1996

This is an exciting year!  I could write about it in my sleep, I have listened to these albums so much.  What is  extra special about it, though is that it is when I really became aware  of music as it happened, rather than with a slight delay, so from here on out it gets even more personal.  There  is  one major problem with this year and that is a lack of diversity, but it could have been a lot worse...

10.  The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Take it From The Man!
The late 90s was full of great great music from the BJM and for a while they rivaled GbV in terms of output.  At this time, their quality and time control had left a bit to be desired, so this is the only one of the three great albums they put out this year to make it.  It is some of their rawest and most aggressive material of all and opener "Vacuum Boots" kicks it off with their signature multiple-guitar attack.  Though the psychedelia/shoegaze is a little lower than usual this is perhaps the definitive  BJM record in that it is probably the one that Jones himself would enjoy the most with all its punk-blues swagger.  It also has some of Matt Hollywood's best leads like "Who?" and "B.S.A." and plenty of explicit credit given to the band's influence.  One of many great records from one of the 90s' best bands and certainly the most tambourine you'll get.

9.  Guided by Voices - Tonics and Twisted Chasers
...and here it begins.  This fanclub-only LP (later released as a limited edition CD the next year) is now accepted the the regular GbV cannon, though recorded and written almost  entirely by Bob and Toby it is more of an Airport 5 project.  It is pretty stripped down with few  drums and lots of acoustic guitars, but the songs are some of their best and most  sentimental, including major standout "Dayton, Ohio - 19 something and 5."  Short folk songs like "Is She Ever?" and "The Key Losers" are the greatest, but the loose environment also allows some of the stranger  diversions into psych, prog, and the strange language of lo-fi - my favorite being "Ha Ha Man."  Bob and  Toby may sing together here more than ever, enough of a reason not to skip this one.  The CD tracks include more of the band, best with the acid punk of "Girl From the Sun."  GbV at their peak and their last all lo-fi album.

8.  Butthole Surfers - Electric Larryland
Some people hate this album, but what do they know about love?  This album is pretty true to what the Surfers were about the whole time, just a bit more mature and polished. Where the last three, or even four albums had been too much of one thing this one  is truly eclectic ranging from the heavy speed of "Ulcer Breakout" to the more gentle "The Jingle of a Dog's Collar" and the Spacemen 3 nod "Space," in addition to the studio creations "My Brother's Wife" and "Let's Talk About Cars."  Their experiments with programmed beats proved to be the most successful in scoring the hit "Pepper" with its JFK assassination-themed video being straight out of their original vision.  The even more psychedelic "The Lord Is A Monkey" may use the hip-hop influence even better, and "T.V. Star" is their boldest foray into country.  In truth, all the songs are great if you don't mind your Buttholes a little cleaner.  They're still the same band, maybe more than ever.

7.  Tobin Sprout - Carnival Boy
Both Toby and Bob put out their first solo album this year and generally this one gets a little more credit, as the cover would indicate, it is "POP."  Sprout would distinguish himself further up the road, but this one is like a set of his GbV songs, though in most cases, most evidently on this version of "It's Like Soul Man," less lo-fi.    The most memorable songs on the record are some of the best to come out of the Dayton, Ohio camp such as "Gas Daaddy Gas," "To My Beloved Martha," and the gigantic closer "The Last Man Well Known To Kingpin," in which his lyrics out-abstract Pollard's yet fulfill every rock and roll fantasy even more directly.  Though it is full of short, lo-fi instrumentals this is less experimental than the band's project's and is one of the best pop records of its time.  Like most of of  Sprout's albums it is as essential as proper GbV releases for any official iron man.

6.  Stereolab - Emporer Tomato Ketchup
Many consider this Sterolab's best work, but for a band who has taken on so many sounds, that would be a bit trite.  It is maybe their most distinct, and  certainly better than a few.  It has a smooth and clean sound despite all the experimentation, owing more of a debt to Serge Gainsbourg than usual.  It makes the album perfect for a lounge setting even at its krautiest thanks to the Laetitia Sadier's voice and some slow-paced, but tright song writing like on the title track.  While it may not have the immediate energy of their early work, the catchy songs with the lyrics not being the only thing distinctly French like "Cybele's Reverie" make up for it.  The band lives up to its name more than ever in combining styles like exotica, krautrock, and chanson so flawlessly and making it all sound like it's still from the future, albeit the more tasteful one envisioned decades before by the likes of Esquivel and Gene Roddenberry.

5.  Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
In trying to keep my true beliefs about these albums by not altering the ranking order this is hard to write about, but that's my cross  to bear.  After Belle and Sebastian blew up they quickly put this second album together which Stuart Murdoch still considers his best set of songs.  That is respectable,  especially since the other members move din a bit afterward, but there is nothing new to be desired from another ten flawless pieces  of folky chamber pop.  B&S shows them to be one of the most tasteful bands with their arrangements having such a subtle dynamic, with each letting the other fill their perfect space, much like Speed the Plough.  While usually regarded as soft and old-fashioned the band has always been fearless in throwing a surprising new sound here and there, only fitting for a voice like Murdoch's.  His lyrics hit the hardest here being a little more perplexing than before and mastering the dark lyrics-happy melody dichotomy with cinematic  references in "Like Dylan in the Movies."

4.  Beck - Odelay
I was jumping around on the trampoline in the foyer with MTV playing in the family room when they announced  the premier of Beck's new video.  I did not know who he was by name, but I felt compelled to watch and as the hot California sun rose to that Fender Rhodes my mind was blown.  The next few minutes contained nods to and samples of the Fogs, Gary Wilson,  Captain Beefheart,  William Shatner, and too many others to name.  This was of course, "Where It's At," and luckily the mainstream media agreed for once and this album was riding high for the next  year with hits like "The New Pollution, " "Jack-Ass," and of course "Devil's Haircut."  This Dust Brother's collaboration was and still is one of the coolest things ever created and made the 90s a lot more interesting than grunge, gangsta rap, and mainstream crossover of industrial music (wtf) combined.  It's something else and came to define Beck, perhaps for the worst, but it's all there and it's all good, good, good...

3.  Belle  and Sebastian - Tigermilk
Legend has it that Stuart Murdoch and bassist Stuart  David formed the band with the first five musicians they found.  If that's true it is nothing short of a miracle.  What may be even more miraculous is how it turned out, not just in the quality of the music and its overnight success, but in the establishment of the group's distinct identity.  The  cover, the sound, the impossibly disturbed and relatable stories with that old-world charm, it is a marvel.  Somehow it also turned out to be the best thing they made with Stuart's greatest songs with such timelessly beautiful songs as "We Rule the School" and closing track "Mary Jo" presenting a kind  of song far removed from what was going on on both sides of that Atlantic and rightfully creating swarms of imitators.  From the very opening of "The State I Am In," all questions about the band's importance are thrown out and these modern symphonic folk tales take on their full power to move and affect.  Truly the dawning of something new and great.

2.  Guided by Voices - Under the Bushes Under the Stars
Initially intended as a  concept album (in Uncle Bob's words, "our The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway") entitled The Power of Suck, this album had a long history involving the return to real  studios and using real producers like Steve Albini and Kim Deal which may have destroyed the classic lineup.  The most notable survivor was "Don't Stop Now," with its string arrangements and excellent production making it one of the band's most epic songs and being the story of the band's classic lineup, which was already augmented by new addition Jim Greer.  Someof the band's greatest songs are here such as opener "Man Called Aerodynamics," the cautionary crescendo of "Cut Out Witch" and the heavenly guitars of "Drag Days."  Even as his home-life falls apart Pollard pays tribute to his daughter one "Your Name Is Wild," one of his best love songs, even if it is about  a different kind of love, and Sprout is on top of his game too with "Atom Eyes" and the more rocking lo-fi version of "It's Like Soul Man."  As trying as this transition proved to for the band the ending result was yet another amazing album.  Don't be fooled by  the fact that it didn't make the top spot still waiting to be rediscovered and hailed as another one of the group's many masterpieces.

1.  The Olivia Tremor Control - Music From the Unrealized  Film Script:  Dusk At Cubist Castle
GbV being at #2 says more about the outstanding quality of this  album rather than any flaws in the other.  Elephant 6's greatest band finally gets to make their big statement around their complicated, if even coherent "California Demise" concept.  The plot involving two girls - Jacqueline and Olivia, around the turn of the century attaining knowledge of the devastating West Coast earthquake is completely incidental to the  dense psychedelic pop found on this  double LP.  This is what the Beatles would  have sounded like in 1972  had they continued down the strawberry fields and not broken up.  The band does it all - constructing long, complicated suites, experimenting with Robert Schneider's  complicated lo-fi  superstudio, and using both antiquated and futuristic technology to successfully revive the best sounds of the 60s.  They can appear as though music has not changed in 30 years on "Define a Transparent Dream" even after beginning with punk overture "The Opera House."  Folk rockers like "Courtyard" fit in as well as experimental tracks like "Tropical  Bells" and "Dusk at Cubist Castle" while side three forces it all together with "Green Typewriters" unpredictably moving from pop to avant-garde, long to short, and pleasant to abrasive.  Proving their skills beyond mere "indie pop" on more complicated arrangements like "No Growing (Exegesis)" and "Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3" they are at their best on the moments of pure beauty "Marking Time" and closer "NYC-25."  It may not get  any better than this, OTC  had it all going for them, but they wanted even more and would do it soon enough...

You can expect 1997 Friday.

1995

Another interesting little year.  Some people thought it was all over when Cobain died, but they were only paying attention to the Top 40, if you watched the top 100 you saw a bit more.  That's what fools a lot of people into thinking this decade was really great, you just did not have to pay that much attention to catch a lot of the good stuff.  Less attention that usual,  yes.  Anyway, this year is kinda meh.  However the top of the heap is pretty life-changing stuff - so close I really hate ranking them, and considering that Yo La Tengo did not make it how bad can it be?

