Best of 2005:Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté "In the Heart of the Moon" (2005)

2021 vinyl reissue

In the Heart of the Moon [debut]
release date: Sep. 13, 2005
format: cd / 2lp vinyl (2021 reissue)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,88]
producer: Nick Gold
label: World Circuit - nationality: Mali

Tracklist: 1. "Debe" (5 / 5) (live in Brussels) - 2. "Kala" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mamadou Boutiquier" (5 / 5) - 4. "Monsieur le Maire de Niafunké" (4 / 5) - 5. "Kaira" (4 / 5) - 6. "Simbo" - 7. "Ai Ga Bani" - 8. "Soumbou Ya Ya" - 9. "Naweye Toro" - 10. "Kadi Kadi" - 11. "Gomni" (4 / 5) - 12. "Hawa Dolo"

G R E A T! That's what this is. It's the collaboration debut by Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, two Malian musicians. The music is delicate, surreal and haunting. What rhythm, and what wonderful dreamy tunes these guys produce! Splendid music - and highly addictive. Play it when you drive to or from work, or just anywhere, when you read, or when you make love - just play it, and listen. It's extremely soothing for body and mind. I give it my warmest recommendations, and… I only need more of that kind! On this, Touré plays guitar and Diabeté plays the 21-stringed African kora, which is responsible for the spiderweb-like strings on this amazing release. The album received world-wide recognition and led to a World Live Tour with the two playing in Europe and USA.
Touré had been politically engaged and became mayor of the local town of Nianfunké in 2004, and although there are 25 years between these two musicians and they do sound as if having played together for years, when in fact the album was recorded without initial rehearsals and without Touré and Diabeté had played together for more than 3 hours in total over a span of 15 years.
Diabaté was 40 and Touré 65 years of age when this album was released, and most sadly, Touré died Mar. 2006 as a 66-year-old, only just experiencing the international acclaim this album was attributed. The album is the first in a series of three albums commonly known as the "Hotel Mandé Sessions" - the second would be Tourés last solo album Savane (released posthumously, Jul. 17, 2006) and Diabeté's Boulevard de l'Independence (credited Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra was released Jul. 25, 2006).

EDIT Jan. 2022:
I only just received a vinyl copy of the album. Alas, the album wasn't released on vinyl until 2012. The vendor sold it filed as a 2012 issue, but it turns out, it's a 2021 re-issue. Anyway, the album is for me a cornerstone in 'world music' and simply is one of those must-have releases I wish more people knew of.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

2005 Favourite releases: 1. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabeté In the Heart of the Moon - 2. Sigur Rós Takk... - 3. Kent Du & jag döden

original CD front

Best of 1988:Chet Baker "Memories: Chet Baker in Tokyo" (1988) (live)

'My' lp version

Memories: Chet Baker in Tokyo (live)
Release date: 1988
format: vinyl (K28P 6491) / digital
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,80]
producer: Shigeyuki Kawashima
label: Paddle Wheel - nationality: USA

*Tracklist: 1. "Stella by Starlight" - 2. "For Minors Only" - 3. "Almost Blue" [Elvis Costello cover] - 4. "Portrait in Black and White" - 5. "My Funny Valentine"
*[original vinyl version]

alternate cover

This album is sooo cool and... absolutely wonderful.
I always found that tiny bit more pleasure from Chet than Miles Davis - no bad feelings about Miles but I think it has to do with some inner feel and slow sincerity that is ever present in Chet's sound. And also, he's not a bad singer. He's not a great vocalist in terms of ability to articulate and produce clean clear notes but there's something extremely authentic and fragile in his voice that you also find in his instrumentation. The only real down side to this album is the short playing time, of course having it on cd as well, the repeat function really comes handy.

1988 Favourite releases: 1. Chet Baker Memories: Chet Baker in Tokyo - 2. R.E.M. Green - 3. Talk Talk Spirit of Eden

[ collectors' item ]

Best of 1991:Talk Talk "Laughing Stock" (1991)

org. vinyl cover

Laughing Stock
release date: Nov. 19, 1991
format: vinyl (847 717-1) / cd (1999 remaster)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,86]
producer: Tim Friese-Greene
label: Verve / Polydor - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Myrrhman" (5 / 5) - 2. "Ascension Day" (5 / 5) - 3. "After the Flood" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Taphead" (4 / 5) - 5. "New Grass" (5 / 5) - 6. "Runeii" (5 / 5)

