Top 250: #181 - #200

We have now entered the top 200 of ProgActive's Top 250. This list has been compiled by checking the 250 most played tracks in our iTunes collection between early April of 2006 and early June of 2014 - a total of 98 months. The precise cut off time was at 6 am on 6 June. If nothing else, we hope this list is useful to those who might be interested in checking out good tracks they may have missed. If you like a lot of the songs on the list and then find one you have never heard, perhaps it might be of genuine interest.

200. If We Ever, by David Guetta
(One Love, 2009)
This blog entry seems to begin with the exact opposite of progressive rock. David Guetta is a famous French DJ and pop musician that has nothing to do with our favorite genre. But when it comes to modern pop, this song of his is among the very best. Ahem, there seems to be little more to say except maybe encourage you to check this song out.

199. Sanctum Sanctorum, by The Damned
(Phantasmagoria, 1985)
So, let's move onward to a considerably safer area although this is still not genuine prog. The British goth masters The Damned released this masterwork in mid-eighties and it has recently been discussed as a part of our year by year blog series. One of the best songs of the era, Sanctum Sanctorum lifts British new wave, or should we say post punk, to artistic heights unimaginable in the late seventies.

198. Vicarious, by Tool
(10,000 Days, 2006)
The new Tool album has been under construction for several years already but for now, 2006's 10,000 Days is still their most recent release. Its opening track Vicarious remains ProgActive's number one favorite. Vicarious exemplifies perfectly everything that has always been great about Tool: very heavy and very precise, this song is the sonic equivalent of a mathematical formula.

197. Chop Suey! by System of a Down
(Toxicity, 2001)
Probably the best known song from the Armenian American metal group System of a Down, Chop Suey! exemplifies perfectly everything that was great about the group exactly like Vicarious did for Tool. ProgActive cannot help but be impressed by the way extreme aggression alternates with the song's more subtle, even tender moments, combining these into a sad message.

196. Sing Swan Song, by Can
(Ege Bamyasi, 1972)
Finally, we are back to familiar territory. Sing Swan Song is one of our favorite songs from the German experimental rock group Can, whose heyday extended from the late sixties to mid-seventies. Ege Bamyasi is their fourth album, made between the better known Tago Mago (1971) and Future Days (1973) and this one is its key track.

195. Codex, by Radiohead
(The King of Limbs, 2011)
Taken from Radiohead's eighth and still the most recent album, Codex is a sensitive, melody driven song that serves as a good reminder of how good this alternative rock outfit can still be at their best. Otherwise, it is starting to look like the group's best days are already behind them. The rest of The King of Limbs we could take or leave.

194. Open Mind, by Blackfield
(Blackfield, 2004)
The opening track of Blackfield's 2004 masterpiece debut is already the second song taken from it that has made it to Top 250. It is slightly more aggressive in tone than the rest of the duo's output. The quiet opening of the song grows to a massive wall of sound towards the end - an effect that we at ProgActive are often impressed with. We can be easy to please.

193. Let the Happiness in, by David Sylvian
(Secrets of the Beehive, 1987)
A considerable portion of English singer David Sylvian's output sounds so alienatingly artistic that large audiences probably find it inaccessible. Not so in this case: Let the Happiness in is simply brilliant in its lovely simplicity. Just a well written song with a beautiful melody and a positive message. Actually we are surprised it didn't get any higher on the list than this. Haven't we played it any more often?

192. All in One Day, by Ultravox
(U-vox, 1986)
Here is another song that we discussed not so long ago when listing the best works of 1986. We actually selected All in One Day as the #1 best short track of that year. It is definitely Ultravox's greatest masterpiece, even if it isn't their most familiar one. One of the pioneering groups of the futuristic pop scene of the early eighties, they really nailed it here, a few years later.

191. The Roots of Coincidence, by Pat Metheny Group
(Imaginary Day, 1997)
We have a Grammy winner on our list! The American Pat Metheny Group's outstanding instrumental track won that award in 1999 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, while the whole album Imaginary Day won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. We think there is a distinct possibility that we'll find also another track taken from it in the Top 250. We didn't check, but it's likely.

190. You Know I'm Right, by David Gilmour
(About Face, 1984)
The Pink Floyd guitarist wrote and recorded this amusing song about his longtime bandmate Roger Waters at around the same time they were parting ways for good. The last Pink Floyd album with both still on board had been released a year earlier. Gilmour succeeded in composing a very fine rock song that would work great even if its lyrics were about something else.

189. The Dead Man's Dream, by Procol Harum
(Home, 1970)
One good way to completely capture our attention is to tell an actual thought provoking story in the lyrics of a rock song. Procol Harum did exactly that in this excellent track taken from their fourth studio album. The Dead Man's Dream is a horror story to boot - our favorite genre. The story gives additional meaning to the music and accentuates the song's eerie finale. Brrrr.

188. Sisters of Remindum, by Anthony Phillips
(Sides, 1979)
This track from original Genesis guitarist's early solo album is somehow reminiscent of The Tale of Taliesin by Soft Machine that we discussed earlier. In both cases, a well designed track is intentionally broken down, so to speak, with a zany experimental / jazzy sequence that borders on plain cacophony. Like Soft Machine, Phillips also masters his craft. Awesome.

187. Butterfly Song, by Jocelyn Pook
(Untold Things, 2001)
Jocelyn Pook's soulful music came to our attention when her compositions played on the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Butterfly Song is quite different from the film compositions. Taken from Untold Things that was released a couple of years after her international breakthrough, the song is more lyrical and employs some interesting voice processing effects.

186. Hyperpower! by Nine Inch Nails
(Year Zero, 2007)
This instrumental track runs well under two minutes and serves as a powerful opener to one of Nine Inch Nails' less successful albums. Year Zero (2007) sounds like something that Trent Reznor was not really interested in doing but was contractually obliged to. At that point, it was NIN's last album for a major label, after which some experimental low profile releases followed.

185. Close Your Eyes, by No-Man
(Returning Jesus, 2001)
Returning Jesus is the fourth album of Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson's art rock project and at that point easily their best. They would go on to improve even on this with their next album. Close Your Eyes is a lengthy piece with a soothing instrumentation, relaxed tempo and a somehow tropical atmosphere. We suppose we could call it one of ProgActive's recommendations for relaxing music.

184. Sara, by Fleetwood Mac
(Tusk, 1979)
Fleetwood Mac was a pop group back when that word meant something quite different from what it means today. They actually had style and were all about music instead of image. Following the incredible success of Rumours (1977), Tusk must have been a difficult follow-up. The double vinyl is indeed uneven, but does reach greatness from time to time, Sara being a good example of that.

