1990

For the last 5 years, I've read a bunch of year-end lists and said to myself, "I listen to more music than most people I know and care entirely too much about it, and like making lists... why don't I do that?" But every year, I have failed because of 3 reasons that all work together:

1. I'm insanely lazy

2. I fell into the trap of thinking about THAT year when I should have been thinking about the previous year. It surprises me how many reputable magazines and websites don't see a problem with making a "Best of 2010" on January 1st of 2011. You're telling me that you heard everything that came out that year? Everything? Because of this, I always put off my list, and soon enough, another year has passed.

And, lastly,

3. Certain albums grow on you over time, and others become annoying and horrible. It's better to wait a while to see if an album stands the test of time- that it's still good even after your tastes have changed. And boy, did I wait.

So, I decided to FINALLY make year end lists, but in an undertaking of epic proportions, I'm starting with the year that the first album came out that I would proudly call my favorite album for years (1989) and going from there. Albums are being judged on everything you'd expect- how well the band did with what they were going for, groundbreaking-ness, uniqueness, lasting value, what it has meant to me over time, catchiness, etc. Some lists will be odd (like this one), and some may not make sense (how did _____'s album get rated at number 5 in 1995 when their clearly better 1997 album isn't even on your 1997 list? Well, simply, because better stuff came out in 1997). This will be a blast for me, and I can't wait to see how my lists look over the years. 

So, without further ado, here is my top 10 for 1990 (and since nothing else really came out then, this will be the "1990 and before" list. The oldest album I have listed is from 1986, and I was 5 when that came out, so that's why I don't have anything older. Yes, some great albums came out in the 60's and 70's, but I didn't hear them until the 90's, so I'm trying to stick with albums that I heard the year they came out):

First- Honorable Mention:

Alice in Chains- Facelift: A solid album, but they hadn't hit their stride yet. "We Die Young," "Sunshine" and of course "Man In The Box" were great and showed their creepy, minor note drug mess coming out, but the rest of the album drags a bit. 

Skid Row- Self Titled: Classic late 80's hair pop metal. The lame songs were fun, sex-filled songs full of cowbells, solos, and Sebastian Bach's amazing pipes. The good songs were incredible and still hit home. "18 And Life" is fantastic, and "I Remember You" is certainly the best ballad of the 80s, if not the greatest ballad of all time. After hundreds of listens, it still gets to me. But as an album? Hit or miss.

Metallica- Master of Puppets: I was late on Metallica. I heard this after the black album, so metal purists can say I'm a fool all they want, but it's hard to go back to an older sound after hearing the new. That being said, this album is still awesome. It drags a bit towards the end, but "Battery," "Master of Puppets" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" are classics that still rule today. 

Edward Scissorhands Soundtrack (by Danny Elfman): I think this was the first movie that hit me in a way that made me want to cry. It wasn't until recently that I realized the shots of beautiful Winonna Ryder dancing in the snow created by lonely and super emo Edward Scissorhands were so mesmerizing 99% because of the power of the music. It is haunting, sad, beautiful, fairytale-like, and amazing. There will always be a place in my heart for this movie and soundtrack. 

Nirvana- Bleach: "Blew" is gross but somehow a catchy headbanger, "About A Girl" is sunny and pretty, "School" is a fast rocker, "Love Buzz" has a bass line that will stick in your head for hours, and "Negative Creep" is a fast, ugly mess that still rules. The rest of this album, though, is hit or miss ("Paper Cuts" is hilariously awful). This is a solid first album, but a bit too ugly and messy to be anything but.

10. Motley Crue- Dr. Feelgood

I still remember the first time I heard Motley Crue. It was watching the video for "Dr. Feelgood" in my Great Uncle's TV room, being completely enthralled by this odd tent in the desert filled with 80's hair metal and various forms of debauchery. And the song opened with palm muted guitar chugs (!), a sound that would dominate my late college years. I would later learn that pretty much every song on this was about sex, and Motley Crue was just a mess of sex and drugs, but to the 8-10 year old listening, this album was just pure metal of epic proportions. Solos everywhere, awesomely recorded drums, Vince Neil's great vocals, and hooks, hooks, hooks. Give it a listen with two goals: Try to NOT sing along to "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" and try to listen to "Kickstart My Heart" without getting pumped up. This is truly a great 80's pop metal album. 

