An Album For Every Year

Yep, I'm really going to do it! Following up on my two lists of my favorite movies for each year I've been alive, here is my stab at the same kind of list, but for albums instead.

I'm keeping this list much briefer: just my #1 pick and one runner-up, and that's it. Arbitrary rules: no reissues, no greatest hits compilations. Original albums in the original years they were released only.

Source: mostly here. It's not perfect. There are a couple of omissions I noticed here and there. Such as: no mention of Hoyt Axton. What do you got against Hoyt Axton, the Internet??? Anyhoo, hopefully I can cobble together a genuinely representative list of my musical tastes from this and a couple other resources, along with the meager assistance of my memory.

1970: Neil Young, After the Gold Rush
Runner-up: The Beatles, Let It Be

1971: The Who, Who's Next
Runner-up: The Doors, L.A. Woman

1972: Neil Young, Harvest
Runner-up: George Carlin, Class Clown

1973: Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Runner-up: The Who, Quadrophenia

1974: Hoyt Axton, Life Machine
Runner-up: Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark

1975: Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
Runner-up: Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run

1976: Hoyt Axton, Fearless
Runner-up: Billy Joel, Turnstiles

1977: Pink Floyd, Animals
Runner-up: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours

1978: The Who, Who Are You
Runner-up: Van Halen, Van Halen

1979: AC/DC, Highway To Hell
Runner-up: The Clash, London Calling

1980: AC/DC, Back in Black
Runner-up: Pete Townshend, Empty Glass

1981: Billy Joel, Songs in the Attic
Runner-up: Rush, Moving Pictures

1982: Pete Townshend, All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
Runner-up: Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska

1983: Huey Lewis & the News, Sports
Runner-up: Def Leppard, Pyromania
Man, we are really into the '80s now!

1984: Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A.
Runner-up: Van Halen, 1984

1985: John Cougar Mellencamp, Scarecrow
Runner-up: The Pogues, Rum, Sodomy & the Lash

1986: They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants
Runner-up: Peter Gabriel, So

1987: Guns N' Roses, Appetite For Destruction
Runner-up: John Cougar Mellencamp, The Lonesome Jubilee

1988: Metallica, ...And Justice For All
Runner-up: They Might Be Giants, Lincoln

1989: Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever
Runner-up: Don Henley, The End of the Innocence

1990: They Might Be Giants, Flood
Runner-up: Sinead O'Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

1991: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Runner-up: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend

1992: Barenaked Ladies, Gordon
Runner-up: Lemonheads, It's a Shame About Ray

1993: Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
Runner-up: Sheryl Crow, Tuesday Night Music Club

1994: Green Day, Dookie
Runner-up: Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction

1995: Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Runner-up: Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill

1996: The Refreshments, Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy
Runner-up: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, She's the One

1997: Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape
Runner-up: Green Day, Nimrod

1998: The Offspring, Americana
Runner-up: Barenaked Ladies, Stunt

1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication
Runner-up: The Pretenders, ¡Viva El Amor!

2000: Barenaked Ladies, Maroon
Runner-up: O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack
I think I may actually not own a single other album released in 2000.

2001: Dropkick Murphys, Sing Loud, Sing Proud!
Runner-up: Tenacious D, Tenacious D

2002: Foo Fighters, One By One
Runner-up: Bad Religion, The Process of Belief

2003: Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers
Runner-up: Therapy?, High Anxiety

2004: Green Day, American Idiot
Runner-up: The Donnas, Gold Medal

2005: Foo Fighters, In Your Honor
Runner-up: Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me

2006: Tom Petty, Highway Companion
Runner-up: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Love Their Country

2007: Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Runner-up: Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather

2008: Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers
Runner-up: Foxboro Hot Tubs, Stop Drop and Roll!!!

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I'm probably overlooking a few of my faves by mistake. But that looks pretty good as is. I'd listen to that jukebox!

Some years were very difficult to narrow down -- I hated to have to leave out Sugar's brilliant Copper Blue and Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes for 1992, or Therapy?'s Troublegum and They Might Be Giants' John Henry for 1994. Some years, I had trouble finding a runner-up at all. Mostly 2000 and on. My music-buying dropped way off around that point.

And there are obviously a lot of names which kept popping up. A lot. What can I say? I find what I like and I stick with it. Nothing wrong with that, dang it, so lay off. If you think you're so darn smart, why don't you go and make your own list?? Smart guy.

MUSIC: Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs

Last week, Rolling Stone put out its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Now, lists like these are always going to be more questionable, even laughable, than any true indication of reality, subjective or objective. (I mean, "of all time"? That's ludicrous right off the bat. They're counting Gregorian chants, Carthaginian battle hymns, Babylonian lullabies? Why not just admit: "Greatest Rock Songs Ever, with Some Blues, Soul, Hip-Hop, and Country Randomly Thrown In to Make Us Look Inclusive"?) That said, it's still fun to pick these lists apart.

Certain predictable flaws always pop up in these kinds of musical lists, and this one is no exception:

--Some songs are ranked according to cultural impact rather than true worth; "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is pretty rockin', but the 9th greatest song ever? Lists like this are nothing if not arbitrary, but can they really not think of more than eight better songs in all of modern music? It's ten years after his death, we can be honest now: Kurt Cobain was a terrible singer; he had a great yell, but an all-but-ruined voice and limited range. Lyrically, musically, the song is inventive, captivating, driving, but still. Will this song keep making every list ever just because it made all the depressed teenagers in America want to wear flannel?

--Some songs made the list in a transparent stab at historical relevance; I realize Chuck Berry practically invented rock 'n roll, but #18 for "Maybelline" is a little much. On the other hand, I can't find it in me to argue with "Johnny B. Goode" at #7.

