Top 60 Music Albums of 1988
by 
Mercury 
I’m doing a tear down and rebuild, a deep dive and dissection, of all I can take for 1988… these 10 are my base, I feel like I am solid enough on these 10s and where I rank them. I will now get to work on the many relistens to albums I love/quite like from 1988, the many many relistens to those I don’t honestly recall much about from same year, and the MANY, MANY, MANY new listens and exploration of those albums and EPs of 1988.
This album will be fleshed out with comments and albums as I go. Peace.
- Chart updated: 08/07/2023 13:45
- (Created: 12/02/2013 07:01).
- Chart size: 60 albums.
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17. (18) 1
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Following note taken from my diary entry in the forums posted on December 7th, 2021:
What can be said about this utterly revered and worshipped debut Pixies album? Well, I don't have much to say or much to add that you probably haven't heard before. This album is so incisive and ALIVE. So creative, humane and yet animalistic somehow. The harmonies and the chemistry betwixt Black Francis and Kim Deal is out of this world, so weird sounding and yet so lovely. The only thing I can think of that somewhat reminds me of the dynamic between those 2 vocals and their harmonies are those between Exene and John Doe in those great X albums. Similar feeling of this shouldn't work but for some reason I'm feeling things right now. Case in point "Break My Body". The vocals on that track absolutely slay me and that song a=in general is maybe my favorite on this album due in no small part to the beautiful way "Break my Body Hold my Bones!" is sung.
This album is so raw and relatively speaking (relative to their follow up Doolittle) so minimalistic. The guitar tone is this whining, high pitched, crackling, live wire of a thing. The Post-hardcore or punk elements at the heart of the sound are fabulous, but the fact they took this sound or this closest thing to a root genre and expanded and went new places with it to such a degree that I can't comfortably say its a post hardcore album or punk album at all is impressive. Black Francis is a mad man here and completely unpredictable and yet has an amazing ear for a pop hook. His vocals and persona reminds me a lot of the great vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce from The Gun Club. They each have that same erratic, electric, unpredictable, utterly punk rock badassness.
Song highlights outside of what I already stated is possibly my fave song here "Break My Body", include the opener "Bone Machine", "Gigantic", of course the ever loved "Where Is My Mind?", the utterly lovable exuberant wackiness "Tony's Theme", the brilliance and guitar playing and vocals and everything really of "Vamos" never fails to blow me away, and that guitar riff on the closing track "Brick Is Red" along with that damn vocal harmony between Deal and Francis... beautiful.
There are some moments on the album that don't work so well for me at times. Depending on my mood, "River Euphrates" can either be kind of cool atmospheric and manic or it can be annoying as shit. Yesterday when I listened it was annoying, today as I listen again while writing this note, I kind of love it. The female vocals though do annoy me on this one a little even today. "Cactus" ain't much, its fine I guess. "Oh My Golly!" mostly doesn't work for me personally, like I can hear that this track adds to the completely unhinged energy vibe of this album that distinguishes it from Doolittle even and certainly any other rock of the time, but I still don't like it - outside of the studio banter bit at the end, which has always been memorable and endearing to me. "I'm Amazed" is kind of throw away to me as well. And... that's about it when it comes to cons. Nothing bad here, but some stuff that limits it a little from being a certified classic and near perfect album for me or in the same tier as certainly Daydream Nation or even Doolittle.
This is good album. [First added to this chart: 02/15/2014]
What can be said about this utterly revered and worshipped debut Pixies album? Well, I don't have much to say or much to add that you probably haven't heard before. This album is so incisive and ALIVE. So creative, humane and yet animalistic somehow. The harmonies and the chemistry betwixt Black Francis and Kim Deal is out of this world, so weird sounding and yet so lovely. The only thing I can think of that somewhat reminds me of the dynamic between those 2 vocals and their harmonies are those between Exene and John Doe in those great X albums. Similar feeling of this shouldn't work but for some reason I'm feeling things right now. Case in point "Break My Body". The vocals on that track absolutely slay me and that song a=in general is maybe my favorite on this album due in no small part to the beautiful way "Break my Body Hold my Bones!" is sung.
This album is so raw and relatively speaking (relative to their follow up Doolittle) so minimalistic. The guitar tone is this whining, high pitched, crackling, live wire of a thing. The Post-hardcore or punk elements at the heart of the sound are fabulous, but the fact they took this sound or this closest thing to a root genre and expanded and went new places with it to such a degree that I can't comfortably say its a post hardcore album or punk album at all is impressive. Black Francis is a mad man here and completely unpredictable and yet has an amazing ear for a pop hook. His vocals and persona reminds me a lot of the great vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce from The Gun Club. They each have that same erratic, electric, unpredictable, utterly punk rock badassness.
Song highlights outside of what I already stated is possibly my fave song here "Break My Body", include the opener "Bone Machine", "Gigantic", of course the ever loved "Where Is My Mind?", the utterly lovable exuberant wackiness "Tony's Theme", the brilliance and guitar playing and vocals and everything really of "Vamos" never fails to blow me away, and that guitar riff on the closing track "Brick Is Red" along with that damn vocal harmony between Deal and Francis... beautiful.
There are some moments on the album that don't work so well for me at times. Depending on my mood, "River Euphrates" can either be kind of cool atmospheric and manic or it can be annoying as shit. Yesterday when I listened it was annoying, today as I listen again while writing this note, I kind of love it. The female vocals though do annoy me on this one a little even today. "Cactus" ain't much, its fine I guess. "Oh My Golly!" mostly doesn't work for me personally, like I can hear that this track adds to the completely unhinged energy vibe of this album that distinguishes it from Doolittle even and certainly any other rock of the time, but I still don't like it - outside of the studio banter bit at the end, which has always been memorable and endearing to me. "I'm Amazed" is kind of throw away to me as well. And... that's about it when it comes to cons. Nothing bad here, but some stuff that limits it a little from being a certified classic and near perfect album for me or in the same tier as certainly Daydream Nation or even Doolittle.
This is good album. [First added to this chart: 02/15/2014]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,025
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1. Page 1 of 1
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Top 60 Music Albums of 1988 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| My Bloody Valentine | 2 | 3% | |
| Morrissey | 1 | 2% | |
| N.W.A | 1 | 2% | |
| Riot | 1 | 2% | |
| Poison | 1 | 2% | |
| Napalm Death | 1 | 2% | |
| Testament | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
35 | 58% | |
 |
11 | 18% | |
 |
4 | 7% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 60 Music Albums of 1988 chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 2 from 8th to 6thFrom Enslavement To Obliteration by Napalm Death |
| Up 1 from 22nd to 21stBlood Fire Death by Bathory |
| Up 1 from 18th to 17thSurfer Rosa by Pixies |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 10 from 48th to 58thDown In The Groove by Bob Dylan |
| Down 10 from 49th to 59thYou Walk Alone by Jandek |
| Down 10 from 50th to 60thOpen Up And Say...Ahh!!! by Poison |
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Top 60 Music Albums of 1988 ratings
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| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/15/2014 20:07 | PauloPaz | 1,759 | 89/100 |
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