#3 Best Albums of 1979- Breakfast in America

I love supertramp, and this is by far their best album.  Where their other good albums fail (Crime of the Century, Quietest Moments), this one succeeds:  filling all of the gaps and maintaining high quality throughout.  Although obviously, there are highlights:  Logical Song, Child of Vision, Goodbye Stranger, the title track, and Nervous Wreck stand out; Take the Long Way Home is the best though.  While they had had two hit singles before this (Give a Little Bit; School), this album was their major breakthrough, scoring hit single after single.  And with good reason:  the great blend of pop and progressive rock which they had been working their way towards for quite some time, the high calibre of songwriting, the bright and not-as-dated-as-you-might-imagine electirc piano, and of course their always-great instrumentation make this by far their best album.  -Ian, 5/5

#4 Best Albums of 1979- Damn the Torpedoes

Coming in at number four is this generation's favourite roots-rock dinosaur hero.  (Sorry, Bruce.)  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' best album, and one of the best roots-rock albums ever, Tom and friends combine the best elements of the Byrds, Springsteen, Rolling Stones, Beatles, and the Who.  The best song here is obviously the breakthough Refugee, but there isn't a terrible song here.  A couple moments are a little behind pace, but this is an excellent album which is one of the best and most important of the decade which it helped close. -Ian, 5/5

#5 Best Albums of 1979- Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan

This is beginning to show a bit of an obsession, but no, there's more albums on this list that aren't Dylan, of course.  Coming in at #5 is the aforementioned Bobster with his first Christian release.  It received mixed reviews upon release, probably more because of its lyrical content than its musical content.  The main highlight is the soulful "Gotta Serve Somebody,"and of course the also-soulful title track.  Dylan had been eclectic before, but this was a first.  There were two Christian albums after this, but this one was easily the best.  The excellent album art also begs questions as to its meaning.  Open for interpretation, and first-rate music... -Ian

New Countdown- Best Albums of 1979

So far this is just music. There will be more, trust me, but for now here are the best albums of 1979, [one of?] the final great year[s] in music.

#1 Best Bob Dylan Albums- Highway 61 Revisited

The announcement all two of you are waiting for!  Yipee...

The best of all of his albums, 1965's Highway 61 Revisited is easily one of the best albums ever.  Every song is a highlight.  The best ones are: Like a Rolling Stone, Desolation Row, Ballad of a Thin Man, Queen Jane, Tom Thumb's Blues... in that order, etc.  I don't have time for this now... more later

On That Note...

Interesting read... as I was speculating on the meaning of Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts from Blood on the Tracks in the last post, I Googled it and found this... http://thecultureclub.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/lily-rosemary-and-the-jack-of-hearts-layers-of-meaning/

Perhaps the thief thing refers to himself, or maybe to the judge who ruled their divorce... in which case he would be saying that the reason for the divorce was her affairs, which I'm not sure about... open ended much?

#2 Best Bob Dylan Albums- Blood on the Tracks

This is it.  The happy couple on the cover of The Freewheelin' are getting divorced.

There are several deliciously skewed accounts of this on 1975's Blood.  The most obvious is of course the coarse [sorry] semi-title track Idiot Wind, but Tangled Up In Blue (the best song on here), You're a Big Girl Now, and If You See Her (Say Hello) provide references, and perhaps the anti-epic nine-minute Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts is some kind of symbolistic reference.  The double-edged, witty lyrics are one of the real treats here, but the layers and layers of guitars on songs like You're a Big Girl Now and Tangled Up In Blue give them the melancholy, bitterswwet, beautiful sound he was aiming for.  And then you have the fun songs, the aforementioned Lily and Idiot Wind, with his best lyrics since at least the 1965-1966 era (Highway and Blonde), the former being reminiscient of the delicious Desolation Row.  I like to think it happens on that legenday street.  So does Stuck inside of Memphis, Tombstone Blues, and all the rest of his amazingly surreal story songs.  This is one of my favorite albums ever... I almost put it at first.  But at least now we know what comes next... -Ian, 5.5/5 (lol) Really 5/5

#3 Best Bob Dylan Albums- Blonde on Blonde

I was thinking of putting it second, but no.  No.  You should know what is going to be second, because you should have known what was going to be first.  It's obvious now...

Blonde on Blonde is perhaps the most eclectic album that he ever made.  Strange, cynical, surreal lyrics merge with the most varied music he ever put on one album.  There's rock'n'roll (Obviously Five Believers, Leopardskin Pillbox Hat), folk (Visions of Johanna), and even parodies (Fourth Time Around).  Everything else is somewhere in between.

Many of the songs are too small to be considered alone.  Like most great double-albums, it is best digested whole.  The best are hard to point out, obviously Stuck... Blues and Just Like a Woman  and I Want You and Fourth Time Around are instant classics, but there are plenty of forgotten gems among the interesting sounds of these two records/CD's/whatever your fancy's.  My favorites are One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), Most Likely You Go Your Way, Absolutely Sweet Marie, and Obviously Five Believers, and while all of the songs are excellent, they continue to grow on you until you can't stand it anymore, and you listen to it several times in a row.  ... That's what happened to me.  Every once in a while I'll just listen to the entire thing like 5 times in a row. -Ian, 5/5

#4 Best Bob Dylan Albums- The Freewheelin'

Some may question my decisioni to put this ant #4 and not #2.  But you and I both know which three albums are next.  

Dylan's best album from his folk period, it contains classics such as Blowin' in the Wind, Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall, and Masters of War, as well as the original Girl from the North Country.  There are several Dylan-ised covers here, and they are good, but the sheer weight, influence, and skill of the folk originals make this possibly the best album of 1963, or perhaps the best folk album ever. -Ian, 5/5

#5 Best Bob Dylan Albums- Nashville Skyline

1969's Nashville Skyline was Bob Dylan's only real country album.  He went through many phases in his career, and this is one of the calmest, a laid-back style with vocals like we have never heard from him before.  He is one part himself, one part Willie Nelson, and one part Frank Sinatra vocally.

Musically, he abandons rock almost completely and focuses on milky country-folk-rock-whatever-hybrid which is much more country than any folk he ever had or will try.  He even goes so far as to duet with the then-aging now-dead Johnny Cash on the interesting "Girl from the North Country."

The best song here is the finale, "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," although "Lay Lady Lay" is amost just as good.  Each track is enjoyable, especially for country fans and fans of his folk era.  This isn't normal Dylan, and it's definitely not my favorite genre, but this is an excellent and rewarding listen. 

This one was the hardest to place... My first instinct was Basement Tapes, Empire Burlesque, Slow Train Coming, New Morning, Bringing it all Back Home... there's so many I could have chosen beyond the obvious top four.  I actually am starting to think I should have put Bringing here... 5/5 -Ian  

Upcoming Top5's

Upcoming Top 5 lists are...

Best Bob Dylan Album

Best Movie in the 1970s

Best Show On Tv Right Now

First Post

This is my first post... I am hoping to add more authors soon, and this blog is about nothing and everything all at once.  Lots of Top 5 lists, Top 10 lists, and a smattering of hopelessly skewed takes on news stories.  Erm, enjoy?