My discoveries per year

[dihansse]

These are the two albums of 1983 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

The Crossing by Big Country
I know Big Country only from this album which in any case contains their best known songs like of course the great title song, Chance and Fields Of Fire. Their typical Scottish guitar sound rules and sometimes this creates a maybe too poppy atmosphere but I just like it and the album moves up from the 23rd to the 22nd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

No Guts...No Glory by Molly Hatchet
I only found this album on Youtube but of course I already knew one tracks from a number of great live albums: Fall Of The Peacemakers. And also on the non-Live version this is one of my all-time favorite guitar songs because I'm such a sucker for well played twin guitar solos and this track has a lot to offer on this part. But otherwise I can say nothing bad about this album: the songs are well-written and guitars reign, not in blood but in southern rock soil. A pity I didn't find the album on Apple Music but hey, I just have to include this album in my 1983 top chart and it enters at the 7th rank.

[Fischman]

[Fischman]

[dihansse]

These are the two albums of 1984 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Ride The Lightning by Metallica
Master Of Puppets remains their best and I always thought ...And Justice For All was their second best but now after listening another time to Ride The Lightning I'm doubting. There certainly a few tracks here which are not really classics like Trapped Under The Ice but even songs that I thought originally were not so good, like Escape now are just part of this grand epic fest of one of the best and exhiliarating/fist pumping albums of all time. It's been a while since I enjoyed so much listening to a full album (maybe a bit too much into searching new albums just to add ok but average albums to my list (I read somewhere I think from Umberto Eco that making lists is to comprehend infinity and ensure mortality). How can you not enjoy listening to classic after classic with For Whom The Bell Tolls, Fade To Black, Creeping Death and The Call of Ktulu just on one album. This album jumps from number 5 to number 2 on my 1984 year chart (and that's only because my best ever album Zen Arcade is at number one).

Then an album on my wishlist:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Vengeance by New Model Army
And an album that reconciles me with my search for new albums. I wouldn't call this first album of New Model Army a classic but is certainly enjoyable to listen to. A bit pamphletic but with a great bass sound and some good songs. And BTW I'm listening to the expanded version which also contains their first EP's which are good too. The album lands at the 20th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1985 I listened to:

An album I already own/know:

Talk About The Weather by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
You could call it a rip off of Sisters Of Mercy but they certainly had their own place in rock music especially with this album which nicely shows the dark atmosphere they were able to create. A very good album which goes from the 22nd rank to the 20th rank.

An album from my wishlist:
Following right after their most important album Gas Food Lodging this was in fact not more than a mini album with 7 tracks (8 if you also include Smokestack Lightning which appears on the CD version not on the original LP version). But one of their best (known) songs isn't on Gas Food Lodging but right here on this one: Time Ain't Nothing; and what a good song it is and just has everything a good Green On Red Song needs to have: a country atmosphere but with a twist. The rest of the album is ok but not great and it it enters my year chart at the 33rd rank.

[dihansse]

Only an album from my wishlist of the year 1986:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Rooms Of The Magnificent by Ed Kuepper
Another good one of this former Saints front man of which I already know the tracks which appeared on The Butterfly Net. Not all tracks are completely interesting but nevertheless good for my top chart at the 40th rank.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1987 I listened to:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Kick by INXS
This album contains more hits than might be good for it but the hits are good so why complain. And so are a lot of the other tracks so why complain. The album increases from the 58th to the 42nd rank.

Then an album from my wishlist:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Defender by Rory Gallagher
I maybe like the rocking guitar god Rory Gallagher maybe a bit more than the bluesy (slide) guitar god Rory Gallagher and this album offers both but I can't deny that the blues of Don't Start Me Talking is really good. The best track for me is Failsafe Day. Overall maybe a bit of an underrated album and definitely worth a place in 1987 year chart at the 37th rank.

[dihansse]

These are two albums of 1988 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Tender Prey by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
And boy do I know this album. I have played this album so many times and still is my favorite Nick Cave album not in the least because of that widescreen mesmerizing opening track which crawls under the skin of a man convicted and doomed for the electric chair. This is one of the most dangerous sounding songs ever written and as a matter of fact a lot of the other songs on this album like Up Jumped The Devil, Deanna and City Of Refufe sound dangerous even if they are in more sugary package like Watching Alice. Still one of the greatest albums ever made and it moves up from the 9th to the 7th rank of the year.

And the second album is in fact also an album I already own/know but somehow didn't make it yet to my 1988 top chart:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Pop Said... by The Darling Buds
And maybe because I thought they are a bit too poppy but what is wrong with pop especially if the music as good as it is on this album with a good mix between pop and shoegaze. I only know this album and so this was a good opportunity to also add a few of their albums to my wishlist. But this one goes to the 23rd rank of the year.

[dihansse]

These are the two albums of 1989 I listened to:

First an album I already know:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

New York by Lou Reed
This is one of his most political albums with Good Evening Mr Waldheim as the best example and of course also an album about NY (Dirty Blvd) but all in all one of his best in my opinion and a real classic which moves up to the 8th rank of the year.

Then an album from my wishlist:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Key Lime Pie by Camper Van Beethoven
This band is not my favorite because of their tendency to have a bit too many quirky country songs on their albums. And this album has some of well but there are some good rock songs to be found here and (I Was Born In A) Laundromat is the best example of that. Even some of the country songs sound good mainly because of the addition of a very good violin player to the band. One of their best which moves to the 45th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

And two albums of 1990,

starting with an album I already know own:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

The Winding Sheet by Mark Lanegan
The first solo album of one of the greatest dark voices in history and in my view not his best but still very good not in the least because of the cooperation of Kurt Cobain on two of the tracks. One of which is of course the great Leadbelly cover Where Did You Sleep Last Night which here is one of the heaviest track on the album. The voice of Cobain blends nicely with Mark Lanegan's but the main voice is still Lanegan and that's maybe why I still prefer Nirvana's unplugged version because the voice of Kurt Cobain has a deeper emotional quality. But nevertheless it sounds great here as well as does the album which moves up from the 65th to the 49th rank.

and an album on my wishlist:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

The Law Of Things by The Bats
From the singer who sound like a bat to the band with the name but don't sound like bats at all. They sound a bit too much as a bunch of boyscouts on this album although there are some good songs here. Not their best but still good for the 42nd rank.