1986

                I’m not sure I’ve got much to say overall about 1986.  It’s the least-represented year in my collection in a while, with only 18 hours of digital music and under a dozen LPs, mostly some form of alt-rock.  A bit of a step down from the mini-resurgence of ’84-’85.  The 80s so far aren’t bad, per se, but just not all that exciting.  There’s a bunch of worthy alt-rock, but a lot of it (esp. things like New Order and Big Audio Dynamite) are things that I respect intellectually (in that it’s clever, well-performed, and good on-paper) but that doesn’t really resonate with me emotionally.

                That said, I do love all three of the Big Three of American alt-rock (R.E.M., the Replacements, and Hüsker Dü), although they have something of a mixed year this year.  The Replacements take the year off, represented only by some outtakes (the same is true for Tom Petty, who also has a mediocre live album).  The Hüskers and R.E.M., however, both advance their sounds incrementally but clearly this year, and oddly seem to be moving closer to each other.  The Hüskers start adding acoustic and piano-driven ballads and quieter, folkier numbers into their mix, generally with good results.  Actually, the better songs on their major label debut, Candy Apple Grey, are generally in this more folk-rock vein, and the rockers, “Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely” excepted, are weaker than on the last few albums.  Ironically, their major label debut has their weakest production to date, and it robs the rockers of some of their power.  R.E.M., meanwhile, rock harder than they have since their debut, in a garage-punk manner that definitely recalls Hüsker Dü, even if not nearly so hard, and with a still-very-prominent folk-rock element.  I don’t know if it’s their strongest album to date, but it’s certainly one of their strongest, and the most pure rockin’ fun to be had on an R.E.M. album at least until Monster. 

                Elsewhere in the 80s US underground, there’s other good stuff to be had, and it’s still pretty eclectic, although to be honest my collection is again a little thin.  The Flaming Lips kick up an entertaining psych-rock noise on their full-length debut, which recalls Saucerful-era Floyd, remembering the garage beat but with an amateurish sense of experimentation.  Also working in experimental territory, though considerably more grounded, are bands like the Violent Femmes and Camper Van Beethoven, who are both worthy this year.  Camper does better, with stuff that’s pretty much the epitome of college-rock in a positive sense: clever musically, intellectually-minded lyrically, and more than a little smart-ass in its sentiment.  Also very much in the college-rock vein are Phish, whose quasi-debut, The White Tape, is this year.  Surprisingly, it sounds at times like the Minutemen to me, although given that I hear virtually no Minutemen (or other punk) influence on their sound afterwards, I’m inclined to chalk this one up to the fact that they’re both poorly-recorded funk-rock bands with thin vocals.  Basically they sound like what they are at this point: an above-average campus band that managed to get some studio time.  They’ll get better (and not coincidentally more Yes-like) soon, though.

                Over in the UK, we get a couple of career records from a couple of the major UK indie bands, both fitting more or less in the jangle-pop tradition.  XTC’s Skylarking owes more probably to post-Pet Sounds 60s Beach Boys, but still fits in the 60s revivalism of that scene.  It’s also a good example of my take on ’86, and the 80s in general: I respect it, and it’s clever, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but I just don’t really care about it.  Except “Dear God;” that smug little sermon is just straight-up terrible.  The Smiths, however, do quite well this year; like last year, they’re pulling from a surprising amount of what’s going on in the UK, this time even with hints of U2-style big stadium-ready post-punk layered in with some almost funky bass and their usual heavy dose of jangle-pop with morose crooning.

                Still, my favorite stuff out of the UK this year is from a group of bands that aren’t all that connected, but all are working in a folk-rock vein.  Billy Bragg puts out three of my favorites of his this year (the downright heartbreaking “Levi Stubbs’ Tears,” the poppy “Greetings to the New Brunette,” and the excellent political rocker “Help Save The Youth of America).  I can’t really say why I like Bragg so much better than the NYC folk of the early ‘60s that he clearly draws heavily on; maybe it’s just that I don’t feel like he’s confined by external rules, and that his minimalism is purely of his own choice.

