the score and the rank of this album considerable and it rises from rank 7 to 3 of the year. This album counts three of my absolute favorite tracks ever: Dirty Boots, Titanium Exposé and one of the most underrated SY tracks featuring Kim in a big and very raw way: Cinderella's Big Score. This is just a classic album.
So it was difficult dilemma to choose a matching album on my wishlist and this was the best I could come up with:
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Kerosene Man by Steve Wynn
This is Steve Wynn's first album as a solo artist after his career in the Dream Syndicate and I must say this album is not really on par with the old Syndicate albums and has not the quality yet of this following solo albums to come. But the first two tracks are hits: Tear's Won't Help is a bit in the tradition of the tracks with his old band and Carolyn is a good forebode of his new career. And there are some other good tracks on it but in general still a bit subpar although it's able to position itself at the 32nd rank of 1990.
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dihansse
dihansse
Profile
- #702
- Posted: 01/13/2020 21:41
- Post subject: 1991
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1991 is a year where I already listened to a lot of albums because of a thread a year or two ago where 1991 albums were the topic. But still some albums to listen to and these are my two choices:
An album in my collection at the lower end of my list:
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Everclear by American Music Club
I underestimated this album in my collection a bit (was at the lowest rank of my 1991 year list) but in fact this is a good one especially on their best and I suppose also their radio friendliest track Rise. So it moved up to the 52nd rank of the year.
An album on my wishlist:
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In The Presence Of Greatness by Velvet Crush
This is a very good power pop album in the best tradition of Big Star but especially The Posies and Teenage Fanclub. There are a few tracks on this album which are not only good but really good like Window To The World, Blind Faith, Speedway Baby and the slow burner Asshole. Earns a place at the 23rd rank of this already really good year in rock music.
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dihansse
dihansse
Profile
- #703
- Posted: 01/14/2020 20:28
- Post subject: 1992
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These are my 2 choices for 1992:
From my album collection:
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Magnapop by Magnapop
In these times it would be demeaning to call this one of my favorite girl bands: it's just one of my favorite rock bands. This is still a collection of early singles and outtakes but what a collection. Just listen to their cover of 13 and you'll know what I mean. An album filled with very fine songs like Merry, Garden and other short titles. An album that deserves its 7th rank of the year.
From my wishlist:
Bruiser by Eggs
A lot of the albums on my wishlist come from albums in other appreciated members top chart and there's a lot of those recs coming from Tilly's year charts and this is one of them. I suppose you can sum up this album as unpolished and that's what it is both in the singing and the instrumentation and sometimes this results in great tracks like This Party Never Ends. It's a good and for the moment not great album but that could change and at the moment it lands at the 47th spot of my 1992 albums.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #704
- Posted: 01/15/2020 17:58
- Post subject: 1993
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My two choices for 1993 are:
An album I own:
Where You Been by Dinosaur Jr.
I'm a fan of Dinosaur Jr and although it's not my favorite album it's up to me the one which is at the same the most diverse (it even contains a few slows) and the same time one of his most solo record like albums (the first album after the departure of Lou Barlow, Green Mind, was a bit too uneven to be called that. In any case the opening duo is amongst the best the band has made with Out There and Start Choppin' and after that the album remains no less than great. I fiddled around a bit with the scores but the album moves down from the fifth to the sixth rank of my year chart of 1993.
An album on my wishlist:
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Famous Last Words by Al Stewart
And another Al Stewart album and again not his best period in which his music still sounds a bit like muzak although he continues to touch on great themes like the central track Trains which mixes in very clever way the personal level and the overall historic level of trains going to concentration camps. But also this song is a bit dull on a musical level. So not one for my year chart of 1993.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #705
- Posted: 01/22/2020 20:33
- Post subject: 1994
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I chose these 2 albums for 1994:
An album I own:
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Living Room by Cell
You have to get a bit used to the voice of the singer of this great US band who only made two great albums Slo Blo and this magnificent sophomore effort. So once you get used to the sometimes over the top singing you realize that it fits very nicely into the songs which are a great legacy of the nineties. One of my all-time favorite album tracks is to be found on this album: Sad & Beautiful with its great riffs and anthemic singing. I upscaled some of the tracks I liked less so this album climbs from the 35th to the 14th rank of my 1994 chart, again one of the best years in rock music.
An album on my wishlist:
Promenade by The Divine Comedy
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Neil Hannon and his band and in many cases it's the latter. He's able to write great songs and sometimes his crooning gives something special to his orchestrated songs. On this album the orchestration is driven over the top and the songs really aren't there so this is one of those miss albums. Only one of the last songs on the album, Tonight We Fly has a bit of inspiration. So not one I would consider including in the year chart of 1994.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #706
- Posted: 01/22/2020 21:57
- Post subject: 1995
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And here are my 2 choices for 1995 albums:
An album I own:
Pacer by The Amps
When you first hear this album, you think, this really sounds like the Breeders and Kim Deal until... you discover this is Kim Deal. While her sister Kelly was recovering from booze and drugs Kim started this intermediary band which produced just this terrific albums the Breeders never made.
