From: sommar@enea.se (Erland Sommarskog)
Subject: My Top Ten Acquisitions of 1992
Organization: Enea Data AB
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 08:36:15 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.misc


Some people post their lists of what they thought were the best
releases in 1992. But since only a tiny part of what I buy is
new stuff, this is pointless for me to do. Instead I have for the
last couple of years been posting my best buys of the year. In the
list below, I have posted separate reviews on some of the records 
during the year, but not all.

To summarize, 1992 was for me not such a great record-getting year
as 1990 and 1991 was, neither in quantity nor in quality. 65 albums
in one year is quite a low number for my part. It is also interesting
to notice that I buy less and less at full price, but instead go for
many blind buys in the bargain and second-hand bins. And this is also
reflected in this top 10 list which includes five albums in this
category - and the top three are all of this kind.

Enough talk. Here's the list.

1. The Toll - The Price of Progression - 1988 - USA
Aggressive frantic and hard guitar rock, with very good and meaningful
lyrics. The album includes nonetheless than three ten-minutes songs,
which is a rare and difficult approach in this genre, but two the
longs songs, "Jonathan Toledo" and "Anna-41-Box" (a very strong piece
about sex abuse within marriage) are definitely among the top on the
album. Does anyone know, if these guys put out anything more?

2. Bloomsday - Fortuny - 1990 - UK
Difficult to describe. Somewhere in the mainstream, with some slight
soul-jazz jazz flavours added. Beautiful and lyrical. And with emotion
and feeling. The lyrics are mainly about love, but you can write good
love lyrics too.

3. Sara Hickman - Shortstop - 1990 - USA
An album with grabs you with its joy of life, yet she deals with several
serious subjects. There are some sappy love songs, but their are more
than well excused by gems as "Aurora" (about an old autistic woman).
Her first album was low-produced country/folk. This album has less of
the country aspect, and is more produced which she benefits from.

4. Sarah McLachlan - Solace - 1991 - Canada
Where will she end? After an interesting debut with "Touch", she
makes this strong followup album. Sarah McLachlan is an artist
who follows in the footsteps of people like Kate Bush and Peter
Gabriel. She does not stay away from experimenting and finding
new sounds. But she never sacrifices the natural and personal.
Sarah McLachlan is definitely one of the most interesting names
in the nineties.

5. The Scene - Open - 1992 - The Netherlands
A band who does put some effort in arrangment and production, but
just precisely the right amount for good rock'n'roll. They play
rock, which sometimes is a little poppy like in "Samen" or "Sta",
sometimes with more weight like in "Maan". What is common for all
their songs, is that they are *steaming*. I am told that "Open" is
their fifth album, looks like there is an interesting back catalogue
to check out.

6. Japan - Tin Drum - 1981 - ?
While I commended Sarah McLachlan for never sacrificing the natural,
there is a definite stamp of art-for-art's-sake on Japan. While a
bit pretentious, the ideas work, and the album does definitely still 
hold very well today.

7. Shaking Family - Dreaming in Detail - 1990 - USA
One more good guitar-band with tougher sound. (Not as tough as The Toll, 
though.) Music like this often stand or fall with its lyrics. What is 
special with Shaking Family is their clearly Christian slant. Christian 
stuff can be *very* trite and tiresome, but here the message gives the
music identity. Well, message and message, they are not *preaching*, but
they have something more sing about that just a man and a woman. (Although, 
they sing about that too.)

8. Roxette - Joyride - 1991 - Sweden
Once more I have to give in. Per Gessle is an absolute master in
writing high-class entertainment commercial stuff. If you look for
the message in the lyrics, you will find non. Yet there is one:
have fun! I was surprised by "Look Sharp!", but "Joyride" is even
stronger.

9. Misc. artists - A Collection of Songs - 1991 - Sweden
A sampler with five less known Swedish bands, which was a very
pleasant surprise. Partly because the Swedish music scene has
been in a miserable state of affairs for 5-7 years now. (Roxette
has rather been the exception proving the rule.) All five bands
play rock with emphasis on the guitar, but there are several ex-
pansions on the concept of what is a rock song. No great spectacular
innovations, but small progress step by step.

10. Louis Jordan - Five Guys Named Moe - 194x-195x - USA
Louis Jordan was ahead of his time, no doubt about it. A jazz singer
who flirted with what would become rock'n'roll, and who understood
the importance of witty lyrics. This is a compilation of 20 of his
most popular song, an excellent selection for those who want to know 
something about the days before Bill Hayley.
-- 
Erland Sommarskog - ENEA Data, Stockholm - sommar@enea.se
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc