100 Best Albums List From 30 Years Ago

[Jack K]

Given the 10 best albums listed by Bounce posters recently I thought I would post a list of 100 of the best albums which I found amongst my scribblings from almost 30 years ago when i had not long turned 30.
Looking at it now I see all the albums on it were released between 1963 and 1992. It's a bit safe and white with a lack of reggae, soul and jazz albums and of course the great music of the last 30 years which could have it's own list.
It's a ranking that says a lot about the era before the internet, iPods, and streaming took over the world. A list made for lovers & collectors of analogue music.
Today's music, media, and ways of sound transmission/transfer are meant for people with a very short attention span, little sense of history, or the passage in time in general. As Mark Fisher commented: many folks nowadays seem to be locked up into an everlasting 'now', a trap without a past, and certainly bereft of any future.

What da ya think? It looks a bit clinical to me now.
Put together your own list for pre 1993

1 Beach boys Pet sounds
2 Van Morrison Astral weeks
3 Beatles Revolver
4 Rolling stones Exile on Main street
5 Bob Dylan Highway 61 revisited
6 Marvin Gaye What's going on
7 Rolling stones Let it bleed
8 Bob Dylan Blonde on blonde
9 Velvet underground + Nico Velvet underground + Nico
10 Patti Smith Horses
11 Love Forever changes
12 Jimi Hendrix Are you experienced
13 Steely dan Countdown to ecstasy
14 Jimi Hendrix Electric ladyland
15 Band Band
16 Stooges Funhouse
17 Television Marquee moon
18 Joni Mitchell Blue
19 Beatles The Beatles (= the white album)
20 Stevie Wonder Innervisions
21 David Bowie Station to station
22 Sex pistols Never mind the bollocks
23 Clash London calling
24 Beatles Abbey road
25 David Bowie Hunky dory
26 Rolling stones Beggars banquet
27 Beatles Rubber soul
28 Captain Beefheart Trout mask replica
29 David Bowie The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust
30 Doors Doors
31 Otis Redding Otis blue - Otis Redding sings soul
32 James Brown Live at The Apollo, october 24, 1962
33 Nirvana Nevermind
34 Velvet underground Velvet underground
35 Prince Sign o the times
36 Byrds The notorious Byrd brothers
37 R.E.M. Automatic for the people
38 Who The Who sell out
39 Bob Dylan Blood on the tracks
40 Big star Sister lovers / Third
41 Bruce Springsteen Born to run
42 Gram Parsons Grievous angel
43 Ramones The Ramones
44 Iggy Pop Lust for life
45 Lou Reed Transformer
46 Miles Davis In a silent way
47 Byrds Younger than yesterday
48 Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express
49 New York dolls New York dolls
50 Moby grape Moby grape
51 Beatles Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club band
52 Rolling stones Sticky fingers
53 Joy division Closer
54 Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town
55 Frank Zappa & the Mothers of invention We're only in it for the money
56 Donald Fagen The nightfly
57 Bob Dylan Bringing it all back home
58 Clash The Clash
59 Roxy music For your pleasure
60 Kate Bush Hounds of love
61 Todd Rundgren Something/anything
62 Can Future days
63 Beatles With the Beatles
64 Captain Beefheart Clear spot
65 Sly & the family Stone Stand!
66 Brian Eno Here come the warm jets
67 Bob Marley & the Wailers Catch a fire
68 Massive attack Blue lines
69 Elvis Costello This year's model
70 Richard & Linda Thompson I want to see the bright lights tonight
71 Stevie Wonder Talking book
72 Pere Ubu The modern dance
73 Steely dan Can't buy a thrill
74 Sly & the family Stone There's a riot goin' on
75 Van Morrison It's too late to stop now
76 Public enemy It takes a nation of millions to hold us back
77 Pink floyd The piper at the gates of dawn
78 Joni Mitchell The hissing of summer lawns
79 Stooges Stooges
80 Stevie Wonder Songs in the key of life
81 Beatles A hard day's night
82 Miles Davis Bitches brew
83 Neil Young Tonight's the night
84 Randy Newman Good old boys
85 Prefab sprout Steve McQueen
86 Marvin Gaye Here, my dear
87 Talk talk The colour of spring
88 Mary Margaret O'Hara Miss America
89 Frank Zappa Hot rats
90 Steely dan Gaucho
91 Kinks The village green preservation society
92 Dusty Springfield Dusty in Memphis
93 Todd Rundgren A wizard, a true star
94 Smiths Smiths
95 Muddy Waters Hard again
96 Led zeppelin Physical graffiti
97 Zombies Odessey & oracle
98 Iggy Pop & the Stooges Raw power
99 Led zeppelin Led zeppelin 4
100 Robert Wyatt Rock bottom





