My discoveries per year

[baystateoftheart]

[dihansse]

[dihansse]

And here is just a little side project.

I really like/love this site but there’s one thing I don’t understand and that is that I’m literally the only person here who likes the Rock*A*Teens and that should change...

2000 wasn’t the most fantastic year in music but I nevertheless found a great album that I put at my number one at the time: Sweet Bird Of Youth. And this year 2018 is a so much better musical year but they nevertheless succeeded to end up high in this years’ year chart with Sixth House. It was already high on my year chart when I first listened to it but when I listened back to it yesterday I have upgraded it even more.
So I thought it was time to bring this band in the spotlights especially since Allmusic was placing their album Golden Time even higher than the two already mentioned. And then I also listened to their other albums (except for the first which is supposed to be not very good).

What is it that I like about the Rock*A*Teens: certainly not the singing voice of the singer Chris Lopez because he sounds like a drunk Nick Cave (ex check out their “greatest hit” Please Don’t Go Downtown Tonight) but he delivers his songs with such a vigor and dedication that you cannot be anything else than be utterly overwhelmed by it.
But it’s mainly the songs themselves. Indeed they often sound like some half-forgotten boozy pub song the melodies are absolutely great and chime like the best Beatles track with a reverb twist.
Their music gets the label rockabilly (mainly dating back from their first albums) the whole time (Allmusic calls it Southern gothic rockabilly post-punk revival music: I think they forgot the words Southern and Orchestral) but I don’t really understand why: it’s just very heart-felt good rock music with an edge and Phil Spector is never far away.

The band started in Cabbagetown Georgia (don’t laugh) in 1994 with two important members: the singer Chris Lopez and on guitar and backing vocals Kelly Hogan (some of you might know her former band The Jody Grind). The latter participated on the two first albums (but quit after the second album when they also were signed with the record label Merge).
While their two follow-up albums Baby, A Little Rain Must Fall and Golden Time were good, they didn’t reach more universal praise until their magnum opus Sweet Bird of Youth in 2000. In 2002 they broke up but returned recently with the great Sixth House this year.

I haven’t listened to all their albums but these are the ones I really like in order of preference:
1.

Sweet Bird Of Youth by The Rock*A*Teens (2000)

This is a very long album with 17 tracks but it never bores:
- from the “pub” songs Please Don’t Go Downtown Tonight and I Hope You Never See Me Like this
- to the mixture between a children song ( if you don’t believe have a look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqK5mLIW0cA) and a very angry song: That Day Is Today
- to the top heavy and one of their best Hwy R
- to the glorious end Pretty Thoughts Strike Down The Band

2.

Sixth House by The Rock*A*Teens (2018)

yes I like their new album the second best and it follows very close to Sweet Bird of Youth. Overall it contains the best songs which tend to be more melodical than those on the other albums but still with very emotional delivery. The first track Billy Really sets the stage with a really heartfelt little song about loneliness and Baby’s On To Me is even heavier and just pull out every register (some might call it over the top) while Closest To Heaven even has the sound of a full orchestra.

3.

Baby, A Little Rain Must Fall by The Rock*A*Teens (1998)

A bit of a break-up album after Kelly Hogan left the band and also a very good one with I Could've Just Died, Carla Anne and Leave What's Left Of Me as the highlights

4.

Golden Time by The Rock*A*Teens (1999)

No real highlights but still very good

5.

Cry by The Rock*A*Teens (1997)

Also No real highlights and still ok

Their live album from 2014, Major Motion Picture, is supposed to be very good as well but I haven’t heard it yet.

[dihansse]

A second run thorugh albums of 1992:
- Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin (nr 5 on the overall BEA top chart of 1992): not my thing
- The Chronic by Dr. Dre (nr 6): not my thing
- Angel Dust by Faith No More (nr 7): a much more ambitious album than the previous FNM albums and in many ways it's not bad but somehow it doesn't completely convince me. The only exception is Midlife Crisis which is a bomb
- Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos (nr 8 ): normally I fall for the kind of dramatic piano playing like on this album but somehow I have a bit of an issue with Tori Amos. I can't really say why.
- Images And Words by Dream Theater (nr 9): but here I can be very clear. It is indeed some kind of metallic Rush especially on this album and in the same way I don't like Rush I don't like this band and this album. The music goes into every direction especially towards a good song.

The next album is Core by Stone Temple Pilots.

[dihansse]

I intend to include more and more asides here: meaning I will take an artist(s)/band I already know very well and try to rank the albums while also discussing them and maybe also discovering some new albums. And from to time there will be a focus on Belgian bands/artists I'd like to make known to the world (of BEA).
Komorebi gave me the idea to start with Gore Slut.
The most important guy in this band is Rudy Trouvé, an art student, who was in dEUS (I suppose the best and most widely known Belgian band ever and I'll certainly come back to them later) starting in 1993 but left it when he thought dEUS was becoming to popular in 1996 so he started some kind of community (painters, musicians, etc) in the red lights district in Antwerp and called it Heavenhotel (you can find a website and a bandcamp page under this name) and this also became the name of his private record label under which three albums under the name Gor Slut were released and album art hereunder are all his paintings. The style of the music is a bit of a mixture between Beefheart, early Sebadoh and Pavement. The singing and playing style of Trouvé and his mates is a bit sleazy and campy but the guitar outburst can be heavy and very to the point.

