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For people with WAY too much time on their hands today
Submitted by ChrisB on July 3, 2008.Here's a meme that has been going through some of the music areas of the internets the past few days and I figured it might be fun to try. I first read about it on Idolator. If you're interested, play along and make your own list in the comments.
The rules are pretty simple, just make a list of your favorite record for each year of your life. I've tried to limit my list to one album per artist but that isn't set in stone. For resources, Wikipedia was a big help. Here's what my faves are:
- 1979 - The B-52's, The B-52's.
- 1980 - Gang of Four - Entertainment
- 1981 - The Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat
- 1982 - The Clash - Combat Rock
- 1983 - Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
- 1984 - The Replacement - Let It Be
- 1985 - Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
- 1986 - Run DMC - Raising Hell
- 1987 - The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
- 1988 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
- 1989 - The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
- 1990 - They Might Be Giants - Flood
- 1991 - REM - Out of Time
- 1992 - PJ Harvey - Dry
- 1993 - Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
- 1994 - Nas - Illmatic
- 1995 - Garbage - Garbage
- 1996 - Heavens to Betsy - Calculated
- 1997 - DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
- 1998 - Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
- 1999 - Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway
- 2000 - Le Tigre - Le Tigre
- 2001 - The Strokes - Is This It
- 2002 - Kylie Minogue - Fever
- 2003 - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
- 2004 - Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
- 2005 - Annie - Anniemal
- 2006 - Lily Allen - Alright, Still
- 2007 - Imperial Teen - The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band
- 2008 - Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
What makes this exercise so much fun (or aggraviting, depending on your ideology) is that some years it is impossible to find one great album and others there are at least a dozen that could be your favorite. 1992 was the hardest year for me to find one record that worked. 1993, 1998 and the last 5 were the easiest.
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ChrisB said on July 3, 2008:
All of the albums from that year I believe were released that year. Were there some discrepancies? I went with Wikipedia and the lists of votes in the Pazz & Jop surveys each year.
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Cory Banks said on July 3, 2008:
My God, I could never do this. It'd take me three days just to build a list of favorite albums, then another two days agonizing over what I'd forgotten about or left out. Then to assign them a year of my life? That's crazy talk. I was born in 1981, and Reggatta de Blanc came out in 1979. A list without The Police? Does. Not. Compute.
See, I'm totally boned.
That said, I can wholeheartedly endorse your list, ChrisB. Great picks.
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imaginary stella said on July 3, 2008:
Too much time on their hands? Lord, that sounds like a blessing. I am in my own personal work hell right now with so.much.to.do and only.five.hours.left. Oh, and zonked out because I went to see George Michael last night (yeah, it's true. Laugh all you want. I heart him).
Still, though, this project has me intrigued. It's akin to John Cusack's character in High Fidelity re-org'ing his record collection to be autobiographical.
Methinks I will have to make this the list I drum up while roadtripping to the campground tomorrow!
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Philip said on July 3, 2008:
This has been going around again? I caught the meme last September, here's my list.
Cory, Ghost in the Machine came out in 1981 and Synchronicity came out in 1983, so your list doesn't have to be without The Police. Also, when I did my list, I gave "honorable mention" status to compliations (and soundtracks), so Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings by The Police got an honorable mention for 1993.
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imaginary liz said on July 3, 2008:
Can I break 1993 into monthly choices? That was such a boom year for my record collection.
That was also the year the boy I had a massive (unrequited) crush on gave me a calendar with a song written on each day (that described the day). At the time I couldn't imagine anything more romantic.
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Imaginary Kiku said on July 3, 2008:
I couldn't even begin to fathom what my picks would be for most of this list. It's tragic but for most of my life I put all 80s music on my own little black list, because my parents always told me 80s music was awful (they being in college during the 70s).
I feel like I need to take a history of rock n roll class.
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Cal's back on the planet said on July 5, 2008:
So here's the part that I've always had trouble with with these "reflective" lists. Chris, I'm assuming Gang of Four is one of your favorite albums now, and was recorded in that year. Vs., it was your favorite album when you were 1 year old. I think the list would be much more interesting, telling, and hillarious if instead, you listed your favorite album of specific years while you were living it. Of course your tastes change, but it was still your favorite at one point in time.
So, I hope some of you others out there do this as well, and my list isn't going to be too complete (I might skip some years because of time constraints), but here we go:
1977 - Born, don't really have choices/tastes/picks in music. Spend most of the time listening to the country music playing in my parents' house.
1981 - The Chipmunks "Urban Chipmunk"
1983 - Kenny Rogers "Eyes That See in the Dark"
1986 - Dirty Dancing soundtrack
1989 - Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation 1814"
1992 - INXS "Welcome to Wherever You Are"
1995 - Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
1998 - Lauryn Hill "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"
2001 - The Strokes "Is This It"
2004 - Arcade Fire "Funeral"
2008 - She and Him "Volume One"
So there you go. My life (kind of) in music.
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ChrisB said on July 5, 2008:
Ha! No, Cal, I wasn't listening to the Gang of 4 when I was 1 - but I would be the coolest kid ever if I was. That would be an interesting list to make. Maybe on another slow day at work...
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Justin Koeppen said on July 8, 2008:
Oh man, this is a great idea.
