Rock
Top 100 albums 80 89 (Lossy mp3 VBR Pitchforkmedia )
-
-
- Rate this torrent + | -
Download Anonymously! Get Protected Today And Get your 70% discount
Torrent info
Torrent Files List
001. Sonic Youth - 1988 - Daydream Nation (Size: 6.57 GB) (Files: 1317)
001. Sonic Youth - 1988 - Daydream Nation
01 - Teen Age Riot.mp3
02 - Silver Rocket.mp3
03 - The Sprawl.mp3
04 - 'Cross The Breeze.mp3
05 - Eric's Trip.mp3
06 - Total Trash.mp3
07 - Hey Joni.mp3
08 - Providence.mp3
09 - Candle.mp3
10 - Rain King.mp3
11 - Kissability.mp3
12 - Trilogy a) The Wonder b) Hyperstation c) Eliminator Jr..mp3
002. Talking Heads - 1980 - Remain In Light
01 - Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On).Mp3.mp3
03 - The Great Curve.Mp3.mp3
04 - Once In A Lifetime.Mp3.mp3
05 - Houses In Motion.Mp3.mp3
06 - Seen And Not Seen.Mp3.mp3
07 - Listening Wind.Mp3.mp3
08 - The Overload.Mp3.mp3
003. Beastie Boys - 1989 - Paul's Boutique
01 - To All the Girls.mp3
02 - Shake Your Rump.mp3
03 - Johnny Ryall.mp3
04 - Egg Man.mp3
05 - High Plains Drifter.mp3
06 - The Sounds of Science.mp3
07 - 3-Minute Rule.mp3
08 - Hey Ladies.mp3
09 - 5-Piece Chicken Dinner.mp3
10 - Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun.mp3
11 - Car Thief.mp3
12 - What Comes Around.mp3
13 - Shadrach.mp3
14 - Ask for Janice.mp3
15 - B-Boy Bouillabaisse.mp3
004. Pixies - 1989 - Doolittle
01 - Debaser.mp3
02 - Tame.mp3
03 - Wave of Mutilation.mp3
04 - I Bleed.mp3
05 - Here Comes Your Man.mp3
06 - Dead.mp3
07 - Monkey Gone to Heaven.mp3
08 - Mr. Grieves.mp3
09 - Crackity Jones.mp3
10 - La La Love You.mp3
11 - No. 13 Baby.mp3
12 - There Goes My Gun.mp3
13 - Hey.mp3
14 - Silver.mp3
15 - Gouge Away.mp3
005. R.E.M. - 1983 - Murmur
01 - Radio Free Europe.mp3
02 - Pilgrimage.mp3
03 - Laughing.mp3
04 - Talk About The Passion.mp3
05 - Moral Kiosk.mp3
06 - Perfect Circle.mp3
07 - Catapult.mp3
08 - Sitting Still.mp3
09 - 9-9.mp3
10 - Shaking Through.mp3
11 - We Walk.mp3
12 - West Of The Fields.mp3
13 - There She Goes Again.mp3
14 - 9-9 (Live).mp3
15 - Gardening At Night (Live).mp3
16 - Catapult (Live).mp3
007. Pixies - 1988 - Surfer Rosa
01 - Bone Machine.mp3
02 - Break My Body.mp3
03 - Something Against You.mp3
04 - Broken Face.mp3
05 - Gigantic.mp3
06 - River Euphrates.mp3
07 - Where Is My Mind.mp3
08 - Cactus.mp3
09 - Tony's Theme.mp3
10 - Oh My Golly!.mp3
11 - You Fuckin' Die! I Said...mp3
12 - Vamos.mp3
13 - I'm Amazed.mp3
14 - Brick Is Red.mp3
Surfer Rosa.log
008. Tom Waits - 1985 - Rain Dogs
01 - Singapore.mp3
02 - Clap Hands.mp3
03 - Cemetery Polka.mp3
04 - Jockey Full Of Bourbon.mp3
05 - Tango Till They're Sore.mp3
06 - Big Black Mariah.mp3
07 - Diamonds & Gold.mp3
08 - Hang Down Your Head.mp3
09 - Time.mp3
10 - Rain Dogs.mp3
11 - Midtown (Instrumental).mp3
12 - 9Th & Hennepin.mp3
13 - Gun Street Girl.mp3
14 - Union Square.mp3
15 - Blind Love.mp3
16 - Walking Spanish.mp3
17 - Downtown Train.mp3
18 - Bride Of Rain Dog (Instrumental).mp3
19 - Anywhere I Lay My Head.mp3
009. Public Enemy - 1988 - It Takes Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
01 - Countdown to Armageddon.mp3
02 - Bring the Noise.mp3
03 - Don't Believe the Hype.mp3
04 - Cold Lampin With Flavor.mp3
06 - Mind Terrorist.mp3
07 - Louder Than a Bomb.mp3
08 - Caught, Can We Get a Witness.mp3
09 - Show 'em Whatcha Got.mp3
10 - She Watch Channel Zero !.mp3
11 - Night of the Living Baseheads.mp3
12 - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.mp3
13 - Security of the First World.mp3
14 - Rebel Without a pPuse.mp3
15 - Prophets of Rage.mp3
16 - Party For Your Right to Fight.mp3
010. Joy Division - 1980 - Closer
01 - Atrocity Exhibition.mp3
02 - Isolation.mp3
03 - Passover.mp3
04 - Colony.mp3
05 - A Means To An End.mp3
06 - Heart and Soul.mp3
07 - Twenty Four Hours.mp3
08 - The Eternal.mp3
09 - Decades.mp3
011. Tom Waits - 1983 - Swordfishtrombones
01 - Underground.mp3
02 - Shore Leave.mp3
03 - Dave The Butcher.mp3
04 - Johnsburg, Illinois.mp3
05 - 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six.mp3
06 - Town With No Cheer-Retry.mp3
07 - In The Neighborhood.mp3
08 - Just Another Sucker On The Vine.mp3
09 - Frank's Wild Years.mp3
012. Prince & The Revolution - 1984 - Purple Rain OST
01 - Let's Go Crazy.mp3
02 - Take Me With U.mp3
03 - The Beautiful Ones.mp3
04 - Computer Blue.mp3
05 - Darling Nikki.mp3
06 - When Doves Cry.mp3
07 - I Would Die 4 U.mp3
08 - Baby I'm A Star.mp3
09 - Purple Rain.mp3
Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain (OST).m3u
013. The Fall - 1985 - This Nation's Saving Grace
01 - Mansion.mp3
02 - Bombast.mp3
03 - Barmy.mp3
04 - What you Need.mp3
05 - Spoilt Victorian Child.mp3
06 - L.A..mp3
07 - Vixen.mp3
08 - Couldn't Get Ahead.mp3
09 - Gut of the Quantifier.mp3
10 - My New House.mp3
11 - Paint Work.mp3
12 - I am Damo Suzuki.mp3
13 - to NK Roachment Yarbles.mp3
14 - Petty (Thief) Lout.mp3
15 - Rollin' Dany.mp3
16 - Cruisers Creek.mp3
The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace.m3u
This Nation's Saving Grace.log
014. Sonic Youth - 1987 - Sister
01 - Schizophrenia.mp3
02 - Catholic Block.mp3
03 - Beauty Lies In The Eye.mp3
04 - Stereo Sanctity.mp3
05 - Pipeline-Kill Time.mp3
06 - Tuff Gnarl.mp3
07 - Pacific Coast Highway.mp3
08 - Hot Wire My Heart.mp3
09 - Cotton Crown.mp3
10 - White Cross.mp3
11 - Master-Dik.mp3
folder.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - Back.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - CD.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 1.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 2.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 3.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 4.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 5.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 6.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - DGC CD Booklet 7.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - Front.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - Mute Vinyl Sleeve 1.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sister - Mute Vinyl Sleeve 2.jpg
