Sidewinder's Top 10 Albums from Every Year (1965-)

sidewinder · 09-30-2014, 01:58 PM

1980
Very solid year this time around, tough to put in order with favorite albums from several of these bands. I was a little unsure about #10 and must admit there are a handful of albums that could have taken its place, such as Yes' Drama, Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, maybe The Sound's Jeopardy (though I prefer their follow-up), etc. There are also close to 30 albums from this year that I would like to hear eventually, but I wouldn't have had enough time to familiarize myself with any of them in time to kick anything off my top 10.

1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
3. Rush - Permanent Waves
4. The Police - Zenyattà Mondatta
5. Killing Joke - Killing Joke
6. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope
7. Fad Gadget - Fireside Favourites
8. Pylon - Gyrate
9. Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
10. Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier

sidewinder · 10-02-2014, 11:52 AM

1981
This list could look different in a few years when I get caught up on my queue - as can be said for several other years too. But for now, here it is! Glad to have finally checked out that Eno/Byrne album, definitely a winner. I finally got around to listening to New Order's Movement and Bauhaus' Mask also, but haven't listened to either one enough yet to love them. I think my to-do list for this year is longer than the list of albums I have.

1. The Cure - Faith
2. Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
3. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju
4. The Sound - From the Lions Mouth
5. This Heat - Deceit
6. Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell
7. Killing Joke - What’s THIS For…!
8. Black Flag - Damaged
9. The Police - Ghost in the Machine
10. Rush - Moving Pictures

sidewinder · 10-07-2014, 12:09 PM

1982
Michael Jackson could probably be higher, but he's there more because it's undeniably a pop masterpiece that I enjoyed when I was much younger, and I still enjoy the hits, but I don't see myself listening to the album like the others. It booted Minutemen off the list. Also, I'm a sucker for some good 80s synth pop like early Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. Hey, I'm old. It's cool.

1. Misfits - Walk Among Us
2. Mission of Burma - Vs.
3. Descendents - Milo Goes to College
4. The Cure - Pornography
5. Duran Duran - Rio
6. Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame
7. The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses
8. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Security)
9. Bauhaus - The Sky’s Gone Out
10. Michael Jackson - Thriller

sidewinder · 10-08-2014, 04:24 PM

1983
When I compiled this in May of this year, I was having a hard time with my #10 album - not because there are too many choices, but because the rest beyond 9 were weak-ish. There were some in my queue I hadn't heard yet, so I checked out some of the top ones like New Order. But in the end, I revisited some of the things I barely knew, and I Chamelions won out. I hadn't listened to it in some time so I wasn't sure, but a revisit made it clear that it's better than other options on the table. It is a bit overlong if I had one complaint, but it's quality. New Order could have slipped in too, if only I had more time to listen.

1. R.E.M. - Murmur
2. The The - Soul Mining
3. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
4. Misfits - Earth A.D.
5. Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
6. Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again
7. Metallica - Kill ‘Em All
8. Pylon - Chomp
9. Minutemen - What Makes a Man Start Fires?
10. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge

sidewinder · 10-13-2014, 12:43 PM

1984
I made an exception and included an EP this year because fucking Skinny Puppy. This was their first official release after their demo, and it's fucking great. Metallica is one I don't find myself in the mood for very often, if at all, but it's a classic I can't ignore. At times, during my metal youth, I liked it more than Master of Puppets. I don't think I need to explain most of the others, maybe The Long Ryders. If you're not familiar with them and you like The Byrds' country rock, check it out. I'll also add that there are 27 albums on my to-do list for this year, including Black Flag, Alien Sex Fiend, Run-D.M.C., Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Stranglers, The Church, The Fall, Subhumans, Naked Raygun, The Ex, Talk Talk, The Gun Club, New Model Army, Flipper, Die Kreuzen, Television Personalities, Laughing Clowns, and a few others. Any strong feelings for any of those, let me know! I feel like as I go through these years and make these to-do lists on the side, I'm never gonna have time to listen to them all!