10.  The Bats - Couchmaster
All the Bats' albums are great and the ones that did not make the lists almost did.  Unfortunately this was the last  one  they made for ten years.  I did  not get into it until one of the many times I was living on  a couch and totally ruling.  That's is irrelevant, but cute.  1995 was a good year for Robert Scott (more on that later) and he takes  more control than usual, though Kaye Woodward's "Shoeshine" is one of the best songs and show that she has a whole lot more too offer than just a great voice and guitar-playing ability.  On the whole it is probably the Bats' moodiest album at has a more unified  atmosphere than usual.  It, as I have realized most of my favorite music, is a great example of loud electric folk music with the quartet's sound even more singular than in the past.  Classic Zealand.

9.  The Magick Heads - Before We Go Under

This is the other reason why 1995 was such a good year for Robert Scott.  This side project with vocalist Jane Sinnott has all the bright side the Bats lacked this year.  Scott returns to bass, asserting the control he seems to have  been craving of the  music, but his harmonies with Sinnott are even tighter and more majestic than with Woodward.  As to be expected from the killer single released years before "Back of Her Hand" and the hugging penguins on the cover this is a very sweet album - almost twee.  It's a bit better than that and though bright, there is a lot of mood, such as on "Seventh Sense" and the title track.  Perhaps due to the long hiatus his other band would take opener "Standing on the Edge" is a perfect song  for a new beginning with a lot of heart evoked perfectly with the inclusion of strings.  Essential for any fan of the Bats.

8.  Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
With their short haircuts, the Fanclub has completely moved away from their heavy metal roots and are completely in Big Star territory here.   What fans may miss from the wailing distortion of Bandwagonesque is outdone by some of the catchiest tunes and finest harmonies of the decade.  All  three singer/songwriters in the band are at their best, particularly the previously quiet Raymond McGinley whose "About You" opens this album of clean, jangly guitar pop far removed from both the mainstream and underground of its time.  However, it is the next  track "Sparky's Dream" that steals the show with its unforgettable chorus and flighty lyrics.  Always self-aware, they end with "Hardcore/Ballad" for anyone who still wants to hear  them cranked up... for a little while.

7.  Björk - Post

Moving to England, the Icelandic singer took in all the more international culture had  to offer and defined one side of the 90s.  With electronica and industrial becoming mainstream the futuristic artist incorporates a lot of heavy electronic sounds in her arrangements while wisely incorporating a certain amount of psychedelia.  It can be a bit frightening at times and as it should be for such a troubled individual, but it all contributes to an atmosphere that Björk makes all her own and keeps such a popular album amazingly avant-garde.  Even the dance hit "I Miss You," is full of otherworldly weirdness that makes this album so peerless even decades later.  Of course there is the major change of pace in "It's Oh  So Quiet," but the big band song is a nice relief.  "Hyperballad" is the real winner, though, with all the confusing drama that makes Björk such a fascinating figure and her music so surreal and cinematic.

6.  Speed the Plough - Marina
New Jersey's greatest band continues their growth and exploration of some of the music unique music ever made.  This is the most traditionally "heavy" album they made, yet it is still full of the delicate beauty that makes them so distinct, with some of Toni Baumgartner's most beautiful playing.  If the songs sound more traditional, it is only because  they are more focused, but the musicians are also going beyond their best boundaries a bit more.  In a sense, there is less krauty tension and more of the folk freedom that allows such a large band to prosper.  Sounds move into new  directions and styles and arrangements divert more than ever before, with breakdowns like the one in "Love Song" allowing a new kind of dynamic opposed to their previously dense flow.  A gorgeous and fearless concoction and a product of incomparable geniuses always bettering their craft.

5.  Pulp - Different Class
The one Britpop album on the list gets that honor by being so distinctly English.  Thanks to a wonderful documentary on "Common People" that really turned my on to Pulp I know that this is the most culturally relevant Britpop albums with all its commentary on the sick British class system.  Opener "Mis-Shapes" may achieve all that even better than the mega-hit.  With all his sleaze, Jarvis  Cocker proves he has a romantic, nostalgic heart with "Something Changed" and "Disco 2000," a song that still makes that year sound like the future and a perfect time to catch up with an old love for some innocent fun.  Still, the more perverse moments  really suck you in the most like "I Spy" and the  epic "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E."  As you can probably tell, sometimes I'm like, "fuck Britpop," but I cannot deny that this  album is great.  Every song is a winner, and as repugnant as he can be at times, Jarvis Cocker will always win you over with his charm.  No one writes a song about his love being fucked by another bloke so well.

4.  The Apples in Stereo - Fun Trick Noisemaker
The Elephant 6 collective finally makes its first appearance here with  the  debut  by  Denver's The Apples In Stereo.  Robert Schneider shows off his exceptional production skills with this big and dense lo-fi record.  The band mixes psychedelia, pop, punk, and even a little space rock into this album that's as much fun as a bubblegum dance party (see "Dots 1-2-3" if not  convinced).  Not since the Paisley Underground has a band dived into the 60s so wholeheartedly and songs like "Lucky Charm" and "Glowworm" showing how much some trippy pop music was needed in the bleak landscape of American music in the 90s.  Summer permeates though the wall of sound on "High Tide" and Hilarie Sidney's "Winter Must Be Cold."  The band's collaborative dynamic is also proven with instrumental "Innerspace" and this is the  only album featuring original bassist and crucial part of the band's history Jim McIntyre.  A perfect debut from one of the greatest bands  of our time and the fruition of a movement more influential than many realize.

3.  PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Polly Harvey ditches her band and reunites with early collaborator John Parish while finding new, as important ones Flood and Mick Harvey (no relation).  This allows her a lot more freedom and this album as apocalyptic and only slightly less explicit than the last is full of bold experimentation.  When roots music and keyboards were at their least popular she makes a blues album led by an organ distorted enough to fool a few listeners into thinking this fit the "alternative rock" mold.  Themes include childbirth - usually relating to rape and murder, prostitution/ownership ("Working For The Man" probably the best  song I have  heard on that subject), violent sex, and the crushing, desperate love on the opening title track.  All if it is  soaked and stained in a sense sultry quality that it is as alluring as it is discomforting which the singer perfectly captured in her image at the time, appearing like a little girl who broke into her mother's room and tries to look like a cheap sex goddess.  It all worked perfectly and single "Down By The Water" is the perfect door into this depraved world of true blues.

2.  Pavement - Wowee Zowee
It is impossible to write about this album without mentioning that it is Pavement's stoniest.  That does best to explain its odd single choices.  It also expanded the band's sound with the incorporation of lots more keyboards, acoustic guitars and even plenty of country sounds (it was recorded in Nashville).  This loose experimentation also resulted in this being the band's most original work with comparisons to their influences and even peers failing to capture much.  There is  a psychedelic tinge on the atmosphere especially on the stunning guitar interplay of "Grounded" and the way that this eclectic  set flows and fades together as such a unified piece.  The dramatic folky opener "We Dance" sets the perfect mood of  wonder and fits as much as the punk of "Serpentine Pad," the more "traditional" indie rock of "AT&T" and the indescribable "Rattled by The Rush."  I still have trouble believing that Malkmus is the sole songwriter of these songs as these arrangements are so  tight  in their sloppiness I don't see how one mind could plan it this way.  He  doesn't as Scott Kannberg's presence is at its strongest with "Kennel District" and the spacey closer "Western Homes" being two of the album's best tracks.  This ist Pavement's best record.

1.  Guided by Voices - Alien Lanes
Watch me bulldoze every bulldozer away:  Some people think this  is GbV's best and that is because all 28 of these songs kick ass.  The album opens with the band's true theme song (so much that it brought about the famous neon sign onstage) "A Salty Salute" - a tribute  to drunk driving, American servicemen, fishing trips, and of course, the Monument Club.  It also is maybe their funniest album with lyrics like "introducing the amazing rocket head!  You know what the deal is, dude!" and the inclusion of a snoring man on "Ex-Supermodel."  Every song has been every fan's favorite at some point, but I usually say "Blimps  Go 90," though fist-pumper "Motor Away" and the record industry-inspired "Game of Pricks," are the most universal choices.  All of their talents are evident such as their ability for a sing along like "As We Go Up, We Go Down," to still distract you with its phenomenal bass playing and formulating true songs under 30 seconds like "Cigarette Tricks" and "Hit."  The lyrics cover as wide a ground from the chilling "suspicion creeps to you like rapists in the night" of "(I Wanna Be a) Dumbcharger" to the joyous anthem of "Alright" that concludes the album in  heaven.  Toby is also at his best with his speedy guitar  and vocals pop on "A Good Flying Bird" and Little Whirl."  The rock gets bigger too with heavy tracks like the Gred Demos theme "Striped White Jets" and "Auditorium."  Genesis-inspired weirdness prevails as well with "Always Crush Me" and "King and Caroline," keeping the band far from being stereotypical snarky indie rockers.  I could write about each song forever, this is GbV at their best.  In short:  This is called the coming of age.

1994

So, the  thing that's so special about this year is it the first,  and possibly only year that is all American.  I am proud of that as I am all about jingoism.  It's a shame though, because two  really great British albums this came out this year and almost made it.  You probably already know I am referring to Pulp's His 'N' Hers and Blur's Parklife which are as English as it gets.  So fuck that, and let's welcome the dominance of rock's true homeland for (most of) the rest of time.  This was  the year of indie rock in the 90s sense, when it rocked.