Best songs: "Dr. Feelgood," "Kickstart My Heart," "Without You," "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)."

9. Poison- Flesh & Blood

Poison, the band who dominated my youth, took an odd leap with this album. They started out as the epitome of everything 80's hair metal was, but slowly let their blues influences come out. When this first came out, I had trouble with it- where were all the hits? Why does Bret Michaels suddenly have a southern accent? I recently revisited this though, and found it to be nothing if not an interesting ride- a mix of hair metal ("Unskinny Bop" (I still don't know what that means) "Hell Or High Water"), country/blues ("Let It Play," "Poor Boy Blues"), and incredible and sad ballads about life and death rather than girls ("Life Goes On," "Something To Believe In"). The rest of the songs mixed everything together into one sound. This was a tough one at the time, but over the course of 20 years, it's become a very solid album.

Best songs: "Life Goes On," "Something To Believe In," "Life Loves A Tragedy."

8. Nine Inch Nails- Pretty Hate Machine

My first introduction to Nine Inch Nails, like most people, was the video for "Head Like a Hole," featuring a dreadlock-mohawked Trent Reznor and a backing band who looked like members of the Borg, with Trent ending the video wrapped up in wires, upside down, writhing in pain. I was pretty much instantly sold. A friend recorded a tape of this album for me, and while I was instantly let down that the rest of the album didn't live up to the intensity of that song, it eventually grew on me, and would lead the way to a band that would soon become a favorite. It's not terribly groundbreaking, but it's an interesting album- I hadn't heard dancey, electronic and industrial beats done in a catchy way before, while also being really dark and mysterious. Sure, most of this sounds pretty dated, but they did this sound better than anyone else I had heard at the time, and the very existence of a dark and beautiful song like "Something I Can Never Have" smackdab in the middle of this otherwise dancey album really showed that Nine Inch Nails may be on to something much bigger than this. This is a great debut album that sounds dated while still standing the test of time.

Best songs: "Head Like a Hole," "Terrible Lie," "Something I Can Never Have," "Sin," "The Only Time."

7. Def Leppard- Hysteria

What an odd mix of music- Arpeggiated, U2-esque guitar, atmospheric backgrounds, long songs full of different effects and sounds, insanely echoed and simple drums (I didn't know till much later that the drummer only had one arm), and echoed and often multi-tracked-to-the-point-of-full-stadium-sounding-chorus vocals. And it worked. This album sounded different from everything else, and even sounded different from other Def Leppard albums. They just got it right on this one. Nearly every classic is on this. My fondest memory of this album is playing musical chairs at a Halloween party in Nathaniel Hawthorne's boyhood home, to the tune of "Hysteria." It was odd and very cool. That, and growing up believing that "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was the first thing that singer Joe Elliott ever said. Yea, ok...

Best songs: "Woman," "Rocket," "Animal," "Love Bites," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Armageddon It,""Hysteria."

6. Phish- Junta

Most people who know me know that while most of my musical taste is reserved for disgustingly heavy or pathetically sad music, I somehow, over years of listening to nothing even close to Phish, in some way developed a love for them. And this, in my and many other Phish Heads' opinion, is their best. Sets today are filled with songs from this album, and this may be the perfect example of their ability to mix long, jazzy solos and musical breaks with odd children's circus music or whatever you'd call it. If someone wants to give Phish a chance, I always say to start with this album- if you hate it, there's no hope for you ever liking them. From the fun fairytale-telling of "Fee" to the unbelievably stupid but catchy "Dinner And A Movie" to the 1-2 punch of compositional grandiosity of "The Divided Sky" and "David Bowie," this one has it all. I'd skip the last 3 songs though, they only hurt an otherwise perfect Phish album. 

