Not sure about you but I could do with some music nostalgia to offset the heavy duty threads about the costs of and future of the forum. Better get through some more of these polls whilst we still can!
2017 placed 22nd with 7.36 in a thread that took a winter break over listomania, but now we’re back with the first HGWTY of the new year and we jump back in at 1979.
A reminder of the premise of the thread
After a number of days of posting and reminiscing, we’ll be rating the music of the year out of ten, based on the albums, singles, gigs, whatever that stand out for you that year, and voting for our favourite nominated albums and songs.
Everyone can nominate one album and one song from the year which will then be collated into side-polls two days before the thread closes - please make it clear when you post a nomination for the poll (as opposed to just posting clips or lists of songs and albums you like, which are very welcome).
Leaderboard
|Rank|Year|Rating|Top Album|Top Song|
| Rank | Year | Rating | Top Album | Top Song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1991 | 8.98 | Slint - Spiderland | Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy |
| 2 | 1997 | 8.6 | Radiohead - OK Computer | The Beta Band - Dry The Rain |
| 3 | 1967 | 8.48 | Love - Forever Changes | Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning |
| 4 | 1977 | 8.41 | Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express | Donna Summer - I Feel Love |
| 5 | 1992 | 8.29 | Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted | Pulp - Babies |
| 5 | 2013 | 8.29 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Jubilee Street |
| 7 | 2019 | 8.14 | Self Esteem - Compliments Please | Big Thief - Not |
| 8 | 1975 | 8.13 | Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night / Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks | Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Cortez the Killer |
| 8 | 2007 | 8.13 | LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver / Radiohead - In Rainbows | LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends / M.I.A. - Paper Planes |
| 10 | 2004 | 8.1 | Madvillain - Madvillainy / Arcade Fire - Funeral | The Walkmen - The Rat |
| 10 | 2001 | 8.1 | The Strokes - Is This It | Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) / Mogwai - My Father My King |
| 12 | 1981 | 8.06 | The Cure - Faith | New Order - Ceremony |
| 13 | 1982 | 7.76 | The Cure - Pornography / Kate Bush - The Dreaming | Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding / The Associates - Party Fears Two |
| 14 | 2014 | 7.69 | FKA Twigs - LP1 | FKA Twigs - Two Weeks |
| 15 | 2010 | 7.66 | Kanye West - MBDTF / Joanna Newsom - Have One One Me / Beach House - Teen Dream | Robyn - Dancing On My Own |
| 16 | 1970 | 7.61 | Neil Young - After the Goldrush | Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up |
| 17 | 1990 | 7.47 | Sonic Youth - Goo | The Cure - Pictures of You |
| 17 | 1976 | 7.47 | David Bowie - Station to Station | Bob Dylan - Hurricane |
| 19 | 1986 | 7.42 | Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring | New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle |
| 20 | 2005 | 7.39 | Sufjan Stevens - Illinois | Amerie - 1 Thing |
| 21 | 1965 | 7.38 | The Beatles - Rubber Soul | Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) |
| 22 | 1999 | 7.3 | Mogwai - Come On Die Young | Björk - All Is Full Of Love |
| 23 | 2009 | 7.1 | Fever Ray - Fever Ray | Animal Collective - My Girls |
| 24 | 1974 | 6.95 | Neil Young - On The Beach | Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - The Bottle |
| 25 | 1985 | 6.53 | Tom Waits - Rain Dogs | Prince and the Revolution - Raspberry Beret |
| 26 | 1962 | 6 | Howlin’ Wolf - Howlin’ Wolf | Dick Dale - Misirlou |
| 27 | 1961 | 5.16 | John Coltrane - My Favourite Things | Roy Orbison - Crying |
1979 began with the UK’s winter of discontent as public sector strikes continued, and was the year Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female prime minister, a partial meltdown occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania and China announced the one-child policy to curb population growth.
We said goodbye to John Wayne, Charles Mingus, Conrad Hilton, Sid Vicious, Minnie Riperton, Nelson Rockefeller, Donny Hathaway, Lord Mountbatten, and hello to Oscar Isaac, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger, Kevin Hart, Jason Momoa, Courtney the Cardassian and Aaron Paul.
But how good was the music?
You have roughly ten days to nominate one album and one song which will then go into a poll along with a number rating poll for year overall out of 10, which will close a few days later.
Some lists for inspiration:
Best Albums of 1979 : Best Ever Albums
Best albums of 1979 - Rate Your Music
100 Greatest Albums of 1979
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/ratings/6-highest-rated/1979/1
The 30 Best Albums of 1979 - Paste
1979 Best Albums And Tracks Of The Year - NME
100 Greatest Songs From 1979
Nominations will be tallied here as the week goes on:
Album Nominations
Song Nominations
