#603 The Big 1988 Recommendation List (as of today)
Hey folks!
Here is a complete list of everything that’s been recommended here on the newsletter. This is a combination of albums almost certain to be nominated, obscure reader favorites, and my own idiosyncratic choices. I’ve made no effort to distinguish between those categories — they’re all equal in the eyes of Best Album.
If you’d like to read what I or others wrote about these albums, here are links to the newsletters where that happened:
Kent’s Faves #1 (Cocteau Twins, Danzig, Metallica, Ministry, Pailhead)
Kent’s Faves #2 (Public Enemy, Sabbat, Stump, The Sugarcubes, They Might Be Giants, Voice of the Beehive, Wire, The Wonder Stuff)
New-to-Me Faves #1 (Boye, Jan Garbarek, Helen Ripley-Marshall, Ornette Colman, Anna Vissi)
New-to-Me Faves #2 (Big Pig, The Jazz Butcher, Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, Scrawl, Vengeance Rising, Voz Propia, Wild Seeds, Y Kant Tori Read)
Obscure Reader Faves #1 (Game Theory, The Jazz Butcher, The Legendary Pink Dots, Mecano, Scrawl, Linda Smith, TISM)
Obscure Reader Faves #2 (The Bears, Don Baron, Guy, Timbuk3, The Toll)
Obscure Reader Faves #3 (American Music Club, Alejandra Guzman, Muslimgauze, Nurse With Wound, Stephen Sondheim, A Split Second, Richard Thompson)
Bye Mama, Hello 1988 (Alejandra Guzman)
Power (Point) Metal (Helloween)
Final Prep Week for 1988! The Basics (?) (Manowar)
That’s a lot, but I plan to expand this list in the next couple weeks. 1988 prep is literally never done.
Without further ado, here is the list, as of 10/23/26:
American Music Club, CALIFORNIA (YouTube)
Don Baron, YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK (YouTube)
The Bears, RISE AND SHINE (YouTube, Spotify)
Big Pig, BONK (Spotify, YouTube)
Boye, DOSTA! DOSTA! DOSTA! (YouTube, Spotify)
Cocteau Twins, BLUE BELL KNOLL (Spotify, YouTube)
Ornette Coleman, VIRGIN BEAUTY (YouTube, Spotify)
Danzig, DANZIG (Spotify)
Game Theory, TWO STEPS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES (Spotify, YouTube [tracks 1-13])
Jan Garbarek, LEGEND OF THE SEVEN DREAMS (YouTube, Spotify)
Alejandra Guzman, BYE MAMÁ (Spotify)
Helloween, KEEPER OF THE SEVEN KEYS PART II (YouTube, Spotify)
The Jazz Butcher, FISCHOTHEQUE (Spotify, YouTube)
The Legendary Pink Dots, THE GOLDEN AGE (Spotify, YouTube)
Manowar, KINGS OF METAL (YouTube, Spotify)
Mecano, DESCANSO DOMINICAL (Spotify, YouTube)
Metallica, …AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (Spotify, YouTube)
Ministry, THE LAND OF RAPE AND HONEY (Spotify, YouTube)
Muslimgauze, THE RAPE OF PALESTINE (YouTube)
Nurse With Wound, SOLILOQUY FOR LILITH (YouTube)
Pailhead, TRAIT ep (Spotify, YouTube)
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, UN BAIÓN PARA EL OJO IDIOTA (Spotify, YouTube)
Public Enemy, IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK (Spotify, YouTube)
Helen Ripley-Marshall, GREEN CHAOS (YouTube, Spotify)
Sabbat, HISTORY OF A TIME TO COME (Spotify, YouTube)
Scrawl, HE'S DRUNK (Spotify, YouTube)
Linda Smith, DO YOU KNOW THE WAY…? (Bandcamp)
Stephen Sondheim, INTO THE WOODS - ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING (Spotify, YouTube)
A Split-Second, …FROM THE INSIDE (Spotify, YouTube)
Stump, A FIERCE PANCAKE (YouTube)
The Sugarcubes, LIFE’S TOO GOOD (Spotify, YouTube)
They Might Be Giants, LINCOLN (Spotify, YouTube)
Richard Thompson, AMNESIA (Spotify, YouTube)
Timbuk3, EDEN ALLEY (YouTube, Spotify)
TISM, GREAT TRUCKIN' SONGS OF THE RENAISSANCE(Spotify, YouTube)
The Toll, THE PRICE OF PROGRESSION (YouTube, Spotify)
Vengeance Rising, HUMAN SACRIFICE (Spotify, YouTube)
Anna Vissi, TORA (YouTube, Spotify)
Voice of the Beehive, LET IT BEE (Spotify, YouTube)
Voz Propia, NO PUEDO IRME (Spotify, YouTube)
Wild Seeds, MUD, LIES + SHAME (Spotify, YouTube)
Wire, A BELL IS A CUP… UNTIL IT IS STRUCK (Spotify, YouTube)
The Wonder Stuff, THE EIGHT LEGGED GROOVE MACHINE(Spotify, YouTube)
Happy listening!
Kent
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