2008年 Dec 26日 Friday, 3:16

I've decided to cross-post my old "Best Of" lists that I had on my website retarsia.com. Here's 1993:

1994 is considered by my friends and I, as quite possibly the best year for music to date. I had an unbearable time selecting only 10 albums for this list (sorry Biggie). 1994 gave me some of my favorite albums ever. If you don't believe me, you're a schmuck. Here's my best of '94…

10. Dos Dedos Mis Amigos - Pop Will Eat Itself
Reflections: This album, though not widely known, is one of my favorites. It's odd, but it really rocks. The Poppies were never big in America (I caught them once on tour with NIN and Manson), but after seeing the video for 'Ich Bin Ein Auslander' late night one day on MTV, I picked up the album, and was blown away. Produced by NIN's Reznor, his influence shows everywhere.
Best tracks: Everything's Cool, Ich Bin Ein Auslander, Fatman, Underbelly, Kick to Kill, Menofearthereaper

9. Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
Reflections: The last great album before STP dropped off in quality, this album really blew me away. Better than Core, Purple was a solid rock album. In my humble opinion, Weiland wrote much better songs when he was doped up. Might be a horrible thing to say, but for proof, see the absolutely horrible 4 and Shangri-La-Di-Da. I cringe at the thought of them. But I prefer to remember them in a warm light, ala Core and Purple.
Best tracks: Vasoline, Lounge Fly, Interstate Love Song, Army Ants

8. Ill Communication - The Beastie Boys
Reflections: Who out there didn't see the video for 'Sabotage' and say to themselves: 'Holy shit. That was cool.' Ill Communication remains one of the Beasties' best outputs ever, and the three white boys who told the world to fight for their right to party continued their amazing lyrical stylings on Communication. Pick this one up.
Best tracks: Sabotage, Root Down, Sure Shot, Get It Together

7. The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
Reflections: This album was dark, haunting, and angry. As a teenager, I loved hearing some of the anger I felt in musical form. I was a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, and this album just fed my needs even more. The combined-via-transition tracks of 'Closer' into 'Ruiner' still gets me riled up to this day. Any fan of loud rock can appreciate Spiral.
Best tracks: Closer/Ruiner, Hurt, Eraser, Heresy, Big Man with A Gun

6. Punk in Drublic - NOFX
Reflections: Punk In Drublic is one of the best punk albums of the 90s, and it's hard to find much fault in that statement. Though I didn't get into NOFX until 2000 or so, this is the album that stands out in the NOFX library. Any fan of punk rock should listen to this - because NOFX is amazing, and so is Drublic.
Best tracks: Linoleum, Lori Meyers, The Cause, Leave It Alone, Don't Call Me White

5. John Henry - They Might Be Giants
Reflections: I am a huge TMBG fan, and this is my favorite TMBG album. A marked change from previous TMBG outings, John Henry introduced horns and much more detailed melodies. The only reason why this album is ranked 5th, as opposed to 1st, is that it was released in 1994. Any other year, and it could easily be on top of a list. While most hardcore TMBG fans might laugh at picking this album as their best, I do. So nyah.
Best tracks: Sleeping In The Flowers, No One Knows My Plan, Spy, Thermostat

4. Dookie - Green Day
Reflections: Green Day rolled around in 1994, and brought with them their third album, Dookie. This album, arguably the beginning of pop-punk (a form of music I now hate) put really catchy punkish melodies with simple guitar progressions. I remember singing this album, start to finish, with friends on the school bus to and from school. Even almost a decade later, I can still do the same thing, because the album was just that damned good.
Best tracks: When I Come Around, Burnout, Chump, Basketcase, She

3. Smash - The Offspring
Reflections: I remember picking this up after seeing the video for 'Come Out And Play', and after only 2 songs I knew that this was one hell of an album. From start to finish, the boys of The Offspring really rock the hell out of every single track, and it's just a high energy romp through fast music. While the Offspring have recently fallen off the quality train, this album will blow your mind. You need this album, no matter what you say otherwise.
Best tracks: Smash, Nitro (Youth Energy), Come Out And Play, Genocide…well, the whole album.

2. Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion
Reflections: If this wasn't released along with the #1 album here in 1994, this would be the best without a doubt. Stranger Than Fiction is one of the best punk rock albums ever, and it only took 10 seconds to get me hooked. Late one sunday night, during MTV's "120 Minutes" (god bless you, Matt Pinfield), a video entitled "21st Century Digital Boy" by a band Bad Religion was played. I was about to turn the TV off and head to bed, but I let the first ten seconds play, and I couldn't help myself. I sat there, amazed, listening intently to everything Greg Graffin had to say. The next day, I went to the mall and bought this album, and a lifetime love of Bad Religion was started. Get this album.
Best tracks: The whole album is amazing. Infected is not of this world. 21st Century Digital Boy, The Handshake, Stranger Than Fiction, Leave Mine To Me, Tiny Voices, Individual, Slumber, Inner Logic…

1. Weezer (Blue) - Weezer
Reflections: I could write way too much about why this is one
of, if not the, best album ever. I bought this album after hearing 'Undone (The Sweater Song)' which admittedly, is the weakest track on the disc. But after a couple listens, I knew that what I had, this little blue CD, was one of the best things I'd ever heard in my life. A decade later, it still is. A favorite of practically all my friends, for good reason, this album is just pure damned genius. Thank you, Weezer.
Best tracks: Tracks 1-10. 10 Solid tracks, 1 solid album. A goddamned classic. In The Garage, No One Else, The World Has Turned And Left Me Here, Surf Wax America, and Say It Ain't So are songs you must listen to.