Upstairs At Eric's by Yazoo
This is pure youth sentiment. In fact the most important reason why I like this album is because of a track that is not even not part of the official track listing: the 12 inch version of Situation which just sounds fantastic. The least you can say about the regular album is that the synths sound incredibly dated. But I still like them: on Don't Go and on also a bit on Only You. Finally just ok and just good enough to make it to my year chart and goes from 49 to 48.
An album on my wishlist:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Sonic Youth by Sonic Youth
I'll try to follow Mercury's Bonanza a bit especially for the albums I don't have in my collection yet. And this on is one of those and I can about agree with him; it's not a boring mini-album to listen to but of course it isn't the SY we would come to know later. Strange is that a few tracks have a bit of a tribal sound, something that would never re-appear on their later albums. Nevertheless good for the 30th rank of the year.
And there's another album from Mercury's list that I haven't heard yet:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Garlands by Cocteau Twins
More goth than shoegaze, this debut album of CT and it's a bit of a mixture between the voice of Siouxsie and the general sound of The Cure. They haven't found their own sound yet but the guitar sound sounds very special. Not as good and it's difficult to really pick a favorite track but already a fine one and good for the 23rd rank.
Everybody's into the eighties on BEA these days (thx Mercury and Repo) and I am now also in 1983:
An album I already own and listening to one of the albums Mercury listened to:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Confusion Is Sex by Sonic Youth
One of their most uncompromising and gritty albums but the greatness of what they would become on their later iconic albums is already here. And goes from the 38th to the 26th rank.
And here is 1984 and who said the eightes were one of the worst decades in music:
First an album in my collection also recently commented on by Mercury:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Reckoning by R.E.M.
This album is very close to Fables of The Reconstruction as the best album by R.E.M. because it features to really beautiful harmonies like on one of my ever best songs ever: (Don't Go Back to) Rockville which is at the same time a melancholic country song and an upbeat rock track. But this album has not one but 5 classic tracks on it and it's just a pity that the middle part contains some weaker (but by no means bad) tracks. But nevertheless remains firmly at the second rank of the year (but only because my best album ever, Zen Arcade, occupies the first rank.
And then an album on my wishlist:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Paolo Conte by Paolo Conte
This might well be one of the most consistent albums by Paolo Conte. I don't have a lot of connections with or love for Italian music but there is one big exception: this man. He used to be a lawyer but his big love is music and he is a real master at at with his smoky voice and jazzy atmospheric songs where the piano plays the commanding role. And his second best track is on this album: Gli Impermeabili which has that beautiful melancholic atmosphere that many of his songs have. Most of the accompanying instrumentation comes from a synthesizer here but that doesn't kill the song at all (in contradiction to what Allmusic has to say). And he does know how to play with real musicians playing real instruments as this live version of a Verona concert of his best song, Max (not in this but on his next album), shows (just check it out):
And although there a few tracks which are a bit jazz-lite there are some wonderful songs here: Come Di, Sparring Partner, Come Mi Voi, etc.
It immediately lands at the 17th rank.
Meat Is Murder by The Smiths
Where Morrissey turns (over-)pamphletic especially on the title track. But in fact this is not a bad song and the same goes for the rest of the second half of the album which is as good as the other work of the Smitsh. But the same can't be said for the first half. Apart from The Headmaster Ritual, the songs are fairly bland here, although still ok. And the album goes from the 9th to the 6th rank.
And this is 1986:
with an album I already own and why not throw in another SY album:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
EVOL by Sonic Youth
Everybody's calling this a transitional album and I suppose that's what it is, but there are already some great songs here with of course especially the long Expressway To Yr Skull but of course also Shadow Of A Doubt and Starpower. A great album which rises from the 18th to the 6th rank.
And an album on my wishlist:
Ride The Tiger by Yo La Tengo
I'm a fan of YLT but hadn't listened yet to their first album which I had to find on Youtube. But it was worth the effort. They still sound a bit clumsy but the general typical YLT atmosphere is already there, the great guitars, the voice and the droning sound reminiscent of The Velvet Underground; and this is best felt in the great opener The Cone Of Silence and especially also in The Evil That Men Do, a track I already knew because it comes bank in two versions on President Yo La Tengo. A great debut and already good for the 12th rank of the year.
And this is 1986:
with an album I already own and why not throw in another SY album:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
EVOL by Sonic Youth
Everybody's calling this a transitional album and I suppose that's what it is, but there are already some great songs here with of course especially the long Expressway To Yr Skull but of course also Shadow Of A Doubt and Starpower. A great album which rises from the 18th to the 6th rank.
And this is 1986:
with an album I already own and why not throw in another SY album:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
EVOL by Sonic Youth
Everybody's calling this a transitional album and I suppose that's what it is, but there are already some great songs here with of course especially the long Expressway To Yr Skull but of course also Shadow Of A Doubt and Starpower. A great album which rises from the 18th to the 6th rank.
And this is 1986:
with an album I already own and why not throw in another SY album:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
EVOL by Sonic Youth
Everybody's calling this a transitional album and I suppose that's what it is, but there are already some great songs here with of course especially the long Expressway To Yr Skull but of course also Shadow Of A Doubt and Starpower. A great album which rises from the 18th to the 6th rank.
Not me! 😉
You’re not everybody
Damn straight! lol. To me ( and my friends back in the late 80s/early 90s), this was first part of Sonic Youth's classic trilogy. Evol, Sister & Daydream nation were considered bonafide new classics of College Rock/American Underground. Nothing transitional about it. They had arrived. To me, they had arrived even sooner, but without question Evol was considered 80s American Underground canon.
The Joshua Tree by U2
I don't have to beat around the bush: I'm a fan of the brashnes of the first albums of U2, something they lost a bit in their further albums. Don't get me wrong: I love U2 as a whole and I've seen them a few times live and loved them. And of course I felt that I had completely underrated thus album being stuck in the last parts of my 1987 year chart. So it was time to listen to it again. And of course everything starts with the first three tracks which are indeed very goodwith I Still Haven't Found... maybe a bit too swollen for my taste. And the problem for me was always what came after these three tracks. But songs like In God's Country and Running To Stand Still are of course all very good as well so the album climbs from the 46th to the 23rd rank.
An album on my wishlist:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
If'n by fIREHOSE
This band has always been at the background of my memories. They were loved in the Indie circles that I was in at the time, I knew them and even liked some tracks but never really got into them. And the same is true for this album which is much more poppy than their others but still have that freejazzy feeling about them. Sometimes and For The Singer of REM are actually good but the whole album couldn't keep my attention so finally not for my year chart. And btw: I love the Hüsker Dü poster on the album cover.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Confusion Is Sex Is Great! Glad you like it too.