015. XTC - 1986 - Skylarking
01 - Summer's Cauldron.mp3
02 - Grass.mp3
03 - The Meeting Place.mp3
04 - That's Really Super, Supergirl.mp3
05 - Ballet For a Rainy Day.mp3
06 - 1000 Umbrellas.mp3
07 - Season Cycle.mp3
08 - Earn Enough For Us.mp3
09 - Big Day.mp3
10 - Another Satellite.mp3
11 - The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul.mp3
12 - Dear God.mp3
13 - Dying.mp3
14 - Sacrificial Bonfire.mp3
15 - Mermaid Smiled.mp3
016. Galaxie 500 - 1989 - On Fire
01 - Blue Thunder.mp3
02 - Tell Me.mp3
03 - Snowstorm.mp3
04 - Strange.mp3
05 - When Will You Come Home.mp3
06 - Decomposing Trees.mp3
07 - Another Day.mp3
08 - Leave the Planet.mp3
09 - Plastic Bird.mp3
10 - Isn't It a Pity.mp3
11 - Victory Garden (Blue Thunder EP).mp3
12 - Ceremony (Blue Thunder EP).mp3
13 - Cold Night (Blue Thunder EP).mp3
folder.jpg
017. Minutemen - 1984 - Double Nickels On The Dime
01 - D's Car Jam-Anxious Mo-Fo.mp3
02 - Theatre Is The Life Of You.mp3
03 - Viet Nam.mp3
04 - Cohesion.mp3
05 - It's Expected I'm Gone.mp3
06 - #1 Hit Song.mp3
07 - Two Beads At The End.mp3
08 - Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth.mp3
09 - Don't Look Now.mp3
10 - Shit From An Old Notebook.mp3
11 - Nature Without Man.mp3
12 - One Reporter's Opinion.mp3
14 - Maybe Partying Will Help.mp3
15 - Toadies.mp3
16 - Retreat.mp3
17 - The Big Foist.mp3
18 - God Bows To Math.mp3
19 - Corona.mp3
20 - The Glory Of Man.mp3
21 - Take 5, D..mp3
22 - My Heart And The Real World.mp3
23 - History Lesson - Part II.mp3
24 - You Need The Glory.mp3
25 - The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts.mp3
26 - West Germany.mp3
27 - The Politics Of Time.mp3
28 - Themselves.mp3
29 - Please Don't Be Gentle With Me.mp3
30 - Nothing Indeed.mp3
31 - No Exchange.mp3
32 - There Ain't Shit On T.V. Tonight.mp3
33 - This Ain't No Picnic.mp3
34 - Spillage.mp3
35 - Untitled Song For Latin America.mp3
36 - Jesus And Tequila.mp3
37 - June 16Th.mp3
38 - Storm In My House.mp3
39 - Martin's Story.mp3
40 - Dr. Wu.mp3
41 - The World Acording To Nouns.mp3
42 - Love Dance.mp3
43 - Three Car Jam.mp3
Minutemen-Double Nickels On The Dime.m3u
018. De La Soul - 1989 - 3 Feet High And Rising
01 - Intro.mp3
02 - The Magic Number.mp3
03 - Change in Speak.mp3
04 - Cool Breeze on the Rocks.mp3
05 - Can U Keep a Secret.mp3
07 - Ghetto Thang.mp3
08 - Transmitting Live From Mars.mp3
09 - Eye Know.mp3
10 - Take it Off.mp3
11 - A Little Bit of Soap.mp3
12 - Tread Water.mp3
13 - Potholes in my Lawn.mp3
14 - Say No Go.mp3
15 - Do as De La Does.mp3
17 - De La Orgee.mp3
18 - Buddy.mp3
19 - Description.mp3
20 - Me Myself and I.mp3
21 - This is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era.mp3
22 - I Can Do Anything (Delacratic).mp3
23 - D.A.I.S.Y. Age.mp3
folder.gif
019. Public Image, Ltd. - 1980 - Second Edition
01 - Albatross.mp3
02 - Memories.mp3
03 - Swan Lake.mp3
04 - Poptones.mp3
05 - Careering.mp3
06 - Socialist.mp3
07 - Graveyard.mp3
08 - The Suit.mp3
09 - Bad Baby.mp3
10 - No Birds.mp3
11 - Chant.mp3
12 - Radio 4.mp3
020. This Heat - 1981 - Deceit
01 - Sleep.mp3
02 - Paper Hats.mp3
03 - Triumph.mp3
04 - S.P.Q.R..mp3
05 - Cenotaph.mp3
06 - Shrink Wrap.mp3
07 - Radio Prague.mp3
08 - Makeshift Swahili.mp3
09 - Independence.mp3
10 - A New Kind of Water.mp3
11 - Hi Baku Shyo.mp3
folder.jpg
022. My Bloody Valentine - 1988 - Isn't Anything
01 - Soft as Snow (but Warm Inside).mp3
02 - Lose My Breath.mp3
03 - Cupid Come.mp3
04 - (When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream.mp3
05 - No More Sorry.mp3
06 - All I Need.mp3
07 - Feed Me With Your Kiss.mp3
08 - Sueisfine.mp3
09 - Several Girls Galore.mp3
10 - You Never Should.mp3
11 - Nothing Much to Lose.mp3
12 - I Can See it (but I Can't Feel It).mp3
023. The Jesus & Mary Chain - 1985 - Psychocandy
01 - Just Like Honey.mp3
02 - The Living End.mp3
03 - Taste The Floor.mp3
04 - The Hardest Walk.mp3
05 - Cut Dead.mp3
06 - In A Hole.mp3
07 - Taste Of Cindy.mp3
08 - Some Candy Talking.mp3
09 - Never Understand.mp3
10 - Inside Me.mp3
11 - Sowing Seeds.mp3
12 - My Little Underground.mp3
13 - You Trip Me Up.mp3
14 - Something's Wrong.mp3
15 - It's So Hard.mp3
024. Gang of Four - 1981 - Solid Gold
01 - Paralysed.mp3
02 - What We All Want.mp3
03 - Why Theory.mp3
04 - If I Could Keep It for Myself.mp3
05 - Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time.mp3
06 - Cheeseburger.mp3
07 - Republic.mp3
08 - In the Ditch.mp3
09 - Hole in the Wallet.mp3
10 - He'd Send in the Army.mp3
folder.jpg
025. Black Flag - 1981 - Damaged
01 - Rise Above.mp3
02 - Spray Paint.mp3
03 - Six Pack.mp3
04 - What I See.mp3
05 - TV Party.mp3
06 - Thirsty and Miserable.mp3
07 - Police Story.mp3
08 - Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie.mp3
10 - Room 13.mp3
11 - Damaged II.mp3
12 - No More.mp3
13 - Padded Cell.mp3
14 - Life of Pain.mp3
15 - Damaged I.mp3
Damaged.log
Damaged.m3u
026. Elvis Costello - 1980 - Get Happy!!
01 - Love For Tender.mp3
02 - Opportunity.mp3
03 - The Imposter.mp3
04 - Secondary Modern.mp3
05 - King Horse.mp3
06 - Possession.mp3
07 - Man Called Uncle.mp3
08 - Clowntime Is Over.mp3
09 - New Amsterdam.mp3
10 - High Fidelity.mp3
11 - I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down.mp3
12 - Black And White World.mp3
13 - 5ive Gears In Reverse.mp3
14 - B Movie.mp3
15 - Motel Matches.mp3
16 - Human Touch.mp3
17 - Beaten To The Punch.mp3
18 - Temptation.mp3
19 - I Stand Accused.mp3
20 - Riot Act.mp3
folder.gif
028. New Order - 1983 - Power Corruption and Lies
01 - Age of consent.mp3
02 - We All Stand.mp3
03 - The Village.mp3
04 - 586.mp3
05 - Your Silent Face.mp3
06 - Ultraviolence.mp3
07 - Ecstasy.mp3
08 - Leave Me Alone.mp3
neworder_pcl_front.jpg
029. The Replacements - 1984 - Let It Be
01 - I Will Dare.mp3
02 - Favorite Thing.mp3
03 - We're Comin' Out.mp3
04 - Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out.mp3
05 - Androgynous.mp3
06 - Black Diamond.mp3
07 - Unsatisfied.mp3
08 - Seen Your Video.mp3
09 - Gary's Got a Boner.mp3
10 - Sixteen Blue.mp3
11 - Answering Machine.mp3
031. Sonic Youth - 1986 - EVOL
01 - green light.mp3
02 - star power.mp3
03 - secret girl.mp3
04 - tom violence.mp3
05 - death to our friends.mp3
06 - shadow of a doubt.mp3
08 - in the kingdom #19.mp3
10 - bubblegum.mp3
032. Husker Du - 1984 - Zen Arcade
01 - Something I Learned Today.mp3
02 - Broken Home, Broken Heart.mp3
03 - Never Talking To You Again.mp3
04 - Chartered Trips.mp3
05 - Dreams Reoccurring.mp3
06 - Indecision Time.mp3
07 - Hare Krsna.mp3
08 - Beyond The Threshold.mp3
09 - Pride.mp3
10 - I'll Never Forget You.mp3
11 - The Biggest Lie.mp3
12 - What's Going On.mp3
13 - Masochism World.mp3
14 - Standing By The Sea.mp3
16 - One Step At A Time.mp3
18 - Newest Industry.mp3
19 - Monday Will Never Be The Same.mp3
20 - Whatever.mp3
21 - The Tooth Fairy And The Princess.mp3
22 - Turn On The News.mp3
23 - Reoccurring Dreams.mp3
033. The Fall - 1982 - Hex Enduction Hour
01 - The Classical.mp3
02 - Jawbone and the Air-Rifle.mp3
03 - Hip Priest.mp3
04 - FortressDeer Park.mp3
05 - Mere Pseud Mag. Ed..mp3
06 - Winter.mp3
07 - Winter #2.mp3
08 - Just Step S'ways.mp3
09 - Who Makes the Nazis.mp3
10 - Iceland.mp3
11 - And This Day.mp3
Hex Enduction Hour.log
The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour.m3u
034. Talk Talk - 1988 - Spirit of Eden
01 - The Rainbow.mp3
02 - Eden.mp3
03 - Desire.mp3
04 - Inheritance.mp3
05 - I Believe In You.mp3
06 - Wealth.mp3
folder.jpg
035. N.W.A. - 1989 - Straight Outta Compton
01 - Straight Outta Compton.mp3
02 - Fuck Tha Police.mp3
03 - Gangsta Gangsta.mp3
04 - If It Ain't Ruff.mp3
05 - Parental Discretion Iz Advised.mp3
06 - 8 Ball (Remix).mp3
07 - Something Like That.mp3
08 - Express Yourself.mp3
09 - Compton's N The House (Remix).mp3
10 - I Ain't Tha 1.mp3
11 - Dopeman (Remix).mp3
12 - Quiet On Tha Set.mp3
13 - Something 2 Dance 2.mp3
036. Violent Femmes - 1983 - Violent Femmes
01 - Blister in the Sun.mp3
02 - Kiss Off.mp3
03 - Please Do Not Go.mp3
04 - Add It Up.mp3
05 - Confessions.mp3
06 - Prove My Love.mp3
07 - Promise.mp3
08 - To the Kill.mp3
09 - Gone Daddy Gone.mp3
10 - Good Feeling.mp3
11 - Ugly.mp3
12 - Gimme the Car.mp3
037. The Replacements - 1985 - Tim
01 - Hold My Life.mp3
02 - I'll Buy.mp3
03 - Kiss Me On The Bus.mp3
04 - Dose Of Thunder.mp3
05 - Waitress In The Sky.mp3
06 - Swingin Party.mp3
07 - Bastards Of Young.mp3
08 - Lay It Down Clown.mp3
09 - Left Of The Dial.mp3
10 - Little Mascara.mp3
11 - Here Comes A Regular.mp3
038. The Cure - 1989 - Disintegration
01 - Plainsong.mp3
02 - Pictures of You.mp3
03 - Closedown.mp3
04 - Lovesong.mp3
05 - Last Dance.mp3
06 - Lullaby.mp3
07 - Fascination Street.mp3
08 - Prayers for Rain.mp3
09 - The Same Deep Water as You.mp3
10 - Disintegration.mp3
11 - Homesick.mp3
12 - Untitled.mp3
folder.jpg
The Cure - Disintegration - Back.jpg
The Cure - Disintegration - CD.jpg
039. The Stone Roses - 1989 - The Stone Roses
01 - I Wanna Be Adored.mp3
02 - She Bangs the Drums.mp3
03 - Elephant Stone.mp3
04 - Waterfall.mp3
05 - Don't Stop.mp3
06 - Bye Bye Badman.mp3
07 - Elizabeth My Dear.mp3
08 - (Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister.mp3
09 - Made of Stone.mp3
10 - Shoot You Down.mp3
11 - This is the One.mp3
12 - I am the Resurrection.mp3
13 - Fools Gold.mp3
Stone Roses - The Stone Roses.m3u
040. Dinosaur Jr - 1987 - You're Living All Over Me
01 - Little Fury Things.mp3
02 - Kracked.mp3
03 - Sludgefeast.mp3
04 - The Lung.mp3
05 - Raisans.mp3
06 - Tarpit.mp3
07 - In A Jar.mp3
08 - Lose.mp3
09 - Poledo.mp3
10 - Show Me the Way.mp3
041. Beastie Boys - 1986 - Licensed to Ill
01 - Rhymin & Stealin.mp3
02 - The New Style.mp3
03 - She's Crafty.mp3
04 - Posse in Effect.mp3
05 - Slow Ride.mp3
06 - Girls.mp3
07 - Fight for Your Right.mp3
08 - No Sleep Till Brooklyn.mp3
09 - Paul Revere.mp3
10 - Hold It Now, Hit It.mp3
11 - Brass Monkey.mp3
12 - Slow and Low.mp3
13 - Time to Get Ill.mp3
042. Cowboy Junkies - 1988 - The Trinity Session
01 - Mining for Gold.mp3
02 - Misguided Angel.mp3
03 - Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis).mp3
04 - I Don't Get It.mp3
05 - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.mp3
06 - To Love Is to Bury.mp3
07 - 200 More Miles.mp3
08 - Dreaming My Dreams with You.mp3
09 - Working on a Building.mp3
10 - Sweet Jane.mp3
11 - Postcard Blues.mp3
12 - Walking after Midnight.mp3
folder.jpg
043. Run-D.M.C. - 1986 - Raising Hell
01 - Peter Piper.mp3
02 - It's Tricky.mp3
03 - My Adidas.mp3
04 - Walk This Way.mp3
05 - Is It Live.mp3
06 - Perfection.mp3
07 - Hit It Run.mp3
08 - Raising Hell.mp3
09 - You Be Illin'.mp3
10 - Dumb Girl.mp3
11 - Son Of Byford.mp3
12 - Proud To Be Black.mp3
folder.gif
044. Kraftwerk - 1981 - Computer World
01 - Computer World.mp3
02 - Pocket Calculator.mp3
03 - Numbers.mp3
04 - Computer World 2.mp3
05 - Computer Love.mp3
06 - Home Computer.mp3
07 - It's More Fun To Compute.mp3
folder.JPG
045. Prince - 1987 - Sign 'O' The Times
Disc 1
01 - Sign 'O' The Times.mp3
02 - Play In The Sunshine.mp3
03 - Housequake.mp3
04 - The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker.mp3
05 - It.mp3
06 - Starfish And Coffee.mp3
07 - Slow Love.mp3
08 - Hot Thing.mp3
09 - Forever In My Life.mp3
Disc 2
01 - U Got The Look.mp3
02 - If I Was Your Girlfriend.mp3
03 - Strange Relationship.mp3
04 - I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.mp3
05 - The Cross.mp3
06 - It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night.mp3
07 - Adore.mp3
046. XTC - 1982 - English Settlement
01 - Runaways.mp3
02 - Ball And Chain.mp3
03 - Senses Working Overtime.mp3
04 - Jason And The Argonauts.mp3
05 - No Thugs In Our House.mp3
06 - Yacht Dance.mp3
07 - All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late).mp3
08 - Melt The Guns.mp3
09 - Leisure.mp3
10 - It's Nearly Africa.mp3
11 - Knuckle Down.mp3
12 - Fly On The Wall.mp3
13 - Down In The Cockpit.mp3
14 - English Roundabout.mp3
15 - Snowman.mp3
047. John Zorn - 1989 - Naked City
01 - Batman.mp3
02 - The Sicilian Clan.mp3
03 - You Will Be Shot.mp3
04 - Latin Quarter.mp3
05 - A Shot in the Dark.mp3
06 - Reanimator.mp3
07 - Snagglepuss.mp3
08 - I Want to Live.mp3
09 - Lonely Woman.mp3
10 - Igneous Ejaculation.mp3
11 - Blood Duster.mp3
12 - Hammerhead.mp3
13 - Demon Sanctuary.mp3
14 - Obeah Man.mp3
15 - Ujaku.mp3
16 - Fuck the Facts.mp3
17 - Speedball.mp3
18 - Chinatown.mp3
19 - Punk China Doll.mp3
20 - N.Y. Flat Top Box.mp3
21 - Saigon Pickup.mp3
22 - The James Bond Theme.mp3
23 - Den of Sins.mp3
24 - Contempt.mp3
25 - Graveyard Shift.mp3
26 - Inside Straight.mp3
folder.jpg
048. R.E.M. - 1987 - Document
01 - Finest Worksong.mp3
02 - Welcome To The Occupation.mp3
03 - Exhuming McCarthy.mp3
04 - Disturbance At The Heron House.mp3
05 - Strange.mp3
06 - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).mp3
07 - The One I Love.mp3
08 - Fireplace.mp3
09 - Lightnin' Hopkins.mp3
10 - King Of Birds.mp3
11 - Oddfellows Local 151.mp3
049. Mission of Burma - 1982 - Vs
01 - Secrets.mp3
02 - Train.mp3
03 - Trem Two.mp3
04 - New Nails.mp3
05 - Dead Pool.mp3
06 - Learn How.mp3
07 - Micha.mp3
08 - Weatherbox.mp3
09 - The Ballad of Johnny Burma.mp3
10 - Einstein's Day.mp3
11 - Fun World.mp3
12 - That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate.mp3
13 - Forget.mp3
14 - OK-No Way.mp3
15 - Laugh The World Away.mp3
16 - Progress.mp3
WS_FTP.LOG
050. Spacemen 3 - 1987 - The Perfect Prescription
01 - Take me to the other side.mp3
02 - Walkin' with Jesus.mp3
03 - Ode to Street Hassle.mp3
04 - Ecstasy Symphony.mp3
05 - Transparent Radiation (flashback).mp3