183. Broad Sunlit Uplands, by Mike Oldfield
(The Millennium Bell, 1999)
Mike Oldfield has repeatedly tried to recreate his original megasuccess Tubular Bells (1973). The Millennium Bell, released shortly before we entered the year 2000, is as mediocre as the other attempts, but does include a couple of really good tracks. The beautiful instrumental Broad Sunlit Uplands is one, and we wouldn't be surprised to find the other one somewhere on this list as well.

182. Pluvius Aestivus of Summer Rain (Homines Fabula Initium), by Pain of Salvation
(Be, 2004)
The Swedish progressive metal group Pain of Salvation has made several interesting albums during their career that spans two decades. One of their most satisfactory releases has been Be, out a full ten years ago. For a large part, it feels like an ambitious failure but it does have its moments, one of them being this song with a complicated title partially in Latin.

181. Lady, by Haikara
(Haikara IV: Domino, 1998)
Next, we move from Sweden to Finland. Haikara is also a progressive rock group but they began their career already in the seventies. Domino from 1998 is not quite as proggy as the group's older releases. In fact, the absolutely beautiful instrumental Lady is only a great art rock track with nothing complicated about it - you might label it under new age.

Top 250: #201 - #225

While using iTunes playtime statistics as a basis to an all time Top 250 should yield quite good results, there is one drawback. Since we at ProgActive started using iTunes as late as in April 2006, those musical works that were new then and have been released since, have a clear edge over older material. To be able to create a more accurate Top 250, iTunes should really have existed at the beginning of the seventies and recorded everything from then onward.

Had it been so, the top of the list would probably be filled with truly classic prog tracks such as Awaken by Yes that we listed last time as #229. Over all time, it must have been one of the most played tracks by ProgActive, but it has received considerably less playing time since 2006 because by then it was already so familiar and often heard.

An inevitable question arises. Will the top of the list even contain progressive rock? The answer is a resounding yes, although the prog tracks there are not the greatest classics of all time. Those received their attention already in the seventies and early eighties. But when we look at the top of the list, its top 2 consists of tracks that cannot possibly be labelled as anything other than progressive rock, and there are many, many others further down as well.

225. Schism, by Tool
(Lateralus, 2001)
One modern progressive rock classic is Tool's outstanding 2001 album Lateralus. The American prog metal group take their time fine tuning their albums, yet all but one of them are far from perfect except for playing skill. Lateralus is that one exception. Schism is one of its most accessible songs.

224. Crossfire, by Kansas
(Vinyl Confessions, 1982)
Another American group Kansas made their most famous albums already in the seventies. One of our favorite songs of theirs here at ProgActive is however from the early eighties. Crossfire is a six minute symphonic prog masterpiece that we don't seem to get tired of.

223. Once, by OSI
(Free, 2006)
OSI, short for Office of Strategic Influence, is yet another American progressive rock group that has been active since the early 2000's. Led by original Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore, the group has recently veered towards progressive metal but Once from eight years ago bears no traces of that yet.

222. What Have We Sown? by The Pineapple Thief
(What We Have Sown, 2007)
The slow building, continuous 27-minute progressive rock song is yet another minor masterpiece on the list, performed by the British progressive / art rock outfit The Pineapple Thief. We have actually dedicated a separate blog entry to it about a year and a half ago. Would you like to know more? Please check it out.

221. Save Me, by Muse
(The 2nd Law, 2012)
Another British art rock group, Muse released their latest album The 2nd Law a couple of years ago and succeeded especially well with this beautiful track that we placed third when listing the best works of 2012. You can read more about that right here.

220. October Sunshine, by Mercury Rev
(Snowflake Midnight, 2008)
The American Mercury Rev is yet another art rock group who have succeeded in getting our attention and guaranteeing themselves a place in the Top 250. The atmospheric October Sunshine is taken from 2008's Snowflake Midnight which is still their most recent album release.

219. Pigeon Drummer, by No-Man
(Schoolyard Ghosts, 2008)
The British two-man No-Man is yet another Steven Wilson project. Their 2008 album Schoolyard Ghosts still remains their latest studio release. Pigeon Drummer is an extremely challenging track with its mood changes from quiet beauty to ugly noise. We hated it at first, but have grown to like it later on.

218. Apocalypse Please, by Muse
(Absolution, 2003)
This is yet another peculiar coincidence. Muse has two tracks very close to each other on the list, although taken from two different albums released nine years apart. Apocalypse Please is a grandiose piece of British art rock at its very finest.

217. Floating, by Klaus Schulze
(Moondawn, 1976)
Finally we go for something completely different. Floating is a lengthy instrumental piece from German electronic music composer Klaus Schulze recorded in the mid-seventies. Schulze was once a member of Tangerine Dream; this track sounds a lot like that group's output.

216. Wrong, by Depeche Mode
(Sounds of the Universe, 2009)
ProgActive has been mostly disappointed with the most recent output of once great Depeche Mode. Yet only their very latest album seems to be completely without merit. This strong track is from the second latest, and works like the group's nineties prime works.

215. Eye of the Storm, by Camel
(I Can See Your House from Here, 1979)
One of British progressive rock group Camel's most beautiful songs is this instrumental track taken from their 1979 album with the humorous if enigmatic cover image above. The track was composed by a newcomer in the band, Kit Watkins of Happy the Man.

214. Paul McCarthy, by Harold Budd
(Luxa, 1996)
Another lovely instrumental in a row is quite different from the previous one. American composer Harold Budd has been one of our favorites for several decades and this piano driven, peaceful ambient instrumental is one of his very best. Memorable and minimal.

213. Not This Way (Chapter 10), by Saga
(Full Circle, 1999)
Canadian rock group Saga made their most memorable recordings in the late seventies and early eighties, then became too techno pop oriented for our taste. Surprisingly, they have returned to form later on and this absolutely beautiful ballad is one great example of that.

212. Show Me, by Yes
(The Ultimate Yes, 2004)
Almost precisely ten years ago, we attended a Yes concert in Helsinki where they played this song, then unknown to us. We had to look for it in the internet since it wasn't included in the version of The Ultimate Yes collection released in Finland. This search required some work back then, but it was worth it.

211. Constant Contrast, by Nosound
(A Sense of Loss, 2009)
We found the Italian art rock group Nosound around 2008, so they are perfectly positioned to score well in the Top 250. I suspect there will be several other tracks of theirs on the list. Constant Contrast, while a lovely song, isn't even our favorite track on their 2009 album.

210. Someone Starts to Fade Away, by Nosound
(Lightdark, 2008)
That certainly didn't take long! This beautiful song is from the group's best album so far, 2008's Lightdark that contains several of our other favorites as well. This song is a perfect introduction to Nosound for those who are not yet familiar with them. If you like this, you will like most of their other songs as well.

209. In the Smoke, by Cerrone
(Supernature, 1977)
Following two Italian tracks comes a French one. Cerrone was a cult seventies figure, a pop music composer who never became truly famous - outside France anyway - but who gained some notoriety as the composer of the theme track to the Kenny Everett Show. In the Smoke is its variation.

