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Tue Jan 31 2023
Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
A true classic. The deep baritone of singer Hugh Cornwall, alongside the Farfifa organ sells the album.
5
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Wed Feb 01 2023
Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
No need to even listen to this album - I listened to it a hundred times before. If only for Kashmir, this would be a classic. Of course, there is much more than Kashmir on this classic rock album.
5
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Thu Feb 02 2023
Faith
George Michael
Nope. Hated it then, hate it now.
1
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Tue Feb 07 2023
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
4
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Wed Feb 08 2023
Dare!
The Human League
A true classic of 80s techno. Everyone knows "Don't You Want Me (Baby)?" but there are many other great 80s club hits on this album, starting with the lead off "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of".
4
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Thu Feb 09 2023
Younger Than Yesterday
The Byrds
Starts strong with You Wanna Be a Rock And Roll Star. Love Roger McGuinn's jangly guitar. My Back Pages is also a classic. What strikes me is how much albums like this set the stage for 80s jangle rock.
5
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Sun Feb 12 2023
The Wall
Pink Floyd
The penultimate Pink Floyd album. It's intense moments mix well with it's more pop songs to create a true concept album that works.
5
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Sat Feb 18 2023
Shake Your Money Maker
The Black Crowes
On the one hand, it's hard not to like this brand of retro (even for the time) blues rock. It's reminiscent of so much blues inspired, sloppy, classic rock such as early 70s Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, or The Faces.
On the other hand, I find the singer's voice irritating. It's vocal fry without the growl that makes that kind of singing interesting. After awhile, I just can't listen to it any more.
3
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Mon Feb 27 2023
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
If the only two songs of worth were American Girl and Breakdown, the debut from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would have been a classic. There is, however, so much more here.
At the time this was released, Petty's brand of roots-oriented rock didn't really fit with most AOR or even Southern Rock stations. At least in the Metro NYC area, his music was heard on the emerging New Wave stations such as WNEW. As southern fried as he was, he appealed more to the punks and new wave crowd for his fresh sound.
5
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Tue Feb 28 2023
Soul Mining
The The
I'm still angry at the person who borrowed and never returned this album from me. I picked up a copy on CD later. This album was unlike any other record of the time. Where's as new music was getting light and frothy (Cindy Lauper, Nena) this was dark and mysterious. If anything it presaged later music from Depeche Mode, whose lighter weight Construction Time Again came out about the same time.
5
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Wed Mar 01 2023
Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
This is an amazing album. It's blend of rock and roots, especially Celtic, was common at the time but also superior to other albums. Only the Pogues were really comparable but their Punk leaning made them very different. The songwriting is superb. I bought this in 1988 and still listen to it with regularity.
5
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Thu Mar 02 2023
Viva Hate
Morrissey
Morrissey takes whining to new heights. After leaving the Smiths, it was like the control rods cam out of the reactor and the proto-emo machine went into overdrive. This is the beginning of the whining, complaining, diva Morrissey we see today.
2
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Mon Mar 06 2023
Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
This is what old school hip hop is all about. Solid music, great rapping, and not too much of that misogynist crap.
4
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Thu Mar 09 2023
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
An absolute classic and a debut album to boot. It introduces the Dire Straits signature sound of smooth jazz infused rock. It's just an amazing record.
5
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Fri Mar 10 2023
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
The songs are amazing, the album cover iconic, and the band at it's height. What's not to love? This is Joy Division at it's best and the beginning of punk/new wave's transformation into what the 80s will be.
5
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Wed Mar 15 2023
The Rising
Bruce Springsteen
The Boss is back. Between 1992's Human Touch and Lucky Town, both uneven albums, Springsteen's only studio record was the folk album "The Ghost of Tom Joad." All the others else were live albums or compilations. For twenty years, there was no Boss album. Then The Rising was released. It was Springsteen back in his old form. The best songs include the title track, lead off track "Lonesome Day", and fun "Mary's Place".
While not as good as 2007's Magic and on par with 2012's Wrecking Ball, The Rising is a great late career album for Springsteen, bringing back that old Boss energy.
4
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Sun Mar 19 2023
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
Band on the Run is a mixed bag. It's best songs are great and it's lesser songs, mediocre to outright bad. The title track and it's immediate followup, Jet, are amazing tracks - probably some of the best of McCartney's solo work or with Wings. Helen Wheels, Let Me Roll It, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five are good but a little pedestrian. Bluebird sounds like a Beatles reject from the White Album, and Mrs. Vanderbilt, Picasso's Last Words, and Mamunia are just stupid.
Overall, it's an album worth listening to on Spotify and I'm glad to have original vinyl. Would I suggest spending a lot of money on a CD or vinyl reissue? Nope.
Of course, McCartney/Wings albums are always uneven. Listen to the Wings at the Speed of Sound if you doubt that. If you are a fan, seek out a cheap copy of the original vinyl or just listen to it on the streaming service of your choice.
