> On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:19:45 GMT, rushomancy@gmail.com (Cabeza
> Borradora) wrote:
>

>>All right, so I made a list. Why did I do this? Because, apparently, I
>>am a
>>complete fucking loser, and I actually find such exercises in tedium
>>diverting. And because I am a self-absorbed sadist, I am going to inflict
>>the
>>list on the five of you who still read this newsgroup (actually there may
>>be
>>as many as ten, but I think I have five of you killfiled).
>>
>>Here are the criteria: To select one album from every year from 1964 to
>>the
>>present. Why 1964? No particular reason. I just thought that 1964 was
>>when
>>pop music started to get really interesting (which naturally explains why
>>the
>>first two albums on the list are jazz albums). One could also make a
>>strong
>>argument for 1963, what with Beatlemania and all, and if I was to pick an
>>album for '63 it would be "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". As is of course
>>standard procedure with album lists, compilation albums are not allowed.
>>Live
>>albums _are_ allowed, but as it turns out there aren't any on my final
>>list.
>>I also tried to view the set of albums as a whole, so that there wouldn't
>>be
>>too many redundancies or similar works in there, although at the same time
>>I
>>wasn't trying to be eclectic for the sake of being eclectic, and only
>>picked
>>albums that I really thought held up as top-rank albums. In three cases I
>>_did_ pick two albums by the same artist (and oddly enough, in every case
>>they
>>were consecutive albums), but in all of those cases the albums in question
>>were just too good to not make it on there.
>>
>>Note of warning: I am an unrepentant rockist, so for instance pretty much
>>every artist on this list is male (in fact I believe the only exceptions
>>are
>>Tina Weymouth and Teresa Taylor), and they are pretty much all by bands or
>>performers writing their own compositions (exception: _Nothing Can Stop
>>Us_).
>>It is kind of interesting to see what did and didn't make it; a lot of
>>bands I
>>really enjoy and think are great didn't make the list at all (no
>>Beatles!),
>>and some genres I like are totally unrepresented (no Krautrock!). Also,
>>this
>>list is completely subjective, and does not try to list "greatest" albums,
>>just the albums that I personally have the greatest preference for.
>>
>>Because I'm long-winded, I wrote brief notes about most of the albums.
>>Some
>>of the albums are so renowned and written about that I couldn't think of a
>>single god-damned thing to say about them that hadn't been said a million
>>times before, so in that case I refrained from commenting. Anyway, enjoy!
>>Or
>>don't. Whatever.
>>
>>1964: Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch: One of the most fascinating "what-ifs"
>>in
>>history is the notion that if Dolphy had lived, he might have made an
>>album
>>_better_ than this. Oh, it's unlikely; statistically, when a band puts
>>out a
>>really fantastic album like this one, anything that comes afterwards is
>>bound
>>to be a disappointment. Still, such a thing isn't unprecedented
>>artistically,
>>and Dolphy was very, very talented.

>
> Miles-Four and more.

>>
>>1965: Sun Ra - Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 2: 1965 was Sun Ra's breakthrough
>>year. Don't get me wrong, he had recorded a lot of great material before
>>then, both in Chicago and in New York (the criminally unavailable "Secrets
>>of
>>the Sun" being a particular highlight), but 1965 was the year it all came
>>together for Sunny with a set of three fantastic albums for the ESP label.
>>I
>>could easily pick any of the three as this year's album, and perhaps "The
>>Magic City" is the most iconic, containing as it does the legendary
>>"Shadow
>>World", but I went with this one, simply because I'm a complete sucker for
>>"The Sun Myth". (I also considered "A Love Supreme" as this year's pick,
>>but
>>although I love Trane, I've never considered "A Love Supreme" one of my
>>favorites; I actually find it kind of overrated, although it is
>>indisputably
>>brilliant.)
>>
>>1966: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: Kind of an obvious pick, but sometimes
>>the
>>most obvious choice is the right one. I also considered the Monks' "Black
>>Monk Time", but although I admire the unique sound and incredible
>>pogo-worthy
>>energy they brought to their album, "Pet Sounds" just has better _songs_
>>on
>>it, even if it is possibly a little fey. Oh, and the version I'd take is
>>definitely the original mono mix.

