1988: Music, Pt. 1

Here are the links to my previous yearly music reviews:
1978
1997

If this post had been written in 1988, it would have had a few different albums on it - Al B Sure - In Effect Mode and Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel were in heavy rotation on my Walkman that year.  1988, which spanned the last half of my 8th grade year and the first half of my freshman year in high school, marked my transition away from hair metal to rap and R&B as my favorite style of music, which would continue through the rest of my high school years.  The list below contains a few albums that I was actually into in 1988, but most are things that I didn't discover until much later...

10.) Jungle Brothers - Straight Out The Jungle

Surprisingly, this is a rap album that WOULDN'T have appeared on my list back in 1988.  While I knew and liked "I'll House You" (their main single from this release), I never heard the the whole album until a few years ago.  its a shame, as I was (and still remain) a big Tribe Called Quest fan, and Straight... holds up right along with the rest of the Native Tongues output.  Jungle Brothers used the same jazz-influenced beats as Tribe and crafted them into smooth songs about positivity, while at the same time maintaining some of hip hop's trademarked bravado.  I'd say it was a shame that I wasn't more into the Jungle Brothers back then, but I honestly had more than enough hip hop, good and bad, to occupy me back then.



9.) EPMD - Strictly Business

I was really surprised how well this album has held up over the years.  When I first stared looking at the 1988 CD's in my collection to put this list together, I didn't think this one would have made the cut.  I knew that I liked some of the songs at the time, but this wasn't a disc that I kept up with over the years like some of the other 1980's rap albums I liked at the time (I didn't even add this one to my collection again until about a year ago or so).  However, there are some damn good songs on this disc.  Great beats/samples (the use of Eric Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff" on the title track was genius) and great lyrics (despite the fact that Erick Sermon always sounded like he had some sort of speech impediment, he always managed to make it work for him).  Plus, they were the only black guys in the 80's rapping about Steve Martin,so they get extra points for originality. 



8.) The Church - Starfish

My love of this CD is directly attributed to Andyman, the late DJ/Program Director of CD101 (the locally owned independent alternative radio station here in Columbus).   Sometime after I moved to Columbus (and actually lived in a city that played real alternative music on the radio), I was listening to CD101 and Andy gave an intro to the next song he was playing that mentioned how much he loved it.  This made me take notice as, by that point, I knew that he was a sincere fan of the music he played on the air.  The song was "Under The Milky Way" from this album and I was blown away.  I shortly thereafter sought this CD out to add to my collection and was not disappointed - while not all are as good as "Under The Milky Way", there are some fantastic songs on this disk, most notably "Destination" and "Reptile".  A few years later, when I finally got around to watching the movie Donnie Darko, my love for that film was cemented when, in two consecutive pivotal scenes, the film used "Milky Way" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division.



7.) Dinosaur Jr - Bug

I finally got to see Dinosaur Jr on tour recently (although I think it was in 2009, so "recently" may not be accurate), and they were fantastic.  J Mascis is the closest thing that indie rock has to a guitar god, and he certainly shreds live in concert.  I think my ears were ringing for 3 days after that show.

Bug was the last album with Lou Barlow until 2007, and they never were really the same band without him (although Mascis claims this is his least favorite of their albums).  I am glad they were able to work through their issues - Dinosaur Jr's 2 releases since their reformation have been excellent and they show no signs that they have lost any of their edge.



6.) Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

This disc is widely considered Sonic Youth's best album.  It was highly ranked on "Best of the 80's" lists by Pitchfork, Spin and Rolling Stone, and has also been selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.  Not bad for a band that, outside of the indie rock world (despite having released SEVENTEEN studio albums over their career), really isn't that well known.

If there was a separate Alternative Rock Hall of Fame, Sonic Youth would have to be a first ballot unanimous selection, and "Teen Age Riot", the lead track from this record, would be the song that plays at their induction.  .  They are a band that has been an influence on way too many bands to mention, and they have managed to make their music according to their terms for going on 30 years!  They even made an appearance on The Simpsons. 



Coming soon... Part 2.