After listening to "New Day Rising" by Husker Du, I can't help but think I missed a golden age for underground punk. Here are a few less-than-popular 80s albums that seem as angry, wild, and groundbreaking as they did in the 80s:
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation: If the guitar solo halfway through "Silver Rocket" doesn't scare you off, this is a rewarding record with some amazing conventional punk songs like "Hey Joni" and "Teen Age Riot". Of course, it also has "Rain king", which sounds like the apocalypse probably feels.
Husker Du - Zen Arcade: At about 70 minutes long, this is one of the longest punk albums ever made, but it also has more surprises than most punk albums ever will. After the sheer force behind songs like "Something I Learned Today" and "Standing By The Sea", its amazing to hear Bob Mould write a fun acoustic song like "Never Talking To You Again".
Joy Division - Closer: This is the final word on suicide albums, so play this one at your own risk. It's also an album that many of the best bands today took notes from, including the Arcade Fire, the National, and Interpol. Even though the lyrics are terrifying, am I the only one who dances to the song "Isolation"?
Since I was born in 1982, I was too young to remember any of these albums. Thank heaven for CD reissues.
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5 comments:
"Never Talking to You Again" is a Grant Hart song.
Thank you; I did not know that! I'm going to have to hunt down the original now.
Sonic Youth might be the best band ever... in my opinion.
What do you think their best album is besides Daydream Nation? I thought Sister was excellent. They have a lot of albums I haven't heard.
It really depends on my mood. "Goo" is great in it's simplicity, while "A Thousand Leaves" is great in it's complexity. I have a soft spot for "Dirty", only because it was the first SY album I heard, and it introduced me to them. The only one I really don't like is "Experimental jet set, trash, and no star."
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