69 - A.R. Kane
A Little Man and A House - Cardiacs
Ali Farke Toure - Ali Farke Toure
Allegory and Self - Psychick TV
Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins
California - American Music Club
Dogma EP - Tall Dwarves
Double Bummer - Bongwater
Dreamtime Return - Steve Roach
Emma's House EP - The Field Mice
Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
Gorilla Biscuits EP - Gorilla Biscuits
Great Adventures of Slick Rick - Slick Rick
Green Thoughts - The Smithereens
Hate In Me EP - Moss Icon
Hee-Haw - The Birthday Party
In The Graveyard - Dead Moon
Isn't Anything - My Bloody Valentine
Jamboree - Beat Happening
Life's Too Good - The Sugarcubes
Lincoln - They Might Be Giants
Souvinir Cassette - After Dinner
Starfish - The Church
Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A
Superfuzz Big Muff - Mudhoney
Tender Prey - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Beatnigs - The Beatnigs
The Day Everything Became Nothing EP - NoMeansNo
The Frogs - The Frogs
The House of Love - The House of Love
The Peel Session - Bolt Thrower
The Peel Sessions - Nico
The Peel Sessions - The Cure
The Peel Sessions - The Smiths
The Serpent's Egg - Dead Can Dance
There She Goes EP - The La's
Today - Galaxie 500
Tommy - The Wedding Present
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Trait EP - Pailhead
Two Nuns and A Pack Mule - Rapeman
Those are my picks out of that bunch. Might have missed some stuff though.
And if you haven't heard them already— Kaira by Toumani Diabaté / s/t by 14 Iced Bears / Favorite Shirts by Lollipop Sonic _________________ Doubles & Conch
First of all, let me grab a fire extinguisher, you’ve been on fire the last few days, this series of humungous posts has been highly impressive.
1988 was a fine choice, there were a couple of years in your shortlist I thought were superior, but I was significantly more familiar with them, so this should be far more intriguing.
Out of the 30 albums you have reviewed up to this point, well, not much for me. Spirit Of Eden is the single album I would consider truly great – although I ‘ve always had a slight preference for Laughing Stock. By All Means Necessary would be the only other album I care for, but still a distant second – to be fair, I haven’t checked it in ages, so who knows how it will hold up, added it to my queue.
Now, that list is massive and covers most of the good stuff. My favourite would be either The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick - for a moment I thought you had omitted it, as I was looking for it in T instead of G (The Great instead of Great) and I was in shock, but it’s all good in the end 😄 – or Viva Hate (super obvious choice for me, I know) and I’d say most of the hip hop choices range from very good to great in my opinion – hard to believe you’ll agree with that statement. 😁
Trying to spot what may be missing, hmmm, that’s a challenge – being no ‘80s expert doesn’t help either. That being said, there are two albums I really like and would easily include in a year chart, not sure about top-10, definitely top-20 (but then again I haven't listened to a ton of 1988 albums and you know how different our perspectives are, so take that claim with a grain of salt) :
Straight Out The Jungle by Jungle Brothers
The Hill by David Murray Trio _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
Thanks for the recommendations, you three!!! Appreciated!
That Pussywillows I could have SWORN was on my list. I add it now again. So thanks very much for that, baystateoftheart!
As for your 2, Luigii KOKKINOS (not sure how I had such a brainfart and called you luigii lol. apologoies) , appreciated. The Jungle Brothers I have AT LEAST heard of. So yeah i'll put that on my list (a list I will probably never EVER finish.)
And I'm glad to see all those Peel Sessions included on your short(er) list, Hayden. The Peel Sessions were on a roll at this time. _________________ -Ryan
yep, I have verified I still love this album. It's so harsh, complex, bombastic, brash, rebellious, unrelenting, and YET also dunny (thanks largely to Flavor) and its complexity doesn't take away from how intense it is. It's in-your-faceness doesn't negate its thoughtfulness. The Slayer sample and the great snippets from Farrakhan speeches, those horns on "Show 'em Whatcha Got", those squeaky noises in some of the beats have aged soo damn well (to my ears at least), the delivery of Mike D and Flavor Flav are incredible. Some of the lines on here are so poetic and so direct and catchy I honestly had forgotten how MANY legendary lines came off this album...for one example, "Who gives a fuck about a Grammy?!?" - amazing. And... the songs, the sheer QUANTITY of great songs, CLASSIC songs with not a one dud. "Bring The Noise", "Don't Believe The Hype", (personal fave perhaps not considered a classic) "Cold Lampin' With Flavor", "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic", "Louder than a Bomb", "Show Em Whatcha Got","She Watch Channel Zero?!?". "Night of the Living Baseheads", Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos", "Rebel Without A Pause", "Prophets of Rage", and of course "Party for your Right to Fight"! Fuck fuckin YEAH! What a great GREAT album.
This thing is just under 1 hour of almost impossibly audacious, pure, creative anger and protest. This is just amazing. I recently placed this BACK on my overall chart after years off of it for some reason. It just felt right beside all the recent grindcore and punk albums added. And this relisten has proven me correct in this action and addition. And it really does look great beside Napalm Death and Bad Brains.... there is that same irrepressible FUCK. YOU! energy. This actually may be THE exemplary and quintessential album to express what that aforementioned "Fuck. YOU. Make me, motherfucker."-energy. Goddamn classic.
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An album re-listen, but of an that despite doing a whole write up on for that 1980s battle of the bands thing a few months back, I can't remember clearly enough as of this second to place on my chart. This comment may be shorter because I've already spoken of it here:
Back on April 22nd, 2021, I said the following about this album in the midst of my 6-way-1980s-band-contest:
--------"Another good Cocteau album. Somehow while there are no new sounds or styles here that I could hear, this does sound like a distinct achievement in their discog. It seems they simply perfected many aspects of their sound. The vocals and the power and the force that is E. Fraser is perhaps strongest here than at any point so far in these 5 albums. The tracks, the vibrant sounds are very clear unlike on Victorialand, and they seem as bright and upfront as anything so far including Head Over Heels. The songs seem more tangible than ever, there isn't quite that same level of far-off, mirage-image blurriness that their music sometimes creates in me. That feeling that, despite hearing and loving the music, not being fully sure what you heard as it disappears from your pool of recollection like a nice dream.
The songs are solid as hell, and the one that sticks out as a standout the most is also perhaps the most angular, that being the penultimate track "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat" - a song with a shitty name but a great melody and a catchy sound. Need to listen a few more times to get a clear idea what the highlights are and how these tracks fit together. But for now I think this is yet another fucking really good album. I'm thinking 7.9/10, cuz it doesn't achieve the levels of Treasure, the dreamy change in sound achieved in Victorialand, it doesn't have that "wow! what a debut statement!" excitement connected to it that Garlands has, nor the uniqueness and quite the same energy as Head Over Heels. Perhaps with more listens I'll find more clearly what sets this apart fully from everything else. Right now this feels like its the same basic quality as the 1st, 2nd, and even 4th albums but maybe because I kinda expect greatness from them now, I wasn't as blown away as I was with their first 4 albums.
