Silly List Slogs: My 50 Favorite Albums Enjoying Anniversaries In 2023
Dang, time really flew this year. I've been meaning to post this sequel to 2022's album anniversary post for about a month! Thankfully, I still got it in under the buzzer. Without further ado, here's my ten favorite albums from 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 years before 2023. Plus a rather swell EP or compilation from each of those years for a bonus.
1973
- New York Dolls, New York Dolls
- Loudon Wainwright III, Attempted Mustache
- Tom T. Hall, For The People In The Last Hard Town
- Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure
- Led Zeppelin, Houses Of The Holy
- Sly & The Family Stone, Fresh
- Bill Withers, Live At Carnegie Hall
- John Prine, Sweet Revenge
- J.J. Cale, Really
- Stevie Wonder, Innervisions
While I don't plan to get anywhere near the remixed and ridiculous re-releases of The Red & Blue greatest hits double-discs by the Beatles, I'll take this opportunity to remind you that I point to the original version of the latter if you ask why Sgt. Peppers' or Abbey Road isn't on my shelf.
1983
- Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes
- Bad Brains, Rock For Light
- R.E.M., Murmur
- Loudon Wainwright III, Fame & Wealth
- Ramones, Subterranean Jungle
- Talking Heads, Speaking In Tongues
- Richard Thompson, Hand Of Kindness
- Billy Idol, Rebel Yell
- DeBarge, In A Special Way
- Mitch Ryder, Never Kick A Sleeping Dog
I've owned Double Nickels On The Dime since high school, but the Minutemen keep making more sense the further I get from the east coast, and the more I become a SoCal schlub. That album and Ballot Result are my go-tos when in the mood, but I consider the 1983 EP Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat their classic. Not the least for "Cut," a song that doesn't get enough credit for predicting Fugazi.
1993
- Superchunk, On The Mouth
- Red House Painters, Red House Painters (Bridge)
- Yo La Tengo, Painful
- Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen
- Girls Against Boys, Venus Luxure No.1 Baby
- Flaming Lips, Transmissions From The Satellite Heart
- Lungfish, Rainbows From Atoms
- Neil Young, Unplugged
- Digable Planets, Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)
- A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders
Thanks largely to the sequencing genius of Ivo Watts-Russell, 4AD might have released more quality best-ofs than they did hit singles. The Birthday Party's Hits, from 1993, is arguably too rich and satisfying, not just capturing the Aussie expats' bloody-tongue-in-cut-cheek allure but rendering the full-lengths it culls from basically redundant.
2003
- Electric Six, Fire
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever To Tell
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Greendale
- Clem Snide, Soft Spot
- Rufus Wainwright, Want One
- The White Stripes, Elephant
- Weakerthans, Reconstruction Site
- Steely Dan, Everything Must Go
- Fiery Furnaces, Gallowsbird’s Park
- Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Hearts Of Oak
There are a lot of great 20th Century Masters compilations; at least two show up in my Top 300 Albums Of All Time. While the Gin Blossoms' 2003 entry in the series doesn't make that list, it would make this one. The pop moment of this seemingly middle-of-road, subtly moody 'Mats tribute act consists of one decent, hit-heavy album and two great singles after it. 20th Century Masters is the rare major label reissue series succinct enough to capture it without undue padding or fan-bait arcana.
2013
- Low, The Invisible Way
- The Night Marchers, Allez Allez
- The Haxan Cloak, Excavation
- Atoms For Peace, AMOK
- !!!, Thr!!!er
- Dick Valentine, Halloween Fingers
- Flaming Lips, The Terror
- Yo La Tengo, Fade
- Nine Inch Nails, Hesitation Marks
- Neko Case, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight…
Girls Against Boys, a bottom-heavy swagger factory that was technically '90s post-hardcore but swung like '80s post-punk and looked so good major labels lost their shit despite both those less than commercial details, dropped a reunion EP named The Ghost List in 2013 that's just as solid as the album that made my Top 5 twenty years earlier. While he hasn't been growling as long as Tom Waits or Brian Johnston, it's still amazing how well Scott McCloud has maintained his rasp.