Yet Another Music List Part II (1983-1995)

In the previous installment I covered music that I pretty much learned about way after the fact, before I got MTV at home and started listening top the radio. This section will cover the timeframe where music taste is pretty much set, although in my case it was not always by stuff actually played on the airwaves.

1983: Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes
The Femmes were never this perfect again, while their main challengers R.E.M. (Murmur) had better albums later. Other notables include Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits, Hootenanny by The Replacements and Colour by Numbers by Culture Club. And yes, the last one was the only one played on MTV at the time.

1984: Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen
This is the toughest choice so far. Look at the other contenders: Born in the USA, Purple Rain, Let it Be, Reckoning, 1984, The Smiths, She's So Unusual. Any of these albums would have been the best choice for 1981. I selected The Minutemen's disc because it's 43 songs and I am still finding new things in it. Double Nickels is most famous today because the song Corona was used as the theme for Jackass.

1985: Tim by The Replacements
The field is not quite as strong this year, but Centerfield by John Fogerty, Rain Dogs by Tom Waits, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash by The Pogues and Telephone Free Landslide Victory by Camper Van Beethoven are all solid. Tim may be The Replacements best album, which means 7 of the 11 songs are great, much higher than their usual .500 average.

1986: Georgia Satellites by The Georgia Satellites
The Satellites and Replacements took different approaches to furthering the legacy of The Faces. While the Satellites replicated the subject matter (drinking and/or sex) and musical approach, the Replacements expanded on the drunken antics. There's sadly not enough smart-ass yet rocking songs like Keep Your Hands to Yourself. Honorable mentions include two compilations, the Springsteen live box set and Staring at the Sea by The Cure, as well as Lyle Lovett's debut and the Bangles Different Light.

1987: Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega
While I love R.E.M.'s Document, the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me and the Pixies' Come on Pilgrim, I don't love them enough to marry them. And I would have totally married Suzanne Vega circa 1987.

1988: Pontiac by Lyle Lovett
This is a tough year to choose from because the choices are all over the place: N.W.A., R.E.M., Pixies, Public Enemy, Metallica and U2's best comedy album. Anyway, you can tell Lyle Lovett had arrived by the requisite Emmylou Harris harmonies included in this album. For my taste there are still not enough country songs about riding ponies on boats.

1989: Doolittle by Pixies
Another strong selection: Lou Reed's New York, Roy Orbison's Mystery Girl, Dylan's Oh Mercy and Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. While all of these choices were solid, Doolittle gets extra credit for including lyrical subjects like environmental catastrophe, the Bible, Un Chien Andalou and crazy Puerto Rican roommates.

1990: Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy
Choices were slimmer this year: All Shook Down by The Replacements, No Depression by Uncle Tupelo, Bossanova by Pixies and, of course, Un-Led-Ed by Dread Zeppelin. It's hard to imagine Flavor Flav was ever relevant today, but the year after Do The Right Thing, he seemed like part of the biggest thing in music. Instead, PE had one more good album left.

1991: Nevermind by Nirvana
An easy choice as this completely changed the course of pop music, killing every hair-metal band in existence. Otherwise there were a lot of good albums released this year: Out of Time, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Into the Great Wide Open, Ten and Trompe Le Monde.

1992: Automatic for the People by R.E.M.
The way I remembered the early 90s was like this: Nevermind was released and the next year there were all kinds of awesome albums until the record companies could sign the likes of Blind Melon and Stone Temple Pilots and it all went to crap. Actually, Nevermind came out within a year of the other two's debuts. It just seemed like a long time. Automatic is R.E.M.'s never-to-be-topped masterpiece. Soul Asylum's Grave Dancer's Union, the Gin Blossom's New Miserable Experience and Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth are just about the only competition.

1993: In Utero by Nirvana
Other albums worthy of consideration include Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne, The Breeder's Last Splash and Paul Westerberg's 14 Songs. And before you ask, yes, I did consider Shaq Diesel in making my selection.

1994: Teenager of the Year by Frank Black
Other strong choices include Pulp's His 'n' Hers, Green Day's Dookie, Beck's Mellow Gold and Nirvana's Unplugged. Frank Black's best solo work could have also been called 22 Songs About Video Games, LA Architects, Vaudeville, Terraforming Mars and Thalassocracy.

1995: Different Class by Pulp
Blah, blah, other, blah, blah. Okay, here is a list of the greatest consumer products in the history of the world: 1. Different Class by Pulp, 2. sliced bread. I'm sorry, but I may be understating the case for the awesomeness that is this album.