NOTE: These are not in the order that I prefer them, but chronologically (and alphabetically). The coverart is from rateyourmusic.com, for some reason though, some are larger than others.
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1973: Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
For the first version of this list I completley forgot about this album. I love Alice Cooper when they/he were still a band. This is an excellent album. The cheerful melodies combined with the morbid humor is great. If I had to pick one song it'd have to be Generation Landslide, so very very good.
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1973: Genesis - Selling England By The Pound:
A few years ago I was mostly into prog- & artrock. While all those albums don't get played as much nowadays, Genesis still does. Genesis were one of the bands I first grew to like when I was 4-5 years old around the release of the cheesy Invisible Touch album. Although I do sortof like the more recent albums, perhaps by nostalgia, the albums released when Gabriel was around are much much better and this album is my favourite among them. The production is perfect, all instruments sound clear and powerful and the songs are very beautiful. Personally though, my favourite song off this album is The Battle Of Epping Forest, which is rather funny.
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1973: Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure:
Early Roxy Music was often labelled glamrock. To me however, Ferry & Co were much too classy to fit into that imo genre of mostly bloated rock. This an excellent album of experimental but still highly accessible rock. The album feels very varied. Brian Eno was still in the band at this point and makes excellent use of his gadgets (especially on the title track). Favourite songs are Strictly Confidential, In Every Dream Home A Heartache and the wonderful The Bogus Man.
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1974: King Crimson - Red:
Most people I try and discuss King Crimson with either confuses them with crummy rocker King Diamond by the name or don't know anything besides their excellent but to this imo inferior In The Court Of The Crimson King. Red features an enterily different band lineup than Court... and there are few similiarities with that album. Red is a both a dark, menacing album but in part also very beautiful and overall a very pleasing listen. Red includes one of my absolute favourite songs of all time, the epic Starless.
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1975: Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks:
I can't say I'm usually a big fan of Bob Dylan, but failed-marriage albums always find a way into my heart and this is the best damned one I've heard. Favourite tracks: Simple Twist Of Fate, If You See Her, Say Hello.
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1977: Brian Eno - Before And After Science:
It's very hard picking a favourite out of the first four non-ambient Eno albums which are all excellent. But at the moment it's this one. This album is somewhere in-between the first two albums and the slightly more ambient and experimental Another Green World. The first half is rather hectic and very fun, the other half of songs have a wonderfully dreamy atmosphere. Favourite songs are King's Lead Hat & Julie With...
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1978: Nick Lowe - Jesus Of Cool:
This is the first album I heard by Nick Lowe. It's a wonderful album of varied, humorous songs with great lyrics. It's impossible picking favourite songs on this album without including more than half of them. So I'll make it easy and pick my least favourite instead. Marie Provost.
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1979: The Clash - London Calling:
There's not much else to say about this that has not already been said. It's just one of the most enjoyable listens I can think of.
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1980: David Bowie - Scary Monsters:
This is just so very very good. The songs are simple at heart, but Robert Fripp's guitar and Bowie's often desparate almost chaotic sounding vocals manage to pack such a punch without going over the top and it all works so incredibly well. The production is just excellent. Most likely my favourite sing-along album even though I would never do so in public
. Favourite song is currently Teenage Wildlife.---
1980: Peter Gabriel - III / Melt:
PG I was a great, playful debut. But it had some stiff, fillery-ish content that kept it from being excellent. PGII was often even stiffer than the first album. Security had a much darker and tense sound than anything prior, it was sometimes too much. In-between PGII & Security came Melt, PG's best imo. It's the perfect middle between all the previously mentioned albums. It's varied and playful like PGI, but much tighter. It's got that lovely dark, menacing sound of Security, but just enough. Too hard to pick a favourite.
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1980: Bruce Springsteen - The River:
Two CD/LP's worth of excellent songs. Not a single one of them weak. Biggest downside the somewhat pale production. But play it at a loud enough volume and the problem is solved. It's got plenty of excellent rockers, some excellent party songs like Sherry Darling, Crush On You (guilty pleasure since it's so cheesy
). Also, some of his most beautiful in Point Blank, The Price You Pay, Wreck On The Highway. ---
1980: Talking Heads - Remain In Light:
When I first heard this album it sounded unlike anything else I'd heard at that point. The repeating rhythm sections of most of the tracks were amazing. It worked so well without ever actually feeling repetetive. Great use of additional vocals, percussion and Belew's quirky guitars. Crosseyed And Painless is pure gold.
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1981: King Crimson - Discipline:
As with Court... and Red, the same can be said about Red and Discipline. There are few, if any similiarities in sound. New guitarist/singer Belew fits great. Though it's very obvious he and Fripp were inspired working with Talking Heads, Discipline has a very unique sound. The intense patterns of the guitars and Levin's bass/stick sound make it seem like they could be keyboards at times. Amazingly, they're not. Check out Frame By Frame.
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1982: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom:
There is not a single flaw in any of the first six tracks on this fantastic album. Perfection. Best A-side in history. Though there are perhaps one or two songs aren't up to the quality of the rest of this masterpiece. Those would still have been excellent out of context.
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1983: U2 - War:
I really like U2's first decade. Very close call between this, Fire... and Tree... In the end I like this one the best. It has a very nice sound that does remind one of War. Excellent job by Steve Lillywhite. There are lots of little gems on this mostly forgotten album and not a single weak song. Drowning Man is my favourite song.
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1983: Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones:
As good as the excellent Rain Dogs. I prefer the more colorful sound of this album. Great opener in Underground. Probably gave fans of Waits a shock when they first heard it considering his past. I particularly like the instrumentals on this album, save for perhaps Dave the Butcher. Favourite tracks: Shore Leave and Johnsburg, Illinois.
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1984: Jean Michel Jarre - Zoolook:
Most people seem to prefer Oxygene as Jarre's best album. I like Zoolook best. Instead of relying only on electronics this around, he uses real bass, guitars and drums. The results are amazing. The opener, Ethnicolor, is hands down my all-time favourite electronic track. Incredibly beautiful. The album suffers slightly by the one weak track, Diva, with, to me, horribly annoying vocal effects. Overall my favourite album of the electronic genre.
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1985: Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love:
As the wonderful album cover suggests (correct me if I'm mistaken on breed here, but aren't those Irish Setters just lovely?), this a very beautiful album. Excellent production. Under Ice is my favourite song on here and is chilling and atmospheric like nothing else I've heard.
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1986: The Cure - Staring At The Sea:
Although it might be cowardly in a way to include a compilation on a list like this one. This is the best compilation I know. See, my problem with the Cure is that their albums are too much of the same when I listen through one. Staring At The Sea solves that problem. It (mostly) picks their best songs between 79-85. When put together on this compilation, it becomes obvious that the Cure is a very varied group. From the straight, but excellent, punk of their debut. To the much darker followups. To the electronic-heavy, danceable Japanese Whispers and finally the brighter Head On The Door. Excellent.
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1986: The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead:
Flawless. If there was one thing I would change it would be moving I Never Had Anyone Ever and I Know It's Over one or two tracks apart from each other. One of my favourites is actually the never mentioned bouncy gem Frankly Mr. Shankly.
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