Shocked only became aware of the tapes when a friend brought a magazine back from Amsterdam with a flexi-disc inside of “Who Cares?” by Michelle Shocked. Michelle Shocked: Short Sharp ShockedĪfter stints at a community college, the University of Texas and, finally, the Baylor Hospital psych ward (her stage name comes from the electroshock therapy she received there), the woman born Michelle Johnston wound up volunteering at the Kerrville Folk Festival, becoming what she calls, “perhaps the last American to receive the mixed blessing of being field recorded.” Pete Lawrence, an English producer and label owner with a Sony Walkman recorded Shocked and her acoustic guitar among the late-night gatherings and released the set of originals as The Texas Campfire Tapes back in the U.K. Bonus points for closing out with “Don’t,” a head-splitting burst of overdriven psychic warfare between Mascis and his soon-to-be-fired bassist/frenemy, Lou Barlow. Songs like “The Post,” “They Always Come” and “Pond Song” are churning, noise-drenched classic-rock riffs played by former hardcore kids, bridging the gap between the mainstream and underground that was still very real and wide in the ‘80s. The rest of Bug doesn’t reach the heights of “Freak Scene” or the previous album, but it’s a strong set of college-radio jams. That song alone basically earns the album a spot on this list. Bug makes an immediate splash, kicking off with “Freak Scene,” which might be J Mascis’s best song, and is definitely a top-tier indie-rock anthem. And although Bug isn’t the band’s best record, it’s still better than it has any right to be. Read: The 30 Best Albums of 1978 Here are the 30 best albums of 1988:ĭinosaur Jr.’s third album arrived less than a year after their masterpiece, You’re Living All Over Me, so a little bit of a step back would almost be expected-that album’s basically impossible to surpass. They include metal, rap, folk, pop, funk and whatever you want to call They Might Be Giants. Our favorite albums from 30 years ago also include recordings from England, Iceland, Australia and three from Ireland. And young African-American stars-in-the-making like Tracy Chapman and Living Colour were breaking barriers in folk and hard rock, bringing new perspective to fading American forms. and Public Enemy unleashing socio-political rage on the coasts. A new era of hip-hop was ascendent, with N.W.A. The tail end of the post-punk and new-wave movements had given way to the a golden age of college radio and a budding alternative-rock scene. 1988 was a great year for music, and not just because it’s when Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in the Tottenham district of London and Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born 4,000 miles southwest in Barbados.
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