One record per year...
A couple of friends and I were talking a while ago, and the question was posed "If you had to get rid of all of your albums (and CDs and MP3s, etc), except that you could save one per year, which would you save?" Thought some others on here would be interested in the topic, too.
Rules we made up:
- You are allowed one "bonus" per decade -- One year in each decade where you get to save two records.
- You are also allowed to keep any records that you or any of your close friends are actually on... no need to list these.
- Greatest hits albums do not count, but live albums do. You get to decide about things like EPs that got consolidated into one LP, etc.
- Time frame goes from whenever you want to start to whenever you want to finish. I decided to start at 1965, because that's sorta when the concept of a 'rock record' was kinda firmed up. I stopped at 2004 because that's the year when I got too old to keep paying attention to new music.
- The question is not "what's the best record of each year?".
Here is my list:
1965: Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: Beatles - Revolver
1967: Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
1968: Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet
1969: Beatles - Abbey Road and Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
1970: Kinks - Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-go-round
1971: Who - Who's Next
1972: Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.
1973: David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
1974: Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
1975: Dictators - Go Girl Crazy
1976: Ramones
1977: Elvis Costello - My Aim is True
1978: Van Halen and Devo - Q: Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo
1979: The Cars - Candy-O
1980: Pretenders
1981: Minor Threat
1982: Duran Duran - Rio
1983: R.E.M. - Murmur
1984: Prince - Purple Rain
1985: Replacements - Tim
1986: Slayer - Reign in Blood and Run-DMC - Raising Hell
1987: The Cult - Electric
1988: The Church - Starfish
1989: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
1990: Dwarves - Blood Guts and Pussy
1991: Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
1992: R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
1993: Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
1994: Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
1995: Matthew Sween - 100% Fun
1996: Propagandhi - Less Talk More Rock and Queers - Don't Back Down
1997: Groovie Ghoulies - Reanimation Festival
1998: Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy up the Girl
1999: Turbonegro - Apocalypse Dudes
2000: Dwarves - Come Clean
2001: Polkaholics - Polkas on Guitar
2002: Hellacopters - High Visibility
2003: Dirtbombs - Dangerous Magical Noise
2004: Donnas - Gold Medal and Freezepop - Fancy Ultra Fresh
1970: George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
1972: Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street and David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1973: Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
1974: Dolly Parton - Jolene
1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (it pains me to admit this)
1978: Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers
1979: The B-52's - The B-52's
1980: Dead Kenendys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
1981: Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
1985: The Cure - The Head on the Door
1986: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
1987: The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
1988: Morrissey - Viva Hate
1989: The Cure - Disintegration and Pixies - Doolittle
1990: Depeche Mode - Violator
1991: Morrissey – Kill Uncle
1992: Madonna - Erotica
1994: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral and Blur - Parklife
1995: Pulp – A Different Class
1996: The Fugees – The Score
1997: The Verve – Urban Hymns
1998: Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby
1999: The Clash - From Here to Eternity: Live
2000: Richard Ashcroft - Alone with Everybody
2001: Daft Punk - Discovery
2002: The Donnas - Spend the Night
2003: The Darkness - Permission to Land
2004: Snow Patrol - Final Straw
Yeah, I listen to a lot of pop music. So sue me.