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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 18, 2023 8:51:31 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#8 - Robert Cray - Shame + A Sin
Another excellent blues album from Cray. This one is maybe a little bluesier than the norm for Cray. He's still more uptown than working-man blues. But that's okay. His work is always solid and he does a very creditable cover of Albert King's "You're Gonna Need Me." Cray is never going to be gut-bucket blues, but I've come to appreciate what he is.
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Post by commond on May 18, 2023 18:37:44 GMT -5
More from 1983...
António Variações' Anjo da guarda... this was fantastic. A sublime mix of art pop, synthpop and new wave from Portuguese singer-songwriter, António Variações. Sadly, Varjacoes only released two records before his untimely death at the age of 39, but what incredible records, mixing contemporary pop with traditional Portuguese rhythms and melodies.
Acid's Maniac... Belgian speed metal band. Metal was still in its infancy at this time, but it was an incredibly exciting time for the genre with bands popping up in every corner of the globe. I like speed metal A LOT, so I was down with this. They released an earlier self-titled album in '83 that wasn't as good (didn't really care for the female vocals, tbh.) Stick with this record.
Soft Cell's The Art of Falling Apart... this was so fucking weird. Soft Cell are one of those bands where you know they were famous for covering Tainted Love, then you listen to one of their LPs and realize they are nothing like you expected... So much weird shit like a Jim Hendrix medley and a bizarre, psychedelic song about a boy named Martin where they keep chanting "Martin! Martin! Martin!" endlessly. Memorable, if nothing else.
Big Country's The Crossing... perfectly acceptable mashup of early 80s styles. An easier sell than a lot of post punk records mentioned, and even some new wave LPs, too.
The Fun Boy Three's Waiting... didn't leave any real impact one me, which is possibly why I've never heard of this new wave group.
Tomoko Aran's Fuyū-kūkan... a few years ago, the internet discovered Japanese city pop, largely through YouTube, I believe, which I guess is a thing now, and not surprising since Japan is absolutely useless at exporting its music to the world. So, nowadays, you get a lot of city pop album recognition when the genre had been all but forgotten in Japan. I love city pop, but it was basically yuppie music. This album, however, is a lot more sophisticated than I was expecting and almost reminded me of a Japanese Sade.
Normil Hawaiians' More Wealth Than Money... one of those albums that washes over you, then goes back out like the tide. It came and it went.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 19, 2023 2:59:19 GMT -5
(...) Big Country's The Crossing... perfectly acceptable mashup of early 80s styles. An easier sell than a lot of post punk records mentioned, and even some new wave LPs, too. (...) Interesting to come across someone else who not only remembers this album but likes it. I'm also fond of The Crossing, and remember what a big splash a few of the songs from it ("Harvest Home," "In a Big Country," "Fields of Fire") made at the time.
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Post by commond on May 19, 2023 8:20:49 GMT -5
(...) Big Country's The Crossing... perfectly acceptable mashup of early 80s styles. An easier sell than a lot of post punk records mentioned, and even some new wave LPs, too. (...) Interesting to come across someone else who not only remembers this album but likes it. I'm also fond of The Crossing, and remember what a big splash a few of the songs from it ("Harvest Home," "In a Big Country," "Fields of Fire") made at the time. Big Country's first three albums are solid. They were in the shadow of bands like the Pogues and The Waterboys, who wrote better songs, and U2, who were the big stadium rock act, but they were a really good band.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 19, 2023 9:29:47 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#7 - The Bottle Rockets – The Bottle Rockets
The debut album of one of the more important early alt-country acts. Frontman/guitarist/songwriter Brian Henneman had spent some time as a guitar tech and sometimes instrumentalist for Uncle Tupelo and both Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar would sing some backing vocals on this album. You can definitely hear Farrar on "Kerosene." I just love "Wave That Flag" so damn much.
The Bottle Rockets were always on the roots/southern rock side of the alt-country movement and that's very apparent on this album. It's a very strong debut for a great hard-working band.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 19, 2023 11:01:36 GMT -5
Interesting to come across someone else who not only remembers this album but likes it. I'm also fond of The Crossing, and remember what a big splash a few of the songs from it ("Harvest Home," "In a Big Country," "Fields of Fire") made at the time. Big Country's first three albums are solid. They were in the shadow of bands like the Pogues and The Waterboys, who wrote better songs, and U2, who were the big stadium rock act, but they were a really good band.
Agreed. And Stuart Adamson was a pretty decent songwriter. I think the band's lack of continued success had more to do with management/label support in their later years and changing consumer tastes in the early-mid '90s.
