Top 39 Music Albums of 1988
by 
slatsheit 
- Chart updated: 04/04/2025 08:15
- (Created: 11/29/2024 02:42).
- Chart size: 39 albums.
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2nd-best live album of all-time, after ABB's Live at Fillmore East.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
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As I have said elsewhere, one of this site's most underrated albums.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
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This is old music, but here in the States, their stuff was only available as hard-to-get imports, and being a CD guy, there was no way to get their singles on disc before this. So this was my entree to the rock era's second greatest pound-for-pound champion after Nick Drake - the most masterpiece tracks in a brief catalog by a short-lived artist. Of course the Sinatra version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," "Transmission," the 12" version of "She's Lost Control," and "Atmosphere" are worth the price of admission alone, and there are several other great tracks here. Once again, as freaking always, the CD version.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,293
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
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Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 04/03/2025]
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This is this low because I don't include the first four songs in my evaluation of it, but rather Rubber Soul and Revolver, since there's no way those wouldn't have been included in those albums had they been released any time after '68. If they were included, this would absolutely be #1 for the year, which would hardly be fair...
[First added to this chart: 04/03/2025]
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Love this band. This album was a huge change-up from their earlier stuff, with its greater sense of foreboding and mystery provided by the West Coast production, but the combination worked. I saw this band live in '88, but the experience was at least partly ruined by Marty Willson-Piper battling with his roadie and the crowd like a prima donna. Wouldn't come out for the encore. But I love the man's guitar work. Best track here is my all-time favorite Church song - "North, South, East and West."
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,457
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Average Rating:
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I usually say that '84-'86 was the Cocteaux' heyday - and they were the gem of mid-'80s, along with '82-'86 R.E.M. - but this more lightweight but gorgeous album was a fantastic victory lap.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,016
Rank in 1988:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
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I know most here probably hate this sort of music, and a lot of her stuff is just candyfloss, but "Cursum Perficio," "The Longships," and "Na Laetha M'Oige" have an emotional weight that far outstrips the rest of her catalog. The last 5-star album (yes, this is a 5-star in my book) here.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
933
Rank in 1988:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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The Smithereens are unsung heroes of this time period. Their first two LPs had a songwriting heft and resonance that they sadly lost after this. My favorite song here, and in their catalog, is the title track, with its fantastic "Whoa-whoa-whoa" backing vocal hook, especially in the coda chorus. Great Rickenbacker tone from Jim Babjack throughout.
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
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These guys are extremely underrated in retrospect as well, although their decline - or, to be honest, Shane's decline - was so rapid after this that perhaps it's not surprising no one remembers them as being as great as they were at their stratospheric peak (Rum, Sodomy & the Lash). P.S. - Thanks, Kirsty!!!
[First added to this chart: 11/28/2024]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,750
Rank in 1988:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Total albums: 39. Page 1 of 4
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Top 39 Music Albums of 1988 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Beatles | 2 | 5% | |
| The Smithereens | 1 | 3% | |
| The Go-Betweens | 1 | 3% | |
| U2 | 1 | 3% | |
| The Pogues | 1 | 3% | |
| Talk Talk | 1 | 3% | |
| Tracy Chapman | 1 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
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slatsheit has created 71 other 1988 year charts - click here to explore them all.
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| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/19/2024 18:17 |  Rhyner | 1,457 | 99/100 |
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