U2's The Joshua Tree won 1987. Let's see who wins 1988. Billboard chart-topping albums of 1988: Soundtrack - Dirty Dancing (cont. from '87) George Michael - Faith (cont. from '87) Tiffany - Tiffany (cont. from '87) Van Halen - OU812 Def Leppard - Hysteria (cont. from '87) Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction (cont. from '87) Steve Winwood - Roll With It Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman Bon Jovi - New Jersey U2 - Rattle and Hum Anita Baker - Giving You the Best That I Got Billboard chart-topping singles of 1988: George Michael - Faith (cont. from '87) Whitney Houston - So Emotional (cont. from '87) George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You (cont. from '87) Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel (cont. from '87) INXS - Need You Tonight (cont. from '87) Tiffany - Could've Been (cont. from '87) Expose - Seasons Change (cont. from '87) George Michael - Father Figure (cont. from '87) Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (cont. from '87) Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror Billy Ocean - Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car Whitney Houston - Where Do Broken Hearts Go (cont. from '87) Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishin Well (cont. from '87) Gloria Estefan - Anything for You George Michael - One More Try (cont. from '87) Rick Astley - Together Forever Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat (cont. from '87) Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana Cheap Trick - The Flame Richard Marx - Hold Onto the Nights Steve Winwood - Roll With It George Michael - Monkey Guns n Roses - Sweet Child of Mine Bobby McFerin - Don't Worry, Be Happy Def Leppard - Love Bites UB40 - Red Red Wine Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind of Love The Beach Boys - Kokomo The Escape Club - Wild, Wild West Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine Will to Power - Baby, I Love Your Way Chicago - Look Away Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn What are your top three albums for 1988? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Metallica - And Justice for All 2. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation 3. Dinosaur Jr. - Bug What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
rest of the top 10: 4. public enemy - it takes a nation of millions to hold us back 5. slayer - south of heaven 6. danzig - danzig 7. jane's addiction - nothing's shocking 8. bad religion - suffer 9. pixies - surfer rosa 10. r.e.m. - green other honorable mentions: dwight yoakam - buenas noches from a lonely room galaxy 500 - today godflesh - godflesh iron maiden - seventh son of a seventh son megadeth - so far, so good… so what mudhoney - superfuzz bigmuff my bloody valentine - isnt anything nick cave - tender prey screaming trees - invisible lantern traveling wilburys - vol. 1 u2 - rattle and hum the waterboys - fishermans blues stuff to check out: bolt thrower - in battle there is no law bruce hornsby and the range - scenes from southside crowded house - temple of low men eric b and rakim - follow the leader ice t - power nwa - straight out of compton prefab sprout - from langley park to memphis prince - lovesexy run dmc - tougher than leather siouxsie and the banshees - peepshow soul asylum - hang time steve earle - copperhead road steve winwood - roll with it suicidal tendencies - how will i laugh tomorrow when i can’t even smile today talk talk - spirit of eden tracy chapman - tracy chapman
i feel like it’s caught on in recent years with some musicians like war on drugs and dawes big upping it but if i have to recommend one album that maybe less people know from this year, it’s fisherman’s blues. the title track rules
1. Metallica - ...And Justice for All 2. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man 3. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman Excruciating Cuts: Bruce Hornsby and the Range - Scenes from the Southside Others I love: Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw and the Cooked Good ones: Harry Belafonte - Paradise in Gazankulu Dwight Yoakam - Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room Prince - Lovesexy The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues The Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1 The Proclaimers - Sunshine on Leith Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Van Halen - OU812 Billy Ocean - Tear Down These Walls Four Tops - Indestructible Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking Steve Winwood - Roll with It Keith Whitley - Don't Close Your Eyes Van Morrison and The Chieftans - Irish Heart U2 - Rattle and Hum Pixies - Surfer Rosa James Taylor - Never Die Young Paul Abdul - Forever Your Girl k.d. lang - Shadowland Graham Parker - The Mona Lisa's Sister Melissa Etheridge - Melissa Etheridge New Edition - Heart Break Hall and Oates - Ooh Yeah! Pat Benatar - Wide Awake in Dreamland Eric B. and Rakim - Follow the Leader Bon Jovi - New Jersey Galaxie 500 - Today 'Til Tuesday - Everything's Different Now N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton Al B. Sure! - In Effect Mode The Moody Blues - Sur La Mer Tiffany - Hold an Old Friend's Hand Archival releases that would make my list: The Beatles - Past Masters Vol. 1 and 2 Chuck Berry - The Chess Box Targets for listening: Crowded House - Temple of Low Men Danzig - Danzig EPMD - Strictly Business Was (Not Was) - What Up, Dog? American Music Club - California Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions Dinosaur, Jr. - Bug Everything But the Girl - Idlewild Fishbone - Truth and Soul The Go-Betweens - 16 Lover's Lane Happy Mondays - Bummed Dagmar Krause - Tank Battles Living Colour - Vivid Morrissey - Viva Hate Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything? The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God R.E.M. - Green Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams Robert Palmer - Heavy Nova Robert Plant - Now and Zen Bobby McFerrin - Simple Pleasures DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper Michelle Shocked - Short Sharp Shocked Keith Richards - Talk Is Cheap Randy Newman - Land of Dreams Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson John Hiatt - Slow Turning Womack and Womack - Conscience Various Artists - Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films Camper Van Beethoven - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart Patti Smith - Dream of Life Robert Cray Band - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden Cinderella - Long Cold Winter Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown Slick Rick - The Adventures of Slick Rick Poison - Open Up and Say...Ahh! Steve Earle - Copperhead Road Boogie Down Productions - By Any Means Necessary Eazy-E - Eazy Duz It The Smithereens - Green Thoughts Neil Young - This Note's for You Huey Lewis and The News - Small World Steve Forbert - Streets of This Town
