Parallel Lines by Blondie
Blondie release two landmark album during this year and they both contained their share of filler which prevented them from being a classic. Here the real filler is contained to two tracks: Fade Away and Radiate and Pretty Baby but there is some real good stuff on here not in the least their very worthy attempt at dance music, Heart Of Glass and especially that great Buddy Holly cover I'm Gonna Love You Too. The album goes from the 38th to the 27th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
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V2 by The Vibrators
If you can make an album like The Punk: The Early Years where they covered nearly all of your favorite punk classics in a more than great way, you can't do anything wrong. But this is their second album and just as good as Pure Mania. The song I know best of them, Automatic Lover, is on it and one of their best. And they do know how to do something different than just full-blow punk. On Nazi Baby they add some freaking good violin which just works. The last track Troops Of Tomorrow is a bit longer because of a slow start but it turns out to a great Stooges like song. I love this band and keen on discovering their other albums and this one enters at the 25th rank of the year 1978.
V2 by The Vibrators
If you can make an album like The Punk: The Early Years where they covered nearly all of your favorite punk classics in a more than great way, you can't do anything wrong. But this is their second album and just as good as Pure Mania. The song I know best of them, Automatic Lover, is on it and one of their best. And they do know how to do something different than just full-blow punk. On Nazi Baby they add some freaking good violin which just works. The last track Troops Of Tomorrow is a bit longer because of a slow start but it turns out to a great Stooges like song. I love this band and keen on discovering their other albums and this one enters at the 25th rank of the year 1978.
The Bells by Lou Reed
I think this must be one of the worst albums of Lou Reed. His "singing" is terrible and the music around it is not much better. The best song is the long title track which can also be accused of excessive noodling but which has a vibe I quite like. So it's in fact only for the sake of this track and the name of Lou Reed that I couldn't bring myself to throwing this out of my year chart and it goes from the 62nd to the 64th and last rank of the year 1979.
And an album from my wishlist:
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Narita by Riot
I think this is a good hardrock band, nothing much more but also nothing less because there is some very good guitar work here especially on the best track Here We Go Again. It lands at the 47th rank of my year chart.
And here is 1980 with an exclamation and a question mark:
First with an album I already know/own:
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Sandinista! by The Clash
An album with 36 tracks like this profits a bit from my scoring system (I only score the 13 best tracks) but in general this is a good and consistent album although it has its week points. The two best tracks are The Magnificent Seven and Police On My Back but there is so much to be found on this record mixing in reggae, punk and all kinds of Latin influences. Nevertheless it descends in my year ranking from the 7th to the 24th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
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Is This Real? by Wipers
I got to know this band by their latter albums, first with Silver Sail (which I loved to pieces) and later Youth Of America. This is their first album and the production quality is not great and it's generally a bit rough around the edges but I still like it very much. It's a bit darker than I'm used from them and sometimes that is a good thing (D-7) and sometimes not really (Potential Suicide) but it already has all the features of their later classics and a welcome addition to my year chart at the 23rd rank.
Discipline by King Crimson
I already discussed this album on 4/11/2017 and this was my verdict:
"this record is not a prog record but more a record in the spirit of My Life In the Bush of Ghosts, ie somewhat of a mixture between Talking Heads, Brian Eno and also minimal music by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. This album was not available on Apple Music so I listened to different live versions on Youtube which was not a bad thing to do because the comments under them learnt me a lot about the abundant time signature shifts on nearly all the tracks and especially at the last one which indeed takes a lot of discipline from Robert Fripp. But it all sounds wonderful and in the case of especially Thela Hun Ginjeet also very mesmerising. I was tempted to buy this album and maybe I will because I very much like it and don't know why it was so far under the radar for me until now." Now the album is on Apple Music and it's still a good one with all those reminiscenses to Talking Heads but somehow it misses that special spirit that set the best TH albums apart. So good but not perfect and the album descends from the 37th to the 40th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
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Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash by The Replacements
This is the first album by The Replacements and a real punk record not so very different from the many punk bands already there. I like it but nothing more and there is of course that interesting reference to that other band of Minneapolis, Hüsker Dü with the track Somethin To Dü. The album enters in my 1981 year chart at rank 30.
