Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1979!!

Voting in this poll would have been very time-dependent:

In 1979, I would have voted Highway To Hell
In 1980, London Calling
In 1981, Quiet Life
In 1982, Setting Sons [N American version with Strange Town + Butterfly Collector]
In 1983, Entertainment
In 1985, Rust Never Sleeps
In 1995, Movies
In 1998, Tales of Captain Black
In 2009, Force Majeure
In 2019, Tusk

Forgot "Drums and Wires"!

Another kind of weak year for albums. I would have voted for Bob Dylan “Slow Train Coming” or Van Morrison “Into the Music” were they listed.

"Three Imaginary Boys" was my favourite album when I was 13

The Specials are gonna not do well, I can sense.

Still, they won't be a zero...

Motorhead were busy this year!

Highway to Hell. With like an eight way tie for punk/post favorites, I shall not beat around the bush, and simply vote.

Another kind of weak year for albums. I would have voted for Bob Dylan “Slow Train Coming” or Van Morrison “Into the Music” were they listed.

― o. nate, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 16:08 (thirty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah, no way is this a weak year. 77 and 78 weren't either.

I’d take 77 over 78 or 79. I admit I haven’t delved as deeply as I should. All 3 years were great for singles.

The absence of B-52's is problematic

77 > 79 > 78.

lots of good albums here, but this one is easy for me - Fear of Music

Gut vote is Entertainment!: oblique strokes of word and music, latter more compelling but it all fits at a slant: stick figure lightning strike Godard pop appeal (AKA what Gerald said upthread). Also gritty and sweaty enough on occasion (also check the Peel Sessions EP of some of these tracks). Almost a tie with Tales of Captain Black, and Neil & CH, Funkadelic, Clash, TRB etc. in Top Ten.

Talking Heads in there too, amen.

The absence of B-52's is problematic ridiculous

some say it should be here ... WELL, IT ISN'T

voted for Entertainment! over Neil (which I heard the most in 1979) and AC/DC (which I've played the most on road trips)

The Specials

also love:

AC/DC - Highway to Hell ,
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures ,
Talking Heads - Fear of Music ,
The Clash - London Calling ,
The Cure - Thee Imaginary Boys
The Pop Group - Y ,

Lots of great albums (own 14 and love another 5 of them), but it has to be London Calling. The B-52's would have given it the best run for its money.

jeez I own 36, this era is def where my heart lies

still prob gonna vote london calling but it's amazing to think that these all came out in the same year:

David Bowie - Lodger
Fleetwood Mack - Tusk
Germs - GI
Holger Czukay - Movies
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures ,
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust ,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps ,
Talking Heads - Fear of Music ,
The Clash - London Calling ,
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
The Pop Group - Y ,
The Specials - The Specials,

left in live rust by mistake, but whatever, still a great record

"Modern Dance" was on the previous poll.

"New Picnic Time" is on this one.

No "Dub Housing"?

Explanation required.

Should've been in the last poll.

Hard to pick between Unknown Pleasures, Metal Box, Force Majeure, Overkill...

1979 is my second favorite year, after 1980. Could go for 154, Dragnet, Fear of Music, Lodger.... My list would also include:

Chic - Risqué
Ann Steel (Roberto Cacciapaglia) - The Ann Steel Album
Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven

xps

maybe i just dont have that album

1979, ok

good stuff this year. rock in opposition hits and hits hard, great diasporic post-punk and disco, an unexpected resurgence of the kosmische scene, city pop really starting to get good, and that's on top of all the usual awesomeness