10.  Superchunk - Foolish
I just read the A.V. Club blurb about Kim Gordon discussing her  break-up with Thurston (I wonder about these "younger men" she is seeing) but 19 years ago there was a much more interesting break-up and that is what this album is about.  Bandmates date and brea up all the time, but they seldom remain in the same band and record label head position AND make an album all about it.  That has a lot to do with what makes this one of the North Carolina band's best records.  It is also the second album with legendary drummer Jon Wurster and despite, or probably because of, unimaginable tension the classic lineup sounds better than ever.  Naturally, it is their angriest album and rage and frustration suits Mac McCaughin's vocals and both guitars very well.  Anchored by the amazing  second track "The First Part," this is Superchunk at their best and heaviest, doing a fine job compensating for the absence of their usual humor.  Not letting her ex hog all the rage Laura Ballance did the album art.

9.  Sebadoh - Bakesale
Like most of the similar groups Sebadoh moves away from being a bedroom lo-fi project and into sounding like a real band, even with the loss of drummer Eric Gaffney.  It is a more accessible, rock-based affair than III, but still is diverse and adventurous.  Barlow, Lowenstein, and even fill-in drummer Bob Fay ("Temptation Tide") contribute tight pop songs instead of weird experiments and collages that can evoke the successful live band worthy of the founding Dinosaur Jr. bassist.  Energy is up and focused with Lowenstein's "Dramamine" condensing all his apparent talents into one of his best songs of all.  For those not into tape his and creepy aesthetics  this is the ideal Sebadoh album.  Love that album cover with one year old Barlow...

8.  Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Orange
One of the most appropriately-named bands and the hippest thing in New York City during the Giuliani  era made their best and closest thing to a breakthrough here.  Beginning with the orchestral build into Birthday Party-worthy energy of "Bellbottoms," the bass-less group busts out the swinginest, most groovy onslaught of twangy distortion and thudding drums inspiring generations of less successful groups.  The relentless album oozes with swaggering personality and good old fashion sexuality that had to take on a vintage aesthetic for how ahead of its time it was - check "Full Grown" for some real fucking music.  Not needing to rely on the vulgarity and shock tactics of his pervious band Pussy Galore Jon Spencer with Judah Bauer and Russell Simins create an album that at the correct volume could destroy any room in which it is played.

7.  Meat Puppets - Too High To Die
Following their very public endorsements from Nirvana even the Meat Puppets got a share of the alternative explosion pie with the wailing "Backwater," still a staple of rock radio (I presume) and the Pups live set.  Sometimes it is dismissed by the purists, but the trio sounds as great as ever and better than most of the time here.  While the country influence pops up in a few places, the band pulls out their hard rock and psychedelic talents on some of their most complex and extendable material.  The versions on the album are all pretty concise, although solos on the likes of "Flaming Heart" could definitely go on longer.  Cris even contributes more than usual with his composition "Evil Love" being one of  the best songs.  With  a band who has always been trying different sounds to great success it is not just unfair, but grossly inaccurate to say this is their most mainstream record, but it is one worthy of its success.  A new, inferior version of "Lake of Fire" is included at the  end for all the grunge kids  who just wanted old material.

6.  Archers  of Loaf - Icky Mettle
The other big Chapel Hill group made something even better on this debut.  Eric Bachmann and his band gets loud and emotional in a more tasteful and mature way than any other band going for those sounds.  Full of distortion and heavy riffs, it would not be wrong to call it "post-hardcore," but it is just too cool for that.  "Plumb Line" and "Wrong" are just too catchy and efficiently-constructed  to imply that kind  of attitude about this album.  There is plenty of anger, but it  is always presented in a fun and self-aware way and the lyrics and even Bachmann's raised voice wisely let the heavy rhythms and dynamic guitar interplay do most of the work.  People knew it at the time that this is the truth  of 90s indie rock.  Still is one  of the best examples.

5.  Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
Being "post-hardcore" is not always  a bad thing.  It usually is, but Drive Like Jehu made some really amazing music of that type and this  is their best work.  Songs have grown  even more and the  band  shows  little regard for anything  other  than  the music with the vinyl extending onto an  additional 7-inch.  The whole thing is great and I will mention some amazing titles like "Do You Compute?" and "Super Unison," but I really want to talk about "Luau."  That is one of the greatest songs I have ever heard and the band wields intensity like no other.  The rhythm section is so focused and calculated that the nearly ten-minute track never waivers in its chilling tension.  Then there are the guitars which capture  the band's tension so  well it sounds like each guitarist  is trying to kill the other with the awesome noise their reckless abandon creates.  It creates the kind of speechlessness that demands to be repeated over and over again.  Regardless of what you think of "this kind of thing," (and I don't think much, personally) this album is not to be missed.  Suit up,

4.  Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wring With Love
As far as their 9s work goes, this is the Boise group's most-pop oriented album.  The only  other album with Martsch's plan of using a different  band in effect if adds bassist Brett Nelson who continues  with the band, and Andy Capp on drums in a much more straight-forward sound than the preceding album.  All of these songs have a tight, live feel, with the exception of collage "Preview" keeping up the lo-fi eccentricity.  The sense of humor is still  there as heard on the aforementioned track and "Dystopian Dream Girl," but with "Car" and "Fling" there is enough raw emotion to keep the next decade's teenagers interested.  Though it is less pieced-together than  its predecessor, Martsch further explores his love of layers with the stacks and stacks of guitars and vocals dominating almost  every song on the album.  This all these catchy little songs with all their quirks like "Twin Falls" and "Big Dipper" this is the blueprint  for what is still called "indie-pop."

3.  Weezer - Weezer
More undeniable guitar pop.  Though in this case we are dealing with a true lunatic.  This year's most commercially successful album is also the most sweet, twisted, and insane.  River's Cuomo is not a functioning person, but with the help of his band (most importantly drummer and occasionally  co-song writer Patrick Wilson) and producer Ric Ocasek he manages to create a perfect pop album.  Inspired by Nirvana and Pavement he puts forth the best of the underground to the mainstream in a more intelligent and enjoyable way than the grunge wannabes that took years to die off.  Their name says it all, this is music by rejected nerds, but all that one could hope for from such a person is delivered with a sincere perfection that even left Robert Pollard envious.  You have all heard this, so no need to continue.

2.  Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
The new five-piece Pavement with Steve West makes their debut and it's a whole lot cleaner that expected.  Still it is a loose affair and only commercial if you're from New Zealand, as the band's debt  to the Flying Nun greats really comes out, enough for the label to put out this album in the country.  Still the push for mainstream acceptance was made and thanks in no small part to Mike Judge it was somewhat  successful with the band and songs like "Cut Your Hair" and "Range Life" knowledge to the more  observant and savvy across the United States.  Still the band could not care less with the latter calling out more successful artists and "Unfair" slamming the city/culture they wisely rejected.  Pavement has always been one of the most fun bands on the scene, even when tensions were tearing them apart and that is apparent in songs like "Gold Soundz" and the videos that accompanied them, but their dark, mysterious atmosphere is also developing on songs like "Newark Wilder" and the instrumental "5-4=Unity."  While this may be a definitive record, it is made that way by the group's free spirit and organic chemistry.  Amazing album.  "Elevate Me Later" just came on.  Forgot about it for a few years  there, what a masterpiece.

1.  Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
No surprises here.  I have no hesitation in saying that this is the best album ever made.  Some others may come close, but I feel totally comfortable saying that this is the voice of God.  Other GbV albums may match it in song quality and quantity, but this ones has a certain transcendence that is seldom heard, apparent from the very beginning of "Hardcore UFO's",  an absolute favorite of true fans.  With the title and cover shrouded in magic and fantasy, and mystery, this is an album that covers the entire expanse of the imagination.  There are nightmares like "Buzzards and Dreadful Crows" and "Demons Are Real," and heartbreaking moments of staggering beauty  like "The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory" and "Ester's Day."  Then there are dramatic relationships of "Tractor Rape Chain" and "Her Psychology Today," with "Peep-Hole," maybe the sweetest love song ever written.  Even still, there is the sext glam rock of "Hot Freaks" and of course the band's best-known and enduring anthem "I Am A Scientist."  The real beauty, though, is that everything is up for interpretation with the likes of "Yours To Keep" seen by some as a lament to the disappointment of life and others as a fantasy adventure or "Smothered In Hugs," which evokes fear of success, wavering support from loved ones, and the loss of a more predictable and simple life on  the textbook committee.  This album can give you the truth about human existence most hope for only on their descent into heaven.  That is what it sounds like, too.  This is the best work by the best band ever.  I have been tearing up writing this and I don't even think it even gets the point across at all.  You're not an airplane, but in the playground of your mind, you can be anything.

1993

Taking a night off was a wise choice.  I feel better and this year has been well absorbed.  It has  changed a lot in the last day.  This is not a bad year, but  back in high school when I did top 5s for the  same years up to that point (mid 2004) I could barely finish it.  I am more caught up now.  America is  really ruling at this point and it's pretty apparent  from the beginning.  A certain shithead producer whose best work was already behind him dominates.

10.  Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
Apart from being a lovely hybrid of "alternative" rock and country Uncle Tupelo's last album could not be any more different from its first.  The band had expanded to a five-piece by now and apart from Jay Farrar's presence it is pretty much literally Wilco.  That's a good thing, they are a better band!  Still Farrar is a crucial part and as a musician he has only gotten better in the last three years...  But not as much as Jeff Tweedy who now equals his fellow vocalist/guitarist, largely by embracing a wider array of influences as he would in his subsequent career.  The rest of the band would follow him and in the case of bassist John Stirratt still remains at his side.  The addition of multi-instrumentalist Max johnston does the most to put the band further  into roots music,  but also to diversify the sound so much that it caused the eventual split.  The move to a major label upped that ambition and  while it may not have done much commercially, that place would prove to alter the course of American music in the long-run.

9.  Mercury Rev - Boces
Buffalo's greatest band made one of their best works with this swirling, orchestral set.  Their extended psychedelic pieces may have done more to influence the Flaming Lips than member Jonathan Donahue's presence in that band had.  The 90s were clearly not ready for the lysergic sounds of this album, especially with all its loose free-form qualities though "Bronx Cheer" is a sweet little pop tune.  The band is best remembered for being loud  for Lollapalooza that summer and for their controversial video for "Something For Joey."  It is apparently difficult for the band members too and these songs left  their set very quickly.  That's fine because the record is pretty ideal if you like dense and fearless psychedelia full of noise and surreal flair.

