Favorite Year in Music

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GucciLittlePiggy
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Favorite Year in Music

Post by GucciLittlePiggy »

I'm curious what everyone's favorite year in music history is.

Personally, 2010 takes the cake. Not only does it feature my two favorite albums OAT, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Halcyon Digest, but also my numbers 14 (High Violet), 30 (The Suburbs), 46 (This Is Happening), 54 (Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns), 96 (Contra), and many more in my top 400. Incidentally, the rest of the years from this decade are high on my list of favorites as well. I can only assume it's because my age from January 1, 2010 to the present day spans 13-19, and people often favor music released during that age range.

I thought to ask this after a friend of mine from college heard me discussing my favorite albums of the year and speculating what the critics' choice would be for album of the year. He asked why I think of music in terms of years. He said he just sees albums and songs on their own and doesn't think twice about release dates or their position in year-end rankings. Albums released December 2014 and January 2015 are no more different than albums released June 2015 and July 2015, in his eyes. I had never thought before about how we (or at least I) look at music. I always like to stay knowledgeable on release dates to the point where I think it annoys other people when I shout them out ("Who's Next! 1971!" or "OK Computer! 1997!") As it turns out, not many people give a shit when OK Computer was released. :whistle:
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notbrianeno
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by notbrianeno »

Based on my the top 100 all-time list, 2010 seems to also take the cake:
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (#1)
Have One On Me (#5)
High Violet (#13)
Teen Dream (#30)
Halcyon Digest (#48)
The Age of Adz (#55)
This Is Happening (#88)

Some other landmark years:

2006:
Ys (#2)
Yellow House (#23)
Silent Shout (#60)
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (#68)

2012:
channel.ORANGE (#17)
good kid, m.A.A.d city (#32)
Shields (#47)
Trilogy (#61)
Bloom (#88)

2013:
Yeezus (#11)
Trouble Will Find Me (#37)
Modern Vampires of the City (#70)
Nothing Was the Same (#78)
Loud City Song (#97)

2009:
Daisy (#34)
The Fame Monster (#49)
Veckatimest (#73)
It's Blitz! (#94)
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bootsy
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by bootsy »

1994 for sure.
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Nick »

It's tough call. Some years of note-

Every year between 1965-1973

1975

1977

1991

1994

2000

2007

2010

...what can I say? I'm a sucker for classic rock.
luvulongTIM
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by luvulongTIM »

2003 is mine. Such awesome underrated classics came out this year.

2006

1995

1999

1989

2004

1991

2009

2001

2000
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Maschine_Man
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Maschine_Man »

Technically, this year. Which feels like a bit of a cop out, I know, but I have only been listening to albums hard core the last three years, so it's not really a surprise that 11 of my Top 100 are from this year. To put it in perspective, I have listened to more albums from 2015 than the '70s '80s and '90s combined. I'm trying : /

I do have to give a shout out to 2005, with three of my Top 10 albums (Get Behind Me.. Supernature and Demon Days)
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Nassim »

No hesitation for me, the one and only 1997.
First, obviously, because it has my 2 favorite albums of all time : Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On and Elliott Smith - Either/Or, but also my favorite French album ever (and #8 of all time) IAM - L'école du Micro d'Argent.
But also because with 6 albums in my top 50, 8 in my top 100 (+ #101 and 102 of all time) and 21 in my top 400 (which is as far as I have ranked albums out of a list of 1200) it is both the most top heavy and the year with most depth.
One issue though is that it really is an (indie) rock oriented year with on top of my top 2 of all time, masterpieces from Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, Yo La Tengo, Bill Callahan, Grandaddy or Spiritualized.
There is a bit of electronic music on top (Prodigy and Chemical Brothers), one of the few ambient albums on my list (Biosphere), 2 of my post-rock favorites (by Labradford and Mogwai) and even some of the skate-punk I loved as a teen but it really lacks great hip-hop (safe for IAM).
It fits with the "being 13-19" cliché but I actually knew very little of those albums before I was 20. The only 2 I am sure I heard in 1997 are L'école du Micro d'Argent and The Fat of the Land, though I was familiar with a few tracks from OK Computer and Homogenic, and I probably played Final Fantasy VII a couple years later so its soundtrack could count too, 4 others are favorites from when I was 18-20 (Blink-182, Incubus, Millencolin and Foo Fighters).
But 11 of the 21 albums in my top 400 I am pretty sure I have never ever heard even being cited before I was in my 20s.

