1989 - best albums

[Glen]

ive only about 10 more to rate in 1989 so list should be up soon. Also, I'm about 20 discs through 1990 as well so that list should follow in relatively quick succession.

 

Been really enjoyable re-visiting some of these albums

[Nightrain]

All seems quiet on the 1989 front, where's your list Glen ?

[Glen]

Soon. Almost there.

[Glen]

Question : is Warrant's debut 1988 or 1989? I see some have included this but it's listed as 1988 on the main pages.

 

Cheers

[Geoff]

I always thought it was 1989, but understand it might actually be 1988? My CD definitely says 1989, not that that means too much.

[Nightrain]

It's recorded around 1988 but it's released on Jan 31st, 1989 so it belongs here in this thread

[Glen]

Ok ta. One more for the list.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Ok ta. One more for the list.

Dammit, Glen! Get that list sorted, already. ;}

[Nightrain]

Waiting on Glen's list is like waiting for Chinese Democracy

[Glen]

Ha ha - i'll post what i have today. A few more to rate but i can add those later.

[Glen]

OK, here is my list so far. Probably about another 10 to rate.

 

 

 

1 Danger Danger s/t 95

2 FM Tough It Out 93.86

3 Signal Loud & Clear 92

4 Strangeways Walk In The Fire 92

5 Skid Row s/t 91.59

6 Bonfire Point Blank 91.45

7 Babylon AD s/t 90

8 Bad English s/t 89.38

9 Giant Last of the Runaways 89.32

10 Shark Island Law of the Order 89.25

 

11 Robin Beck Trouble or Nothin 89

12 Vain No Respect 88.33

13 Silent Rage Don't Touch Me There 88.18

14 Tesla Great Radio Controversy 87.3

15 Enuff Z Nuff s/t 86.5

16 Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue 86.38

17 Treat Organised Crime 85.9

18 Diving For Pearls s/t 85.75

19 Mastodon It’s a Jungle Out There 85.25

20 Winter Rose s/t 85

 

21 Tora Tora Surprise Attack 83.25

22 Melidian Lost In The Wild 83.06

23 Lillian Axe Love & War 82.25

24 Saraya s/t 81.75

25 Dan Reed Network Slam 81.45

26 Alien s/t 81

27 Mr Big s/t 80.68

28 Almighty Blood, Fire Love 80.45

29 Bang Tango Psycho Café 80.25

30 Starship Love Among The Cannibals 80.23

 

31 Leatherwolf Street Ready 79.75

32 Stage Dolls s/t 79.44

33 Michael Bolton Soul Provider 79.25

34 Little Angels Don't Pray For Me 78.54

35 Tim Karr Rubbin' Me 78.5

36 Steve Lukather s/t 77.77

37 Drive She Said s/t 77.5

38 Motley Crue Dr Feelgood 77

39 Cher Heart of Stone 76.88

40 Cult Sonic Temple 76.81

 

41 Angelica s/t 76.59

42 Distance Under The One Sky 76.04

43 Michael Thompson Band How Long 76

44 De Mont Body Language 75.75

45 Alice Cooper Trash 75

46 The Creek Storm The Gate 74.5

47 Michael Monroe Not Fakin It 74.25

48 LA Guns Cocked & Loaded 74.16

49 TNT Intuition 74.06

50 Donnie Miller One of the Boys 73.5

 

51 Warpdrive Gimme Gimme 73.41

52 The Works From Out of Nowhere 73.25

53 Icon Right Between The Eyes 73

54 Marillion Seasons 72.77

55 Da Vinci Touchdown 71.75

56 Alexa s/t 71.5

57 Pink Cream 69 s/t 71.5

58 Law and Order Guily of Innocence 71.25

59 Dalton Injection 70.83

60 Dangerous Toys s/t 70.68

 

61 Swedish Erotica s/t 69.55

62 Aerosmith Pump 68.25

63 XYY s/t 68.25

64 Cats In Boots Kicked and Clawed 67.5

65 Raging Slab s/t 67.27

66 Workforce s/t 67

67 Pretty Boy Floyd Leather Boys 66.25

68 Steve Jones Fire & Gasoline 63.18

69 Pandora's Box Original Sin 63.13

70 Bad Habit After Hours 60.28

 

71 Faith No More The Real Thing 60.25

72 World Trade s/t 58.5

[Geoff]

Holy shit mate, that took my by surprise!