Yeah, 7.8/10 feels right.
Edit: today, about 24 hours after the above initial thoughts, I listened again. And it is really good. But I still don't feel it is as beautiful or as adventurous as the previous albums. As a result I stick to my word that this is as of now my least fave of their first 5, but the difference isn't major. Blue Bell Knoll is still yet another beautiful album by Cocteau Twins. They are on a roll."----
I don't think this is 100% how I feel now. I mean when I wrote that I was living and breathing Cocteau Twins' music (and The Smiths, U2, REM, The Cure and Sonic Youth) so I am thinking that desensitized me a bit to how good this music and those vocals make me feel. This stuff just made me feel so happy and serene in the middle of an otherwise agitated and aggravating day.
It shames me to admit, despite being intuitive enough to include Treasure on my most recent chart update, that I had largely forgotten about the greatness of Cocteau Twins since I did this tournament/competition thing in spring of this year. Coming back just now I think part of the reason that sounded so distinctly special was that I have not been listening to it nor anything trying to do this sort of alien dreamy pop in recent months. I have to "be careful" not to swing my rating and ranking too hard to the other extreme, the positive extreme, just because this listen right now is so soothing. Because once the initial joy and positive-shock wore off, there are some slight issues I had/am having with the album. Its hard to describe what they are - I suppose some songs don't hit quite so much and don't bowl me over with their excellence, and the production is almost too sharp and clear and the percussion sounds are a little toooo late 80s and simple. The 1-2 of "The Itchy Glowbo Blow" and "Cico Buff" don't do much for me. So, that being said, the highs here as well as the pure refreshing power of these Fraser vocals make this a very VERY good album. Not quite top tier Cocteau nor top top tier 1988, but probably 2nd tier of both which is pretty awesome.
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Here's an album that was one of the 10 I placed and graded on 1988 chart to start thinking I had a grip with it... and a very disrespectful contrarian grip at that! But, damn it, I need to listen to this classic a few times and see if I'm stupid for giving it a 7/10 and ranking low:
Yep, I thought maybe I had this pegged. I thought maybe I just didn't like this remotely as much as Kill Em All and really not even the same universe as much as Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. But I kept doing these diary updates and grading these albums and ranking them and soooo many were ending up ahead of this album and I admit I started to feel like a fraud. How could I be so damn disrespectful to this album as to put these albums ahead of it when I had not truly and fully heard it in years? I mean, I grew up with this album to a large degree. This was part of the fabric of my soundtrack of my life when I was 15 and 16. How can I forsaken it?
This is sounding similar to how I started South Of Heaven's glowing comment before I placed it #2 of 1988 so far. And that makes sense. Slayer and Metallica were without a doubt my #2 and #1 bands in the world as a youngster, in that order. Metallica, as fucking corny and shameful as this may sound, changed my life. First hearing Ride The Lightning is a memory I hope to never forget. As of now, that moment is ingrained in my mind clear as day. So, yeah, that is why the fact that I had this logged as a 7.3/10 and in the lower half or near the lower half of 1988 so far was making me feel a little like a traitorous buttwad. So hear I am. I am liostening to this again now after listening to it yesterday in full for the first time in too long.
Let's get the negatives out of the way - both the negatives I had preconceived and lead me to the low ranking a week ago when I started this, as well as the negatives that I can still say persist even now 1.5 listens in: The drum sound is, while cool insofar as they are sooo ugly and sharp, are also pretty fucking distracting and call more attention to the relatively lackluster drumming on display (relative to Lombardo and Megadeth's Nick Menza of a similar era to this). Next thing: the old and sorry repeated cliche of mentioning the bass here. They fucked Newsted up his bum and spit on him by doing this to his bass sound. Even at 24 when he died, Cliff Burton was already a legend on bass. Newsted had to replace a young metal god at his peak and then the first album with him in the band they did THIS to his bass work? It's essentially non-existent and there are no moments where he can shine like there were in all previous Metallica albums. Shameful shit. (I know that the general story the band tells is that the bass was negated because it was not mixing with Hetfield's admittedly incredible guitar tone and NOT because they were being dicks... but I think it can be a bit of both).
Next negative, also related to the loss of Cliff Burton more directly, the songwriting just isn't as crisp and epic and incredible. Maybe its the performances of the songs they had as well. But "The Call of Kthulu" and ESPECIALLY "Orion" are so many leaps and bounds better as epic, huge, and inspiring instrumentals than this album's version of such, "To Live Is To Die". (Although I know this is credited to Burton, I feel like the end result would have been more dynamic had Burton been there to give it those finishing touches). There are also some just somewhat flat moments here, where the build ups and pay offs just don't hit like they did on Master of Puppets. I don't wanna say more negatives and I also can't put my finger on what is missing with some of the songwriting here. So I will leave it.
Now for the positives:
There are A LOT. I had forgotten how many positives and absurdly magical musical and metal moments and elements there are here. When I listened yesterday for the first time in years I was, over and over, recognizing riffs and vocal phrases and guitar solos which were giving me shivers while also reminding me quite nostalgicly of being a young lad blown away by this album. Did I just allow myself to get swayed against this album at some point? This album is often times insulted for those negatives I just went over and I think at some point I was like "Nah not that interested in this album" and eventually that disinterest turned into "nah, that isn't a particularly good album". Shameful as well.
The guitar sound here is some of the best ever of all time any genre especially metal. They roar and bark and they just sound soooo sick and so raging and rough and they hit me in the mouth as truly and as brutally as the musical equivalent of a steel crowbar. They are amazing. Next, the solos from Kirk are maybe better than ever. The solos on "One" (obviously) and "Blackened" for example are just so iconic and sharp and emotional and also follow the rule of cool. Meaning, at some point being technical or correct or virtuosic at times should be put on the back burner in favor of sounding cool, sounding like every kid's idol. This album and these solos consistently make me wanna close my eyes and day dream and fantasize that I am playing them. They have always had that power and its incredible they still do even 18 years later.
Next, the lyrics and themes are consistent and have a pretty consistent and well written theme - basically modern life being corrupted by politicians and fat cats and all that. Nothing satanic here (not that Metallica ever did that) nothing gory or corny, instead its full of pretty universal anti-war, anti-government themes and that is dope.
Next positive is the vocals. I love Hetfields vocals here. With this album he really got started in the direction of that oft-memed and made fun of Hetfield grunting, pseudo-rough-and-soulful style. BUT here they had hit a balance. Not as cartoonishly rough and at thimes silly as Kill Em All or even Ride The Lightning and ot as cartoonish and cringey as Load or even parts of The Black Al;bum. James just sounds passionate and incredible here basically all the way through. And angry. He actually sounds angry and pissed and that is great.