208. Fadeaway, by Porcupine Tree
(Up the Downstair, 1993)
The beautiful closing track of Porcupine Tree's second album has done quite well on the list. Originally, this album was a solo effort by Steven Wilson, but the remastered 2005 release contained some upgrades such as other musicians, real drums, and that is the version we at ProgActive have learned to like.

207. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, by Deep Purple
(Purpendicular, 1996)
Deep Purple may have recorded most of their classic tracks in the seventies, but this excellent 1996 song may just be our all time favorite. It is either this one, or Perfect Strangers which is not from the seventies either. A lengthy, enjoyable hard rock song without noticeable faults.

206. Resident Alien, by The Pineapple Thief
(Variations on a Dream, 2003)
This stunning instrumental from The Pineapple Thief's peak album is certainly not going to be the last track from it that made it to the Top 250. Even without checking we can guess that there will most likely be up to three more masterpieces taken from it further up on the list.

205. Valtari, by Sigur Rós
(Valtari, 2012)
One of the latest tracks on the list is also one of its most awesome instrumentals. Like we wrote earlier when discussing the best music of 2012 (see #221 for link), we had already more or less forgotten about Sigur Rós. This breathtaking new album and its title track in particular proved that they were still a force to be reckoned with.

204. One Man's Poison, by Rupert Hine
(Waving Not Drowning, 1982)
Another masterpiece that is actually even better than its standing on the list implies, One Man's Poison was found by us in Spotify only a couple of years ago. Hence, it hasn't had time to climb any higher than this. An unforgettable rock track with a weighty message.

203. The Fear Has Gone, by Engineers
(Three Fact Fader, 2009)
Of all the shoegazing groups, the British Engineers are our biggest favorite and have several songs of theirs in the Top 250. A new album Always Returning will be out in less than two months, on 11 August. This song is from Three Fact Fader, the group's peak album so far.

202. Speaking in Lampblack, by Echolyn
(Echolyn, 2012)
Another relatively fresh entry, Echolyn's second self titled album is two years old this June. Speaking in Lampblack is a ten minute song that is one of the most accomplished works on the album. Overall, the 2012 release was one of the group's very best.

201. Heart Attack in a Lay by, by Porcupine Tree
(In Absentia, 2002)
Erm, this entry puts us slightly into shame. This song is one of the greatest musical masterpieces of the 21st century and we are dumbfounded to find it this far down in the Top 250. It would make much more sense to find it somewhere in top 50. A moving story backed with a melancholic, atmospheric melody.

Top 250: #226 - #250

ProgActive has been using Apple's iTunes regularly since early April of 2006. At first, with a 60 GB iPod and later with more recent and advanced devices. During these 8 years and 2 months, the counters for individual tracks have never been reset. Roughly four years ago, a faulty iTunes update lost over a month's worth of playing statistics, but otherwise we still have complete playtime information stored that accumulate all the way from 2006.

Today, there are 6,236 tracks in ProgActive's iTunes collection. We know - it is not particularly much but we have always been very picky in what to include, in order to avoid mediocrity as well as the need to skip tracks while playing in shuffle mode. What are the most played tracks in the collection after approximately 98 months of listening? We decided to find out.

We stopped the clock and made a copy of the situation in the morning of 6 June, 2014, at 6:06 in the morning. We collected the data to form a Top 250 of most played songs at that particular point in time and will start listing it here, starting from the bottom. This will be a nice additional series in addition to the ongoing annual Best of series that will probably still continue for well over a year.

The first two entries, this one and the next, will list 25 tracks each and give only relatively short introductions for each one of them. After that, there will be five entries with 20 tracks each, with perhaps slightly longer introductions. Following these seven blog entries, we will have reached the Top 100. Starting there, it will be 10 tracks per entry, with much more thorough introductions and embedded links to songs whenever possible that you will then be able to check out instantly.

When we reach Top 30 there will be only five tracks per blog entry. Songs will be written about at length: there will be as much background as possible and of course the songs themselves will be embedded to accompany their introductions. All this will add up to 20 entries in this series. A nice way to spend summer is to reminisce the finest music that has been made during the past decades. Let us begin right away.

250. Which Way the Wind Blows, by Anthony Phillips
(The Geese and the Ghost, 1977)
This beautiful song from original Genesis guitarist's first solo album has the name of that group written all over it. In addition to Phillips, Mike Rutherford is involved, and it is none other than Phil Collins in vocals.

249. Pagan, by Porcupine Tree
(Signify, 1996)
We must admit that we were surprised to find this particular Porcupine Tree track this high on the list, but sure, it's a good song. Signify was the first PT album where the guys started working as a real group, as opposed to the earlier albums that had been almost completely Steven Wilson's solo efforts.

248. Blackfield, by Blackfield
(Blackfield, 2004)
Another Steven Wilson project in a row, this is one of only two songs in our iTunes collection where the title of the song, the album where it's from, and the artist have the exact same name. The other being Lunatic Soul by Lunatic Soul from Lunatic Soul - which however didn't make it to the Top 250.

247. Sail to the Moon, by Radiohead
(Hail to the Thief, 2003)
Overall, Radiohead's 2003 album Hail to the Thief was a disappointment to us, especially following the masterpiece that was Kid A (2000). But its third track is a real stunner that fully deserves its place in the Top 250. Very, very beautiful song from immensely talented musicians.

246. Clair de Lune, composed by Claude Debussy
(1890)
Another surprise to us was that there is even one classical track that has made it to the Top 250. One of the most beautiful piano pieces ever written, Clair de Lune has been heard in many a movie and is, as the name of its genre already implies, a true classic.

245. The Tale of Taliesin, by Soft Machine
(Softs, 1976)
The 1976 album Softs represents a later incarnation of avant garde / jazz / prog group Soft Machine. Future Adiemus man Karl Jenkins has begun to dominate the group's artistic development, but in The Tale of Taliesin there is a nice combination of old and new.

244. Abacab, by Genesis
(Abacab, 1981)
Most of the eighties output of Genesis varied from meaningless to downright embarrassing, but the title track of their 1981 album is one exception. A simple, straightforward rock track with an ominous atmosphere and a kick ass two minute "jam session" at the end.

243. Stagnant, by Devin Townsend
(Terria, 2001)
One of the foremost names in progressive metal since the late nineties, Canadian Devin Townsend released one of his best albums Terria in 2001. The powerful Stagnant is not the only track taken from it that made it to the Top 250.

242. Summer's Lease by Big Big Train
(The Difference Machine, 2007)
One of the prettiest songs by the British progressive rock group is our number one favorite in their catalogue; there won't be any others further up on the list. The Difference Machine features Pete Trewavas of Marillion and Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard as guest musicians - the latter has since joined as an official member.

