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Post by Tweet on Aug 28, 2022 13:09:06 GMT -6
Lists are now due midnight of Labor day (end of day Monday 9-5)
Albums will be rolled out in the afternoon/early evening of Monday 9-12
Tomorrow I will begin the public shaming campaign to draw up more lists
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 28, 2022 21:28:01 GMT -6
 Saw Archie Shepp w/ Jason Moran today in Tompkins Square Park and listened to this afterwards while walking around the LES. My memory is hazy, but this was sorta the record that began to divide the Talking Heads - with Eno/Byrne working very closely together, developing new rhythmic and tape looping techniques and sort of shafting the rest of the band out of the creative process. And - hey - Dave and Brian had a point. This record is a stunner and a genuine career peak. It straddled the boundary of being weird as hell (Look at these hands!) and having a massive hit ( accompanied by my favorite music video of all time). The thing is all polyrhythm all the time. Eerie guitar beeps, neurotic verses, and hooks that patiently unravel over the unrelenting rhythm. I do think it slows down on the B-side - particularly the last three tracks. But that's also a reflection of how insanely on-point the first five are. Now - all things considered - the band deserves their roses on this one too. In particular, there is no Talking Heads sound without Tina Weymouth, and this is her best album. Belew is killer here too. And, for a record so spliced together in the studio, it packed a knockout punch live: |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 28, 2022 21:43:47 GMT -6
 Oh ya, and then I revisited this one too! The slicker, more subtly insidious version of the Devo creed. If their first album is the orchestrated clamor of the industrial factory, this one is the cold, smooth assembly line. And, again, it worked! "Whip It" got millions of ears tuned into these weirdos from Akron (and simultaneously doomed them to pseudo One Hit Wonder status forever). Each and every track on Freedom of Choice is a catchy power-pop workout. Like Kraftwerk's synths set to four-on-the-floor drumming and peppy fight-song styled vocals. "Gates of Steel" is the big 'deep cut' here, for my money. Tho the herky-jerk guitars of "Girl U Want" would inspire a thousand bespectacled suburban nerds to swap their pocket calculators for guitars. Or at least it did in my imagined reality. These guys were awesome, and - as a Northeast Ohioan - I'll always have an affinity for them. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 7:49:25 GMT -6
 I'm obsessed with the background of this album. Truly unlike anything else in rock history, and it deserves mentioning how wild it is - even if its been written into lore by this point. Bon Scott died on February 19, 1980. By July 25th... that's 157 days for anyone who's counting... AC/DC had already buried their lead singer, auditioned and found a replacement, decamped to the Bahamas and wrote an entire set of new songs, recorded and released what would be their biggest album. Not even half a year! And this record absolutely fucks. But you already knew that. Emma and I listen to this pretty much every time we do a road trip. The crisp rhythms (s/o Malcolm Young and Mutt Lange for producing the most perfect rhythm guitar sound ever) are perfect for highway drives. Not to mention how so many of the songs here are indisposible parts of the classic rock canon. My fave's probably Shoot To Thrill right now, but that changes every time I listen. I adore silly but badass hard rock albums, and this is the king of them all. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 8:31:29 GMT -6
 Speaking of silly but badass hard rock albums, here's 1B to the Aussie's 1A. I love how it kicks off with "Rapid Fire," a fucking balls-to-the-wall heavy metal song, and - not only doesn't let up in intensity - but keeps leveling up in songcraft and audaciously massive hooks (Metal Gods! Breaking the Law!!!). By the time you get to the soccer anthem style chorus of "United" it already feels like the band's on a well deserved victory lap. Side B is still great but a little weaker after the massive adrenaline high of Side A. But! They still drop arguably the most excellent hard rock song ever (w/ respects to Thin Lizzy) with Living After Midnight. Judas Priest has better metal albums ( Stained Class is my favorite), but this is their best rock album, one that transcends genre and deserves to be as highly regarded (and commercially successful) as Back in Black. Maybe I'll even take the train to Long Island this fall and finally see them live. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 9:23:45 GMT -6
 The single best album to give to anyone interested in Philip Glass / minimalist music / modern classical, IMO. It was literally designed to be an accessible introduction to his own work, and it obtains the soaring highs of his longform pieces within a standard LP run-time. I can't imagine listening to something like "Rubric" and not being moved in some way. The music swells, pitches, dives - it replicates what I imagine flying would feel like better than any simulator. If you've ever enjoyed a Dan Deacon song/album, or even - idk - fuckin' "Baba O'Riley," you owe it to yourself to give this record a chance. You may not come away as much a fanboy as Bosma, but I'd be willing to be it'll at least pique your interest. Glass is a living legend, IMO deserving of all his accolades and more. This album is the perfect dose to hook you in. |
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Post by thebosma on Aug 29, 2022 9:30:14 GMT -6
Highly recommend the mix they re-released in 2016 that is “Specially Mixed for your Cassette Player”. It’s out of this world. One of the albums that shaped my music taste the most, and it’s success funded Satyagraha which is stunning in its own right.