Best songs: "Fee," "You Enjoy Myself," "The Divided Sky," "David Bowie," "Fluff's Travels."

5. Bon Jovi- Slippery When Wet

I loved Bon Jovi in the 80's. Bon Jovi and Poison were pretty much all I listened to when I was kid. In fact, my mom loved Bon Jovi too, so we could listen to his albums on the way home from school all the time. This is the second best Bon Jovi album, and while it has some 80's ballad lame stuff on it ("Without  Love," "Never Say Goodbye"), it also has some of Bon Jovi's best songs: "You Give Love A Bad Name," "Wanted Dead Or Alive," "Livin' On A Prayer," and the vastly underrated "I'd Die For You." This album is synthesizers, solos and cowbells everywhere, but at the heart of it all, great rock songs with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora's fantastic harmonies. Laugh all you want, this is a great album.

Best songs: "You Give Love A Bad Name," "Livin' On A Prayer," "Wanted Dead Or Alive," "I'd Die For You," "Wild In The Streets."

4. Poison- Open Up and Say... Ahh!

This album ties Bon Jovi's "New Jersey" for my favorite album of my childhood. At the time, this was all I listened to. Every notebook was covered in Poison symbols, every wall in my room had Poison posters (which now weirds me out, since they were usually either shirtless or wearing women's clothing and makeup), and I was OBSESSED with C.C. Deville and his glorious guitar playing and equally glorious pink fluff hair. I can trace every urge to be a rock star/musician in general to wanting to be C.C Deville as a kid. I still remember when my brother got the tape for his birthday and we blasted the whole thing on a terrible boom box in our dining room. When I hear the songs now, and think about how over-the-top sexual they were, I sympathize with my parents, who knew their darling children didn't know what the songs were about, but probably cringed at us singing along to the lyrics. Over time, this album lost some of its power, but when it came out (and I was 7), nothing sounded better. Great rockers ("Love on the Rocks," "Nothin' But a Good Time") party blues songs ("Your Mama Don't Dance") the other contender for best ballad ever ("Every Rose Has Its Thorn") and my favorite song from my childhood, "Fallen Angel" make this album full of memories. I fell hard for a girl in 6th grade who was a foster child and had had a really tough life- "Fallen Angel" was her soundtrack, and I still think about her every time I hear this song. It was, and still remains one of my favorite songs ever- a fantastic, sad, beautiful song that still rocks (and has an awesome solo). Every time I hear the solo fade out and the chords kick back in at 2:53, I smile. Thank you, Poison.

Best songs: "Love On The Rocks," "Nothin' But A Good Time," "Tearin' Down The Walls," "Fallen Angel," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

3. Bon Jovi- New Jersey

Poison and Bon Jovi dominated my childhood, and while the theatrics and image of Poison won the heart of my 8 year old version, Bon Jovi has emerged the winner over time- they just wrote great (and better) songs. Every song on this album is awesome, and despite some production values and dated guitar sounds here and there, this is a fantastic album even today. It starts with the 6 minute epic, "Lay Your Hands On Me," beginning with weird sound effects, a huge tribal drum beat, people screaming HEY, and Bon Jovi telling us what we're in for. It then goes into a sweet little melody over an organ, with a church chorus singing backup, before exploding into perfect 80's pop hair metal/pure rock and roll. At that time, I hadn't heard anyone be so theatric, epic and interesting while still having a great song to back it all up. From there, it goes into "Bad Medicine," which would normally be the best song on an album, if that album wasn't this one. I still get shivers from the build up in "Blood On Blood," and the absurd note Jon hits in "I'll Be There For You" (at 3:59). Even the stupid ending song "Love For Sale" is fantastic. This album may be too grandiose and overproduced, or too "stadium rock" for some people, but to me, it's perfect- every song is huge, with group vocals everywhere, perfect solos, perfect harmonies, perfect songs. This is the best Bon Jovi would ever be, and I'm happy it was one of my main introductions into rock music. 