Finally some of these songs are so absurdly good its hard to express. "One" is iconic for a reason. It is one of the most important and iconic metal songs of any era and style ever. Similarly the title track is dope and epic! 10 minutes nearly of just brutal protest. "Blackened" is one of the heaviest songs in Thrash history. "The Shoprtest Straw" has a great riff and chugs in the coolest way imaginable (while, admittedly, having a shitty chorus), "Harvester of Sorrow" is probably the third or 4th best song here and yet for almost any other album or band I would imagine would be a highlight - again, the riff! The tone! The brutal heaviness and anger of this song is out of this fucking universe!!... and Dyers Eve is cool too. That was an anti-climactic way to end this bit about songs. But yeah some of these songs are just fabulous and more than make up for the overly long instrumental or "Frayed Ends of Sanity" or other lesser tracks.
In closing ( I need to end this overly long comment)... I love this album. I have NOT "seen the light" and now see it as every bit as good as their first 3 albums. Not that tier. But right in that tier just below, and perhaps actually if I think about it, I will say this 1988 album is in the same basic tier as Metallica's debut. I know, its surprising to me as well. BUT I will say Kill Em All is a better, just not as big a gap as I thought a couple days ago. This album kicks ass and puts most metal or thrash to shame. Just because there are some shitty recording and production and songwriting moments or flaws can't take away how adrenalized and excited this album makes me feel consistently for its entire 65 minute run time. Peak Metallica was special and was every bit as awe-inspiring as peak-Slayer. (In its own way)
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Now for an album that ... well I don't have anything to say that is remotely clever or snappy. Now for this Social Distortion album and stuff i guess:
Mike Ness (lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Social D) is soething of a punk foilk hero. He made a rabid wild somewhat distinctive hardcore/punk album in 1983 called Mommy's Little Monster. Then in the years immediately following that debut album for Social Distortion, Ness made some bad life choices, got into petty crime, got seriously wrecked by drug addiction, got thrown in jail a few times, and lost his band. Life sucked. Thenin 1985 something amazing happened. He ssobered up, got back to work on himself and eventually reforged himself and his band.
so 5 years after the debut, in comes this album. The surprising return of Mike Ness and co. What made the debut distinctive was the country and old school 50s rock and roll elements in that otherwise pretty straightforward bit of Cali punk. With this new album Ness leaned even more into the country, Johnny Cash influenced sound. The chord progressions and rhythms, even when at their most "punky" clearly were borrowing from 30 year-old traditions. And the lyrics and themes of this album seem to consistently reflect the vagaries of Ness' recent life. The vocals sound sadder and wiser, the sad austere guitar chords and riffs and solos on this album absolute drip with some deeply personal hurt and experience and sobriety. This is an album that represents redemption and hope to me. More than even the quality of the tunes and music here, I will always think of this album and be thankful because of what it took to make.
As for the quality of the album... its good. I mean I consider this and 1990s Social Distortion and 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell to be a trilogy of similar sounding and themed albums. And honestly I think Ness and Social D got progressively greater as those albums progressed. The self titled album contained a few classics and was just a more fully formed Prison Bound, while their 3rd album is the best of the bunch containing the most consistently excellent tracklist, the best production, the best vocal performances, the best songwriting and the most perfectly seamless mix of the Johnny cash and The Clash aesthetics with a distinctively its own sound as well coming out of the mix. So, this album is the weakest of the trilogy. But not bad at all. Some tracks here such as the title track or "No Pain No Gain" or "Indulgence" or "Lawless" are served by the more fragile and less assured Ness vocals. But in general this album's lack of a truly assured vocalist and as of yet not fully formed songwriting force (that Ness would become a few years later) just makes this album and some of the songs sound a bit awkward and like the band is still finding its feat and place post-recreation.
Some of the more balls to the wall rocking punk songs here do also shine WHEN THEY ARE ROCKING - the closer "Lost Child" comes to mind. The fragile and pretty bad vocal performances here on this track and on others kind of annoy me. They just hadn't put it together yet. Still, this album existing at all is a mini-miracle, a Rocky-esque redemption story, and the fact that its pretty good on top its mere existence is all the more amazing.
I just recently finally fell for some Entombed. Not sure why it took so long. They are one of the great death metal bands all time hands down and easily. They were super early in the swedish death metal scene that went on to dominate what became the sound of death metal throughout the world and were the first real challenger to the dominance of Florida death metal. And before Entombed for a couple years they existed as Nihilist. This is their debut EP released in '88. It's 3 songs, 8 minutes and it is very very very rough sounding, very much informed by a certain gritty hardcore punk sound as well as the great heavier, deeper, crunchier thrash of the time. This 8 minute release is too short to add to the BEA database or my chart, but still this ais a solid and interesting blast of gnarly mid tempo death metal in dm's earliest months. I quite like it. If you're interested click above, or much much more likely, just go to your youtube app and search Nihilist Premature Autopsy and VOILA! you're there.
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And now for a true classic, a masterpiece even, that is an EP of only 4 songs and 10 minutes so I can't add it to my 88 chart... still, fuck my friend syou have to hear this fucking EP like right tf now!:
I hate to do it again, but Imma share the video and take up 2 miles of screen on your cell phones and computers lol.
Yes, this is 10.5 minutes and 4 tracks of emotive hardcore/early post-hardcore that will honestly blow your mind i think. It's so perfect, the vocals are incredible, emotional and agonized and at times hateful (especially on "I'm Back Sleeping or Fucking or Something"). The arrangements and the sound of the guitars - melodic, almost jangling while still being abrasive and punk as fuck (especially on "Hate In Me"). The bass tones, so slithery and thick and the drummer and guitar and how hard they fucking go - like they could have just as easily been the best straight up hardcore punk band in the world instead of the greatest emo band (check out "Kiss The Girls and Make them Die" for an example of what I mean.)
Basically every track here is a perfect nugget which is immaculately produced, perfromed, sung, played, arranged and written. Listen, I like Rites of Spring and Embrace as much as the next emotional punk... but this? This wipes the floor with those bands and their iconic mid 80s albums. IMHO of course. This EP should be heard more. Its a gem.
Listening again now and my god that opening track, the way it starts with the shouting angry woman and then the drums that sound so sexy and invigorating and remind me of mid 2000s Walkmen, and the way the bass and guitars are so melodic and jangly... i'm so happy this exists. Okay, I need to end as I am repeating myself.
side note, on third listen I am giving this a 10/10 and I adore the vocals and I wanted to see where the vocalist Jonathan Vance sang post the splitting of this great group. Apparently he just did 1 album with a band called Breathing Water in 1990 outside of his work with Moss Icon and then hang 'em up and didn't do much or any music? If so that is a bummer. I can't imagine he was rolling in any kind of money back in the early 1990s, but still, he is seriously the perfect hardcore or emo singer.