06 - Feel so good.mp3
07 - Things'll never be the same.mp3
08 - Come down easy.mp3
09 - Call the doctor.mp3
10 - Soul 1.mp3
11 - That's just fine.mp3
13 - Ecstasy.mp3
051. Leonard Cohen - 1988 - I'm Your Man
01 - First We Take Manhattan.mp3
02 - Ain't No Cure for Love.mp3
03 - Everybody Knows.mp3
04 - I'm Your Man.mp3
05 - Take This Waltz.mp3
06 - Jazz Police.mp3
07 - I Can't Forget.mp3
08 - Tower of Song.mp3
052. Eric B. & Rakim - 1987 - Paid in Full
01 - I Ain't No Joke.mp3
02 - Eric B. Is On The Cut.mp3
03 - My Melody.mp3
04 - I Know You Got Soul.mp3
05 - Move The Crowd.mp3
06 - Paid In Full.mp3
07 - As The Rhyme Goes On.mp3
08 - Chinese Arithmetic.mp3
09 - Eric B. Is President.mp3
10 - Extended Beat.mp3
folder.jpg
053. Mission of Burma - 1981 - Signals, Calls, and Marches
00 - Mission Of Burma - Signals, Calls And Marches.m3u
00 - Signals, Calls And Marches.sfv
01 - That's When I Reach for My Revolver.mp3
02 - Outlaw.mp3
03 - Fame and Fortune.mp3
04 - This Is Not a Photograph.mp3
05 - Red.mp3
06 - All World Cowboy Romance.mp3
07 - Academy Fight Song [1980 7 Single].mp3
08 - Max Ernst [1980 7 Single].mp3
054. Big Black - 1987 - Songs About Fucking
00 - Songs About Fucking.sfv
01 - The Power Of Independent Trucking.mp3
02 - The Model.mp3
03 - Bad Penny.mp3
04 - L Dopa.mp3
05 - Precious Thing.mp3
06 - Colombian Necktie.mp3
07 - Kitty Empire.mp3
08 - Ergot.mp3
09 - Kasimir S. Pulaski Day.mp3
10 - Fish Fry.mp3
11 - Pavement Saw.mp3
12 - Tiny, King Of The Jews.mp3
13 - Bombastic Intro.mp3
14 - He's A Whore.mp3
055. The Police - 1983 - Synchronicity
01 - Synchronicity I.mp3
02 - Walking In Your Footsteps.mp3
03 - O My God.mp3
04 - Mother.mp3
05 - Miss Gradenko.mp3
06 - Synchronicity II.mp3
07 - Every Breath You Take.mp3
08 - King Of Pain.mp3
10 - Tea In The Sahara.mp3
11 - Murder By Numbers.mp3
056. King Crimson - 1981 - Discipline
01 - Elephant Talk.mp3
02 - Frame By Frame.mp3
03 - Matte Kudasai.mp3
04 - Indiscipline.mp3
05 - Thela Hun Ginjeet.mp3
06 - The Sheltering Sky.mp3
07 - Discipline.mp3
08 - Matte Kudasai (Alternative Version).mp3
folder.jpg
King Crimson - Discipline - Back.jpg
King Crimson - Discipline - Front.jpg
057. Pixies - 1987 - Come On Pilgrim
01 - Caribou.mp3
02 - Vamos.mp3
03 - Isla De Encanta.mp3
04 - Ed Is Dead.mp3
05 - The Holiday Song.mp3
06 - Nimrod's Son.mp3
07 - I've Been Tired.mp3
08 - Levitate Me.mp3
058. Elvis Costello - 1982 - Imperial Bedroom [Expanded]
Disc 1 - Imperial Bedroom
01 - Beyond Belief.mp3
02 - Tears Before Bedtime.mp3
03 - Shabby Doll.mp3
04 - The Long Honeymoon.mp3
05 - Man Out Of Time.mp3
06 - Almost Blue.mp3
07 - ...And In Every Home.mp3
08 - The Loved Ones.mp3
09 - Human Hands.mp3
10 - Kid About It.mp3
11 - Little Savage.mp3
12 - Boy With A Problem.mp3
13 - Pidgin English.mp3
14 - You Little Fool.mp3
15 - Town Cryer.mp3
Disc 2 - Imperial Bedroom (Bonus Disc)
01 - The Land of Give and Take (Early Version of 'Beyond Belief').mp3
02 - Tears Before Bedtime (Alternate Version).mp3
03 - Man Out of Time (Alternate Version).mp3
04 - Human Hands (Early Version).mp3
05 - Kid About It (Alternate Version).mp3
06 - Little Savage (Alternate Version).mp3
07 - You Little Fool (Alternate Version).mp3
08 - Town Cryer (Fast Version).mp3
09 - Little Goody Two Shoes (Alternate Version).mp3
10 - The Town Where Time Stood Still (Alternate Version).mp3
11 - ...and In Every Home (Rehearsal).mp3
12 - I Turn Around.mp3
13 - From Head to Toe.mp3
14 - The World of Broken Hearts.mp3
15 - Night Time.mp3
16 - Really Mystified.mp3
17 - The Stamping Ground.mp3
18 - Shabby Doll (Demo).mp3
19 - Man Out of Time (Demo).mp3
20 - You Little Fool (Demo).mp3
21 - Town Cryer (Demo).mp3
23 - Imperial Bedroom.mp3
folder.gif
060. Bruce Springsteen - 1982 - Nebraska
01 - Nebraska.mp3
02 - Atlantic City.mp3
03 - Mansion On The Hill.mp3
04 - Johnny 99.mp3
05 - Highway Patrolman.mp3
06 - State Trooper.mp3
07 - Used Cars.mp3
08 - Open All Night.mp3
09 - My Father's House.mp3
10 - Reason To Believe.mp3
061. Nurse With Wound - 1982 - Homotopy to Marie
01 - I Am Blind.mp3
02 - Homotopy To Marie.mp3
03 - Astral Dustbin Dirge.mp3
04 - The Schmuerz.mp3
05 - The Tumultuous Upsurge.mp3
folder.jpg
062. R.E.M. - 1984 - Reckoning
01 - HarborcOat.mp3
02 - 7 chineSe bros..mp3
03 - so. Central Rain.mp3
04 - Pretty Persuasion.mp3
05 - Time After Time (annElise).mp3
06 - second GuessinG.mp3
07 - letter Never seNt.mp3
08 - camerA.mp3
09 - (don't Go back To) ROCKVILLE.mp3
10 - little america.mp3
folder.jpg
063. Young Marble Giants - 1980 - Colossal Youth
01 - Searching for the Night.mp3
02 - Include Me Out.mp3
03 - The Taxi.mp3
04 - Eating Noddemix.mp3
05 - Constantly Changing.mp3
06 - N.I.T.A..mp3
07 - Colossal Youth.mp3
08 - Music for Evenings.mp3
09 - The Man Amplifier.mp3
10 - Choci Loni.mp3
11 - Wurlitzer Jukebox.mp3
12 - Salad Days.mp3
13 - Credit in the Straight World.mp3
14 - Brand - New - Life.mp3
15 - Wind in the Rigging.mp3
16 - This Way.mp3
17 - Posed by Models.mp3
18 - The Clock.mp3
19 - Clicktalk.mp3
20 - Zebra Trucks.mp3
21 - Sporting Life.mp3
22 - Final Day.mp3
23 - Radio Silents.mp3
24 - Cakewalking.mp3
25 - Ode to Booker T..mp3
folder.gif
064. Television Personalities - 1981 - ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It
01 - This Angry Silence.mp3
02 - The Glittering Prizes.mp3
03 - World of Pauline Lewis.mp3
04 - A Family Affair.mp3
05 - Silly Girl.mp3
06 - Diary of a Young Man.mp3
07 - Geoffrey Ingram.mp3
08 - I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives.mp3
09 - Jackanory Stories.mp3
10 - Parties in Chelsea.mp3
11 - La Grande Illusion.mp3
12 - A Picture of Dorian Gray.mp3
13 - The Crying Room.mp3
14 - Look Back in Anger.mp3
folder.jpg
065. Soft Boys - 1980 - Underwater Moonlight...And How It Got There
Disc 1 - Underwater Moonlight
01 - I Wanna Destroy You.mp3
02 - Kingdom Of Love.mp3
03 - Positive Vibrations.mp3
04 - I Got The Hots.mp3
05 - Insanely Jealous.mp3
06 - Tonight.mp3
07 - You'll Have To Go Sideways.mp3
08 - Old Pervert.mp3
10 - Underwater Moonlight.mp3
11 - He's A Reptile [bonus].mp3
12 - Vegetable Man [bonus].mp3
13 - Strange [bonus].mp3
14 - Only The Stones Remain [bonus].mp3
15 - Where Are The Prawns [bonus].mp3
16 - Dreams [bonus].mp3
17 - Black Snake Diamond Rock [bonus].mp3
18 - There's Nobody Like You [bonus].mp3
19 - Song #4 [bonus].mp3
Disc 2 - ...And How It Got There
01 - Old Pervert [section 1].mp3
02 - Like a Real Smoothie.mp3
03 - Alien.mp3
04 - Bloat [extract].mp3
05 - Underwater Moonlight.mp3
06 - She Wears My Hair.mp3
07 - Wang Dang Pig.mp3
08 - Old Pervert [section 2].mp3
09 - Insanely Jealous.mp3
10 - Leave Me Alone.mp3
11 - Goodbye Maurice or Steve.mp3
12 - Old Pervert [section 3].mp3
13 - Cherries.mp3
14 - Amputated.mp3
15 - Over You.mp3
16 - I Wanna, Er... [extract].mp3
17 - Old Pervert [section 4].mp3
folder.gif
066. The Dukes of Stratosphear - 1987 - Psonic Psunspot
01 - Vanishing Girl.mp3
02 - Have You Seen Jackie.mp3
03 - Little Lighthouse.mp3
04 - You're a Good Man Albert Brown.mp3
05 - Collideascope.mp3
06 - You're My Drug.mp3
07 - Shiny Cage.mp3
08 - Brainiac's Daughter.mp3
09 - The Affiliated.mp3
10 - Pale and Precious.mp3
067. The Pogues - 1985 - Rum Sodomy and the Lash
01 - Sick Bed of CúchulaÃnn.mp3
02 - Old Main Drag.mp3
03 - Wild Cats of Kilkenny.mp3
04 - I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day.mp3
05 - Pair of Brown Eyes.mp3
06 - Sally Maclennane.mp3
07 - Pistol for Paddy Garcia.mp3
08 - Dirty Old Town.mp3
09 - Jesse James.mp3
10 - Navigator.mp3
11 - Billy's Bones.mp3
12 - Gentleman Soldier.mp3
13 - Band Played Waltzing Matilda.mp3
folder.jpg
068. Talking Heads - 1984 - Stop Making Sense [Special New Edition]
01 - Psycho Killer.mp3
02 - Heaven.mp3
03 - Thank You For Sending Me An Angel.mp3
04 - Found A Job.mp3
05 - Slippery People.mp3
06 - Burning Down The House.mp3
07 - Life During Wartime.mp3
08 - Making Flippy Floppy.mp3
09 - Swamp.mp3
10 - What A Day That Was.mp3
11 - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).mp3
12 - Once In A Lifetime.mp3
13 - Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club).mp3
14 - Girlfriend Is Better.mp3
15 - Take Me To The River.mp3
folder.gif
069. The Feelies - 1980 - Crazy Rhythms
01 - The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness.mp3
02 - Fa Ce-La.mp3
03 - Loveless Love.mp3
04 - Forces At Work.mp3
05 - Original Love.mp3
06 - Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey).mp3
07 - Moscow Nights.mp3
08 - Raised Eyebrows.mp3
09 - Crazy Rhythms.mp3
10 - Paint It Black.mp3
071. Replacements - 1987 - Pleased to Meet Me
01 - I.O.U..mp3
02 - Alex Chilton.mp3
03 - I Don't Know.mp3
04 - Nightclub Jitters.mp3
05 - The Ledge.mp3
06 - Never Mind.mp3
07 - Valentine.mp3
08 - Shooting Dirty Pool.mp3
09 - Red Red Wine.mp3
10 - Skyway.mp3
11 - Can't Hardly Wait.mp3
072. Meat Puppets - 1985 - Up on the Sun
01 - Up on the Sun.mp3
02 - Maiden's Milk.mp3
03 - Away.mp3
04 - Animal Kingdom.mp3
06 - Swimming Ground.mp3
07 - Buckethead.mp3
08 - Too Real.mp3
09 - Enchanted Porkfist.mp3
10 - Seal Whales.mp3
11 - Two Rivers.mp3
12 - Creator.mp3
073. Coil - 1987 - Horse Rotorvator
01 - The Anal Staircase.mp3
02 - Slur.mp3
03 - Babylero.mp3
04 - Ostia (The Death of Pasolini).mp3
05 - Herald.mp3
06 - Penetralia.mp3
07 - Circles of Mania.mp3
08 - Blood From the Air.mp3
09 - Who by Fire.mp3
10 - The Golden Section.mp3
11 - The First Five Minutes After Death.mp3
12 - Ravenous.mp3
Coil - Horse Rotorvator - Cover 1.jpg
Coil - Horse Rotorvator - Cover 2.jpg
Coil - Horse Rotorvator - Cover 3.jpg
folder.jpg
074. The Mekons - 1985 - Fear & Whiskey
01 - Chivalry.mp3
02 - Trouble Down South.mp3
03 - Hard To Be Human Again.mp3
04 - Darkness And Doubt.mp3
05 - Psycho Cupid.mp3
06 - Flitcraft.mp3
07 - Country.mp3
08 - Abernant 1984-85.mp3
09 - Last Dance.mp3
10 - Lost Highway.mp3
folder.jpg
075. Boogie Down Productions - 1987 - Criminal Minded
01 - Poetry.mp3
02 - South Bronx.mp3
03 - 9mm Goes Bang.mp3
04 - Word From Our Sponsor.mp3
05 - Elementary.mp3
06 - Dope Beat.mp3
07 - Remix For P Is Free.mp3
08 - The Bridge Is Over.mp3
09 - Super-Hoe.mp3
10 - Criminal Minded.mp3
11 - Poetry (Instrumental).mp3
12 - South Bronx (Instrumental).mp3
13 - 9mm Goes Bang (Instrumental).mp3
14 - Word From Our Sponsor (Instrumental).mp3
15 - Elementary (Instrumental).mp3
16 - Dope Beat (Instrumental).mp3
17 - Remix For P Is Free (Instrumental).mp3
18 - The Bridge Is Over (Instrumental).mp3
19 - Super-Hoe (Instrumental).mp3
20 - Criminal Minded (Instrumental).mp3
076. The dBs - 1981 - Stands for Decibels
01 - Black And White.mp3
02 - Dynamite.mp3
03 - She's Not Worried.mp3
04 - The Fight.mp3
05 - Espionage.mp3
06 - Tearjerkin'.mp3
07 - Baby Talk.mp3
08 - Cycles Per Second.mp3
09 - Bad Reputation.mp3
10 - Big Brown Eyes.mp3
11 - I'm In Love.mp3
12 - Moving In Your Sleep.mp3
13 - Judy.mp3
folder.jpg
077. The Smiths - 1987 - Strangeways, Here We Come
01 - A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours.mp3
02 - I Started Something I Couldn't Finish.mp3
03 - Death Of A Disco Dancer.mp3
04 - Girlfriend In A Coma.mp3
05 - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before.mp3
06 - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.mp3
07 - Unhappy Birthday.mp3
08 - Paint A Vulgar Picture.mp3
09 - Death At One's Elbow.mp3
10 - I Won't Share You.mp3
078. They Might Be Giants - 1989 - Lincoln
01 - Ana Ng.mp3
02 - Cowtown.mp3
03 - Lie Still, Little Bottle.mp3
04 - Purple Toupee.mp3
05 - Cage & Aquarium.mp3
06 - Where Your Eyes Don't Go.mp3
07 - Piece of Dirt.mp3
08 - Mr. Me.mp3
09 - Pencil Rain.mp3
10 - The World's Address.mp3
11 - I've Got a Match.mp3
12 - Santa's Beard.mp3
13 - You'll Miss Me.mp3
14 - They'll Need a Crane.mp3
15 - Shoehorn with Teeth.mp3
16 - Stand on Your Own Head.mp3
17 - Snowball in Hell.mp3
18 - Kiss Me, Son of God.mp3
079. Manuel Göttsching - 1981 - E2-E4
01 - E2-E4.mp3
E2E4.jpg
080. Husker Du - 1985 - New Day Rising
01 - New Day Rising.mp3
02 - Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill.mp3
03 - I Apologize.mp3
04 - Folk Lore.mp3
05 - If I Told You.mp3
06 - Celebrated Summer.mp3
07 - Perfect Example.mp3
08 - Terms of Psychic Warfare.mp3
09 - 59 Times the Pain.mp3
10 - Powerline.mp3
11 - Books About UFOs.mp3
12 - I Don't Know What You're Talking About.mp3
13 - How to Skin a Cat.mp3
14 - Whatcha Drinkin'.mp3
15 - Plans I Make.mp3
081. Cocteau Twins - 1988 - Blue Bell Knoll
01 - Blue Bell Knoll.mp3
02 - Athol-Brose.mp3
04 - For Phoebe Still a Baby.mp3
05 - The Itchy Glowbo Blow.mp3
06 - Cico Buff.mp3
07 - Suckling the Mender.mp3
08 - Spooning Good Singing Gum.mp3
09 - A Kissed Out Red Floatboat.mp3
10 - Ella Megalast Burls Forever.mp3
082. The Fall - 1983 - Perverted by Language
01 - Eat Y'self Fitter.mp3
02 - Neighbourhood of Inifinity.mp3
03 - Garden.mp3
04 - Hotel Bloedel.mp3
05 - Smile.mp3
06 - I Fell Voxish.mp3
07 - Tempo House.mp3
08 - Hexen Definitive Strife Knot.mp3
Perverted by Language.log
The Fall - Perverted by Language.m3u
083. Talk Talk - 1986 - The Colour of Spring
01 - Happiness is Easy.mp3
02 - I Don't Believe You.mp3
03 - Life's What You Make It.mp3
04 - April 5th.mp3
05 - Living in Another World.mp3
06 - Give it Up.mp3
07 - Chameleon Day.mp3
08 - Time it's Time.mp3
folder.jpg
084. ESG - 1983 - Come Away with ESG
01 - Come Away.mp3
02 - Dance.mp3
03 - Parking Lot Blues.mp3
04 - You Make No Sense.mp3
05 - Chistelle.mp3
06 - About You.mp3
07 - It's Alright.mp3
08 - Moody (Spaced Out).mp3
09 - Tiny Sticks.mp3
10 - The Beat.mp3
11 - My Love for You.mp3
folder.jpg
085. Paul Simon - 1986 - Graceland