a. vuolo & e. grande - desert
aksak maboul - un peu de l'ame des bandits
alcides neves - tempo de fratura
armande altai - atavisme
avalanche - perseverence kills our game
bill evans - we will meet again
bruford - one of a kind
camaron de la isla - la leyenda del tiempo
can - s/t
candido - dancin' & prancin'
cheikh tidiane fall, bobby few, & jo maka - diom futa
chet baker - no problem
chic - risque
chou pahrot - live
devo - duty now for the future
emmanuel booz - dans quel etat j'erre
essential logic - beat rhythm news
flamen dialis - symptome-dei
freddie mcgregor - bobby bobylon
henry cow - western culture
hiroshi sato - orient
honeyelk - en quete d'un monde meilleur
joe mcphee - zurich
kevin coyne & dagmar krause - babble
kha-ym - 10" gmt
lizzy mercier descloux - press color
lo borges - a via lactea
mbaraka mwinshehe & orchestra super volcano - the last recording of soloist national
mccoy tyner - horizon
metabolist - hansten klork
michele fromenteau - l'art de la vielle a roue vol 1
muck grohbian - muckefuck
national health - of queues and cures
niteflyte - s/t
orchestra njervudarov - con le orecchie di eros
osamu kitajima - dragon king
peter hammill - ph7
red noise - sound-on-sound
renaldo & the loaf - songs for swinging larvae
robert fripp - exposure
robert rental & the normal - live at west runton pavilion 6-3-79
ann steel - the ann steel album
the roches - s/t
shingetsu - s/t
sparks - no 1 in heaven
sun ra - on jupiter
sun ra - sleeping beauty
sund4r popo - come dance with the champ
sylvester - stars
terry allen - lubbock (on everything)
tatsuro yamashita - moonglow
thomas leer & robert rental - the bridge
tom verlaine - s/t
the toms - s/t
uk - danger money
univers zero - heresie
vagif mustafa zadeh - jazz compositions
veronique chalot - a l'entree du temps clair
witch queen - s/t
you - electric day
zeze gonzaga & quinteto de radames gnattali - valzinho: um doce veneno
zolar x - timeless

i want to particularly recommend camaron de la isla, essential logic, coyne/krause, the toms

out of what's here my gut says "cut" is the one to go with, so i'm going with that, the rest of y'all can fight it out between fleetwood mac and the clash.

oh and you're totally missing out for not having "dub housing", it's my fave of theirs

sund4r popo - come dance with the champ

oh come fucking on there's more than one person in the world with that first name

Rust Never Sleeps or Einstein on the Beach. At the time, the former. Now, the latter. I still haven't decided if I like Tusk...

London Calling vs. Fear of Music, impossible choice.

Squeeze, Cool For Cats, is one I'd add to the runners-up.

Dragnet just over Cut. This is def the best year

Arrrrrrgh!

David Bowie - Lodger
Japan - Quiet Life
Magazine - Secondhand Daylight
The Human League - Reproduction
Tubeway Army - Replicas

^ One of these.

the toms - s/t

my choice from what has been mentioned itt

from poll options it’s einstein on the beach

As someone said upthread, Risqué should definitely be on that list. Wonderful album.

The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll

Albums

1. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks (Arista) 767 (63)
2. Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise) 652 (50)
3. The Clash: The Clash (Epic) 638 (50)
4. Talking Heads: Fear of Music (Sire) 620 (51)
5. Elvis Costello: Armed Forces (Columbia) 619 (55)
6. Van Morrison: Into the Music (Warner Bros.) 474 (41)
7. The B-52s: The B-52s (Warner Bros.) 371 (37)
8. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (Backstreet/MCA) 340 (31)
9. Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (Chrysalis) 334 (28)
10. Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca) 330 (30)
11. The Roches: The Roches (Warner Bros.) 292 (30)
12. Dave Edmunds: Repeat When Necessary (Swan Song) 222 (21)
13. Nick Lowe: Labour of Lust (Columbia) 201 (24)
14. Tom Verlaine: Tom Verlaine (Elektra) 192 (22)
15. Iggy Pop: New Values (Arista) 190 (20)
16. Marianne Faithfull: Broken English (Island) 185 (20)
17. Blondie: Eat to the Beat (Chrysalis) 184 (20)
18. Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (Epic) 179 (16)
19. Rickie Lee Jones: Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros.) 176 (20)
20. Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady (I.R.S.) 172 (18)
21. Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (Warner Bros.) 160 (17)
22. Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Live Rust (Reprise) 158 (15)
23. Ry Cooder: Bop 'Til You Drop (Warner Bros.) 155 (18)
24. David Johansen: In Style (Blue Sky) 136 (15)
25. Lene Lovich: Stateless (Stiff/Epic) 125 (13)
26. Linton Kwesi Johnson: Forces of Victory (Mango) 122 (13)
27. Chic: Risque (Atlantic) 112 (11)
28. Joe Jackson: Look Sharp! (A&M) 111 (11)
29. Art Ensemble of Chicago: Nice Guys (ECM) 108 (10)
30. Roxy Music: Manifesto (Atlantic) 107 (11)
31. David Bowie: Lodger (RCA Victor) 104 (12)
32. The Slits: Cut (Antilles) 99 (10)
33. Philip Glass/Robert Wilson: Einstein on the Beach (Tomato) 98 (9)
34. Bob Marley & the Wailers: Survival (Island) 94 (9)
35. The Police: Regatta de Blanc (A&M) 92 (10)
36. The Shoes: Present Tense (Elektra) 90 (12)
37. The Jam: All Mod Cons (Polydor) 89 (9)
38. Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (Columbia) 88 (11)
39. Stevie Wonder: Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants (Tamla) 88 (9)
40. The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista) 85 (9)

