First things last: it should be noted that my previous post praising Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest was based entirely on hearing just two songs, "Two Weeks" and "While You Wait For The Others." They are two incredible songs that should be taught to school children for the next half century, and I expected the rest of the record to follow suit. But the rest of the record sucks. Sucks hard. It's all dissonant space and cloudy atmospherics. It's the sound of a band that's afraid to be the kickass pop band the aforementioned songs suggest they could be, so they pile on the haze and arrange their songs to be as obtuse and inaccesible as possible. You know how Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was Wilco trying really hard to be important, to be Radiohead. That's what Veckatimest is like, and it's no fun to listen to.
On to the real subject at hand: 1988? You're kidding me, Petey. I'll put up 1991 in a steel cage match against 1988 any ole' day of the week. Let's go to the tale of the tape, shall we:
1991
Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
Spacemen 3 - Recurring
Morrissey - Kill Uncle
R.E.M. - Out of Time (a.k.a. the record that made R.E.M. megastars)
Bob Dylan's "Bootleg" series
Slint - Spiderland
Boyz II Men - cooleyhighharmony
De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Mercury Rev's debut record
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing (my least favorite of theirs, but still)
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Blur - Leisure
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Nirvana - Nevermind
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Public Enemy - The Enemy Strikes Black
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
U2 - Achtung Baby
And that's not even mentioning all the Top 40 shit that came out in 1991, like Jesus Jones, EMF, Garth Brooks, or that Guns N' Roses double record bullshit, or Metallica's and Red Hot Chilli Peppers' biggest records.
And what do we have for 1988:
Biz Markie - Goin' Off
Bobby McFerrin - Simple Pleasures (the record that launched a thousand middle school talent contestants)
Tracy Chapman - the one with "Fast Car" on it
Ted Nugent - If You Can't Lick 'Em... Lick 'Em (classic Nuge!)
Stacey Q - Hard Machine (you're getting colder)
Morrissey - Viva Hate (okay, I'll give you this one)
Pixies - Surfer Rosa (yeah, well, you get this one, too)
Talking Heads - Naked (meh... )
The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good (another point in your favor)
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Barbed Wire Kisses (wow, this year's getting pretty good)
Living Colour - Vivid
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Eric B & Rakim - Follow the Leader
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Peepshow
Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown (okay, for hip-hop, I'll concede, but as far as indie rock or post-punk, I'm pretty sure 1991 still takes the day)
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (motherfucker!)
R.E.M. - Green
Happy Mondays - Bummed (really? goddamit!)
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Bad Brains - Live
Galaxie 500 - Today
Okay, I think the only thing I've proven is that both of those years were pretty kickass. So maybe this year has a lot farther to go before it gets to the top than I thought. Oh well, it won't be the last time I'm wrong.
2 comments:
Step In The Arena! Nice pull my man, very nice. I was almost going to concede until I saw what a good job you did with 1988. Gotta do some research and I'll get back to you on this.
'91 also had a good Siouxsie album (Superstition), with my #1 favorite song about the Tiananmen Square protests, "The Ghost in You". "Kiss Them For Me" is pretty classic too.
'88 had Slick Rick's The Great Adventures of....
Yeah, pretty darn close, I'd say.
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