01 - The Boy In The Bubble.mp3
02 - Graceland.mp3
03 - I Know What I Know.mp3
04 - Gumboots.mp3
05 - Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.mp3
06 - You Can Call Me Al.mp3
07 - Under African Skies.mp3
08 - HomeLess.mp3
09 - Crazy Love Vol. II.mp3
10 - That Was Your Mother.mp3
12 - Homeless (Demo).mp3
13 - Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Unissued Version).mp3
folder.jpg
086. The Police - 1981 - Ghost in the Machine
01 - Spirits in the Material World.mp3
02 - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.mp3
03 - Invisible Sun.mp3
04 - Hungry For You (J'aurais Toujours Faim De Toi).mp3
05 - Demolition Man.mp3
06 - Too Much Information.mp3
07 - Rehumanize Yourself.mp3
08 - One World (Not Three).mp3
09 - Omegaman.mp3
10 - Secret Journey.mp3
11 - Darkness.mp3
087. Prince - 1980 - Dirty Mind
01 - Dirty Mind.mp3
02 - When You Were Mine.mp3
03 - Do It All Night.mp3
04 - Gotta Broken Heart Again.mp3
05 - Uptown.mp3
06 - Head.mp3
07 - Sister.mp3
08 - Partyup.mp3
folder.gif
088. Spacemen 3 - 1989 - Playing with Fire
01 - Honey.mp3
02 - Come Down Softly To My Soul.mp3
03 - How Does It Feel.mp3
04 - I Believe It.mp3
05 - Revolution.mp3
06 - Let Me Down Gently.mp3
07 - So Hot (Wash Away All Of My Tears).mp3
08 - Suicide.mp3
09 - Lord Can You Hear Me.mp3
10 - Suicide (live).mp3
11 - Repeater (How Does It Feel) (live).mp3
12 - Che.mp3
13 - May The Circle Be Unbroken.mp3
folder.jpg
089. Boredoms - 1989 - Soul Discharge
01 - Your Name Is Limitless.mp3
02 - Bubblebop Shot.mp3
03 - 52 Boredom (Club Mix).mp3
04 - Sun, Gun, Run.mp3
05 - Z & U & T & A.mp3
06 - TV Scorpion.mp3
07 - Pow Wow Now.mp3
08 - J.B. Dick + TinTurner Pussy.mp3
09 - G.I.L '77.mp3
10 - Jup-Na-Keeeeeel.mp3
11 - Catastro Mix '99.mp3
12 - Milky Way.mp3
13 - Songs Without Electric Guitars.mp3
14 - Hamaiian Disco Bollocks.mp3
15 - Hamaiian Disco Without Bollocks.mp3
folder.jpg
090. Jane's Addiction - 1988 - Nothing's Shocking
01 - Up the Beach.mp3
02 - Ocean Size.mp3
03 - Had a Dad.mp3
04 - Ted, Just Admit It.mp3
05 - Standing in the Shower... Thinking.mp3
06 - Summertime Rolls.mp3
07 - Mountain Song.mp3
08 - Idiots Rule.mp3
09 - Jane Says.mp3
10 - Thank You Boys.mp3
11 - Pigs in Zen.mp3
folder.jpg
091. X - 1980 - Los Angeles-Wild Gift
01 - Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not.mp3
02 - Johnny Hit And Run Paulene.mp3
03 - Soul Kitchen.mp3
04 - Nausea.mp3
05 - Sugarlight.mp3
06 - Los Angeles.mp3
07 - Sex And Dying In High Society.mp3
08 - The Unheard Music.mp3
09 - The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss.mp3
10 - The Once Over Twice.mp3
11 - We're Desperate.mp3
12 - Adult Books.mp3
13 - Universal Corner.mp3
14 - I'm Coming Over.mp3
15 - It's Who You Know.mp3
16 - In This House That I Call Home.mp3
17 - Some Other Time.mp3
18 - White Girl.mp3
19 - Beyond And Back.mp3
20 - Back 2 The Base.mp3
21 - When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch.mp3
22 - Year 1.mp3
folder.gif
092. Kate Bush - 1985 - Hounds of Love
01 - Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God).mp3
02 - Hounds of Love.mp3
03 - The Big Sky.mp3
04 - Mother Stands for Comfort.mp3
05 - Cloudbusting.mp3
06 - And Dream of Sheep.mp3
07 - Under Ice.mp3
08 - Waking the Witch.mp3
09 - Watching You Without Me.mp3
10 - Jig of Life.mp3
11 - Hello Earth.mp3
12 - The Morning Fog.mp3
AMG review.txt
folder.jpg
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love.m3u
093. David Bowie - 1980 - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
01 - It's No Game (Part 1).mp3
02 - Up the Hill Backwards.mp3
03 - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).mp3
04 - Ashes To Ashes.mp3
05 - Fashion.mp3
06 - Teenage Wildlife.mp3
07 - Scream Like A Baby.mp3
08 - Kingdom Come.mp3
09 - Because You're Young.mp3
10 - It's No Game (Part 2).mp3
11 - Space Oddity (Re-Recorded single B-side, 1979).mp3
12 - Panic In Detroit (Re-Recorded version, 1979).mp3
13 - Crystal Japan (Japanese single A-side, 1979).mp3
14 - Alabama Song (UK single A-side, 1979).mp3
David Bowie - Scary Monsters - Back.jpg
David Bowie - Scary Monsters - CD.jpg
David Bowie - Scary Monsters - Front.jpg
David Bowie - Scary Monsters - Inside.jpg
folder.jpg
094. Meat Puppets - 1983 - II
01 - Split Myself In Two.mp3
02 - Magic Toy Missing.mp3
03 - Lost.mp3
04 - Plateau.mp3
05 - Aurora Borealis.mp3
06 - We're Here.mp3
07 - Climbing.mp3
08 - New Gods.mp3
09 - Oh, Me.mp3
10 - Lake Of Fire.mp3
11 - I'm A Mindless Idiot.mp3
12 - The Whistling Song.mp3
folder.gif
095. Duran Duran - 1982 - Rio
01 - Rio.mp3
02 - My Own Way.mp3
03 - Lonely In Your Nightmare.mp3
04 - Hungry Like The Wolf.mp3
05 - Hold Back The Rain.mp3
06 - New Religion.mp3
07 - Last Chance On The Stairway.mp3
08 - Save A Prayer.mp3
09 - The Chauffeur.mp3
folder.jpg
096. Rites of Spring - 1985 - End on End (Rites of Spring)
01 - Spring.mp3
02 - Deeper Than Inside.mp3
03 - For Want Of.mp3
04 - Hain's Point.mp3
05 - All There Is.mp3
06 - Drink Deep.mp3
07 - Other Way Around.mp3
08 - Theme.mp3
09 - By Design.mp3
10 - Remainder.mp3
11 - Persistent Vision.mp3
12 - Nudes.mp3
13 - End On End.mp3
14 - All Though A Life.mp3
15 - Hidden Wheel.mp3
16 - In Silence-Words Away.mp3
17 - Patience.mp3
folder.jpg
097. The Mekons - 1989 - The Mekons Rock n' Roll
01 - Memphis, Egypt.mp3
02 - Club Mekon.mp3
03 - Only Darkness Has The Power.mp3
04 - Ring O' Roses.mp3
05 - Learning To Live On Your Own.mp3
06 - Cocaine Lil.mp3
07 - Empire Of The Senseless.mp3
08 - Someone.mp3
09 - Amnesia.mp3
10 - I Am Crazy.mp3
11 - Heaven And Back.mp3
12 - Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet.mp3
13 - Echo.mp3
14 - When Darkness Falls.mp3
098. Cocteau Twins - 1984 - Treasure
01 - Ivo.mp3
02 - Lorelei.mp3
03 - Beatrix.mp3
04 - Persephone.mp3
05 - Pandora (for Cindy).mp3
06 - Amelia.mp3
07 - Aloysius.mp3
08 - Cicely.mp3
09 - Otterley.mp3
10 - Donimo.mp3
folder.gif
099. Gang Of Four - 1982 - Songs Of The Free
01 - Call Me Up.mp3
02 - I Love A Man In Uniform.mp3
03 - We Live As We Dream, Alone.mp3
04 - It Is Not Enough.mp3
05 - Life! It's A Shame.mp3
06 - I Will Be A Good Boy.mp3
07 - The History Of The World.mp3
08 - Muscle For Brains.mp3
09 - Of The Instant.mp3
10 - The World At Fault.mp3
11 - I Love A Man In Uniform (Dub).mp3
folder.gif
100. Minor Threat - 1984 - Out of Step
01 - Betray.mp3
02 - It Follows.mp3
03 - Think Again.mp3
04 - Look Back And Laugh.mp3
05 - Sob Story.mp3
06 - No Reason.mp3
07 - Little Friend.mp3
08 - Out Of Step.mp3
Torrent description
[SIZE=12][color=blue]Top 100 albums 80-89 [/SIZE][/color]
001: Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
[Blast First/Enigma; 1987]
I could sit here and force-feed you dietary information about Daydream Nation's purported Importance, and because it's ended up as our 80s MVP, perhaps that's expected. But really, the reason I like Daydream Nation better than anything else spawned between 1980-89 is that, hell, it's just the greatest fucking album. Few musical moments are more guaranteed to bring me joy than the joyous riff and snare rim clicks that kick off "Teen Age Riot". Never was the elusive Sonic Youth balance of noisecraft/songcraft kept so gloriously intact-- despite containing few songs under five minutes, this is still the most accessible album they ever made (including even that brief period when they were trying to be accessible). Thank their confidence in allowing themselves to stretch out their improv legs in the studio, to present the record with bright, clear production, to keep all the SKREEERAWWWKKK within the context of actual melodic songs. Thank the highest Lee ratio ever to be found on SY product, and unparalleled composition consistency from Thurston and, gasp!, Kim. Daydream Nation was a noisy punctuation mark to the evolution of sub-radar rock in the Reagan years, and as long as people are still listening to guitars, it will remain a milestone. --Rob Mitchum
002: Talking Heads
Remain in Light
[Sire; 1980]
As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, the Talking Heads found themselves at an awkward time: after punk, which they were at first associated with, had become synonymous with three chords and a sneer, but before the arrival of new wave. So they congregated in a Nassau studio with Brian Eno and created a record without precedent-- one that merged the restlessness and anxiety of the former genre with the futurism of the latter. The resulting album, drawing influence from tribal Africa, is massively percussion-fueled, dense with elaborate polyrhythms and elastic bass. Adrian Belew's bizarre guitar work flavors the music with erratic, technological pings and effects, even nailing modem noise with crystalline foresight. Byrne's lyrics are at their surreal best here, with shapeshifting as a recurring theme, but also at their most affecting on songs like "Once in a Lifetime", which poignantly addresses the passage of time and the crossroads at which we find ourselves during life, and "Listening Wind", whose haunted refrain finds us sympathizing with a man for whom terrorism is the last hope for preserving his culture. Both daringly experimental and pop-accessible, Remain in Light may be the Talking Heads' defining moment. --Ryan Schreiber
003: Beastie Boys
Paul's Boutique
[Capitol; 1989]
Once upon a time, three Brooklyn Jews lost their Def Jam street cred. They'd already been punks and raunchy pop-rappers, and damn if they didn't find themselves lost as to what to be next-- until down swooped the Brothers Dust. These fairy godbrothers helped them usher forth a dense samplorama that tanked sales-wise because it was so much smarter than its predecessor. Paul's Boutique was free of riff-slag, and boasted mostly unfunny, intimidatingly allusive lyrics. Just as the African-American Gwendolyn Brooks opened up doors for poetry, allowing epics to be written about dehumanizing Chicago tenements, the Beasties expanded hip-hop's domain to namecheck Salinger, Dickens, Galileo, and Newton. So ahead of its time, it should be on a 90s list. Odelay would owe it back rent if they didn't have the same landlords. --William Bowers
004: Pixies
Doolittle
[4AD; 1989]
Quick-- pick the most influential alternative rock band of all time. If you didn't choose The Pixies, I'll give you another chance. In the meantime, listen to Doolittle and learn from your mistakes. In all of indie/alternative, there may be no single album more borrowed from, adapted, or flat-out ripped-off than The Pixies' follow-up to Surfer Rosa. Steve Albini once dismissed the band as "boring college rock", and he was half right-- The Pixies were college rock in 1989. (The "boring" half was obviously added to pad his notoriety, as anyone who could call this band boring is surely The World's Biggest Asshole.) Doolittle is almost senselessly varied-- mood-altering hooks, poetically insane lyrics, larynx demolishing screams and surreal croons, surf, thrash, pop, slow burns and races to the finish line... Let me put it this way: if not for Doolittle, there would be no Pitchfork. In other words, the influence of this record is so vast that, fifteen years on, it has altered the course of your life at this very moment. --Eric Carr
005: R.E.M.
Murmur
[IRS; 1983]
Not widely noticed when it was released, R.E.M.'s first full-length album was surely a milestone: a clean break from everything else on the radio, Murmur introduced the band's simpler, stripped-down, almost folky sound and its straightforward but insidious music. Guitarist Peter Buck jangles more gently than his garage or power-pop peers (like, say, producer Mitch Easter's Let's Active); but without a doubt, it's Michael Stipe who defines the band with his deadly combination of feminine sensitivity and masculine, stoically cryptic vocals. And they brought great songs-- "Radio Free Europe", "Pilgrimage", "Moral Kiosk", "Catapult"... everything sounds just as good, and even as refreshing, two decades later. If any one album were single-handedly responsible for inventing alternative rock, this would be it. --Chris Dahlen
006: The Smiths
The Queen Is Dead
[Sire; 1986]
In a way, this is the Smiths album-of-choice by default, as it's the record that feels least like it was built around a few great singles. The pacing and sequencing are key, starting off with one of the band's most urgent songs (the title track) moving to the jaunty and clever "Frankly Mr. Shankly", before eventually getting around to the incredible "Cemetery Gates". The back half has two of the finest songs of the modern guitar-pop era ("The Boy with a Thorn in His Side" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"), some of Morrissey's funniest lyrics ("Bigmouth Strikes Again"), and no filler. A new batch of lonely and alienated American teenagers discovers The Smiths every year. The reason is simple: few other bands could ever provide an antidote to adolescent yearnings as powerful as The Queen Is Dead. --Mark Richardson
007: Pixies
Surfer Rosa
[4AD; 1988]
Surfer Rosa snapshots the Pixies when they were still young, fresh-faced, and (I assume) speaking to each other. Frank Black's demonic one-man choir is already snuff-film disturbing, Kim Deal's voice charms, having yet to be thoroughly scorched by cigarettes, David Lovering's meaty fills float in ethereal reverb, and Joey Santiago proves himself master of the one-note riff. Maybe it's Albini on the knobs, but Santiago's six-string, sounding like a bee with its finger in a socket, is a key element here, bloodbath-battling Black's tongue-speaking through "Something Against You" and "Vamos". The band jumps from the abstract weirdness of tracks like "Broken Face" and "Tony's Theme" to the effortless pop immediacy of timeless indie wonders like "Where Is My Mind?" and "Gigantic". How one band could toe the line between jagged, artful unpredictability and sublime melodic bliss is anyone's guess, but their gift has not been equaled since, and Surfer Rosa, easily their strangest and most chaotic outing, remains an unparalleled example of rule-smashing innovation in independent music. --Rob Mitchum