Our paths crossed a few times in musician circles in the late '90s while he was living in Nashville, at the time fronting his alt-country band The Raphaels. Didn't know him well, but he always came off as a nice enough guy on the professional level. Unfortunately, it seems that his personal demons got the best of him.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 20, 2023 11:43:34 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#6 - Asleep at the Wheel - A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys
Tribute albums come in all permutations of quality, but there may never have been one that was a more natural fit than Asleep at the Wheel doing a tribute album to Bob Wills & company. By 1993 the Wheel had been playing Wills' music for over 20 years as probably the main act keeping Texas Swing alive.
The main difference here is that the Wheel is joined by an all-star cast of country musicians including Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart, Lyle Lovett, and a host of others to pay tribute to the King of Western Swing. It's just a rockin' good time across the board. And I'll just take this opportunity to leave you with The Wheel and Riders in the Sky.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 21, 2023 13:54:51 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#5 - Chris Isaak - San Francisco Days
The reviews of this album were mixed, generally saying was simply a mediocre to good effort. I actually like it quite a bit. It obviously doesn't have as track on it like "Wicked Game," but what does? The title track is very strong. "Two Hearts" is very solid and was great in the soundtrack to True Romance. "Round 'N' Round" is sadly underappreciated. And Isaak does an excellent version of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man." No, it's not a stand-out album...but it's a darn good album.
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Post by commond on May 21, 2023 18:59:22 GMT -5
1983...
X's More Fun in the New World... technically, X are a punk band, but they cross over into any sorts of genres like power pop and rockabilly, and frankly, they're fun, they rock, and make me happy. Big tick for this record.
Ilegales's Ilegales... one of the best rock albums of 1983. Rock was in a tight spot in '83 with hard rock and AOR losing a ton of ground to punk and metal. Bands like Illegales were clever enough to embrace punk, post-punk, new wave, art punk, and still rock.
The Ex's Tumult... straight out of the Netherlands, we have one of the best post-punk records of '83. Post-punk is one of those genres where you're really listening for something clever and brilliant to distinguish it from the multitude of other post-punk albums out there, and this delivered in spades. They released another record in '83 that paled in comparison. Probably not a great idea to release two albums in the same year unless you're a jazz musician.
Krokus' Headhunter.. straight heavy metal, but gotta respect OGs that came up from their 70s hard rock roots and were part of the first wave of metal. Enjoyable record.
Loquillo y Trogloditas' El ritmo del garage... Another fun Spanish rock album. This one had more of a garage rock sound. Kudos to Spain for keeping good old fashioned rock alive in the early 80s.
Bauhaus' Burning From the Inside... I was expecting this to be heavier than it was, but it was a lot peppier than you'd expect from a goth record. Almost like new wave goth music. Not bad!
The Robert Cray Band's Bad Influence... Super fun. Maybe I spoke too soon about those Spaniards. This was super enjoyable blues rock.
Cleaners From Venus's In the Golden Autumn.. this was okayish. I love jangle pop so much that I have super high expectations for it, which leads to a ton of disappointment when those expectations aren't met.
ESG's Come Away With ESG... speaking of expectations, this completely blew mine away. I knew it was a dance punk album, but I didn't realize it would be quite so danceable. They were clearly influenced by James Brown and other funk acts, and the punk element really came from being part of the New York punk scene. This was a bit of a find for me, personally. Strong influence on hip hop and dance.
Toshiki Kadomatsu's On the City Shore... soooo 80s. City pop meets yacht rock meets smooth jazz. Japan was still in the midst of its economic bubble and this was every yuppie's dream of a beach vacation somewhere in Okinawa or Guam. Nice record.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 22, 2023 13:22:11 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#4 - Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne
The last album for Uncle Tupelo and the only one for a major label. The division between Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy was very evident and it was clear that the split was coming. Still this is an outstanding album that rides the lines between all the varied influences that the band had followed over the years.