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 11:09:09 GMT -6
 One of the most daring avant-garde albums of the 80s, This Heat's Deceit is extremely hard to adequately describe or characterize. No other band (I've heard) has been able to replicate their disharmonious alchemy, but lots of bands have stolen snippets of their sound. The pounding, circular drum patterns and ominously jangly guitars (heard most on SPQR and A New Kind of Water) are big hallmarks of the that early 2010s post-punk wave (Women /Viet Cong / Preoccupations are especially indebted to This Heat). It's the closest I've heard to a free jazz album by a rock band, without utilizing any jazz instrumentation or structures. It's an ethos more than anything. Simon Reynolds has a great section on This Heat in his essential Rip It Up And Start Again, where he quotes This Heat's philosophy as: "All possible processes. All channels open. Twenty-four hours alert," with the aim to "commit violence to accepted notions of music." Unsurprisingly, Deceit is not a pretty listen. But if you're wired in all the wrong ways, there's plenty of beauty to find in its freedom. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 11:45:54 GMT -6
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/The-Queen-is-Dead-cover.pngHow much of an asshole does someone have to be before you stop listening to their music? For me, it seems the answer is - juuuust a bit more than Morrissey. Or maybe it's just that the Smiths get a pass because a.) they were the first classic 'indie' band I really loved, and b.) the rest of the band is so fuckin' good. The Queen Is Dead, after all, is basically the Johnny Marr show. It's insane how many times he steals the spotlight on an album that also features some of Morrissey's strongest performances. In fact, the entire run from Cemetery Gates to There Is A Light is a textural guitarist textbook. You've got the chiming melody of Cemetery Gates, the swirling strumming on Bigmouth, the steel guitar-esque soloing on Boy With The Thorn. Rourke and Joyce infamously got railroaded by Morrissey/Marr on royalties (40/40/10/10 splits!) but they both bring waaaaay more than their designated 1/10th portion to the table here. I mean, "Vicar in a Tutu" is basically a spotlight song for the rhythm section! So yeah, I still fuckin' love this album. I'm not gonna touch his solo records, but I indulge in Morrissey's melodramatics for these victorious 37-minutes.
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 12:54:34 GMT -6
 Well, I had a whole thing written for Double Nickels on the Dime and then I accidentally deleted the tab. Sigh. I'll do my best to replicate it. First off, TIL that the title is a play on Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55," a playfully abstract jab from a band who made such statements an art form. I've been procrastinating on talking about this album, but it's the best bet to end up at the top of my list when all's said and done. It's got everything I want - it's my platonic ideal of a perfect indie rock record. It's freewheeling, fiery, funny. It paints the margins with the flexibility of a jazz record, riffs like a meat-and-potatoes punk rock band, and solos with all the ferocity of the Meat Puppets and - on occasion - the grace of the Dead. As a trio, the Minutemen played here at the height of their powers. The group is making total music, completely locked-in with each other at all times. They're often seen as a Boon/Watt vehicle - and while that's true on a writing front - George Hurley deserves to be lauded as a genius in their company. Dude's drumming is bonkers. He can find perfect pockets ("#1 Hit Song,"), drive the group forward ("The Glory of Man,") or nail tension/release fills with the best of them ("Two Beads at the End"). Meanwhile, Watt and Boon are truly two sides of the same brain. Look at a track like "Do You Want New Wave..." - they're playing lines that intersect so effortlessly I swear I'm listening to Lesh/Garcia sometimes. Lyrically, the album is unparalleled. They write about being pissed off ("Vietnam"), satirical ("Political Song for Michael Jackson"), and earnestly heartfelt ("History Lesson Part 2," or, the purest song ever written about friendship). They were philosophical. They were zany. They made no sense. They made perfect sense. You can listen all the way through. You can pick a random point and go from there. You can shuffle it - who cares, it's all gold. Even the turds, even the chaff. For a decade when our prophet was off making Come to Jesus records, this, Mr. Narrator, was Bob Dylan to me. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 14:44:12 GMT -6
 I read the 33 1/3 book about this album earlier this year, so I've listened to it a ton in 2022. In many ways the sampling here is even more impressive than on Paul's Boutique, with those two probably representing the peak of the craft. This thing is absolutely laden with samples. Stacking high on top of each other and creating a deliriously urgent soundscape. It's incredible to me how dense and attention grabbing the beats are - James Brown manipulated into a clamor. Most MCs would be swallowed alive by the Bomb Squad. Thankfully, they had Chuck D on their side. He has my favorite voice in hip-hop, sounding like a booming general commandeering his legions. Dude just has so much charisma that he dominates the scene in a way that I truly believe only he could. Now, the maximalism of Nation of Millions is so much that I don't listen to it as much as the other major records of this era. It's not something you can throw on and vibe to. It commands your attention. And, more importantly, it deserves your attention. That's not necessarily a knock against it as a piece of music, but it does mean that it falls to the bottom of my Top 5 hip hop records of the era, even though it's arguably (alongside Straight Outta Compton) the most important. |
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Post by monasterymonochrome on Aug 29, 2022 15:15:37 GMT -6