3
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Sat Mar 25 2023
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Jane's Addiction
Classic album from Jane's Addiction. Been Caught Stealing is the highlight but the entire album just drips with angst. The CD version I have has the white cover. Jane's Addiction label didn't allow them to release the cover they wanted.
5
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Fri Mar 31 2023
At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
It's a classic. Cash gets so much love and energy from the convicts of Folsom Prison that it propels him to o0ne of his best performances. It is the definitive Johnny Cash album, let alone live album.
5
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Thu Apr 06 2023
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd
Why even ask? Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most classic of classic albums. It's innovative use of tape loops and samples (typically only seen in experimental music at the time) set the pattern for music today.
It also rocks hard. Half the album is still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations and college and high school students still buy it.
Dark Side of the Moon still holds the current record for most YEARS on the Billboard Top 100 Album list. It is literally the stoner soundtrack of the 70s and beyond.
5
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Fri Apr 07 2023
Tommy
The Who
The first rock opera, Tommy set the stage for mainstream rock (as opposed to more niche prog rock ) to get serious and expansive. The original is vastly superior to the movie soundtrack despite the latter's star cast.
5
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Sat Apr 08 2023
The Man Machine
Kraftwerk
Setting the stage for 80s techno and, eventually, EDM, The Man-Machine is a tour de force in electronic music. More pop and dance-oriented than many of their previous albums, they set the pattern for club music with drum machines, sequencers, and voice synthesizers.
5
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Tue Apr 11 2023
Superunknown
Soundgarden
Classic grunge. This is one of the albums - along with Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten - that moved grunge from the Pacific Northwest into the mainstream. Singles such as Spoonman, Fell On Black Days, and Black Hole Sun propelled the album up the charts and are still mainstreams of Alt Rock Stations and classic rock stations alike.
5
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Fri Apr 14 2023
New Boots And Panties
Ian Dury
Weird? You bet. Excellent? Yep. Full of both wit and wisdom with old school punk attitude. Dripping with sarcasm and commentary, it deserved more attention in the U.S. at the time it was released than it got. Only "Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll" got airplay in the U.S. on nascent punk radio channels such as WNED in NYC.
5
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Sun Apr 16 2023
Fifth Dimension
The Byrds
One of the more iconic Byrds albums, it includes some of there better known songs. It also leans heavily into covers including Hey Joe and the traditional folk song Wild Mountain Thyme. There renditions are good but with the Byrds, you want to see more original music.
Still, you can hear the beginnings of 80s jangle rock and present day indie folk in this album from the mid-60s. That's something worth celebrating.
4
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Tue Apr 18 2023
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
The first of three eponymous Peter Gabriel albums, this was his first after leaving Genesis. In many ways it's a transitional album, as Gabriel moved from the prog rock of his former band to what would become his 70s art rock style. Nothing exemplifies this more than the jaunty, prog song Solsbury Hill and the brooding Here Comes The Flood. Overall, though uneven, the album provides a great listening experience.
4
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Wed Apr 19 2023
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
One of the most classic albums of the 1970s and Elton John at his finest. Jam packed with hit songs including the title track, Candle in the Wind, Benny and the Jets, and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting. Stylistically, Elton John covers a lot of ground but the album itself feels unified, as if there was a plan. Finally, this is the classic lineup at it's height.
Caribou, which follows this album, seems like outtakes from it. Afterwards, Elton John began to steer into adult oriented music, leaving the hard rocking behind. If you only own one Elton John album, this is the one.
5
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Mon Apr 24 2023
Celebrity Skin
Hole
More pop and, hence, more accessible than any of Hole's earlier work, Celebrity Skin is mainly an indictment of the music industry that chews up bands and spits them out. The anger is there but not the angst. This is a band that finally decided to turn that anger outward instead of inward. If you want to hear the Hole that everyone talked about, the Hole that was truly grunge, then this isn't it. Otherwise, it's a great late grunge/punk album.
4
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Tue Apr 25 2023
Pretenders
Pretenders
One of THE classic of the new wave era, The Pretenders eponymous debut is nothing but spectacular. Songs like Brass in Pocket and Precious played well at college parties while the rest of the album is just one great song after another.
What makes this album so great is Crissie Hynde. Her deep alto perfectlt fits the band's big basket of punk attitude. Unlike other new wave/punk bands of the era, that attitude is tempered with an underlying sensuality that even Blondie (the original new wave sex kitten) couldn't muster.
This is a true gem. Listen to it on vinyl to get the same visceral feel that late 70s' punk rockers did.
5
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Fri Apr 28 2023
New York Dolls
New York Dolls
What can you say. It's iconic? Sure is. Utterly irreverent? That's obvious. It changed the music we know today? Wait really. Oh yeah. Without the New York Dolls, there is no punk and new wave. Without punk and new wave, we're still listening to arena rock and suffering through endless drum solos. This album changed everything.