241. Mike Mills, by Air
(Talkie Walkie, 2004)
In addition to progressive rock, this Top 250 will also be populated by a pop music sub genre that is oddly called shoegazing. The French duo Air is one representative of that genre and there will also be another that is going to be wildly successful...

240. Take a Look Around, by Limp Bizkit
(Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack, 2000)
Now we are really non-progressive! Mission: Impossible 2 may have been a crappy action movie, but its rap / nu metal main theme excited us so much back then that it is still in the top 240 of our iTunes collection! Talk about guilty pleasures...

239. Symbol of Life, by Paradise Lost
(Symbol of Life, 2002)
Another metal track from roughly the same era, Symbol of Life is a much easier choice to defend. The British metal heads Paradise Lost began with much more doom laden output, then transformed into a mainstream rock band, and here is where they began their return to purer metal in 2002.

238. Serenity, by Lisa Gerrard
(The Silver Tree, 2007)
Having reached international fame as one half of Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard's music was always more ethereal and leaning towards ethnic soundscapes than that of his DCD collaborator Brendan Perry. Serenity is one of the most beautiful relatively recent examples of that.

237. I Could Say, by Lily Allen
(It's Not Me, It's You, 2009)
Now here is the definition of a guilty pleasure, one that could cause us to lose what little credibility we still may have. But there's no denying that I Could Say is a near perfect piece of modern pop music with a heartwarming message. We aren't above liking things like that. There is no need to be.

236. Humdrum, by Peter Gabriel
(Peter Gabriel, 1977)
The short, extremely powerful song from Peter Gabriel's very first solo album has always remained our favorite song of his entire career, regardless of his later excellence. Perhaps it is the impressive wall of sound of the last part that finally convinced us of the song's greatness.

235. Don't Give Your Heart to Anybody, by Europeans
(Recurring Dreams, 1984)
Marillion singer Steve Hogarth's former band played melody driven art rock which, we think, has also labelled Marillion as well since his introduction as its new frontman. Not progressive, but a fine example of eighties rock music nonetheless.

234. Ready Steady Go, by Paul Oakenfold
(Bunkka, 2002)
This is the hypnotic techno / trance song that plays in the background during the jaw dropping night club scene of Michael Mann's outstanding crime film Collateral (2004). Sources also say that it is Oakenfold's best known track. Fully understandable.

233. The Slow Wait Part 1 (Ambient), by The American Dollar
(Ambient One, 2009)
The American Dollar is, you guessed it, an American group. Its two members play post rock, which we don't care much about, but have also released some successful compilations of their songs in ambient versions. This excellent track is from the first of three collections released so far.

232. The 'in' Crowd, by Bryan Ferry
(Another Time, Another Place, 1974)
Bryan Ferry's delicious cover version of the sixties song has been a favorite of ours ever since it was first released. The rich arrangement works perfectly by giving the listener a feel that the singer really knows what he is singing about. He really sounds like he belongs to that crowd.

231. Asian River, by Brian Eno
(Music for Films III, 1988)
The solo effort of Bryan Ferry's one time bandmate is a delicate instrumental work that originates from the third part of his Music for Films series. Oddly enough, there is another track from the same album only a short way up on the list, suggesting that we have listened to them at the same time.

230. Smoking Tree, by Combination Head
(Progress?, 2007)
The second album by the British progressive rock group Combination Head contains a couple of our favorites. This one is a peaceful and lovely instrumental track that actually fits really well between the couple of Brian Eno tracks we also have here.

229. Awaken, by Yes
(Going for the One, 1977)
Here it is, the all time greatest Long Prog Masterpiece as chosen by us two years ago. We must have listened to it three or four hundred times at least but since counting began in April 2006, only this is how far up on the list it was able to get. At least it is in Top 250, so that's something.

228. Theme from 'Creation', by Brian Eno
(Music for Films III, 1988)
The companion piece to Asian River (#231), this is another one of Brian Eno's lovely short instrumental tracks. We seem to have listened to both mostly in the same playing session, since they are located this close to each other on the list.

227. Belle de Jour, by Steven Wilson
(Grace for Drowning, 2011)
Overall, ProgActive was not particularly thrilled about Steven Wilson's second solo album Grace for Drowning, but it did have its moments and this is one of them: a three minute guitar instrumental that has a genuinely enigmatic atmosphere.

226. Outside, by David Bowie
(Outside, 1995)
David Bowie's mid-1990's album release Outside is a mixed bag: it contains some of the most creative and interesting work that the legendary singer has recorded during the latter half of his career. A good example of that is the title track. But there are plenty of forgettable inclusions as well.

1991: January to August

Like many years that preceded it, 1991 had its emphasis on autumn. The first eight months have an equal amount of noteworthy releases as do the last four; hence, we will now cover January to August. Also worth noting is that this year shows the first signs of the glorious return of progressive rock. Although the debut releases of Echolyn and Porcupine Tree are not discussed here, they nonetheless represent a welcome return to a more ambitious format of modern rock music, and promise good things for the next couple of decades.

This year, there was nothing particularly interesting coming out in January, but 4 February marks the last new release of Queen during the time their lead singer Freddie Mercury was still alive. This was the date when Innuendo was released. During the following months, there was some speculation that the lead singer of the group might not be feeling well, and he did seem abnormally thin in the music video for I'm Going Slightly Mad.

Finally, on 23 November, Mercury published a statement that he was stricken with AIDS, and only one day after that, he died. A tragic year then, to say the least. The title track of the album, whose music video has been embedded above, was easily one of the best art rock tracks of the year and a wonderful coda to a great career. Needless to say, this is where we part ways with Queen, but what a stunning farewell Innuendo is.

The eighties may have been the best decade ever for pure pop music but there are some brilliant pop groups in the nineties as well. One of them is the Swedish group Roxette, whose third album Joyride came out on 28 March. Yes, the remembrance of the title track almost makes one puke; it was a really annoying pop tune if there ever was one. But there are other songs on the album that are absolutely great; in fact, no less than four of them, one of which has been embedded above.

Following the obnoxious title track, Fading Like a Flower and Spending My Time were deservedly released as singles. Great pop songs, both of them. However, I chose to embed Watercolours in the Rain which did not get a single release, yet it was every bit the equal of those two. The fourth excellent song on the album is its closing track Perfect Day. Roxette would go on to compose and publish memorable pop songs during the nineties. The best one of them would come out near the end of the decade, and we will definitely discuss it at more length when the time comes.

The British trip hop group Massive Attack fell victim to bewildering censorship on MTV during the first Gulf War, when their name was shortened to Massive at the time the music videos for songs taken from their debut album Blue Lines, out on 8 April, were being played there in power rotation. The album's opening track Safe from Harm was the first, but after that came the absolutely brilliant Unfinished Sympathy which I thought already at this point couldn't possibly be beaten in the Best short track category for 1991.

