Niedziela 25 Sty 2009, 2:34
Pink Floyd / High Hopes / The Division Bell (11) / Mar 1994
sablespecter's Album of the Year for 1994 (RDF: 81.8%)
Fifteen years after scoring their first AotY Award for The Wall, Pink Floyd came back to the top of the list with an album that I don't think gets enough props. I didn't think that they still had one final studio album in them seven years after A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and I think lots of fans were surprised at both the sound and the quality, if not the tone and continued "us vs. you" theme. All said, I think it's deserving of more listens than it probably gets.
The wide, open sound and slow pace give it a feeling of emptiness and reflection on what was and what might have been, and the guitar work of David Gilmour - check Marooned - leaves me wanting more. Lost for Words finds David resigning himself to the fact that reconciliation would never come, and moving on in the interest of letting go and finding a future without a single minute more lost to recrimination and bitterness. Today's selection is a moving, despondent album- and catalog-closer that always leaves me feeling a bit dejected over how much more could have come from Floyd if not for egos, divisiveness, etc…ending with the sound of a lone bell tolling in the distance.
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Rounding out the Top Five of 1994 (in order of descending RDF):
Fu Manchu: No One Rides for Free (75.0% RDF)
The Fu had started about seven years prior as a punk band, and went through a number of member changes before this debut even came out, by which time they'd drifted to the SoCal stoner rock band that they are today. But this ain't sludgy stoner rock, this is suitable for surfers and skaters, with fast-paced 70s-style rocking with lots of fuzz and distortion. After a couple more albums, Eddie Glass and Ruben Romano left and formed Nebula. Be sure to check them out, too. Lots of good stuff there, though it leans more psychdelic jam rock.
ØCorrosion of Conformity: Deliverance (64.3% RDF)
The first album with Pepper Keenan as full-time lead vocalist, and by now the punk roots are gone. This is full-on stoner metal with no hidden nods to Sabbath.
Black Sabbath: Cross Purposes (60.0% RDF)
The Sabbath albums with Tony Martin aren't the greatest works, but certainly better than the Glenn Hughes/Ray Gillen disasters. Tony Martin needs a nod of thanks and due credit, because without him I don't think that Tony Iommi could have kept Black Sabbath as a going concern that allowed for the temporary return of Ronnie James Dio for Dehumanizer after the first couple of Tony Martin albums, and for the good-for-everyone reunion with Ozzy after the next two. This isn't to discount Tony Martin's talent. I think more of the issue was the general drift in direction. Tony is a solid contributor on lyrics, and has good, strong vocals to deliver them. He's certainly Sabbath's third-best vocalist (Ian Gillan is a great vocalist generally, but not for Sabbath, despite my liking of Born Again.) and in fact, until the new Heaven and Hell album comes out, he's done more Sabbath albums than Dio! I was surprised by how much of this album I did like. Maybe it's because Martin does kinda sound like Dio at certain times…have a listen to Cross of Thorns…withouy writing from the same relatively narrow fantasy canon that Dio writes from. And of course, Iommi has some great meandering, bluesy guitar work here, such as on Dying for Love.
Megadeth: Youthanasia (58.3% RDF)
Could Dave Mustaine keep his successful run going after the previous two killer albums? Well, not quite, but it does have some proven favorites (mine is the cool, insanely self-referential Victory). He lost some fans after this album (not me), but in this weak period for metal in general, it's an album that still stands out and stands the test of time.
Honorable Mentions (in roughly alphabetical order by band/artist name):
ØBurzum: Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
ØEmperor: In The Nightside Eclipse
ØKyuss: Welcome to Sky Valley
Pantera: Far Beyond Driven
ØPride & Glory: Pride & Glory
Queensrÿche: Promised Land
Tesla: Bust A Nut
Is your favorite album from 1994 on this list? Are there any others you would add?
\m/ (ò_ó) \m/
Ø: For the 1990s AotY Awards, albums which were discovered after the 1990s have been noted with an "Ø" This provides a perspective on how much thinner the album lists were at the time.
*Since Deliverance - and several of the Honorable Mentions - wasn't discovered until after the 1990s, had I assigned the awards at the conclusion of 1994, Bust A Nut would have would have slipped into the fifth slot with a 57.1% RDF. This year had only a couple more highlights than 1993, but still a weak year in general.