The Best Album of Every Year - Part Two

Part 2 - 1981-2011

Welcome back, in part 1 we covered 1955-1980, aka the classic rock era. Now let’s take a trip all the way through the slick 80s, the big shiny 90s, into the new Millennium and beyond!

And here is a link to a playlist to accompany.

1981 - Daryl Hall & John Oates / Private Eyes

Snappy lil soul-pop ditties for the 1980s! Somehow so perfectly 80s and timeless at the same time.

Listen to: I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)

1982 - TOTO / TOTO IV

You loved it when you were a kid. You rejected it as an edgy teen/early 20 something…and now that everyone agrees that Africa “slaps” you can proudly fist-pump to Rosanna in public again.

Listen to: Roseanna

1983 - Huey Lewis and the News / Sports

The production is mighty slick (it’s Patrick Bateman’s favourite rock record after all…) but these head-bobbing numbers are undeniable.

Listen to: Heart And Soul

1984 - The Minutemen / Double Nickels On The Dime

43 song punk rock opus that is much more than just the “Jackass” theme. Also proves I’m not only into “Dad Rock”.

Listen to: Viet Nam

1985 - Tears For Fears / Songs From The Big Chair

A classic “all those big hits are on the same album?!” record. Still gutted that I missed seeing them open for Hall & Oates because my uber got pulled over for speeding on Lakeshore Boulevard. 

Listen to: Head Over Heels

1986 - Run DMC / Raising Hell

In 2001 when my fellow high schoolers were vibin’ to the new Staind, Creed and O-Town records, I was mainlining “My Adidas” and “Peter Piper” via my mini disc player. Still waiting for that medium to have a comeback (ain’t happening).

Listen to: Peter Piper

1987 - Eric B & Rakim / Paid In Full

Sorry Slash, I know Appetite For Destruction came out this year, but I much prefer Rakim on the mic to Axl.

Listen to: I Know You Got Soul

1988 - Metallica / And Justice For All

Ok back to the rockin. About as metal as i ever get. Could use a lil more bass though…

Listen to: Blackened

1989 - Tom Petty / Full Moon Fever

I have a long-running joke with my friend Thom about how I think Tom Petty is overrated, that is to say while the world rates him as a 9.5/10 I have him more like a 9/10. However, graded on an 1989 curve he’s a 14/10.

Listen to: Won’t Back Down

1990 - A Tribe Called Quest / People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythms

Some mellow delights from the most enduring of hip-hop artists. A lot more chill than the ponderous album title suggests.

Listen to: After Hours

1991 - A Tribe Called Quest / Low End Theory

If the 60s was the Beatles decade and the 70s belonged to Stevie Wonder, then are the 90s the Tribe era? What can I say? This shit just holds up better than the Beastie Boys.

Listen to: Scenario

1992 - Rage Against The Machine / Rage Against The Machine

They single handedly invented perhaps the most heinous of all genres (rap-rock) and remain its only good artist.

Listen to: Know You’re Enemy

1993 - Wu-Tang Clan / Enter The 36 Chambers

An album so good they became a supergroup on their debut.

Listen to: Bring Da Ruckus

1994 - Soungarden / Superunknown

Everyone ballyhooed the Nirvana quiet/loud thing, but I always thought Cornell’s crooning giving way to an all-mighty wail was the grunge era’s true magic. Rock music that holds up from an era where not a lot does.

Listen to: Fell On Black Days

1995 - Supergrass / I Should Coco

Blur or Oasis? I’ll take Supergrass. Probably somewhere like 6th in the brit-pop hierarchy but number 1 in my heart.

Listen to: Mansize Rooster

1996 - Beck / Odelay

What does Odelay mean? what’s that thing on the cover? What the hell is a devil’s haircut? What genre is this record? How did they make it? I had none of these answers back in the internet-less mid 90s, but I loved this record and still do.

