Monday, July 07, 2008

33 Years of Albums

This meme, cribbed from The Onion's AV Club Blog, is nicely straightforward - your favorite album from each year of your life. Clearly, all are not albums I listened to originally, but these are what I from today's perspective value most dearly from each of the past 33 years:

1974 - Queen II, Queen - Great concept rock pomposity.

1975 - Blood on the Tracks - - Bob Dylan - Maybe my favorite Dylan album.

1976 - Desire - Bob Dylan - A default pick; only 1976 album I have. (A fine album, albeit no Blood on the Tracks)

1977 - My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello - . . . and the News!

1978 - This Year's Model - Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Such a difference a band makes.

1979 - Quadrophenia - The Who - I liked this album a lot more when I stopped trying to figure out the nonexistent "story."

1980 - Get Happy!! - Elvis Costello - Just edging out U2's Boy.

1981 - October - U2 - But the Boys beat Trust here.

1982 - Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen

1983 - Synchronicity - The Police - Another album I need to upgrade on. Well, maybe not "Mother."

1984 - Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen - And yet another!

1985 - Scarecrow - John Cougar Mellencamp - Mellencamp matures.

1986 - Graceland - Paul Simon - "Homeless" is still one of the prettiest things I've ever heard.

1987 - The Joshua Tree - U2 - Of course. Although Mellencamp's The Lonesome Jubilee does make a strong showing.

1988 - Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman - Check out "For You" - an undiscovered gem.

1989 - Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan - In extolling the greatness of the late 90s-early 00's triptych, I often forget how this precursor to those albums is.

1990 - Rhythm of the Saints - Paul Simon - Is it now a cxliche to say you prefer this to Graceland?

1991 - Achtung Baby - U2 - And Sting's luminous The Souls Cages weeps.

1992 - Amused to Death - Roger Waters - I'm not a big Pink Floyd fan, but I love this.

1993 - The Juliet Letters - Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet - A gorgeous song cycle.

1994 - Grace - Jeff Buckley - and yet if he hadn't died, I'm willing to bet that I'd never have heard of him.

1995 - The Bends - Radiohead - Amazing how their music has changed, no?

1996 - Boys for Pele - Tori Amos - A default pick, really

1997 - Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan - And I thought U2's Pop and Radiohead's OK Computer would have to fight it out.

1998 - Painted from Memory - Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach - I haven't listened to this in ages. Must remedy.

1999 - Brand New Day - Sting - A slim year!

2000 - All That You Can't leave Behind - U2 - I wouldn't have guessed then how omnipresent a song "Beautiful Day" would be. That sucker's going to last.

2001 - Love and Theft - Bob Dylan - OK. Maybe this is my favorite.

2002 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 - 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue - Bob Dylan - My favorite of the Bootleg series.

2003 - North - Elvis Costello - Elvis is always there with a mellow pop album in slow years.

2004 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - Which reminds me - new U2 album just a few months away!

2005 - Illinois - Sufjan Stevens - I am suspect to his charms.

2006 - Modern Times - Bob Dylan - Such a deliciously ironic title for such a classic album.

2007 - Neon Bible - Arcade Fire - A new sound.

Until Whenever

3 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

I'd be very surprised if I do this one. I seriously doubt have more than three albums from 1953-1961. Then, how could I pick from the wealth that is 1966-1972?

bill said...

Ok, I have Graceland and Tracy Chapman and might have had Scarecrow on cassette. Wife brought in Boys for Pele and Joshua Tree. The only other one I'm interested in having is Quadrophenia and since I primarily commute by scooter I think it's mandated that I must carry it with me, along with license and registration.

I enjoy your music posts even if our Venn diagram would display only a slight overlap.

Roger Owen Green said...

I lied. OK, not lied exactly...I changed my mind. Yeah, that's it. http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2008/07/im-declaring.html