Probly the two of the weakest albums in these two bands respective catalogs came out in 1986:
dead milkmen - eat your paisley
dead kennedys - bedtime for democracy


Rembrandt Pussyhorse by the Surfers is a monster from '86 BTW. Contains two of my fav Surfers songs, "Sea Ferring" and "Too Parter" (the latter being from the "Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis" EP that was packaged with RP......

I look at the year, the poll and then start listing - I don't read your comments, bold-faced or not. Sorry. Could''ve sworn Radio came out in '86, but you're right. To be fair, I've given TMBG the most spins from the above list, so I'll go with their s/t release. Haven't heard Skylarking, but I'm starting to think this year was pretty unimportant as far as music goes.

I went Beastie Boys, but definitely listened to Raising Hell more back then.

2 great Rubin/Rush albums. And while maybe unimportant, these did pretty well spawn that whole rap rock thing we all LURV so much.

I was never into metal, so Metallica and Slayer, while I can see the appeal, don't have the 13 year old-scotchguard-on-the-sleeve-walking-to-school-memories for me.

And I will never understand the appeal of The Smiths

Other---Chameleons UK/Strange Times

Not ghey enough for you, Mr Belle-and-Sebastian Fanatic?

I voted for other: Genesis - Invisible Touch....their masterpiece.

I almost called you out in the first post saying you better not vote for this.

Come on - their masterpiece? There are 6 better Genesis albums than this one...

I went with the Smiths

i almost voted "invisible touch", but in retrospect, while it is a POP masterpiece, it's not a true masterpiece of an album. "selling england...", "the lamb", "trick", "wind", "duke" and "abacab" all hold an edge in the "masterpiece" category over "touch" when it comes to genesis. (and i'm probably the biggest genesis fan on this board.)

that said, my top 3 would be "so","touch","parade" with paul simon somewhere close behind.

um....Foxtrot?

forgot foxtrot.

HOW DARE YOU

I went with the Butthole Surfers but Evol was a close second.

i picked the smiths

i'd go for beastie boys, but i can do without ever listening to that album (or any other beastie boys' album) again. i can still listen to the smiths and not ever get sick of them.

REM with the slight edge over the smiths.

1. Throwing Muses - s/t
2. Nick Cave - Kicking Against the Pricks
3. Cocteau Twins - Victorialand
4. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
5. Sonic Youth - EVOL

umm, is this a joke?

I apparently own 3 albums for 1986.

Wow. I think we've found the precise year in which my musical taste forks away from the majority of Obneezers (or, at least, Spade Kitty's). The only album in the poll I'd even consider for nominating as best of the year is Lifes Rich Pageant and maaaaybe Blood And Chocolate.

Omissions from the omissions list:

The Beat Farmers Van Go
Bodeans Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams
Peter Case s/t
The Coolies Dig?
The Cramps A Date With Elvis
Dayglo Abortions Feed Us A Foetus
Divine Horsemen Devil's River
Dream Syndicate Out Of The Grey
Steve Earle Guitar Town
The Fuzztones Lysergic Emanations
Giant Sand Ballad Of A Thin Line Man
Green River Dry As A Bone
The Gruesomes Tyrants Of Teen Trash
Robin Hitchcock Element Of Light
The Hysteric Narcotics Batteries Not Included
Jason And The Scorchers Still Standing
The Jazz Butcher Bloody Nonsense
The Jazz Butcher Distressed Gentlefolk
Jellyfishbabies s/t
The Johnsons Break Tomorrow's Day
Jr. Gone Wild Less Art More Pop
The Laughing Clowns History Of Rock'n'Roll Vol. I
The Leaving Trains Kill Tunes
The Pandoras Stop Pretending
The Rainmakers s/t
The Scientists Weird Love
The Smithereens Especially For You
Spot 1019 s/t
The Suburbs s/t
Richard Thompson Daring Adventures
The 3 O'Clock Train Muscle In
True Believers s/t
Walk The West s/t
XTC Skylarking


My faves:

1. Giant Sand Ballad Of A Thin Line Man
2. The Jazz Butcher Bloody Nonsense
3. Robin Hitchcock Element Of Light
4. Steve Earle Guitar Town
5. True Believers s/t
6. Richard Thompson Daring Adventures
7. The Pandoras Stop Pretending
8. XTC Skylarking
9. Bad Brains I Against I
10. REM Lifes Rich Pageant

Other.

This would rival my number 1.

Tell me about this Giant Sand you speak of.

Not so much a joke as a reference to the movie "American Psycho." My real vote is other: Frank Zappa - Jazz From Hell.

Giant Sand have been going for 20 years now, and they get weirder (and more improv-based) with every release. The band has always been a vehicle for guitarist/songwriter/twisted genius Howe Gelbe - but for their most productive era the band included Joey Burns and John Convertino (the latter two leaving to form Calexico). Their '85 debut album (Valley Of Rain) and Ballad Of A Thin Line Man have recently been released as a CD two-fer, and it's a disc well worth seeking out. Back then, Gelbe was still interested in writing songs rather than stumbling across happy accidents, and Giant Sand (originally dubbed Giant Sandworms, from the novel Dune) created this singular hybrid of psychedelic/country/punk/classic rock. On Thin Line Man they covered Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory" and the Hendrix version of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" - and those two covers tell a lot of the story: Gelbe was obviously a devotee of Dylan's wordplay, Hendrix's guitar flash, and Thunders' anarchic spirit - and all 3 traits are in vast supply on this album.

I think, E-Fu, as a fan of the casual, individual sort of brilliance of a band like Centro-matic, you'd probably really find a lot to like about Giant Sand.

I voted for The Smiths - The Queen is Dead.

I was really tempted to vote other for Screaming Blue Messiahs, Gun Shy; I freakin' love that album.

Top ten...

3.XTC - Skylarking
4.The Feelies - Time For A Witness; way underrated
5.Violent Femmes - The Blind Leading The Naked
6.REM - Life's Rivch Pageant
7.Peter Gabriel - So
8.The Cameleons - Strange Times
9.Elvis Costello - Blood & Chocolate
10.The Mighty Lemon Drops - Happy Head

Other -- Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians -- Element of Light

Here's a top ten:

1. Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians -- Element of Light
2. Love & Rockets -- Express
3. Elvis Costello -- King of America
4. The Smiths -- The Queen is Dead
5. Billy Bragg -- Talking to the Taxman About Poetry
6. Van Morrison -- No Guru No Method No Teacher
7. The Church -- Heyday
8. Elvis Costello -- Blood & Chocolate
9. The Housemartins -- London 0 Hull 4
10. REM -- Life's Rich Paegant

I'm sure I'm omitting favorites though cause I don't have any master list by year.