>
> Would you consider Revolver too?
>

>>
>>1967: The Who - The Who Sell Out: 1967 is actually a problematic year in
>>music, and there's one reason for it: Sgt. Pepper. Don't get me wrong,
>>Sgt.
>>Pepper was a landmark album and forced the world to completely re-evaluate
>>the
>>way they looked at rock albums and all, but unfortunately the actual
>>_songs_
>>on it were, for the most part, just not all that good, and just as
>>unfortunately Sgt. Pepper unleashed a torrent of over-orchestrated
>>fairy-dust
>>crap on the world. Much of it is not without merit; in fact, a lot of it
>>I
>>rather like, but at the same time it all gets a bit precious after a
>>while.
>>Which is why I picked this album, which is a bit of an anomaly in the
>>climate
>>of 1967. Oh, it's not that it's unambitious; it does after all end with a
>>six-minute excerpt from one of those dreaded "rock operas". But at the
>>same
>>time, "Sell Out" is unafraid to rock out, and does it on catchy,
>>well-written
>>songs, making it in my mind the embodiment of everything that was good
>>about
>>rock and roll in the '60s. If I was allowed, I'd take the expanded
>>reissue,
>>as I like pretty much every song on it. Yes, even the Keith Moon song.
>>(Petra Haden's version of the album is also excellent.)

>
> What about Hendrix?

>>
>>1968: The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat: No comment.
>>
>>1969: The Mothers of Invention - Uncle Meat: I originally had "Weasels
>>Ripped
>>My Flesh" picked for this year, but then I realized although it was
>>recorded
>>in '69 for the most part, it wasn't actually released until 1970. Then I
>>realized that Uncle Meat, which came out in '69, was actually a better
>>album
>>anyway. I tend to shy away from double albums for the purposes of this
>>list,
>>as they're generally padded and thus their impact is diluted, but this is
>>actually one of the few double albums that (on LP, at least) isn't padded
>>at
>>all. Caveat: I definitely would pick the LP version of this, as the CD
>>version is padded out with awful, _awful_ "bonus tracks".
>>
>>1970: The Stooges - Fun House: All the Stooges albums are good, in terms
>>of
>>songwriting and playing, but unfortunately all of them except this one
>>suffer
>>from awful "celebrity" production that only served to make them sound
>>worse.
>>Unfortunately, I suspect this will apply to their upcoming album as well;
>>I've
>>only ever heard two albums produced by Steve Albini I didn't totally hate
>>(one
>>of them is on this list and the other didn't come out until like last
>>month).
>>
>>1971: Funkadelic - Maggot Brain: Other notable albums this year included
>>"Tago
>>Mago" and "Meddle", but neither Michael Karoli nor David Gilmour played
>>the
>>guitar as if their mother had just died on them. Advantage: Eddie Hazel.
>>
>>1972: Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Clear Spot: I thought about
>>putting "Pink Moon" in this spot, but then I thought about it, and
>>realized my
>>choice was between a set of low-key, morose folk songs and "Big Eyed Beans
>>From Venus". Put on those terms, the choice was not very difficult. Who
>>would have thought that getting the Doobie Brothers' producer to do a
>>Captain
>>Beefheart album would work out so well?
>>
>>1973: Stevie Wonder - Innervisions: No comment.

>
> This i agree with. The Payback by James Brown comes to mind as well.

