Plastic Letters by Blondie
Why not listen to this album and see if it is really that much worse than Parallel Lines and in fact it is better than I thought because I had really ranked it very low at rank 49 and it rises to rank 21 (even above Parallel Lines but I should listen to that album again as well). Why? Because next to the obvious hits Denis and Presence Dear, most of the other track also have a lot energy and are very good.
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Love Bites by Buzzcocks
Of course everybody refers to their first album as their best but in my opinion this album is nearly as good; not only because it has their best track (Ever Fallen In Love) but also because all the other ones are top Buzzcocks as well (with Operators Manual as the second best). It immediately goes to the 10th rank of the year.
Van Halen II by Van Halen
Also inspired by the death of Eddie Van Halen I wanted to take this pick because this is the first album I ever heard of Van Halen. And I must say, in contradiction with the first album there no real top songs here (maybe except for DOA). But of course the guitar of Eddie still sounds as no other guitar in the world and the album still rocks and remains at the 19th rank.
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Get The Knack by The Knack
I already started a few times listening to this album and since it was still high on my wishlist this was the moment. And of course the doubt is: was that fantastic top song My Sharona an exception and did they merely want to take advantage of this situation with a speedy release of an album or were they really at the height of their career with also a fantastic album. And I must admit, I tend to the first although the first two tracks and Good Girls Don't are not bad. But the rest of the album feels like filler, including the cover of Heartbeat. Nevertheless lands at the 35th rank of the year.
I combined two years because I wanted this to make a bit of a theme entry.
But I'll first start with the two albums I already own from these years and not part of the them:
First 1980:
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Gaucho by Steely Dan
These guys can't do no wrong and certainly not on this album which contains a few of their best tracks: Babylon Sisters and Hey Nineteen: completely laidback and very good at the same time. This album moves from the 15th to the 11th rank of the year.
Then 1981:
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Ghost In The Machine by The Police
Again a very good Police album with of course the wonderful Every Breath You Take and also Spirits In The Material World and Invisible Sun as the main highlights. As a coincidence also moves from the 15th to the 11th rank but now of 1981.
And then to the theme for these two years which were the highpoint of Die Neue Deutsche Welle where German music sung in German conquered Europe (I suppose not the States). The thing is this period spawned some very good singles so I wanted to find out if the albums surrounding them were also good.
For 1980 I had two German albums on my wishlist:
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Monarchie Und Alltag by Fehlfarben
Their single was Ein Jahr (Es Geht Voran) which was a gem of a postpunk single and the rest of the album is in the same league and overall I quite this fairly rough edged postpunk album and it immediately goes to the 17th rank of the year.
und:
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Rheingold by Rheingold
That year there was an even better German single: Dreiklangsdimensionen. I don't think a know a song so simple which is as groovy as this one and for me this was the song of that year. A bit after that another single from the same album was released, Fluss. It didn't reach the same heights on the charts but was also fairly good. So I was curious to hear the rest of the album and boy, what a letdown this was. While the basic electronics on the singles were even an asset, they are a crushing liability to the other tracks on the album. To call them kids electronics even gives them too much credit. As good as the two singles are it wouldn't be ok to include this in my 1980 chart.
And then two albums on my wishlist of 1981 also from the same movement:
First:
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Trio by Trio
Their hit was Da Da Da - Ich Liebst Dich Nicht, Du Liebst Mich Nicht. A good electronic song and the rest of the album goes a bit in the direction of basic punk but maybe a bit too basic to be really good, so not for my top chart.
und dann:
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Dolce Vita by Spider Murphy Gang
Their (very big) hit was Skandal In Sperrbezirk which was/is catchy as hell. But the rest of album is very basic rock 'n roll without even a hint of originality so also not really a good choice for my top chart of 1981.
Die Neue Deutsche Welle had other hits and albums but I think these cover a good part of the scene at the time. So my advice is if you don't know it: listen to the singles, they are awesome, but in general stay away from the albums.
Night And Day by Joe Jackson
Not a guitar to be heard here but what an energy is displayed on a number of the tracks. But the real highlights are the slows like Slow Song, Cancer and Real Men. Rises from the 22nd to the 11th rank.
Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order
I had ranked this album incredibly low and that could not be right. And it isn't. Age Of Consent and Your Silent Face are fantastic and sound a bit as an electronic version of their former band. And there are more goodies here so the rank of this album goes up from 30 to 17.
An album on my wishlist:
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Punch The Clock by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
Not his best album were it not that one of his best songs appears on this album: Shipbuilding about the decay of the shipbuilding industry in his hometown. I won't say the rest of the album is bad. There's also Pills & Soap and some other goods and even the worse ones are OK but not the highs of many of his other albums. It goes to the 21st rank.
Plastic Letters by Blondie
Why not listen to this album and see if it is really that much worse than Parallel Lines and in fact it is better than I thought because I had really ranked it very low at rank 49 and it rises to rank 21 (even above Parallel Lines but I should listen to that album again as well). Why? Because next to the obvious hits Denis and Presence Dear, most of the other track also have a lot energy and are very good.
Not quite sure yet where this is going to place, but it's definitely a GREAT album and psyched you like it!!! 😁
Spring Hill Fair by The Go-Betweens
Not a bad album but however a bit of a mixed bag. They have a signature sound and signature songs to go with it but some of them not always great. Nevertheless they move from the 37th to the 25th rank
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Hyaena by Siouxsie And The Banshees
This was an album I was completely unfamiliar with (except of course for the cover of Dear Prudence which doesn't even appear on the original album) and of course I should have been in contact with it already because it's a good one. This is already proven by the dazzling Dazzle with its luscious classical orchestration and the also dazzling Blow The House down at the end. The rest of the album is not her best but still good Siouxsie stuff (helped of course by the additional help of Robert Smith). It enters my top chart at the 15th rank
Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits
This is certainly a good album but all in all maybe a bit too smooth compared to their other albums with one big exception: the wonderful title track. This album moves up from the 14th to the 8th rank of my year chart.
An album on my wishlist:
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Electrical Storm by Ed Kuepper
As a fan of the Saints/Aints I'm trying to follow the solo career of Ed Kuepper but haven't in fact listened to his first solo albums. This is a good though not indispensable one. Bus still goes to the 18th rank of the year.
The Good Earth by The Feelies
I like The Feelies very much with their own take on VU and R.E.M. and I think this album is even more accomplished than Crazy Rhythms. I especially like Slipping (Into Something). The album moves from the 15th to the 9th rank of the year.
An album on my wishlist:
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No Guru, No Method, No Teacher by Van Morrison
This album sounds very gospel like and none of the tracks are bad but I also didn't find the genius of his seventies albums here so I decided not to include it in my year chart.
The Good Earth by The Feelies
I like The Feelies very much with their own take on VU and R.E.M. and I think this album is even more accomplished than Crazy Rhythms. I especially like Slipping (Into Something). The album moves from the 15th to the 9th rank of the year.
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