Slicing Up Eyeballs Poll – 1985

On January 7, 2014, in Music, song, by mugen

Strong stuff this year.

First – a runner up: Frankenchrist by The Dead Kennedys. The featured art for this post is “Landscape XX” by H.R. Giger, a poster included in the vinyl version of Frankenchrist. This is the album that helped launch the PMRC, and this is the album that put Jello Biafra on the spoken word circuit throughout the late 80s and early 90s. There’s some good music, yes. But there’s mostly notoriety. Much to my chagrin, I once held a used copy of Frankenchrist on vinyl in my hands. It was marked $4. It was 1990, I believe. To this day, I regret not buying it. The poster was neatly folded inside. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Now, the 10 best albums of 1985:

The Cure – The Head on the Door
Tears for Fears – Songs from the Big Chair
Pogues – Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
Skinny Puppy – Bites
Dead Milkmen – Big Lizard in My Backyard
Einsturzende Neubauten – Halber Mensch
Descendents – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Freaky Styley
Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy
INXS – Listen Like Thieves

And Finally – Top 10 of 1989

On November 9, 2013, in Music, by mugen

A little harder this time, but based on the poll (still up ’til the end of November 2013) over at Slicing Up Eyeballs, here’s my Top 10 Albums of 1989:

Energy – Operation Ivy
The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste – Ministry
Indigo Girls
The Real Thing – Faith No More
Disintegration – The Cure
Allroy’s Revenge – ALL
Mother’s Milk – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Doolittle – Pixies
Paul’s Boutique – Beastie Boys
Pretty Hate Machine – Nine Inch Nails

It was hard to decide on this one, but there are several runners-up:

Pure – Primitives
Peace and Love – The Pogues
3 Feet High and Rising – De La Soul
Start Today – Gorilla Biscuits
Rabies – Skinny Puppy
UAIOE – KMFDM
Bleach – Nirvana

“Lorelei” alone puts Peace and Love on this list, though the rest of the album (often without Shane’s vocals) doesn’t quite make the grade. It’s too bad it took Gorilla Biscuits this long to get their act together. Hardcore like this was pretty much done by the end of the 90s, and Start Today is polished in a way the older songs weren’t, but lacks some of their punch and gusto. Rabies has some excellent songs, among them one of my favorites, “Tin Omen.” But the album as a whole is tainted by Uncle Al (Jourgenson, of Ministry) sinking his fingers into everything in this genre at this time. Bleach would usually make the list, but what it came down to is this: though I hardly ever listen to it, I can tell immediately that Paul’s Boutique is a better album than Nirvana’s freshman effort.

This is the first list, since I started doing this, where I own all the albums in the actual top 10 list.

Slicing Up Eyeballs Poll – Top Ten of 1988

On October 31, 2013, in Music, song, by mugen

I’m hoping to post all 10 years of the 80s here, and I’m using Slicing Up Eyeballs’ lists. Some of my “top 10” at the time would have been dramatically different, but since this is hindsight, I’m using my taste now and my respect for the music. The weirdest thing is that I’ve included the contribution of REM every time there’s been one, I think… and I never listen to REM, really. But they made some really great records in the 80s. I didn’t even bother listening to most of what they put out post-1990 or so, except what was on the radio (which is part of why I didn’t bother). I’ve been told this is my loss, and that there’s some great stuff there, but I haven’t felt the urge to remedy that. Maybe someday.

IN THE MEANTIME…

I give you Mugen’s top 10 alt.rock albums of 1988:

Edie Brickell and New Bohemians – Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking
Living Colour – Vivid
Metallica – …And Justice for All
Ministry – The Land of Rape and Honey
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
The Pogues – If I Should Fall from Grace with God
REM – Green
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Peepshow
Skinny Puppy – VIVIsectVI

My list of runners up is pretty long, too. Let’s just say that Soundgarden, Suicidal Tendencies, The Primitives, Transvision Vamp, Fishbone, KMFDM, They Might Be Giants, and Public Enemy weren’t lazy that year.