>>
>>1974: Magma - Wurdah Itah (AKA Christian Vander - Tristan et Yseult):
>>Pretty
>>radically different, at least in instrumentation, from the total overkill
>>of
>>"Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh", this presents Magma's music stripped to
>>its
>>core; piano, bass, drums, and the ever-present vocals. Kind of their
>>"Basement Tapes", in a way. Anyway, it works fabulously well, and is one
>>of
>>my top albums ever, so was a shoo-in for this list, despite strong
>>competition
>>from King Crimson's "Red" and Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom".
>>
>>1975: Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks: It took me a long time to actually
>>get
>>around to listening to this album- while it's considered a classic, you'll
>>never hear, say, "Tangled Up in Blue" on the radio, or at least I never
>>did,
>>and as I wasn't a Dylan "fan" per se it passed me right by. I was
>>surprised
>>to discover that it was not just his best post-'60s album, the way people
>>kept
>>saying, but was, to my ears, his best album, full stop. If I was allowed
>>to,
>>I'd actually pick the original "New York" version of the album- both
>>versions
>>have their merits, but having been introduced to both versions at about
>>the
>>same time, I like the "New York" version better- but that's probably not
>>allowed, not just because it wasn't actually released, but because the
>>acetate
>>in question actually dates to 197_4_.

>
> This better then Blow by Blow?

>>
>>1976: Van Der Graaf Generator - Still Life: 1976 was the first really
>>tough
>>year for me to pick due to a lack of suitable material. The bloom was
>>really
>>off the rose for "progressive rock", and punk hadn't really hit yet. The
>>result is that there's not really that much to pick from. If National
>>Health
>>had managed to get an album out before Mont Campbell left, it would've
>>been a
>>shoo-in for this list, but unfortunately that didn't come to be. Anyway,
>>Still Life is definitely in the top tier of VDGG albums, without any
>>really
>>weak songs and some songs I find totally incredible, like "La Rossa" and
>>the
>>title track, so it gets the nod for this year. (If "Over" had come out
>>this
>>year instead of '77, though, it might have been stiff competition.)

>
> This better then Wired by Mr. Beck?
>
>
>

>>
>>1977: Television - Marquee Moon: No comment.
>>
>>1978: DEVO - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!: Again, it was a tough
>>call
>>between this and Pere Ubu's "Dub Housing", but while Dub Housing is an
>>incredibly visionary album, it's just not as much fun to listen to as
>>Q?/A!
>>The insane catchiness of "Uncontrollable Urge" along gives this one the
>>nod.
>>The first of two albums on the list Eno was involved with, although
>>frankly
>>Eno didn't do all _that_ much for the album, compared to the other one on
>>the
>>list; basically he recorded them the way they sounded in concert and on
>>demos
>>without fucking it up horribly. Which is fine, because that's really all
>>he
>>needed to do.

>
> Kansas-Monolith

>>
>>1979: Public Image Ltd - Metal Box: Where John Lydon took all the bands he
>>was
>>name-dropping in the Pistols and started actually using elements of their
>>sound. The results are far more interesting than the Sex Pistols, who are
>>good in theory but in practice got their asses kicked by pretty much every
>>other punk band out there. There are two different mixes of this album,
>>"Metal Box" and "Second Edition". To be honest I don't know which one I
>>prefer; I guess I'd be OK with either of them.
>>
>>1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light: The culmination of their Eno-era
>>sound,
>>and IMO their last good studio album. (The live album "The Name Of This
>>Band
>>Is..." was also extremely good, in fact much better than the overrated
>>"Stop
>>Making Sense"). Honestly I listen to "Fear of Music" more, but this album
>>is
>>totally brilliant. Odd footnote: When Phish played this album live, they
>>did
>>a really, really good job, and I say this despite the fact that I hate
>>Phish
>>and feel they completely butchered "Loaded".

>
> Permanant waves by Rush.

>>
>>1981: Robert Wyatt - Nothing Can Stop Us: Like "Birth of the Cool",
>>compiled
>>from singles. A wonderful "comeback" effort that established Wyatt as a
>>premier interpreter of other people's songs. The only thing I can say for
>>it
>>is it'd be even better with a couple more tracks from around this time
>>included, like "Shipbuilding" and his absolutely sublime Victor Jara
>>cover.

>
> Moving Pictures by Rush.

>>
>>1982: Wall of Voodoo - Call of the West: This is, again, possibly not my
>>favorite album by them- "Lost Continent" has a hell of a lot going for it-
>>but
>>it is very, very good, and the title track is stunning.