5th and final studio album by Talk Talk originally released on the Polydor sub-label Verve Records. After the band's controversy with former label EMI, bassist Paul Webb left the band, officially reducing Talk Talk to a duo of Mark Hollis and drummer Lee Harris, but practically, Harris had left Talk Talk before recording the album. The band had become a one-man project, but Harris is still credited as band member because he was hired as session musician, and the 'real' duo of Talk Talk was rather one consisting of Hollis and producer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist Tim Friese-Greene, although he never was an official member of Talk Talk.
The music on Laughing Stock is the extended journey to what was initiated on The Colour of Spring (1986) and much bolder heard on Spirit of Eden (1988). It's like one long coherent composition, although, there are 6 tracks on the album. The music is inter-woven jazz rock, art rock, and / or experimental but ultimately post-rock compositions with thematic ideas as foundation to improvisations.
Of all the great Talk Talk albums, I have always loved this album the most. Alas, the vinyl pressing of the release is not impressively manufactured. The sound is too low and the quality of the record is poor. This is the sort of album you just need to own on optical disc because of the minimal and spatial sound. Hollis was never the arch typical star of the music industry - he always distanced himself from the media circus, be it TV, reporters and-the-like, and he only reluctantly agreed to make music videos to some of the band's singles - as he didn't believe in the whole idea of promoting music.
Laughing Stock was met by positive reviews but Hollis had no intentions of touring to promote the album, very much like it had been the issue with the previous album(s). By 1992 Hollis dissolved the band and withdrew from music to concentrate on his family. However, he would go on to release one critically acclaimed solo album, the eponymous Mark Hollis in 1998 - produced, only to fulfil the contractual obligations of the two albums record deal with Polydor. Unfortunately, he hasn't released music since. He was embraced as a gifted singer and songwriter, and although, he could have continued as a famous solo artist, producer and/or songwriter, Hollis just wanted no part of the business. Paul Webb and Lee Harris went on to launch their duo-project .O.rang - for two full-length albums after which Paul Webb founded his own (acclaimed) project Rustin Man, and Tim Friese-Greene initiated his solo project Heligoland. Both .O.rang and Heligoland expose some of the experimental ideas you'll find resonating with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.
Sigur Rós has played Talk Talk compositions when playing live, and alongside many bands of the mid- and late 90s (Mogwai, Recoil, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Radiohead, Portishead - yes, the list goes on) they have found much of their inspiration in Talk Talk and especially the band's last two albums that have come to stand like cornerstones of the modern music era.
To me, Laughing Stock is an album that I have always listened to - never a year without it - and I find it a modern masterpiece.
[ allmusic.com, Sputnikmusic 5 / 5, Q Magazine, Select 4 / 5 stars ]

1991 Favourite releases: 1. Talk Talk Laughing Stock - 2. Van Morrison Hymns to the Silence - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Strange Free World


[ collectors' item - plus €100,- and up for VG+ ]

1999 cd remaster

The Blue Nile "Hats" (1989)

Hats
release date: May 13, 1989
format: vinyl (LKH2) / digital
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,78]
producer: The Blue Nile
label: Linn Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Over the Hillside" (5 / 5) - 2. "The Downtown Lights" (5 / 5 ) - 3. "Let's Go Out Tonight" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Headlights on the Parade" (5 / 5) - 5. "From a Late Night Train" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Seven A.M." - 7. "Saturday Night" (4,5 / 5)

2nd studio album by The Blue Nile. All songs are credited vocalist and guitarist Paul Buchanan. I recall how I impatiently awaited this second album while I kept trying to figure out if they had already disbanded. Most other artists released at least a new album each year but it took 4½ years before this one came out. I rushed out to buy it, which wasn't really easy, and I remember playing the album over and over for years to come. It's really another classic work, and again, mostly just artists and critics were overwhelmed. A remastered 2-disc Collector's Edition was released in 2012 by Virgin, and it feature live versions, alternate mixes and two new studio songs ("Christmas" is previously unreleased, whereas "The Wires Are Down" is a B-side to the single "The Downtown Lights").
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, NME 4,5 / 5, Records Mirror, Sounds 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3/5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]
[ Danish review ]

1989 Favourite releases: 1. Pixies Doolittle - 2. The Blue Nile Hats - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Love Is Hell

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~

"Headlights On The Parade"

"And if in love she cried
Something wasn't right
'I'm sorry' - would be easy
To say I love you

Headlights on the parade
Light up the way
Headlights on the parade
Light up the way
I go, yeah

Close your eyes come with me
Only love is alive
Close your eyes can't you see
Only love will survive, yeah

Headlights on the parade
Light up the way, I love you

Headlights on the parade
Light up the way
I've made up my mind
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Only love will survive
Yeah

The city wins while you and I
Can't find a way
Oh, headlights on the parade, yeah, yeah

Fly little angel
Fly little angel
Yeah"

~ ~ ~

Van Morrison "The Best Of" (1990)

