Unfortunately that's by FAR the best song on that album.

I'm also an unapologetic fan of the band Alabama and they put out "Roll On" that year. Went multi-platinum.

Not sure you should hear it though. Their greatest hits 1 and 2 are all you really need from them.

I think NEED is a subjective term when discussing Alabama.

Worthy for "Stick Em" and the look on the Human Beat Box's face.



Of course the production is dated as hell, but "Hard Times" is fantastic and the rest holds up from a nostalgia POV.

Always weird seeing what made year end lists in some of these random years...I mainly think "That probably sucked."

Los Lobos would win this year for me.

Oh man - Fat Boys "Stick Em" is certainly partially responsible for me listening to mostly rap from about 1985-1993.

Great record here.

A couple of other really good albums from this year:

Steve Reich: Variations for Wind, Strings & Keyboards / John Adams: Shaker Loops (San Francisco Symphony/Edo de Waart)

Edo de Waart's hand on both of these pieces is just great. The guy might be the best pure minimalist composer ever. He was a fan and brought that love and sort of quiet rebellion to performances. With that, this version of Shaker Loops (one of my favorite Adams pieces) sounds great, however, I wish it wasn't a digital recording. As for the Reich piece, I have gone back and forth on it countless times. It doesn't feel timeless and easy like so much of what he did, but on this album where backed with the Adams piece (whose work generally sounds ridiculously calculated, but not here), it works. It's a nice contrast between the two pieces. Probably not essential, but a good listen for sure.

Ghedalia Tazartes: Une éclipse totale de soleil

This album is goofy and fun oddball stuff. The Sex Pistols samples are fun, there are some brash moments thrown in here and there, but it never gets real serious. Not groundbreaking in any way, but I think it is a pretty good riff on Zappa by way of an electroacoustic madman--again worth a listen.

The Art of Noise: Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise

It sounds dated for sure, like most electronic stuff from this period--but damn there are some killer ideas on here. I think the line that can be drawn from this album, to 90s Mo Wax, to Scott Herren in his glory days, to the synth lines of Emeralds and Oneohtrix is pretty short. This album has been a consistent go to for me whenever I am stuck for ideas over the years. This is what pushing electronic instruments to the limits is all about. Pulling tones and rhythms from all over the place, letting an oscillator do what it is supposed to do, but retaining control. Just a fucking awesome record that I can't imagine ever getting tired of. Go listen to Beat Box and try to not like it--you will fail.

This Kind of Punishment: A Beard of Bees

This is my favorite album from this year, and on a lot of days, my favorite album from this decade. This record is just weighty. The fullbodied voice paired with those ultrathin piano hooks, and that guitar tone, none of it should work together, it should just be absolute dissonance but it just works. I am sure there is a ton of other stuff out there like this--a bit country, a bit art rock, a bit punk, but I don't have it, please by all means give me some recommendations because I would love to hear more stuff like this (I think I See a Darkness and maybe some Sixteen Horsepower are probably the closest I have come). For me this is just a cool record. It makes me want to grow my hair long, drink booze, and smoke cigarettes--if a record has that effect on me it is a keeper as far as I am concerned (see the entire Wooden Shjips catalog for further evidence of this).

Definitely some stuff I want to check out here. This Kind of Punishment just jumped up to the top my list next to Arvo Part.

Is it more bullshit than just freeloading off his recommendations and adding nothing to the discussion? Not saying you haven't posted your own but this place can get pretty masturbatory where everyone just posts their own thing and there's zero discussion about anything. I can get where you'd stop posting much in detail when it at least appears to be falling on deaf ears.



I don't have any country from '84. The 80's weren't as strong as the 50's/60's/70's but saying that they sucked is going too far. Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell released consistently strong albums for most the decade. Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Meryl Haggard, and George Jones had their moments too. I've liked what I've heard from Chris Hillman's Desert Rose Band too.



I think Rum, Sodomy and the Lash is their best album but Red Roses is well worth getting. Streams of Whiskey, Boys from County Hell and Transmetropolitan are up there with almost anything in their catalog. I'm sure you'd recognize a few songs from it.

Yeah, I've heard Stream of Whiskey and Transmetropolitan for sure. Hell, how I let this one slip through the cracks considering how much I've played Rum, Sodomy & the Lash as well as If I Should Fall From Grace With God is pretty bizarre really.

Also, Waylon's Never Could Toe the Mark, one of my favorites of his. I love the production on it, which I can't describe too well other than airy muted and clean. I think pretty much critically panned on every level except for the Title track which is a stand out, but something about this album has always slayed me. Other stand out songs - Sparkling Brown Eyes , And if She'll Leave Her Mama, and Knopfler's Settin Me Up.

Good thing that Polk wasn't able to follow through on this or Rads would be our *gasp* countryman. I know that I couldn't wrap my small-town Southern mind around that. Pass the fucking meth and my dirty wife-beater t-shirt.

Lyres - On Fyre

1984 was a bad year for sports, TV and the Grateful Dead.

Except for the Greek Theatre shows in July.

the fat boys weren't that fat

not by today's standards!