1. The Smiths - The Smiths
2. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
3. Metallica - Ride the Lighting
4. Skinny Puppy - Remission
5. Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
6. R.E.M. - Reckoning
7. Tones on Tail - Pop
8. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
9. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
10. The Long Ryders - Native Sons

sidewinder · 10-16-2014, 11:46 AM

1985
Hmm what to say about this year, other than saying I'm not as much into Hüsker Dü as a lot of people who like similar music. Misfits and Descendents were my two first punk loves. I like S.O.D.'s Live at Budokan better than the studio album, but contextually this belongs on the 85 list. Lots of other good stuff this year like Volcano Suns, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedys, Megadeth, Anthrax, and even more things on my to-do list: New Order, Shriekback, The Chamelons, Psyche, Velvet Underground, Love and Rockets, Fuzztones, Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, Naked Raygun, and a handful of others.

1. Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun
2. R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction
3. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
4. Skinny Puppy - Bites
5. Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory
6. Descendents - I Don’t Want to Grow Up
7. Misfits - Legacy of Brutality
8. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
9. Faith No More - We Care a Lot
10. S.O.D. - Speak English or Die

sidewinder · 10-29-2014, 01:13 PM

1686
In 1986, I'd been living in the states for 1 year. I was enjoying some of the pop singles I was hearing, from the likes of Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, etc. within that year I think I started listening to a lot of glam metal/rock like Poison, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, etc. Pop metal I guess, butt rock. You won't find those on my list, because it represents my current choices for the 10 best albums of the year. Do I still listen to these 10 albums regularly? Not necessarily, but some are undeniable classics that deserve a spot on the list no matter what. I think it was a couple of years before I discovered Beastie Boys, and maybe a year more before I started listening to Metallica and Megadeth. The rest came considerably later but are in more regular rotation for me. Looking back at this list (created spring 2014), I could probably replace the Megadeth album with something else. But my overall list for this year isn't that long, and if I did replace it, it might be with something I'm not as intimately familiar with yet. I loved Revolting Cocks' Big Sexyland quite a bit (during the 90s), but revisits have proven tedious - it hasn't stood the test of time. But if I put on Peace Sells, I would enjoy it quite a bit. So here we are.

1. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
2. Metallica - Master of Puppets
3. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
4. Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
5. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
6. Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
7. Sonic Youth - EVOL
8. Megadeth - Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?
9. fIREHOSE - Ragin’, Full-On
10. Volcano Suns - All-Night Lotus Party

sidewinder · 11-03-2014, 04:15 PM

1987

Once in a while, I'll let an EP into my top 10. This is one of those times. Partly because it's great, and also because this wasn't the strongest year as far as what I've heard. I've loved or really liked every album in this list at some point, and they're still good enough to include in a top 10. But the rest of the albums in my collection aren't strong enough to knock Pixies' debut EP out of here. It's strong enough for the #3 slot, even. So um yeah, some good stuff beyond the top 10, plenty on my to-do list, and I really don't know why I'm trying to make excuses for this top 10. They're all really sold IMO. Maybe I don't feel like listening to Anthrax or GnR very often, but they're still great albums. Sick of all the GnR singles but the deeper cuts and the album as a whole are classic. Of course it did come out the month of my 11th birthday and make a big splash on the hard rock/metal scene at the time. It was kind of like Nirvana's Nevermind, in that it was a bit of a turning point for popular hard rock at the time.

1. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
2. Skinny Puppy - Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
3. Pixies - Come On Pilgrim [EP]
4. Sonic Youth - Sister
5. R.E.M. - Document
6. Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses
7. Jane’s Addiction - Jane’s Addiction
8. Anthrax - Among the Living
9. Faith No More - Introduce Yourself
10. Guns n’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction

**Goofle** · 11-04-2014, 07:04 AM

Posting to say I am keeping up with this, and comparing our lists. Really good stuff.

sidewinder · 11-04-2014, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goofle

Posting to say I am keeping up with this, and comparing our lists. Really good stuff.