These albums are taken directly from my collection as I have no time to consider every album that I've heard in the last 28 years.
1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light
1981: Rush - Moving Pictures
1982: Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
1983: U2 - War
1984: U2 - Unforgettable Fire
1985: Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
1986: Peter Gabriel - So
1987: Us - The Joshua Tree
1988: R.E.M. - Green
1989: The Cure - Disintegration
1990: The Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
1991: U2 - Achtung Baby
1992: Blind Melon - Blind Melon
1993: U2 - Zooropa
1994: Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming
1995: Radiohead - The Bends
1996: R.E.M. - New Adventures in HiFi
1997: Radiohead - Ok Computer
1998: New Radicals - New Radicals
1999: Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: Muse - Origin of Symmetry
2002: Sigur Ros - () / Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
2003: Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
2004: Lovedrug - Pretend Your Alive
2005: Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
2006: TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
2007: Blonde Redhead - 23 / Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
2008: Why? - Alopecia
Good god! That got really difficult around 1997. So many good albums to choose from.
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beewus said on July 9, 2008:
as i lived it:
1976: Blue Oyster Cult - Agents Of Fortune
1977: Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue
1978: Cheap Trick - At Budokan
1979: AC/DC - Highway To Hell
1980: Pretenders - Pretenders
1981: King Crimson - Discipline
1982: Roxy Music - Avalon
1983: Big Country - The Crossing
1984: Husker Du - Zen Arcade
1985: Husker Du - Flip Your Wig
1986: REM - Life's Rich Pageant
1987: Swing Out Sister - It's Better To Travel
1988: Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
1989: The Cure - Disintegration
1990: Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
1991: (tie) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend, U2 - Achtung Baby, MBV - Loveless
1992: Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
1993: Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
1994: Hole - Live Through This
1995: Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
since then it's been more about songs and less about records for me.
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the sleepwalker said on July 10, 2008:
1976 - Ramones: Ramones
1977 - The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
1978 - Tom Waits: Blue Valentine
1979 - Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
1980 - Devo: Freedom of Choice
1981 - Go-Go's: Beauty and the Beat
1982 - Michael Jackson: Thriller
1983 - Def Leppard: Pyromania
1984 - Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A.
1985 - The Cure: The Head on the Door
1986 - The Smiths: The Queen is Dead
1987 - New Order: Substance
1988 - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
1989 - Pixies: Doolittle (close call with Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine)
1990 - Depeche Mode: Violator
1991 - Nirvana: Nevermind
1992 - Lemonheads: It's a Shame About Ray
1993 - Violent Femmes: Add It Up (1981-1993)
1994 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Let Love In
1995 - Radiohead: The Bends
1996 - Belle and Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
1997 - Spiritualized: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
1998 - Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
1999 - The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
2000 - Bright Eyes: Fevers and Mirrors
2001 - Clem Snide: The Ghost of Fashion
2002 - Rilo Kiley: The Execution of All Things
2003 - The Postal Service: Give Up
2004 - Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News
2005 - The Decemberists: Picaresque
2006 - Rock Plaza Central: Are We Not Horses
2007 - Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
2008 - Dead Confederate: S/T EP (so far)
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Jon Harthun said on July 10, 2008:
Gave me something to do today :)
If there were any good hip-hop albums, I included those on top of whatever else. Choosing rock over hip-hop or vice versa is a whole apples and oranges thing:
1985 - Tears for Fears - "Songs from the Big Chair"
1986 - Paul Simon - "Graceland"
Beastie Boys - "License to Ill"
1987 - Sonic Youth - "Sister"
1988 - Danzig - "Danzig"
N.W.A - "Straight Outta Compton"
1989 - The Pixies - "Doolittle"
1990 - Depeche Mode - "Violator"
1991- My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"
1992 - The Jesus & Mary Chain - "Honey's Dead"
Dr. Dre - "Chronic"
1993 - Nirvana - "In Utero"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Midnight Marauders"
1994 - Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
Nas - "Illmatic"
1995 - The Smashing Pumpkins - "Mellon Collie..."
1996 - Belle & Sebastian - "If You're Feeling..."
Jay-Z - "Reasonable Doubt"
1997 - Bjork - "Homogenic"
Notorious B.I.G. - "Life After Death"
1998 - Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane..."
OutKast - "Aquemini"
1999 - Built to Spill - "Keep it Like a Secret"
Dr. Dre - "2001"
2000 - Radiohead - "Kid A"
Deltron 3030 - "Deltron 3030"
2001 - The White Stripes - "White Blood Cells"
N*E*R*D - "In Search Of..."
2002 - Wilco - "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"
The Roots - "Phrenology"
2003 - The Mars Volta - "De-Loused in a Comatorium"
2004 - Arcade Fire - "Funeral"
Kanye West - "The College Dropout"
2005 - Annie - "Anniemal"
Kanye West - "Late Registration"
2006 - Cat Power - "The Greatest"
2007 - M.I.A. - "Kala"
R. Kelly - "Double Up"
2008 - M83 - "Saturdays=Youth"
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Reviews
pffft said on July 3, 2008:
So I assume the album that you choose for your favorite that year doesn't need to have been released in that year?
Might be more interesting to constrain your choices to albums that were released in that year.