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Okay, I think I'll end it now. I know there are only 3 new entries officially addable to the chart here, 1 re-appraisal, and 2 EPs I can't add, but... this time of night I can't get into any album now. Okay, so here is the updated list.
---TOTALLY BRILLIANT---
Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
Hate In Me EP by Moss Icon
South of Heaven by Slayer
Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk
Leprosy by Death
From Enslavement to Obliteration by Napalm Death
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
you made me realise - EP by My Bloody Valentine
---REALLY GOOD/GREAT--- …And Justice For All by Metallica
Split Demo Tape by Terrorizer/Nausea
16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
Surfer Rosa by The Pixies
How Will I Laugh Tomorrow… by Suicidal Tendencies
Sugarshit Sharp by Pussy Galore
Blood Fire Death by Bathory
Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins
Miss America by Mary Margaret O'Hara
---QUITE GOOD---
Green by R.E.M.
Slow Turning by John Hiatt
Fugazi EP by Fugazi
In War There Is No Law! By Bolt Thrower
Demo by Blood Spill
Slave by Infest
---GOOD/FAIR---
Cinema Paradiso Score/OST by Ennio Morricone
Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass
The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies
Prison Bound by Social Distortion
---MEH/OR JUST SHORT DEMOS/HARD TO JUDGE---
You Must Be Certain of the Devil by Diamanda Galas
Rattle & Hum by U2
By All Means Necessary by Boogie Down Productions
1988 Demo by Immolation
Premature Autopsy EP by Nihilist
---BAD/VARYING DEGREES OF DISLIKE---
Down In The Groove by Bob Dylan
You Walk Alone by Jandek
Open Up and Say… Ahh! By Poison _________________ -Ryan
Dude! Drink some water. Go for a walk. Adopt a cat. I can't even READ this fast! lol.
Great work, brother! Your ability to consume and digest these albums is crazy impressive!!! 😁
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the albums you're picking and loving the grading system!
haha well maybe I will do those things. More likely a dog I shall adopt, but still. I do tend to go hard hard hard when I get into a project. Just the way I work. I wish sometimes I was more methodical like yourself and others. But its just not me.
Thanks for the compliments. I still haven't really arrived at a ranking or tier system that I think I'll stick to. We shall see what comes of it. And yeah the albums make me think of you, Repo. This is your era and wheelhouse (not to pigeonhole you, you like all kinds of stuff, but when I think of Repo I think of 80s punk and heavy metal and indie first). _________________ -Ryan
Let's get another batch of needed revisits, actually all of these are familiar, least familiar being that galaxie 500, but i have heard it or started it in the past.
1988 Deep Dive CONTINUES with next big post below
An album from a genre I have learned to avoid because I have experienced (mostly) disappointment when trying to understand the love
Okay, so when I joined this site and started going through other nerdy music site's lists and seeing pitchfork decade lists and stuff, that must have been like 2012 to 2014 or so when this started, I was constantly confronted by this band. But not only this band but other super cool, slower, more subtle I guess you'd say, indie and rock. Stuff like Red House Painters, Low, Bill Callahan. I was also seeing that oftentimes the people and sites that loved this style of "rock" were more prone or had more of a tendenccy to love the more gauzy and dreamy and more indistinct, atmosphere versions of rock and music, such as preferring Post-Punk albums of a more atmospheric, downbeat, less energized variety over punk of a more aggressive and angular and upbeat nature (or hardcore). Or adoring Shoegaze and dream pop and these types of sounds and kind of watery, vague sounds over more melodic and less minimal styles of the same era like Grunge or Britpop. Or preferring so called Post rock and post metal, stuff of a more subtle and building and abstract nature perhaps, over prog rock or more aggressive and angular and faster (lets face it, speed is a major factor here I think) death or thrash or speed metal. Now, this is an impression I have. Perhaps this can be refuted with stats and I am okay with that. But the point is when I was getting in here and seeing all these sounds and new (for me) styles I was excited to at least sample them and see what was the selling point, so to speak.
So I listened to Loveless, and On Fire, and I could Live In Hope, and Songs About Leaving, Rollercoaster, some Fishmans albums that were starting to really be all the rage like they were the second coming of Pink Floyd or something, or JD's Closer, Deathconsciousness and on and on and on.... this was really a whole new perspective. And... I consistently was struck by how those "subtleties" made me want to turn the albums off and leave and go listen to the stuff that had more broad and clear hooks and melodies and riffs and and and... stuff I liked going in to BEA and RYM etc. I was bored by this or these sounds more often than not. And I couldn't really understand what the draw was to these sounds and styles.
I have come around on a lot of the above named releases, I respect Loveless and love Closer and love Low (although it took them getting very noisy and changing their style markedly to turn me toward them), and I have grown to love SOME post metal and Post Punk as much as any plain ol punk or metal (Thanks to Neurosis and, again, Joy Division for that). But still, generally when I see a description for an album saying Slowcore, I tend to go another way. That indistinct, minimalist, maudlin, in-no-hurry-ever sound is just really not my thing. But I'm exploring 1988 and handling some major blindspots and so I saw that the classic debut album by perhaps the poster child or children of slowcore were on my docket, so I went ahead and pushed play today on Today
And... I didn't enjoy it. I was waiting for it to end. I was also having small battle in my mind. Part of me was like, dude you can't just write this album off, there has to be some goodies here. Maybe its the melodies, maybe its the atmosphere... maybe the point is just to ruminate and feel these slowed down, downbeat jams and let them be part of you... and another part of me was like, dude, this is torture, there are no clear lines or cool tempo changes or interesting vocals or guitars or drums or anything really, the solos are like 4 notes and almost nothing and the vocals aren't anything either, there are few dynamics and the "atmosphere"? what fucking atmosphere?
And so that is what happened. I am listening again now and I am slightly more charitable simply and only because I am now familiar with these songs, and that alone will lend some connection, like " Oh hey I remember this minimal strummed melody from an hour ago, that's...something. i guess". But I mostly have come to the conclusion that this dreamy, mellow, downbeat, MINIMALIST aesthetic, with no clear deep pain or depression or happiness or triumph or peace or any strong emotion present, just is verifiably not my thing. Low's debut gave me similar feelings when I first heard it, but with I Could Live In Hope even back in 2013 I could hear the deep wells of sadness and almost spiritual conflict in the tracks. With this, I don't have that same reaction or connection point.
All that is to say, I don't like this style. or album. Or band. But when I get to a 1989 deep dive you best believe I will try for the 5th time to "get" On Fire.
Oh but "King Of Spain"... that song reminded me of The Tallest Man On Earth's much better track of the same name. I need to read up on what the significance and history of Kings of Spain. Is it a saying? was TTMOE referencing Galaxie 500? I don't know.