8.  Butthole Surfers - Independent Worm Saloon
Many of the old guard of the American Underground tried to make the leap into the mainstream in the wake of grunge, and controversially, I believe the Butthole Surfers did a better job than Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr.  This is natural as they were always a 70s hard rock band at heart and producer  John Paul Jones makes sure the riffs make this record, especially on the paranoid single "Who Was In My Room Last Night."  They even get soft and sensitive in their own twisted way, still influenced by the likes of Zeppelin and Sabbath on "The Wooden Song" and "Ballad of Naked Man."  There is still no shortage of weirdo punk ("Some Dispute Over T-Shirt Sales" and "Goofy's Concern") and for the potential new  fans the vulgarity is extra high on "Clean It Up" and the self-referential and prescient "Chewin' George Lucas' Chocolate" which presumably implies that the  "film-maker"'s work is dog shit.  Underrated.

7.  Beck - Mellow Gold
Silver Lake's swingin' Scientologist from Kansas makes his debut and somehow his lo-fi acoustic hip-hop rode  the Generation X bandwagon to a successful career.  This is a dark and twisted album, even more than "Loser" implied, but all the humor on that track is as  evident on the others.  It's the modern white blues with little to no previous reference point.  Lo-fi had never been so funky, folk so fun, or punk so free.  It is an observant and sincere album  from a twisted and intelligent mind who clearly had a lot more great work ahead of him.  A tribute to the kind of frightening reality of Los Angeles that people really don't like to talk about, something Beck captures quite well.  Things are gonna change, you can feel it.

6.  The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
Oddly the Flaming Lipsmake a break into the mainstream, even scoring a minor hit later referenced on the Simpsons (season 8's "Lisa's Date With Density").  It is still one of their best albums, with their cleanest, catchiest pop tunes on a smaller scale than they would ever do again.  This is the first album with Steven Drozd and the addition of superfan-turned crucial member may be a part of the great development here.  It is a Lips album in a category of its own, far removed from both the psychedelic noise that precedes it and the gigantic walls of cosmic sound that would soon follow.  The  perfect alternative  guitar pop record for 1993.

5.  PJ Harvey - Rid of  Me
Like one of their  biggest  fans, the band goes into the studio with Steve Albini, making this year's one non-American album fit right in.  This is even heavier than their last effort and Polly is not only even angrier she is violently oozing "sex and blood."  So much sex and so much blood it can be hard to read the titles, but what they add to the sound is a whole lot of building tension not heard in the group's previous attack.  In the usual Albini "style" the bass is way too low, but the rhythm section is even tighter than before with drummer Rob Ellis precise and furious it reminds one of Bill Bruford on King Crimson's darkest and heaviest work.  Harvey's voice has grown a lot in the last year too growing from angry-but-talented young woman to a howling demon with a range rivaled by few.  This album is frightening and off-putting - crucial to establishing Polly Harvey as the force she is.  "Missed" is my favorite and it ends with "Ecstasy" - the kind few can handle.  Also contains one of the only covers of her  career - "Highway 61 Revisted" for her parents.

4.  Nirvana - In Utero
Albini's other noteworthy production of the year is not too different.  One of the most explicitly un-commercial albums ever made by a famous group, Cobain intentionally avoids his rare talent for pop, with a few exceptions, all of which are balanced out with disturbing lyrics.  Rather, the album is dominated by the trio's unified dynamic which justifies the sometimes perplexing fact that the band shares its royalties.  Tracks like "Scentless Apprentice" and "Very Ape" sound like the come from the jamming of an unusually cohesive band than the mind of a dictating composer.  All three members  are playing the best of their careers and Albini excels in putting the sounds of only three musicians into something very dense only the greatest power trios can achieve.  Perhaps it is the broadening of the band's influences that make  this album even more interesting than the last, such as the beginning of Cobain's tragically brief  obsession with the cello.  This being a major hit is the true sign of the 90s.

3.  Yo La Tengo - Painful
After years of quite good albums, Hoboken's baby sibling group truly comes into themself on the second  album with the classic lineup featuring James McNew.  The trio's tight, yet laid back sound comes together from years of emulating some of the greatest bands I could tell you all about and the closeness this band has is the rare quality that places the group in the upper echelon of 90s artists.  They have some of the prettiest harmonies in rock history and their often minimalist accompaniment shows a patience and understanding of music seldom found in bands with such catchy songs.  Yo La Tengo excels in their ability to balance both loud and soft tendencies with "Nowhere Near" on the former and "From A Motel 6" and "Double Dare" being the greatest  examples of  the latter sound.  how do they do it?  By jamming of course and "I Heard You Looking" is one of many examples of  the trio showing off  their single-minded improvisation skill at  the end of the album.

2.  Built To Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers
I am probably the only person who will ever tell you that Built to Spill's first album is their best.  Now I will explain why:  Greg Martsch intended BtS to be a solo project with a revolving door of side men and this is the one time that happened.  All of the band's talents are thrown in at once, unlike later albums which would be too devoted to pop songs like "Lie For A Lie" and "Three Years Ago Today" or long proggy jams like "Shameful Dread."  The constant you can always count on, layers and layers of mind-bending guitar from Martsch and usual collaborator, seldom band member Brett Netson is there too especially on the wailing "Revolution."  Also, songs are both loud and fast.  The Idaho group also is at  their  most lo-fi here, not just in recording quality, but their  use use of odd noises and samples all over the place, such as Nelson Muntz and the use of belches in the rhythm.  Needless to say, this is by far the funniest Built to Spill album, as  the cover and title would imply.  Often overlooked in their discography this is a lost masterpiece of classic 90s home-made lo-fi, sitting comfortably with early Pavement and...

1.  Guided by Voices - Vampire on Titus
"Bob, will you and Living Praise Choir lead us into 'God Be The Glory'?"  Propeller manages to do all its title promised and when Scat records called Robert Pollard to ask for more he sadly informed them the band was no more.  Before he hung up he  changed his mind and promised to put something together.  Immediately he, Jimmy and Toby were back in the basement and quickly threw together this masterpiece.  It is the sparsest and most experimental of all GbV albums and really grows on you.  Just today I realized it is even better than the one that preceded it, so there.  What it may lack in a (competent) rhythm section it more than makes up with some of Pollard and  Sprout's most  beautiful pop songs like "Gleemer (The Deeds of Fertile Jim)," "Jar of Cardinals," and "Wondering Boy Poet."  Though production and arrangements are small this manages to be one  of the  band's biggest albums in the way of material having a truly titanic size, with the tip-off being opener "Wished I Was a Giant."  Songs like the evil father nightmare "#2 In The Model Home Series" and the Dutch military theme "Marchers in Orange" have moving and unsettling effects, carrying the emotional weight that this band would bring forth more and more after taking this huge step into self-realization.  It is a challenging and confusing album, just as Guided by Voices' ascent into rock and roll heaven was with each song being another mental roller-coaster ride, to be cliché.  Ending with "Non-Absorbing" it does not answer any of these questions.  That would be for the future for this godly group.  "This is not reality, this is just formality.  he cup is only being filled for the chance to have it spilled.  Flowing just like the days,  sailing just like the days..."

Stay tuned.  There's something really cool about 1994...

1992

A lot of people see  this as a major year.  It had some amazing albums, but most years do, so I think they're mostly confusing it with the year before.  Still, it's great to see the 90s in full-effect here.  Anyone left over from the 80s on this list is in new more mature form.  Basically that means no synthesizers.

10.  Soul Asylum - Grave Dancers Union
It was hard to round out this list and I am not sure why I chose this one.  Perhaps for nostalgia's sake.  The baby brothers of the Minneapolis scene ended getting more commercial due than their idols thanks to the success of another flannel-loving city.  I would like to believe I am in Midwestern mood for giving these "alt-rockers" props here and this album is as Midwestern as it gets - especially a song like "Black Gold."  It wouldn't have been the 90s without "Runaway Train" and while at times is as emotionally over-the-top as that video, it is to be expected from a band who just wanted to be Hüsker  Dü and the Replacements.  "Somebody To Shove" was even more of  an alternative radio staple and it's still a lot of stupid pun fun.  This album sold millions.  Good for them and good for everyone who still has it on CD.

9.  The Chills - Soft Bomb
This under-appreciated album is as much an example of the early (and therefore best) "adult alternative" sub-category as another album higher on this list.  It's dark though - the darkest thing The Chills would ever make, outdoing "Pink Frost" in the way of happy melody-scary lyrics with opening single "The Male Monster from the Id."  That's not even the only song about domestic abuse with "Sanctuary" documenting the other side.  The album is like a self-psychoanalysis for Martin Phillips, but he does not let the listener forget there is a lost of sweetness on there such as "Halo Fading."  This album was recorded in Los Angeles and cuts out a lot  of the psychedelia in favor for some clean pop that would have made in on the radio in less grungey times.  The location proved fruitful with the harrowing orchestration of the Van Dyke Parks collaboration "Water Wolves."

8.  Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu
This San Diego band had so many followers in the following decade that it is still hard to believe this album was  made 21 years ago.  All the speed and rage of hardcore is added to fearless complexity and musicality with some of the best dueling guitars since Television.  This kind of music, most of it garbage with stupid stupid names I would rather not repeat, seemed unfathomable for years after this  band broke up, and few  even came close to their greatness.  The debut conforms to those terms a bit more than they would later, but their extended  song lengths and intellectualism set them above both other angry young Californian men and their self-righteous Mid-Atlantic influences.  Good screamin', good playin'.