The Best Of (compilation)
release date: Feb. 5, 1990
format: cassette / cd (1998 remaster)
[album rate: 5 / 5]
producer: Van Morrison; various
label: Exile / Polydor - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Compilation album and first 'real' best of album by Van Morrison. 'Real' because a number of earlier releases exist such as several issued by Bang Records, but also releases on Bellaphon, London, Nova, DGR, Castle Communications, and Deram mostly just featuring songs from his first recordings while being signed with Bert Berns' label Bang and all released without Morrison's consent except for those released on Decca while playing with Them.
Apparently, Morrison had been reluctant wanting nothing to do in releasing a best of album in the first place, and only long discussions with his record label paved way for a release comprising some 25 years - from his first releases with "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Gloria" with Them from 1964 to "Have I Told You Lately" and "Whenever God Shines His Light" from his most recent album, Avalon Sunset (1989). Nearly all 20 songs (from 13 albums) are written entirely by Van himself, which really is an amazing collection of songs.
The album became and immediate commercial as well as critical success relaunching his musical career and it has also become his best-selling album to date. It peaked at number #4 in the UK and as number #1 in Australia. Since then, he has released another two best of albums: Best of - Volume 2 (1993), and the double album Best of - Volume 3 (2007).
I purchased the album on cassette upon its release in 1990, and it's definitely my most played cassette. My only complaint about this, is the record label's decision not to enlist the songs in chronological order; however, thanks to Morrison's varied stylistic moves and influences over nearly three decades, it's quite remarkable how coherent an album it is. Quite usually, best of albums are just not as good as the individual quality of songs but here's really an album only featuring top material that despite different styles and arrangements make up the finest whole.
Highly recommended.

Best of 1970:Creedence Clearwater Revival "Cosmo's Factory" (1970)

Cosmo's Factory
release date: Jul. 25, 1970
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,88]

Tracklist: A) 1. "Ramble Tamble" (5 / 5) - 2. "Before You Accuse Me" - 3. "Travelin' Band" (5 / 5) - 4. "Ooby Dooby" - 5. "Lookin' Out My Back Door" (5 / 5) - 6. "Run Through the Jungle" - - B) 1. "Up Around the Bend" (5 / 5) - 2. "My Baby Left Me" - 3. "Who'll Stop the Rain" - 4. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - 5. "Long as I Can See the Light"

5th studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival released on Fantasy Records and produced by John Fogerty who also wrote 7 of the album's 11 tracks. To me this is the very best of the band who never again would release an album at this level. The two predecessors Willy and the Poor Boys (Nov. 1969) and Green River (Aug. 1969) are both major album as well, but this one is in a league of its own. The album consists of only great tracks, and almost the entire album are made up of songs that today are pure classics. Unfortunately, the band rushed back into the studio after the release, and a sixth studio album Pendulum was already on the shelves Dec. 1970, which basically signaled the end of the band. I think, it's a bit of an achievement if you look at how the band was able to keep to their own trademarks of swamp rock country rock at a time when almost everyone made progressive rock, psychedelic rock or experimental rock. They started out two years and four albums earlier by playing country rock and blues rock like so many other bands did in '68 but these guys are perhaps the only ones who became that famous for sticking to their original style in the long run. John Fogerty was not just the primary songwriter but he was such a gifted musician that he almost tore the band apart as he wrote their songs, sang lead vocals, played lead guitar, and handled saxophone and piano - AND on top of that he also arranged and produced the album. So, it's understandable that they would argue about their musical direction. Maybe it would have been easier for the other members (not to mention his brother Tom) if they had agreed on the name 'John Fogerty & Creedence'. Nevertheless, they play as a unit with Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, Stu Cook on bass, and Doug Clifford on drums.
Even today it seems quite natural that the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

1970 Favourite releases: 1. Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo's Factory - 2. Van Morrison Moondance - 3. Neil Young After the Gold Rush

Best of 1999:The Chemical Brothers "Surrender" (1999)

Surrender
release date: Jun. 21, 1999
format: cd / 2lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,78]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Music: Response" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Under the Influence" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Out of Control" (feat. Bernard Sumner) (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Let Forever Be" (5 / 5) - 6. "The Sunshine Underground" (5 / 5) - 9. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" - 10. "Surrender" - 11. "Dream On" (5 / 5 )

3rd full-length album by The Chemical Brothers released on Freestyle and produced by the duo. Again, they have put together a strong big beat album, and this time they experiment within the genre of big beat to produce longer and more progressive or neo-psychedelic tracks. In fact, I think it takes off where Dig Your Own Hole (1997) ends with its two great end-tracks.
The track "The Sunshine Underground" is a marvellous piece - I simply can't get tired of that one, just like I can't help turning up the volume whenever I hear it. This is an absolute wonderful and 'must-have' album. Together with Further, I think this is where they touch the sky.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, NME 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