Oh and I will admit there are some actual distinct musical moments here on tracks like "Oblivious" or "Parking Lot". Which is cool. I like it when they go absolutely apeshit and like give me a clear upbeat rhythm and melody and chorus to cling to. lol.
(Note: reading over what I just wrote and I think I sound like a dad. I am not a dad. I think I sound like an old man. I am becoming this. I think I sound like a simpleton. This is still a possibility. Okay, bye)
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Another album and style I have a history of disrespecting or at least not quite vibing with:
Okay, and so is there are more different rock/metal album from Galaxie 500's debut than this prog metal/heavy metal concept album? I am sure there is, but its a pretty intense change of pace. The funny thing is I fucking also am a curmudgeon when it comes to this album and genre and aesthetic as well. This one maybe even more I have had a bad history of just getting angry. It all comes down to those damn voclas. They are so over-the-top, technically perhaps very very impressive. But man these vocals make me sometimes want to give up. Which is a shame. I know Dickinson is loved and I have already posted a dozen times how much I have a distinct dislike of his soaring, melodramatic, theatrical, overblown style. So no need to rag on it more.
The music here is lush, inspiringly high voltage and dynamic as hell. The solos are cool, the arrangements are detailed and fit nicely together, the bass playing is its usual chugging mastery, the drums are dope, the whole thing is darn good i tell you. Its just I don't personally connect to this style much despite this being possibly peak or close to peak of this style. Look at the metal and rock albums I have professed my love for so far in this 1988 thread - Leprosy, Daydream Nation, South of Heaven, Hate In Me, Napalm fuckin Death, etc... I think its clear I love metal and hard rock and things that are primal and vicious and intense and if they ALSO present a certain technical prowess or arrangement detail, all the better. This album, although a metal album of 1988 by one of the top 2 or 4 or so most influential and legendary metal (of any style) bands ever, is so diametrically opposed to what I adore in bands of the metal umbrella.
This is the 3rd listen to this classic. And I have not yet broken in either direction of either "Nope, I hate this" or "Nevermind, this is cool and I get it now!"... after 3 listens I am in the same limbo, that is, "This is cool in so many ways and lame in several ways to my ears".
I can't even say with certainty that it is JUST the vocals either. Like, if Chuck Schuldiner had briefly broken from Death and come in to do the vocals on this album would it work? lolol of course not. Conversely, if Bruce Dickinson had shown up in the studio when Slayer was recording South of Heaven and done the vocals instead of Tom Arraya, would that have worked? nope, I don't think so... but honestly it would have probably worked better than that first scenario. The middle portion of the title track on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is a good example. It slows down and becomes a straight up "eerie" stage play, a fantasy epic, like I can imagine Bruce up on a stage with a light shining up on his hooded face and you can see the lower part of his face and he seriously and dramatically reading this monologue in this musical play. And... it is really really not what I ever want to hear in a metal or music of any kind album again. But if it was Chuck D or Chuck Schuldiner would it have been shittier? Yeah probably. This album was made and composed by Bruce and by the other members with Bruce and these musicians in mind and no one else could have pulled it off the same way. Iron Maiden it must be said were MASTERS of their craft. And every aspect of this album is probably what they envisioned and based off the general adoration this album receives per RYM and metal magazines and sites, they have successfully made an album to blow the ever loving mind of many many many hundreds of thousands of metal fans.
I just don't get it. And I think its time to reconcile that this is simply not my thing. The musicians kick ass and there are riffs and hard charging metal parts here that briefly make me forget about everything else and just feel like rocking out. That's all I can say about this.
-----------------
The coolest woman ever? Possibly. Certainly in the running. Here's a LUCINDA WILLIAMS album, folks
I bought a copy of Lucinda's 1998 10/10 masterpiece Car Wheels On A Gravel Road at a Goodwill for 1 dollar. It was a CD. I had heard it was quite good and I played in my car's CD player on the ride back from Goodwill and... it clicked. That album stunned me and blew me away and I think I had it as my number 1 album on my chart for months after. It really is, for me, about as great an album you will hear, as far as songwriting, in terms of "Americana" as a genre, "country rock", "Alt-country" etc... all these genres that overlap so much, this album is a perfect summation of those genres and perhaps the greatest or at least one of the greatest albums within that musical world.
After "discovering" that masterpiece I was a man on a mission. I got my hands on as many Lucinda solo albums and I listened to all of em online, I figured I would find anbother album or 2 that would compare or be of the same level of greatness as Car Wheels... and you know what I discovered over the next few months? I found that nothing she released really did it for me half as well as that classic. The ones that came closest were this self-titled album pictured above, here 1992 album "Sweet Old World", her 2003 album "World Without Tears" and maybe "Essence" from 2001. Still, none of those albums had it. I eventually accepted that her 1998 album was really that bolt from the blue, lightning in a bottle, -insert cliched idiom here- for her career. And with this acceptance came a correction that was too severe. Instead of thinking of her other good albums as damn fine albums I started to think of them in comparison to the perfect album and kind of feeling they were all a bit disappointing and comparatively boring.
Fast forward a stretch of 6 or 7 years and here I am and here I am hearing Lucinda's classic self titled album. I am listening now to THIS without having heard recently Car Wheels On A Gravel Road and I think that is what I needed to do. I needed to give that album some space and then NOT go straight to it again when getting into Lucinda again, and instead focus on her other albums - several of which are regarded with a similar amount of respect as her 1998 album by Lucinda fans and music fans.
Okay, so this a really REALLY solid, consistent and well written (to say the least), gritty, passionate, and kind of badass album. By this point she was not yet that absolute legend, unbreakable, hard as nails woman she was in 1998, but by no means was she some wide-eyed youngster. By this point she had been a already an old school beast. She had been making albums and writing songs for others and herself for over a decade. And you can hear it all in her voice. She hadn't yet adopted that drunken, I-Don't-Give-A-Fuck slur and attitude in her singing. Instead there is a certain non-chalance in these vocal performances. This presentation makes it feel like Lucinda is just speaking the truth and speaking it plain. The fact that so much of this album's vocal delivery is so lowkey amkes it all the more powerful when you 1. hear the words, the sad and broken and hardened, and straight-forward words and 2. when she lets the coolness slip a bit and she lets out some passion and anger and true pain and emotion. The whole album really does reinforce my idea of Lucinda being just about the coolest person in country, rock, or whatever this arena of music is.
Musically, its country rock almost through and through. But there are some cool violin melodies and bluesy moments of both the hard sort and the down and out sort. There are old school plaintive country moments. There are enough little nuances in the songs and their structure to keep this pretty barebones on first listen album lush enough to come back to and get lost in. The thing that musically keeps this away from quite the peak of her later albums and that one I've mentioned so many times already, is the production. The percussion and the mixing just sounds... flat. I think that's the word. The drums almost always sound too loud and yet kind of lifeless in comparison to the volatility of the vocals and the acoustic and electric guitars and other elements.