Thanks, and likewise, I am comparing lists as we go along. It's very interesting to see how different they are, but it makes sense considering our differences in age and geographical location. I can't help but feel like mine are always more "normal" and yours more obscure, but the above play into it as well as the fact I'm used to constantly seeing and talking about the stuff I listen to so of course it's more familiar and ordinary to me. But I've come to realize, as I get older and go through these types of exercises, that while I've always thought of myself as one who seeks out interesting and non-mainstream music, my favorites aren't all that obscure and melody matters a lot to me. I've gone back to try things I ignored in the past and they've become favorites. Not top 40 things, but well-liked things by those with discriminatory tastes at least.

09-30-2014, 01:58 PM	#41 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1980 Very solid year this time around, tough to put in order with favorite albums from several of these bands. I was a little unsure about #10 and must admit there are a handful of albums that could have taken its place, such as Yes' Drama, Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, maybe The Sound's Jeopardy (though I prefer their follow-up), etc. There are also close to 30 albums from this year that I would like to hear eventually, but I wouldn't have had enough time to familiarize myself with any of them in time to kick anything off my top 10. 1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light 2. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds 3. Rush - Permanent Waves 4. The Police - Zenyattà Mondatta 5. Killing Joke - Killing Joke 6. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope 7. Fad Gadget - Fireside Favourites 8. Pylon - Gyrate 9. Bauhaus - In the Flat Field 10. Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-02-2014, 11:52 AM	#42 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1981 This list could look different in a few years when I get caught up on my queue - as can be said for several other years too. But for now, here it is! Glad to have finally checked out that Eno/Byrne album, definitely a winner. I finally got around to listening to New Order's Movement and Bauhaus' Mask also, but haven't listened to either one enough yet to love them. I think my to-do list for this year is longer than the list of albums I have. 1. The Cure - Faith 2. Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts 3. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju 4. The Sound - From the Lions Mouth 5. This Heat - Deceit 6. Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell 7. Killing Joke - What’s THIS For…! 8. Black Flag - Damaged 9. The Police - Ghost in the Machine 10. Rush - Moving Pictures __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-07-2014, 12:09 PM	#43 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1982 Michael Jackson could probably be higher, but he's there more because it's undeniably a pop masterpiece that I enjoyed when I was much younger, and I still enjoy the hits, but I don't see myself listening to the album like the others. It booted Minutemen off the list. Also, I'm a sucker for some good 80s synth pop like early Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. Hey, I'm old. It's cool. 1. Misfits - Walk Among Us 2. Mission of Burma - Vs. 3. Descendents - Milo Goes to College 4. The Cure - Pornography 5. Duran Duran - Rio 6. Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame 7. The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses 8. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Security) 9. Bauhaus - The Sky’s Gone Out 10. Michael Jackson - Thriller __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-08-2014, 04:24 PM	#44 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1983 When I compiled this in May of this year, I was having a hard time with my #10 album - not because there are too many choices, but because the rest beyond 9 were weak-ish. There were some in my queue I hadn't heard yet, so I checked out some of the top ones like New Order. But in the end, I revisited some of the things I barely knew, and I Chamelions won out. I hadn't listened to it in some time so I wasn't sure, but a revisit made it clear that it's better than other options on the table. It is a bit overlong if I had one complaint, but it's quality. New Order could have slipped in too, if only I had more time to listen. 1. R.E.M. - Murmur 2. The The - Soul Mining 3. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 4. Misfits - Earth A.D. 5. Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies 6. Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again 7. Metallica - Kill ‘Em All 8. Pylon - Chomp 9. Minutemen - What Makes a Man Start Fires? 10. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-13-2014, 12:43 PM	#45 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1984 I made an exception and included an EP this year because fucking Skinny Puppy. This was their first official release after their demo, and it's fucking great. Metallica is one I don't find myself in the mood for very often, if at all, but it's a classic I can't ignore. At times, during my metal youth, I liked it more than Master of Puppets. I don't think I need to explain most of the others, maybe The Long Ryders. If you're not familiar with them and you like The Byrds' country rock, check it out. I'll also add that there are 27 albums on my to-do list for this year, including Black Flag, Alien Sex Fiend, Run-D.M.C., Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Stranglers, The Church, The Fall, Subhumans, Naked Raygun, The Ex, Talk Talk, The Gun Club, New Model Army, Flipper, Die Kreuzen, Television Personalities, Laughing Clowns, and a few others. Any strong feelings for any of those, let me know! I feel like as I go through these years and make these to-do lists on the side, I'm never gonna have time to listen to them all! 1. The Smiths - The Smiths 2. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II 3. Metallica - Ride the Lighting 4. Skinny Puppy - Remission 5. Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward 6. R.E.M. - Reckoning 7. Tones on Tail - Pop 8. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade 9. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime 10. The Long Ryders - Native Sons __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-16-2014, 11:46 AM	#46 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1985 Hmm what to say about this year, other than saying I'm not as much into Hüsker Dü as a lot of people who like similar music. Misfits and Descendents were my two first punk loves. I like S.O.D.'s Live at Budokan better than the studio album, but contextually this belongs on the 85 list. Lots of other good stuff this year like Volcano Suns, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedys, Megadeth, Anthrax, and even more things on my to-do list: New Order, Shriekback, The Chamelons, Psyche, Velvet Underground, Love and Rockets, Fuzztones, Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, Naked Raygun, and a handful of others. 1. Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun 2. R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction 3. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder 4. Skinny Puppy - Bites 5. Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory 6. Descendents - I Don’t Want to Grow Up 7. Misfits - Legacy of Brutality 8. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy 9. Faith No More - We Care a Lot 10. S.O.D. - Speak English or Die __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures. Last edited by sidewinder; 10-16-2014 at 06:34 PM.