1999 Favourite releases: 1. The Chemical Brothers Surrender - 2. Underworld Beaucoup Fish - 3. Everything but the Girl Temperamental

Best of 1982:Laurie Anderson "Big Science" (1982)

Big Science [debut]
release date: Apr. 19, 1982
format: vinyl / cd (2007 remaster)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,78]
producer: Laurie Anderson, Roma Baran
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "From the Air" (5 / 5) - 2. "Big Science" - 3. "Sweaters" - 4. "Walking & Falling" - 5. "Born, Never Asked" (5 / 5) (live) - 6. "O Superman (For Massenet)" (5 / 5) - 7. "Example #22" - 8. "Let X=X" (live) - 9. "It Tango"

Studio album debut by Laurie Anderson released on Warner - the 2007 remaster by Nonesuch Records. This is a corner-stone of modern pop music, and it's a masterpiece of avant-garde art rock synthpop - and it's still fantastic. The music is extremely original, although one may find that she's inspired by other artists of modern classical minimalism and musique concrete, e.g. Frank Zappa, Jean Michel Jarre, John Cage, and perhaps most evidently: Philip Glass. Nevertheless, Anderson had already experimented with other ways of musical output from the 1960s, and the music on Big Science also contains traces to German, French, and Japanese electronic pop music but her special sound remains unique. The minimalist music is of course central but her play with words and lyrics is likewise at supreme level, which makes it such a masterpiece.

1982 Favourite releases: 1. Laurie Anderson Big Science - 2. Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters - 3. Elvis Costello & The Attractions Imperial Bedroom

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~

"It Tango"

"She said: it looks. don't you think it looks a lot like rain?
He said: isn't it. isn't it just. isn't it just like a woman?
She said: it's hard. it's just hard. it's just kind of hard to say.
He said: isn't it. isn't it just. isn't it just like a woman?
She said: it goes. that's the way it goes. it goes that way.
He said: isn't it. isn't it just like a woman?
She said: it takes. it takes one. it takes one to. it takes one to know one.
He said: isn't it just like a woman?
She said: she said it. she said it to no. she said it to no one.
Isn't it. isn't it just? isn't it just like a woman?
Your eye. today's work. to look into them.
your eyes. it's a day's work. just. looking into them."

~ ~ ~

Best of 1986:The Smiths "The Queen Is Dead" (1986)

The Queen Is Dead

release date: Jun. 16, 1986
format: vinyl (gatefold - ROUGH 96) / cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,85]
producer: Morrissey, Marr
label: Rough Trade Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "The Queen Is Dead / Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty (Medley)" (5 / 5) - 2. "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" (5 / 5) - 3. "I Know It's Over" (5 / 5) - 4. "Never Had No One Ever" (5 / 5) - 5. "Cemetry Gates" (5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" (5 / 5) - 3. "Vicar in a Tutu" (4 / 5) - 4. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (5 / 5) - 5. "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" (5 / 5)

3rd studio album by The Smiths produced by the songwriter duo Stephen Morrissey / Johnny Marr. The album is another step into new territories. The music is sharper and more punk rock-inspired with faster, shorter, and more energetic tracks. The lyrics are both a continuing of the introvert texts on sex and moral, political issues, but also a new sarcastic sneer at personal critics and the music industry in general. The album cover features Alain Delon in a 1964 film "L'Insoumis" ("The Unvanquished") by Alain Cavalier. Not long after the purchase, I soon realised that this album was now my favourite Smiths album, and I simply loved and heard "Cemetry Gates", "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side", "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" over and over again. The album is great and is by many considered not only the band's best but also one of the best albums ever to be recorded. I still can't single one out as the best - they all have their strengths. The album was ranked the greatest record of all time on NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and it's naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, Sputnik Music, Select 5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item 'near mint' - from ~ 50€ ]

1986 Favourite releases: 1. The Smiths The Queen Is Dead - 2. Talk Talk The Colour of Spring - 3. R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant

Best of 1994:The Prodigy "Music for the Jilted Generation" (1994)

Music for the Jilted Generation
release date: Jul. 14, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,82]
producer: Liam Howlett, Neil McLellan
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Intro" - 2. "Break & Enter" (5 / 5) - 3. "Their Law (feat. Pop Will Eat Itself)" - 4. "Full Throttle" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Voodoo People" (5 / 5) (org. video) - 6. "Speedway (Theme From Fastlane)" - 7. "The Heat (The Energy)" - 8. "Poison" - 9. "No Good (Start the Dance)" (org. video) - 10. "One Love (Edit)" (5 / 5) - 11. "The Narcotic Suite: 3 Kilos" - 12. "The Narcotic Suite: Skylined" - 13. "The Narcotic Suite: Claustrophobic Sting" (5 / 5)