The songwriting is, as expected from one of the all time greats imo, fabulous. Lucinda had a way with words, direct and emotional and naked and open. And I don't want to go into detail on all the songs and what I love about the lyrics, but the ones that stick out to me as being just profoundly beautiful are "The Night's Too Long", "Anandoned", "Like A Rose", "Am I Too Blue", "Side of the Road, and, finally and most intensely and most famously, "Passionate Kisses". "Passionate Kisses" kind of side swiped me this time around. I know this song well as covered by others and not just Lucinda's version here. I always looked at it as a countrified pop bawler. A song my mom or women of that generation would play and close their eyes and sing along to. But never did I hear TRULY hear the song. The way its performed here and the lyrics and the way Lucinda delivers this simple message, this time, somewhat broke me. At the very least it broke THROUGH. I relate to that song so much. Just yesterday I had similar internal thoughts... why can't I have all these things I ever dreamed of? Why must things be so hard? And what of passionate love and kisses, where have these basic and expected (when I was young) elements of life gone? It's just a classic track through and through.
In closing, this is my jam, my style, and Lucinda is a beast. Still, this is not Car Wheels On A Gravel Road because its not perfect. But its good, like REALLY good. It's gritty, relatable, down-to-earth, subtly powerful and moving. Certainly one of my fave albums of 1988.
----------------------
Now for ANOTHER classic 1988 EP, this time from Seattle:
I have heard the compilation or the album that gathers their early singles along with their famous debut EP several times. Actually for the longest time, until yesterday actually, I thought "Touch Me I'm Sick" was in their debut EP. Not the case. That was their debut single which for some reason wasn't in their EP. So, much like that great MBV EP from 1988 I spoke of earlier, this will be stuff familiar to me but never listened to AS an EP and as its own complete release in context and with nothing added before or after. So, here goes:
Most of what comes to mind as I hear this is the amazing book Our Band Could Be Your Life, which I read at a perfect time in my life. This book is a cool look at the american underground punk/indie scene in the 1980s. It has big portions dedicated to The Replacements, Husker Du, Mission Of Burma, Black Flag, Minutemen, Beat Haappening, Minor Threat, and Mudhoney. (and others I'm forgetting). So before I had ever heard a second of this EP or any Mudhoney I knew a little about how huge of an influence they had on the creation of what we later called Grunge and what later became the famous Seattle punk/grunge scene. So when I first bought this EP as part of the Superfuzz Bigmuff+Early Singles album (along with Double Nickels and Vs. and You're Living All Over Me - oh yeah Dino Jr is big part of book - etc) I was excited to finally put my ears to this classic band's material. And I was a little disappointed. I thought at the time (and as you will see, still think) that this band is fine, fuzzy, heavy, kinda fucked in the head, dirty, and cool in ways but always a little bit lacking in that extra special something to push it over. This EP has a sound that is kind of cool, but no clear stand out moments. Like, I think of The Stooges and Raw Power and Fun House when I hear this - they both have a certain animalistic, rabid, dirty rock n roll vibe - but The Stooges are so much more convincing than Mudhoney ever is here. I also think of Bleach by Nirvana and I am struck by how much better that Nirvana debut is, how much more alive and distinctive it is, how much more emotive and convincing even very young Cobain is over this guy who is the singer of Mudhoney.
Okay, that last paragraph was a mess as is my tendency. I don't dislike this EP or this band. I just think that this scene and this sound was almost IMMEDIATELY made much much cooler and more badass by early Nirvana and Soundgarden and other stuff (i don't claim to be smart about that seattle musical scene). The coolest thing this has going for it is that dirty fuzz and rumble - that almost noisy staticy rumble is alllll over this EP, espeially on tracks of the more unbridled and heavy sort like track 2 "Chain That Door". And that is dope. This band could have used something that almost all the other seattle bands had that made them better in all cases - that is a dynamic, INTERESTING and charismatic lead singer. This dude on vocals is fine, but while everyone else is contributing to this cool, fucked up and sick and neauseas garagy sludgy something, the vocals just sort of exist. If Staley or Cornell or Vedder or Cobain was in this band, I think you'd have something special. This is coming from someone who doesn't particularly love Layne Staley's or Vedder's vocals. I just think despite everything those front men had a personality and a distinctiveness and were memorable. and Mudhoney woulda been HUGE had they someone like that at the helm.
Anyway, this is pretty good. I'm done talking about it.
-----------------------
That's all for now.
---TOTALLY BRILLIANT---
Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
Hate In Me EP by Moss Icon
South of Heaven by Slayer
Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk
Leprosy by Death
From Enslavement to Obliteration by Napalm Death
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
you made me realise - EP by My Bloody Valentine
---REALLY GOOD/GREAT--- Split Demo Tape by Terrorizer/Nausea (this is bolded because I moved it up one spot after hearing it again... its great. sorry metallica)
…And Justice For All by Metallica
16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
Surfer Rosa by The Pixies
Lucinda Williams by Lucinda Williams
How Will I Laugh Tomorrow… by Suicidal Tendencies
Sugarshit Sharp by Pussy Galore
Blood Fire Death by Bathory
Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins
Miss America by Mary Margaret O'Hara
---QUITE GOOD---
Green by R.E.M.
Slow Turning by John Hiatt
Fugazi EP by Fugazi
In War There Is No Law! By Bolt Thrower
Demo by Blood Spill
Slave by Infest
---GOOD/FAIR---
Cinema Paradiso Score/OST by Ennio Morricone
Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass
The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies
Prison Bound by Social Distortion
Superfuzz Bigmuff EP by Mudhoney
---MEH/OR JUST SHORT DEMOS/HARD TO JUDGE---
You Must Be Certain of the Devil by Diamanda Galas
Seventh Son of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden
Rattle & Hum by U2
By All Means Necessary by Boogie Down Productions
Today by Galaxie 500
1988 Demo by Immolation
Premature Autopsy EP by Nihilist
---BAD/VARYING DEGREES OF DISLIKE---
Down In The Groove by Bob Dylan
You Walk Alone by Jandek
Open Up and Say… Ahh! By Poison _________________ -Ryan
Recently I had an urge to listen to "fast car". I had just finished listening to 2 Testament albums. Before Testament I was sampling some Sabbat and some Voivod and...the speed and metal was burning me out badly. And then I saw that classic album cover in my mind and I wanted to watch specifically Tracy Chapman's Wembley performance of "Fast Car". And it hit me and it hit me hard with utter clarity, that this is an unqualified masterpiece. It makes me cry almost every time. I started listening again and again and again and I was just thinking about all the ways this song is such a masterpiece. I decided to not write a long comment about why "Fast Car" is one of the greatest, most perfect and simple songs I have ever heard. But it is those things. It's just fucking heartbreaking and so intense and so mindblowingly impressive I can't do it justice.