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[Purple & Green]

I think it’s an era thing, looking at that list there’s a lack of electronic/early 80s stuff which really sticks out to me as I’m 10 years younger than you.

 

[Findlayhibby]

25 years ago is 1997.

 

[Jack K]

I think it’s an era thing, looking at that list there’s a lack of electronic/early 80s stuff which really sticks out to me as I’m 10 years younger than you.

It sticks out to me as well. It's like part 1 of a two part list. I think it must have put it together at the end of 1992 or early 1993.
The most recent album on the list is REM - Automatic For The People which was released in October of 1992.
The only electronic music on it is Kraftwerk and a Can album.
It's strange looking at how bland it looks without the last 30 years of music from November 1992.
It also misses out a lot of the music I was actually listening to between 1980 and 1992. Very strange.

 

[Jack K]

25 years ago is 1997.

I pushed transmit and got stuck with 25 years ago instead of 30 years ago.
If an admin can change the title to 30 that would be great.

 

[Jack K]

I think it’s an era thing, looking at that list there’s a lack of electronic/early 80s stuff which really sticks out to me as I’m 10 years younger than you.

It's weird looking at that list when 17 years later i was listening to stuff like this in 2010. Amazing how your musical listening habits can develop.

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[Purple & Green]

Something as well; it’s different for music before you were born or before you were aware. That for me is 1975.

I love music, I love different styles, I’m open to things but it’s much easier when you experience it when it’s happening instead of 10 or 20 years later when it’s passed. Does that make sense?

Never got the Beatles until recently, but stuff like the doors, Hendrix, was much harder to get into to.

Conversely - joy division is much more than a pretty album cover when you listened to them when they existed.

 

[Findlayhibby]

I've looked back at my top ten albums again, 3 are Jazz and before I was born,2 are reggae from the 70's the newest album is Massive Attack Blue Lines,3 are punk and one is Talking Heads.

 

[Jack K]

Something as well; it’s different for music before you were born or before you were aware. That for me is 1975.

I love music, I love different styles, I’m open to things but it’s much easier when you experience it when it’s happening instead of 10 or 20 years later when it’s passed. Does that make sense?

Never got the Beatles until recently, but stuff like the doors, Hendrix, was much harder to get into to.

Conversely - joy division is much more than a pretty album cover when you listened to them when they existed.

My music obsession started with punk in '77 although i had heard and was aware of music from about '71.
The obsession grew through a perfect storm of Punk, John Peel and New Wave and then Two Tone etc.
After that I grabbed Motown, Stax, 60's garage and any other records i could get my hands on.
Listened to any radio shows that didn't play chart music and spent all my money on records and gigs.
Like you I had problems with some genres that had occurred before my time like guitar playing white guys in the late 60's and early 70's whose tracks went on forever sounded very boring to my young ears.
Was into Joy Division and went about in a big coat bought from Oxfam. Predictably I got loads of abuse and questioning of my sexual preferences from the local 20 hole lace up red Doc Martin yellow lace neds. Same thick cvnts who spray painted their platform shoes silver some years earlier .

