As we did last month, we look back at key albums released 10, 20, and 30 years ago this month. This month, we remember July 2000, July 1990, and July 1980.
Albums from July 2000
Key Release:
Bow Down to the Exit Sign 84
by David Holmes
It certainly hasn't become any more famous in the past decade, but Bow Down remains the British DJ and producer's best album. Fusing the cinematic qualities of his previous releases with a more song-oriented approach, the disc also features key contributions from Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and Martina Topley-Bird. You may be more familiar with his work than you think: Holmes can frequently be found scoring Steven Soderbergh's films.
Similar in spirit to [Primal Scream's] Exterminator or Death In Vegas's The Contino Sessions, his third album tools up a live rock band with dance music's sonic armoury... it's a claustrophobic listening experience, challengingly thick with ideas. --Q Magazine
| Artist | Album | Metascore | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arab Strap | Mad for Sadness | 82 | 9.5 |
| Sadness was the first live album for the now-defunct Scottish sadcore band | |||
| Baha Men | Who Let the Dogs Out | n/a | n/a |
| Admit it: That song's stuck in your head now, isn't it? | |||
| Beenie Man | Art and Life | 77 | 10.0 |
| The dancehall artist had an unexpected international hit with this Grammy-winning LP | |||
| Canibus | 2000 BC | 60 | 9.0 |
| The rapper's second album was actually an improvement over his poorly-received debut | |||
| Eve 6 | Horrorscope | 53 | 7.6 |
| The California band's disappointing sophomore set included the single "Promise" | |||
| Everclear | Songs From an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile | 57 | 7.4 |
| The band's last hit album was followed by Volume Two just four months later | |||
| Ida | Will You Find Me | n/a | n/a |
| This was the fifth album of baroque indie pop for the married duo of Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton | |||
| Killswitch Engage | Killswitch Engage | n/a | n/a |
| This self-titled release was the debut album for the metalcore band | |||
| Mötley Crüe | New Tattoo | n/a | n/a |
| One of the metal band's worst-selling releases, Tattoo was also their first album after the departure of drummer Tommy Lee | |||
| Jill Scott | Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 | n/a | n/a |
| The singer-songwriter's acclaimed 2000 debut album was nominated for a Grammy | |||
| Tegan and Sara | This Business of Art | n/a | n/a |
| The twins were just 19 when they released this second album, released on fellow Canadian Neil Young's Vapor label | |||
| John Vanderslice | Mass Suicide Occult Figurines | n/a | n/a |
| The debut solo LP for the former MK Ultra member includes some of his better songs, including "Speed Lab" and "Bill Gates Must Die" | |||
| The Weakerthans | Left and Leaving | n/a | n/a |
| This is the second album for the Canadian band founded by Propagandhi's John K. Samson | |||
Albums from July 1990
Key Release: None.
What can we tell you? It was a slow month.
| Artist | Album | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Live Crew | Banned In The USA | AMG, EW |
| The politically-charged but poorly-reviewed Banned was the hip-hop group's response to one of the more notorious obscenity trials in legal history (involving their previous LP, As Nasty As They Wanna Be) | ||
| Aztec Camera | Stray | AMG, RC, TP |
| Roddy Frame's fourth Aztec Camera album featured the Mick Jones collaboration "Good Morning Britain" | ||
| Jon Bon Jovi | Blaze of Glory | AMG, EW |
| Bon Jovi's first solo album includes songs from the movie Young Guns II, which he appeared in | ||
| The Boo Radleys | Ichabod and I | AMG, TP |
| Few people even know that this hard-to-find debut album even exists, but there's probably not much here to interest anyone but die-hard fans | ||
| Boogie Down Productions | Edutainment | AMG, EW, TP |
| This was the thought-provoking fourth album for hip-hop crew featuring KRS-One | ||
| Harry Connick, Jr. | We Are in Love | AMG |
| This big-band jazz recording was a huge seller, and earned Connick his second Grammy | ||
| The Divine Comedy | Fanfare for the Comic Muse | AMG |
| Unlike anything else in the band's catalog, this jangly, amateurish debut LP has since been disowned by leader Neil Hannon | ||
| Master Ace | Take A Look Around | AMG |
| Yes, the influential Brooklyn rapper was billed as Master -- not Masta -- Ace on this debut LP | ||