Then I listened to this album again. Before listening this time I had heard it a couple times through and I remembered almost nothing about it (except, y'know, That Song). My impression was that it had dated production issues, where its 80s enough and lush enough to undercut the gritty acoustic simplicity that I like in this genre of confessional/political singer/songwriter music, while also being stripped down and basic enough to never really feel like anything particularly interesting is happening production and sound-wise. Like, the worst of both worlds. I also had a recollection that Tracy's voice is uniquely powerful and well used at times but not nearly enough. And I remembered more than anything else that the album is massively overshadowed by The Song. Then when I finished closely listening just now, I think I mostly stick to those critiques, except with the sudden increase in my all time song rankings of "Fast Car" to upper tier all timers as well as just more familiarity with a few more of the melodies and hooks, I came away from this listen feeling its a good album. Whereas in the past I think I considered it fair at best.
Outside of the most tragically brilliant song of perhaps the entire decade and a better song than Springsteen ever wrote, other good to quite good songs are "Across The Lines", "Baby Can I Hold You", and "For My Lover". The rest are mostly meh to fine at best. The other hit (apparently, I was still a year from birth when these songs blew up) is "Talkin bout a revolution" and ... it doesn't do anything for me like at all. Seems pretty inconsequential and shallow to me. Oh and I personally liked the closing track as well, "If Not Now...".
In closing I can't think of anything of note to say about this album. That live performance of Tracy Chapman, about 24, with just an acoustic, in front of 60,000 people, playing with utter calm and confidence and vulnerability a defining work of art, that one video I could watch over and over and never not smile with tears in my eyes. It's special, the performance and the artist and the song and what it all represents to me here and now. I am forever thankful to Chapman for many things, she is such a powerful woman and inspiring person, but more than anything else... I'm thankful for "Fast car". I'mma go listen again and watch that performance as well.
edit/coming back: I feel such love and respect for Chapman the artist and Fast Car that I feel like I am not giving her other songs enough credit or something. Was this an instance when a tender, brilliant artist struck a moment of inspiration, made a masterpeice and then never really ever lived up to it? Or am I just not giving her other songs and material enough time and thought? Hard to say.
I'll needlessly put the entirety of the lyrics below just so I can look at them.
"You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero, got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
Me, myself, I got nothing to prove
"You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living
"See, my old man's got a problem
He lives with the bottle, that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
His body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said, somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did
"You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
"So I remember we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
"You got a fast car
We go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
"So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
"You got a fast car
I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans, I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving
"So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
"You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way" - Tracy Chapman
-----------
TESTAMENT dropped an album in '88, and so, yeah that is cool, let's talk about it:
Ah, yes, Testament. Perhaps, what, the #5 or #6 Thrash band of the 80s? If that famed Big Four became the big 5, it would be these dudes who would be added alongside Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, right? Who else could be considered? Exodus perhaps or really Kreator is Testament's main challenger. Not Voivod because I feel like they quite quickly showed the world they were not gonna stick to Thrash and did prog and weird shit asap. As for Bathory, that actually may be the right answer except I think they are rightly remembered as innovators outside of Thrash, remembered more as early Black metal and the creators of Viking Metal. Coroner maybe? I don't think so, I think of them as the kings of the next phase of Thrash when bands worked to make thrash more technical and branched out to other sounds and directions. Sodom and Celtic Frost are cool possibles as well... but personally not a huge fan of Celtic Frost and I honestly am not familiar with almost any Sodom besides a long time ago liking their Agent Orange album. So yeah, lets call this a BIG 6 of THRASH! In which case I say it's the original 4 (despite not really ever getting the hype for Anthrax) PLUS Kreator and Testament. Okay, we have solved it. (if any of you metalheads have metal-y head-y things and opinions you'd like to voice on this, pleeeeaaaaasssssse share them below.)
Now, where was I? Why the fuck did I just jump into that instead of talking about this, the classic second Testament album? Well, not sure but whatever moving on. Testament is cool as hell. However as I listened to this album and their debut over and over today, I was struck by how long its been since I have listened to a straight-up Thrash album (not Slayer or Metallica because they seem to be going outside of some of the standard thrash things and also I have A LOT of nostalgia for them). Most of what I've been listening to recently from this era metal-wise is black/thrash or death/thrash or grind or what have you. So coming back to this and The Legacy today was a bit strange. Because it is both kind of a breathe of fresh air as well as a bit underwhelming. Testament were great and as I listened I started hearing more of what made them special - the guitar work in particular is soooo sharp and melodically rich, and the vocals (although not my preference stylistically) are so intense and well done, and the bass grooves that come in and the almost artsy detours and melodically expansive bits are sooo badass and cool. But, FUNDAMENTALLY, this is Thrash. If you wanted an example of what Thrash Metal is to show someone who just wanted a perfect stand in for the genre, this would work (perhaps their debut would work better because its more aggressively and consistently, no holds barred thrash whereas this sophomore album has a few extra bells and whistles).
Once I allowed myself to sort of get back in to that Thrashy groove that I grew up loving, I was blown away consistently. This is a very consistent album, while also being varied and downright pretty at times (the beginning of "Disciples of the Watch, anyone?). The production is pretty standard, doesn't seem to be as punchy or interesting as some other major thrash or metal albums of this year and era. But the musicianship from all involved is stellar. They can pull off the shredding break neck speed bursts, and also they kill on the crunchy stank face thrash grooves and riffs, and again, when they get melodic and acoustic and more gorgeous they can do that as well.
Perhaps one gripe I have is one I have with many metal albums of this sort. And that is simply that there is an on and off switch. Like they will have an idea of something that is not metal or thrash and its great and then, though, they completely end that bit and "segue" into a burning thrash riff. Like, why not figure out a way to truly meld and join these sounds and styles and make something new? I suppose if they did that it would stop being thrash and would become like prog metal or something, idk. Even Metallica at their best did this on classics like "Battery" or "Fight Fire With Fire" - they have a cool acoustic melody and then a cool very un-metal and beautiful electric guitar part and instead of working these new sounds into their metal tracks, they just stop and then go into a standard thrash song. It annoys me and I am not even sure why.
Okay, and about this album, I don't have much else to say. Its not re-inventing the wheel. Testament were apparently part of the the "second wave" of thrash. This is a term I'm just learning today, but I see it everywhere I look to read about this band and album. I suppose if Testament and thgeir 1987 and 1988 albums are any indication, the second wave was more technically accomplished, more nimble? Like I suppose and if Voivod and Coroner is part of this newly-learned term of "Second Wave Thrash" perhaps I'm onto something. Mostly Testament sounds like just about the poster child for the most standard classic sound of Thrash. I don't mean that in a bad way. This doesn't really blow my mind or expand it. But it fits and feels warm like an old sweater. Perhaps with further listens my regard for it will morph from general respect and liking to something a bit more personal.