2nd studio album by The Prodigy. The importance of this album can only be underestimated. When grunge rock was on its high with its focus on simplicity and with accepted 'normal' electrified instruments, programmed electronic music with breakbeat and big beat was the music for another huge fraction of music lovers. This is genius, and it's revolutionary. This was their first album to go to number #1 in the UK, as all their following albums have done, which is quite unique. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Record Collector 5 / 5, Sputnikmusic 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

1994 Favourite releases: 1. The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation - 2. Everything but the Girl Amplified Heart - 3. C.V. Jørgensen Sjælland

Best of 1983:New Order "Power, Corruption & Lies" (1983)

Power, Corruption & Lies
release date: May 2, 1983
format: vinyl (FACT 75) / cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,77]
producer: New Order
label: Factory / MNW - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Age of Consent" (5 / 5) (studio session) - 2. "We All Stand" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Village" (5 / 5) - 4. "586" - - B) 1. "Your Silent Face" - 2. "Ultraviolence" (live in '83) - 3. "Ecstacy" - 4. "Leave Me Alone" (5 / 5)

2nd studio album by New Order released as FACT 75 / FACT SEVENTY FIVE on Factory Records (Factory / MNW in Scandinavia). Although, it doesn't even contain "Blue Monday" released only two months prior to this, PC&L stands as New Order's masterpiece. With this, New Order was way ahead of anyone else at the time just like when (they as) Joy Division made their two classic albums. This is one of those very rare albums that just sounds like that and nothing or no one else. If someone should pick the most important album of the 80s they'd be in serious trouble and doubt as to whether to choose Closer (1980) or Power, Corruption & Lies by the same people. One of my all-time favourite tracks is "Leave Me Alone".
A 'Collector's Edition' was released as a double cd with tracks omitted from the album like "Blue Monday", "The Beach", and 1984 tracks like "Confusion" and "Thieves Like Us". I can only give this album my highest recommendations as the music, now more than 30 years old, still seems new, fresh and timeless.
Every home should have one!
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Blender 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

1983 Favourite releases: 1. New Order Power, Corruption & Lies - 2. Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones - 3. Big Country The Crossing

Kliché "Supertanker" (1980)

Supertanker [debut]
release date: 1980
format: vinyl (MdLP 6021) / cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,85]
producer: Kliché, Poul Bruun
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: A) 1. "Igen og igen" - 2. "Havets blå" (live) - 3. "Hetz" - 4. "Militskvinder" - 5. "Panorama" - - B) 1. "Aldrig mere" - 2. "Stjernerne i deres øjne" - 3. "Bodyguards" - 4. "Masselinjen"

reviewed Nov. 21, 2004
Studio debut album by the Danish band Kliché at this point consisting of Lars Hug [Lars Haagensen] on vocals and guitar, Johnny Voss [Johannes Møller] on bass and vocals, Jens Valo [Jens Danielsen] on keyboards, and with Anders Brill [Anders Gilberg] on drums. In my mind this is not only the most important Danish rock album but also the best. It was like a lightning from a clear blue sky when the album was released. Undoubtedly they had made some original singles and a noteworthy appearance on the Danish punk compilation Pære Punk but what sound (compare to other albums of the time), and what originality - it just blew you away! They dressed like Devo but the music was much more inspired by Eno (well, it was of course better!), Bowie and Roxy Music. However, they had hit the gas pedal and simplified and modernized the music. The album has no weak spots and it contains several truly original classics. Alas, they lit up so strongly and lasted only few years releasing only two albums - "but what a debut outta the blue!" This album is a must if you are interested in Danish rock. My top 3 of Danish albums: 1. Kliché Supertanker (1980), 2. Steppeulvene Hip (1967), 3. C.V. Jørgensen I det muntre hjørne (1989).

1980 Favourite releases: 1. Joy Division Closer - 2. Kliché Supertanker - 3. The Jam Sound Affects

[ collectors' item ]

... and one of their first singles: "Farvel" (not on this album)

Best of 1997:Buena Vista Social Club "Buena Vista Social Club" (1997)

Buena Vista Social Club [debut]
release date: Sep. 16, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]
producer: Ry Cooder
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

*Track highlights: 1. "Chan chan" - 7. "Veinte años" - 9. "Candela" - 10. "Amor de loca juventud"
*should be the entire album.