7.  Tall Dwarfs - Fork Songs
"The purpose of this record is to demonstrate the ability of the needle to maintain contact  with the groove modulation over a wide range of frequencies and intensities."  As lo-fi becomes the hip new thing, the former Toy Love duo that really put that sound on the map puts out just another set of amateur recordings by two of  Zealand's best.  Incidentally it ended up being their best despite ambition being no higher than ever.  The songs just ended up that way, especially "Dare to Tread," "We Bleed Love," and "Oatmeal."  These songs have all the simple sincerity with all the natural oddness that would come from the opposite side of the world (Chris Knox is originally from Invercargill at the very Southern tip of the country) which lends credence to the title, particularly on the traditional-themed, yet quirkily arranged "Wings."  I think this is the best place to begin with the somewhat intimidating duo.

6.  Beat Happening - You Turn Me On

With the help of Young Marble Giant Stuart Moxham the Olympian trio leaves on a high note.  Heather  Lewis' presence finally matches the colossal persona of Calvin Johnston with her "Noise" and "Sleepy Head" ranking amongst the band's best songs.  Johnston is better than ever too and continues to push boundaries with the nearly-seven minute "Tiger Trap," his best and most tender love song to date without any of the cutesy trappings that usual belittle the group's talents.  The horror themes that defined Black Candy return with a vengeance on the witch-hunting "Pine Box Derby," and "Teenage Caveman" captures immature alienation with as much truth and humor as it deserves, proving Calvin's belief that rock  and roll is the music of teenagers, no matter what that teenager's age (he was almost 30.)  Oh, and the second side is great too, especially the party-rocking title track.

5.  Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
After two wildly different and respected albums the Brooklyn trio lets all their influences run wild more than ever before.  The cover indicates the return to their punk rock influences and a lot of the songs have the members themselves playing the instruments.  Still it's full of the unusually clever  and creative  hip-hop that made them famous and kept them that way with "So What'cha Want."  The two sides  blend seamlessly and are far removed from the hybrid dreck that would leave the world a musical wasteland at the close of this decade.  Ultimately it is a funk album with the Boys and frequent collaborator keyboardist Money Mark anchoring this schizophrenic album with tight Jimmy Smith-worthy grooves rarely found in music made  after the seventies.

4.  PJ Harvey - Dry
By this time the idea of a decent British artist seemed as absurd as it did thirty years before the the Beatles invaded.  This trio of one very angry young woman and an older rhythm section that could run circles around Nirvana's debuted with an album so heavy that even the blinded followers looked away from Seattle for a moment.  This was a favorite of Kurt Cobain as well and the prominent strings on "Plants & Rags" and "Dress" undoubtedly influenced his incorporation of the Cello of the remainder of his life.  While in a cohesive band Harvey's primary theme was feminine rage and it has never sounded better than on her early work which entered the public conscious with the John Peel-supported single "Sheela-Na-Gig."  The last two tracks "Fountain" and "Water" would point to the theme she would continue to follow, with all its cleansing and destructive power.  While this Somerset band was best at obliterating the Northwest, Polly Jean's genius is apparent it leaves one begging for the even more adventurous music that would follow.

3.  R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
In a rare occurrence another one of the most popular albums of  the decade is also one of the best.  Taking what they learned on their adventures the year before, the Athens quartet makes one of the best works of their careers and spawn two of the biggest hits of the decade.  While I still might skip "Everybody Hurts," "Man on the Moon" is still a lot of fun no matter what you think  of Andy Kaufman and his biopic.  The non-hits are  even better, with the opening and closing tracks "Drive" and "Find the River," respectably being some of the best songs that set the unique atmosphere of this record.  The band's collaboration with producer Scott Litt is also at its peak and the participation of John Paul Jones and George Harrison on the strings places this as an obvious addition to the classic rock cannon. This album has a rare moodiness like a starry night sky (the obvious "Nightswimming" not the best example) that makes it perhaps the band's best set of sounds if not merely for the amazing music.

2.  Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
With Nirvana, R.E.M. and even Sonic Youth now superstars, the American rock press needed to find a new underground icon.  Thanks to a tape circulating around the country they settled on a bassless trio from Stockton, California with a crusty old drummer that just rips off the Fall and Swell Maps.  Somehow, that was a wise choice!  By this time a Hoboken-based quintet Pavement was catapulted into the new heroes of cool people music with their shambolic, but highly entertaining shows starring what is still rock's funniest percussion section.  Stephen Malkmus' song writing was worthy of all its praise, with these being the greatest "highly-derivative" songs ever written, often outdoing their bases like "Conduit for Sale!"  Mostly harsh and abrasive, but never unlistanable these songs have a certain beauty in  addition to being simply catchy, especially on "Here," "Zurich is Stained," and the top classic "Summer Babe [Winter Version]" with its still-surprising beat.  The noise goes a long way, but what really brings these pop songs to life is the chemistry and control that S.M. and Spiral  Stairs have with their combined rigs that distinguishes the band from all the noisemakers before them.  Maybe they're just having more fun  and it definitely sounds like they are having a lot of that.  Either way, they show that writing some short catchy tunes does not make you a sell out

1.  Guided by Voices - Propeller
Early member Tobin Sprout, who moved to Florida before the band recorded anything returns and brings both his rare talent for home-recording and song writing talent that rivals Pollard's with him.  The title shows that this was GbV's last grasp at something besides personal joy, and it even began in a proper studio.  Fortunately it was finished at home with songs like "Quality of Armor" and "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" establishing this unusual talent that put them at the top of the lo-fi heap.  Then there's "Back to Saturn X Radio Report" which shows just how many amazing songs this band could write and record just as quickly if you just let them.  Through nothing short of a miracle, copies of this album  their way to New York and intrigued a few key fans with their home-made covers, simulated fan chants, and names like Mitch Mitchell in the credits.  None of the recognition that followed was even realistic with songs like "Weedking" and "Circus World" continuing upon Same Place the Fly Got Smashed's hopelessness and "Exit Flagger" being a hopeful motivation for life beyond the best rock and roll ever recorded.  Luckily the story ended well for Uncle Bob, Toby, and  the  rest of the gang (despite some major trouble for drummer Kevin Fennell along the way) and the album ends jsut as well with "On the Tundra," at least one of the top 5 greatest songs this band ever recorded - and you know that says a lot!

Sorry, kids, but that's it, I think Dirty kinda sucks, but RIP Mike Kelley - his contribution outdid the musicians' on that one.

1991

This is a monumental year and everyone knows that.  Actually, there weren't that many great albums, but there were more REALLY great ones than most years.  I will admit a part of me wanted  to include Ten, but alas...

10.  Chapterhouse - Whirlpool
Another favorite of the shoegaze movement.  Chapterhouse often does not get as much credit as a lot of the similar groups.  Perhaps they are too much on the dream-pop side, at times sounding a whole lot  like the Cocteau Twins. They also may be too much like My Bloody Valentine at their most mechanical, but twenty-two years later who's to say that is a bad thing?  The band has a big swirling sound that neither requires a lot of volume nor patience to enjoy.  It is up-tempo and while the vocals are still a bit low and ghostly, they are more fun than a lot of their contemporaries.  While they may not be the easiest to talk about without continued references to other groups the final product is as great as many of the others.  Sonic Youth just crossed my mind as well.

9.  Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
When Scottish metalheads discover Big Star the results are not far off from what was going on in Seattle at the time.  However, no one in the Northeast achieved anything as perfect as closing instrumental "Is This Music?"  Until Radiohead, it seemed like this band would be the most likely to cross into the totally grunge-ified US market.  Perhaps it was the lackluster performance of "The  Concept" on SNL that stopped it from happened, and by the time they had another chance they had cut their hair and only gotten more into pop.  It  is basically jangle-pop with distortion, but the old need to extended songs and heavy playing are still in effect.  The band would sharpen and tighten a lot over the next couple years, but hearing them rock out like this is what made them such legends.  It is rare to hear such catchy head-bangers.

8.  The Feelies - Time For A Witness

The final album of the the Feelies' original (or second) run is often overlooked.  Perhaps it was too mature and  diverse for most fans, or maybe not surprising enough.  Still it is another product from one of the best bands of all time.  It is very laid back, but has some of their best tunes such as "Sooner or Later," "Waiting" and "Invitation."  No one else has ever  succeeded at this sound as much as the Feelies and the playing is as great as ever with its searing leads and heavy driving rhythms.  They are the coolest band and coolest people ever and you never forget, especially with the Fun House-tribute album cover and continued praise of the Stooges on the album-closing and experience-describing "Real Cool Time."

7.  Sebadoh - III
Another album with influence that almost out-weighs its music.  Though this is obviously the project's third record, it is the first with Jason Lowenstein and still years in the past Lou Barlow takes his rage out on J Mascis on the opening classic "The Freed Pig."  After that it settles into the genre-defining lo-fi aesthetic and  tendency  for eclecticism.  Barlow leans toward weird acoustics like "Total Peace" and "Hassle" at times harkening to Jandek, while Gaffney is more electric and  at  times abrasive like on "Limb By Limb."  It also contains covers by both the Minutemen and Johnny Mathis.  Somehow it  all works on this CD-appropriate album, preparing at least a few American music  fans  for the likes of Guided by Voices and Pavement.

6.  Nirvana - Nevermind

In this case the influence does out-weigh the music, but no music could do that.  Still it is very good and after years of over-hearing every single song on it against my will I can accept that.  While I believe  that the production detracts from it a bit it still sounds better than most  of  the band's idols' records and nothing could cover up the fact that Nirvana was  one of the tightest power trios in rock history or that Kurt Cobain's song writing was at its best here.  While it may  have all been in order to support a nasty heroin addiction and even nastier wife it sounds like they are all having a lot of fun, in no small part due to the whole band's top-notch sense of humor.  If you're ever enraged by  how much of a dork Dave Grohl is just put this on to remember there is a good reason he is so famous.  The most popular album of the 90s should not be as good as this, but luckily, it is.  This was a good year, this should be higher on the list.  Personally, I like "In Bloom" best.