-----------------
The weirdos of Thrash, the nerds and geeks of the scene, VOIVOD
Wow. Just awesome. This is splendid. Like, how come I never got into this? Bummer. Maybe 13 year old or 16 year old Ryan wouldn't have loved it, but I'm pretty sure at any other stage I would have seen the light. Voivod are the coolest and most wonky and strange of these "Thrash" bands I've covered thus far. Everything about them from their vocal style here, to their guitar tone, to their jazz and prog elements, to their sci-fi themes, to their almost avant-garde willingness to play with dissonance and some odd-af time signatures, EVERYTHING about them is unique and glorious.
They still manage to take all these eccentricities and meld them around a heavy and unrelenting journey, at no point are you, or rather, was I thinking this isn't a great and heavy thrashy metal album. But while enjoying nominally a classic thrash release I was also mesmerized by the otherworldly guitar breakdowns that get kind of psychedelic and disorienting at times, or the clean almost detached nasally vocals, or the very VERY modern willingness to make dissonant walls of maniacal and dizzying and angular prog-y experimental music.
This is the sort of boundary pushing album that requires probably many many listens to unpack. I had previously loved their 1989 album Nothingface. I had previously enjoyed and at least been familiar with their first heralded classic Killing Technology from 1987. Somehow I had never bridged that gap with this excellent 1988 masterpiece. I just love this. The entire album is conceptual, breakneck, inventive and fascinating. Even as I listened to the absolutely brilliant opener, "Experiment", it was one of those times when the opening song was so enticing and so unique and fascinating that I was itching to hear what these musicians had up their sleeves. The fact that for the entire 42 minutes and 9 songs they manage to keep things fresh and utterly unpredictable is fucking badass. I really have no complaints about this record. It could have been released in 1999 or 2020 and I would think that it is a modern classic, and leaps and bounds better than most metal of the time. I'm on my second listen and its so good and it seems to be building in my mind. This is reminding more of stuff like maudlin of the well than it is Anthrax, I think if this generation of nerds that loved to stick "Post" on every popular genre when someone starts fucking with the genre formula back in 1988 or 1989 this would have been like Post-Thrash.... anyway, just a thought (a silly one I had just now that maybe I will regret later lol). This is, for me, so much more invigorating and fascinating than more traditional aggressive Thrash it really isn't "fair" to compare.
I was originally planning on doing a 1-2-3 with this album, Sadus' 1988 album and Coroner's. But now I think I'll hold on those and let the dust settle as I chomp on this avant garde prog technical mind altering master work before moving onto other tech thrash stuff. I think that's only "fair" to those other undoubtedly very cool albums.
Now I'm in the situation where I am wondering..."Is THIS the best Metal album of 1988?" which before listening I thought was silly as I couldn't imagine anything equaling or challenging South of Heaven or Leprosy (for the purposes of this discussion I am considering all Grindcore to be 3 parts hardcore and punk lineage and 2 parts metal of various kinds)
----------------------
I was gonna do one more but I am listening to this Voivod and then I plan on listening to some of their other stuff. I need to give myself some personal time with Voivod lol. So for now that is all we will do with this long post. I feel bad for Testament because it was followed up by a new favorite and so maybe I have managed to completely put Testament's very very cool Thrash classic in company with something that utterly overshadows it. Still, Testament kicks ass and all. Also since kind of trashing (by my standards) BOTH Iron Maiden and Galaxie 500, I think I may have managed to annoy 2 very distinct and very large fandoms in one post a few days ago haha. Sorry if I was too dismissive to those 2 iconic bands and their 1988 output.
Here's the new rankings. I am thinking of re-introducing ratings like numbers next to these albums. But that still feels a little weird to me and I can't do it. Not yet anyway.
---TOTALLY BRILLIANT---
Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
South of Heaven by Slayer
Dimension Hatröss by Voïvod
Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk
Leprosy by Death
Hate In Me EP by Moss Icon (moved down from #2 to #6 despite being better than everything here pound for pound in my mind, because its 10 minutes and I don't want it in top 5, still basically perfect and please go on youtube and listen)
From Enslavement to Obliteration by Napalm Death
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
you made me realise - EP by My Bloody Valentine
---REALLY GOOD/GREAT---
Split Demo Tape by Terrorizer/Nausea
…And Justice For All by Metallica
16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
Surfer Rosa by The Pixies
Lucinda Williams by Lucinda Williams
How Will I Laugh Tomorrow… by Suicidal Tendencies
Sugarshit Sharp by Pussy Galore
Blood Fire Death by Bathory
Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins
Miss America by Mary Margaret O'Hara
---QUITE GOOD---
Green by R.E.M.
Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman
Slow Turning by John Hiatt
Fugazi EP by Fugazi
In War There Is No Law! By Bolt Thrower
Demo by Blood Spill
Slave by Infest
The New Order by Testament
---GOOD/FAIR---
Cinema Paradiso Score/OST by Ennio Morricone
Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass
The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies
Prison Bound by Social Distortion
Superfuzz Bigmuff EP by Mudhoney
---MEH/OR JUST SHORT DEMOS/HARD TO JUDGE---
You Must Be Certain of the Devil by Diamanda Galas
Seventh Son of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden[/b]
Rattle & Hum by U2
By All Means Necessary by Boogie Down Productions
Today by Galaxie 500[/b]
1988 Demo by Immolation
Premature Autopsy EP by Nihilist
---BAD/VARYING DEGREES OF DISLIKE---
Down In The Groove by Bob Dylan
You Walk Alone by Jandek
Open Up and Say… Ahh! By Poison
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I am torn between doing the BIG releases that everyone likes or knows next (Viva Hate, Joy Divisions' Substance, Lovesexy) or doing a Thrash metal of various kinds post (Sadus' weird selves, Cornoer's technical selves, Megadeth's generally lesser release of the 1980s, etc).... If you have a preference tell me. I will be back later.
Oh and if you are thrash fan I am curious who should be the BIG 4 and BIG 6 of Thrash if you could change or expand it. If it's based on personal taste and the band's had to release at least say 2 albums before 1988/89... Slayer #1, Metallica #2, #3 Megadeth (barely) and #4 Voivod or maybe Kreator. That is my choice. Get Anthrax outta there and let in the Canadiens and Germans dammit! _________________ -Ryan
GREAT post, brother! Love me some Testament & Voivod! 😈
And great question!! Personally, I think there is a BIG THREE (SlaYER, METALLICA, MEGADETH) and then a little three (Testament, Overkill, & Anthrax) and then a Teutonic Three (Kreator, Destruction, & Sodom) I actually prefer the Teutonic Three to the little three.
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