After a bit of holidays in France, these are the two albums I listened to from 1982:
An album I already own/know:
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Iron Fist by Motörhead
Apart from the title song and Heart Of Stone not one of their top albums but this is still Motörhead who in my opinion had no bad songs so this one still holds up and moves from the 10th to the 8th rank of the year.
And an album from my wishlist:
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Diamond Dreamer by Picture
A fairly straight hardrock album from a Dutch band. Nothing really special but especially the first track, Lady Lightning is not bad. Overall an enjoyable but not groundbreaking typical eighties hardrock album which enters my year chart at the 44th rank.
Holy Diver by Dio
All my respect to Ronny James Dio for what he did in Rainbow and his mighty voice is still all-present on this first album under the Dio name but to me the songs and also the mighty guitar work of Rainbow is just not there. Of course the title track and some other tracks are ok but not much more than that. I know that many people consider this album to be a classic but to me it ain't. Of course still worthy to be in my year chart but goes from the 44th to the 35th rank.
Then an album from my wishlist:
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Burning From The Inside by Bauhaus
An album where the presence of Peter Murphy was getting less and less and so it feels. But there is of course that signature hit of both Bauhaus an Murphy, She's In Parties which is perfect. And there's also that other great track which many people think too long but to me just seems long enough to develop itself into a mesmerizing ghostlike and typically Bauhaus song: Burning From The Inside. The rest of the album is way way less in quality but those two tracks are too perfect not to include the album in my year chart at the 32nd rank.
After a bit of holidays in France, these are the two albums I listened to from 1982:
And an album from my wishlist:
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Diamond Dreamer by Picture
A fairly straight hardrock album from a Dutch band. Nothing really special but especially the first track, Lady Lightning is not bad. Overall an enjoyable but not groundbreaking typical eighties hardrock album which enters my year chart at the 44th rank.
Nice! Hope u had fun, AND glad u liked that Picture album. While nothing new or unique, it's a very solid straight-up early 80s metal album. Perfect for when you're in the mood for that stuff.
Ocean Rain by Echo & The Bunnymen
although this album goes from the 8th to the 16th rank in my year chart this album still remains a semi classic not in the least because of The Killing Moon and Seven Seas which still remain the quintessence of neo-romantic postpunk.
An album from my wishlist:
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Raining Pleasure by The Triffids
In fact I already owned this via the compilation album Beautiful Waste And Other Songs on which this mini-album is fully featured. But it is long enough to be classified as a normal album on BEA so I relistened to Raining Pleasure and still the title track is one of their greatest tracks even if Jill Birt is not really able to keep the right tone. But also the more ominous sounding St.James Infirmery and Property Is Condemned sound great. So all in all worth an inclusion in my year chart of 1984 at the 30th rank.
Up On The Sun by Meat Puppets
I suppose this is debatable but I much more like the newer albums of Meat Puppets because I think that the newer are more tight and purposeful. And this is one of those examples of their older ones. Of course this is somehow a classic and the first album I have bought of them but somehow I miss some focus which is of course not the initial intention of those kinds of bands (Pavement is not focused either and they are one of my favorite bands). The jazz elements are nice and the sound is great but somehow after all these years it all sounds a bit, well yeah, dated. And the verdict is that the album goes from the 38th to the 40th rank (one of the lowest of the year).
Then an album from my wishlist:
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Valley Of Rain by Giant Sand
This first album of theirs sounds more rocky than sandy which in my opinion is a good thing. Some of the songs still sound a bit unfinished but sound great anyway and this only their first. So overall a good debut and it enters my year chart at the 23rd rank.
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