Treble’s Best Albums of the ’80s: Part Two
1989
10. N.W.A. — Straight Outta Compton (Priority)
In reality, punk was not thoroughly realized until it took the form of gangsta rap. In the late ’80s, abject poverty led to anger and with anger comes a need for reform. On the east coast, Public Enemy served as the megaphone for change, releasing albums preaching unity and equality and forcing the public to remove the blinders from their eyes as the urban poor bled before them. On the west coast you had NWA, a group with no need for metaphors or allegories, a group who had been spawned from the bullet sprawled streets of one LA’s most brutal neighborhoods. They were a group whose name said it all and whose debut album is a milestone of punk genius. – Kevin Falahee
9. They Might Be Giants — Lincoln (Bar/None)
For those who haven’t heard the story, here’s the short version. The two Johns grew up in Lincoln, MA. They shared a love of music and eventually started writing songs together. They struggled in rock clubs for a while until they were invited to play some of the avant-garde performance art clubs in the East Village of New York City. Back then it was just one guy with a guitar and another with an accordion, with various other instruments thrown in, and a tape recorder. In order to have more people, other than their friends, hear their music, they put an ad in the Village Voice, in the personals no less, for their Dial-A-Song, a simple answering machine on which they would record short snippets of songs. A demo tape they made was reviewed by a writer from People magazine and the rest is history. – Terrance Terich
8. Nirvana — Bleach (Sub Pop)
It’s dark, it’s slightly neurotic with plenty of self-loathing and it was the inauspicious start to the career of one of the most legendary bands of the ’90s. Admittedly, we’d be doing Nirvana a disservice to judge them by this, their debut album, but it’s an exciting time-capsule of the Seattle grunge scene as well as an album that contained flashes of brilliance. If they could do this with a few instruments and $600, it’s no wonder that they went on to be, for many, the definitive American band of the next decade. – Chris Griffiths
7. The Jesus and Mary Chain — Automatic (Blanco Y Negro-Warner Bros.)
From the moment I had begun listening to The Jesus & Mary Chain’s 1989 record Automatic, I was able to look at rock `n’ roll in a different light. My first experience listening to this album, an album that epitomized the rock `n’ roll spirit, was a pivotal moment in shaping how I heard music. – Ayn Averett
6. New Order — Technique (Factory – Qwest)
New Order’s sixth and final album of the 1980s and their last album with the now-obsolete Factory Records is unique, gifted, contemporary, and emotional, making it yet another respectable example of the group’s talent. While still remaining true to their roots, Technique incorporates Balearic and acid house in order to remain innovative after a decade of success. The relatively short length of the record allows for a concentrated and consistent sound, probably the most focused of New Order albums to date. And, in true New Order style, the album cover is really cool. – Anna Gazdowicz
5.De La Soul — 3 Feet High and Rising (Tommy Boy)
Copyright has potentially killed more creativity than it’s helped protect, and nothing is a better example of such a hypothesis than the death of the short-lived “sample tapestry” trend weaved on two records in particular in 1989: the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and De La Soul’s 3 Feet High & Rising. While the Beasties’ effort was a much needed statement of distinct maturity and unironic brilliance that saved the group from forever being tagged as a novelty act, 3 Feet High was the debut showcase for a young hip-hop trio rewriting just how hip-hop could be approached, both in terms of sonics and wordplay. – Paul Haney
4. Beastie Boys — Paul’s Boutique (Capitol)
If ever there was an album to showcase the kaleidoscopic possibilities of early hip-hop, then Paul’s Boutique is pretty much it. The fact that Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA started as a thrashy garage punk band is no more evident than on this record – the riffs are colossal throughout and seethe as much as the often-hilarious lyrics. The typically punk tendency to experiment with as many different genres is explored in many facets of Paul’s Boutique, a timely reminder that the Beasties would frequently create their own instrumental music as well as the controversial melee of samples that one would never find on a rap record today. – Daniel Ross
3. The Stone Roses — The Stone Roses (Silvertone)
The `Madchester’ scene of the late 80’s and early 90’s, practically invented by the Stone Roses, had its fair share of success stories, unfulfilled promise, tragic endings and manic behavior in excess and no band exhibited all of these aspects like the aforementioned band did. The Stone Roses combined the 60’s styled psychedelic pop of their predecessors, such as Echo & the Bunnymen and the Jesus & Mary Chain, with the dance and rave culture of the time. Their landmark debut album, unlike anything of its time, spawned an entire generation plus of imitators and followers, making it somewhat the ‘godfather’ of Britpop. – Terrance Terich
2. The Cure — Disintegration (Fiction-Elektra)
Disintegration, if you can excuse such a geeky point of reference, is The Empire Strikes Back of Smith’s Cure trilogy; a middle section of a triptych flanked by 1982’s Pornography and 2000’s Bloodflowers. Okay, so maybe comparing Disintegration to The Empire Strikes Back is a stretch, but given that Disintegration is considered by so many to be the best of the trilogy, the Empire comparison isn’t so far-fetched. Given, the darkness of Empire would probably better align it with the dark themes of Pornography, but regardless, those three Cure albums are the ones that Smith believes best epitomizes the band he’s helmed for some 30 years. – Hubert Vigilla
1.The Pixies — Doolittle (4AD-Elektra)
Given how many Pixies-influenced bands are out there today, it’s easy to forget just how revolutionary the Pixies were around the time they released Doolittle. While fans may split on which is the more monumental album, it or its predecessor, Surfer Rosa, the pairing of aggressive post-punk and surf pop, with hints of Latin influences, made the dominance of Doolittle difficult to argue with. By 1989, the Boston band had garnered a bevy of cult fans, but their sophomore album had broken them somewhat into the mainstream, at least of alternative rock. – Terrance Terich
Personal Best
Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine (TVT)
Anyone who has ever suffered pain, heartbreak, anger, loss, pity or hopelessness can somehow relate to Reznor’s tales of woe. In a way, Pretty Hate Machine is the first blues / industrial hybrid. To be honest, in a way I was jealous of my friend. Up to that point, I had never felt anything as strongly as he had felt at that time, and so Pretty Hate Machine became my vicarious journey into the realm of the intensely emotional, opening doors that had never been opened before, ones that I wasn’t quite sure I wanted open. I can’t say that Trent Reznor wrote an album that changed my life because of my ability to relate, but I can say that the album changed my life because of my inability to relate. It was like nothing I had ever heard before, yet wanted to hear again and again. – Terrance Terich
