My discoveries per year

[Repo]

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1979 I listened to:

An album I already own:

Reggatta De Blanc by The Police
Looking at the fact that The Police have had loads of very good hits you might conclude that they're not really an album band and at first look this is indeed the case but they do have songs on their albums which have never have been hits. On this album the title track and Deathwish are good examples. But of course the hits dominate with the still fantastic Message In a Bottle, The Bed's too Big Without You, Walking On The Moon and Bring On The Night. The rest are OK songs but also never very bad either so this album deserves to rise from the 44th to the 19th rank.


An album on my wishlist:

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I'm The Man by Joe Jackson
I know most of the tracks on this album from greatest hits and live albums so while I didn't own the album it sounds very familiar to me and for me it's also a true classic just because of the good mix of angry man punk (the title track, On Your Radio) and very good slows (It's Different For Girls). One of the best artists ever who still release very good albums and this one immediately enters at the 12th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

So yesterday I went to a Saxon gig with Diamond Head as the support act.
First of all: all these guys are ooold and so was the public. I can't say there was a lack of enthusiasm from the bands but sometimes you felt that these guys were not really acting their age: Biff in his 4 buttoned army jacket looked only just a bit ridiculous

First Diamond Head: I fairly like their albums but I'm not a fan and that was also clear from the short set they did. I liked them very much when they did that double guitar attack but songwise they couldn't really interest me but that was not a problem because their concert was so short. AAAAnd of course there was Am I Evil? which rocked like hell and the public including me went completely berserk on the strong riffing which is just in the DNA of that track.

And then Saxon who played for nearly 2 hours. Maybe that was a bit long especially since they started their concert with a lot of tracks from Carpe Diem, an album I like to listen via my headphones but live these tracks couldn't really convince me.

When they fully started with their hits, I still felt a bit bored with some of the tracks. The Eagle Has Landed is just not a very good song to play live and Wheels of Steel sounded a bit tired because both on the riffing and the way Biff delivered, it sounded like a lesser AC/DC song (let's say Bad Boy Boogie), I don't know why but this one and a few others just didn't completely appeal.
Of course there were very good deliveries: Denim And Leather, Strong Arm Of The Law, 747 (Strangers In The Night), Dallas 1 pm and Heavy Metal Thunder were just great shout along songs.
But the absolute apotheosis came with the last encore they played: Princess Of The Night which is just a killer of a song and again a moment to let all these old muscles get loose on those fantastic rhythm changes which are so iconic in that song.

But of course it felt good to attend a hardrock concert again since it was a long time ago.

For next week I wanted to book a Dinosaur Jr. concert (I already saw them a few times) but it was sold out so I'm on the reserve list.
And last but not least: the 7th of November I will see Pavement, one of my all-time favorite bands I must admit I never saw live.

[dihansse]

And these are the albums of 1980 I listened to:

An album I already own:

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Pretenders by Pretenders
This is to me a real classic with of cours Brass In Pocket as the absolute highlight. But there's so much more: Kid, Stop Your Sobbing and even their version of Private Life is very good with a great guitar solo. And then there's also forgotten gem Lovers Of Today. Enough reasons for this album to be upgraded from the 23rd to the 13th rank of the year.

An album on my wishlist:

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The Black Album by The Damned
I have a bit of mixed feelings about this one. It's not bad and there are certainly some ok songs but not really like their first ones. Just good for the 47th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1981 I listened to:

An album in my possession:

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Of Skins And Heart by The Church
This is a pleasant and consistently good album. Not a bad song to be found here although there aren't any outliers either. It rises from the 22nd to the 17th rank.

