Someone remarked the other day how I keep finding new artists and releases - wondering if I still ever listened to any music back from days long gone. I told him that it’s a pretty even mix, though it goes through phases. While I like to know about all the latest releases often from some pretty obscure labels) I still like to listen to my faves from years past. This prompted me to fire up some tunes - and I noticed that a lot of them were from the late 80’s. And that got me thinking about how technically, some of this stuff I was listening to could be considered classics.
Sure enough, as the counter culture people from my parents’ generation latched on to music from the late 60’s (20 years prior to when I was in high school) the counter culture of my time had its own breed of music to enjoy. And while thinking back on what I consider to be “important” albums from that era, I realised that not only did a lot of great albums come out then, but a good deal of the “better” ones actually all came out in the same year - 1988. Some were in 87 or 89 - like New Order’s “Substance” (an absolute essential for anyone in Generation X), and The Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique” - but 88 does seem to be the year when certain artists put out the works that got them attention or helped start new genres.
So, here is a small listing of music from 20 years ago (which I actually listened to upon release). I subsequently found other artists later in life with releases in 1988, but I am sticking with what I knew then.
Skinny Puppy - VIVISECT VI: Of all the albums I liked from 1988, this one has to be listed first, as it is still one of my top 10 albums of all time. I would also have to say that this album was one of the greater influences on my own musical production, as SP really found ways to push the boundaries of instrumentation. It even sported a wicked cover by Stephen R. Gilmore and prompted me to look into design as a career. This is also the album that my dad used to coin the phrase “80% noise / 20% music”.
Front 242 - Front By Front: Where to begin? Virtually every song on this LP was a scorcher - with perhaps their most famous track of all time nestled in the middle: “Headhunter”. Personally, I was always big into “Work” (and its accompanying remixes) rife with samples from the Malcolm McDowell flick “Time After Time”. A previous album (Geography) was arguably more innovative, and the following LP (Tyranny >For You<) had better production values, but I’d say 242 was at their peak with this one.
Nitzer Ebb - Control I’m Here / Join In The Chant: Guns! Guns! Guns! Fire! Fire! Fire! Yeah! Seriously, the B-side not only had one of the most infectious basslines, but also one of the better obscure Kraftwerk samples for its time. NE was perhaps ahead of their time, as given evidence that a lot of their songs from this ear have been updated only slightly and fill the floor at techno events to this day. There’s a bit more emphasis on the 909s now than in the 80’s, but the vibe is still the same.
Ministry - The Land of Rape and Honey: Ah yes, the album that started getting me in trouble at home. It’s loud. It’s angry. It’s packed with four-letter words. And even starts out with a track called “Stigmata”. It also has some of the most wicked guitar riffs I have heard to this day - and showed that electronic music wasn’t just the stuff of girlie-haired Europoppers. Though the subsequent album (The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste) had a couple of amazing tracks, this one still remains the best Ministry album of all time for me.
New Order - Blue Monday: This one wasn’t just a favourite for me, but pretty much everyone in the world, as it is one of the best selling singles of all time. If Substance hadn’t been released earlier, it would be here instead, as what Dark Side of the Moon was for the previous generation, Substance was to my generation. Most people seem to consider NO at their peak during this era - and this song is probably why. I actually hear it every now and again in record stores to this day.
The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me: Oh, man. If everyone has their thing they loved when they were younger but embarrasses them now, it would perhaps be my obsession with The Cure. My hardcore listening to them ended in 91 when I had moved on to almost exclusively things electronic, but for the time I was into TC it was never enough. I never went so far as to wear the make-up, but it did have an impact on my hair-product purchases. Truth be told, their older stuff (cough*Pornography*cough) is better.
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: Here it is… Bam! Controversial. Innovative. Completely bad assed. And now that sampling laws make an album such as this impossible to produce, it is one of the last instances where you can hear an album of its ilk - unless you exclude the mashup craze of the past few years. I was listening to the LP yesterday and a 30 year old co-worker asked me who this “cool new artist is”. So I guess this still stands up to the test of time.
EPMD - Strictly Business: Another hip hop album that was released before copyright law required every single waveform to be cleared prior to release. Old funk tracks mixed with heavier beats and total “shake your rump, ‘cause this is a party” lyrics, as opposed to the socially aware messages of PE (Cold Lampin’ not withstanding). I mean how can you take an album too seriously with lines like; “All you should keep quiet while the MC’s rap / And if you’re tired… then go take a nap”? Classic.
I wanted to add work by several other artists, like The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, M|A|R|R|S, Eric B. & Rakim, Xymox, N.W.A., Meat Beat Manifesto, Frontline Assembly, This Mortal Coil, De La Soul and whole lot more - but they either couldn’t fit into the “8 From 88” or put out releases in 87 or 89 - and that ain’t 88! There were also other influential artists who put out seminal releases in the same year (The Smiths, The Violent Femmes, Metallica, Megadeth, Depeche Mode, Severed Heads, Information Society, Faith No More, etc.) but I either didn’t know about them at the time, or I never cared for them. Those who know me well will probably know into which categories those and other bands would go.
What was big for you that was released in 88?