2nd year with most depth : 2007 with also 21 albums in my top 200, and that's excluding Burial, Take to the Skies, Ga Ga Ga Ga and other great albums that were barely left out.

2nd most top heavy year : 2005 with 3 albums in my top 20 (Illinoise, In Case we Die and Feels), 5 albums in my top 50, 8 in my top 100 and 14 in my top 200 (which is the only range any year has more album than 1997 in my list). It's also the pre 2013 out of which I have heard the most albums so it might have an unfair edge. I also think it is one of the best balanced year between genres.
2004 has 2 albums in my top 5, but not that many albums ranked after, kind of disappointing.

I haven't looked at it through the songs angle, I imagine a couple year would get a nice boost this way (2000 probably for instance) but 1997 would still dominate.
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PlasticRam
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by PlasticRam »

Top 6 favorite years in chronological order based on my top 30 all-time:

1966 (Revolver, Blonde on Blonde, Sounds of Silence)

1968 (Odessey and Oracle, White Album)

1969 (Abbey Road, Trout Mask Replica)

1970 (Exuma, Bridge over Troubled Water, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band)

1986 (Graceland, The Queen Is Dead)

2013 (Yeezus, Random Access Memories)
I feel like that
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spiritualized
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by spiritualized »

I don't have a top 500 or even 100 sadly. Which is a shame, being a member of this wonderful site :)
I do however have a number of "outstanding" albums per year, and my favorite year is by FAR 2003. 84 albums favorited (you can check them out here : https://rateyourmusic.com/list/spiritual/best_of_2003/), whilst the next one further down the list with "only" 54 items is 1993....
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Listyguy
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Listyguy »

That's a tough one, but I'd probably go with 1975, and 1967 or 1969 as the runner up. Of my 30 or so 5-star albums, 5 came out in 1975: Wish You Were Here, Blood on the Tracks, A Night at the Opera, Born to Run and Toys in the Attic
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Honorio »

We played that game some years ago. I found what I wrote then in a file at my computer, I added an additional year and…

1956: "It's got to be rock'n'roll music / If you wanna dance with me," when the rock was young, when there was Heartbreak Hotel, Long Tall Sally, Roll Over Beethoven, I Walk the Line, Blue Suede Shoes, Be Bop a Lula, Please Please Please…

1967: "There something's happening here / What it is ain't exactly clear," when everything seemed possible, when there was A Day in the Life, Alone Again Or, Sunday Morning, Purple Haze, Ruby Tuesday, Waterloo Sunset, Walk Away Renée…

1971: "Dream is over / And so, dear friends, / You just have to carry on," when the end of the sixties dream opened the thunder box, when there was Life on Mars, Wild Horses, Riders on the Storm, Inner City Blues, Family Affair, Get It On, Black Dog…

1977: "Don’t know what I want / But I know how to get it / I wanna destroy," when two simultaneous revolutions (punk rock and disco music) changed the rock music forever, when there was Anarchy in the UK, White Riot, Heroes, Stayin' Alive, I Feel Love, Psycho Killer, Marquee Moon…

1982: "Don’t push me cause I'm close to the edge / I'm trying not to lose my head," when there was a new music for a new society, when there was Billie Jean, 1999, The Message, Uncertain Smile, Come On Eileen, Town Called Malice, Shipbuilding…

1991: "Here we are now / Entertain us / I feel stupid and contagious," when indie became mainstream, when there was Smells Like Teen Spirit, Losing my Religion, Unfinished Sympathy, Higher Than the Sun, One, Under the Bridge, Alec Eiffel…

2001: "You've got to tolerate / Some of the people that you hate / I'm not in love with you / But I won't holding it against you," when the last electronica masterpieces gave place to a rebirth of young rock bands, when there was Last Nite, Fell in Love with a Girl, Juxtapozed with U, Knives Out, Digital Love, Can't Get You Out of My Head, Pagan Poetry…

2010: "Headbone connects to the headphones / Headphones connect to the iPhone / IPhone connected to the internet / Connected to the Google / Connected to the government," the age of Adz when Rap went Pop and Folk went Electronica, when there was Limit to Your Love, Runaway, Bloodbuzz Ohio, Not in Love, Ready to Start, Fuck You!, Cold War…
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acroamor
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by acroamor »

Either 1967 or 1971:

'67: VU&Nico, Forever Changes, Songs of Leonard Cohen, The Doors, Are You Experienced, The Doors self-titled, Piper at the Gates of Dawn and random singles like Strawberry Fields Forever, Waterloo Sunset, Whiter Shade of Pale, Brown Eyed Girl, See Emily Play, it's the Summer of Love for Christ's sake. The year to beat for 60s obsessives.

