It gets hugely unfair for different people for different years, because of sudden gluts of all-time favourites. For me, those were:
1987 [also released: Hüsker Dü - Warehouse: Songs And Stories, Prince - Sign O' The Times, R.E.M. - Document, The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come, The Jesus And Mary Chain - Darklands, Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love, Pixies - Come On Pilgrim]
1991 [Sebadoh - III, Nirvana - Nevermind, Dinosaur Jr - Green Mind, My Bloody Valentine - Loveless, Massive Attack - Blue Lines]
1992 [Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted, The Flaming Lips - Hit To Death In The Future Head, R.E.M. - Automatic For The People, PJ Harvey - Dry, Sonic Youth - Dirty]
1996 [Beck - Odelay, Belle And Sebastian - Tigermilk, Fugees - The Score, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads, Wilco - Being There, Silver Jews - The Natural Bridge, R.E.M. - New Adventures In Hi-Fi]
1997 [Radiohead - OK Computer, Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind, Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call, Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain, Stereophonics - Word Gets Around (sentimental reasons, that one, although I maintain it's a fucking great album in and of itself, regardless of what they'd become. I smell a future Perishable.)]
1998 [Air - Moon Safari, Belle And Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap, Idlewild - Hope Is Important, Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Black Star, Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Jurassic 5 - Jurassic 5, Pulp - This Is Hardcore, Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright, Silver Jews - American Water. That was quite a run of years in the late 90s there]
2000 [Air - The Virgin Suicides, Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast, Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele, Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows, Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man, OutKast - Stankonia, Phoenix - United, Primal Scream - Xtrmntr, Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues, Talib Kweli - Reflection Eternal, Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out]
2004 [Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs, The Bees - Free The Bees, The Dears - No Cities Left, Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads - The Futureheads, The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike, The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me, Interpol - Antics, Joy Zipper - American Whip, Lambchop - Aw C’mon/No, You C’mon, Low - The Great Destroyer, The Radio Dept. - Lesser Matters, Rufus Wainwright - Want One, Sons And Daughters - Love The Cup, Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans, Wilco - A Ghost Is Born. Incidentally, A Ghost Is Born is one of my favourite albums ever ever ever, but Nick Cave soundtracked my first weeks at uni, so gets the sentimental vote. And is also fucking awesome, but that's almost beside the point.]
and 2007 [Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Radiohead - In Rainbows, LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver, M.I.A. - Kala, Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat, The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America, Ballads Of The Book, Low - Drums And Guns, The National - Boxer, Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge].
Without further ado then (and feel free to contribute your own/utterly demolish mine):
1986: The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
1987: Sonic Youth - Sister
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1990: Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet
1991: Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
1992: The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
1993: Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
1994: Silver Jews - Starlite Walker
1995: Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
1996: Belle And Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
1997: Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
1998: Arab Strap - Philophobia
1999: The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: Radiohead - Amnesiac
2002: Idlewild - The Remote Part
2003: Mogwai - Happy Songs For Happy People
2004: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus
2005: Arcade Fire - Funeral
2006: Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
2007: The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
2008 (so far): Aidan John Moffat - I Can Hear Your Heart
For the record, sentimental reasons at least play a part in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, which to the attentive is half my life. I think that's a pretty good balance to have.
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