| Iggy Pop | Brick By Brick | AMG, EW, RS, TP |
| Don Was (see below) produced the former Stooge's best album in nearly a decade, which included a duet with Kate Pierson ("Candy") and appearances from Guns N' Roses' Slash and Duff McKagan | ||
| The Soup Dragons | Lovegod | AMG, EW, TP |
| The easily forgettable Scottish band (think a lesser Jesus Jones) achieved a bit of commercial success with this LP and its hit single, a cover of the Rolling Stones' "I'm Free" | ||
| Suicidal Tendencies | Lights... Camera... Revolution! | AMG, SP, TP |
| The L.A. band's very metal fourth studio LP -- their first with new bassist Robert Trujillo -- is considered one of their best | ||
| The Time | Pandemonium | AMG, EW |
| This final studio LP for Morris Day and The Time (though a reunited band is reportedly at work on a new disc) was mostly written by Prince and includes the hit single "Jerk Out" | ||
| Was (Not Was) | Are You Okay? | AMG, EW, RC |
| The fourth album from the oddball pop-rock group featuring producers Don and David Was included a cover of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"; their fifth LP wouldn't come for another 18 years | ||
Albums from July 1980
Key Release:
Closer
by Joy Division
Don't be fooled by the white album cover; this is one dark record. Originally set for a May 1980 release, the Martin Hannett-produced Closer -- just the band's second LP -- was delayed following the suicide of frontman Ian Curtis; a mere 11 days after its July 18 release, the remaining members of the group made their live debut as New Order. You can hear the origins of New Order's more synth-oriented sound in Closer tracks like "Isolation," the closest that album ever gets to upbeat, but don't be turned off by the despair. Named NME's album of the year in 1980, FACT 25 is a hauntingly beautiful, one-of-a-kind album, and one that still holds up 30 years later.
Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here. --Ned Raggett, All Music Guide (5/5)
More Reviews: Blender (4/5), Robert Christgau (A-), Drowned in Sound (9/10), Pitchfork (10/10), Treble, Trouser Press, Uncut (5/5)
| Artist | Album | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| AC/DC | Back in Black | AMG, BC, BL, RC, RS, SP |
| The band's first album after the death of frontman Bon Scott includes classics like "You Shook Me All Night Long" and the title track; it's still the 2nd-highest selling LP of all time (behind Thriller) | ||
| Black Uhuru | Sinsemilla | AMG, PM, RC |
| Sly & Robbie produced this third album for the reggae band, their first to be released worldwide | ||
| Cabaret Voltaire | The Voice of America | AMG, TP |
| This was just the second LP for the groundbreaking electronic band from Sheffield, England | ||
| Chicago | Chicago XIV | AMG |
| The soft-rock band's 14th album was a major flop, though they would rebound two years later | ||
| Devo | Freedom of Choice | AMG, RC, SP, TP |
| One of the New Wave band's strongest efforts, this synth-heavy album (with the band donning their iconic red helmets for the cover) includes "Whip It" and "Freedom of Choice" | ||
| Dexys Midnight Runners | Searching for the Young Soul Rebels | AMG, BBC, RC, TP |
| There's no "Come On Eileen" here (that would come in 1982), but the band's strong debut album disproves any notion that Kevin Rowland & co. were one-hit wonders | ||
| Echo & the Bunnymen | Crocodiles | AMG, BBC, EW, P4K, RC, TP, TR |
| "Do It Clean" and "Rescue" are among the standout tracks on the band's acclaimed debut | ||
| Hall & Oates | Voices | AMG, RC |
| Hit singles from the duo's platinum-selling album include "Kiss on My List" and "You Make My Dreams"; the LP also includes "Everytime You Go Away," later a hit for Paul Young | ||
| The Jacksons | Triumph | AMG, BC, BL, RC, SP |
| The brothers' 1980 album was a commercial success, with Michael Jackson playing a featured role on most of the album's songs (including "Can You Feel It" and "Lovely One") | ||
| Swell Maps | Jane from Occupied Europe | AMG, P4K, PM, ST, TP |
| This second album from the quirky and influential British post-punk outfit was also their last | ||
| Ultravox | Vienna | AMG, RC, TP |
| The most successful album for the British New Wave/synthpop band, Vienna was also their first LP to feature new frontman Midge Ure | ||
. Ida's "Will You Find Me?" is the best album Low never made. "Girl U Want" is the keeper on Devo's "Freedom of Choice".