                Emphatically not exploring minimalism, but still basically folk-rock-based, are the revived Mekons.  They expand their sound with both accordion and female lead vocals, but otherwise continue on the country-rock path of last year’s Fear & Whiskey.  Prior to this project, I never heard too much connection between them and the Pogues, but now it’s kinda hard to miss, both in shambolic attitude and sonics.  The Pogues don’t have a new album this year, but their Poguetry in Motion EP is still a sonic advance, adding a horn section and some soul elements, recalling the now-defunct UK soul-pop scene, but with a grit and drunken swagger that those bands never had.  So more Stax than Motown, if you like.

                One artist who was a part of that soul-pop scene who has emphatically left it behind, perhaps inspired by his work producing the Pogues last year, is Elvis Costello.  Elvis releases a pair of “roots” records this year, the first (King of America) an exploration of American roots-rock, and the second (Blood & Chocolate) an exploration of his roots, and a return to the raw, almost punk rock of This Year’s Model.  It’s not a complete return, as it’s the difference between an angry young man and a bitter old man, but on this listen, I think it’s his best record since at least Imperial Bedroom.  Prior to this listen, I’d always said I’d preferred King of America, but that one’s a little stilted in comparison.  King of America, however, does sound an awful lot like Richard Thompson this year, although obviously Costello emphasizes the lyrics more and Thompson the guitar.  After the over-produced mess he put out last year, Thompson is back to sounding like a folk-rocker.  Odd that this involves ditching his producer since his Fairport days in favor of the guy who made his name producing Crowded House, but Mitchell Froom does a fine job here, at least, foregrounding (for instance) the accordion instead of processed drums.  Certainly a more sympathetic production job than last year’s U2-echoing mess…

                Of course, there’s plenty going on in the UK (and elsewhere) with a more synth-heavy sound.  Most surprising at the time, probably, was the return of Wire, who have abandoned the brevity of their earlier work in favor of a more repetitive, danceable, New Order-influenced sound.  It’s interesting to hear them back again, although their reunion work isn’t half as compelling as their first run.  New Order, however, have developed an impressive run of albums that are both good and push their sound forward.  This year they split their LP between a more jangle-pop side 1 and a more synth-heavy side 2.  So on the one hand they sound like Smiths peers, and the other like a superior version of the electro-pop of the like of the Pet Shop Boys (though better in no small part due to their underproduction, unusual in a synth-driven band).   Since I like them better than the Smiths (if for no other reason than that they’re not half as pretentious), New Order at this point have to be considered my favorite UK band of the period.  And their influence is certainly in evidence.  Not only Wire, but even Neil Young, who puts out a synth-pop album himself this year.  Landing on Water is by no means a classic, but it is probably his truest follow-up to Rust Never Sleeps yet, insofar as Young is once again meeting the cutting edge of rock music on its own terms, experimenting with New Order (or Big Black)-style synth programming much like he dabbled in punk rock on Rust Never Sleeps.  Obviously punk was more simpatico with Young’s own style, and the songs were better too, but at least it’s an honest attempt to stay current for artistic reasons, rather than commercial ones.  And he does a damn sight better than Dylan, who continues to wallow in overproduced faux-soul sounds….

                Elsewhere in dance-heavy sounds, Big Audio Dynamite’s 2^nd album is a worth follow-up to their debut; less fun but arguably more substantive (plus lyrics by Joe Strummer, making this as close to a Clash reunion as you’ll get on record).  Big Audio’s sound is more hip-hop than Eurodisco (unlike New Order), at times even recalling DC-style go-go funk.  It also sounds like a clear precursor to the Madchester sound that’ll come out of the UK in the coming years, mixing as it does alt-rock guitar & melody with hip-hop drumbeats.  It also means that BAD sound closer to the Talking Heads than any of their UK peers, as both are interested in getting their rhythmic base from hip-hop or funk.  The Talking Heads rebound nicely this year with True Stories, which is only slightly less insubstantial than Little Creatures, but 1) shows a bit more variety and 2) gets judged less harshly because it wasn’t 3 years in the making.  (also not too far off from Talking Heads is Peter Gabriel, who also is basically making prog-pop songs this year).

