Emotional Rescue by The Rolling Stones
I absolutely wanted to vote a Rolling Stones album in my overall one album per artist top 100 (currently they're at 135) and I wanted to do it with this album which is my favorite of them. I know not everybody (nearly no-one I guess) will agree with this bold statement and I fear to be banned to the Controversial opinions sections but that's what I think of it: fantastic. After the already funky Some Girls this one even feels more funky to me which is shown by the first track Dance Pt1 (and the other parts would follow). I have no intention to excuse myself for liking the songs that everybody hates: Summer Romance, Let Me Go and Where The Boys Go but my favorites are the title track and especially the wonderful She's So Cold.
And I succeeded because it (and the Stones) move to the 89th rank in my overall chart (and from 4th to 3rd on my 1980 top chart).
An album on my wishlist:
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Neurovision by Telex
You can Call them the poor man's Kraftwerk but in their own way this Belgian electronic band were fairly good which is proven by My Time and En Route Pour De Nouvelles Aventures on this album. Overall they are maybe a bit too lightweight though so I won't finally reserve a place for this album in my 1980 top chart.
1981 was the year in which the Belgian music scene really exploded so this will not be one of those typical year themes.
I already have three albums from my collection I would really like to draw your attention to and I'll start with the first two:
And I might be enthusiastic about many Belgian albums but if there's one that I really would like everybody to listen to it's this one:
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TC Matic by TC Matic
TC Matic grew out of a blues band called Tjens-Couter (cf TC) and the Tjens part of that name came from the main character of TC Matic, Arno Hintjens from Ostend at the Belgian coast. You might call him now (70) the Belgian Serge Gainsbourg but at the time of this debut album he was completely fresh and wild. The album is sung in a mixture of English, French and Ostendois and the singing is just fantastic and really Arno. But what really makes this band is the great rhythm section (just listen to the bass intro of Oh La La La) and a staccato (and at the same time buzzing) guitar sound by Jean-Marie Aerts I have never heard anywhere else. The music is a mixture of new wave (even sometimes a bit cold wave), rock and especially a kind of white hot funk and there is a craziness about this album which gives it a completely timeless sound.
The album starts with the incredible Bye Till The Next Time which is just a rhythmic orgasm complemented by the crazy singing/howling/grunting of Arno in a weirdness you won't even hear in the grunting of any death metal singer.
And then I want to immediately take you to one of the Belgian rock anthems Oh La La La. The title (and the whole song) might be a bit silly but I have yet to hear a better bass intro and just after that a better staccato riff and after that groovy singing by Arno which then speeds up in the crazy Oh La La La C'est Magnifique chorus.
After these two top songs there's of course much more to be appreciated here and I mainly mention With You and I'm Not Like That. This is still my second album of the year (after Ju Ju) but the main thing is that it enters my one album per artist top chart at rank 67 after listening again to it.
And if you like this album there's at least two other classic albums nearly as good as this debut album by the greatest bands in Belgian rock music (with the only competition being of course dEUS).
The second album of that year in my collection I would like to highlight is:
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's Nachts Kouder Dan Buiten by De Kreuners
translated as At Night colder than Outside by The Moaners.
This album is sung in Flemish and a lot less original than the previous one but this is also a magnificent debut album with very catchy powerpop songs. As I said not as recommended as TC Matic (also because of the language barrier, but who knows, you might like it. I do. And it moves up from the 8th to the 5th rank of the year.
And a third album from my collection although it's only a mini-LP.
Allez Allez succeeded Marine, a new/cold wave band with one hit: Life In Reverse.
But Allez Allez was much more about funk but really danceable funk (a bit in the style of Talking Heads) like the song Allez Allez of this 5 track mini-album which is just magnificent:
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African Queen by Allez Allez
And this is their live performance of this very catchy song on the biggest Belgian rock festival Rock Wechter of 1982.
But also the title track and She's Stirring Up are great. The album moves up from the 20th to the 10th rank.
And finally an album on my wishlist and another mini album:
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Bastogne by Red Zebra
Red Zebra was one of the many Belgian cold wave bands (which later grew into more new wave and rock because they still exist). Their first releases were singles which didn't end up on a regular (mini-) albums but of these there's one song I absolutely want to mention: I Can't Live In a Living Room, another Belgian classic which deserves to be heard by everybody. Here is a Youtube clip:
On this first mini album they really showed what they can do with especially The Art Of Conversation as the highlight. And the album immediately ends up at the third rank.
Traditional Techniques by Stephen Malkmus
I didn't really like his former album in which he ventured in dance territory which didn't suit him very well but this is again a very good one and I think a grower. It is a fairly experimental album with lots of eastern influence mixed with folk but it's a really good one where his very recognizable voice comes out great.