 

A few comments at a glance:

 

Like Nightrain, you've shocked me with those scores at the top. I'd love to see the breakdown for the D2 rating and how on earth you got it to 95%!! I'm an admitted D2 nerd, but even I could only give that 86% at absolute best. I've love to see how you glossed over those fillers I couldn't ignore. Same comment goes for FM.

 

Anyway, other than that, it's a cool read. Probably very few similarities to how my list is shaping up, but cool anyway. Biggest other surprises would be the placement of Motley Crue & Cher and some of the albums you have above those two. And even moreso, DaVinci and XYZ, both seem to be rated very low.

 

We've previously discussed Dalton and PBF which I'd both personally rate a hell of a lot higher, but hey, to each their own. Interesting read. I look forward to the day I can post mine.

 

What are you guys' thoughts on EPs? At the moment, my highest rated recording for 1989 is Hotboy's 'Barely Legal' EP. I was just going to include EPs in with the albums, but it doesn't seem right. For the record, having rated everything from A-H, so far, my number one spot for full length recordings belongs to Bonfire on 93%.

[Glen]

If i get time i'll post a few breakdowns later in the week. I have detailed notes on XYX as i agonised over that one....rated it 3 times and am happy with the score now.

 

Its just not as good as i thought.

[gener8tr]

Hell yes, Glen... D2 scores a 95 in my book, too.

 

I played the cassette tape quite a bit back then ('89 / '90), but COMPLETELY rediscovered the album in 2003 when some buddies and I spent our late summer into fall evenings building decks as side-jobs to earn some money for our softball team. I literally played it every single night and never grew tired of a single track. Fell in love with it all over again as though I was once again 21 and still in college.

 

I still pull it out from time to time, and each time I do, I kick myself for not playing it even more often. It really is just that good!

[Gibbo]

Alphabetically:

 

A.S.a.P.: Silver And Gold

Aerosmith: Pump

Alice Cooper: Trash

The Cult: Sonic Temple

D.A.D.: No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims

Danger Danger: Danger Danger

Del Amitri: Waking Hours

Dirty Looks: Turn Of The Screw (Who Is Screwing You?)

Glorious Bankrobbers: Dynamite Sex Doze

IQ: Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Junkyard: Junkyard

Michael Monroe: Not Fakin' It

Alannah Myles: Alannah Myles

Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine

The Outfield: Voices Of Babylon

Rush: Presto

Sabbat: Dreamweaver - Reflections Of Our Yesterdays

Sanctuary: Into The Mirror Black

Skid Row: Skid Row

Swedish Erotica: Swedish Erotica

Tesla: The Great Radio Controversy

Testament: Practice What You Preach

Transvision Vamp: Velveteen

Vain: No Respect

W.A.S.P.: The Headless Children

[Glen]

Have you actually listened to any of those in the last say 5 years?

 

A few have not aged well...........Swedish Erotica for a start. I used to love that album but could only throw a 70% at it.

[Glen]

@ Geoff. Just realised that I didn't update my rating for XYZ after the third listen so this is what it really was and would elevate the disc to 43rd spot.

 

XYZ rating -

 

1. Maggy - 7.5 - good riff. average chorus and pretty basic vox ala Dokken. Solid

2. Inside Out - 7.5 - nice guitars in verse but again just an OK chorus. Good solid rocker but no more

3. What Keeps Me Lovin You - 9 - smooth. good vocal here. Cool atmospheric tune. nice solo. (did Tango Down rip this off?)