How I wish the world would have much more of this kind. This is a studio debut album in the sense that it's the first of its kind. The album features various traditional Cuban artists who were brought together by the Cuban musician, Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist, Ry Cooder. Cooder's love and interest for world music was the starting point of the project, which was an idea of releasing music with famous national Cuban artists who were literally unknown - internationally speaking. Luckily, Cooder realised the project of his dreams, which is so unique. Most of the performers were at the heights of their career in the 1940s and 1950s, and it's a mere wonder that they were still able to record this fabulous music for everyone to experience.
The album won international fame, topped the album charts world-wide, and it was nominated and won many prizes in the aftermath of its release. It's quite naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and several of the featuring artists on the album launched a late solo career, e.g. Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Rubén González, and Omara Portuondo.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5 stars ]

1997 Favourite releases: 1. Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club - 2. The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole - 3. The Divine Comedy A Short Album About Love

Best of 1981:The Cure "Faith" (1981)

FIX 6

Faith
release date: Apr. 14, 1981
format: vinyl (FIX 6) / cassette (1988 reissue) / (2cd) (2005 RM)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,82]
producer: The Cure, Mike Hedges
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "The Holy Hour" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Primary" (5 / 5) - 3. "Other Voices" (5 / 5) - 4. "All Cats Are Grey" (4 / 5) - 5. "The Funeral Party" (4 / 5) - 6. "Doubt" (4 / 5) - 7. "The Drowning Man" (5 / 5) - 8. "Faith" (4,5 / 5)

3rd studio album by The Cure following Seventeen Seconds (Apr. 1980), after which Matthieu Hartley left the band and they were back to a trio. Robert Smith also did keyboards on this album, and drummer Laurence Tolhurst also contributed with drum programming, although, he would eventually handle keyboards for the band.
One word: M a s t e r p i e c e . I hold this album very dear. I suppose I've heard it sooo many times on the turntable that the pick-up must've digged out some hidden... expressiveness... and unfortunately, but also inevitably, scratched it just a bit too much. I know, it's dark. It's sinister, it's cold, and it's depressive. Or actually not, really. When I was 16, and all school mates and everyone else at the time listened to old pop / rock, disco, funk, glam pop like Queen, ABBA, Jean Michel Jarre [going pop], ELO, Genesis, Boney M, Kim Wilde, Tina Turner etc. etc., I listened to punk rock, new wave, post-punk and gothic rock like this. I remember sitting in my room late in the evening on many cold winter days all by myself. I switched off all light, and had my best chair facing the dark window, only displaying the occasional lights of cars driving by and reflecting raindrops running slowly down. I sat there in my chair with my B&O headphones on with the volume turned to maximum. I would then sit there listening to this album over and over again while experiencing how good the songs made me feel. The music is soothing with its coldness, hopelessness, and by expressing such depression that it it had the exact opposite effect on me - it lifted me out of my own loneliness, my despair, making everything worthwhile in my melancholic teenage "weltschmerz". The Cure is one of many artists I've listened to long before they became international big stars. I recall the day I became hooked on The Cure. My best friend and I shared the same musical taste, and we listened to a program on the radio presenting new bands and music. I already knew The Jam, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and many others - but mainly punk rock or new wave bands, and this was something really new. Gothic rock had evolved from post-punk featuring Joy Division as the stylistic icon with bits from glam rock and progressive rock. On the radio that day, they had played tracks from Seventeen Seconds (1980), as well as Boy's Don't Cry (1980), and I was really hooked - I had never heard anything like this before. Of course we recorded the tracks on tape, so we could share and hear it again. One of the following days I went to my local record dealer with the intention to buy Seventeen Seconds but he had only just received the brand new album by The Cure, so I purchased Faith without really listening to it. The immediate impression as I returned home was bland, as this was something else than what I had heard and liked so much but after the first full listen, I was caught in the fascinating musical universe of Faith. I stayed a big fan of The Cure's music, and got tired of Robert Smith and Laurence Tolhurst with band [The Cure] in the mid-80s and especially with the release Disintegration - an album which most critics and an ever-growing audience received as a good progression. Later on they got even bigger but I didn't like it anymore. Nowadays, I hardly ever listen to The Cure although, I do understand why I liked it so much. Today, it may appear too linked up with the 1980s post-punk and gothic rock era but nevertheless, I find it a true modern classic, way more important than Michael Jackson's Thriller, and anyhow, it's one of a handful of albums from my teens that runs in my veins.
"Every home should have one".

I also have the original cassette Faith / Carnage Visors double issue in a 1988 reissue. The band made an instrumental soundtrack to a short film "Carnage Visors" by Simon Gallup's brother Ric Gallup and this was made available on this specific cassette issue only. 

