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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Two album of1989 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

President Yo La Tengo (1989) by Yo La Tengo

To me this is the start of the real YLT and covers tracks which are slow and languid in the best VU tradition like Alyda and real feedback tracks like Orange Song and of course one of those long signature YLT tracks like The Evil That Men Do (Pablo's Version). This is the kind of albums that made me love this band (and their live shows) and it moves up from the 23th to the 15th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:
Unfortunately I was only able to find a few tracks I could listen to from the third album of Death of Samantha so I had to choose another one:

The Years Of Decay (1989) by Overkill

I was really doubting if I should add this Overkill album in my year chart. First the voice of the singer is becoming a bit annoying and the first few tracks feel rather derivatives and seem to trash versions of children's songs and that also goes for the longest track Playing With Fire/Skullcrusher which seems to go in all kinds of directions except the right one. That all changes starting from Birth Of Tension which feels like a real trash song as well as Who Tends The Fire and then it feels like it's going wrong again with the title track which starts as one of those over the top metal slows which are just too over the top when the tracks arrives in trash territory it seems that it works somehow.
Overall I was really doubting but decided against adding this one to my year chart. I know many Overkill fans regard this as their best album I think they have made better ones.

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Two albums of 1990 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990) by Sinéad O'Connor

I always considered The Lion And A Cobra a masterpiece and that's maybe why I have never thought much about this second album as it's completely different from the first one. But after listening to it again I have to admit that this is also, maybe not a masterpiece, but definitely a great album. The general tone of the album is maybe a bit softer (although: if you listen to The Emperor's New Clothes) but that doesn't minimize the intensity: although Nothing Compares To You it's still very emotional but the best track on this level You Cause As Much Sorrow in which you can just sense the emotions put into it. So also a very good album and after that it all went a bit downhill but this album moves up from the 53rd to the 31st rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Hey Spinner! (1990) by Able Tasmans

Again an NZ offspring from that great Flying Nun label with songs that are inspired by The Byrds, The Chills and so many other bands. The Theory of Continual Disappointment is even a mix between Krautrock and The Velvet Underground. All in all not a bad one and enters my year chart at the 61st rank.

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2 albums of 1991 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

On Every Street (1991) by Dire Straits

It was clear that on this album Dire Straits' best days were over. Most of the album sounds very common except for that one classic track, the title song which also has a magnificent outro. The only other song that is more than just meh is Planet Of New Orleans. Dire Strait was never really bad so this album still is part of my year chart but goes from the 60th to the 62st rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Hellzapoppin' (1991) by 3Ds

Overall this is a very energetic indie album from New Zealand which sometimes even has references to Sonic Youth but a lot of songs are a bit too tongue in cheek but that doesn't prevent it to shine on a lot of tracks (ex Something In The Water). Enters my chart at the 60th rank.

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These are two albums of 1992 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

It's A Shame About Ray (1992) by The Lemonheads

Maybe the definition of a classic album that you really enjoy listening to the whole album and this is definitely one of those. The title track, Kitchen and especially Confetti are the best tracks here and the album moves up from the 40th to the 23rd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Headsparks (1992) by Seam

The drummer of Superchunk is part of this band and in way the music has something in common with Superchunk's type of music. Pretty good guitar rock without being great but it enters my year chart at the 28th rank.

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Two albums of 1993 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

All Souls Alive (1993) by The Blackeyed Susans

The big appeal of this album is that one of my musical heroes, David McComb, is part of it and this is very clear on Memories where his vocals really shine and which is also by far the best track. On other tracks his contribution is less obvious and for me nearly automatically also meaning that they are not really outstanding. So all in all a fairly average album which however remains in my year chart and remains at the 66th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Everyday (1993) by Widespread Panic

I'm starting to appreciate this band but this is one of their less good albums. Some songs still really rock like Papa's Home but still fairly average and the album enters my year chart at the 61st rank.

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Two albums of 1994 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

For Your Own Special Sweetheart (1994) by Jawbox

I suppose I liked this album when I first bought it but now this just shows all the negative sides of emo, too much emo and no songs. An album quickly to be evacuated from my year chart.

And an album from my wishlist:

Viva La Muerte (1994) by Cobra Verde

After Death Of Samantha was disbanded, John Petkovic and Doug Gillard formed Cobra Verde and this is their first album from 1994. I must say I was disappointed by the quality of the first half of the album but the second half restored my confidence: like AMG states: combining the impact of punk with the urgency of early-'70s glam rock and good songs but I hope they're even gonna do better on their next albums. This one enters my year chart at the 66th rank.

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Two albums of 1995 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

The Great Escape (1995) by Blur

Again a good album by Blur although the real highlights are centered on Stereotypes and The Universal (no I'm not forgetting Country House which for one reason or another is not really a favorite of mine). So a good album which moves up from the 64th to the 63rd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Hexed (1995) by Gem (US)

Cobra Verde didn't release an album this year but Doug Gillard was part of another Cleveland band Gem which released this album as their debut (they only had one other EP which was called I Am A Tree and might ring a bell: I'll come back to that in a later post). Unfortunately I could only find it on Youtube where I couldn't find Many Moons Break and 2 Me Now).
Although sometimes a bit goofy (ex. Your Heroes Hate You), this is all in all a great guitar album with Sheep and Suburban Girl as the highlights. Another one of those indie bands nobody knows but in a more perfect world everybody would because it's catchy as hell. It enters my year chart at the 38th rank.

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And sorry Cobra Verde did release something in 1995 but only an EP:

Vintage Crime (1995) by Cobra Verde

and I'm still not really convinced: the songs are ok but still not as good as in the Death Of Samantha time or on the just discussed Gem album but I did like Every God for Himself and Fire Of Love, a cover from The Gun Club. The album enters my 1995 year chart at the 64th rank.

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Two albums of 1996 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996) by R.E.M.

I certainly wouldn't call this the best R.E.M. album but in hindsight this one contains a healthy number of very good tracks of which Be Mine is my favorite. But there's many others and so it moves up from the 33rd to the 10th rank of 1996.

And an album from my wishlist:

The Natural Bridge (1996) by Silver Jews

This is the first album where Stephen Malkmus wasn't part of the band any more but it was clear that David Berman could also do it well enough without Malkmus. I really like the way of singing of this guy and here that really comes out very well. Not all the songs are great but all in all this is a very good Silver Jews album which enters my year chart at the 58th rank.

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Two albums of 1997 where John Petkovic and Doug Gillard played a role:

First an album I already own/know:

Mag Earwhig! (1997) by Guided By Voices

Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout had a bit of a quarrel and the whole GBV band was disbanded and replaced by Cobra Verde as the new backing band and this was their first album together with GBV. The influence of especially Doug Gillard (who would also become a more steady member of GBV and other Bob Pollard projects) was clear from his contribution of I Am A Tree which also appeared on an EP released by Gillard's other band Gem. And at the same time this is also the best song of the album with Sad If I Lost It, Bulldog Skin and Portable Men's Society as good contenders. But the track that I cherish the most on this album is the very short I Am Produced which perfectly sums up the DIY nature of Pollard's craftmanship. All in all this is one of the classic album in the best GBV period of the end of the 90's and the beginning of the nellies.And it moves up from the 3rd to the 2nd rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Egomania (Love Songs) (1997) by Cobra Verde

Just before they joined GBV, Cobra Verde released another album which was in fact a collection of unreleased tracks and singles and indeed is a collection of very different songs not all of them are good but still enjoyable and the album enters my 1997 year chart at the 39th rank.

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