 This has to be the 80s hip hop record with the most staying power, right? In terms of cultural relevancy, it might be the most important and historic album of the 80s, period. Took a new sound to the mainstream in a major way, launched the careers of three massive stars, and turned out a collection of anthems that led off with two of the hardest hitting, most frequently cited songs of all time (Straight Outta Compton and Fuck Tha Police). Sonically, it's not as forward-thinking as Public Enemy or even Beastie Boys' late 80s opuses, but lyrically? There was nothing else like it. Some of those have aged better than others (see: "I Ain't Tha 1"), but the album still shocks and electrifies its listeners more than 30 years later. "Gangsta, Gangsta" is my favorite track here, their best combination of stripped back funk, hard-ass lyrics, and wildly catchy hooks. Albums that cause mass hysteria or other variety of cultural phenomena are fascinating to revisit. Sometimes they're more interesting than good (*cough cough* Sex Pistols *cough cough*). This one? It's obviously apparent why it launched NWA into stardom. Why? Well, it's just fuckin' good. |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:22:47 GMT -6
Magma came back from the place old boarders go to (Texas?) so I dunno what's wrong with the rest of you for not making a list
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:29:14 GMT -6
Anyway I said I was doing public shaming and so here that goes: The following boarders need to finish their lists: mookie brainloading. goodson I dunno if your list is ordered please let me know but you hit 30 all the same good job King. |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:30:01 GMT -6
Making a case for the run of Rush albums from Permanent Waves through Power Windows and the run of Kate Bush albums from Never for Ever through The Sensual World Well ok let's see it then |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:30:39 GMT -6
In that case I'm throwing my double vote behind Pretty Hate Machine. Man you better cause looks like that album ain't gonna make the top 50 if the polls ended today |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:31:15 GMT -6
This might not even be The Cure's best record according to the data I'm not actively looking at |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:32:40 GMT -6
Oh yeah this gets my vote. Glad I could help. I gotta give you credit for getting out of not finishing a list by just not bothering to make one in the first place. It's that kind of thinking that has truly made america great again |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:34:12 GMT -6
It will probably be #2 on my list tbh Could be #4 on my hip hop list. Would have an extremely difficult time putting it above Eric B + Rakim, NWA, or Public Enemy Can you make Greg make a list he seems like he'd have some Fun Takes |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:35:05 GMT -6
Pretty much everything REM released in the 80s should be considered, too. Put these in order and then show us the order. And maybe add some other albums too? |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:35:36 GMT -6
My double vote goes to McCartney II You might be the only vote for this album |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:38:07 GMT -6
The decade stuff is way too much thinking and research for me, so I always stay out of them, but I look forward to seeing the list. Maybe I can come up with 10 I have to check in with the editors but people like you are gonna be personally recommended to check out certain albums on this rollout thingy, in a nice and funny way. Did you ever listen to the Pet Shop Boys I think I told you to do that months ago and just curious what thoughts you have if any |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:39:13 GMT -6
Tough choices Doolittle Songs from the Big Chair Double Fantasy I will probably add some more later Would be V curious to see your list |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:39:41 GMT -6
I can't forget to put this one out there, too.  Can't forget what you never did! |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:40:31 GMT -6
a few albums that i will throw in: rockpile - seconds of pleasure. this is a delightfully rollicking power-pop album. talk talk - spirit of eden. i know this gets a lot of love in the scope of influencing some major bands, but it's also a pretty good album on its own. richard & linda thompson - shoot out the lights. this might be the best album recorded by a couple while their marriage was falling apart. token entry - jaybird. behind some all-time cover art is a great NYHC record that i've always been a little surprised isn't lauded more against its peers. I would also be genuinely curious what your list would look like |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:41:17 GMT -6
I think I prefer Atomizer to Songs About Fucking? More like Songs on an Album List You Didn't Make amirite |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:42:00 GMT -6
Sade- Diamond Life is probably a good album but god does it make me feel like I’m watching a weird 80s softcover porn on HBO late night. Is that dismissive? Probably! ACAB but you should be arrested for this take. How about you listen to the entire 80s Sade slate but with a better attitude Still waiting for the cops tbh |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:42:36 GMT -6
Pyromania is the god damn truth and should be the first listen for anyone looking for new old music this summer. C'mon my friend I know you got 30 albums from the 1980s in you |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:45:09 GMT -6
Ha, did a google and was like, “weird, Yah was what I remember”. Learn something new every day! God isn’t real! Didn't the stoners listen to Bob Marley where you're from? Today I worked (redacted) and listened to Fugazi's 13 Songs, Black Flag's Damaged, and Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man. 17 year old me knows this is a shitty stoner habit, but hey, what can you do? Oh, speaking of doing, what about your list? |
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Post by Tweet on Aug 29, 2022 17:46:16 GMT -6
Also I bought an original pressing of Gaucho and listened to it and I think it’s 5th in the Dan discography for me. Might still make my list. Something about this take seems insane to me but I also couldn't actually rank their albums so I can't get any more specific than this Somebody would have to go back and check the record but this probably wasn't even the most insane thing I posted that day. How do you feel about In The Dark now that you are a big jam band guy now |
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