This probably could have been part of another thread, but what the hell. A friend of mine told me today that 2013 was his favorite year of music ever. It wasn't even close for me, but it got me thinking - what is my favorite year of music?
I don't have an answer yet, but I'd like to hear about yours. So, what was it? What artists/albums/songs/experiences made it great for you?
I have to look into this, but mine almost by default will be within the last five years because that's when the vast majority of the music I have was released.
I'm inclined to say no one year, but at a rough approximation 1990-95, or 1988-95. It's a moveable feast. I have favourite albums from well before and well after that, but (for the later years, that I am intimately familiar with, having lived through them), they seem to be the stand outs and exceptions.
1997, easily. You have the peak of the Matador era, the big wave of electronica, Britpop, and then major works from big acts like U2, Bob Dylan, and Radiohead.
I challenge anyone to post a list that tops this:
Bjork - Homogenic
The Wannadies - Bagsy Me
Blur - S/T
Jay-Z - In My Lifetime Vol. 1
Nick Cave - The Boatman's Call
Helium - The Magic City
Bettie Serveert - Dust Bunnies
Pizzicato Five - Happy End Of The World
Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Silkworm - Developer
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
Spoon - Soft Effects
Guided By Voices - Mag Earwhig!
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Super Furry Animals - Radiator
U2 - Pop
Radiohead - OK Computer
Steve Earle - El Corazon
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
Stereolab - Dots And Loops
David Bowie - Earthling
Veruca Salt - Eight Arms To Hold You
Elliott Smith - Either/Or
World Party - Egyptology
Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Oasis - Be Here Now
Supergrass - In It For The Money
Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Van Morrison - The Healing Game
David Byrne - Feelings
Prodigy - Fat Of The Land
Paul Weller - Heavy Soul
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
Ween - The Mollusk
Rolling Stones - Bridges To Babylon
Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
Portishead - S/T
Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe
Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow
The Sundays - Static & Silence
Depeche Mode - Ultra
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope
Superchunk - Indoor Living
Mansun's Attack of the Grey Lantern belongs in that list, but anyone can be forgiven (let alone in the US) for not having heard it despite their popularity in the UK at that time.
2000 may be top heavy, but it's probably my favorite of music years in which I was an active music consumer. Kid A, Ágætis Byrjun, The Moon and Antarctica, Stankonia, Parachutes, Heartbreaker, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out... I'm probably forgetting a few more.
1967 is probably my favorite of the years before I was born. Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour, Are You Experienced?, The Doors, Velvet Underground and Nico, The Who Sell Out. So many classics.
But 2007 was so good too. In Rainbows, Graduation, Cryptograms, Boxer, Ga Ga Ga..., Sound of Silver, The Reminder, Neon Bible, Person Pitch, For Emma, Forever Ago, The Stage Names, Wincing the Night Away, Armchair Apocripha...
For me it's 1987. And, that's not based on looking at album releases from that year - I am going off of my memories and just knowing I was on cloud 9 all year musically.
Besides the Joshua Tree and Appetite for Destruction, there were new albums from REM, The Cure, The Smiths, Prince, Replacements, Depeche Mode, INXS, Echo and the Bunnymen and more.....just a great year in my life and a lot of this music served as a memorable backdrop.
1997 felt great to me at the time... but. But I haven't listened to the Verve, Portishead, Blur, Bjork, and some other notable entries since those days. POP, although a mess, has held up as a last hurrah from a band not yet sunk in complacency. OK Computer lifts it well as a year that is worth remembering.
For me it's 1987. And, that's not based on looking at album releases from that year - I am going off of my memories and just knowing I was on cloud 9 all year musically.
Besides the Joshua Tree and Appetite for Destruction, there were new albums from REM, The Cure, The Smiths, Prince, Replacements, Depeche Mode, INXS, Echo and the Bunnymen and more.....just a great year in my life and a lot of this music served as a memorable backdrop.
My gut response is always to say 1987. I don't know if I'm biased because it was the year I was born, or what, but I seem to like a hell of a lot of albums from that year.
In general, though, I'd say 1984-1987 is likely my favorite.
Interestingly enough i'm torn between 2 years a decade apart - 97 for all the reasons Laz posted and 2007 for:
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Spoon - GaGaGaGaGa
OR - The Stage Names
The National - Boxer
MGMT - oralkdjaf splakdsjflak
LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Kanye - Graduation
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Iron & Wine
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
I've always been inclined to say 1999, since two of my three favourite albums came out then (Anathema's Judgement and Porcupine Tree's Stupid Dream), but on reflection it's a pretty top-heavy year. The general period 2005-10 stands out to be as really strong.
For my general experience as a listener, regardless of what actually was released that year, 2006 and 2010 really stick out. The first half of 2006 was absolutely massive for me as far as discovering life-changing music goes, and 2010 was significant in that it ushered in some major shifts in my tastes. Also notable is 2012 as the peak year thus far in my concertgoing experiences.
I think the last time the subject came up, mofo pointed out 2003 was a pretty great year for music. In addition to a slew of awesome albums that came out that year, 2003 was also a year that I suddenly had an entire college radio station library's worth of music at my disposal to listen to, and I discovered a metric fuckton (I assume that's 2.4x the amount of music, give or take a decimal point, in the other system if measurement) of music from other years as well--and the stuff I was listening to 10 years ago is still 90% of what I prefer to listen to today. So 2003 was very good to me.
1997, easily. You have the peak of the Matador era, the big wave of electronica, Britpop, and then major works from big acts like U2, Bob Dylan, and Radiohead.
I challenge anyone to post a list that tops this:
Bjork - Homogenic
The Wannadies - Bagsy Me
Blur - S/T
Jay-Z - In My Lifetime Vol. 1
Nick Cave - The Boatman's Call
Helium - The Magic City
Bettie Serveert - Dust Bunnies
Pizzicato Five - Happy End Of The World
Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Silkworm - Developer
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
Spoon - Soft Effects
Guided By Voices - Mag Earwhig!
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Super Furry Animals - Radiator
U2 - Pop
Radiohead - OK Computer
Steve Earle - El Corazon
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever
Stereolab - Dots And Loops
David Bowie - Earthling
Veruca Salt - Eight Arms To Hold You
Elliott Smith - Either/Or
World Party - Egyptology
Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Oasis - Be Here Now
Supergrass - In It For The Money
Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Van Morrison - The Healing Game
David Byrne - Feelings
Prodigy - Fat Of The Land
Paul Weller - Heavy Soul
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
Ween - The Mollusk
Rolling Stones - Bridges To Babylon
Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
Portishead - S/T
Jungle Brothers - Raw Deluxe
Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow
The Sundays - Static & Silence
Depeche Mode - Ultra
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope
Superchunk - Indoor Living
I think 1991 could give it a run for its money with the likes of:
U2 - Achtung Baby
Nirvana- Nevermind
Pearl Jam - Ten
Soungarden- Badmotorfinger
Guns n Roses - Use Your Illusion I
Guns n Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album)
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
RHCP - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik
REM - Out of Time
Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
Tom Petty - Into the Great Wide Open
Stevie Ray Vaughn - The Sky is Crying
Prince & The NPG - Diamonds and Pearls
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Live - Mental Jewelry
Plus your personal favorite:
Michael jackson - Dangerous
to name a few.
First thought for an answer to the question would be 1991 or 1987, based on years I experienced the music, kind of hard to mention a year in the 60's or early 70's before I was born or was far too young to be entrenched in the music of the time during its time, so I would exclude those personally.