008: Tom Waits
Rain Dogs
[Island; 1985]
Tom Waits' life-as-theater has been onstage for nearly three decades, yet of all his albums, this one edges to the top of the pile. The second installment in his German art song/"Island trilogy", Rain Dogs has the strongest songs and the surest grip on its own wanderings. With his hobo-centric lyrics reinspired by a move to New York City, Waits belts out "Union Square" and then rumbles out ballads like "Time"; the bleak vaudeville comes with accordion and pump organ wheezing out oompahs, while the percussion clanks, romps and slinks ("Clap Hands"). And then there are the guitars: Keith Richards shows up to make Waits look young and healthy, but it's Marc Ribot whose icepick lines best suit Waits' verses, and who owns the riff on "Jockey Full of Bourbon". But c'mon, Waits, surely you could have stopped Rod Stewart from destroying "Downtown Train". --Chris Dahlen
009: Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
[Def Jam; 1988]
Public Enemy was the real deal: a codified cultural force featuring an off-the-hinges production team (The Bomb Squad), the black-nationalist scholar (Professor Griff), menacing Para-Military types (The S1W's), the B-Boy (Flavor Motherfuckin' Flav), and the mouthpiece that held it all together (Chuck D). The unrelenting momentum of Chuck's radical rhetoric was matched pound-for-pound by The Bomb Squad's dense, revolutionary soundghettos; while Flav (who repped both big clocks and crack rocks) did his gyrating dance around armed Black Panther rejects, making Public Enemy possibly the finest example of Hip-Hop Theater, ever. And when all these elements gelled on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy became the equivalent of a Molotov Cocktail thrown into the ever-growing cultural necropolis of Reagan's 1980s. --Sam Chennault
010: Joy Division
Closer
[Factory; 1980]
Murmurs of "...too soon..." and "...what if..." will never be far from Ian Curtis' final statement. Closer was the fulfillment of the colossal promise of Joy Division's brooding debut masterpiece, Unknown Pleasures, but it promised even more in return; Curtis's eventual suicide would leave those expectations tragically unrealized. Though it's easy to diminish the significance of what Joy Division left behind by second-guessing what could have come after, that would be more tragic. The true impact of Joy Division's bass-leading, minimalist works is still being fully realized; echoes of the themes of fear, alienation and loss they championed still resonate in so much music. That they might have gone on to surpass this fractured, wrenching catharsis is irrelevant; this is what is, and it is a thing of uncompromising beauty. --Eric Carr
[
011: Tom Waits
Swordfishtrombones
[Island; 1983]
The edge goes to Rain Dogs, but it was the album prior that found Waits coming out of the cocoon as a death's head moth. With Swordfishtrombones, The Black Rider was thrown out of the nightclub into the alley and, finding himself in his true element, he made its trashcan residents and urine stink the genetic code of the rest of his career. "Underground", "Shore Leave", and "Frank's Wild Years" all convey this mission nicely, with Waits embracing his inner Cookie Monster and divine guitar clang. There's even time for a few pint-swinging shanties to boot, and a heart-shaped declaration of dependence ("Johnsburg, Illinois") to the woman that preserved Waits' life, liver, and hipness quotient. Waits' early career is certainly respectable, but Swordfishtrombones is the corner he turned to become America's proud hobo laureate. --Rob Mitchum
012: Prince & The Revolution
Purple Rain
[Warner Bros; 1984]
Prince was everywhere in 1984. Almost every song on Purple Rain was in steady rotation on radio or MTV at some point (don't remember hearing "Computer Blue" anywhere), and incredibly, they never really got old. What carries Purple Rain over is the unbelievable emotional intensity Prince brings to nearly every song. He never screamed with more intensity than on the end of "The Beautiful Ones", he never wrote another melody as good as "When Doves Cry", and he never integrated his rock leanings into his sound as completely as on "Let's Go Crazy". The great accomplishments of Prince are very great indeed, and this is his greatest. --Mark Richardson
013: The Fall
This Nation's Saving Grace
[Beggars Banquet; 1985]
The product of years of development into a powerful rhythmic beast, This Nation's Saving Grace predicts both The Pixies and Pavement with pristine clarity, and like those bands, it is at once accessible and utterly uncompromising. Mark E. Smith stars as the unhinged emcee as the band rages through the enormous riffs of "Barmy" and the thunderous stomp of "Gut of the Quantifier". "Spoilt Victorian Child" is a defining moment for post-punk, Smith tripping over his own words while Brix's guitarwork anchors the tracks with melodic fury. The band moves over more terrain than their usual sturm-und-drang here, too, stopping off in "L.A." for a go at sleazy, junkyard new wave and paying tribute to Can with "I Am Damo Suzuki". This Nation's Saving Grace is The Fall at their mightiest, Brix's riffs coaxing you in just far enough for the Scanlon/Rogers/Burns/Hanley rhythm section to crush you with a sledgehammer. Genius. --Joe Tangari
014: Sonic Youth
Sister
[SST; 1987]
Sister was the last time Sonic Youth spent the majority of an album in full-on Attack Mode, which explains why it's the fist-clenchers' SY album of choice. The word of the day is "aggressive", with the album's humid production throwing a blanket over the noise to convert all instrumentation and vocalization into power-tool percussion. You can hear the clenched teeth through "Catholic Block" and "White Cross", the grinding machinery on "Pacific Coast Highway". Stranded in the midst, "Cotton Crown" still stands as the band's most romantic moment, frustrating evidence that Thurston and Kim should've sang together far more often. Sister was the last burst of Sonic Youth's early stage before they molted and moved on to bigger labels and bigger audiences, but for those with a preference for their grainy-footage early days, it's their zenith. --Rob Mitchum
015: XTC
Skylarking
[Virgin; 1986]
Of all the words I might use to describe XTC, "warm" didn't really become applicable until the band realized it was okay to like Burt Bacharach. However, on Skylarking, they had the adjective thrust upon them by alpha-producer Todd Rundgren. Taking their already ambitious songs about life, love and the passing of seasons, Rundgren turned what might have been another clever-but-distant outing into a beacon of psychedelic greenery. Andy Partridge's diatribe "Dear God" (a b-side not originally slated for the album) was a modest U.S. hit, but magic tracks like Colin Moulding's "Grass", "Season Cycle", and the weeping, orchestral "1000 Umbrellas"-- all lending a modern sophistication to the amiable eccentricity of The Beatles and Beach Boys-- revealed a more peaceful tune at the core of the album. --Dominique Leone
016: Galaxie 500
On Fire
[Rough Trade; 1989]
A casual listen to On Fire yields little. The spastic vocals drive some crazy. The drumming constantly lags a quarter-measure behind the already-slow compositions. Every song has the exact same rhythm, which happens to be the first one every guitar player learns. But if you're wired a certain way, Wareham's falsetto flights on "Blue Thunder" and "Snowstorm" are the very definition of majestic. You'll notice that guitar and bass compete to see which can spin up with the most achingly melodic leads. Damon Krukowski's cymbal washes demonstrate his preference for color over rhythm. Tying it all together, producer Kramer smeared Vaseline on the lens and shot every scene straight into the golden late-afternoon light. --Mark Richardson
017: Minutemen
Double Nickels on the Dime
[SST; 1984]
It's a double-album by a hardcore band that specialized in one-minute funk-punk blasts. That adds up to a lot of songs-- over forty of 'em-- and few are less than fantastic. The first ten tracks are the disjointed warm-up; the middle locks together to make one of the greatest one-sided conversations you'll ever have; the end peters out, exhausted. D. Boon, channeling co-lyricist Mike Watt, rants about politics, disses Michael Jackson, makes fun of suck-ups and reads off "shit from an old notebook". He reminisces about the band's early days, speak-singing the classic prophecy, "Our band could be your life." Even the Van Halen and Steely Dan covers succeed, like singing along to the car radio, while the Minutemen's own jumpy hooks and short, sharp rants are unstoppable. And you wouldn't it know from the edited version on Jackass: The Music, Vol. 1, but "Corona" is a thinking man's feel-good masterpiece. --Chris Dahlen
018: De La Soul
3 Feet High and Rising
[Tommy Boy; 1989]
In 1989, Prince Paul dispensed with his musical pots and pans and ushered hip-hop from its Stone Age into sampledelia-- never before had samples been as versatile, intricate, or as expressive as they were on Three Feet High and Rising. Paul rarely stepped up to the mic here, but his voice resonated throughout history; DJ Shadow, RJD2, Co-Flow, and any number of other sample-based hip-hop acts owe a long thank you letter to the real Prince of the 80s. And let's not forget young MC's Pos, Trugoy, and Mase, who rose to the occasion and matched Paul's sound collage quirk-for-quirk, proving that you didn't have to be hard to rock a mic. --Sam Chennault
019: Public Image, Ltd.
Second Edition
[Virgin; 1980]
Only John Lydon could claim to be "getting rid of the albatross" by tying it around his neck in the form of an obtuse ten-minute album opener. Less a band than a menacing juggernaut, PIL recorded an unforgiving second album, propelled by Keith Levene's livewire guitar work and Jah Wobble's endless, rubbery basslines. Lydon (still Rotten, just not by name) used these perpetual motion machines to launch bitter screeds against society, and it's hard to imagine more anti-social music. But the group were aware of the potential hypocrisies in holding up a dark mirror image to the public, implied by their corporatist name. Second Edition was originally released as Metal Box, literally packaged in cost-prohibitive film canisters. For this, Lydon was eternally grateful to Virgin, his pride and price for showing that major labels were capable of issuing genuinely challenging art for mass consumption. --Christopher Dare
020: This Heat
Deceit
[Rough Trade; 1981]
Superficially, bands like This Heat had very little business existing in the 80s. Their legacy appeared to have been comprised of most of the radical, experimental rock trends of the 70s (drone, prog, free improv, electronics, punk, et al), yet in 1981, it's hard to imagine many other bands sounding as out of place as they did. In retrospect, there may have been a small family of like-minded ensembles (Art Bears, Etron Fou Leloublan, Family Fodder), but virtually no unifying "scene" for this music. That Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen and Gareth Williams' music has impacted out-musicians a generation removed from the actual events speaks volumes of what they accomplished. The first moments of Deceit sound current enough to have been recorded yesterday afternoon. This album is dense, damaged, furious, inspiring (technically, musically, perhaps even politically), and it's a damn fine argument for rock as transcendental experience. --Dominique Leone
021: Brian Eno & David Byrne
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
[Sire; 1981]
Slick politicians, laughing exorcists, Lebanese folk singers, agitated radio hosts, and radio reverends all shared speaker space with some wildly funky music on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. With this album, Brian Eno and David Byrne combined programming, live instrumentation and samples into a clever stew that anticipated, in one way or another, nearly every trend in electronic music for at least the next decade. The sonic result of their collaboration expanded on the hypnotic worldbeat experiments of the Eno-produced Talking Heads albums (particularly Remain in Light, as this album was recorded during those sessions), bringing in folk recordings and plying the wasteland of American talk radio for choice material. Popular music turned a corner with this record, and things haven't been the same since. --Joe Tangari
022: My Bloody Valentine
Isn't Anything
[Creation/Sire; 1988]
Sure, it was Loveless in chrysalis, but pupating genius is genius nonetheless. Isn't Anything can be described as a stage in the evolution towards the next album-- the guitars, though warped and shredded, still act like guitars, the vocals haven't yet been absorbed into mix, etc.-- but there was nothing tentative or vestigial about this record. If Isn't Anything wasn't so rippingly aggressive, so instantaneously memorable-upon-first-listen, who knows whether the more oblique Loveless would have been pampered like it was? Nearly as influential as its successor would be, Isn't Anything was an inspiration to bands who, not willing to completely fuck with their axes, were content with getting to third base. --Brendan Reid
