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Those of you who read the title of this article may have thought to yourself that this is a little late in the scar it be seeing a retrospective of last year's music, but there is a good reason for waiting this long. Most of the columns you have already seen on last year's albums were written early last December, by reviewers who spent some time thinking up colorful adjectives which they could use to justify the choice of their pet groups, and most of those top ten lists were typeset before the year was even over. The concept of a ten best list in late February allows the reviewer to savor the albums which were released late in December, and gain a perspective on the year which is not available to those writers who are under artificial time constraints.
Besides, we don't print the Foghorn in January
So, here is a ten-best list, confined to the field of popular music:
1) This Year's Model — Elvis Costello. A magnificent album of rock and roll, combining power, fullness, harmonic tension and ingenious lyrics to deliver devastating argument that popular music is again approaching halcyon days.
2) Are We Not Men? — Devo. Behind the concisely controlled facade lies a group with genuine talent, which brings a creativity and drive to their music, and this album proves that without the facade Devo would still be recognized as a group ne plus ultra in nonconformist pop. (or is that a contradiction?)
3) Misfits — the Kinks. A very strong album, and a relief after some uneven performances by this group earlier in the decade. Ray Davies is one of the top songwriters around, and this is a full album of his music at its best.
4) Road to Ruin — the Ramones. America's best rock and roll group compromises somewhat after their brilliant third album, which was a hard act to follow. Still, they provide energy, melody, and excitement. They even sing some SLOW songs!
5) Easter — Patty Smith. Her best album. She is the most sensuous singer of rock and roll since Linda Ronstadt, and she writes well to boot. Every song but one hits the mark.
6) Some Girls — the Rolling Stones. It seemed that they would be satisfied indefinitely to write one or two singles every other year and put out an album of throwaways and filler whenever they wanted another million, but this album shows that they can have consistent punch. They could do this every time out if they worked at it.
7) Parallel Lines — Blondie. A dynamic group combining the Sixties girl-group sound and pure pop sensibility. They have recently been discovered by the AM radio folks, and they are now "that new group" after three albums. No matter, they have arrived, and there are four songs on the LP that are better than the new single which is making it.
8) Who Are You — the Who. The best rock and roll band in the world in an off year still nearly floats to the top. This LP grows on you, and Keith Moon died with the group on an upswing. Any other year would see this above the Stones; this group has more left in them.
9) Move it On Over — George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Early fifties rock and roll, played today. More consistent than their debut LP, this shows that music doesn't have to be new to be fresh and vibrant. Thorogood's guitar sings. In fact, it can in parts make even the Ramones look tame.
10) Londontown — Wings. Alright, so it is pap. And McCartney can do better. Still. he captures the joie de vivre of pop music, and controls it seemingly without effort. And he's only made one record ever that didn't pass muster.
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