5.  Meat Puppets - Forbidden Places
The Puppets joined the rest of their American Underground brethren in breaking up[ at the end of the 80s, but wisely got back together after London Records showed interest.  Their  major label debut  turned out to be the best thing they had made in  years, though it has tragically been out of print for probably fifteen now.  After a decade of taking their  sound in one extreme direction after  another it finally all comes together on this release with punk, hard rock, country, psychedelia, and their odd humor coming together in one perfect concoction.  Somehow they have even gotten faster than ever before with the blistering opener "Sam" matching the instruments in unbelievable speed and ending even faster with "Six Gallon Pie."  This underrated album has some of the group's most fun material like "Whirlpool" and the distinctly Southwestern "Nail It Down."  Considering what happened next this is the Pups' true lost classic and one of their high points.

4.  Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
An eighties band makes  their final album in the nineties and it still sounds like it is from the future.   The new sound Talk Talk (now down to two official members) had  been exploring his a new high with the minimalist instrumentation hitting a free-flowing channel based around the beauty  of sound rather than song.  It's like jazz without catering to the expectations of that genre either.  As rock, pop, and even jazz had fallen into stricter and stricter expectations, even as diverse niches grew, Talk Talk show generations of followers that a truly great musician is at his or her best when entering a spiritual place and feeling the music rather than studying it like engineers.  Transcendent beauty, it's like  being in a museum, but without the tourists.

3.  Slint - Spiderland
Continuing this year's theme of massive influence is this mysterious album that gave birth to a new kind of heaviness and  complexity in underground rock and put Louisville on the map.  The addition of vocals made this quartet's intertwining arrangements all the more powerful and while many may not go for  the spoken vocals, they do provide good plotlines to these nightmarish compositions.  The guitars duel violently while  the rhythm section turns that fight into a full-blown war.  Like many of the best  albums, the  cover captures it perfectly as four heads heads float in a deep, dark enigma, and even maintain themselves well enough to smile.

2.  Speed the Plough - Wonder Wheel
Here's the one that has unfortunately not been hugely influential.  Like Talk Talk, the New Jersey heroes disregard any expectations for how a rock band should sound or approach their music as jazz and classical mentality rule this album with increasing Celtic folk presence.  With the help of returning Feelies' rhythm section John Baumgartner's compositions come  alive as some of the  greatest  music recorded by anyone ever, especially on instrumental tracks like "Story of the Moon."  The magic of their home state is captured on beautiful "Trains" with Brenda Sauter's vocals returning to  create harmonies with Toni Baumgartner that are even more exhilarating on "One Of Your Friends."  The band proves they are capable of absolutely anything by extending  the length  of Young Marble Giants' "Final Day" by a good five minutes, and while they may have a lot in common with the Feelies their textured keyboards and tendency for organic chaos allows them to achieve sounds as transcendent and otherworldly as Another Green World.  Plus the group's guitar dynamics easily outdo their friends and neighbors at times.

1.  My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Pretty much there is nothing left to say about this album.  I think it sounds like slowly falling into a pit  of  fuzzy psychedelic love from which you can never come out.  My favorite songs are "What You Want" and "of course,  "When You Sleep," but as soon as "Only Shallow" kicks in it is clear everything you once believed about music is to be thrown out  the window.  It is sweet, sexual, ecstasy in its atmospheres and harmonies with all the beauty that could only come from an Irish heart full of  love.

Those were unusually short, I may be a little under-inspired tonight, but I would like to believe that these  albums just speak for themselves.

1990

The 90s are finally here!  Still seems kind of contemporary, doesn't it?  Well it sure isn't!  This was 23 years ago.  My brother was born this year and he is definitely a grown-up.  As far as music goes it's sort of a continuation of the 80s of course, but the future is still pretty apparent on these titles.

10.  The Flaming Lips - In A Priset-Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares)
It can be hard to believe that one of the most popular and enduring bands of today (still haven't heard the new record, but I have heard it is phenomenal) has been around for thirty years.  What is even harder to believe is that at this point they had been around for seven and already had several notable albums under their belt.  People finally started taking notice here as  they have grown a lot in the way of concept and musicality.  This is one of two albums featuring guitarist Jonathan Donahue and his noisy playing dominates this heavy and religious-themed album.  It is still pretty inaccessible even with the closing cover of "What a Wonderful World," but points toward pretty much everything they would do in the following years.  The conclusion of the Lips' initial era is its high-point, worth hearing for anyone who knows them beyond "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song."

9.  Eno & Cale - Wrong Way Up
Old friends and two of the greatest geniuses of the 70s collaborate once again on what could be called a return to form, but is definitely a return to something.  This is Eno's first pop work in thirteen years and Cale's most clear-headed in even longer.  Despite this long break Eno appears to have picked up where he left off on Before and After Science.  Cale's voice is perhaps the most definitive sound on this album and his harmonies with Eno reveal the latter to be a more talented vocalist than most had recognized before.  Poppier than one would expect especially on "Footsteps" and Eno's biggest American "hit" the cheesy middle-aged "Been There Done That."  It is great to hear the two make something great again even if the songs are not their best of all, but "Spinning Away" is worth the price of admission alone and stands as one of the best pieces of music with either's name on it.  Don't let the horrendous original artwork (designed by Eno) scare you off, if you're looking  for more of either artist this is it.

8.  Uncle Tupelo - No Depression

This one really started something.  The album that fired off the Americana bullet and launched the career of two of its brightest stars.  Its influence is  not its only charm and while the blue-collar heartland image seems a bit affected, but considering that the album was recorded in Boston of all places, the trio's conviction is undeniable.  It really is more country-with-distortion than country rock which was then, as it still is now a pretty novel concept.  The punk influence that makes songs like "Graveyard Shift" and "Outdone" is not the only thing they need to make great songs as the more traditional "Life Worth Livin'" and the many old covers are just as strong.  Jay Farrar dominates, but Tweedy's talent is brewing underneath, explaining how this album spearheaded a movement as much as entire shoegaze and grunge scenes did with many more guilty parties.

7.  Guided by Voices - Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

With any hope of ever making it as a musician quickly diminishing Robert Pollard with the help of his usual buddies (especially brother Jimmy) make this dark album about the descent into drunken middle-age.  "When  She Turns 50" and "Blatant Doom Trip" are enough to reveal where Uncle Bob thought his future was going.  It is the bleakest and most devastating of all GbV albums and the last of the early era with its lack of recording finesse and tendency for long songs like "Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge."  The themes of surrendering to hopeless drunken life excel on "Pendulum" and "Drinker's Peace" - two of the album's finest songs, with the latter having a positive tone - perhaps the best the Pollards could do at this point.  It is still a far cry from the genius that would follow, but with "How Loft I Am?" ending this album the few that heard it should have seen enough reason to keep supporting the elementary school teacher's musical dreams.

6.  Ride - Nowhere

Chronologically beating out a certain album that you will read about tomorrow, Ride's debut is one of the defining albums of shoegaze.  The album cover is a good indicator of the unified power of this loud, yet ultimately gentle album.  Songs like "Kaleidoscope" show that songwriting and melody has not been completely thrown out in favor of swirling instrumentation and its title calls out to those searching for a new kind of psychedelic rock this wave of mostly British bands would bring.  The album is best known for its (vinyl) closer "Vapour Trail" and for good reason, its perfect arrangement featuring a gradual decay into cello is one of  the greatest recordings of the decade.  Its placing was a wise move as it would be hard to get through the whole thing if it were any earlier.  It's all good, but  the rest just does not compare.

5.  Sonic Youth - Goo

Sonic Youth's move to a major label proved to be a mixed bag, best remembered for encouraging Nirvana to sign with Geffen.  However, it started on a very high note as this band still at their peak  fine-tunes their sound just enough to attain a big enough audience to change the world (as seen in the amazing 1991:  The Year Punk Broke).  Not knowing what to do with such a band, the label spent a lot of time and money making this record and it shows with its perfect production and the band sounding the tightest they ever would.  Lead track and single "Dirty Boots," is one of their best known songs and one of their best hard-rockers and the near-hit "Kool Thing" featuring Chuck D is Kim Gordon's best example of presenting feminism with humor.  Perhaps their most listenable album, the group's unique dynamics are at their best on songs like "Tunic (Song For Karen)," "Disappear" and the Ranaldo-led "Mote."  Even the abrasive "Mary-Christ" is just right for the average punk fan, making this a perfect place to start if you don't want something as long as Daydream Nation.  Please note this album beats Guided by Voices this year next time you get frustrated with my Sonic Youth comments.

4.  The Bats - The Law of Things

I just read that this was the New York Times pop album of the week.  Pretty crazy, huh?  Well anyway, the Christchurch group puts together a great follow up to Daddy's Highway on this set of energetic folk rock.  Alastair Gilbraith is back again, but unfortunately Kaye Woodward's vocals are heard less, but that hardly detracts from songs like "Never Said Goodbye."  Brighter songs are even more dominant like the opener "The Other Side of You" and "Time To Get Ready," but there is also a very present eerie quality on the title track and album closer "Smoking Her Wings" as well as tragic love like "Cliff  Edge."  This is where I began with this band and this album is not far behind their debut, making it a true  classic of kiwi-pop, capturing the personality of that scene as well as the once again oddly beautiful and slightly creepy album cover.

3.  The Chills - Submarine Bells

Though their best work was behind them on EPs and singles, Martin Phillips and company make their finest full LP.  The sound is also the most diverse, which is no surprise considering how eclectic those early works are.  "Heavenly Pop Hit," speaks for itself proving that Phillips is a genius worthy of a title like that, but "Effloresce and Deliquesce" with its otherworldly keyboards is the hight of transcendent beauty.  I am not the only one to say it sounds like flying over South Island on a misty day - "I SOAR" makes that explicit enough with its prominent (probably synthesized) ocarina.  The band's punk roots are even  embraced on the chugging rocker "Familiarity Breeds Contempt."  This is one of the most beautiful kiwi-pop records, soaked in a psychedelia all of its own, far removed from the 60s sound that begat it and the contemporary shoegaze and dream pop.  The classical arrangement of the gorgeous closing title track hint at some of the finest moments that would follow, but the Chills brightest days end here on their best-realized album.

