Okay jerkstores, I had Brothers in Arms in there originally, but I felt that I would get my head torn off for leaving off the Meat Puppets album in favor of that. As it is, I'll probably get my head torn off anyway for leaving out Meat is Murder and Fables of the Reconstruction.
I flipped a coin for the Husker Du choice, so you Flip Your Wiggers can go, uh, Flip Your F'n Wig.
Omissions:
Husker Du * Flip Your Wig (SST)
The Pogues * Rum Sodomy & The Lash (WEA)
Meat Puppets * Up On The Sun (SST)
Tony Allen & Afrobeat 2000 * N.E.P.A. (Wrasse) )
Sonic Youth * Bad Moon Rising (Homestead)
R.E.M. * Fables of the Reconstruction (IRS)
New Order * Low-Life (WB)
Einsturzende Neubauten * 1/2 Mensch (Rough Trade)
Slayer * Hell Awaits (Metal Blade)
The Jazz Butcher * Sex And Travel (Glass UK)
Possessed * Seven Churches (Relativity)
Celtic Frost * To Mega Therion (Noise)
Butthole Surfers * Psychic . . . Powerless . . . Another Man's Sac (Touch & Go)
Naked Raygun * All Rise (Homestead)
The Minutemen * 3-Way Tie For Last (SST)
Dinosaur Jr. (Homestead)
Yello * Stella (Universal)
The Wake * Here Comes Everybody (Factory)
The Sound * Heads And Hearts (Statik/Renascent)
Squirrel Bait (Homestead)
Embrace (Dischord)
Metal Church (Elektra)
Killing Joke * Night Time (EG)
Peter Murphy * Should The World Fail To Fall Apart (Beggars Banquet)
Kate Bush * Hounds Of Love (EMI)
The Chameleons * What Does Anything Mean? Basically (Statik)
The Sound * In The Hothouse (Statik/Renascent)
Rites Of Spring (Dischord)
Flesh For Lulu * Big Fun City (Statik)
Love And Rockets * Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (Beggars Banquet)
Camper Van Beethoven * Telephone Free Landslide Victory (IP)
Savage Republic * Trudge (Fundamental Music)
Effigies * Fly On A Wire (Enigma)
Doug E. Fresh * Oh My God! (Reality)
Run D.M.C. * King Of Rock (Profile)
Dexys Midnight Runners * Don't Stand Me Down (Mercury)
Schooly D. * The Adventures of Schoolly D (Rykodisc)
Fine Young Cannibals (IRS)
Loudness * Thunder In The East (Atlantic)
Accept * Metal Heart (Portrait)
Hoodoo Gurus * Mars Needs Guitars (Elektra)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds * The Firstborn Is Dead (Homestead)
Felt * Gold Mine Trash (PVC/Cherry Red)
Anthrax * Spreading The Disease (Megaforce)
Exodus * Bonded By Blood (Combat)
Dead Kennedys * Frankenchrist (Alternative Tentacles)
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions * Easy Pieces (Capitol)
David Byrne * Music For the Knee Plays (Sire)
Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel * Nail (Homestead)
Bathory * The Return... (Black Mark)
The Smiths * Meat Is Murder (Sire)
The Verlaines * Hallelujah All The Way Home (Homestead)
The Apartments * The Evening Visits...and Stays for Years (Hot)
The Style Council * Our Favourite Shop (Polydor)
New Model Army * No Rest for the Wicked (Capitol)
Game Theory * Real Nighttime (Alias)
The Cramps * A Date With Elvis (IRS)
Talking Heads * Little Creatures (Sire)
The Assocaites * Perhaps (WB)
S.O.D. * Speak English Or Die (Megaforce)
Yngwie Malmsteen * Marching Out (Polydor)
Scritti Politti * Cupid & Psyche 85 (WB)
The Mekons * Fear and Whiskey (Sin)
Leonard Cohen * Various Positions (Columbia)
Government Issue * The Fun Just Never Ends (Fountain Of Youth)
The Wipers (Enigma)
The Saints * All Fools Day (TVT)
D.R.I. * Dealin' With It (Metal Blade)
Savatage * The Dungeons Are Calling (Metal Blade)
The Costello Show * King Of America (Rykodisc)
W.A.S.P. * The Last Command (Capitol)
Amebix * Arise (Alternative)
Rush * Power Windows (Mercury)
Megadeth * Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good (Combat)
Venom * Possessed (Combat)
The Fat Boys * The Fat Boys Are Back! (Sutra)
Dokken * Under Lock And Key (Elektra)
The Replacements - Tim
Quote:
Let It Be made the Replacements into college radio and critical favorites, leading the group to a major-label contract with Sire. The band's major-label debut, Tim, does represent a bit of a compromise of the group's garage punk sound. Producer Tommy Erdelyi (formerly of the Ramones) helped clean up the band's sound, primarily by harnessing the rhythm section to a click track — no longer does the band thrash all over the place, they keep a steady rocking beat. Similarly, Bob Stinson is kept in check, and his wildfire guitar bubbles above the surface only on two cuts, "Dose of Thunder" and "Lay It Down Clown," which are both filler. Some of the rockers, even the anthemic "Bastards of Young," are gutted by the cleaner sound, but the overall effect of the record isn't hurt, because Paul Westerberg turns in his finest overall set of songs, ranging from the charming love song "Kiss Me on the Bus" and the college radio anthem "Left of the Dial" to the detailed chronicles of loneliness like "Here Comes a Regular," "Hold My Life," and "Swingin' Party." Westerberg's melodies and observations are sharper than ever, giving Tim an eloquent but edgy power that can't be diluted by the tame production.
