My discoveries per year

dihansse · 2016-04-10T12:28:28-04:00

Well! Here I would like to start with my own long term project taking advantage of the best BEA has to offer: overall charts from people who are as interested in music as I am. I already have year charts which are based on the albums I already own or know, but there are a lot of them which I haven't listened to yet and which might be worth discovering. I'd like to do this by going through the overall BEA top lists per year starting in 1963 which is both my year of birth and the year in which I personally think rock music started to become interesting. To keep it a bit varied I will skip through the years in five year periods, ie starting in 1963 then 1968 then 1973 all the way to 2013 and then back to 1964 and so on. Every year I will start with some stats of my personal chart in comparison to the overall year charts, both top 20 an top 50 and will start to listen to at least the top 20 albums I don't know and I'll hope to give some comments sometimes very short, sometimes a bit longer. I will also update my personal year charts accordingly. In principle I will use Apple Music to listen to the albums, which I suppose will cover most of the field. If a certain album isn't present in Apple Music, I'll have to skip it. I will try to listen to all the albums at least once and sometimes twice if I doubt, but I'll skip the really stupid ones (ex a Xmas compilation in 1963) and also other compilations, classical music, jazz and easy listening. This will be a long term project which means there might be times in which I will stop a bit of course because I don't want be stuck listining to albums of the same year all the time. However I suppose this will take at least a month per year. I will try to keep it up but please don't be mad if I give up (maybe already after the first year :lol: )

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Only one album I already own/know of 1972 (nothing on my wishlist for the moment):

Harvest Moon (1992) by Neil Young

A few great songs, The Needle And The Damage Done and Word, a number of good tracks and quite a few weaker ones. Not a bad album but to me he has better ones. It moves up from the 17th to the 15th rank of 1972.

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Two albums of 1973 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Catch A Fire (1973) by The Wailers

Not yet carrying his own name but it's clear that Bob Marley carries the album which is best proven on one of his best songs, Stir It up, which is about the quintessence of grooviness. The rest of the album is more generic reggae music but nevertheless overall very good. The album moves up from the 44th to the 34th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Twice Removed From Yesterday (1973) by Robin Trower

It's incredible how, on his first solo album, copies the guitar sound of Jimi Hendrix but also does his own thing with it. Nevertheless the best track, I Can't Stand It, is also the one which is the closest to also the songwriting of Hendrix but that's not a bad thing. Not always the greatest but overall a solid first album of the man who would gradually find his own style on later albums. And it ends up at the 40th rank of 1973.

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only an album I already own/know frm 1974:

Kimono My House (1974) by Sparks

This is the only album by The Sparks I find bearable and this is mainly thanks two the major hits on this album which are also by far their best songs: This Town Ain't Big Enought For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour with also Here In Heaven as not bad. The rest is predominantly doing at what their good at: bringing over the top tracks which are on the verge of too much over the top. Their best album but a mixed bag which however rises from the 39th to the 30th rank of the year.

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And also for 1975 only an album I already ow/know:

High Voltage (1975) by AC/DC

Although: the album I own is the international version which is in fact a compilation of their real Australian debut High Voltage and TNT and the real album doesn't even contain the track High Voltage. It is clear that TNT is the better album of the two and in fact only the cover Baby Please Don't Go, which showed that this band could play, and Soul Stripper are really good. The album even contains what probably is their only slow, Love Song, which also happens to be very mediocre. So not a complete success and the album goes from the 26th to the 27th rank.

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Two albums of 1976 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Rising (1976) by Rainbow

When Rainbow goes epic they go really epic and on this album not once but twice. First there is the very orchestral Stargazer where other bands would go over the top but Rainbow doesn't. The many twists and turns on this track are just fantastic and apart from the orchestra the playing of both Richie Blackmore on his mighty guitar and Cozy Powell on his powerful drums is simply great and Ronnie James Dio proves himself to be one of the, if not the, best hardrock singers ever. And the same goes for that other epic A Light In The Black which sounds as the best track Deep Purple has never written. Two of the greatest hardrock songs ever written full stop. And the other four tracks are certainly not bad either so this makes for a classic album which still stands firmly at the first rank of 1976.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Pretender (1976) by Jackson Browne

This is maybe the least good of his run of classic albums but it's still a fine one especially with the title track and the first two tracks with only his attempt at sounding Mexican on Linda Paloma as a letdown. So all in all good for the 35th rank.