Since the turn of the decade, both Yes and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe had been preparing a new album. Finally, both groups saw the light and - with added pressure from the record company - decided to combine their talents and release a joint effort. The end result was fittingly named Union and it came out on 29 April. Both versions of Yes had added value to the album but it still didn't turn out to be particularly memorable in terms of artistic success. However, there are two truly outstanding songs on the 14-track (!) release which is why we are discussing it in the first place.

The More We Live - Let Go, embedded above, has the sound and feel of a Jon Anderson song. It was therefore slightly surprising to me to learn that it is actually a product of the Trevor Rabin incarnation of the band. The song has been written by Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood. A more obvious song from Rabin and Squire's half of the group is Lift Me Up, which sounds like it was originally intended to be the opening track of their album. These two co-wrote the song that has strong guitar sequences played by Rabin.

Next, we will jump over May all the way to mid-June, when two interesting albums came out exactly one week apart from each other. First up was Van Halen, whose new release For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was for the most part meaningless but contained one really enjoyable song. Out on 17 June, the album's gleefully sexist opening track Poundcake was even complemented by a music video that you can watch and listen to below. Stupid, yes, but nonetheless irresistible.

Next, on 24 June Marillion released their second studio album with new singer Steve Hogarth - sixth overall - called Holidays in Eden. This was an important album release for the group for various reasons. Most obviously, this was the real test for Hogarth. You can always make one album with a group whose leader you have replaced, but it is another thing to convince also on second attempt; show that you have actually proven yourself as the new leader and are capable of leading your group's growth and progress.

The other reasons were more contradicting. Holidays in Eden was actually better than Seasons End but in the "wrong" way. It was definitely not a progressive rock album. For the first time in their career, Marillion had made a generic, melody driven art rock album that was bordering on pop. In that genre, it was an excellent collection of songs, but was this really the direction that Hogarth was going to lead his group? You know, like Phil Collins turned Genesis from a prog rock giant to a below average boy band? I assumed so at the time - I was proven wrong, but enjoyed Holidays in Eden just the same.

One track on the album, called The Party, was obviously going to give Unfinished Sympathy a run for its money when competing for the title of Best short track of the year. It looks like this lovely song is unavailable in YouTube, except for inferior live versions, so this time I will have to embed a link to Spotify. In addition to The Party, please make sure to check out also Waiting to Happen, Dry Land, No One Can and Cover My Eyes (Pain and Heaven) for some of the best rock/pop of the year.

In July, nothing of importance came out. That brings us straight to 12 August and the landmark rock album of the year. The American heavy metal group Metallica had been growing in importance all through the eighties, but still the success of their self titled "black album" must have surprised everyone - the members of the group included. The angry young thrash metal players became super rich mainstream megastars virtually overnight.

For me, the true masterpiece on the classic Metallica is The Unforgiven, embedded above. For many others, it was Enter Sandman. And, looking back, the most famous and best known track in the longer term seems to be the ballad Nothing Else Matters. For the group, this album was to be a divisive one. Not all fans were happy, feeling that their idols had sold out. For others, this was their peak album and greatest work thus far. Be that as it may, it took Metallica five years to complete their next album and when they did, the results were hardly satisfactory. They haven't really returned to form since.

1990

Compared to the magnificent overkill that was 1989, the following year was surprisingly sparse when it came to high quality album releases. We will only be able to discuss eight important releases for 1990. However, there will be a bonus: at the end, we will also mention one more album that was ready in 1990 but whose release was cancelled and the recording didn't come out until a full 20 years later!

Another exception to general rules is that, like last year, January is once again a busy month. There are again two noteworthy releases, whereas there are normally none. First up is the American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, whose new album Flood came out on 15 January. I didn't really like it as a whole, but its first proper track following the humorous introduction was one of my biggest favorites at the time. Listening to it was like holding a balloon: you really couldn't be unhappy while doing it.

Birdhouse in Your Soul, embedded above, was also a big hit on Sky Channel where it played constantly in the power rotation of their music video programs. No wonder; the song is catchy as hell and the music video is extremely entertaining. There is nothing truly alternative about this song: it is mainstream pop backed up by strong rock and roll percussion and an easy to remember melody. They might have been giants, but I never heard anything else even remotely as good from them; neither before nor after.

Precisely two weeks later, a pleasant surprise awaited me. The original singer of Marillion, uncle Fish had embarked on a solo career. His debut solo album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors was released on 29 January, and a fine album it was. Above, I have embedded its opening track, the lengthy masterpiece Vigil and am happy to say that there are also several other excellent tracks on the album.

Vigil sounds very much like eighties Marillion. The album's other fine songs like A Gentleman's Excuse Me, The Company and Big Wedge showcase a style all of their singer's own. A music video was made for Big Wedge that actually played occasionally on Sky Channel. I was extremely happy: Marillion may have experienced a partial split, but if Fish and his former band now start making fine albums independently from each other, I will get double the enjoyment. Little did I know what would actually happen.

March saw the release of Happiness by the British pop group The Beloved. We mentioned them already in the last blog entry because the first single taken from it, the absolutely stunning The Sun Rising was released already in late 1989. A couple of other perfect pop songs were included on Happiness. Hello was a big success, but I never cared for it that much; I always preferred Your Love Takes Me Higher, embedded above. The third excellent song on the album, called Wake Up Soon, is also worth checking out.

In 1990, the race for Album of the year was immediately over when the new Depeche Mode album Violator was released on 19 March. From that point onward, there couldn't possibly be any real contest. I already mentioned the single release of Personal Jesus two blog entries ago; it took place in the late summer of 1989. That song was included on Violator, as well as several other instant classics. The most famous one of them is embedded below; this music video played on Sky Channel all the time during winter and spring of 1990.

The single release of Enjoy the Silence had actually taken place already on 5 February, which is why it was already a familiar song come mid-March. But the rest of the album didn't really pale in comparison. Among its nine songs, there are really only two that I always thought were a little weaker than the other seven; namely, the second track called Sweetest Perfection and the second to last called Blue Dress. Everything else - masterwork after masterwork.

So strong was Depeche Mode's new release that even Suzanne Vega had no chance. Her previous album Solitude Standing (1987) was not only the best of that year but also the best of the decade. Her new album Days of Open Hand, out on 10 April, was perfectly fine but no match for Violator. Also, it was no match for Solitude Standing. I will always remember the huge disappointment of hearing the first two tracks. Even though the rest of the album was mostly really good, it could never really recover from that weak start.

Above, I have embedded the wonderfully mysterious and atmospheric Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace) but it is not a very good example to represent the album as a whole. It isn't quite this brooding a release. Many of the songs on it are much like the songs on Solitude Standing: easy to remember folk rock songs with strong emphasis on melody. Days of Open Hand is an easy album to recommend: it just isn't anywhere near the masterpiece level that the artist achieved on her previous effort.

