[dihansse]

Two albums of 2022 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Fingers Crossed (2022) by Artsick
A fine jangly album which remains firm at the 63rd rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Forever Giving Handshakes (2022) by Delivery
An ok album by this Australian band but they don't break any new grounds but they don't make it to my top 100.[/s]

[dihansse]

And finally in the round two albums of 2023 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Turn The Car Around (2023) by Gaz Coombes
This solo album by the singer/guitarist of Supergrass is ok but not great and goes from the 74th to the 87th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Today My Friend You Drunk The Venom (2023) by The Drin
The singer sings a bit in the style of Kim Gordon's parlando, it has postpunk references but most of all it has the atmospheres of the darkest of Joy Division. Not everything is great but this is still an album worth discovering and it ends up at the 78th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

And here I already at round 19 of my rediscovery of albums I already own/know and albums yet to discover from my still long wishlist.

And I'm gonna try to focus on two (very) different artists in this round: Steve Harley and Dave Petkovic

Bit first I listened to an album I already own/know from the sixties (yes I'm covering the whole decade and yes for the moment nothing on my wishlist for the decade):

Blood, Sweat & Tears (1968) by Blood, Sweat & Tears
The two hits from this 1968 album are also two fantastic tracks: Spinning Wheel and You've Made Me So Very Happy especially since they are both type of rock operas where they move through very different styles from blues to soul to R&B to jazz to rock to whatever. Also the two other good songs on this album are a bit in this style: Smiling Phases and Blues, Part II. The other songs are only ok maybe because they are a bit too much in one style and mainly soul/R&B.
So not the greatest album in the world overall but nevertheless a must listen but still remains at the 27th (and last) rank of 1968.

[dihansse]

And here are two albums of 1970 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) by John Lennon
Lennon's post Beatles album and it indeed sounds like a real breakup album with all the sentiments that go with it and rage and pain are at the front with a song like God as the signature song. But also Mother has these elements although directed to his mother with a primal scream that is very moving and feels very heart felt. But my most favorite song on the album is the for some maybe too sentimental love song Love but I love it. There's a few minor tracks on this album which cause the album not to be at the top but it nevertheless moves up from the 39th to the 23rd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

De Zotte Morgen (1970) by Zjef Vanuytsel
So in the sixties and seventies you had that musical genre which was called Kleinkunst in Flemish (can be translated as small art) which was in fact Flanders' own take of folk. And this is one of the essential albums of that genre which also led to one of the greatest hits of the genre and appears in every top list of best songs in Belgium: De Zotte Morgen. And in fact I nearly know all the tracks of the album because also those are played on our radio. On this album Zjef Vanuytsel also incorporates jazz and rock but most of the songs are laidback and sensitive songs encompassing all kinds of these going from social themes to simple love songs. One of the essential Belgian albums although the language can be a hindrance. This album enters my year chart at the 29th rank.

[dihansse]

Only an album I already own/know from 1971:


The Yes Album (1971) by Yes
I had to listen to this album again to realize how good it actually is. Yours Is No Disgrace is already a good song but Starship Trooper is just a killer with its fantastic outro. And I've Seen All Good People is great with all its twists and turns. These three have the main focus but the album as a whole is one of the best examples of good accessible prog. The album moves up from the 23rd to the 10th rank of 1971.

[dihansse]

Only an album I already own/know from 1972:

Neu! (1972) by Neu!
I know I should love this album by Neu! because of its German Motorik krautrock ingenuity. And I do... on two tracks which are also the longest of the album: Hallogallo and Negativeland, the first because it best represents that Motorik sound and the second because of its pleasant weirdness. But the rest can best be described as filler which leads me to conclude that overall this is just an ok to good album and not a great one. And the album stays at the 33rd rank of 1972.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1973 I listened to:

First an album I already know/own:

Berlin (1973) by Lou Reed
I recently saw the re-release of the concert movie in a movie theater and it really moved me and even makes my doubt my original conviction that Stop Making Sense is the best concert movie ever. But the songs in themselves are also oh so fantastic with Caroline Said II and The Kids (I admit: the crying baby does it for me: child molesting or not) as the real classics but everything here is not less than great. Which makes the album move up from the 5th to the 3rd rank of my personal year chart of 1973.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Human Menagerie (1973) by Cockney Rebel
And here is the first Steve Harley from which I want to listen a few albums to. You can easily say that the man and the band don't have much more to offer than a greatest hits album and that is how I know him. But both the band and the man have released quite a few albums so why not have a try and this is the first one with Cockney Rebel. And the original premise seems to hold: the only track featured on my greatest hits is Sebastian and this is also the only great one. It is both pompous and grandiose and the weird voice of Steve Harley only seems to add to the great vibe of this mini rock opera. The other long track is mostly pompous and not so grandiose: the ending Death Trip but in the end however the second best of the album although lagging considerably behind Sebastian. And the rest is largely forgettable and the adding of the marimba on a number of tracks doesn't really help. So let's see what the next albums will give and this one ends up at the 35th rank, I admit largely induced by Sebastian.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1974 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) by Eric Clapton
One of the better Clapton album sometimes bluesy sometimes more slowhand poppy like on the best track of the album Let It Grow with Motherless Children as a close second. A good album which goes from the 17th to the 6th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist again Cockney Rebel

The Psychomodo (1974) by Cockney Rebel
This is their second and although it hasn't a hit like Sebastian it's maybe a bit consistent overall (it also features more tracks on my greatest hits). Although: Tumbling Down is very close. It is completely over the top and tries to reach classical proportions but I love it. Also good are the title track and Cavaliers but there is still a bit of filler which causes this album not to be at a top rank but at the 22nd rank of 1974.

[Repo]

Another 2026 metal rec for ya!


Death Is Your Master (2026) by Fortress

Pretty sure you're going to love it! Reminds me of prime mid-'80s Yngwie Malmsteen!

[dihansse]