That Wonderful Year in Music... 1989 (Redux)

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

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Next Week: my 2019 baseball preview.

That Wonderful Year in Music... 1988

Longtime readers will recall the monthly music blog (or listicle) that I wrote from 2008 to 2012. I've been sporadically going back to reevaluate the lists I assembled, and after a decade's hindsight I've been revisiting some of my lists.

Let's start with 1988, which NPR recently argued was one of the strongest ever. *cough* There was a lot of great late '80s college rock that I wasn't aware of until the last couple of years, and my previous list also ignored some key moments in rap. As you'll see here, I also kind of half-assed my '88 and '89 lists by lumping them together. In any case, there was enough to be enamored with to merit 15 key albums as well as 15 great songs.

(NOTE: parentheses note previous ranking)

BEST ALBUMS

1. Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth. (1) What I said ten years ago still stands. Thurston Moore, guitar god?
2. Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. (NR) The grossest oversight on my previous list. Gangsta and west coast rap took a big leap into mainstream acceptance with Compton, a visceral statement that doesn't care about consequences.
3. It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, Public Enemy. (7) Maybe I repelled by Flavor Flav's ubiquitous presence on reality shows in the mid-2000s. In any case, his hopeless search for love for vH1 shouldn't deter from his status as one of the all-time great hypemen.
4. Nothing's Shocking, Jane's Addiction. (2)
5. Surfer Rosa, The Pixies (4)

6. Isn't Anything, My Bloody Valentine (5)
7. ...And Justice For All, Metallica (6)
8. Green, R.E.M. (3)
9. Operation: Mindcrime, Queensryche (9)
10. I'm Your Man, Leonard Cohen. (10) I said something in 2009 about "sparse and samey arrangements" that does not hold up. Its just an exquisite collection of songs.

11. Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman (NR)
12. If I Shall Fall From Grace With God, The Pogues (NR)
13. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, Camper Van Beethoven (8)
14. Starfish, The Church (NR)
15. Today, Galaxie 500 (NR). A gauzy dream of a debut album. You'd be hard-pressed to find a love song that addresses an '80s misfit weirdo like "Tugboat."

BEST SINGLES (in no particular order)

"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," The Vaselines
"Touch Me I'm Sick," Mudhoney
"What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)," Information Society
"Chains of Love," Erasure
"Handle With Care," The Traveling Wilburys

"Desire," U2
"Stigmata," Ministry
"Straight Out The Jungle," Jungle Brothers
"Apron Strings," Everything But the Girl
"Anchorage," Michelle Shocked

"(Nothing But) Flowers," Talking Heads
"The Promise," When In Rome
"Only a Memory," The Smithereens
"Suedehead," Morrissey
"Birthday," The Sugarcubes

Sometime in March, I'll post my 1989 list.

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