023: The Jesus & Mary Chain
Psychocandy
[Blanco y Negro/Warner Bros; 1985]
The Jesus and Mary Chain stripped pop music down to its essentials and filled all the leftover empty space with white noise. Psychocandy is considered one of the key records in what became shoegaze, but the band's greatest contribution to the movement may have been to make walls of guitar racket seem sensual and feminine. Despite the consistently maxed-out distortion, Psychocandy seems much more pop than rock, more Beach Boys and girl groups than Stooges or Suicide. Not one, but two (rather great) songs use the "Be My Baby" drum intro, for god's sake. --Mark Richardson
024: Gang of Four
Solid Gold
[Warner Bros; 1981]
Solid Gold documents a band that has moved beyond the comparatively simple, chic politics of their punk-funk debut Entertainment! into truly cynical, wicked critique. Despite recent efforts, it's nigh impossible to give Gang of Four too much credit: a vast majority of underground records released since 2000 are grievously indebted to the band whether they know it or not. In the 80s, groups as varied as R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and INXS all cited them as a key influence. Big Black simply wouldn't exist without them. In the 90s, The Jesus Lizard, Helmet, and Quicksand (who completely ripped off "Paralysed" on their album Slip) added a darker gloss to the Gang's shimmering twang, exposing a new generation to the detached, zombie swagger they all but invented. For sheer societal terror, few bands can approach the resigned paranoia of Solid Gold's finest moments: "If I Could Keep It for Myself", "Cheeseburger" and their most harrowing cut, "He'd Send in the Army". --Chris Ott
025: Black Flag
Damaged
[SST; 1981]
Henry Rollins might be his own running gag now, but without him, Black Flag might have forever remained buried under the miles of garbage calling itself hardcore in Los Angeles circa 1980; with him, Black Flag took on the essential ferocity of men about to snap, and combined that with an acidic sense of humor and these things called "songs"-- a concept that many of the wannabe punkers of the day were still trying to sort out. Damaged hit in 1981, and by 1982, four bars bearing the Black Flag name had been airbrushed across miles and miles of spiked leather. Conflicting feelings of violence, apathy, rage, and self-satire course through this one-- the essential touchstone of the entire genre of West Coast hardcore-- crystallizing the turmoil of the movement. Listen to "Rise Above" and try not to be incensed, then listen to "TV Party" and try not to laugh out loud. That's awesome. --Eric Carr
026: Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Get Happy
[Columbia; 1980]
Like something out of a Nick Hornby novel, a British music geek proves that he "gets" soul music. Elvis Costello leads the Attractions through twenty tracks that burst the seams of the original vinyl. At the time, Costello still wrote his lyrics almost entirely in puns and double-entendres-- "love for tender", or "'til I step on the brake to get out of her clutches"-- but the music makes it weightless. The band is giddy, especially Steve Nieve, as Costello slings his tightest set of material ever. Even covers like Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" blend right in. --Chris Dahlen
026: Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Get Happy
[Columbia; 1980]
Like something out of a Nick Hornby novel, a British music geek proves that he "gets" soul music. Elvis Costello leads the Attractions through twenty tracks that burst the seams of the original vinyl. At the time, Costello still wrote his lyrics almost entirely in puns and double-entendres-- "love for tender", or "'til I step on the brake to get out of her clutches"-- but the music makes it weightless. The band is giddy, especially Steve Nieve, as Costello slings his tightest set of material ever. Even covers like Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" blend right in. --Chris Dahlen
027: Michael Jackson
Thriller
[Epic; 1982]
I don't care what kind of music your promo bait covers; any 80s list without Thriller is kidding itself. Thanks to a twenty-year campaign waged by Jacko to completely incinerate his artistic integrity, revisiting Thriller is a revelation, cutting through the tabloid baggage with its crisp, sharp-edged Quincy production. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is sweltering dance-floor Afro-funk highlighting Michael's abhorrence for personal criticism; "Billie Jean"'s paranoid bass and hiccup histrionics are still cooler than its video's illuminated sidewalks; the breakdown in "PYT", with its ecstatic call-and-response and sultry panting, remains the funkiest goddamn thing since James Brown's "Hot Pants". Though the audio equivalent to Star Wars in that it can be held responsible for inspiring perhaps more crap than any other release of its time, Thriller permanently ziplocked the sound of era so that it might forever remain as fresh and vital as the album itself. --Rob Mitchum
028: New Order
Power, Corruption & Lies
[Factory; 1983]
Ian Curtis haunts this album for exactly thirty seconds: until Bernard Sumner's vulnerable vox begin, one can almost detect combustible Curtis imploring us to "Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! To the radio!" over the drum-n-bassline opener "Age of Consent". Shifting the lyrical focus from alienation and fascism to love and lovelessness, and mutating the band's sound from marchy rock to marchy dance, this was the peak of the New Order's stellar 80s output, before they'd become soccer-anthem softies begging us to "Rock the Shack". Every synth sweep holds up. Hear the jangle everybody in Athens, Georgia was copping. Hear why Peter Hook is the most fitting name in Britpop. Hear what you're missing if you only know the hits. --William Bowers
029: The Replacements
Let It Be
[Twin/Tone; 1984]
Youngish lad that I am, I heard plenty of worship about the 'Mats before I actually got around to hearing their body of work. Once I finally did, it became pretty clear that Jeff Tweedy is merely the reincarnation of Paul Westerberg's relevancy. Through a career that ran from sloppy alcohol-soaked punk to alt-rock grandpaws (nicely summarized in the first two-thirds of "We're Coming Out"), Let It Be stands as the hingepoint, and I snuggled up to it more closely than most albums of either extreme. Since my memories of the 80s are distorted by childhood haze and retrospective kitsch, Westerberg coughing out "Androgynous" with nothing but tape hiss for company is necessary proof that the decade's fashion struggles were about more than bad haircuts and neon. --Rob Mitchum
030: U2
The Joshua Tree
[Island; 1987]
Oh, how the punks hated U2. Just when they'd managed to dispel the excess of the 70s, here were four lads from Ireland trying to capture the entirety of human pathos in the broad strokes of the rock song. Yet there's an unquenchable yearning here incommensurate with the bloated contentment of the worst of 80s pop. Three of these eleven songs became wildly popular radio anthems still in heavy rotation today, and I'll be damned if they've lost any of their power. The pleasure comes in discovering that the latter tracks prove just as great, from the moody closer "Mothers of the Disappeared" to Bono's aching depiction of just "hangin' on" in "Red Hill Mining Town". Named for flora that flourish even in the heat of the desert, The Joshua Tree features songs about the political fallout of the 20th century, but it truly justifies the oft-overused adjective "timeless". --Christopher Dare
031: Sonic Youth
EVOL
[SST; 1986]
Like the first slimy creature to pull itself from the primordial muck, EVOL is an aural document of Sonic Youth's One Small Step. Feedback-soaked noise had been their hallmark until this album, but EVOL would mark the true departure point of Sonic Youth's musical evolution-- in measured increments, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo began to bring form to the formless, tune to the tuneless, and with the help of Steve Shelley's drums, they imposed melody and composition on their trademark dissonance. A breathtaking fusion of avant-garde noise (as far as Rock was concerned) and brilliant, propulsive rock took its first shaky advances out of the storm and didn't look back. That these sonic youths would go on to release two more of the decade's most impressive albums before you could say "Teen Age Riot" only reinforces the prominence of EVOL; this is where the seeds of greatness were sown. --Eric Carr
032: Hüsker Dü
Zen Arcade
[SST; 1984]
While R.E.M. crossed over into pop territory, a handful of moderately renowned independent bands continued to make hard art: Sonic Youth, Husker Dü, and The Minutemen dashed all conventions, creating astounding, unique material, overflowing with determined conviction. These bands labored in a tenuous, low-income network, playing houses, hole-in-the-walls, and whenever possible, wealthy liberal arts campuses. Most of the people that helped make said network would agree or concede that up to 1984, Zen Arcade was at once the most artistically and commercially remarkable record to come out of their nascent scene. Bob Mould's out-of-step, trademark Gibson Flying V stood for everything the underground were struggling to prop up, and the smarter-than-hardcore rage of "What's Going On" and "Something I Learned Today" silenced any closed-minded quips about the plaintive "Never Talking to You Again". The blinding winter skies conveyed in "Chartered Trips" and "Pink Turns to Blue" exemplify the power of this massive double album, a testament to the frustration and isolation underground bands fought through in the early 80s, as well as the debt we all owe them. --Chris Ott
033: The Fall
Hex Enduction Hour
[Kamera; 1982]
Beginning with 1980's Grotesque, The Fall set out on a decade-long run of confrontational, controversial and eventually commercial releases. It's definitely controversy-- perhaps more than music-- that lands Hex Enduction Hour its place in our 80s canon. The "Slates" ten-inch that preceded it is far and away their most accessible record prior to 1985's This Nation's Saving Grace, but Hex has history in spades. Mark E. Smith felt the six-member band was going nowhere, and decided Hex Enduction Hour would be the last Fall album, at a then-outlandish running time of sixty minutes. Unbeknownst to him, their offbeat, drum-driven singles had caught the attention of an up-and-coming Motown rep in London, to whom Smith gave a copy of Hex upon request. The infamous first yawp from "The Classical" blared from his office: "Where are the obligatory niggers?! Hey there, fuck-face! Hey there, fuck-face!" and obliterated what could have been one of the more daring marriages in pop history. --Chris Ott
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
066: The Dukes of Stratosphear
Psonic Psunspot
[Virgin; 1987]
Despite their adoption of florid costuming and silly pseudonyms like Sir John Johns and The Red Curtain, it remains obvious that The Dukes of Stratosphear could be no other band than XTC. For one, Andy Partridge could never disguise his trademark throaty vocals, and two, the band's sense of songcraft is utterly distinctive. Partridge and Colin Moulding brought some of their best songs to the table for this side project, ensuring it all the life and vitality of the best records in XTC's back catalog. The Beatles/Kinks musichall of "You're a Good Man, Albert Brown", the phased paisley of "You're My Drug", and the Smile-worthy "Pale & Precious" stand wonderfully as single tracks, but as part of the same piece, and crowned with the beautifully frail pop blast "Vanishing Girl", they become a surreal rock-opera of opaque, hallucinogenic wonder. The 60s never sounded so good in the 80s. --Joe Tangari
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
065: The Soft Boys
Underwater Moonlight
[Armageddon; 1980]
A psych-pop oddity released at the height of punk, and an incredibly important guitar record, Underwater Moonlight is ageless. Robyn Hitchcock's songwriting was at its demented peak with the kinky insect imagery of "Kingdom of Love", and on the effervescent title track, a saga of drowning lovers. The exuberantly malevolent "I Wanna Destroy You" dared punk to face itself in the mirror, and "The Queen of Eyes" updated The Byrds and found its way into the musical vocabulary of R.E.M. and their countless comrades in the early-80s underground. The Soft Boys were that ever elusive rarity-- muscle and brains in the same package, and the package they made was incredible. --Joe Tangari
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
064: Television Personalities
...And Don't the Kids Just Love It
[Rough Trade; 1981]