2.  Kino - The Black Album

The story behind this album is one for the ages.  Viktor Tsoi was killed in an massive auto wreck after a fishing trip with his son August 15, 1990 and one of the few items that survived was a tape of the vocals on this album.  His bandmates completed the record around it and a masterpiece resulted.  Its sound is very much akin to New Order, but considering the climate around it it focuses around some pretty dark stuff like with "Summer Will End" beginning the album and "War Begins Tomorrow" ending it.  There is some cheerier fare as well on "Ant-Hill" and with Tsoi's too-sweet sincerity transcending language on "When Your Girlfriend is Sick."  Every song really kills it though, especially "Star," and with Tsoi tragically departed the other three members really prove their talent and worth as while their leader's face adorns murals across that side of the Iron Curtain.  Some day this album will be regarded as highly on this side because it is just phenomenal and without a doubt the finest  work of one of the greatest bands of the eighties.  Not to be missed.

1.  Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

Tension within and around the band hits its peak on their masterpiece, with its bright lights in the shadow of darkness and death - just like the title implies.  By using its mechanical reliability amid the guitar, bass, and unintelligible vocals drenched in effects this is one of the best uses  of the drum machine.  The  group's understanding of its own unique creation makes this an album completely detached from the material world with its mystic sounds floating around the head rather than shattering the Earth.  It is airy but has a lot of weight with its heavy beats and dark overtones.  Honestly, I don't have much more to say.  This is just an incredible album full of frightening dream-like beauty and Celtic wonder.  It carries the image of watching your own memories alone in a pitch-black room... in  a dream, crying your eyes out, or perhaps the sadness of leaving everything you love on Earth behind and descending into heaven.

1989

Finally, the 80s are over, but this slump is not.  The 90s may not be better, but at least is gets better.  This year was tough and it is hard to write much, McCarthy's I Am A Wallet was the album I alluded to on twitter that I mistakenly thought was from 89.  It is from 87, and no, it would not have made it, but their sardonic socialist twee is pretty tops.  Anyway this is another one of those years with a big jump in quality from the bottom to the top...

10.  Galaxie 500 - One Fire
Though having a similar title to one of the city's more fun albums this band representing the softer end of proto-shoegaze is responsible for Boston's reputation for "sad old bastard" music.  The quiet atmosphere has a dense fog despite lean arrangements and these slow songs are the musical equivalent of stargazing, perhaps in the North Atlantic.  It's pretty academic stuff, though not really explicitly and NZ transplant Dean Warehem's accent is enough to sell a Flying Nun fanatic like myself.  "When Will You Come Home" is the fastest song and maybe the band's best other than "Instrumental."  With it being the last year of the last decade it is acceptable they end with a great cover of "Isn't It A Pity?"

9.  The Telescopes - Taste
On the other end of the proto-shoegaze spectrum his group is so heavy they have more in common with grunge than even MBV at their most angular.  The aggression and disregard for melody is enough that maybe even Steve Albini would like this despite the nationality.  At slower moments it is a bit reminiscent of Spacemen 3 and that dense psychedelic atmosphere permeates the whole album with a thrust much more memorable than any tunes.  Those looking for recommendations from Anton Newcombe should hear this one, of if you like your shoegaze to hurt.  It was a toss-up between this and Mudhoney, but I've been listening to this more lately.

8.  Kino - Zvezda po imeni Solntse

The most famous band of the Soviet Union had been making great music all through the decade when its people needed it most.  All of their previous albums came very close to making it and this one was another sign of their continuous group.  Russia is of course as different from American as any country can be and this band dwelled in  the underground for most of its existence.  Their music manages to translate rock - particularly of the postpunk/new wave variety into Russian in more than just the spoken language.  Viktor Tsoi's deep voice and Yuriy Kasparian's guitar do this best, especially in the slower songs like "Pachka Sigaret."  Naturally it is pretty bleak at times, but so is most postpunk and those curious about Russian rock will not be disappointed with this or any of Kino's albums (but more about that later).  The title translates to "The Star Called the Sun."

7.  The Frogs - It's Only Right And Natural
These Wisconsin brothers declared themselves to be the leaders of the Gay Supremacy Movement and showed no interest in winning any friends lacking a good sense of humor.  First track "I've Got Drugs (Out of the Mist)," while lacking in homosexual themes is the perfect opening into their hilariously twisted improvised world.  The Flemion brothers were former power poppers who managed to become legends with this album which is really just a piece of weirdo brother humor, but songs like "These are the Finest Queen Boys (I've Ever Seen)" and "Hot Cock Annie" are good fun for anyone.  The famous "that was a good drum break," sample in "Where It's At" even comes from "I Don't Care If U Disrespect Me (Just So You Love Me)" which has left many singing the following line "I feel like making love to all the men tonight!"  Excuse me, but come on, men, this is to be enjoyed in the locker room with the boys and on Saturdays (pussy-sucking days) because homos are the coolest of the cool!

6.  Guided By Voices - Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia
These regular guys from Ohio get closer and closer to their full transformation into the world's greatest band here.  While they are still pretty unsure what to do in the studio they have learned a lot from the previous forays and begin to really sound like themselves.  Pollard's songwriting is reaching the transcendent level that has kept him at the top for decades as short, simple tracks like "Paper Girl" and "Liar's Tale" show where things go.  The vocals begin to come from every direction, giving many trouble in the belief that it's only one singer and with the "classic" sound still years away the band goes all over the place such a longer songs with extended solos like the unbelievable "An Earful O' Wax."  With brother Jimmy in tow, the band has some of their greatest guitar work on songs like "Radio Show (Trust The Wizard)" and "Navigating Flood Regions."  Unfortunatley most of the few who heard this did not hear all the potential and latter-day fans are often too occupied to go back and hear where this great band began.

5.  The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Lots of British people see this as the beginning.  Unfortunately they're right when it comes to Britpop, but there is a lot of drivel about the political context of this album's release.  Maybe it's true and that's why they never caught on in the US.  Either way, the Manchester group made a big fun dance-psych record unlike anything else that improves upon their wonderful early singles like "Sally Cinnamon."  Of course, the US version is actually the better one with the inclusion of "Elephant Stone" and eventually (yet still in 1989) "Fool's Gold."  "I Wanna Be Adored" is always the best-remembered, but its dark lyrics belie the bright vibe of the album, better defined by the following tracks "She Bangs the Drum" and "Waterfall."  The band's impact was felt on historic levels in their home country, unifying much of what was going on in music at the time and bringing on countless sad imitators like EMF and Jesus Jones, but as they say in one of their best moments "This is the One."

4.  Beat Happening - Black Candy
I can never understand why this is often considered one of Beat Happening's weaker efforts.  Perhbaps it's the darkness, but obviously, the sugar is just as well represented and songs like "Other Side" with its references to red rover and "Playhouse" make that very clear.  The dark stuff is even better though, and it does signal in an exaggerated way where they would move in the future.  "Black Candy" does to goth what early Beat Happening did for punk and "Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive" is kitschy fun as only this band could play - plus it pretty much gave Portland its whole identity from hundred of miles away.  It is a tragedy Ricky Wilson never got to hear it.  The sparser tracks follow this theme like "Gravedigging Blues," probably my (and Jens Lekman's) favorite of those minimalist songs, but the fire theme gets even better on "Bonfire."  By expanding into horror territory, the Northwest's flagship band made some of their best work and got on the path to growth beyond  the twee gimmick.

3.  Pixies - Doolittle
It may not sound as harsh as its predecessors this set of dark guitar pop is conceptually as apocalyptic as the future of the band.  The idea based around the whore of Babylon is most apparent on "Hey," a song almost as catchy as the single "Here  Comes Your Man," written by Black Francis as a teenager. The themes of vileness and corruption of the soul are played off in a cute and fun way especially on "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and the opener "Debaser" which leave one wondering just how frightening Francis' mind might be.  It is more direct on the slow album-defining track "Wave  of Mutilation," a song as pleasant as its lyrics are disturbing.  Leaving  no doubt about the big ideas it ends with the heavy and aggressive "Gouge Away."  The diminishing role of Kim Deal is impossible to miss and that is where it would all go wrong soon afterward, but onto bigger, almost better things, but Francis lets Dave Lovering takeover vocals on the deceptive "La La Love You" to wise effect.

2.  Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
The beauty of the Beastie Boys is they qualify for any list.  The three New York Jew MCs still act like a bunch of brats (read up on the making of this album for more info), but show off a lot more of their intelligence and wit.  That begins with their choice of working with the Dust Brothers who give this album a sonic landscape more advanced than any other hip-hop at the time and beginning their career as some of the 90s most fascinating producers.  Along with the KLF it is the word in sample-based music for the time.  That would be interesting enough, but coupled with the Boys' expansive lyrics it is one of the greatest albums without original instrumentation.  Probably the best.  It's as bratty as the Sex Pistols and as fun as the Frogs with all the sly intellectualism you would expect out of Woody Allen or anyone  else like this, but  you know that already and I'm wasting my time.

