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.

MCA – RIP

On May 5, 2012, in Music, by mugen


When I started high school in 1986, “Fight for Your Right” was sweeping across radio and MTV and License to Ill was becoming popular—and I couldn’t figure out if it was supposed to be a joke (like maybe Weird Al) or if it was just something I wasn’t supposed to understand as a suburban kid who liked Starship, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, and Heart. Later, my good friend Marko turned me on to Paul’s Boutique, and I realized that the joke wasn’t a joke anymore.
When Check Your Head came out during my early college years, I finally started to get that these guys really meant business, and revisiting Paul’s Boutique revealed the absolute musicality of their genius.

So it’s sad to say goodbye to Adam Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys. Thank you, sir, for your contribution to music, to culture, to politics, to awareness, to us. You will be missed.

CNN coverage

Rock Hall of Fame

http://www.beastieboys.com/

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