 

[Hibee Kev]

This was Q Magazine’s Top 100 albums (i’m sure they did it several times and OK Computer was always ranked #1):

Q Magazine's 100 Best Albums Ever - RYM/Sonemic

Q Magazine's 100 Best Albums Ever. Author: joedec. [Page 2]

rateyourmusic.com

 

[Jack K]

This was Q Magazine’s Top 100 albums (i’m sure they did it several times and OK Computer was always ranked #1):

Q Magazine's 100 Best Albums Ever - RYM/Sonemic

Q Magazine's 100 Best Albums Ever. Author: joedec. [Page 2]

rateyourmusic.com

That list appears to go up to 2002 so had another 10 years of albums to choose from.
If has some real clunkers in it including 2 Coldplay albums!!! and a Red Hot Clilli Peppers album in the top 50

 

[Hibee Kev]

That list appears to go up to 2002 so had another 10 years of albums to choose from.
If has some real clunkers in it including 2 Coldplay albums!!! and a Red Hot Clilli Peppers album in the top 50

After posting that I found their list from 1997 and it really hasn’t aged well! The Prodigy at number 9 and 2 Suede albums in the top 40 etc. You’re always going to get a bias towards the “flavour of the moment” artists at the time these things are done I guess.

 

[vasco de gama]

The only electronic music on it is Kraftwerk and a Can album.
It's strange looking at how bland it looks without the last 30 years of music from November 1992.
It also misses out a lot of the music I was actually listening to between 1980 and 1992. Very strange.

You’ve also got Massive Attack on there. But that just adds to the strangeness of the list.

It’s a very conservative list. Don’t get me wrong, I have about 50 of them, but there’s no real sign of YOU in the list and instead it’s like a list of “classic” albums. It’s almost like a list you’d get if you canvassed 50 people for their top 100 and gave them points like on the other thread.

I mean where the heck is The Fall in that list given your avatar?

 

[Two Headed Boy]

After posting that I found their list from 1997 and it really hasn’t aged well! The Prodigy at number 9 and 2 Suede albums in the top 40 etc. You’re always going to get a bias towards the “flavour of the moment” artists at the time these things are done I guess.

It's always the way with these things. I bought a couple of editions of those "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" books in the 90s when I was starting to expand my horizons as a teen and the first one that only polled British journos and industry people was chock full of Britpop flavours of the month. The second edition I got started polling Americans and it just ended up packed with post-grunge dullards like Live and Creed.

I've been enjoying the quirkiness of our own wee forums countdown as I've been updating it as a result.

Nowt wrong with your list @Jack K - its a bit "Mojo top 100" as you readily admit but its full of crackers.

 

[Jack K]

It's always the way with these things. I bought a couple of editions of those "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" books in the 90s when I was starting to expand horizons as a teen and the first one that only polled British journos and industry people was it was chock full of Britpop flavours of the month. The second edition I got started polling Americans and it just ended up packed with post-grunge dullards like Love and Creed.

I've been enjoying the quirkiness of our own wee forums countdown as I've been updating it as a result.

Nowt wrong with your list @Jack K - its a bit "Mojo top 100" as you readily admit but its full of crackers.

That makes sense i bought Q in it's early days. When it deteriorated I moved onto Mojo. Then it deteriorated.

 

[Jack K]

You’ve also got Massive Attack on there. But that just adds to the strangeness of the list.

It’s a very conservative list. Don’t get me wrong, I have about 50 of them, but there’s no real sign of YOU in the list and instead it’s like a list of “classic” albums. It’s almost like a list you’d get if you canvassed 50 people for their top 100 and gave them points like on the other thread.

I mean where the heck is The Fall in that list given your avatar?

I agree with you with your observation.
I own over 90 albums on the list but there are some poor choices on it which make little sense e.g. REM "Murmer" is a far more interesting REM album than "Automatic For The People"
Strangely I like The Fall far far more now than I did back in the day when I wanted to hear The Buzzcocks rather than grumpy Mark's latest rambles. I do own the compilation on my avatar.