Last month, I hit the reset button on my best of 1988 list. Now I'm looking down the barrel of 1989, which I honestly think was a slightly better year for music. Ten (or thirty) years on, I don't have too many regrets about what I put toward the top of the list, though in hindsight the rest of my top ten looks a tad shallow.
BEST ALBUMS
1. Paul's Boutique, Beastie Boys. (1) Three decades on, this album still snaps. Besides, how can you hate on anyone that rhymes "tomfoolery" with "Chuck Woolery?"
2. Doolittle, The Pixies (2)
3. Disintegration, The Cure (3)
4. Three Feet High and Rising, De La Soul (4)
5. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (5)
6. On Fire, Galaxie 500 (NR)
7. 13 Songs, Fugazi (7)
8. Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty (6)
9. Energy, Operation Ivy (8)
10. Pretty Hate Machine, Nine Inch Nails (NR). The seeds of '90s alternative were planted heavily in '88 and '89, least of all the shape of industrial metal. Machine was a remarkable opening salvo for Trent Reznor, seemlessly blending bleak electronics with catchy riffs. A quickly ignored curio upon its first release, Machine built a strong word-of-mouth reputation in the next half-decade and transformed Reznor from an outsider to an unlikely place-setter.
Honorable Mentions: Cosmic Thing, The B-52s. (10); Bleach, Nirvana (NR); Oranges and Lemons, XTC (NR).
Best Jazz Album: Letter From Home, The Pat Metheny Group (9). The PMG's sound evolved with each of their '80s albums --give or take the wild detour Song X-- but this album turned Metheny et al. into smooth jazz radio staples. Home is a very accessible, borderline pop album, but by no means superficial fluff. The most delicate moments on the album never devolve into maudlin.
BEST SINGLES
"Like a Prayer," Madonna
"She Drives Me Crazy," Fine Young Cannibals
"Veronica," Elvis Costello
"Living in the Free World," Neil Young
"The Downeaster Alexa," Billy Joel
"The Living Years," Mike + The Mechanics
"The End of the Innocence," Don Henley
"Bust a Move," Young MC
"Knock Me Down," Red Hot Chili Peppers
"So Alive," Love & Rockets
(618)
Next Week: my 2019 baseball preview.
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