Friday, October 9, 2009

Open Thread Friday: Your Favorite Year for Music?

Have you ever noticed that some years seem to produce an awful lot of really good albums while others produce virtually none? What's your favorite year for music based on the releases that came out during that time?

Mine would probably be 1987 which gave us:
Depeche Mode "Music for the Masses"
Nitzer Ebb "That Total Age"
Prince "Sign o' the Times"
Sinead O'Connor "The Lion & the Cobra"
The Jesus and Mary Chain "Darklands"
The Swans "Children of God"
The Replacements "Pleased to Meet Me"
Midnight Oil "Diesel & Dust"
Echo & the Bunnymen "Echo & the Bunnymen"
Wire "The Ideal Copy"

among others. Really, the whole period from about 1986-1988 was pretty good to my taste (or lack thereof).

5 comments:

Unknown said...

My guess would be 1981, for several release (Kraftwerk's Computer World, OMD's Architecture and Morality) and 1981 in general because from that year on a shift occurred with regard of electronics in music - lots of bands that were using it were actually making pop music and were scoring hits: The Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche of course, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order, Ultravox.. it was like a new world!

Also: 1986. Black Celebration.

Iron Toad said...

1986 was fantastic, lots of releases from that year really shaped me as a musician and as a listener, and it was all happening right before my eyes. Or ears. Depeche Mode's Black Celebration, PEt Shop Boys' Please, The Art Of Noise's In Visible Silence, Coil's Horse Rotovator (although I only first heard it only some 2 years later), The Cure's Staring at the Sea, which was my first encounter with the band, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Front 242's Official Version (or was it 1987?)... erm, have to confess, Invisible Touch by Genesis was there too and I still like it ;)
Then I should notice, that many of my all time favourites come from 1971, by some coincidence the year I was born. Blue, Songs Of Love and Hate, Meddle, Tapestry, Brainticket... loads more, really

line of control said...

wow! 1987- my absolute fave year also...

in that year we also had the mega:

Joshua Tree- U2
Bad- Michael Jackson
Faith- George Michael
Hysteria- Def Leppard
Kiss Me Kiss ME Miss Me- The Cure
Intro to the Hardline- TTD
Kick- INXS
Momentary lapse of Reason- Pink Floyd

I can't think of any other year where so much good music was released.

Jon said...

I'm thinking '94. Best year for Techno.

Minimal Nation - Robert Hood
Musik and Plastique - Plastikman
Half of Jeff Mills output.
Oh yeah AND Basic Channel got really rolling, Phylyps Trak II Octagon and Quadrant Dub.

Definitely the year that changed dance music forever. And definitely the most influential as far as today's music is concerned.

David said...

86 / 87 - I have to concur...I'd like to add "Infected", "Twitch" and "Cleanse, Fold and Manipulate".