Beat Poetry For Survivalists by Luke Haines & Peter Buck
And this is the best of the three and one of the best of this starting year. It's a collaboration of Luke Haines (his voice of the Auteurs is very recognizable here) with Peter Buck. The lyrics are dark and very good with titles like the title track and Andy Warhol Was Not Kind, also the highlights of the album.
Do use All Music as your source for new releases? I'm betting you do!
They are fairly good yes but it’s not my sole source, a Dutch site, Musicmeter.nl might even be more important and I saw Malkmus and even Disq also on other sources. But Luke Haines/Peter Buck was definitely AllMusic indeed.
L'Apache by TC Matic
The second masterpiece by TC Matic with Arno again in great shape especially on his vintage chaotic tracks like Que Pasa with I'm Not Gonna Listen just behind that. Middle Class and Blue Eyes is maybe a bit more regular rock music but still not your standard rock song with its jagged rhythm. Again a gem of an album worth being at the sixth rank of the year.
An album on my wishlist:
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The Employees by The Employees
The Employees were essentially a one hit band and they had one in Belgium: Pick It Up, a ska song delivered in a tongue twisting way:
But that song is not on their album: I won't say that this the Belgian album to listen to but it was quite enjoyable and it ends up at the 37th rank of my year chart.
And maybe one more thing:
In the beginning of the eighties, they were two Belgian bands which excelled in Electronic music:
The Neon Judgement started making mini-albums but I think I will start to treat them in 1985 when a compilation album of these first mini-albums was released.
And then there was Front 242 who called their music Electronic Body Music (although only from the second album on). This is their first album:
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Geography by Front 242
On which their influence from both Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode were clear but on which they turned their tracks in a sort of harder military canvas and the best proof of that is U-Mass which is delivered in a biting way. Not the whole album is fantastic (as is the case with most of their following albums) but other outstanding tracks are Operating Tracks and the two title tracks. Not my highest ranking album of 1982 (nr 39) but they earn their place on this overview of Belgian music (I like).
Choco by TC Matic
The third and last masterpiece of TC Matic with already a beginning of an evolution to more standard rock and funk like If You Wanna Dance, Dance, If You Don't, Don't. But they're still the great and unpredictable band on songs like Ha Ha (nearly the whole song is just a growling Ha Ha), Living On My Instinct and Being Somebody Else. But the highlight of the album is Putain Putain (I'll leave it up to you to look up the translation in English) which is delivered as some alternative European anthem with chants like Putain, putain
C'est vachement bien
Nous sommes quand même
Tous des Européens
And the rank of the album rises from 8 to 4 so again one of the best albums of the year which deserves a listen.
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Beats Of Love by Nacht Und Nebel
Nacht Und Nebel was a fairly short lived band headed by Patrick Nebel who wrote fairly infectious songs with a streak of cold wave through it. the very dance-y Beats Of Love was a major hit in Belgium but maybe the most memorable track is the jagged Movoco Synthaca. Not the whole album is great but still enjoyable. The album ends up at the 17th rank of 1983.
Patrick Nebel always had trouble with drugs and alcohol but died of a heart failure in 1986.
And then two albums from my wishlist:
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Maquis by Red Zebra
The first full Red Zebra album again with a mixture of postpunk and cold wave. The best track is The Beauty Of The Beast closely followed by Polar Club and Mice and Man. But they also showed they could write slower songs with Beirut By Night: 12th rank of 1983 albums.
And:
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Here's To You Gang! by The Scabs
The Scabs is also one of those household bands in Belgium nearly every Flemish person knows, but maybe more by their more standard rock albums that followed later. This first mini-album is much more punkish (the best comparison is maybe The Clash) with great tracks like Matchbox Car and Is This Life and it gets the 7th rank of 1983.
An album I own and I didn't have a Belgian album in my top chart so I chose this gem:
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The Smiths by The Smiths
This debut of The Smiths was already full on with beautiful tracks like Reel Around The Fountain, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Hand In Glove and especially What Difference Does It Make. This album made boring music hip (joke). And it increases from the 9th to the 8th rank of the year.
And then two Belgian albums on my wishlist:
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No Comment by Front 242
And another good album of Front 242 not without its misses but the hits are very good with especially the two last tracks Lovely Day, No Shuffle and Special Forces. Enters at the 20th rank of my year chart.
And then a classic Belgian metal album I had not heard yet:
Ecstasy and Danger by Ostrogoth: this album contains all elements of a good metal album with good guitars and a potent sound but somehow some elements are missing. To me best comparable with the Judas Priest albums I like less. I'm sure some of you might like it (I found it on Apple Music and Youtube) but for me just not good enough to include in my top chart (maybe I'm even a bit too harsh).
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