The Jesus and Mary Chain - PsychocandyQuote:
Arguably Psychocandy is an album with one trick and one trick alone — Beach Boys melodies meet Velvet Underground feedback and beats, all cranked up to ten and beyond, along with plenty of echo. However, what a trick it is. Following up on the promise of the earliest singles, the Jesus and Mary Chain with Psychocandy arguably created a movement without meaning to, one that itself caused echoes in everything from bliss-out shoegaze to snotty Britpop and back again. The best tracks were without question those singles, anti-pop yet pure pop at the same time: "Just Like Honey," starting off like the Ronettes heard in a canyon and weirdly beautiful with its bells, "You Trip Me Up" and its slinking sense of cool, and most especially "Never Understand." Storming down like a rumble of bricks wrapped in cotton candy and getting more and more frenetic at the end, when there's nothing but howls and screaming noise, it's one hell of a track. However, at least in terms of sheer sonic violence and mayhem, most of the other cuts were pretty hard to beat, as sprawling, amped-up messes like "The Living End" (which later inspired both a band and a movie title) and "In a Hole." "My Little Underground" is actually the secret gem on the album, with a great snarling guitar start, an almost easygoing melody and a great stuttering chorus — not quite the Who but not quite anything else. What the Reids sing about — entirely interchangeable combinations regarding girls, sex, drugs, speed, and boredom in more or less equal measure — is nothing compared to the perfectly disaffected way those sentiments are delivered. Bobby Gillespie's "hit the drums and then hit them again" style makes Moe Tucker seem like Neil Peart, but arguably in terms of sheer economy he doesn't need to do any more.
Meat Puppets - Up on the SunQuote:
What does a band do when they're trying to follow-up a masterpiece? Release another masterpiece, of course. That's exactly what the Meat Puppets did with 1985's Up on the Sun. Issued one year after Meat Puppets II, the songwriting had become more focused, the performances were tighter, and Curt Kirkwood's vocals had progressed from a high-pitched warbling to a soothing monotone. Up on the Sun catches the Arizona trio in a relaxed mood, for the most part; the tunes aren't wound up as tightly as its predecessor, with the album-opening title track, the instrumental "Seal Whales," and "Hot Pink" being fine examples. Other highlights include "Maiden's Milk," which contains some great instrumental interplay between the bandmembers, as well as the upbeat "Away," the funky "Buckethead," the psychedelic "Two Rivers," and the furious "Enchanted Porkfist." As with the other 1999 Meat Puppets reissues on Rykodisc, rarities and demos are included as bonus tracks, including a haunting demo of the album's title track.
The Fall - This Nation's Saving GraceQuote:
"Feel the wrath of my Bombast!" exhorts Smith on this follow-up to their groundbreaking Wonderful and Frightening World of... the Fall, and this collection is ample proof of the pure confidence the group had at this time. Stompers like "Barmy," "What You Need," and the mighty "Gut of the Quantifier" are all led by Brix Smith's twanging lead hooks, filled by distorted guitars and bludgeoning drums, on top of which Smith rants with conviction. But it's the departures from this sound that mark the real interest here: The synth-driven "L.A." looks ahead to the Fall's experiments with electronica; "Paint Work" is an impressionist piece interrupted by Smith accidentally erasing over some of the track at home; and "I Am Damo Suzuki," a tribute to Can's lead singer, which borrows its arrangement from several of that group's songs. The Fall sound mysterious, down-to-earth, and hilarious all at the same time. The CD reissue adds the singles "Cruiser's Creek" and "Couldn't Get Ahead" as well as their B-sides making this an essential purchase.