These three albums were:

These Days Are The Quiet Kind by Gore Slut (1997)
This is maybe most chaotic album and not every track is good but there are some real gems here like Crash By River and Tadpole.


Above The Lisa Drugstore by Gore Slut (1998): this was the album I was recommending this one to Komo on his page and this is already a big step forward as far as songwriting is concerned. Lisa Drugstore and Lost are the best tracks here.


Girl + Turtles by Gore Slut (2001)
This is certainly the best Gore Slut album as the songwriting is much more focused (although the chaos of the first albums is a bit gone). Nearly every track is good but highlights are Freak, Moon, Stop and Inch (all four letter words by coincidence).

The first two albums are available on Youtube but I didn't find the last one there but you can search around their website and bandcamp page for more material and my ranking is clear from this above description of the albums.

If you can, have a listen: you won't regret it.
And there's much more material to be found where Rudy Trouvé is involved: Kiss My Jazz (I have one album of theirs but it's not one of my favorites) and also Dead Man Ray, another band I might do a topic on.

[dihansse]

Back to 1992:
- Core by Stone Temple Pilots (nr 11 on the BEA top chart of 1992): not really my cup of tea and the comparison with the two hit slows is the most interesting one: Plush is fairly awful and is bombastic as hell while Creep sounds very heartfelt and is the only great track on this album
- Down Colorful Hill by Red House Painters (nr 12): all in all a boring album
- Check Your Head by Beastie Boys (nr 13): totally not my thing
- Wish by The Cure (nr 14): I don't know why, maybe because in 1992 I was listening to other music and the Cure was not really cool any more, but, part from Friday I'm In Love, I don't know any other track on this album. Which is very surprising because I only now discover how beautiful it is. Apart from that one hit single, which is very good, From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, Cut and End are also great. But the real outstanding highlight is Letter To Elise. As far as the Cure goes this could be called a slow and generally they're not very good at this but this song has an emotional depth it takes your breath away. All in all a great album.
- Bone Machine by Tom Waits (nr 15): this album is called the most industrial album of Tom Waits and that sound in general is not really the kind of sound I love from the man. Only the slower songs like Whistle Down The Wind appeal to me but there's not enough of those to save this album.

The next album is in fact one which has climbed above Bone Machine: 40 oz to Freedom by Sublime.

[dihansse]

More albums of 1992 I listened to:
- 40 Oz. To Freedom by Sublime (nr 15 on the overall BEA top chart of 1992): this is neither punk nor reggae and I don't like it: this is also a band that was not really known in Europe at the time.
- Lazer Guided Melodies by Spiritualized (nr 2: this is not their best album in my opinion but it's ok especially with tracks like I Want You and Sway)
- Henry`s Dream by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (nr 35): the first half of this album is a classic, the second half not so much but this is still a good album
- Hybris by Änglagård (nr 39): again one of these prog albums I can't get into.

the next album to listen to is El Silencio by Caifanes.

[dihansse]

This is my last contribution for albums of 1992:
- El Silencio by Caifanes (nr 40 on the BEA overall top chart of 1992): not bad but not really my thing and there's better Latin American albums as you will see later
- Experience by The Prodigy (nr 41): much more average drum 'n bass than their later albums and not really good in my opinion
- Dynamo by Soda Stereo (nr 42): and this Latin American album surprised my in a very pleasant way. Some of the tracks like Primavero O could have come from any anglo saxon band but some of the other tracks are really good in a Latino kind of way. Overall a very good one
- Kiko by Los Lobos (nr 43): and this one disappointed me: sometimes good in atmosphere but good songs are missing on this album
- Broken by Nine Inch Nails (nr 46): this is a very angry industrial punk album in fact more than an EP but as many have commented before me this is the quality of this one: they couldn't have kept this up for a whole album. I liked it very much but there is no absolute highlight.
- Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Wa...y Ministry (nr 47 and the last 1992 album with an overall BEA rank better than 2500): and this is a very angry industrial metal album, much longer than the NIN album but the difference is: there is one absolute highlight to be found here: Jesus Built My Hotrod is incredibly relentless in its propulsive fire power. Also most of the rest of the album is very good although there is some filler. But overall very good.
And I'm going to finish with just one album just outside the top 2500:
- Nonsuch by XTC (nr 55 on the overall BEA top chart of 1992): this is again a good XTC but with 17 tracks maybe a bit too long because there is certainly some filler here but hey today is the 50th album of the White album and there was some filler their too. The big hit The Ballad of Peter Pumkinhead remains one of their best.