'71: Blue, Zep IV Sticky Fingers, Hunky Dory, Meddle, Tapestry, At Fillmore East, Pearl, Songs of Love and Hate, Maggot Brain, Coat of Many Colors, American Pie, and the list goes on and on.
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Live in Phoenix
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Live in Phoenix »

My top 5 albums have three 1991 releases, so that one personally gets put to rest quickly. 1991 also has the most entries in my top 100, with 1967 and 1977 tied in 2nd.
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bootsy
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by bootsy »

I stated 1994 for me earlier but didn't explain why. That's the year to me that hip hop really went to another level from where it really started in the late 80s. The early 90s really started to be dominated by the West Coast with Cypress Hill, Dre, Snoop, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, etc. but 94 really brought it back to the East Coast in a major way with the following albums:

GangStarr - Hard To Earn
Nas - Illmatic
Common - Resurrection
Jeru Da Damaja - The Sun Rises In The East
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die
Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda
Method Man - Tical
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Pete Rock and CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient
Artifacts - Between A Rock and A Hard Place

These albums really brought hip hop back to the East Coast and to me was a very important shift in the genre. Wu-Tang Clan kind of got it started a year earlier in 1993 but these albums kicked the door down that the West Coast pretty much shut. I remember being in high school and starting college in the early 90s and I wasn't a big fan of West Coast hip hip at the time and growing up in the Midwest I preferred the East Coast. I really started to become frustrated with hip-hop and the direction it was going until this particular year. It seemed to be more about beats and less about lyrics like it was in the 80s which were really a combination of both.

In addition, Outkast came out with their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik which brought a whole new element/extension to the South. Anyway this is why I chose 1994 for my favorite and most important year in music.
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GucciLittlePiggy
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by GucciLittlePiggy »

Nassim wrote:It fits with the "being 13-19" cliché but I actually knew very little of those albums before I was 20.
Well, I'll say since I didn't really get into music until 2012 or so, none of the albums I listed for 2010 I heard when they were released. But anyway, based on what I think I know about the ages of forum members, this theory about music during teenage years doesn't hold up well. Still, I'd wager that at the least, the music we first listened to during these years will resonate with us the most many years down the line.
I just wanted to be one of those ghosts
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On a long drive from the back seat...
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Jirin »

Probably 1971. It has the famous classics like IV, Blue, Who's Next, Sticky Fingers, it's got French classics Historie de Melody Nelson and Comme a la Radio and it's also got recent folk discoveries like Stormcock.
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by RickMayer »

Has to be 1979 for it was the death of disco, the birth of new wave and a year before Ronald Reagan and the launch of what was to become MTV. The Clash's "London Calling", Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and the Police's "Reggata de Blanc" were released that year as well.
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by whuntva »

I was thinking about this for awhile, and I decided I had three answers to this question.

OVERALL:

1980. Remain in Light? Closer? Back in Black? Ace of Spades? Yes, please. So much diversity and so much experimenting in style. Disco was dead, but its spawn arrived in full force. Metal had become relevant. MTV hadn't quite taken hold, so not everyone was listening to the same thing. Albums hadn't died. It was the perfect combination of what had been with what was to come!

Other close contenders were '66 and '94, but I liked 1980's output better than those years.

SINCE I'VE BEEN ALIVE

1997.

Lots of indie rock. OK Computer (my all-time #1) was released, as was my #4, Urban Hymns. This seems to be the year of the great divide. When alt-rock sunk away from the mainstream after being prevalent for years. But the pop was good with BIG and a few others. I feel like this was the 1980 of the '90s. Diversity mixed with quality.

2005 was a mixed year. As was 2007. I'd probably go so far as to call 2009 the WORST year overall for music, but 1997 has my vote.

SINCE I STARTED TRACKING MUSIC REGULARLY

2011. TWO albums in the Top 50 (Let England Shake and Velociraptor!). Experimentation. Radiohead and PJ Harvey and several others were on point. I was in high school, sort of rediscovering the past and planning for the future, which was just what this year sounded like.

There you go. It's all relative to me which is the "best", but these are the three I would most likely answer with.
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luney6
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by luney6 »

1991 and 1969
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by Georgie »

'77 for albums
'78 for singles
'73 for sound/styles
'77 overall
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bonnielaurel
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Re: Favorite Year in Music

Post by bonnielaurel »

Based on the number of albums that I like: 1984, 1987 and 2001.
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