1.  Speed the Plough - Speed the Plough
Maybe this is controversial, but I don't care, this is the greatest band of all time.  The Haledon group, often seen as just another Feelies side project, but with none of the other band's member's present John Baumgartner and company prove themselves geniuses in their own right.  Additionally, the previously quiet Baumgartner and wife Toni prove themselves as capable in vocals as instrumentation, and in Joh's case songwriting.  Like the Feelies the year before, they include a holdover from the Trypes in "No One's Alone," but the future comes too on such swirling psychedelic tracks as "Veszprem" and the opener "River Street" - still the greatest song about Hoboken.  Consisting of very real people from the realest place on Earth songs like the folky "Big Bus" and tense "Tommy's House," are as perfect examples of the Jersey life as Bruce Springsteen or the Feelies and the drone of the former is heard on closer "Everyday Needs."  It's hard to say if it counts, but on the 1992 reissue "Fathers and Sons" was included from the same sessions as the other tracks.  This is one of the greatest songs ever recorded.  With or without it this is a perfect album full of Mid-Atlantic beauty captured through pulsating folk drones, woodwinds, and fearless keyboards.  This is as good as it gets and the world would be a better place if more musicians shared this band's approach.

1988

So, the 80s has been taking a long time!  I thought I would be onto the 90s by the time I got back to Michigan (here for about a week or so this time, nothing to worry about New Yorkers...  It has been a time even more overwhelming than usual lately.  I am not savoring this decade, its peak has already passed and I am really looking forward to the 90s.  Not like it's that much better, but I'm pretty zazzed to write about the likes of PJ Harvey and Guided by Voices.  So, here we are, almost there, in another one of those years that has some real heavy-duty masterpieces but is overall... just pretty good.  Special shout-outs to Superfuzz Bigmuff - one of the year's finest records, but it's an EP, and to Bug which may have made it were I able to listen to it now.

10.  Beat Happening - Jamboree
Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford just kept getting better and better and many consider this their finest work.  I don't.  Still great, though.  All their sensibilities are here at their most enjoyably exaggerated.  The playfully simple and tinny is there, and is even joined by their noise on the closer "The This Many Boyfriends Club."  The drony ballads that would grow  in prominence begin with "Indian Summer," which Johnson has called "indie rock's 'Knocking on Heaven's Door."  I disagree and will save similar analogies for later in this list.  The raw rock sound that would dominate their next album is also getting more finely-tuned on such definitive tracks as "Midnite A Go-Go" and "Crashing Through."  It's still pretty Calvin-dominated, but that's nothing to complain about especially in the context of having little knowledge of just what Heather Lewis is capable just yet.

9.  The Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good
Björk makes her first of several appearances on her old band's debut.  It's a shame they are best remembered for her, as the large band is a tight and collaborative force.  This energetic psychedelic pop album was so out of place in the 80s context it can seem a little too "quirky" if you're not ready for it, but perhaps that's what it took to put Iceland on the musical map (obviously, that country has many more appearances ahead).  The clean production works perfectly in highlighting the band's crazy rhythms, bizarre lyrics, and fearless approach to music that exudes a rare joy.  At this time, young American and (as ALWAYS) British artists were very hung up on what they could and could not do, according to their image and fanbase, so these Norsepeople really shook things up with their embrace of the avant-garde, pop, prog, and aggressive, distorted guitars.  Naturally, the following exports had nothing in common with them, and that was okay.

8.  Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
The guitarist-less group often credited for creating "post-rock" and their producer/unofficial (or hidden) member Tim Friese-Greene go further into their experimental direction.  Forgoing the pop structure of new wave, they hone their jazz-like approach to their complex and dynamic music.  The songs are long and travel from loud and fast to quiet and forlorn in a way far less predictable than most of their followers.  Rather than a big, electric drone and crescendo, their sound is more reliant on keyboards that could come from another time and the expressive voice of Mark Hollis in complex unanimes arrangements that could only be composed with the delicate precision of Erik Satie or the most freakishly unified band of all time.  This was the future as many of the few who heard it envisioned.

7.  The Church - Starfish
Similarly, this Australian band was not only far removed from the American mentality, but also that of their home country.  It may be related to their being from Canberra that they have more in common with the Chameleons than the Triffids, but there is still a lot of drama.  It may also be for the fact that this album was recorded in Los Angeles while other Australian bands left home for Europe.  The Church may have played it unusually wise for an Aussie band that way with "Under The Milky Way" being better-known than even anything by Nick Cave in the States.  Many of the other songs do come close to the romantic hit in quality, especially "North, South, East, and West" and "Reptile," which show that the band can hit a much higher energy level and still retain their dark mystery.  Like many of the foreign records of this year it is a well-produced, psychedelic, and smooth album from a highly-dynamic and skilled group.

6.  My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
A weird little album that is often thought of as MBV's first "real," LP, somewhat accurately.  It stands far apart from the others in my opinion, functioning best as Kevin Shields' education in studio wizardry that really paid off on the following album.  The band had tightened up their jangly psychedelic harmonies, dreamy atmosphere, and expert song craft on the preceding masterful yet raw EPs.  As a result, this may be their best sounding album until recently, as the music takes a bit of a back seat.  Their are still some great songs and their odd changes show just how capable the Irish quartet is at pulling off the unfathomable, plus the love between guitarists/vocalists Shields and Bilinda Butcher adds that fuzzy pink and purple feel that would just get bigger and deeper.  It is a favorite amongst the fans who prefer the group's more angular and jarring sound as that aspect has never been more prominent.

5.  The House of Love - The House of Love
The ultimate Creation band outdid their now more famous label mates this year and all without bankrupting Alan McGee!  The quartet has a lot in common with the Church but with an more refined knack at writing short and catchy tunes.  While all the songs are written by Guy Chadwick, the dynamic is still very collaborative and it is clear that all members have an unusual understanding of the finer points of noisy psychedelic postpunk and how to apply it to friendly pop music.  The band has a lot more humor and less of a tendency for pretensious poetry than their shoegazey followers and influences like Echo and the Bunnymen, but naturally all of the romance - particularly in the opening track "Christine," which is equal parts pretty romance and heavy drone.  If you're into this kind of thing and still haven't heard this album, change it immediately, you will be glad you did.

4.  The Feelies - Only Life
The new incarnation of the Jersey band somehow gets even tighter on their second major label album as they make room for a bit of the old sound in addition to the more laid-back new one.  The chase of "Too Far Gone," ups the tension even more than in the early days thanks to Brenda Sauter's ultra  smooth and precise bass playing and the re-assertion that no band sings "oh"  better.  The band appears more patient than ever with the elements that make them great letting each other shine separately such as the subtle percussion of "Deep Fascination" and the wailing lead guitar of "Higher Ground."  Tyrpes holdover "The Undertow" was a wise choice for inclusion, while bigger and less eerie than the original, it has as dynamic a build and achieves the same kind of Eno-esque transcendence while retaining more of a folk-rock accessibility.  With a cover of "What Goes On" closing the album, the band embraces its roots while it creates similar roots for the likes of Yo La Tengo, Real Estate and generations of New Jersey bands following in their wake (note album cover).

3.  The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Out of the raw and angry American scene comes one of the most influential and unexpected bands of the decade, effortlessly writing the future of American rock.  This band came late to the booming Boston underground and busted out far beyond their neighbors with the help of Steve Albini on this sick little record.  Maybe the most unlikely frontman of all time, Black Francis demonstrates his rare ear for pop music and devastating self-deprecating sense of humor.  Even better is the prominence of Kim Deal (aka Mrs. John Murphy), a woman so cool and talented Robert Pollard may have destroyed his marriage for her and still didn't get her!  Her vocals and twin-like lock with drummer Dave Lovering make this album about as interesting as Francis does.   ...But that is to disregard the biting guitar of Joey Santiago, the treble-y surfing sound that is the real voice of this band with a dynamic so intense it was no wonder it ended in violent hatred.  A rare record that balances the perverse ("Bone Machine"), the innocent ("Tony's Theme"), the obsessive ("Cactus"), the just plain funny ("Broken Face") and  just plain cool ("Brick is Red") with incredible ease.

2.  The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
Often called the indie rock Rumours, this would be the Brisbane group's final album of its original run and the final one as a real band rather than a project for songwriters Robert Forster and the late Grant McLennan.  The rest of the band, particularly Lindy Morrison and Amanda Brown, do a lot more than just provide their (ex-)boyfriends with lyrical fuel.  The harmonies and prominence of Brown's violin and oboe make this album a far cry from about anything else made before after.  This is a smooth and pretty album with all the dark intensity to be expected from an 80s band from Australia, particularly on the story of one woman's descent into pyromania "Was There Anything I Could Do?"  With its airy guitars and nostalgia it can be easy to overlook the darkness in the best-known song "Streets of Your Town," the best song since "Cattle & Cane."  Alternating between the joy of new love and the torture of heartbreak, songs like "Love is a Sign" and "Clouds," live up to the album's title with it's delicate and personal approach to both sides of romance, with a voice as wise as it is childlike and innocent.  As crushing as it can get this exceptional songwriting team asserts "The Love Goes On!" with both the happy and sad worth living through.

1.  Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
New York's representatives in the 80s uniquely national underground scene make their masterpiece on this expansive double album.  They take the big plunge into pop without sacrificing any of their avant-garde tendencies, fitting them seamlessly into generally accessible tracks like "Silver Rocket" and "'Cross the Breeze."  Even Steve Shelley and Kim Gordon's vocals/lyrics sound great on this album, with the former not afraid to keep is simple and hard and the latter's rage being fun and relatable rather than obvious, uninspired, and too smart-assed for its own good.  Ranaldo is also at his best, contributing three songs  to the album all sounding so different you would expect him to be able to do.  In this context the experimentation of "Rain King" and the Mike Watt sample of "Providence" are as enjoyable listens as the pure pop perfection of "Teen Age Riot," one of the greatest rock songs of all time.  The closing "Trilogy" makes the album end as well as it began, with its parts going from love for the city, to science fiction, to Gordon's most aggressive, leaving the album on an exhilarating and unsettling note begging for more.  You will never find Sonic Youth so focused and tasteful.  Some say they were "too into being Sonic Youth" at the time, but that may have been what did it - being too into being Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley is why they never repeated this success.  Regardless of what you think of the band, this is a masterpiece.