Really strong year. 1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back 2. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman 3. The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace with God Nation of Millions is a revolutionary album, taking hip hop into new directions with it's hugely diverse sound, and use of samples. Chuck D is a ferocious presence behind the mic, and even Flavor Flav contributes in a positive way here. Pretty much perfect from start to finish. Tracy Chapman's debut is a beautiful folk album, a debut where she appears fully formed, blending the personal and the political. The songwriting is just outstanding, composed and intelligent. The Pogues album is brilliantly sloppy and all over the place, with their traditional Irish / Gaelic folk music, crashing with punk energy and tempo, and Shane MacGowan's almost indiscernible lyrics and vocals - I'll have heard something like "Bottle of Smoke" 1001 times without having a clue what he was singing about. Honourable mentions; Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation: Kind of ridiculous that this doesn't even crack the top 3, one of the most important albums in American indie history. Superb songwriting that they'd honed in their previous records, and absolutely beautiful mixture of noise and pop music. The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good: The Sugarcubes' debut, a fantastic bit of post-punk / indie rock, with Bjork's beautiful vocals. Experimental but hook-filled, and basically the start of an incredibly creative and consistent ~15 years from Bjork Pixies - Surfer Rosa: Pixies' debut, and like Tracy Chapman they come fully formed and at the peak of their powers, with their quiet to loud indie / alt rock songs that'd be huge influences on Nirvana and loads more. Bad Religion - Suffer: Bad Religion's big breakthrough, a 25 minute bit of melodic punk perfection, relentless pace and great pop hooks. A huge influence on everything that came after them in the punk scene. NWA - Straight Outta Compton: Drops off quite a bit after the opening 3 tracks (Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police & Gangster Gangster), but that's an outrageously powerful way to open your debut album. Billy Bragg - Worker's Playtime: Saw him on Saturday, so been listening to him a lot recently, this is his slightly bigger band album, blending love songs and political songs, with some of his best work here. Dinosaur Jr - Bug: Like their previous record, this is a grungy, scuzzy record that deserves to be played loud as possible, and with some great diverse songwriting here too. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff: Mudhoney's debut, and a bit like Dinosaur Jr (though maybe not quite as good), worth listening to at the highest volume, and there are some brilliant songs here, like "Touch Me I'm Sick", which might be Mudhoney at their best.
Listened to Godflesh’s self titled debut , which I was really impressed with. I like Justin Broadrick’s work with Jesu, but had never listened to his other stuff. It’s ugly , harsh and cold stuff, full of pulsating energy and guttural howls. The influence that you can hear in the likes of Isis or Neurosis is extremely clear. It’s metal at a slower pace, but still crushingly heavy. Really enjoyed this, will certainly continue to check out their releases as we move through the years.
Will blurb a bunch of stuff I’ve heard but I’m really head over heels for Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road. Honestly even better than Guitar Town, imo
Fuck. Yeah. I tend to underrate it a touch only in comparison to the perfect debut. “The Valley Road” is my favorite I think
I listened to Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys, who I'd never heard of before, and I thought this was brilliant. A blend of traiditional British / Irish folk, with huge amounts of American country + Springsteen esque anthemic rock and roll. I didn't check the tracklisting beforehand, so was a lovely surprise to hear a cover of "Sweet Thing" pop up.
1. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back 2. Pixies - Surfer Rosa 3. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
They’re pretty excellent. I feel like you’d love their song “The Whole of the Moon”, too Maybe the best song ever written about artistic inspiration?
Listened to Long Live the Kane, the debut album from Big Daddy Kane, and pretty enjoyable! He's an excellent MC and lyricist, able to pack his songs with complex rhymes, and from a purely lyrical / flow perspective, seems quite a bit ahead of what other rappers were doing in 1988. It's great to hear the lyrics and bars sort of tripping over themselves, twisting in different directions, full of clever puns or wordplay. Instrumentally it's pretty solid, nothing that feels unusual, and not as interesting as the likes of Public Enemy or Beastie Boys were doing at around the same time, but he's a great lyricist and rapper, so absolutely worth checking it out for that alone.
Checked out Starfish by The Church, an Australian band I'd never heard of, but saw their name on this list of the best of 88, so was intrigued enough to check them out on a whim. I did recognise "Under The Milky Way", but would never have been able to tell you who it was by beforehand. This is solid, albeit a little unexciting. It's some fairly middle of the road alt-rock, with little bits of dream-pop or Cure-esque sounds, but mostly decent enough alt-rock tracks. Some good hooks, and a few moments that stood out, but probably not one I'll be returning to. It was a totally fine and passable 40 minutes listening to it.
I listened to pretty much only Crowded House for the last month, i love it but it’s a very goofy vibe. Temple Of Low Men is probably the weakest of the first 3, but its pretty much what they’re all like
Listened to Irish Heartbeat by Van Morrison and traditional Irish folk group The Chieftains. It's a collection of 8 traditional Irish songs and two Van originals. I grew up listening to a lot of traditional Irish folk songs at home with my parents, so I have a soft spot for this sort of thing. There's nothing particularly interesting about the arrangements or performances here, they're played fairly straight and traditional, but Van has a strong voice, and the songs are classics for a reason. An enjoyable listen, but not an essential one.