4. Take What You Can - 8 - another solid hard rocker with nice riff, good verse...chorus again quite basic

5. Follow The Night - 6.25 - musicianship is great but song does little for me

6. Come on 'n Love me - 6.75 - pretty average rocker - nice solo but trying too hard to sound like Whitesnake

7. Souvenirs - 8 - not overly keen on the chorus or the lyrics to be honest, but its a good ballad

8. Tied Up - 9 - first real chorus hook dare I say???? v good rocker

9. Nice Day To Die - 8 - decent rocker with a little hook in the chorus which saves it from another Dokken clone

10 After The Rain - 6 - if a ballad closes it needs to be memorable. this isnt.

 

 

Overall : 76%

[Gibbo]

Have you actually listened to any of those in the last say 5 years?

 

A few have not aged well...........Swedish Erotica for a start. I used to love that album but could only throw a 70% at it.

 

Yup - they've all been played within the past few months. I'm not disputing that some of them haven't aged well, but there's just something about them I like

[Nightrain]

haha finally Glen's list is out, well I guess the top 20 is quite similar except Mastedon which I'm struggling at 73% so probably that's an album you grew up with. And also Dan Reed Network, one album I remember I won't bother to rate because I have that album and sold it afterward but I'm intrigued to try it once again.

 

But looks like too many classics rated way too low there like Alice Cooper, LA Guns, TNT, Cats In Boots, PBF, that's understandable if one doesn't like sleaze or glam but I can see some similar albums like Vain, Tora Tora, or Bang Tango up above, so not sure what went wrong

 

anyway, great list and effort Glen

[Glen]

haha finally Glen's list is out, well I guess the top 20 is quite similar except Mastedon which I'm struggling at 73% so probably that's an album you grew up with. And also Dan Reed Network, one album I remember I won't bother to rate because I have that album and sold it afterward but I'm intrigued to try it once again.

 

But looks like too many classics rated way too low there like Alice Cooper, LA Guns, TNT, Cats In Boots, PBF, that's understandable if one doesn't like sleaze or glam but I can see some similar albums like Vain, Tora Tora, or Bang Tango up above, so not sure what went wrong

 

anyway, great list and effort Glen

 

Nothing went wrong mate it's juts that - for me - those albums are weaker.

 

Just a few comments in order -

 

Alice Cooper - this is a pretty cool album from Alice and I like it plenty enough with a score of 75%. The first half is pretty strong and that quality would have carried it through to the 80s, but its definitely weaker in the second half - songs like Trash, Im Your Gun, do drag the score down a bit with only 'Hell is Living Without You' really shining in the second half.

 

LA Guns - Wow, this is just a patchy release from the guys. I had fond memories of this album, but I re-listened to this several times before laying down a score and came to realise that I loved this album for just a handful of songs - say 3 or 4 goodies - the rest is really pretty average if I'm honest with stuff like 'Sleazy Gone', 'Malaria', and 'Give a Little' being the weaker songs - nothings really bad, its just pretty average.

 

TNT - First things first - I've always struggled with TNT. No way can I call myself a fan. Their albums generally have one or two gems and a whole bunch of filler.....imho anyway. As for Intuition - first off its short, what 8 full songs is it, so a filler or 2 and youre onto a hiding. The lead off track is just OK.........otherwise its pretty consistent until the final abomination - I just really dislike 'Wisdom' and I guess that's what affects the score here.

 

Cats in Boots - Nothing much to say here - its just pretty average across the whole album. Nothing that wrong with it, just not very memorable songs imo. 67-68% is about right I think. Good but not great

 

PBF - I discussed this quite a bit with Geoff. Just hasnt aged well imo - there's some pretty lame lyrics here and I guess with my advanced years (!) it just doesnt appeal much anymore. I mean '48 Hours', 'Rock n Roll Outlaw' (really???), Your Mama.........these just do very little for me. The best song by a mile imo is the closing number 'I Wanna Be With You'........which again is pretty lame lyrically but at least it sounds like a proper song.

 

Anyway, none of these albums are bad as such - there are loads more from 1989 which would rank lower than these, that's why I shortlisted about 80-100 which I though had a chance of scoring over 70%.

 

Still got about 10-15 to rate so I'll add these in at some point - a few have a chance at top 30 so will be worth it.