5
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Sat Apr 29 2023
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Nope. The music of emotionally stunted frat boys who think they can rap. Nope nope nope.
1
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Mon May 01 2023
Group Sex
Circle Jerks
What can I say. Either you like the Circle Jerks brand of aggressive and puerile punk rock or you don't. Even for some punks, there high school boy style lyrics are a bridge too far. Others enjoy the satire. Think of the songs on this album as self referential commentary on punk itself, not to mention American culture, and you will find it brilliant.
4
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Tue May 02 2023
Armed Forces
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
The best of Elvis Costello's albums, it is dripping with irony and social commentary. It's also just fun to listen to. By this point, Costello had figured out the formula and refined his songwriting and music. It's just a great listen. After this point, Costello starts to take himself too seriously. This is the high point of New Wave Costello before he becomes "I Don't Know What I'm Doing Anymore" Costello followed by "I'm a Serious Musician Who Like Torch Songs, Jazz, and Classical" Costello.
If you can only own one Elvis Costello album, this is the one, if only for Accidents Will Happen, Oliver's Army, and (What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding.
5
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Wed May 03 2023
In The Wee Small Hours
Frank Sinatra
So smooth. Sinatra still sings in his original smooth style, prevalent during his big band era, rather than the later staccato (punchy) cadence he adopted as his voice waned. The choice of songs is marvelous too. Some are sad or full of longing; All give that sense of being alone late at night, walking the streets of NYC.
5
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Mon May 08 2023
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
This is an amazing bit of the 70s. The song "Toys in the Attic" alone makes it worthwhile. Really, Aerosmith v1 at its height
4
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Wed May 10 2023
The Only Ones
The Only Ones
This album includes their classic new wave song, Another Girl, Another Planet. Unfortunately, the songs alternate between frothy late 70s new waves and late 60s/early 70s underground psychedelia. Songs such as Breaking Down, are like Zombies outtakes. It produces this slow-fast-slow tempo to the album.
Ultimately, it sounds like two good albums, smashed together into one odd (and not in a good way) album. As singles, it's great. As an album, it's like sonic whiplash.
3
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Sat May 13 2023
Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Eurythmics
One of the most classic synthpop albums of the 1980s, Sweet Dreams helped to create and establish the genre. Unlike some of their contemporaries, Annie Lenox's R&B vocals shine, refusing to get lost in the techno beat. A great listen even 40 years later and jam packed full of dance tunes, this album is part of the origin story of modern club and dance music. Without Sweat Dreams, as well as late era Donna Summers and New Order's Blue Monday, we wouldn't have modern EDM.
5
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Sun May 14 2023
Kid A
Radiohead
Kid A was a worthy followup to OK Computer. The latter album represented a serious departure from previous Radiohead. It's a sonic landscape.
5
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Tue May 16 2023
Thriller
Michael Jackson
Probably one of the most hit filled albums ever, Thriller is jam packed with top 40 and top 100 hits. Production is exquisite and the songs iconic. Even people who didn't like Michael Jackson's previous albums or style, liked this album. It made him the King of Pop. It is the album that drove wider acceptance of black artists on MTV and among white audiences.
About the only complaint is that packaging is bland. The cover image looks backwards toward the late 70s and not to the future of music that this album helped create.
5
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Thu May 25 2023
Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin
Not just a classic Led Zeppelin album Zeppelin IV is one of the most iconic classic albums of all time. It's jam packed with great songs, not the least of which is "Stairway to Heaven". Their blues chops are truly on display on "When the Levee Breaks" and they go flat out prog rock on "The Battle of Evermore". "Black Dog" and "Rock and Roll" are hard rockers and "Going to California" is quiet and sweet. This is the full package.
Some people might eschew this album because "Stairway" has been violently overplayed. It's still a great song from one of the best rock albums of all time. Don't let overindulgence keep you from a near perfect rock album experience.
5
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Tue May 30 2023
The Specials
The Specials
THE classic album of Two Tone Ska. This is the album that kicked off the entire 80s Ska revival. In the U.S. reggae went mainstream first but led to interest in earlier Jamaican music. When this crossed the pond, all the Punks and New Wave types added Two Tone Ska to our repertoire.
Do the Dog alone makes this album worthwhile, but the whole album is great.
5
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Sat Jun 03 2023
The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
If you were around in 1982 and old enough to know what music you were hearing (in other words, an old person), it was impossible to ignore Run To The Hills. This album, along with Judas Priest's 1980 album British Steel, took heavy metal into the mainstream, much to the delight of college and high school chuckleheads.
The Number of the Beast is emblematic of the shift in heavy metal from amped up arena rock to what would become Hair Bands. Loud, rude, and full of imagery that your mother would hate. A true classic.
5