10-29-2014, 01:13 PM	#47 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1686 In 1986, I'd been living in the states for 1 year. I was enjoying some of the pop singles I was hearing, from the likes of Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, etc. within that year I think I started listening to a lot of glam metal/rock like Poison, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, etc. Pop metal I guess, butt rock. You won't find those on my list, because it represents my current choices for the 10 best albums of the year. Do I still listen to these 10 albums regularly? Not necessarily, but some are undeniable classics that deserve a spot on the list no matter what. I think it was a couple of years before I discovered Beastie Boys, and maybe a year more before I started listening to Metallica and Megadeth. The rest came considerably later but are in more regular rotation for me. Looking back at this list (created spring 2014), I could probably replace the Megadeth album with something else. But my overall list for this year isn't that long, and if I did replace it, it might be with something I'm not as intimately familiar with yet. I loved Revolting Cocks' Big Sexyland quite a bit (during the 90s), but revisits have proven tedious - it hasn't stood the test of time. But if I put on Peace Sells, I would enjoy it quite a bit. So here we are. 1. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill 2. Metallica - Master of Puppets 3. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 4. Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse 5. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant 6. Depeche Mode - Black Celebration 7. Sonic Youth - EVOL 8. Megadeth - Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? 9. fIREHOSE - Ragin’, Full-On 10. Volcano Suns - All-Night Lotus Party __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

11-03-2014, 04:15 PM	#48 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	1987 Once in a while, I'll let an EP into my top 10. This is one of those times. Partly because it's great, and also because this wasn't the strongest year as far as what I've heard. I've loved or really liked every album in this list at some point, and they're still good enough to include in a top 10. But the rest of the albums in my collection aren't strong enough to knock Pixies' debut EP out of here. It's strong enough for the #3 slot, even. So um yeah, some good stuff beyond the top 10, plenty on my to-do list, and I really don't know why I'm trying to make excuses for this top 10. They're all really sold IMO. Maybe I don't feel like listening to Anthrax or GnR very often, but they're still great albums. Sick of all the GnR singles but the deeper cuts and the album as a whole are classic. Of course it did come out the month of my 11th birthday and make a big splash on the hard rock/metal scene at the time. It was kind of like Nirvana's Nevermind, in that it was a bit of a turning point for popular hard rock at the time. 1. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come 2. Skinny Puppy - Cleanse Fold and Manipulate 3. Pixies - Come On Pilgrim [EP] 4. Sonic Youth - Sister 5. R.E.M. - Document 6. Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses 7. Jane’s Addiction - Jane’s Addiction 8. Anthrax - Among the Living 9. Faith No More - Introduce Yourself 10. Guns n’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.