The kids might have loved it but, given the relative obscurity of this album at the time of its release, not as much as they ought to have. Widely acknowledged as a defining influence on dozens of artists, Television Personalities seem to have been doomed to be the stepping stone to greatness without achieving a fraction of the notoriety of any of the other groundbreaking bands they left their mark on. But that can't detract from the no-frills attraction of this, their debut full-length; the hissy lo-fi techniques that would later come into vogue give And Don't the Kids Just Love It a closeness that wonderfully amplifies the simple directness and charm of the band's charming, wildly catchy twee-pop. Though its fuzzy aesthetics are a result of necessity rather than artistic intent, the album sounds remarkably prescient. Its sugar-high enthusiasm and impeccable hooks don't hurt, either. --Eric Carr
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
063: Young Marble Giants
Colossal Youth
[Rough Trade; 1980]
The band would have put it more succinctly, but here's my take: Colossal Youth was Zen disco, new wave haiku, monk-punk that used sweetly perverted Ramones/Pistols minimalism to gently sketch out an exploded drawing of pop music. Though the album's spare, perfectly placed strokes of guitar, bass, organ, and voice would have more of an effect on mopey slowcore types and basement four-trackers, the ineffable thing about the Giants' music was how simultaneously haunting and cheery they could be. "Eating Noddemix" is music for brushing your teeth to the morning after an apocalypse, and the inimitable "Wurlitzer Jukebox" is a dance track for the last man on earth, with a geiger counter relentlessly ticking out the beat. Om, baby, yeah. --Brendan Reid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
062: R.E.M.
Reckoning
[IRS; 1984]
They were already huge underground, but this is the record that put R.E.M. on mainstream radio for the first time, unleashing the tide that eventually swept the word "alternative" into the national musical vocabulary. Musically, R.E.M. opened up their sound on Reckoning, driving things home more directly than on their debut. "Pretty Persuasion" was one of the band's most gorgeous songs, while the countrified second single "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" was a welcome blast of fresh air on the increasingly artificial airwaves of the early 80s. The record occasionally drop hints that it's not as young as it sounds, but when it does, at least has the good taste not to turn attention from its wrinkles with caked-on mascara. Yeah, Stipe, I'm talking to you. --Joe Tangari
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
061: Nurse with Wound
Homotopy to Marie
[United Dairies; 1982]
Steven Stapleton was at his most frightening in the early 1980s, his albums creating stark, edge-of-seat tension with pitch-black textures and forboding silence occasionally broken by scraping metal and humanoid scurrying. Homotopy to Marie is Stapleton's career apex, a twisted masterpiece of minimalism whispering terrifying suggestions of death rituals and torture chambers. This album creeps. It is horror. The 20-minute title track is avant-garde dismembered for sadists and perverts. "The Schmürz" is hulking army men barking in reverse. "The Tumultuous Upsurge" is a grotesque death rattle with robotic toys laughing in proud hysteria. Do not play for children. --Ryan Schreiber
060: Bruce Springsteen
Nebraska
[Columbia; 1982]
The legend has Springsteen carrying around a four-track cassette of demos for the new album in a ratty back pocket and then deciding finally to release the tape as it was. Nebraska was a precursor to both the unplugged movement and the four-track bedroom folk that swept the indie world in the early 90s, but none of that would matter now if the music weren't so remarkably good. Springsteen's love of the band Suicide helped shape the claustrophobic sound, and the dawn of the Reagan era is usually cited as the album's chief thematic inspiration. Ultimately, the political climate of its birth is irrelevant, as Springsteen's novelist's eye for detail and character ensure that the stories remain timeless. Live versions of these songs with the E Street band confirm that these songs were meant to be performed by a single man, in a room, alone. --Mark Richardson
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
059: Guns N' Roses
Appetite for Destruction
[Geffen; 1987]
What are your friends' names? John? Paul? Evan? That's some weak shit next to the ultimate rock-o-nyms: Axl, Slash, Izzy, and Duff (yes, I am leaving out the drummer, the drug-addled Adler whose ejection begged the fantasy-question of how far gone you had to be to get the boot from these guys). Four different cults of personality! Five shaggy, fatless, tat-dappled Icaruses! Such creatures of instinct that Axl's channeling of Bowie and Iggy had to be accidental, right? This album can be summarized by a holy phrase: No filler. Thank god the original robo-rape art got banned; that skull-cross is the perfect visual accompaniment to an album that, along with displaying better songcraft and being more anthemic, was heavier than all of its competition. Alas, the band would later defy rock physics by bloating and disintegrating simultaneously. --William Bowers
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
058: Elvis Costello
Imperial Bedroom
[Columbia; 1982]
Costello's famed collaboration with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick came at a tumultuous time for the earnest rock and roller. With his marriage on the rocks and journalists touting a tryst with legendary NY groupie Bebe Buell, Imperial Bedroom marks Elvis Costello's most personal investment, an unflinching examination of fidelity, trust and the dishonesty of role-playing. He front-loaded the album with the most ambitious song he'd recorded to that point, explosive as the crashing thunderclap that introduces its bridge. To this day, the complicated layering and full bars overlapping in "Beyond Belief" make for an almost psychedelic listening experience, to say nothing of its astounding verse. Costello was already well-established as a master lyricist, but Imperial Bedroom makes clear he was not fucking around this time: "Charged with insults and flattery/ Her body moves with malice/ Do you have to be so cruel to be callous?" --Chris Ott
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
057: Pixies
Come On Pilgrim
[4AD; 1987]
Compiled from a demo tape recorded in March, 1987 at Boston's Fort Apache studios, this disc served as the world's first taste of a band that would soon become one of the indie music world's all-time greats. It was, at the time, a curious release for 4AD who, The Birthday Party aside, largely favored jangly pop and gothic romance. But in retrospect, The Pixies would have been at home on any label, mapping their own rugged terrain with their trademark whisper/thunder dynamics and Frank Black's infamous turbulent screeching. Come On Pilgrim is filled with paradox: the narrator of "Caribou" mourns the torture of city life yet wishes for death as its namesake in the peace of wilderness; "Levitate Me" translates lyrics from a folk ballad to a shoegazing rocker; "I've Been Tired" is its most antic song. What possessed them? --Ryan Schreiber
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
056: King Crimson
Discipline
[Warner Bros; 1981]
Were punk and new wave really so powerful as to banish prog from rock history? For a few English "dinosaurs", certainly not. Guitarist Robert Fripp had already earned his hip underground stripes working with Brian Eno throughout the 70s, but for this version of his celebrated prog outfit, he attempted to completely destroy the barriers that would segregate cliques. Keeping drummer Bill Bruford from the previous incarnation of the band, and adding guitarist/vocalist Adrian Belew (who'd played with David Bowie and on Talking Heads' earth-shattering Remain in Light) and bassist Tony Levin (who'd played with John Lennon and would go on to back Peter Gabriel), Fripp's gang played music as angular and tense as any post-punk group while as precise and rhythmically propulsive as a Bartok string quartet. Songs like the title track, "Thela Hun Ginjeet", and "Frame by Frame" are almost-danceable maxi-minimalist etudes, and obvious precursors to virtually all math-rock. --Dominique Leone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
055: The Police
Synchronicity
[A&M; 1983]
The Police were never a punk band, but that didn't stem accusations that the group were ditching their rock roots for adult contemporary. Nor were the Police ever New Romantics, but the themes suggest meaning behind the makeup: romanticism not from supposed individuality, but in the synchronous parallels of our modern lives. The band was indeed taking a distinct move toward pop with Synchronicity, but not from substance. Sting never shied away from the tensions below the surface: not just in "Every Breath You Take", but in songs like "Synchronicity II", in which "many miles away, something crawls from the slime at the bottom of a dark Scottish lake," its identity never revealed. Er... about that shadow on the door of the cottage... --Christopher Dare
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
054: Big Black
Songs about Fucking
[Touch & Go; 1987]
Child molestation, urban decay, hopeless apathy, trucking, and racial commentary were all fair game to Big Black, and the screeching, clanking thud of their proto-industrial sound was only a shade less disturbing than their subject matter. Dave Riley's bass is a metallic, twisted train wreck, and Steve Albini's every word so bile-drenched it barely makes it past his lips. This, combined with the searing buzzsaw guitars and the violent percussive force of a jackhammer, will strip the enamel straight off your goddamn teeth. Their pervasive stench clings to the entirety of the burgeoning industrial movement, and Songs About Fucking is the still the biggest, baddest sound on the block; underestimate it at your own peril. --Eric Carr
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
053: Mission of Burma
Signals, Calls & Marches
[Ace of Hearts; 1981]
Mission of Burma soundly countered the feel-good 70s rock and roll of The Cars (Boston's biggest export at the time), but their difficult, indulgent shows alienated most of their potential audience. As drummer Peter Prescott recently quipped in L.A.: "You guys are a lot nicer to us than your parents were." Signals, Calls & Marches housed their one inescapable hit, "That's When I Reach for My Revolver", which, in comparison to screaming post-punk/pre-hardcore numbers like "Outlaw" and "Fame and Fortune", sounds flat and somewhat dated. But "This Is Not a Photograph" holds up best of all, a delegate for the songs of Mission of Burma's first wave. --Chris Ott
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
052: Eric B. & Rakim
Paid in Full
[4th & Broadway; 1987]
Although Rakim didn't invent the art of rhyming, he was the one who defined what it meant to be a hip-hop lyricist. With a flow that would've melted glaciers, Rakim handled the beat with a precision that sounded otherworldly to '87 ears, igniting an entire generation of MC imitators. On Paid in Full, he used rhymes like putty to sculpt a lyrical masterpiece that hasn't been touched since. "I Ain't No Joke", "Paid in Full", "Move the Crowd"... how could you even pretend to fuck with Rakim Allah? And, oh yeah, the beats were also on-point, regardless of who produced them. --Sam Chennault
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
051: Leonard Cohen
I'm Your Man
[Columbia; 1988]
You know you're cool when you get all dressed up in shades and a blazer just to be eating a banana on your album cover. And dig the David Lynch font of the song titles. I'm Your Man is the perfect midpoint for Cohen's career-- it rivals the poetry of 1969's Songs from a Room, but labors under the resort-lounge production of the apocalyptic, Oliver Stoned 1992 release The Future (yo, everyone knows that 2001's Ten New Songs was a non-representative carjacking). My theory is that there are two Leonard Cohen robots, one of which is a genius lyricist, and one of which is a melodramatic, obtuse-voiced mercenary who will speak-croon over the most Karaokean arrangements. Yet who else sings lines as piercing as "It's Father's Day and everybody's wounded," or, "Let me be somebody I admire"? He talks to Hank Williams, he says we're talking to our pockets, and without his concrete odes to monkey-mailing there might not be a Smog, or even Iron & Wine. --William Bowers
050: Spacemen 3
The Perfect Prescription
[Fire; 1987]
Hipsters the world over have tried to assert that, of The Perfect Prescription and Playing with Fire, the latter is Spacemen 3's landmark achievement. You will never tell me this and escape unscathed. Though both are massively haunting works of dystopian misery and contented addiction, The Perfect Prescription's dreamweapon is its stunning melodic depth. Whereas Playing with Fire showed the band already splintering, the bulk of its songs written solo, The Perfect Prescription's tracklist consists entirely of collaborations between the band's two primary members, and proves they were at their euphonic best when working together. The record drips with harrowing accounts of habitual users denying their dependence, yet its droning astral reverence pressures you to try it yourself, replicating the bliss of the altered state in gossamer keyboards and celestially aligned vocals. This is your brain on drugs. --Ryan Schreiber
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
049: Mission of Burma
Vs.