[gener8tr]

Man did I play the hell out of that PBF cassette tape during the summer of 1990. I specifically remember because I washed and waxed my brand new 1990 Plymouth Laser just about every single day back then, and LBWET was always in the deck.

 

Oh to be 21 and pretty much completely care-free once again

[Geoff]

@ Geoff. Just realised that I didn't update my rating for XYZ after the third listen so this is what it really was and would elevate the disc to 43rd spot.

 

XYZ rating -

 

1. Maggy - 7.5 - good riff. average chorus and pretty basic vox ala Dokken. Solid

2. Inside Out - 7.5 - nice guitars in verse but again just an OK chorus. Good solid rocker but no more

3. What Keeps Me Lovin You - 9 - smooth. good vocal here. Cool atmospheric tune. nice solo. (did Tango Down rip this off?)

4. Take What You Can - 8 - another solid hard rocker with nice riff, good verse...chorus again quite basic

5. Follow The Night - 6.25 - musicianship is great but song does little for me

6. Come on 'n Love me - 6.75 - pretty average rocker - nice solo but trying too hard to sound like Whitesnake

7. Souvenirs - 8 - not overly keen on the chorus or the lyrics to be honest, but its a good ballad

8. Tied Up - 9 - first real chorus hook dare I say???? v good rocker

9. Nice Day To Die - 8 - decent rocker with a little hook in the chorus which saves it from another Dokken clone

10 After The Rain - 6 - if a ballad closes it needs to be memorable. this isnt.

 

 

Overall : 76%

 

I guess I could consider that a fair rating. I personally would rate 'Maggy' a lot higher, 'Inside Out' lower, 'Come on n' love me' quite a bit higher and 'After the rain' much higher too. For me, the only weak song on it is 'Follow the night' (and 'Inside Out'). But yeah, maybe my rating won't even be that far off. I know I'll crack 80% at least, but we'll see how we go with this one.

 

As for Cats In Boots, I only gave that one 61% so I can't stand in Nightrain's corner on that one. Very average CD which I sold/traded every time I got my hands on it (it was good trade fodder).

[Nightrain]

I will disagree on Cats In Boots, I think it's a classic sleaze and I still enjoy it a lot. I'm happy with my 84% and I think they deserved it. The main page showed a consensus of 87% from 24 reviewers.

 

Regarding XYZ, I think 'Follow The Night' is the weakest but even that track alone is worth 8/10 and I gave a perfect score to 'After The Rain', such an emotional ballad and a beautiful one. 'Come On N Love Me' is an 8.25, such a great track. 'Maggy' is a solid 9 or 9.5, very Dokken-esque well Don is their producer anyway. This is their best album and 'Hungry' is a bit weaker but still very good album, and I guess these two albums worth to have and too bad they didn't work out for you Glen

[JC_AOR]

I will disagree on Cats In Boots, I think it's a classic sleaze and I still enjoy it a lot. I'm happy with my 84% and I think they deserved it. The main page showed a consensus of 87% from 24 reviewers.

 

Regarding XYZ, I think 'Follow The Night' is the weakest but even that track alone is worth 8/10 and I gave a perfect score to 'After The Rain', such an emotional ballad and a beautiful one. 'Come On N Love Me' is an 8.25, such a great track. 'Maggy' is a solid 9 or 9.5, very Dokken-esque well Don is their producer anyway. This is their best album and 'Hungry' is a bit weaker but still very good album, and I guess these two albums worth to have and too bad they didn't work out for you Glen

Haha Nightrain, you're starting to sound like a statistcian ? I envy all of you for having such efficient rating systems though- I just can't find the time to do it. Really enjoyable reading though...love seeing your lists. Maybe one of these days I'll come up with a top 100 or 200 albums list of my own and post that, but I don't think I can manage separate lists for each year.

[Nightrain]

haha yeah i love numbers and it's not hard to do with smartphone and internet nowadays.

Browse the main page, copy paste the tracklist, put numbers as you play the disc, count the total average, and save it on Excel