We have already discussed five releases out of eight. The next two actually happened to be released on the same date, so 11 June is already the penultimate release date worth checking in our calendars. This is really why 1990 has so few releases worth discussing: only one important release came out during the second half of the year. Does someone have different information? Please let me know which late 1990 release I have missed. I would be thrilled to know.

In alphabetical order, the first one of the two 11 June releases is Aion by Dead Can Dance. This album was the eagerly awaited follow-up to the two undying masterpieces that were Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987) and The Serpent's Egg (1988). Both received a blog entry of their own not too long ago due to their groundbreaking significance. Aion does not. It marks the return of Dead Can Dance to mere mortals. In fact, I don't think it is even quite as good as Spleen and Ideal (1985).

Aion sounds like Lisa Gerrard has now a dominating role in the group, and her tendency towards ethnic music doesn't really work all that well for too much of the time - although I really do enjoy the first two tracks on the album. It is therefore Brendan Perry's work that I find myself favoring on this release. Fortune Presents Gifts not According to the Book, embedded above, is perhaps the best song on the album, closely followed by Black Sun; another Perry classic. Dead Can Dance continued to be an important group, but now it started to seem that their artistic creativity had already peaked.

The second release of 11 June is not important as a whole. Instead, it contains one important track. The French electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre seemed to be losing his creative edge already on his previous album two years earlier. Waiting for Cousteau is not worth much and were it not for this one certain great track it would certainly not be worth discussing. But his multi-part opus Calypso contains one irresistible part. Calypso Part 2, embedded above, is one of the best electronic music compositions of the era and among the best of Jarre's entire output.

And that's nearly everything. Following 11 June, only one important release came out during the rest of the year. The date in question was 26 November, when a new talent emerged to the soul music scene. The classic song Crazy by Seal was released as a single and started gaining notoriety, eventually to be included on the singer's first, self titled solo album which coincidentally came out on 11 June of the following year.

This was a time when MTV and other satellite channels had an important role in promoting new (popular) music. I don't know when I might have got acquainted with Seal, had I not seen and heard the music video, embedded above, repeatedly on MTV. I came to like the song almost instantly. It has a memorable mood and it actually seems to carry a message, unlike most of the other output available on hit music channels. Later on, Seal also came to prove that he was not a one hit wonder.

Since the actual 1990 releases were all there, all we have left is to discuss the one release that wasn't released. We are talking about the new album by Mr. Mister, whose peak album Welcome to the Real World we already mentioned back in 1985. Their new effort Pull wasn't approved by their record label and ended up not getting a release date at all, until the group's singer Richard Page finally released it through his own record label on 23 November, 2010. Twenty years later.

Embedded above, let's listen to the album's excellent opening track Learning to Crawl before getting to the "best of" lists. Please pay attention to Trevor Rabin of Yes visiting as the guitarist. The group's drummer Pat Mastelotto would go on to join King Crimson, which would reactivate in 1993.

In spite of the overwhelming superiority of Depeche Mode in 1990, I cannot give them the Best short track award. That will have to be given to uncle Fish, whose opening track to his solo album, Vigil is easily the most complicated, moving and progressive piece of music released this year. Thanks to him for making me remember once more what eighties Marillion was like and what was always so beautiful about progressive rock pieces running over eight minutes.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Depeche Mode: Violator
Fish: Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors
Suzanne Vega: Days of Open Hand

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Dead Can Dance: Black Sun
Dead Can Dance: Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book
Depeche Mode: Clean
Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence
Depeche Mode: Halo
Depeche Mode: Policy of Truth
Depeche Mode: Waiting for the Night
Depeche Mode: World in My Eyes
Fish: Vigil
Jean-Michel Jarre: Calypso Part 2
Mr. Mister: Learning to Crawl
Seal: Crazy
Suzanne Vega: Pilgrimage
Suzanne Vega: Rusted Pipe
Suzanne Vega: Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)
They Might Be Giants: Birdhouse in Your Soul

Best albums of the year, 1967 to 1990:

1967: Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
1968: -
1969: Procol Harum: A Salty Dog
1970: Genesis: Trespass
1971: Genesis: Nursery Cryme
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
1974: Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge
1975: Electric Light Orchestra: Face the Music
1976: Genesis: A Trick of the Tail
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: And Then There Were Three
1979: Robert Fripp: Exposure
1980: Talking Heads: Remain in Light
1981: Camel: Nude
1982: Rush: Signals
1983: Ozzy Osbourne: Bark at the Moon
1984: Rush: Grace Under Pressure
1985: Marillion: Misplaced Childhood
1986: Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
1987: Suzanne Vega: Solitude Standing
1988: Dead Can Dance: The Serpent's Egg
1989: Faith No More: The Real Thing
1990: Depeche Mode: Violator

Best short tracks (under approx. 12 minutes), 1967 to 1990:

1967: Pink Floyd: Bike
1968: Pink Floyd: Julia Dream
1969: Pink Floyd: Cirrus Minor
1970: The Beatles: The Long and Winding Road
1971: Genesis: The Fountain of Salmacis
1972: Gentle Giant: Schooldays
1973: John Cale: Paris 1919
1974: Mike Oldfield: Mike Oldfield's Single
1975: The Tubes: Up from the Deep
1976: Gong: Chandra
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: Down and Out
1979: Barclay James Harvest: Play to the World
1980: Saga: Don't Be Late
1981: John Foxx: The Garden
1982: Laurie Anderson: O Superman (For Massenet)
1983: Brian Eno: An Ending (Ascent)
1984: Laurie Anderson: Blue Lagoon
1985: Talk Talk: Time it's Time
1986: Ultravox: All in One Day
1987: Suzanne Vega: Ironbound / Fancy Poultry
1988: Dead Can Dance: The Host of Seraphim
1989: Marillion: Seasons End
1990: Fish: Vigil

Best long tracks (Approx. 12 minutes or over), 1970 to 1986:

1970: King Crimson: Lizard
1971: Van der Graaf Generator: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 1
1974: King Crimson: Starless
1975: Mike Oldfield: Ommadawn, Part 1
1976: -
1977: Yes: Awaken
1978: Popol Vuh: Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts
1979: U.K: Carrying No Cross
1980: Mike Rutherford: Smallcreep's Day
1981: -
1982: Mike Oldfield: Taurus II
1983: Mike Oldfield: Crises
1984: Jean-Michel Jarre: Ethnicolor
1985: Robert Fripp: God Save the King
1986: The Enid: The Change

1989: October to December

I have already skipped one Phil Collins solo album (No Jacket Required, 1985) and for the most part his new one might as well be skipped too. But seriously, there is one really good song on the album that deserves to be heard. The Genesis drummer's fourth solo album ...But Seriously wouldn't be coming out until 24 November, but the first single taken from it came out already on 9 October, so this is the correct point to embed it and preferably also listen to it.