One of the great alt-country albums when that term was still in heavy use.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 14:28:24 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993 #5 - Chris Isaak - San Francisco DaysThe reviews of this album were mixed, generally saying was simply a mediocre to good effort. I actually like it quite a bit. It obviously doesn't have as track on it like "Wicked Game," but what does? The title track is very strong. "Two Hearts" is very solid and was great in the soundtrack to True Romance. "Round 'N' Round" is sadly underappreciated. And Isaak does an excellent version of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man." No, it's not a stand-out album...but it's a darn good album. I've always liked his sound so even a middling Chris Isaak album usually sounded pretty good to me. I was lucky enough to see him live a couple times, once in a relatively small indoors venue and once at an outside festival concert. The former in particular was one of the best shows i've been to - it was all standing room and I managed to worm my way pretty close to the stage. I'll have to dig out this cd next time I'm doing some early 1990s reading.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 14:30:24 GMT -5
1983... X's More Fun in the New World... technically, X are a punk band, but they cross over into any sorts of genres like power pop and rockabilly, and frankly, they're fun, they rock, and make me happy. Big tick for this record. Ilegales's Ilegales... one of the best rock albums of 1983. Rock was in a tight spot in '83 with hard rock and AOR losing a ton of ground to punk and metal. Bands like Illegales were clever enough to embrace punk, post-punk, new wave, art punk, and still rock. The Ex's Tumult... straight out of the Netherlands, we have one of the best post-punk records of '83. Post-punk is one of those genres where you're really listening for something clever and brilliant to distinguish it from the multitude of other post-punk albums out there, and this delivered in spades. They released another record in '83 that paled in comparison. Probably not a great idea to release two albums in the same year unless you're a jazz musician. Krokus' Headhunter.. straight heavy metal, but gotta respect OGs that came up from their 70s hard rock roots and were part of the first wave of metal. Enjoyable record. Loquillo y Trogloditas' El ritmo del garage... Another fun Spanish rock album. This one had more of a garage rock sound. Kudos to Spain for keeping good old fashioned rock alive in the early 80s. Bauhaus' Burning From the Inside... I was expecting this to be heavier than it was, but it was a lot peppier than you'd expect from a goth record. Almost like new wave goth music. Not bad! The Robert Cray Band's Bad Influence... Super fun. Maybe I spoke too soon about those Spaniards. This was super enjoyable blues rock. Cleaners From Venus's In the Golden Autumn.. this was okayish. I love jangle pop so much that I have super high expectations for it, which leads to a ton of disappointment when those expectations aren't met. ESG's Come Away With ESG... speaking of expectations, this completely blew mine away. I knew it was a dance punk album, but I didn't realize it would be quite so danceable. They were clearly influenced by James Brown and other funk acts, and the punk element really came from being part of the New York punk scene. This was a bit of a find for me, personally. Strong influence on hip hop and dance. Toshiki Kadomatsu's On the City Shore... soooo 80s. City pop meets yacht rock meets smooth jazz. Japan was still in the midst of its economic bubble and this was every yuppie's dream of a beach vacation somewhere in Okinawa or Guam. Nice record.
Lots of stuff here I either haven't heard of before or haven't listened to much. I'm especially curious about these Spanish acts. I'll be checking Spotify and youtube for them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 22, 2023 17:11:12 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993 #5 - Chris Isaak - San Francisco DaysThe reviews of this album were mixed, generally saying was simply a mediocre to good effort. I actually like it quite a bit. It obviously doesn't have as track on it like "Wicked Game," but what does? The title track is very strong. "Two Hearts" is very solid and was great in the soundtrack to True Romance. "Round 'N' Round" is sadly underappreciated. And Isaak does an excellent version of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man." No, it's not a stand-out album...but it's a darn good album. I've always liked his sound so even a middling Chris Isaak album usually sounded pretty good to me. I was lucky enough to see him live a couple times, once in a relatively small indoors venue and once at an outside festival concert. The former in particular was one of the best shows i've been to - it was all standing room and I managed to worm my way pretty close to the stage. I'll have to dig out this cd next time I'm doing some early 1990s reading. I've only seen him once. It was at the old Boise River Festival and would have been around 2003. He put on a great show under not great outdoor conditions (extremely hot and kind of windy). I totally spaced that he and Lyle Lovett were touring together a couple of years ago and missed them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 23, 2023 8:12:35 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993
#3 - Junior Brown - Guit With It
I think you can make a good argument that this is the ultimate Junior Brown album. It has two of his very best singles, his cover of Red Simpson's "Highway Patrol" and his own "My Wife Thinks You're Dead." It also has his great version of "Sugarfoot Rag" and his nearly 12-minute long "Guit-Steel Blues." This is Junior hitting on all cylinders both as a vocalist and as an instrumentalist and he absolutely shows what he can do with his guit-steel.
And, yeah, he's just as much fun in person as he is on recordings.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 23, 2023 11:31:06 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993 #3 - Junior Brown - Guit With ItI think you can make a good argument that this is the ultimate Junior Brown album. It has two of his very best singles, his cover of Red Simpson's "Highway Patrol" and his own "My Wife Thinks You're Dead." It also has his great version of "Sugarfoot Rag" and his nearly 12-minute long "Guit-Steel Blues." This is Junior hitting on all cylinders both as a vocalist and as an instrumentalist and he absolutely shows what he can do with his guit-steel. And, yeah, he's just as much fun in person as he is on recordings.
Excellent pick. As much as I love this album, I came to love the follow-up, Semi-Crazy, even more.
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