Sorry, this post has absolutely nothing to do with the tech policy issues we cover here at the TLF, but since I do not have a personal blog of my own, I just couldn’t help but post this silly list somewhere. Late last night, I was reading Nick Carr’s blog and saw that he had picked up on some sort of online music meme about listing your favorite album for every year of your life. Oh man, this is just the sort of worthless Internet distraction that keeps me up till 2:00 in the morning thinking about it for no reason. And, sure enough, I actually fell asleep at my keyboard typing out my favorites. Finally finished the stupid thing at lunch today. Anyway, here it goes (favs first and runners-up after):
1969: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II; The Doors – Soft Parade; Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed
1970: Miles Davis – Bitches Brew; Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III, Freddie Hubbard – Red Clay; Van Morrison – Moondance
1971: The Who – Who’s Next; Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers; Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV, Pink Floyd – Meddle; David Bowie – Hunky Dory
1972: Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street; David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust; Roxy Music – Roxy Music; Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill;
1973: Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon; The Who – Quadrophenia; Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run
1974: Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now; David Bowie – Diamond Dogs
1975: Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti; Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here; Kiss – Alive
1976: Eagles – Hotel California; Boston – Boston; Steve Miller – Fly Like an Eagle; Aerosmith – Rocks
1977: Pink Floyd – Animals; Steely Dan – Aja
1978: The Police – Outlandos d’Amour; Van Halen – Van Halen; Styx – Pieces of Eight
1979: Led Zeppelin – In Through the Out Door; Pink Floyd – The Wall; Van Halen – Van Halen II; The Clash –London Calling
1980: AC/DC – Back in Black; Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue
1981: Van Halen – Fair Warning; Rush – Moving Pictures; Billy Squier – Don’t Say No; The Police – Ghost in the Machine
1982: Donald Fagan – The Nightfly; Peter Gabriel – Security; Joe Jackson – Night & Day; The Clash – Combat Rock; Rush – Signals
1983: U2 – Under a Blood Red Sky; Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes; REM – Murmur
1984: The Replacements – Let It Be; Naked Raygun – Throb Throb; Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense; INXS – The Swing, U2 – The Unforgettable Fire; Violent Femmes – Hallowed Ground
1985: The Cult – Love; The Smiths – Meat is Murder; The Replacements –Tim; Sting – Dream of the Blue Turtles; Red Hot Chili Peppers – Freaky Styley; INXS – Listen Like Thieves, Tears for Fears – Songs from the Big Chair; Simple Minds – Once Upon a Time; New Order – Low-Life; Cure – Head on the Door
1986: The Smiths – The Queen is Dead; Screaming Blue Messiahs – Gun Shy; Naked Raygun – All Rise; Peter Gabriel – So; The Call – Reconciled
1987: Guns N Roses – Appetite for Destruction; U2 – The Joshua Tree; The Cult – Electric; New Order – Substance; The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come
1988: Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking; Metallica – And Justice for All
1989: Faith No More – The Real Thing; The Cure – Disintegration; The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses; Tin Machine – Tin Machine, Ministry – The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste; Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
1990: Depeche Mode – Violator; World Party – Goodbye Jumbo; Black Crows – Shake Your Money Maker
1991: U2 – Achtung Baby; Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magic; Metallica – Metallica; Nirvana – Nevermind; Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion II; Lenny Kravitz – Mama Said
1992: Pavement – Slanted & Enchanted; Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion; Singles – Original Soundtrack; INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are; Alice in Chains – Dirt
1993: Pearl Jam – Vs.; Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
1994: Live – Throwing Copper; Bush – Sixteen Stone; Soundgarden – Superunknown; Peter Gabriel – Secret World Live; Offspring – Smash; Toadies – Rubberneck; Stone Temple Pilots – Purple
1995: Pulp – Different Class, Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine; Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Supergrass – I Should Coco
1996: Tool – AEnima; Dave Mathews Band – Crash
1997: The Verve – Urban Hymns; Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape, Supergrass – In It for the Money
1998: Pearl Jam – Yield; Velvet Goldmine – Original Soundtrack
1999: Filter – Title of Record; The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin; Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile; Moby – Play; Supergrass – Supergrass; Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4
2000: A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms; Queens Of The Stone Age – R; Linkin Park- Hybrid Theory; U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
2001: Muse – Origin of Symmetry; The White Stripes – White Blood Cells; Audioslave – Audioslave
2002: The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots; Queens of The Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf; The Vines – Highly Evolved; Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights; Foo Fighters – One by One; Audioslave – Audioslave
2003: The White Stripes – Elephant; Muse – Absolution
2004: Secret Machines – Now Here is Nowhere; The Killers – Hot Fuss; Interpol – Antics, Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand;
2005: Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth; Sufjan Stevens – Come on Feel the Illinoise; The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema; OK Go – Oh No
2006: Muse – Black Holes and Revelations; Wolfmother – Wolfmother
2007: The White Stripes – Icky Thump; Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank; Operator – Soulcrusher
2008: Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend; The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely; White Lies – White Lies; MGMT – Oracular Spectacular; The Killers – Day and Age; Metallica – Death Magnetic; Muse – HAARP
2009: Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures; Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Silversun Pickups – Swoon
2010: Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg; Vampire Weekend – Contra
2011: AWOLnation – Megalithic Symphony; Foo Fighters – Wasting Light; Wombats – The Modern Glitch
2012: The Killers – Battle Born; Silversun Pickups – Neck of the Woods
2013: Queens of the Stone Age – Like Clockwork; White Denim – Corsicana Lemonade; Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City; Cage the Elephant – Melophobia
2014: Cymbals Eat Guitars – Lose; Royal Blood – Out of the Black; Interpol – El Pintor; Young the Giant – Mind over Matter
2015: New Order – Music Complete; The Wombats – Glitterbug
2016: Metallica – Hardwired… to Self-Destruct
2017: Greta Van Fleet – From the Fires; Idles – Brutalism; Queens of the Stone Age – Villains
2018: Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance; Greta Van Fleet – Anthem for a Peaceful Army
2019: Tool – Fear Inoculum
2020: Idles – Ultra Mono; Awolnation – Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders
2021: Royal Blood – Typhoons
__________
… and my specific favorites by decade are…
1960s: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II
1970s: Pink Floyd – Animals
1980s: Faith No More – The Real Thing
1990s: The Verve – Urban Hymns
2000s: Muse – Origin of Symmetry
2010s: AWOLnation – Megalithic Symphony
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