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1979



Elvis Costello And The Attractions – Armed Forces (British new wave)
Joe Jackson – Look Sharp! (British new wave, debut album)
Joe Jackson – I’m The Man (British new wave)
The Clash – London Calling (English punk rock)
The Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady (English punk rock, compilation of singles and b-sides released between 1977 and 1979)
The Roches – The Roches (American contemporary folk, debut album)
Sparks – No 1 In Heaven (American new wave/disco)
The Cure – Three Imaginary Boys (English post-punk, debut album)
Devo – Duty Now For The Future (American new wave)
The B-52s – The B-52s (American new wave, debut album)
Van Halen – Van Halen II (American hard rock/heavy metal)
Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (English-American avant-pop rock)
David Bowie – Lodger (English art-rock)
Pink Floyd – The Wall (English progressive rock, concept album)
Black Flag – Nervous Breakdown (American hardcore punk, debut EP)
The Raincoats – The Raincoats (English post-punk/experimental rock, debut album)
The Police – Regatta De Blanc (English-American new wave)
Prince – Prince (American R & B/ funk)
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall (American R & B / disco)
Patti Smith Group – Wave (American art rock)
Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage (American progressive rock/ comedy rock, triple concept album originally released in two separate parts)
The Residents – Eskimo (American avant garde ambient music)
Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats (English industrial music)
Chic – Risque (American disco/funk)
Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery (English pop-rock/disco)
Sister Sledge – We Are Family (American soul/disco)
The Fall – Live At The Witch Trials (English post-punk, debut album)
The Fall – Dragnet (English post-punk)
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (English post-punk, debut)
The Ramones – It’s Alive! (American punk rock, live album)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse– Rust Never Sleeps (Canadian folk rock/hard rock, half-acoustic, half-electric live album featuring all previously unreleased songs)
Aerosmith – Night In The Ruts (American hard rock)
The Cars – Candy-O (American new wave)
The Neighborhoods – “Prettiest Girl” (American garage rock/power pop, 7” single)
AC/DC – Highway To Hell (Australian hard rock, their last album with original vocalist Bon Scott)
The Knack – Get The Knack (American power pop, debut)
Supertramp – Breakfast In America (English soft rock/art rock)
Infliktors – “(Where’d You Get That) Cigarette” (American garage rock/punk rock, 7” single)
XTC – Drums And Wires (English new wave)
Talking Heads – Fear Of Music (American new wave)
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Damn the Torpedoes (American rock)
Germs – (GI) (American hardcore punk)
Motorhead – Overkill (English heavy metal)
Chrome – Half Machine Lip Moves (American post-punk/space rock)
Led Zeppelin – In Through The Out Door (English hard rock, their final studio album)
Gang Of Four – Entertainment! (English post-punk, debut)
Wire – 154 (English post-punk)
The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette (English punk rock/gothic rock)
The Slits – Cut (English post-punk)
Paul McCartney and Wings – Back To The Egg (English pop/rock)
Iggy Pop – New Values (American rock/new wave, produced by former Stooges bandmate James Williamson)
The Specials – The Specials (English ska revival, debut album, produced by Elvis Costello)
Tubeway Army – Replicas (English synth pop/new wave, final studio album from Gary Numan-led group)
Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle (English synth pop/new wave, first album as a solo artist)
The Undertones – The Undertones (Irish pop punk, debut album)
Buzzcocks – A Different Kind Of Tension (English punk rock)
Blondie – Eat To The Beat (American new wave)
George Harrison – George Harrison (English pop-rock)
Bob Dylan – Slow Train Coming (American blues rock/Christian rock)

 Notes:

This was a pretty fun one. Some years I end up getting all my established favorites in within the first week, this time there was enough albums I knew and loved that I was able to spread them out a bit - I started and ended strong and I think that ended up affecting my positive feelings towards this year. I always find some cool unheard stuff when I do these, but sometimes there's just not enough out there to hold my interest and it becomes a slog near the end. There's also the fact that I really like early post-punk and new wave, and the somewhat related field of "punk rock" bands experimenting more with their sound (e.g. London Calling, Machine Gun Etiquette, A Different Kind Of Tension).

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2004

Kanye West – The College Dropout (American hip-hop, debut album) Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (Scottish indie rock/dance rock, debut album) Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who like Bad News (American indie rock) Arcade Fire – Funeral (Canadian indie rock, debut) Green Day – American Idiot (American pop punk rock opera) Mastodon – Leviathan (American heavy metal, loose concept album based on Moby Dick) Bjork – Medúlla (Icelandic (mostly) acapella experimental pop, featuring appearances by Rahzel, Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt and others) They Might Be Giants – The Else (American alternative rock) Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine (American math-metal, first album to feature Greg Puciatio on vocals) Pig Destroyer – Terrifyer (American grindcore) Ratatat – Ratatat (American electronic rock, debut album) Nightwish – Once (Finnish symphonic metal) The Killers – Hot Fuss (American dance rock, debut) Feist – Let It Die (Canadian b
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1998

Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty (American alternative hip hop) They Might Be Giants - Severe Tire Damage (American alternative rock, live album also featuring three new studio recordings) Primus - Rhinoplasty (American funk metal / experimental rock, features six cover songs, one remake of an original song, and two “bonus live tracks”)*  Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (American indie rock/psychedelic folk, their second and final full length studio album)   Beck - Mutations (American folk rock/psychedelic rock)  Various - Deconstructing Beck (various artists create plunderphonics/noise sound collage pieces using unlicensed Beck samples, co-release by Illegal Art and Negativland’s Seeland Records)  Phish - Story of the Ghost (American jazz-funk/progressive rock)  Garbage - Version 2.0 (American alternative rock / synth rock)  Korn - Follow the Leader (American nu metal) System of a Down - System of a Down (Armenian American alternative metal / nu metal, debut album)  Orgy
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