The Best of the 80’s & 90’s?

- Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 -

We gave you the 70’s, now its time for a look at the 80’s & 90’s!

The Eighties!

1. The Pixies - “Doolittle” The album that kickstarted a revolution and frightened my Seventh Grade ears in the process. I wish more fat, balding men from Massachusetts were this cathartic. I also wish they could all produce albums with such rich diversity - from the bubblegum pop of “Here Comes Your Man” to the spaghetti Western theme of “Silver”...from the environmentalist spoken word anthem of “Monkey Gone To Heaven” to the gorgeous “Wave of Mutilation”, which fantasizes about driving into the ocean. Believe the hype, as this is, indeed, the greatest album of its decade. Fun fact: “Hey” is my favorite vocal performance evah.
Best track: “Hey”

2. Talking Heads - “Remain in Light”
This isn’t Brian Eno’s first appearance on this (group of) list(s) and it won’t be his last. The man is a world class superhuman, this time lending his magic touch to David Byrne’s psychotic tendencies with mindblowing result. There’s an old cliche about this type of album; namely, that the observant listener will notice something new each time. It may very well be true. Not quite “same as it ever was”! The very definition of a headphone album, do ya hear those bongos in “The Great Curve”? Or the Pacman solo in “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)”? This music comes from up there. *points*
Best track: “Once in a Lifetime”

3. Sonic Youth - “Daydream Nation”
A dissonant whir of sprawling guitar textures and awkward vocal spasms. It may very well be closer to noise soundscapes than “alternative rock”, whatever the fuck that may be. It’s an exhausting and rewarding listen, and a pity I didn’t realize it right away.
Best track: “Cross the Breeze”

4. Tom Waits - “Rain Dogs"/"Franks Wild Years” (it’s a tie)
“A few reasons why both of these records deserve a position on this list:
All the doughnuts have names that sound like prostitutes
And the moon’s teeth marks are on the sky
Like a tarp thrown all over this
And the broken umbrellas like dead birds
And the steam comes out of the grill
Like the whole goddamn town’s ready to blow...”

“They take apart their nightmares and they leave them by the door
Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair
Deal out jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs
I’ll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past”

“...in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

“Time is made from honey slow and sweet
Only the fools know what it means...”

“Never trust a man in a blue trench coat
Never drive a car when you’re dead”
Best track: “Clap Hands” and “Temptation”, respectively.

5. U2 - “The Joshua Tree”
Say what you want about Bono now; before he tried to save the world, he sounded like he really could. The ringing guitars, the anthemic choruses, the restless lyrics...everything seems to be in place. “The Joshua Tree” is the type of album where everything just fits, especially if you find it at the right time. It won’t go anywhere.
Best track: “Bullet the Blue Sky”

6. R.E.M. - “Document\"/"Murmur"
(tie again) It’s true that “Document\” rocks harder. It’s true that “Murmur” embodies that Southern, folky college rock vibe like no other. You decide.
Best track: “The One I Love” and “Pilgrimage” respectively.

7. Leonard Cohen - “I’m Your Man”
Adding drum machines, synthesizers and an increasingly hoarse ("golden"?) voice to his sonic palette could have been awkward and plodding for Mr. Cohen. Instead, it turned out to be a creative rebirth of sorts, and a damn wonderful album to boot. Cohen desperately offers his services over a vaguely Eastern keyboard riff in the popular title track, freaks out about “Jazz Police talking to my niece” in one furious song, converses with Hank Williams in another and exposes some social injustices that “Everbody Knows” in the track of the same name. Or, let’s examine this couplet from “Tower of Song”:
“Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure:
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong”
Bitter? Certainly. Old? Cranky? That’s my Lenny, but he hasn’t produced in album this rewarding in years.
Best track: “Everybody Knows” or “Jazz Police” or “Tower of Song” or “I’m Your Man”...Jesus, they’re all brilliant.

8. Minutemen - “Double Nickels on the Dime”
Forty-three tracks in all.
Me:Describe them?
Myself: Short. Funky as sin. Mostly political.
Me: In fact, they do all sound the same, don’t they?
Myself: Yes.
Me: Doesn’t matter. So short, well-written, well-performed and goddamn entertaining all around.
Myself: Too bad that guy died. What’s his name?
Me: Brad Delp?
Myself: Sure.
Best track: Maybe it’s “Corona”. Yay, Jackass!

9. The Clash - “Combat Rock”
The Clash recover surprisingly well from the train wreck of “Sandinista!” and record the Talking Heads tribute that it sounds like they always wanted to. Well, that’s just the first half (err, two-thirds), featuring the classic “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”, disco meltdown “Rock the Casbah” and accurately-titled “Overpowered by Funk”. The end of the record takes some sharp left turns, from ambient instrumentals to awkward spoken word experiments. It’s very surprising how well the whole thing holds up.
Best track: “Rock the Casbah”

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Mother’s Milk”
Yeah, yeah, I know. Anthony Kiedis is a goon, Flea smells of mustard, I’ve heard it all before. So flog me.

*bends over*

“Mother’s Milk” was a creative rebirth for some, as Frusciante gracefully took over the late and great Hillel Slovak’s guitar duties. The band covers Hendrix, cheers for Magic Johnson and screams about a “stone cold bush” in under forty-five minutes, with some excellent musicianship to boot. Then there’s the psychedelic mini-masterpiece “Taste the Pain”, the oddly sincere “Knock Me Down” (dealing with Anthony’s experiences with drug addiction) and a pretty damn great closer. Oh, and “Sexy Mexican Maid”! Appreciate this couplet:

“The puts me in a bubble bath
She tickles me and I laugh”

Best track: “Johnny, Kick A Hole in the Sky”

And a look at the Nineties! (Each album described in nine words this time.)

1. The Flaming Lips - “The Soft Bulletin”
Error: Overload. It’s my favorite album of all time.
Best track: “The Gash”

2. Radiohead - “OK Computer”
“Weird creatures who lock up their spirits… just uptight.”
Best track: “Karma Police”

3. The Flaming Lips - “Zaireeka”
Most difficult and rewarding musical experience of the century, perhaps.
Best track: “March of the Rotten Vegetables”

4. U2 - “Achtung, Baby!”
Bono becomes bored with perfection. Futuristic, stunning and elegant!
Best track: “One”

5. The Olivia Tremor Control - “Black Foliage: Animation Music”
Disgustingly complex pop music, reaching directly through your sub-conscious.
Best track: “The Sylvan Screen”

6. Talk Talk - “Laughing Stock”
This album moves me like few others. So primal.
Best track: “After the Flood”

7. Weezer - “Pinkerton”
Depression produces the finest music sometimes. Great drum sound!
Best track: “Across the Sea”

8. Nine Inch Nails - “The Downward Spiral”
Reminds me of eigth grade. Dark and dangerously compelling.
Best track: “Piggy”

9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”
Filthy. Vulgar, too. The way the Peppers should sound.
Best track: “Funky Monks”

10. Spiritualized - “Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”
Checklist:
-Get heart broken.
-Write masterpiece.
-Acquire 486,952,958 instruments.
Best track: “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”

Thanks for reading. Close the door on your way out.

Posted on Saturday, September 22nd @ 11:02 am.