Best songs: "Lay Your Hands On Me," "Bad Medicine," "Blood On Blood," "Wild Is The Wind," "Stick To Your Guns," "I'll Be There For You."

2. Primus- Frizzle Fry

In 1990, there was no band on earth who sounded like Primus. And in 2011, there still isn't. I had a friend in 6th grade who was that friend every music nerd had- the one who told you about weird bands you'd never heard of. His name was Zeb, and he gave me Primus, Ween, and Ministry. Thanks, Zeb. It feels weird to write about how much Poison and Bon Jovi meant to me over the course of my life, and rate an incredibly strange album with a guy melting in a frying pan on the cover higher, but this is one of the very few tapes I owned that I wore out from listening to so much. And it still rules. This is the album where Primus got everything right- the songs are the best, the musicianship is incredible, and for a band known for their bass player's skills, this album showcased their oft-ignored and forever underrated guitar work. From the evil of "Too Many Puppies" and "The Toys Go Winding Down" to the rocking and weird "Mr. Knowitall" and "Pudding Time," to the pure awesomeness of "Frizzle Fry and "Spaghetti Western" (which still has one of my favorite opening beats and bass line combinations ever), this album just rocks all the way through. It's also Primus' heaviest album, which is clearly a sound they should have stuck with. 

Best songs: "To Defy The Laws Of Tradition," "Too Many Puppies," "Frizzle Fry," "The Toys Go Winding Down," "Spaghetti Western."

1. Faith No More- The Real Thing

There is no other album in my collection that I have listened to more. Sure, there's some classics that I've listened to a LOT, but no other album is this old (22 YEARS!!), and certainly no album that old still gets repeated listens each year. I am incredibly proud that, other than the soundtrack to St. Elmo's Fire, this is truly my first favorite album. I got the single to "Epic" with "Edge Of The World" as the B-side (remember tape singles?!) and pretty much wore it out. I finally bought this (and if I remember correctly, this was the first tape I saved money for weeks to buy (for 10 bucks)), and was just blown away. I had no idea at that time that I would still be freaking out about how good this album is.

As much as I don't want to mess with a classic, I wish the band would re-record this, since the only thing it suffers from is production (slap bass and echoed drums) and Mike Patton not yet realizing how good of a singer he was and producing a much more nasal version of his now classic voice. But that being said, that's all part of the charm. This album is more unique than anything that came out within several years of it, and has truly taken me to another world on most listens. I used to listen to this in the dark on long drives home from my Grandmother's house, listening intently to the sick and creepy lyrics of "The Real Thing," trying to understand what the hell "Zombie Eaters" was about, and revelling in just how odd it was that an instrumental song (the first I ever heard) based largely on Indian sounding synthesizers could rock so hard. I didn't even know "War Pigs" was a Black Sabbath cover until years later, and I still say Faith No More do it better.

This album is also probably the only album I can think of where the middle of it is the strongest- the metal evil of "Surprise! You're Dead!" into the haunting, creepy and beautiful sadness of "Zombie Eaters" to the epic and forever changing and building "The Real Thing," is just fantastic. I feel bad for "Underwater Love," it stands no chance coming after those three songs.

The guitar tone is incredible, the songwriting is unlike anything I'd ever heard, I've still never heard synthesizer and keyboards used better, and they mixed EVERYTHING- rap, metal, punk, funk, soul, beautiful piano, lounge music, death metal, etc. PERFECTLY into a weird sound all their own. This is one of those bands that I think wouldn't have produced anything like this if a single member wasn't in the band, and, at least for me, since this is my favorite album of theirs, this was just a perfect mix of time, creativity, inspiration, production, musicianship, and whatever drugs they were taking. This is just a phenomenal album that is the definition of groundbreaking and I am incredibly happy I've had it for all but 7 years of my life.  

Best songs: "Epic," "Falling To Pieces," "Surprise! You're Dead," "Zombie Eaters," "The Real Thing," "Woodpecker From Mars."