>
> Missing persons-Spring session M
>

>>
>>1983: Negativland - A Big 10-8 Place: I am not a fan of the '80s. I
>>personally feel that very few bands thrived musically in the climate of
>>the
>>'80s; in fact, I can only name three or four bands whose '80s work is
>>their
>>best stuff. They are all on this list, and Negativland is the first.
>>Like
>>Lenny Bruce, Negativland in my mind went downhill pretty steeply when they
>>allowed politics to dominate what they were doing; it's perhaps
>>inevitable,
>>and I agree with them politically, but from an artistic perspective it's
>>disenheartening (though Negativland is still up there with the best when
>>it
>>comes to pure sound collage; the CD of "Death Sentences of the Polished
>>and
>>Structurally Weak" is perhaps one of my favorite noise albums of all time,
>>and
>>I don't even generally go for pure noise music).
>>
>>1984: Skeleton Crew - Learn To Talk: This was the hardest year for me to
>>pick,
>>and consequently the last one I did. Although I love avant-garde music, I
>>really didn't give too much consideration to a lot of albums in that
>>genre,
>>because very few of them fit the criteria of "timeless classic" for me.
>>Still, as avant-garde albums go, this is certainly one of the best, and
>>there
>>wasn't that much else to pick from. Not that there weren't good albums
>>that
>>came out this year- "Purple Rain", "Double Nickels On The Dime", and I
>>think
>>"New Day Rising" all came out this year, not to mention, of course, the
>>"Spinal Tap" soundtrack- but none of them are albums I really enjoy
>>listening
>>to, so this got the nod. I also considered Univers Zero's "Uzed", but I
>>think
>>this one is more diverse and original, and hence to me more interesting.
>>
>>1985: Tom Waits - Rain Dogs: Tom Waits is another one of those rare people
>>who
>>was around before the '80s, but actually got better in the '80s, thus
>>bucking
>>the trend set by people like David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, etc. A lot
>>of
>>this of course had to do with his wife Kathleen Brennan, who did things
>>like
>>introduce him to the music of Captain Beefheart (which I find pretty
>>bizarre;
>>the guy toured with Zappa in '74, and had never heard Beefheart?). Anyway
>>his
>>music since then has all been pretty much just as great as this, but if I
>>was
>>going to pick one, it'd be this one.
>>
>>1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets: For some reason a lot of people seem
>>to
>>prefer Slayer's _Reign in Blood_ to this one, possibly because Slayer
>>didn't
>>turn into a bunch of sell-out, fan-suing pussies, but regardless Master of
>>Puppets is, to my mind, clearly the better album. The songs are better,
>>the
>>playing is better, the production is better; it's just a superior album,
>>and
>>clearly Metallica's best.

>
> Which ain't saying a lot.

>>
>>1987: Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician: Nowadays it's pretty
>>cool
>>to slam the Butthole Surfers since they sued Touch and Go and to talk
>>about
>>how "overrated" they are, but fuck it, I don't care if Gibby Haynes sues
>>me
>>personally, they still made some of the best music of the '80s, and
>>nothing is
>>going to change that. Locust Abortion Technician is possibly their finest
>>moment, the point in time where everything came together for the Butthole
>>Surfers as a band, and we are better off for having it, whatever label
>>it's
>>on.

>
> Ever hear of Living colour?
>

>>
>>1988: Talk Talk - The Spirit of Eden: Not my favorite album of theirs, but
>>close enough to being my favorite that it makes the list. I considered
>>Bongwater's "Double Bummer" here, but it suffers from being a double album
>>and
>>I don't like it as much as 1991's "The Power of Pussy" (although Talk Talk
>>beats out that album too, as it transpires), so no.
>>

>
> Sorry for 1988 you have to list King's X-Gretschen goes to Nebraska.
> Nothing from that year even comes close.
>
> I will finish this up later.
>
>
> Regards
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> Go Bears!
>
> Join the Minutemen.
>
> http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/
>
> PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS & President Bush
> to Stop Amnesty for Illegal Aliens.HIT THE LINK BELOW and fill out the
> form. Takes one minute or so.
>
> http://www.citizenslobby.com/petitions.htm#gephardt