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Sounds Magazine 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1981 Favourite releases: - 1. The Cure Faith - 2. The Sound From the Lions Mouth - 3. The Durutti Column LC

[ collectors' item ]

Best of 1989:Pixies "Doolittle" (1989)

Doolittle
release date: Apr. 17, 1989
format: vinyl (CAD 905) / cd (2008 reissue)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,88]
producer: Gil Norton
label: 4AD / Rough Trade - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) 1. "Debaser" (5 / 5) (live) - 2. "Tame" (5 / 5) (live) - 3. "Wave of Mutilation" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "I Bleed" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Here Comes Your Man" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Dead" - 7. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" (5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Mr. Grieves" - 2. "Crackity Jones" - 3. "La La Love You" (4 / 5) - 4. "No. 13 Baby" - 5. "There Goes My Gun" - 6. "Hey" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Silver" - 8. "Gouge Away" (4 / 5) (live)

2nd studio album by Pixies originally released on 4AD Records is the best album release in 1989, I think, and it's one of my all-time favourite albums. It is indeed Pixies at their best and is why it must be rated as a masterpiece. This is where Black Francis got it all right, leaving room for the others in the band: Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering, and where it seems they all directing everything into a dirty garage noise rock blasting synergy. Later on megalomania, or whatever it was, had Francis off track. After the fine but somewhat unfinished / incoherent debut Surfer Rosa (Mar. 1988) with promises of greatness they fulfilled all expectations on Doolittle. Never again should they make such a homogeneous and sparkling album of pure energy and playfulness. And although they were never bad later on, as I also enjoy Bossanova (1990) and Trompe le monde (1991), they never were quite as exquisite as here! Yes, once again Francis wrote almost everything but there was still room for Kim, although I think she found it a hard time working with Francis at this point. This is "only" their 2nd album but later on things went from hard to worse, as I guess Francis took the leadership into an ultimate phase and wanted control with everything. Pixies played very unlike any other band and all their releases share their specific signature but still, in my mind, this album is much better produced and orchestrated than their other albums. Gil Norton produced this as he did with the following two albums but I don't think he or the band ever got that synergistic touch right again. I think, this is the only album on which you hear traditional strings, and of course they shouldn't repeat themselves but progress and evolve but it really suits their noisy distorted sound to include soft, mellow strings - like adding another layer of contrast to their sound.
The album is deservedly enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME, Drowned in Sound 5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

1989 Favourite releases: 1. Pixies Doolittle - 2. The Blue Nile Hats - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Love Is Hell

Best of 1963:The Beatles "Please Please Me" (1963)

Please Please Me [debut]
release date: Mar. 22, 1963
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Saw Her Standing There" - 5. "Boys" - 6. "Ask Me Why" - 7. "Please Please Me" - - B) 1. "Love Me Do" - 2. "P.S. I Love You" - 4. "Do You Want to Know a Secret" - 6. "There's a Place" - 7. "Twist and Shout"

Studio album debut by The Beatles released on Parlophone Records and produced by George Martin. This was where the legend took off, and in my mind, the Beatles were best in the early years. The orginal album contains 14 tracks of which Lennon / McCartney wrote 8. Some point to the fact that The Fab Four was nothing but a copy or covers band as many of their hits were written by others. Well, that was much more common back then, as most major pop standards and rock & roll artists did the exact same thing. The only cover song on the album, which most people connect with The Beatles is "Twist and Shout". Besides that it is their own songs that really positions the album at the top of that years list.
I believe, I first listened to this album around 1975-76, when a classmate played his parents' copy of the album. I already knew most of the songs from the radio and from other albums, but I really understood their strength via this very album.

1963 Favourite releases: 1. The Beatles Please Please Me - 2. Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - 3. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Heat Wave

Not this particular album as such, but The Beatles play a big part of my earliest music memories that wasn't purely children's songs.

👉 Another one from that earliest stage.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Best of 1980:Joy Division "Closer" (1980)

Closer
release date: Jul. 17, 1980
format: vinyl (FACT 25) / cd (1988 reissue)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,92]
producer: Martin Hannett
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Atrocity Exhibition" (5 / 5) (live) - 2. "Isolation" - 3. "Passover" - 4. "Colony" - 5. "A Means to an End" - - B) 1. "Heart and Soul" (live) - 2. "Twenty Four Hours" (5 / 5) - 3. "The Eternal" (5 / 5) - 4. "Decades" (5 / 5)

2nd and final studio album by Joy Division is the equally stunning follow-up to the brilliant debut, and once again it features Martin Hannett as producer. The music has changed and seem much more mature but still it's unquestionable Joy Division and what a progression from the debut! The first track "Atrocity Exhibition" [a title with reference to a novel by J.G. Ballard "The Atrocity Exhibition") is a fantastic emotional journey where Stephen and Bernard proves their worth. This was the first track I ever heard with the band and it completely blew me over. I don't know if I've heard the debut or this one the most, as I loved them both.
Closer was better received by music fans and critics but the band could not continue without its iconic front figure. The overall theme in the lyrics of Ian Curtis is about... death. The cover of a tomb, selected before Curtis' untimely death, underlines the motif in an almost prophetic way. The album was released exactly two months after Ian's death. Ned Raggett of Allmusic.com today writes "Joy Division were at the height of their powers on Closer, equaling and arguably bettering the astonishing Unknown Pleasures, that's how accomplished the four members were. Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here."
Like the debut, the album is rightfully enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, NME, Select, Uncut, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone Album Guide 5 / 5 stars ]