By this time, Collins has of course fully and completely distanced himself from his progressive rock roots and lost most of his credibility as a serious artist at the same time. But there aren't many better pop songs out this year than his beautiful, even slightly moving Another Day in Paradise. It received some really heavy rotation on the satellite channels of the time; you simply couldn't watch their mixes of new music videos for long without hearing it. Which was perhaps a good thing.

I have been raving about the exceptionally high quality of pop songs released during the eighties. One of the very best of them all was released as late as 14 October, 1989; only five days after the Collins song. Style-wise, it already seemed to belong to early nineties. Just watch and listen to the video below. Sheer bliss.

The Sun Rising by the British pop group The Beloved was one of the most played songs on the satellite channels I already mentioned and one of my biggest autumn favorites. It was the first single release from the group's forthcoming first album that wouldn't however come out until March, 1990. This will give us an excellent reason to return to it then, since there will also be another great song (and a third very good one) on it.

Two days later, on 16 October Kate Bush released her new studio album The Sensual World which was also one of those new recordings that I caught hold of almost immediately. While it was yet another good album from Kate, it seemed to be downplaying the progressive rock influences that had made her previous two releases particularly interesting to me. The Sensual World was more a decidedly feminine art rock album. That said, let's embed the deliciously challenging Heads We're Dancing which is of course my favorite track on it.

Another four days later, yet another nineties voice entered the arena of rock music. The most archetypal angry young man of hard rock, Pennsylvanian Trent Reznor had formed a one man band called Nine Inch Nails and released his / the "group's" debut album Pretty Hate Machine on 20 October. The album seemed to instantly make him a moderate success, and it didn't take long for me to hear of him.

During the late winter, the video embedded below played on satellite channels a lot and even I took note though I wasn't particularly impressed at first. Head Like a Hole opens the album and was released as the second single taken from it. I have always preferred the more menacing tones of Terrible Lie but have to admit that this is also a great hard rock song. Also, I enjoyed the quieter Something I Can Never Have that will later work well on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.

November was a busy month. We will discuss three noteworthy album releases and then call it a decade - there will be nothing more coming out in December. First up is The Creatures, an offshoot of Siouxsie and the Banshees whose latest album Peepshow we already mentioned when discussing 1988. The Creatures consisted of only two members of the mother group: Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie. The duo had already released their first album Feast back in 1983.

Their second album release Boomerang, out on 6 November, was actually something I found out about only through satellite channels: even though the marvelous Standing There doesn't sound particularly commercial, it was played on Sky Channel often enough for me to take note. I wasn't the only one who was thoroughly impressed, since the album turned out to be a favorite among music critics. After listening to the video embedded below, I'm sure you will understand why.

The following week the American industrial metal group Ministry released their fourth album which is actually the one that really piqued my interest. I have already discussed their previous effort The Land of Rape and Honey - a fine metal album. The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, out on 14 November, saw their music start developing in impressive ways and I was immediately convinced that here was a group worth paying attention to.

Below, I have embedded Burning Inside which is a fine metal tune and I like it a lot. It was chosen, however, mostly because there is a music video available. There are other two tracks on the recording that are way better and display the development I mentioned more clearly. Breathe is a very, very strong song with an ominous melody and a rhythm like a sledgehammer. The other stunning track is the instrumental album closer Dream Song; talk about atmospheric!

So this is where the eighties end. There is only one more release left to mention, and then it's over. I was seriously considering whether I should be mentioning it at all, and originally decided against it. But finally I changed my mind: Whitesnake deserves to be mentioned one final time, even though their new album is only an obvious attempt to replicate the success of 1987, which mostly fails. The title is Slip of the Tongue; the release date, 18 November.

For the fans of the group's more mellow songs, there is the popular ballad Fool for Your Loving. For the fans of harder rock, there is no equivalent to Still of the Night but near the end of the album there are a couple of excellent rock songs. Judgement Night is the first one of my big favorites. I am however embedding the closing track Sailing Ships which is even better: a fine, melodic hard rock song.

It is easy to select The Real Thing by Faith No More as Album of the year; it is groundbreaking and very evenly good, with only a couple of weaker tracks on it. Selecting the Best long track is even easier: once again, there aren't any.

But selecting the Best short track is really, really hard. This year, there are many excellent candidates, none of whom clearly stand out. I would so much have liked to award The Sun Rising, Standing There, The Real Thing, Oh Father, Disappointed or even Run Silent Run Deep. But, all things considered, the most significant and beautiful new song this year is Seasons End by Marillion. This is the first win in the song categories for the group, promising good things for the new lineup.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Faith No More: The Real Thing
Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Aerosmith: Janie's Got a Gun
Aerosmith: Love in an Elevator
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe: Birthright
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe: The Meeting
The Beloved: The Sun Rising
The Creatures: Standing There
Faith No More: The Real Thing
Faith No More: Zombie Eaters
Kate Bush: Heads We're Dancing
Madonna: Oh Father
Marillion: Seasons End
Marillion: The Space...
Nine Inch Nails: Head Like a Hole
Nine Inch Nails: Terrible Lie
Peter Gabriel: It is Accomplished
Public Image Ltd: Disappointed
Queen: The Miracle
Shakespear's Sister: Run Silent Run Deep
Simple Minds: Belfast Child

Best albums of the year, 1967 to 1989:

1967: Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
1968: -
1969: Procol Harum: A Salty Dog
1970: Genesis: Trespass
1971: Genesis: Nursery Cryme
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
1974: Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge
1975: Electric Light Orchestra: Face the Music
1976: Genesis: A Trick of the Tail
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: And Then There Were Three
1979: Robert Fripp: Exposure
1980: Talking Heads: Remain in Light
1981: Camel: Nude
1982: Rush: Signals
1983: Ozzy Osbourne: Bark at the Moon
1984: Rush: Grace Under Pressure
1985: Marillion: Misplaced Childhood
1986: Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
1987: Suzanne Vega: Solitude Standing
1988: Dead Can Dance: The Serpent's Egg
1989: Faith No More: The Real Thing

Best short tracks (under approx. 12 minutes):

1967: Pink Floyd: Bike
1968: Pink Floyd: Julia Dream
1969: Pink Floyd: Cirrus Minor
1970: The Beatles: The Long and Winding Road
1971: Genesis: The Fountain of Salmacis
1972: Gentle Giant: Schooldays
1973: John Cale: Paris 1919
1974: Mike Oldfield: Mike Oldfield's Single
1975: The Tubes: Up from the Deep
1976: Gong: Chandra
1977: Yes: Going for the One
1978: Genesis: Down and Out
1979: Barclay James Harvest: Play to the World
1980: Saga: Don't Be Late
1981: John Foxx: The Garden
1982: Laurie Anderson: O Superman (For Massenet)
1983: Brian Eno: An Ending (Ascent)
1984: Laurie Anderson: Blue Lagoon
1985: Talk Talk: Time it's Time
1986: Ultravox: All in One Day
1987: Suzanne Vega: Ironbound / Fancy Poultry
1988: Dead Can Dance: The Host of Seraphim
1989: Marillion: Seasons End

