From time to time and go and peek on NeilYoungArchives.com what album Neil is making available to listen in high resolution for free and now it was time for:
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Re-Ac-Tor by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
And I realize that I real have a Neil blind spot in the beginning of the eighties with not only this album but also Trans and Hawks & Doves I still need to listen to. Of course the general consensus is that these are not his best albums but I can tell you I really liked this album. Of course a lot of the tracks are silly and wacky and even lazy but this is only a real problem on Rapid Transit (what a stupid song) and partly on Opera Star. But even on T-Bone (Mashed Potatoes would have been a silly song name 😈 ) the silliness doesn't get in the way of a decent song and some real good guitar playing which is really good (it is Neil Young with Crazy Horse after all) on most of the tracks and especially on the magnificent Shots.
I was glad to discover this album and it takes the 20th rank in my 1981 year chart.
There's one very good album being released this week by the Swedish band Then Comes Silence:
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Machine by Then Comes Silence
A really good postpunk album with tracks that stand out between the many postpunk albums being released these days. Especially the track Ritual which also features the female singer Karolina Engdahl is very good.
There's also that much hyped British album by Porridge Radio: it's not bad and it earns its plays in the lower parts of my 2020 chart but it's still a bit over hyped.
From time to time and go and peek on NeilYoungArchives.com what album Neil is making available to listen in high resolution for free and now it was time for:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Re-Ac-Tor by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
And I realize that I real have a Neil blind spot in the beginning of the eighties with not only this album but also Trans and Hawks & Doves I still need to listen to. Of course the general consensus is that these are not his best albums but I can tell you I really liked this album. Of course a lot of the tracks are silly and wacky and even lazy but this is only a real problem on Rapid Transit (what a stupid song) and partly on Opera Star. But even on T-Bone (Mashed Potatoes would have been a silly song name 😈 ) the silliness doesn't get in the way of a decent song and some real good guitar playing which is really good (it is Neil Young with Crazy Horse after all) on most of the tracks and especially on the magnificent Shots.
I was glad to discover this album and it takes the 20th rank in my 1981 year chart.
Love this album too, brother! A GREAT, garage punk album! Totally underrated. Just fun sloppy, raucous rockin' out from the man.
Gas Food Lodging by Green On Red
What a wonderful band this is with its mix of Americana and psychedelic influences which is coming out the best in tracks like Sea Of Cortez. It's safely nestled at the 10th rank of the year.
Then 3 albums from my wishlist of which two releases by that other EBM band, The Neon Judgement, although here rock and guitars were more present.
They first started with a number of mini-albums which were compiled here on a 1985 album:
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1981-1984 by The Neon Judgement
and it contains one of their best songs, TV Treated, which sums up the type of music they make very neatly: a fat dance electronic beat with a guitar over it and then some military type shouting over it: but it works out very well. Here is one of these very basic but very effective live versions of the track:
Other good tracks here are The Fashion Party and the wailing Factory Walk. This album ends up at the 14th rank of my year chart.
And in this year they also released a somewhat longer mini-album:
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MBIH! by The Neon Judgement
with two very good tracks: Tomorrow In The Papers and I Wish I Could. It goes to the 6th rank of my year chart.
You'll read more about this band in future posts.
And besides Front 242 and The Neon Judgement, there was in fact a third Belgian EBM band: The Klinik and here is their best know release:
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Sabotage by Klinik
They performed with gauges and leather jackets and they were fairly alike to Front 242 but even looked and sounded more dangerous and their music was much more basic electronic music with very basic rhythm patterns and sounds. I must say a bit too basic for me and I decided not to include this album in my year chart.
Rockery by The Scabs
After they first made punk music they evolved to a more rock-based sound which is clear on this mini-album. The best song is however the one with the punk riff: Another Weary Day; There's also a good ballad to be found here: Stay. The album ends up at the 17th rank of the year 1986.
Then two albums on my wishlist of which the first full album of The Neon Judgement:
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Mafu Cage by The Neon Judgement
Again with a few of the best tracks of the band like Awul day (sometimes written as Awfull Day) and The Man (maybe the track most resembling to Front 242). Gains the 15th rank of the year.
And one album which is maybe not completely Belgian:
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Big Sexy Land by Revolting Cocks
This in fact a collaboration between Al Jourgensen of Ministry (not Belgian), Richard 23 of Front 242 and Luc Van Acker known of many projects. This is an industrial album but is very close to all those other albums I have been discussing lately. Overall it's an okay album but not one that lands very high in my top charts.
And Btw this has caused me to go back in the eighties a bit and discuss some albums in which Luc Van Acker was involved: Arbeid Adelt! and him solo.
Gas Food Lodging by Green On Red
What a wonderful band this is with its mix of Americana and psychedelic influences which is coming out the best in tracks like Sea Of Cortez. It's safely nestled at the 10th rank of the year.
love this album too, brother! Green On Red are one of the best bands of the 80s! 😁
Le Chagrin En Quatre-Vingts by Arbeid Adelt!
The main personality of Arbeid Adelt! is Marcel Vanthilt but also Luc Van Acker played an important role in a band that can best be compared to a weirder version of Fad Gadget. They sung in Flemish but the weirdness of their characters can in my opinion also be appreciated by not-Flemish speakers.
A good example of that weirdness is their Belgian hit (I should say Flanders hit) De Dag Dat Het Zonlicht Niet Meer Scheen (The Day The Sunlight didn't shine anymore... was the day The John disappeared my friend): see the video clip:
I suppose you won't be surprised to learn that John was a bit pissed when Arbeid Adelt persiflages his song.
If you like some weirdness just listen to some of the tracks on these mini-albums especially also Ik States Scherp (I'm sharp) and Lekker Westers.
Luc Van Acker quickly got bored with Arbeid Adelt! and started a solo career and made this one wonderful album
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The Ship by Luc Van Acker
with one very special hit, Zanna, a ballad with a sharp edge with Ana Domino only comparable to what Nick Cave did with Kylie Minogue.
The other tracks on the album are a bit of a wilder and more basic version of Talking Heads and there are plenty of good songs to be found here like the title track, Heart And Soul and Feels Like Love.
A non-Belgian but one of my favorite records of all-time:
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Sister by Sonic Youth
This album just ranks after their absolute masterpiece Daydream Nation. Nearly every song is a killer and the album moves from the 3rd to the 2nd rank of the year.
And two Belgian albums on my wishlist by bands I already amply introduced:
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Official Version by Front 242
They hit their electronic devices even harder than on former albums but I miss some originality here. Even the best song Masterhit, sounds like something I already heard before. So not an album I'll include in year chart.
and
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Horny As Hell by The Neon Judgement
What a bummer of an album this. I was really bored listening to it. So you have to wait until the end when Miss Brown comes, one of their greatest hits although it has some reminiscences of The Sisters Of Mercy. In any case, it's better not to listen to the version on this album but to the 12"" sing version because the original version is like it's been recorded in a cellar and it doesn't do the song any good which is a pity because this song is really good. But not good enough to save the album.
Is Sister really worth going back to? I mean I had this album when I was younger when first listening to music and I feel it was like the guitars were too high.
Is Sister really worth going back to? I mean I had this album when I was younger when first listening to music and I feel it was like the guitars were too high.
Do you think the album has more beauty or energy?
It has both beauty and energy in my view and it's definitely worth going back to. I don't really know what you mean with high guitars, they're tuned differently than most guitars but high pitched?
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