One on my wishlist:

Mask by Bauhaus
Not a consistently good and biting album like their first but there are certainly some tracks here which need to be checked out. The best tracks is The Passion Of Lovers. And good for the 30th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

These are my two choices of 1982 albums:

An album I already own:

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Er Sterft Een Beer In De Taïga by De Kreuners
I suppose an album that is very unlikely to be appreciated outside Flanders not in first part because it's in Flemish (the album title translates as "There's a bear dying in the Taiga"). But some songs should be quite enjoyable also to non-Flemish ears with Layla being the best example and then Cous Cous Kreten and Mijn Laatste Sovjet. But a Flemish classic so the album goes from the 23rd to the 19th rank of the year.


An album on my wishlist:

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The Rise & Fall by Madness
I'm a big fan of their first (ska-) album and not so much of their more "serious" side but this album is quite enjoyable. Of course the hits Our House and Tomorrow's Just Another Day are the best and some of the songs are a bit too much made for a fan fair but like I said enjoyable and not much more and good for the 40th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

These are two albums of 1983 I listened to:

An album I already own:

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Metal Circus by Hüsker Dü
Up to this album, Hüsker Dü was just another hardcore band but on this mini album they showed they had more in them. Both Bob Mould (Real World) and Grant Hart (It's Not Funny Any More and of course Diane: anyone knows why Therapy? was more successful with it) contributed some great tracks and if it weren't for the very bad production this would have been a masterpiece. And it moves up from the 14th to the 7th rank of the year.

An album on my wishlist:

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Hootenanny by The Replacements
This is a party album and there's nothing wrong with party albums but it all sounds so unfocused and without imagination. For me not a good album and I'm not gonna include it in my year chart.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 1984:

One I already own:

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Red Sails In The Sunset by Midnight Oil
To me one of their worst albums in my opinion: the only positive outliers are Kosciusko and the Jimmy Sharman's Boxers and that's about it. But they're never bad and album moves up from the last rank (45) to the 41st.

An album on my wishlist:

Stationary Traveller by Camel
Of all the albums I already heard from the band there's only The Snowgoose I really like. This is again one that isn't really interesting: it's very eighties with synths I don't really like and a very eighties production. Not one for my top chart.
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[dihansse]

Two albums I listened to of 1985:

An album I already own:

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Little Creatures by Talking Heads
An album where they nearly go pop, but what a good album this is. The Road To Nowhere remains a killer but with also great songs like And She Was, Lady Don't Mind and Creatures Of Love this can't be a bad one. It moves up from the 8th to the 6th rank of the year.

An album on my wishlist:

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Telephone Free Landslide Victory by Cam... Beethoven
I knew this album was supposed to be kinda goofy but nothing prepared me for this: it's a mix of Irish jigs, ska and German humpapa and most of the album just sounds ugly with only a few songs I like like of course the fantastic Take The Skinheads Bowling. But all together not an album for me.

[dihansse]

And now 1986 with two albums:

An album I already own:

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Kaleidoscope World by The Chills
One of those rare albums which makes me and I hope also other persons happy especially the first six songs which make out the mini-album which form the scope of this in essence compilation album. It's indeed a compilation of earlier singles and other outtakes but since there's nothing else and it forms a certain unity I take this as a regular album. So the highlights which just ray positive vibes are at the start of this album: the title track, Satin Doll and Rolling Moon: a classic for kiwi rock together with that other album of theirs: submarine Bells. This album rises from the 16th to the 8th rank.

And an album on my wishlist:

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Free Dirt by Died Pretty
I'm gradually discovering this great Ozzie band and this is their first real album which is also supposed to be their best. My first thought was that I don't really like the singer's voice but gradually I got used to it and as the album further developed into more developed and longer tracks I started to really like. The highlights are the main instruments: guitar and organ, especially on tracks like Just Skin and Next To Nothing and the great thing is, those instruments are also complemented by other instruments like the sax and the mandolin which just add up to the great atmosphere these songs create. And if you pick up this album, also don't forget to listen to the a-side and b-side of the single Stoneage Cinderella which are added as a bonus on most versions of this album: they are great too. In any case an album that directly reaches for the 17th rank (which could be higher if it were not for two less immediately lovable tracks on the album).