There is certainly much more to be discover here from 1992 especially if I look at the year top 100 of Tilly but I have already gone through a lot of the year when he was covering this year so I'll leave it that for the moment so this is my top unfinished top chart of the year with first the BEA total rank and after that the BEA year rank and my rank before and after this listening session:

BEA Rank Title By Band BEA YearRank - My Rank before To My Rank after
10355 Rocking The Forest / Sebadoh Vs. Helmet By Sebadoh 206 - 1 To 1
1355 Copper Blue By Sugar 32 - 2 To 2
657 Dirty By Sonic Youth 10 - 3 To 3
25938 Autocannibalism By The Aints 455 - 4 To 4
3907 Palomine By Bettie Serveert 75 - 5 To 5
9651 Magnapop By Magnapop 195 - 6 To 6
58 Automatic For The People By R.E.M. 1 - 7 To 7
11531 T.V. Sky By The Young Gods 224 - 8 To 8
6269 May I Sing With Me By Yo La Tengo 128 - 9 To 9
4096 Let Me Come Over By Buffalo Tom 79 - 10 To 10
36348 Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) By Superchunk 623 - 11 To 11
2290 Sweet Oblivion By Screaming Trees 45 - 12 To 12
155 Slanted & Enchanted By Pavement 3 - 13 To 13
1145 Harvest Moon By Neil Young 22 - 14 To 14
25649 Revenge Of The Goldfish By Inspiral Carpets 448 - 15 To 15
23983 Lunapark By Luna (US) 417 - 16 To 16
1850 Going Blank Again By Ride 38 - 17 To 17
777 Wish By The Cure 14 - To listen To 18
2641 Fear Of The Dark By Iron Maiden 53 - 18 To 19
33265 De Mens By De Mens 573 - 19 To 20
4795 Spooky By Lush 95 - 20 To 21
1313 Your Arsenal By Morrissey 30 - 21 To 22
14593 Insideout By Ratcat 271 - 22 To 23
6035 Dehumanizer By Black Sabbath 121 - 23 To 24
62721 Er Sterft Een Beer In De Taiga By De Kreuners 999 - 24 To 25
25707 Bivouac By Jawbreaker 450 - 25 To 26
1270 It's A Shame About Ray By The Lemonheads 25 - 26 To 27
8001 A Picture Of Nectar By Phish 163 - 27 To 28
43110 Slo*Blo By Cell 707 - 28 To 29
2406 Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs By Ministry 47 - To listen To 30
4394 You Turn Me On By Beat Happening 85 - 29 To 31
30268 Blow By Swallow 531 - 30 To 32
1583 Hollywood Town Hall By The Jayhawks 37 - 31 To 33
70074 The Pop Tarts By Green 1119 - 32 To 34
4272 Honey's Dead By The Jesus And Mary Chain 83 - 33 To 35
2647 Nonsuch By XTC 55 - To listen To 36
9769 Everything's Alright Forever By The Boo Radleys 198 - 34 To 37
2298 Broken By Nine Inch Nails 46 - To listen To 38
3835 Ferment By Catherine Wheel 74 - 35 To 39
21764 Soft Bomb By The Chills 388 - 36 To 40
1290 Incesticide By Nirvana 28 - 37 To 41
13463 Red Heaven By Throwing Muses 257 - 38 To 42
74587 Bedlam A Go Go! By Something Happens 1189 - 39 To 43
1482 Henry`s Dream By Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds 35 - To listen To 44
10186 Free-For-All By Michael Penn 205 - 40 To 45
76519 Perseverance By H.P. Zinker 1210 - 41 To 46
1262 Blues For The Red Sun By Kyuss 24 - 42 To 47
25173 Gorky By Gorky 439 - 43 To 48
7586 Blue Day By Slowdive 155 - 44 To 49
4581 Welcome To Wherever You Are By INXS 91 - 45 To 50
1293 Lazer Guided Melodies By Spiritualized 29 - To listen To 51
22382 Main Offender By Keith Richards 399 - 47 To 52
1364 Fully Completely By The Tragically Hip 33 - 46 To 53
5976 99.9 F° By Suzanne Vega 119 - 48 To 54
9279 Lucky Town By Bruce Springsteen 189 - 49 To 55
1036 The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion By The Black Crowes 19 - 50 To 56
3333 In Ribbons By Pale Saints 65 - 51 To 57
2070 Dynamo By Soda Stereo 42 - To listen To 58
3634 Magic And Loss By Lou Reed 72 - 52 To 59
6937 Good Stuff By The B-52's 139 - 53 To 60
1242 Dry By P.J. Harvey 23 - 54 To 61
4115 Propeller By Guided By Voices 80 - 55 To 62
27917 Nurse By Therapy? 488 - 56 To 63
1366 Countdown To Extinction By Megadeth 34 - 57 To 64
7487 Imperial f.f.r.r. By Unrest 151 - 58 To 65

Overall a very good year with some outstanding albums. The next year to cover after skipping another 5 years is 1997.

[TheHutts]

What happened to Us by Peter Gabriel 20 - To listen?
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[dihansse]