It starts off with one of these vintage Kim Deal mellow songs, the title track to go on with one of those vintage Breeders full throttle songs Tippled City to proceed immediately to the best song of the album and one of my all time favorites I Am Decided. So definitely one of the best Breeders albums and it even climbs from the 14th to the 8th rank of 1995.
An album on my wishlist and in fact it can't be on my BEA wishlist because it isn't created yet on BEA but since it's an Al Stewart record I listened to it:
Between The Wars by Al Stewart
This is one of the Al Stewart albums with the most historic references and that's saying a lot because that's true for most of his albums. But on top of that the album also has an old sound and that doesn't do it a lot of good. There is one good track, Three Mules, and a few other decent ones but not enough to include this one in my 1995 chart. So I chose not to create it on this site either. If someone wants to, feel free: some of you might like it more than I did.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #707
- Posted: 01/25/2020 22:00
- Post subject: 1996
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These are my two choices for 1996 albums:
An album I own:
After Murder Park by The Auteurs
This has been a bit of an underrated album by me and I especially rediscovered 4 consecutive gems here: Unsolved Child Murder, Married To A Lazy Lover, Buddha and Tombstone. And it jumps from the 51st to the 25th rank on my 1996 year chart.
An album on my wishlist:
Saturnalia by The Wedding Present
Listening to The Wedding Present makes me happy and listening to this album makes me happy. Allmusic states that they're on their return with this one and their best albums are indeed behind them but this is still a very fine one with both the distinct fast guitar playing and some slower songs of which Montreal is the highlight. It goes to 32nd rank on my 1996 top chart. And I can't repeat enough what a good and underrated band this is.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #708
- Posted: 01/27/2020 20:40
- Post subject: 1997
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My two choices for 1997 are:
An album I own:
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Johan by Johan
For once I'll quote Allmusic.com: "The first album by the Dutch pop quartet Johan didn't make a lot of noise outside the Netherlands, which is a shame because its mix of indie-guitar nervousness, power pop hooks, and retro-pop sophistication is absolutely terrific. " I might even be the only person in Belgium who likes them and we are just south of the Netherlands, but I couldn't agree more with the above comment and they would become even better on their next albums (the last one dates from 2018). And after listening back to the album it moves up from the 16th to 12th rank on my year chart.
An album on my wishlist:
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The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified by The Dismemberment Plan
I don't really see the connection with Talking Heads but they do have connections with bands like the Fall and Pavement but don't seem to have the genius of those two bands. They sure don't take themselves to serious and I like the general sound but the album lacks really good songs, all but the final one on the album: the very Long Respect Is Due which builds up to an impressive finale. But that's just not enough to make me want to include this one in my year chart.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #709
- Posted: 01/28/2020 20:34
- Post subject: A
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My choices for 1998 are:
From my collection:
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1965 by The Afghan Whigs
I like their first albums more than this last record of the Afghan Whigs but I think I underestimated it a bit. It's more soulful and less rock than their former albums but that's not necessarily a bad thing: just listen to the undeniable quality of a track like John the Baptist. So the album moved from the 44th to the 23th rank on my 1998 year chart.
From my wishlist:
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Starters Alternators by The Ex
I want to discover more of this experimental and the same time a bit anarchistic Dutch band. This album certainly has good songs (Frenzy, Art Of Losing, Two Struck By The Moon) between some other ones that seem to go in all directions but don't seem to hit home basis; so a bit of a mixed bag but nevertheless moved to the 42nd rank on my year chart.
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dihansse
dihansse
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- #710
- Posted: 01/29/2020 17:53
- Post subject: 1999
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My two choices for 1999 and I thought I had chosen to connected albums with the theme Americana:
In my collection:
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Summerteeth by Wilco
Wow what a good album this is. YHF was maybe a bit more consistent because this one contains some lesser songs (although I don't think they have ever written a bad one) but this is fully compensated by the many pearls and of those pearls there is a mother pearl, Via Chicago, in my opinion one of the best songs ever written. How this songs evolves from peaceful and lovely to dangerous to outright chaotic and back is beyond words. I know there are many fantastic live versions (and I've seen a few of those IRL) but I still think this is one of the best versions of this song except for the last part which is a bit of a letdown (live it always ends in total chaos or in a completely nearly silent part, here it muddles itself towards the end). And of course this is not the only highlight: A Shot In The Arm and In A Future Age (especially the outtake version on my CD version) are also fantastic. This album moves from the 24th to a whopping 7th rank of my 1999 year rank.
An album on my wishlist:
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Axxess & Ace by Songs: Ohia
I thought this would be a matching Americana album but it totally isn"t. It resembles more to a worse version of Sun Kil Moon than to Wilco and both the dull voice, lyrics and strumming makes this really a subpar album in my eyes. Only the last two songs show a beginning of a spark of genius. So not an album for my year chart.
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