1980 Favourite releases: 1. Joy Division Closer - 2. Kliché Supertanker - 3. The Jam Sound Affects

Best of 1972:David Bowie "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" (1972)

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
release date: Jun. 6, 1972
format: vinyl (1983 reissue) / cd (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,84]
producer: David Bowie, Ken Scott
label: RCA International - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Five Years" - 2. "Soul Love" - 3. "Moonage Daydream" - 4. "Starman" (5 / 5) - 5. "It Ain't Easy" - - B) 1. "Lady Stardust" - 2. "Star" (5 / 5) - 3. "Hang on to Yourself" - 4. "Ziggy Stardust" (5 / 5) - 5. "Suffragette City" (5 / 5) - 6. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"

5th studio album by David Bowie originally released on RCA Victor is co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, and it's simply one of the most acclaimed rock albums ever.

Compared to Hunky Dory it's a tighter glam rock album than the predominantly art rock style of Hunky Dory, although, half of the album apparently was written before the '71 album. The style and sound, would probably not have been the same - having released the songs earlier. The album sort of combines everything good about art rock - The Velvet Underground / Lou Reed inspiration ("Suffragette City", "Star"), ballad blues rock Led Zeppelin ("Moonage Daydream"), glam rock tightness of T. Rex ("Soul Love", "Hang on to Yourself"), and Bowie's ability to write great pop songs using what's needed.

Yes, the album is one of rock's greatest and most lauded albums, and needless to say, it figures on various best of-lists encompassing the best of the best of modern music. Among these it's included on Time Magazine's "All-Time 100 Albums", it's number #35 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" and naturally, it's included in "1001 Album You Must Hear Before You Die".

Back then, it fared quite well - although, it didn't go as high as its predecessor - making it to number #5 on the national chart list. Elsewhere around the world, including The US, the album was Bowie's commercially best performing album. Although, only 12 years of age, I knew of the album around '77 because of my older brother who had bought the vinyl album. I just don't recall him playing it that much, but I have always loved it, and I have always considered it Bowie's best - also in retrospect.

In 2002, EMI released the "30th Anniversary 2CD Edition" consisting of a new remaster of the original album and a bonus disc of 12 tracks with demos, alternate versions and outtakes.

The album has been analysed and commented a thousand times over, and it's one of those albums you can always put on to make people listen in awe.

This album is a must.

[ allmusic.com, Pitchfork 5 / 5, PopMatters 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1972 Favourite releases: 1. David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars - 2. Lou Reed Transformer - 3. Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick

"30th Anniversary 2CD Edition"
2002 remaster

Best of 1964:Getz / Gilberto "Getz - Gilberto (feat. Antônio Carlos Jobim)" (1964)

Getz / Gilberto (feat. Antônio Carlos Jobim)
release date: Mar. 1964
format: cd (1997 Verve Master Edition)
[album rate: 5 / 5]
producer: Creed Taylor
label: Verve Records / PolyGram / MGM - nationality: Brazil - USA

"So Danço Samba"

Iconic bossa nova jazz album by Stan Getz and João Gilberto.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Best of 1976:Jean-Michel Jarre "Oxygène" (1976)

Oxygène
release date: Dec. 1976
format: vinyl (1977 Scandinavia) / cd
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,82]
producer: Jean Michel Jarre
label: Polydor Records - nationality: France

Tracklist: 1. "Oxygène (Part I)" - 2. "Oxygène (Part II)" - 3. "Oxygène (Part III)" - 4. "Oxygène (Part IV)" - 5. "Oxygène (Part V)" 6. "Oxygène (Part VI)"

3rd studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre, originally released on Disques Dreyfus, is the French avantgardist's surreal yet sublime masterpiece, which is a corner stone for all electronic music. I was just a little more than 10 years old when the album came out, but I remember it 'cause my older brother bought the album a few years later and he played it a lot. This is from a time when I first became aware of the many different qualities of various types of music. At the age of 14 I visited London for the first time, and today, more than 30 years later, I still recall many of the album titles that I brought back home from that trip, and this was just one of them. Jarre was ahead of his time, and it was like looking into the future when listening to his music. I still listened to ABBA and Boney M, so this was something quite different. The album is still fascinating as a modern classic, and it has probably inspired many electronic artists in the present time of the release but also in the many new shapes of electronic eras since then.
The album is the only album by Jarre to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[allmusic.com 5 / 5 stars]

1976 Favourite releases: 1. Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygène - 2. Ramones Ramones - 3. Ennio Morricone Novecento (OST)