Listen to: Hotwax

1997 - Blur / Blur

Who else bought this album for “Song 2” and then subsequently relegated it to a neglected stack on your shelf next to your Sugar Ray and Chumbawamba CDs? Turns out this album actually was a low-key masterpiece that richly rewarded you over time, unlike “Tubthumping”.

Listen to: Beetlebum

1998 - Sloan / Navy Blues

It’s 1998 and I’m going to Edgefest to see the Foo Fighters and Green Day but most of all I’m excited to see Sloan. It’s a victory when I’m able to convince my dad to buy me a ticket from the kiosk at the mall, only to be slightly tainted with embarrassment when he has a letter published in the local paper complaining about concert ticket surcharges. 

Listen to: On The Horizon

1999 - Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park

The early 90s belongs to Tribe and the late 90s belongs to...Nova Scotia! Thrush Hermit’s swan song was their finest and the 90s East Coast Can-Rock scene is the best case for a rival to the Prairie rockin’ of the 60s/70s (Joni-Neil-Guess Who) for Canada’s finest musical era.

Listen to: The Day We Hit The Coast

2000 - Jurassic 5 / Quality Control

The soundtrack to my “not a boy, not yet a man” years. Going to university classes (sometimes), smoking weed (all the time) and drinking 40s of something called Big Bear (yikes). Fortunately the sweet, positive, and uplifting sounds of J5 were a soothing presence at this formative time.

Listen to: Jurass Finish First

2001 - The Strokes / Is This It

In an era of dudes with backwards baseball caps playing sludgy PRS Guitars and singing in that slurry Eddie Vedder/Creed style, the Strokes were the most refreshing of tonics. Back to basics rock n roll you can bop to.

Listen to: Soma

2002 - The Bees / Sunshine Hit Me

Groovy, stoned-out, technicolor sounds from a shed on the Isle of Wight. 

Listen to: Punchbag

2003 - Kings Of Leon / Youth And Young Manhood

A delightfully greasy, straight ahead rock record that amps up the Strokes’ lean and mean approach with Southern dirtbag swagger. 

Listen to: Joe’s Head

2004 - The Bees / Free The Bees

Like their kaleidoscopic debut but with more guitars. From a duo to a full band and from their shed to the hallowed ground of Abbey Road.

Listen to: Horseman

2005 - El Michels Affair / Sounding Out The City.

Resplendent Soul instrumentals. Not as hard charging as the Budos Band or as celebrated as Khruangbin, yet more evocative and beguiling.

Listen to: Yennecita

2006 - Sam Roberts / Chemical City

Sam’s a musical painter and his beautiful rock n roll landscapes were the soundtrack to me getting high as fuck in my car before working mornings at a Greenhouse back in ’06.

Listen to: Mind Flood

2007 - The Bees / Octopus

So clearly the 2000s is the Bees’ decade. I was initially dismayed by the change in direction (I pined for Free the Bees 2) but almost instantly fell in love with the textures and rhythms of Octopus.

Listen to: Listening Man

2008 - The Black Keys / Attack & Release

Always my favourite of the 2 people bands, the Keys wisely sensed they’d done about all they could with just guitars and drums. They branched out into brave new sonic worlds and made their best record.

Listen to: Psychotic Girl

2009 - El Michaels Affair / Enter the 37th Chamber

Lovingly crafted instrumentals of beloved Wu-Tang bangers. Finally I can listen to the Wu when Grandma comes for tea!

Listen to: Shimmy Shimmy Ya

2010 - The Budos Band / The Budos Band III

A little bit darker and nastier then Budos I & II, but every bit as fun. One of the greatest live bands you can see. 

Listen to: Black Venom

2011 - My Morning Jacket / Circuital

In 2011 I was traipsing around the stinking hot grounds of Bonnaroo, constantly being mistaken for Jim James (including while being about 6 ft away from the real Jim James). 

Listen to: Holding On To Black Metal

And that’s a wrap for now. I’ll see y’all in about 20 years for 2012-2040.