Best long tracks (Approx. 12 minutes or over):

1970: King Crimson: Lizard
1971: Van der Graaf Generator: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
1972: Yes: Close to the Edge
1973: King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 1
1974: King Crimson: Starless
1975: Mike Oldfield: Ommadawn, Part 1
1976: -
1977: Yes: Awaken
1978: Popol Vuh: Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts
1979: U.K: Carrying No Cross
1980: Mike Rutherford: Smallcreep's Day
1981: -
1982: Mike Oldfield: Taurus II
1983: Mike Oldfield: Crises
1984: Jean-Michel Jarre: Ethnicolor
1985: Robert Fripp: God Save the King
1986: The Enid: The Change
1987: -
1988: -
1989: -

Summer of 1989

I will not go into details, but the summer of 1989 was the most romantic one of my life so far, and the first two albums we are going to discuss here are ones I will always associate with that particular situation. First up is Peter Gabriel, whose soundtrack to last year's controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ was released on 5 June as Passion. I owned it almost immediately.

Listening to instrumental Peter Gabriel - in world music mode - was quite a departure from his last album So (1986) which was almost pure pop. It wasn't very hard to learn to like it, though. Gabriel has always been very good at writing catchy melodies, regardless of genre, and to add ethnic flavor to the mix only made the end result more interesting. It is Accomplished, embedded above, is my favorite track on the album and as its title implies, it is placed near the end of both album and film.

The other release that relates to this exceptionally romantic period in my life, out on 20 June, is a new album by Yes... except it isn't called that. Original member Chris Squire had the strongest claim to the band name. Since he was not a member of its current incarnation, the group as well as their album had to be called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Long time drummer Alan White was, along with Squire, working with the Trevor Rabin version of Yes, but they wouldn't come out with a new album until 1991, by which time the two groups would join forces anyway.

Embedded above is the stunningly beautiful The Meeting. There are several other songs on the album also worth listening to, like Themes, Birthright and Quartet. Most importantly, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe sounded like the group had found genuine inspiration in their songwriting. Even though the end result was slightly uneven and hardly on par with 1987's Big Generator, it was still an encouraging release.

Exactly one month later, my summer romance was over and it was time to really, really kick ass. The Californian hard rock group Faith No More that would go on to become one of the most significant acts of the nineties, released already their third album on 20 July. They had let their original singer go, and joining the group on The Real Thing was Mike Patton - one of the true geniuses of the era. On this album, his voice sounds a bit juvenile; this would change on future releases. The music itself was absolutely stunning, even though the group hadn't even reached their full maturity yet.

The Real Thing contains several favorites. Epic was a considerable hit as a single. Other excellent songs that you should be able to find as music videos in YouTube are the fun filled opening track From out of Nowhere as well as the more menacing Surprise! You're Dead! But as much as I liked those songs, my two biggest favorites on the album are longer tracks called Zombie Eaters (the title seems to have nothing to do with song content) and the title track, embedded above.

Zombie Eaters is an outstanding hard rock piece that perhaps best describes the type of music that Faith No More would go on recording during the next decade. But to me, the centerpiece of the album was always the long and challenging title track that I would argue even carries progressive rock influences. Just pay attention to the structure. This was obviously Patton's handiwork. The man has always really enjoyed experimenting, and would do so during the nineties both under Faith No More moniker as well as others, e.g. Mr. Bungle.

21 August brings us yet another simply perfect eighties pop song. Run Silent Run Deep by Shakespear's Sister, embedded above, is taken from the British duo's debut album Sacred Heart and was released as its third single. That release didn't take place until October: their summer hit was the much more mediocre You're History. But the real kicker on the album was this track named after the submarine movie. The video above played a lot on satellite channels at the time. Siobhan Fahey is almost unbearably beautiful in it.

29 August saw the release of the first single from Depeche Mode's forthcoming new album Violator. Strangely enough, that album wouldn't be out until March 1990 which meant that Personal Jesus came out well over six months before it. The song was of course an instant classic and promised great things from the future release. Let's embed it below and discuss Violator at more length when its time comes - in the blog entry after next.

With its catchy, easily hummable tune, Personal Jesus was an instant hit on the satellite channels. I remember Sky Channel playing it constantly. What I cannot remember is if at the time it was thought to be a stand alone, non-album release like Shake the Disease four years earlier, or if there was already some knowledge about the forthcoming new album where it would be included. Great song, in any case, and easily one of the year's best.

8 September. Pump, arguably the peak album by American rockers Aerosmith was released. This would have been my chance to embed yet another early music video directed by hotshot Hollywood film director David Fincher; at the time and for a long time afterwards my favorite song on the album was the memorable and powerful Janie's Got a Gun. A rock song with a message, story-wise reminiscent of that other song where Fincher took video directing duties: Oh Father, by Madonna.

However, during more recent years I have come to realize that the song with more lasting power is actually Love in an Elevator, the absolute best straightforward rock song of the year and one of the best ever. There is something irresistible about it, even though I am not usually a big fan of simple rock and roll. This one moves like a freight train. Instead of Fincher, the video was directed by the group's long time collaborator Marty Callner. He is the man behind an earlier embedding Still of the Night by Whitesnake as well as the video for the hit song Alone by Heart.

The header of this blog entry says summer - we extend the definition of summer all the way to the end of September when two noteworthy albums came out on the same date. 25 September was the release date of the first album by the new incarnation of Marillion, called Seasons End. Overall, it was their fifth studio release but the first one where original singer Fish had been replaced with Steve Hogarth of The Europeans fame.

All in all, it was a pretty good album. It wasn't anywhere near Misplaced Childhood level, but there were only a few weak songs and the best ones were really good, like the title track. Embedded above, it felt like an instant classic. So, while I felt that I would have preferred Fish to continue his singing in the group, I thought the quality of their songwriting was still on a fully acceptable level. This impression would remain the same for the next couple of albums which were also good, but problems were to be encountered later on.

The other album released on the same date with Seasons End was Tears for Fears' follow up to their mega success Songs from the Big Chair (1985) called The Seeds of Love. Not surprisingly, it didn't live up to the expectations set by its predecessor. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a particularly good album, yet there were a couple of individual songs on it worth mentioning. Hence the album's inclusion here. Neither one of these good songs was, of course, the first single and the album's best known track Sowing the Seeds of Love.

One of them was released as the album's second single in November: the album opener Woman in Chains. I think there would have been a music video to it, but still, I had to embed Swords and Knives which is easily the best song in this collection. And with that, we conclude the summer of 1989 and will discuss October to December in the next blog entry.