                Elsewhere in the world of US beat-heavy music, industrial music is really starting to take shape.  The Fall mess around with this sound, but as with all styles they attempt, it’s just a new way for the band to riff underneath while Mark E. Smith spits his fractured lyrics.  Big Black put out their first (I think) full-length, and I enjoy it quite a bit for what it is, but they’re definitely what I think of as a classic “producer’s band” (they’re Steve Albini’s band).  Albini makes sure the tracks are always sonically interesting, but with the exception of the portrait of a small-town arsonist “Kerosene” these are not really fully-formed songs.  Brian Eno had a similar problem on his pop records: all sonics, but weak songs.  Still, a damn sight better than Swans, whose Greed is one of the weakest albums in my collection: all droney goth with darkness and “experimentation” covering for lack of talent.  As an experiment, I tried listening to this LP at 45 rpm, and when your songs still drag at 150% their intended playback speed, you’ve got a pretty dire record.  Swans were part of the same NYC scene as Sonic Youth, and this record is so terrible that it’s actually dissuaded me from getting Sonic Youth’s contemporary albums.  Also, shocking to discover that an NYC band is overrated, I know.

                All these various alt-rock synth or industrial sound actually fit surprisingly well next to Judas Priest’s oft-denigrated synth-metal experiments.  Songs like “Turbo Lover” recall Neil Young’s contemporary attempts to fuse his own traditional sound with the cutting-edge of synth sounds, and that’s probably the only time in this project that I’ll directly compare Judas Priest & Neil Young.  It’s also not too far from Public Image Ltd., which at this point is just John Lydon and session men (including Ginger Baker!).  Having lost the last of the original PiL-men, Lydon also abandons the last of his anti-commercial instincts, and puts out a more or less conventional metal record, right down to Steve Vai playing lead guitar.  It’s not bad, but it’s not half as innovative as his earlier work.  Also basically a one-off between the collapse of the original Public Image and the formation of the new Public Image next year.

                Also abandoning punk for metal this year are Bad Brains, who sound very close to PiL in their clean metallic sounds, and also basically provide the template for Living Color later on.  Probably Bad Brains’ best album, although it has none of the hardcore or reggae they actually made their name on.  The Beastie Boys too foreswear their hardcore roots, in favor of their first hip-hop record.  License to Ill is a lot of fun, but borrows its sound so heavily from the (at this point) superior Run-DMC that it’s easy to see why the Beasties were dismissed as a novelty act at the time. 

                Of course, the biggest development in metal is the peak of thrash.  Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth all put out records that, if not consensus picks for their masterpieces, are at least in the conversation.  Basically thrash combines the virtuosity and prog ambitions of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands with the speed, aggression, and crappy vocals of hardcore punk.  Done well, it’s tremendously fun stuff, but done poorly and its technique-for-the-sake-of-technique time-wasting.  For what it’s worth, I rank them Metallica > Slayer > Megadeth, since Metallica makes far better use of space than Slayer, who too often are just a wall of sound (plus Slayer have deliberately “brutal” (read “piss-poor”)vocals, presaging the whole Cookie Monster-voiced death metal trend).

                Finally, just because he fits nowhere else, Prince puts out another in his series of endlessly inventive albums, once again having nothing to do with the predecessor’s sound.  This time Prince has moved into a much more minimalist funk sound, exemplified by “Kiss.”  It recalls more than anything the Dirty Mind sound, albeit with more fully-formed production.  Yet another excellent record for Prince.

Song of the Year:  Don’t really have one this year.  A lot of very good songs, but no standout pick.  Contenders would include Billy Bragg’s “Levi Stubbs’ Tears,” which is an excellent fusion of his political and personal songwriting, and Elvis Costello’s “Tokyo Storm Warning,” which recalls the frantic word-spewing lyricism of both his early period and Dylan’s mid-60s stuff, but with a bitter intensity both precursors lack.