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Two albums of 1977 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Blank Generation (1977) by Richard Hell & The Voidoids

Richard Hell can't be praised enough for his role in Television but this album is not as good as I originally thought it was. Of course the title track, Walking On The Water and The Plan are really good tracks but there are plenty of weaker ones as well without a lot of inspiration. It's still a good album but it goes from the 34th to the 37th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Count Bishops (1977) by The Count Bishops
This album is often described as punk but this is more like pubrock or even more simply put, good bluesrock. You won't find anything new or inventive here also proven by the presence of some covers but this is just old fun rock 'n roll and I like it. It enters my year chart at the 33rd rank.

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Two albums of 1978 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Powerage (1978) by AC/DC

Some albums are really to low on my year chart and this is one of them. This album fits right between two of my favorite albums, Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell and this one is not far behind especially if you have tracks like Riff Raff, Down Payment Blues and Rock 'n Roll Damnation (which doesn't feature on all versions of the album). One of their better ones and it rises from the 50th to a whopping tenth rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Can't Stand The Rezillos (1978) by The Rezillos

Goofy punk rock I would call this and sometimes the goofiness stands in the way of a good song so it's no surprise that the best track on the album is a cover from Dave Clark Five, Glad All Over. But overall not a bad album so it enters my year chart at the 49th rank.

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Two albums of 1979 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

London Calling (1979) by The Clash

I think I hadn't given this album all the credits it certainly deserves. Ex my score for the top songs here were not high enough: the title track, Hateful and Spanish Bombs. And most of the other tracks are very good. To me it is still not the classic that many other people would say it is but the album nevertheless goes from the 39th to the 11th rank on my year chart.

And an album from my wishlist:

Labour Of Lust (1979) by Nick Lowe

All in all this is a very good album but somehow most of the songs don't reach the top level, of course except for Cruel To Be Kind and Cracking Up. It's also a pity that American Squirm isn't featured on the original version (it is on the version I listened to) because that is also one of the finer tracks. As far as the other tracks are concerned: I have the impression I know all the tracks and all of them are good but like I said just that. So all in all an album that only enters my year chart at the 58th rank.

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And two albums of 1980:

First an album I already own/know:

Arc Of A Diver (1980) by Steve Winwood

Not many tracks on this album (7) but many of them were hits: the title track, When You See A Chance and Night Train with also Spanish Dancer as a really good song. Which makes this album good for the 50th rank (coming from 65).

And an album from my wishlist:

The Up Escalator (1980) by Graham Parker & The Rumour

Unfortunately the original version of this album doesn't contain the hit Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions (at least in Belgium and there were others in contradiction to the claim of Allmusic that the album failed to reach the ears of the mass Audience), here in a live version. But it does contain that other hit Stupefaction and both track certainly show a certain anger ventilated on this fine album which also contains a good track which also features Bruce Springsteen (Endless Night). And the album enters my year chart at the 69th rank.

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Two albums of 1981 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

The Ascension (1981) by Glenn Branca

Glenn Branca is an artist who was an avant garde artist especially known for his multi guitarist performance and his dissonant guitar sound. Most Sonic Youth members were once member of the group of guitar players he surrounded himself with and it is clear from this album where SY got their sound of. Lee Ranaldo even played on this album which is supposed to be one of his most accessible albums but still sounds very experimental with long winding pieces which are very interesting to discover but not always lead to exciting music. It is a good album and very important because it leads directly to one of the most important band ever but it is not a great album and it goes from the 47th to the 49th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Dangerous Acquaintances (1981) by Marianne Faithfull

One of those album that I never fully heard but of which I heard almost every song sometimes. The big hit is of course Sweetheart and overall all the songs have hit potential but that doesn't mean they are of the highest quality. Overall I like the album but it only lands at the 51st rank of the year.

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