--Some songs are here because of current fads; would Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" be #10 if Ray weren't currently in theaters? Answer: no. (And if you've got to have Charles in the top ten, I think "Georgia on My Mind" would've been the better choice.)

--Some band's songs are ranked in seemingly backward fashion; the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" is #42, but "Lola" is way the hell down at #422? That ain't right.

--And the Beatles, as ever, occupy seemingly every other spot. Together and apart, 26 of their songs are on this list, 8 in the top 30. I mean, they were good, but Jesus, give someone else a chance. Surely "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Help!" don't need to be ranked nearly so high.

Those are what I'd (possibly delusionally) call "objective" problems with the list. On the subjective side: how the hell can The Who not make the top ten? "My Generation" at #11 is close, but not good enough. And their next entry on the list isn't until #133, which is ridiculous: it's "Won't Get Fooled Again," which deserves a top ten slot even more than "My Generation." "Behind Blue Eyes" doesn't even make the list, nor does "Who Are You." But Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" does? "Pressure Drop" by Toots and the Maytals does? Six Sly & the Family Stone songs do?? (Also: what the hell is "Pressure Drop," and who the hell are Toots and the Maytals?)

Then there's Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," which doesn't even make the top twenty, ranking at #21. No. Oh, no no no no no. Uh-uh. That's top three, easy. #21? That's just crazy talk. Crazy talk!

"Stairway to Heaven" doesn't make the top thirty (#31). I'm hardly the biggest Led Zeppelin fan; in fact, I think they're one of the most overrated groups ever. But come on. It's "Stairway," dude! You can't fit "Stairway" into the top ten?

On the other hand, it's hard to create a strong argument against most of the songs that are in the top thirty. I don't think I'd have thought of Bob Dylan for the top spot, but I don't have any strong reservations about "Like a Rolling Stone." Seeing "Satisfaction" at #2 makes me wish the two songs were reversed, but it doesn't kill me to see Dylan at #1. Same with "Imagine;" I'd rank it above Dylan as well, but I wouldn't get into a fight over it.

I'm surprised again by Marvin Gaye's high ranking; his album What's Going On made the top five (I think) of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums a while back, and the title song is #4 on this list. I guess I never really thought of Gaye as such an historically, culturally important voice, but when I see his name on these lists, it doesn't feel wrong.

The rest of the top ten is Aretha Franklin's "Respect," "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys (which I love), the above-mentioned "Johnny B. Goode," the Beatles with "Hey Jude," and "Teen Spirit" and "What'd I Say." And despite my objections above, I really can't argue all that strongly against any of them. (Other than the fact that they clearly robbed The Who of a top ten spot. I really like The Who, can you tell?) Obviously Nirvana means a lot more to a lot of people than they do to me (and I do like them, I just don't worship them), so enjoy your #9 spot.

Anybody else seen this list? Anybody else give a rat's ass?

MUSIC: I Get A Kick Out Of...

...the original, acoustic version of "Revolution" on the White Album, when John Lennon sings, "But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out... in." That one last word, not in the single version, suggesting (ironically? Hard to say) that he was of two minds.

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...when, on "Won't Get Fooled Again", a few seconds after the line, "For I know that the hypnotized never lie," almost drowned out by Pete Townshend's roaring guitar, Roger Daltrey faintly adds, "Do ya?" Meaning: you, the audience, the listener at home, the general public -- you're the hypnotized, suckers. Wake up!

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...the new version of "Break On Through" that I've been hearing recently on the classic rock stations, exactly the same as the old version but for Jim Morrison now completing a previously censored line. "She gets... she gets... she gets..." he used to sing. Now it goes, "She gets high, she gets high, she gets high..." That version isn't on the album -- not the album I've got, anyway. When did that word get added back in? Morrison uncensored, only 30 years after his death.

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...Neil Young's version of "Imagine" on the 9/11 charity album America: A Tribute to Heroes; when he gets to, "Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can," he changes it to, "I wonder if I can." Tougher question. I'll bet even John wondered if he could.

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..."Is She Really Going Out With Him?", when Joe Jackson says, "Look over there!", how you can't help but answer along with the song: "Where?"

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...when radio stations play the very, very end of "Start Me Up," where Mick Jagger switches from "You make a grown man cry" to "You make a dead man come." Naughty!

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...that driving guitar in the chorus of Boston's "More Than a Feeling," especially towards the end, when it kicks in hard a couple bars before the lyrics.

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...The Daily Show theme song, "Dog on Fire," written by Bob Mould, with the current version performed by They Might Be Giants.

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..."Gimme Shelter," when it goes from that woman's soaring, hair-raising vocals on "Rape and murder, it's just a shot away," to Mick's silky "I said love, sister, it's just a kiss away."

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Hate:

--All the radio stations that are afraid to play the uncut versions of songs they've been playing for 20, 25, 30 years or more, because of the insane fines the newly reactionary FCC is raining down left and right. So in Steve Miller's "Jet Airliner," we have to hear the watered-down "funky kicks goin' down in the city" rather than "funky shit," and Roger Daltrey asking "Who the fuck are you?" on the uncut version of "Who Are You" is right out.

--The revised version of the Clash's "Rock the Casbah," where the "jive" in "that crazy Casbah jive" is electronically stretched and echoed for an extra five seconds. Why just that one word? Why change any of it to begin with?

--Same with AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." If you know the album version, you can tell where a couple of bars of guitar have been added in at a couple of pieces right near the end. It seems like this version is the only one that gets played on the radio anymore. Who did this? And when?