Album of the Year:  R.E.M. – Lifes Rich Pageant.  R.E.M. have arguably the most consistent run of albums in the history of rock, with not a dud to be found between Murmer and New Adventures in Hi-Fi.  (I know some don’t like Monster, but I’m not one of them).  I don’t know that I’d say Lifes Rich Pageant is their best, but it’s definitely their best attempt at rocking (as opposed to the moody folk-rock sounds of their earlier and later records). 

Artist Most Benefiting from Reevaluation:  New Order.  Much as with XTC and Big Audio Dynamite, they’re a band I respect more than love, but New Order deserve credit for consistently putting out solid and innovative records without repeating themselves.  Also, there’s a very appealing amiability and lack of pretention about them that probably diminishes their mystique but makes them tremendously likeable.  See the closing track on Brotherhood, where Stephen Morris actual laughs at how ridiculous his own lyrics are…

Artist Most Diminished in Reevaluation:  XTC.  I think I hoped that listening to them in context would raise my opinion of XTC, but they remain a band that I can respect without really enjoying.  They’re good at what they do, and what they do is put out the kind of pop music I like (at least on paper), but I just cannot get excited about this band, and listening in context just made me realize how much better Prince was at psychedelia and R.E.M. were at folk-rock.

Album List

Bad Brains - I Against I

Big Audio Dynamite – No. 10 Upping St.

Big Audio Dynamite - Planet BAD: Greatest Hits

Big Black - Atomizer

Billy Bragg - Must I Paint You A Picture?: The Essential Billy Bragg

Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic - Beat of the Mesozoic

Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits Volume 3

Camper Van Beethoven - Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty

David Bowie - Best Of Bowie

Devo - Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology

Dio - The Very Beast Of Dio

Dogmatics - 1981-86

Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic: The Best Of Electric Light Orchestra

Elvis Costello - Best Of

Elvis Costello – Blood & Chocolate

Elvis Costello – King of America

Elvis Costello - Out Of Our Idiot

Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey

Iggy Pop - Nude & Rude: The Best Of Iggy [Explicit]

Joe Strummer - Misc.

Judas Priest - Metal Works '73-'93

Lou Reed - Collections

Megadeth - Greatest Hits: Back To The Start (Digital Only)

Metallica - Master Of Puppets

Neil Young - Landing On Water

Neil Young - Lucky Thirteen

New Order - Brotherhood

New Order - Substance

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ozzman Cometh

Pet Shop Boys - Discography: The Complete Singles Collection

Pet Shop Boys – Please

Peter Gabriel - Shaking The Tree: 16 Golden Greats

Peter Gabriel - So

Phish - The White Tape

Primal Scream - Shoot Speed (More Dirty Hits)

Prince – Parade

Prince - The Hits

Public Image Ltd. – Album

Queen - Classic Queen

R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office

R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant

Richard Thompson – Daring Adventures

Roger Miller – No Man Is Hurting Me

Run-D.M.C. - Greatest Hits

Run-D.M.C. - Wedding Songs

Slayer - Reign In Blood

Steve Earle - The Best Of Steve Earle

Stevie Ray Vaughan - The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Super Furry Animals - Ffa Coffi Pawb - Am Byth

Swans – Greed

Talking Heads - Sand In The Vaseline

Talking Heads – True Stories

The Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill

The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong: 39 Golden Greats

The Flaming Lips - Hear It Is

The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks

The Jesus & Mary Chain - 21 Singles

The Mekons - The Edge Of The World

The Pogues - Poguetry in Motion

The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash

The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Singles

The Ramones - Mania

The Replacements - Nothing For All

The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs

The Smiths - Singles

The Style Council - The Singular Adventures Of The Style Council

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Playback II: Spoiled & Mistreated

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Playback V: Through The Cracks

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Playback VI: Nobody's Children

V/A - '80s Hits Back

V/A - Back In The Day Jamz

V/A - Children Of Nuggets I

V/A - Children Of Nuggets II

V/A - Children Of Nuggets III

V/A - Children Of Nuggets IV

V/A - Post Punk Chronicles: Left Of The Dial

V/A - Pure 80's

V/A - Pure Funk

Violent Femmes - Add It Up (1981-1993)

Wire - 1985-1990 The A List

X - Beyond & Back: The X Anthology

XTC – Skylarking