Stirmonster is going to be displeased with me as I forgot to include the Nurse With Wound album from this year.

Missing Nurse With Wound, but especially Robert Ashley's 'Automatic Writing'.

fwiw I personally think the 1st NWW is the weakest of that early run

much prefer the Ashley

don't even know that.

it's very, uh, austere. whispers and scrapes for 40 minutes, plus the distant sound of music playing in another apartment. I love it.

Adding P&J reminds me that this is probably my fav vintage year for music, or maybe tied with 1969. Has any record's critical standing dissipated as fully a Squeezing out the Sparks? Most of the next 20 have seen their reputation rise, and many of them rise a lot.

Which reminds me of another favourite missing from this poll, Sparks, "No. 1 in Heaven".

Also, I notice you don't like ABBA.

That's not true but they are a singles band to me.

I never got into Sparks bar a couple of songs

(xp) A bit like me and the Clash.

My parents do have all the Abba LPs up in the loft.

i like the pop group better than gang of four myself, i guess that's a minority opinion?

I don't rate either of them!

keep wondering how our current era compares with this in history

not feeling as much greatness, but realize that is a failure of imagination

I guess a lot of ignored, misunderstood or disparaged music from today will be recognized like this in the future

Sure there will be plenty of people to vote for This Heat or Wire

lol

Thought Lodger would have done better.

I voted for Chrome thinking that somebody had to. Nice to see a couple others repped for it.

ok i'll set up a run off of top 2 in each year poll

thanks to all who voted.

Please take part in the 80s series of polls that Michael B has volunteered to do next.

The 1969-79 Series of Polls - The Run-off of the Top twos!

Shout out to the other Movies voter.

Now, bring on Howard Jones, The Thompson Twins and the rest of the all-time greats of the 1980s!

if he forgets nkotb or bros they will hang him from the rafters

"slightly modified"?

https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis

― Emperor Tonetta Ketchup (sleeve), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:28 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Numan's backing band circa '81 formed Dramatis after Numan announced his "retirement", but none of its members were on Tubeway Army or Replicas. Paul Gardiner (who was) continued to work with Numan on 'Stormtrooper in Drag' etc. and Jess Lidyard (the drummer on those records) featured on Dance. None of the members of Dramatis had any legal claim to the name Tubeway Army.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 6 April 2019 19:32 (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When the "Dramatis" album was reissued by Charly records, it was renamed "The Dramatis Project" and the artist name became "Tubeway Army Featuring Gary Numan"

(Gary sang/wrote one track)

Yes, that's correct, but you're talking about a re-release of an album which was then 19 years old and neither Numan nor Dramatis had anything to do with it. It was completely misleading, and Dramatis were actually pissed off about it.

Also, Numan only sang on 'Love Needs No Disguise', he didn't have anything to do with the writing of it.

154 got 1 vote and London Calling 16? Dear God I'm glad I've not been paying attention

If you had then it would have got 2

It is truly disgraceful.

Michael B has taken over for the 1980s
Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1980!!

I didn't vote in this one, no B-52's or Drums and Wires, probably my two most played of that year. And then I couldn't decide between Slits and Gang of Four. I thought Lodger would be much higher.

Why does Tusk get so much love? It's a mess.

Oh God these results are terrible😖😖

London Calling 16 is like the '16 election of ILM

LOLLLLLL

i like the pop group better than gang of four myself, i guess that's a minority opinion?

100% blindingly obvious & correct opinion

I tell you what, this is an outrage, and we need to re-distribute some of the vote-wealth of the top percentage to the equally deserving albums who only got one or two or even zero votes

119 votes!