Husker Du - New Day RisingQuote:
For New Day Rising, the follow-up to their breakthrough double-album Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü replaced concept with conciseness, concentrating on individual songs delivered as scalding post-hardcore pop. New Day Rising is not only a more vicious and relentless record than Zen Arcade, it's more melodic. Bob Mould and Grant Hart have written tightly crafted, melodic pop songs that don't compromise Hüsker's volcanic, unchecked power. Mould and Hart's songs owe a great deal to '60s pop, as the verses and choruses ebb and flow with immediately catchy hooks. Occasionally, the razor-thin production and waves of noise mean that it takes a little bit of effort to pick out the melodies, but more often the furious noise and melodies fuse together to create an overwhelming sonic force. It's possible to hear the rivalry between Mould and Hart on the album itself — each song is like a game of one-upmanship, as Mould responds to "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" with "Celebrated Summer." Neither songwriter slips — both turn in songs that are catchy, clever, and alternately wracked with pain or teeming with humor. New Day Rising is a positively cathartic record and ranks as Hüsker Dü's most sustained moment of pure power.
LL Cool J - RadioQuote:
Run-D.M.C. was the first rap act to produce cohesive, fully realized albums, and LL Cool J was the first to follow in their footsteps. LL was a mere 17 years old when he recorded his classic debut album Radio, a brash, exuberant celebration of booming beats and B-boy attitude that launched not only the longest career in hip-hop, but also Rick Rubin's seminal Def Jam label. Rubin's back-cover credit ("Reduced by Rick Rubin") is an entirely apt description of his bare-bones production style. Radio is just as stripped-down and boisterously aggressive as any Run-D.M.C. album, sometimes even more so; the instrumentation is basically just a cranked-up beatbox, punctuated by DJ scratching. There are occasional brief samples, but few do anything more than emphasize a downbeat. The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy. Even the two ballads barely sound like ballads, since they're driven by the same slamming beats. Though they might sound a little squared-off to modern ears, LL's deft lyrics set new standards for MCs at the time; his clever disses and outrageous but playful boasts still hold up poetically. Although even LL himself would go on to more intricate rhyming, it isn't really necessary on such a loud, thumping adrenaline rush of a record. Radio was both an expansion of rap's artistic possibilities and a commercial success (for its time), helping attract new multiracial audiences to the music. While it may take a few listens for modern ears to adjust to the minimalist production, the fact that it hews so closely to rap's basic musical foundation means that it still possesses a surprisingly fresh energy, and isn't nearly as dated as many efforts that followed it (including, ironically, some of LL's own).
The Cure - The Head on the DoorQuote:
The Cure refocused and ultimately hit their stride with Head on the Door, producing an album which not only more effectively depicted gloom, but also showed enough pop smarts to make it memorable (and even danceable). The band scored a hit with the infectious, New Order-ish "In Between Days" (which even managed to beat New Order at their own game) and the highly memorable "Close to Me," but the album's outstanding trait is its diversity — they managed to combine a wide variety of influences, not only that of contemporary dancefloor peers, but also by incorporating rhythms from the Far East and South America to fine effect. The Cure made more accomplished albums later on and had bigger hits, but none combined artistic ambition with really catchy songs as well as Head on the Door.
Tom Waits - Rain DogsQuote:
With its jarring rhythms and unusual instrumentation — marimba, accordion, various percussion — as well as its frequently surreal lyrics, Rain Dogs is very much a follow-up to Swordfishtrombones, which is to say that it sounds for the most part like The Threepenny Opera being sung by Howlin' Wolf. The chief musical difference is the introduction of guitarist Marc Ribot, who adds his noisy leads to the general cacophony. But Rain Dogs is sprawling where its predecessor had been focused: Tom Waits' lyrics here sometimes are imaginative to the point of obscurity, seemingly chosen to fit the rhythms rather than for sense. In the course of 19 tracks and 54 minutes, Waits sometimes goes back to the more conventional music of his earlier records, which seems like a retreat, though such tracks as the catchy "Hang Down Your Head," "Time," and especially "Downtown Train" (frequently covered and finally turned into a Top Ten hit by Rod Stewart five years later) provide some relief as well as variety. Rain Dogs can't surprise as Swordfishtrombones had, and in his attempt to continue in the direction suggested by that album, Waits occasionally borders on the chaotic (which may only be to say that, like most of his records, this one is uneven). But much of the music matches the earlier album, and there is so much of it that that is enough to qualify Rain Dogs as one of Waits' better albums.
