Favorite Albums/CD's

Back right before New Year's day, 1990, WXRT had a vote for best album/CD of the 80's. I remember having several conversations amongst friends about what the top 3 or 4 would be. It turned out to be a spirited debate! Today I was talking amongst a couple friends about the same thing: top CD's of the 80's and 90's. Well, those of you who know me would be surprised to guess that I would not have Rush in the top 3 of the 80's! Although, I think Moving Pictures was probably #4 on my list (yes, I still remember what my picks were!). Rush got real weird in the mid to late 80's with some of my least favorite CD's (Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, etc.). If you were around then (or are into 80's retro) what would your top 3 be? Here is mine:

3. Tears for Fears/Songs From the Big Chair: EVERY song was awesome on this one! I was particularly stoked when I was able to get this one converted to mp3's. Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Shout, Head Over Heels, etc. were some great songs. Although nowadays it does have that dated 80's production, back then it was a great sound.

2. Peter Gabriel/So: At the time, talk about production value! This was a great sounding record! Produced really well. Red Rain just sounds incredible. Same thing about nowadays having that dated 80's sound but still there was nothing on this record that was bad. Ok, maybe that last song about birds was a little weird...

1. XTC/Oranges and Lemons: this one just made it (1989). I really wore out this CD big time. King for a Day is still one of my favorites. Andy Partridge could really write some great songs. The guitarist, Dave Gregory, is so underrated. The melodies that he put into it were incredible. When you listen, it becomes very obvious early on that the Beatles were a huge influence on them. However, this CD was one that clearly had a the sound for them and one that was my favorite of that decade.

I also had a couple of 80's instrumental albums that get high honorable mentions:

-Joe Satriani/Surfing With an Alien: Hey, it's Joe at his best! Even I can hear his influence in my playing. The concert at the Metro that year (1987 I think) was about as close as I came to a high level spiritual experience! :)
-Jeff Beck/There and Back: This was the first of all my records to get converted to mp3's. I wore this one out, expecially late at night. I would hit the sack and put this one on with El Becko to start. Right before I dozed out, side one would end. I then would flip the record and just make it all the way to the last song (The Pump) before slipping away for the night.

The 90's. I don't recall having big conversations about CD's of this decade. However, now that I think of them a little, I think I have some that would fit in a top 3 (although I can only list a number 1):

Rush/Test for Echo: Oh was I happy about this one! It was the first complete Rush album since Signals that I really liked all the way through (Presto being a slight exception). Driven is still a song that I can crank out so loud! And I know that Mary just loves this CD...

Collective Soul/Collective soul ('95 untitled CD): Around '98 and '99 I had many drives to a job I had to go to in Milwaukee (at least once a week for about a year). Since my car didn't have a CD player, and this was just before the days of iPods, I had this CD (and Precious Declaration) recorded on tape so I could listen to them on my Wisconsin journeys. December and The World I Know are my favorites (The World I Know has a great video to it - I love the ending - it seems depressing then ends up with a great hopeful message).

1. Beck/Odelay: Wow. He was soooo groundbreaking when this one came out. The songs were cool ('ya gotta love "Where It's At) but the way he used effects were ingenious - especially for that time. Another one that I wore out.

I am so sure that there are others for the 90's, I would have to gloss through my CD collection. But, these come to mind right away.

How about this decade (has anyone decided what we call it yet? The 0's?)? This one will be a tough one. Why? Because I am not really a CD buyer in as much as I am a song buyer. We can thank iTunes for that one. Let's give this decade a couple more years before we reflect on it.