[Ace of Hearts; 1982]
Boston's finest art-punk trio-plus-tape-guy recorded just one studio full-length, and it's a massive legacy. Assessable not in tunes but in grinding velocity, it's texturally complex and high-energy. Roger Miller's guitar varies from hypnotic repetition on "Trem Two" to sounding like a power line flailing in a pool of rain, while the rhythmic noise divides into shards for Martin Swope's tape manipulations; Miller as vocalist is prone to outbursts and declamations, while Clint Conley sings with his vulnerabilities in barbed wire on his sleeve. --Chris Dahlen
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
048: R.E.M.
Document
[IRS; 1987]
As addressed by the double-sided pun on the sleeve, "File Under Fire", Document featured a harder, more focused R.E.M. From "The One I Love" to "Fireplace", it was as if the band had become enflamed by the times. It was their most political album yet, with songs like "Exhuming McCarthy" and "Welcome to the Occupation" indicting the Reaganite indulgences of the 1980s. Avian imagery formed the album's other aesthetic undercurrent in "King of Birds" and "Disturbance at the Heron House", hinting at a phoenix-like rebirth. With their fifth album, R.E.M. emerged into the mainstream while managing to address politics with a dignity shared by few other visible acts of the era, at the same time offering a new path to the murmuring underground. Of course, they also gave us the timeless acronym "ITEOTWAWKI (AIFF)". --Christopher Dare
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
047: John Zorn
Naked City
[Tzadik; 1989]
In many ways, John Zorn's po-mo mishmash Naked City project was the academic fruition of no-wave. Just like The Contortions and DNA (one of Zorn's faves), Naked City's effortless deconstruction of popular sounds seemed at once a reaction to the music, and completely apart from it. Ever wondered how the James Bond theme would sound if reinterpreted as noise-rock? They covered that. Always wished that those hardcore drummers could mix a little be-bop into their repertoire? Your wait was over. But Naked City was more than just raucous genre-bending; it was a visceral, sometimes violent (especially regarding the murder and bondage imagery Zorn associated with much of the music) display of controlled freedom-- and all of that performed by some of the most accomplished musicians to have ever been associated with rock. No New York, indeed. --Dominique Leone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
046: XTC
English Settlement
[Virgin; 1982]
Exit quirky English new wave, enter nervous breakdown. To Andy Partridge, it was clear XTC couldn't go on producing the same stage-ready sparxx at this point, and this double-LP was something of a sonic renaissance. The band's penchant for spiking the pop punch began a gradual shift towards the pastoral and "arty", yet these tunes could hardly be described as pretentious. Perhaps taking cues from the Talking Heads and The Police (XTC toured with both), world music touches began to creep into the band's mix, and a whole range of state-of-the-80s synth technology helped flesh out Partridge and Colin Moulding's still-maturing craft. "Ball and Chain", "Jason and the Argonauts", and "Snowman" are but a few of the songs from English Settlement that could not have appeared on any of their previous records, such was the complexity of the themes and arrangements. Of course, Partridge would soon explore these avenues to an extent that could no longer maintain the band's breakneck zeal in any capacity-- but that's another story. --Dominique Leone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
045: Prince
Sign 'O' The Times
[Paisley Park/Warner Bros; 1987]
Along with The White Album and Exile on Main Street, Sign 'O' The Times is the template for the perfect double album. Take an artist at the peak of his powers, give him the space to work all his crazy ideas to their logical conclusion, and then edit the results into a varied four-sided collection. Club classics ("Hot Thing", "U Got the Look"), ballads of epic rock ("The Cross"), sexy R&B ("Adore"), and flat-out amazing pop songs ("I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," "If I Was Your Girlfriend") are all here in abundance. Oh yeah, he wrote, played, produced and sang just about everything himself, too. Was he the greatest quadruple threat ever? Listen and decide for yourself. --Mark Richardson
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
044: Kraftwerk
Computer World
[Warner Bros; 1981]
The standard critic's line points to Computer World as the turn where the rest of electronic music caught the inside corner before dusting the dour Germans completely on the sad back stretch of the mid-80s. The truth is, Ralf and Florian were no longer interested in being ahead of the game in 1981, and Computer World was their chance to celebrate the arrival of the world that they'd been promising for so long. And what's a celebration without good pop songs? Ditties like "It's More Fun to Compute" and "Home Computer" show Kraftwerk at their most playful and self-aware, their electronics hadn't sounded this rich and warm since Autobahn, and the beautifully edited three-song stretch of "Pocket Calculator", "Numbers", and "Computer World 2" is perhaps Kraftwerk's finest sequence on record. Don't stop believing (until side two of Electric Café, that is.) --Mark Richardson
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
043: Run-DMC
Raising Hell
[Profile; 1986]
Until I reached adolescence, I grew up in an isolated town in central Louisiana. Although the community was a majority African-American, most of us had only heard of hip-hop before Run-DMC. But after Jam Master Jay & Co dropped, there was a steady stream of cars headed to New Orleans in search of boomboxes and Adidas sneakers. Soon, the swamp was alive with the sounds of boom bap; and our parents and teachers watched in horror as we snapped, popped, and spat our way through childhood. Run-DMC took hip-hop out of the cities and introduced it to the world. They introduced us to a culture that is now the most wide-spread and influential youth culture in the world, making them every bit as important as Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones. This is the group at their peak. [R.I.P. Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell: 01.25.62-10.30.02] --Sam Chennault
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
042: Cowboy Junkies
The Trinity Session
[RCA; 1988]
It's amazing how many of the stylistic tropes of The Trinity Session have come to be a standard fare of the underground music scene. Now it would almost seem like an indie music cliché, but there just weren't many slow, country-tinged bands recording the Live 1969 version of "Sweet Jane" in 1988. Cowboy Junkies created a sound from VU's street poetry, traditional folk songs, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline, then recorded it all live through a single microphone in a church in Toronto with the studied reverence of Midwestern graduate students. It still sounds great in the dark. --Mark Richardson
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
041: Beastie Boys
Licensed to Ill
[Def Jam; 1986]
[Bowers:] Ryan, why is this on the list? [Schreiber:] Mmmfhhmm... [Bowers]: Dude, wake up! How'd you get a Twinkie in your effin' hair? Why are we honoring Licensed to Ill? Hasn't it become the frat lodestone it was supposedly lampooning? Wasn't it beneath them? Wasn't it condescending? Didn't even their concerts on this album's tour amount to statements of contempt for their audience, like their dumb videos? Wasn't this a callous move by Rick Rubin/Russell Simmons to cash in on "Walk This Way" rock-hop with a bunch of vaudevillian palefaces? [Schreiber:] You mean Elvises? This album is epochal. Think to when you first heard it. Then think to the last time you played it, how good the songs you didn't skip were. [Bowers:] You're right. In 1986 and in 2002, "The New Style", "Paul Revere", "Rhymin' and Stealin'" and "Hold It Now Hit It" made/make no sense and made/make perfect sense, as the Beasties rant like used car salesmen about fast food, hard drugs, and general malfeasance over rickety-suave backbeat clusters. And "Brass Monkey" keeps stealing my brain's lunch money. [Schreiber:] Then quit yer bitchin'. --William Bowers
040: Dinosaur Jr.
You're Living All Over Me
[SST; 1987]
It's appropriate that one of the most revolting, festering cysts on rock and roll's enduring legacy grew out of contempt for the incomparably deluded fratboys and prissy, politically correct dilettantes at UMASS, Amherst College, Holyoke, Hampshire, and of course, Smith. Dinosaur Jr recorded three albums in this environment before succumbing to a then-infamous personality clash between bassist Lou Barlow and lead singer/guitarist J Mascis; You're Living All Over Me is the finest document of their struggle, combining elements of Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Jimi Hendrix and hardcore punk in a bubbling cauldron of disease. Mascis' wavering whine skirts annoyance thanks to even more grating, explosive distortion-- it's a low-fidelity overload unheard of in 1987, save perhaps for Big Black's turgid racket or Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising. The brutal onslaughts "Sludgefeast" and "Tarpit" are countered by a pair of twang pop songs ("In a Jar" and a version of Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way"), but there's an economical middle ground where you'll find "Raisans", "The Lung" and "Little Fury Things", the best of Barlow-era Dinosaur Jr's proto-grunge rock. --Chris Ott
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
039: The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
[Silvertone; 1989]
The Stone Roses arrived so fully formed upon the release of their debut that it destroyed them altogether. This record simultaneously gathers the disparate strands of UK rock in the 80s and predicts the Britpop of the 90s. Guitar hooks drip from the stereo like honey spiked with acid and a dab of arsenic. Vocalist Ian Brown exudes boredom and venom in equal measure, calmly repeating, "I wanna be adored/ You adore me," as a mantra and confidently declaring, "I Am the Resurrection," as though it were pre-written. And it all sounded so good you believed it, even if just for a moment. --Joe Tangari
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
038: The Cure
Disintegration
[Fiction/Elektra; 1989]
A titan of an album (clocking in at 70+ minutes with its two cassette/CD bonus tracks), Disintegration outlines every reason The Cure inherited the word "atmospheric" following the demise of Joy Division; though it wants for a single as glorious as "Just Like Heaven", Disintegration stands unquestionably as Robert Smith's magnum opus. The title track is without peer in their catalog, a tyrannical eight-minute epic swirling with formless, distant melodies and sinister, writhing lyrics. "Pictures of You", at 7½ minutes, was nicely trimmed and remixed for 1990 radio play, but as with "Fascination Street" (the album's lead single, also heavily edited), the sonorous guitar architect
