16 Lovers Lane
The Go-Betweens
1988
Tracks
1. Love Goes On!
2. Quiet Heart
3. Love Is a Sign
4. You Can't Say No Forever
5. Devil's Eye
6. Streets of Your Town
7. Clouds
8. Was There Anything I Could Do?
9. I'm All Right
10. Dive for Your Memory
It's rare to have an album on this List devoted entirely to love songs. Most of the bands are too busy trying to figure what rhymes with "blunt" to spend much time on romantic songs. The fact that there are women in this band probably has a lot to do with the tone and content of this album.
So I enjoyed this album, it had a folksy vibe that reminded me of a previous entry on the List, Calenture by the Triffids. I feel like the lead vocals gave this album the edge that it needed. I think this is one of those albums that improves the more you listen to it, so this might be my soundtrack today.
Next up, Cowboy Junkies.
RATING: 3/5
Bummed
Happy Mondays
1988
Tracks
1. Country Song
2. Moving In With
3. Mad Cyril
4. Fat Lady Wrestlers
5. Performance
6. Brain Dead
7. Wrote For Luck
8. Bring A Friend
9. Do It Better
10. Lazyitis
So I've read this is THE Manchester album, the album that apparently captures the essence of the city, which I guess involves taking a lot of ecstasy. I've never been to Manchester, so I can't testify to how well it distills the feeling of the city. But, based on this album, Manchester is okay, I guess?
I don't think I share the same sense of humor as the Happy Mondays. I wasn't exactly looking for Boogie Nights: The Musical. But this is one of those instances where I can see the appeal, even if I realize this wasn't for me. If you grew up in Manchester and enjoyed the rave scene, this album is probably going to hold a special place in your heart.
I have a specific idea of the type of person who says "Happy Monday!" and it is not this band.
RATING: 3/5
Green
REM
1988
Tracks
1. Pop Song '89
2. Get Up
3. You Are The Everything
4. Stand
5. World Leader Pretend
6. Wrong Child
7. Orange Crush
8. Turn You Inside Out
9. Hairshirt
10. I Remember California
11. Untitled
I think we deserve some REM after listening to several "meh" albums. Green doesn't disappoint, although maybe I liked the previous REM album on the List just a little better. But this one does contain the song Stand, which will give any Parks and Recreation fan a laugh.
REM always manages to sound fresh, and I was particularly impressed with Orange Crush. I know I have bitched about The Smiths trying to shoehorn political messages into their music. But REM just does it better; it's not as preachy or obnoxious. I also liked what they did with the megaphone, you can see the influence this had on future pop music.
I don't want to jinx us, but I think we are about to have a run of really good albums.
RATING: 4/5
Superfuzz Bigmuff
Mudhoney
1988
Tracks
1. Need
2. Chain That Door
3. Mudride
4. No One Has
5. If I Think
6. In 'N' Out of Grace
So this is an odd entry, as it is an EP, which I didn't think fell in the parameters of this List. It's only about twenty minutes long and contains six tracks. When I realized I hated it, it was quite a relief that it would be over quickly.
Okay, maybe I didn't hate it, but grunge music isn't my thing. Unfortunately, I think the List is going to doggedly record every step in the grunge movement, which is why they bent the rules to include this on the List. Classic grunge privilege.
So a fast and angry entry that is entirely skippable.
RATING: 2/5
Vivid
Living Colour
1988
Tracks
1. Cult Of Personality
2. I Want To Know
3. Middle Man
4. Desperate People
5. Open Letter (To A Landlord)
6. Funny Vibe
7. Memories Can't Wait
8. Broken Hearts
9. Glamour Boys
10. What's Your Favorite Color?
11. Which Way To America
The List will include any album where two unlike genres are fused together, even if the result is some kind of Fly/Jeff Goldblum-esque hybrid that should be euthanized immediately. In this instance, Living Colour is attempting to breed metal and funk.
The outcome in this case is actually pretty good. For me this was the perfect amount of metal, and it didn't overwhelm the music with its harshness. Not every track was particularly memorable, but there were some bangers sprinkled in, with my favorites being Open Letter (To A Landlord) and I Want To Know.
So maybe not an album I would want to revisit again and again, but it could have been a whole lot worse. Also cool to see an African American rock band thrown in on a List heavily dominated by white people.
RATING: 3/5
Idlewild
Everything But the Girl
1988
Tracks
1. I Don't Want to Talk About It
2. Love Is Here Where I Live
3. These Early Days
4. I Always Was Your Girl
5. Oxford Street
6. Night I Heard Caruso Sing
7. Goodbye Sunday
8. Shadow on a Harvest Moon
9. Blue Moon Rose
10. Tears All Over Town
11. Lonesome For a Place I Know
12. Apron Strings
Tracey Thorn has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. That's not to say the style of music in this album is my favorite, but I have a feeling Thorn could sing just about anything and make it lovely.
This is an early example of "sophisti-pop" which is a blend of jazz, pop, and soul. As a genre, it doesn't have much of an edge and could probably be classified as "easy listening."
But as I said earlier, the album is elevated by Thorn's ridiculous talent as a vocalist. Since women are few and far between on this List, this was definitely a refreshing change.
RATING: 4/5
Truth and Soul
Fishbone
1988
Tracks
1. Freddie's Dead
2. Ma and Pa
3. Question of Life
4. Pouring Rain
5. Deep Inside
6. Mighty Long Way
7. Bonin' in the Boneyard
8. One Day
9. Subliminal Fascism
10. Slow Bus Movin' (Howard Beach Party)
11. Ghetto Soundwave
12. Change
I listened to this album yesterday but didn't get a chance to get in here and jot down my thoughts. In my opinion, this album was just okay, so it's already starting to fade from my memory a bit.
That's not to say there weren't some good tracks on the album, with "Ma and Pa" in particular standing out. I thought it was interesting they were able to blend so many genres at once.
So maybe they laid the groundwork for some upcoming bands, but it didn't feel like an earth-shattering experience and could probably be skipped.
RATING: 3/5
