Our brand new monthly column takes a look back at key albums released 10, 20, and 30 years ago this month. This month, we remember June 2000, June 1990, and June 1980.
Albums from June 2000
Key Release:
The Moon and Antarctica 82
by Modest Mouse
It is hard to believe that it has been a decade since the release of The Moon and Antarctica, Modest Mouse's best album. As icy as the title suggests, the band's cohesive major-label debut features some of Isaac Brock's best and most mature songwriting -- if you didn't know otherwise, it would be tempting to think this album came late in their discography, rather than far before their mainstream success. It sounds just as good today as it did 10 years ago.
OK Computer must be mentioned, for Modest Mouse just got invited to the same club. --Brent DiCrescenzo, Pitchfork (9.8/10)
| Artist | Album | Metascore | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arab Strap | Elephant Shoe | 78 | 9.0 |
| Elephant Shoe was one of two 2000 releases for the somber Scottish duo | |||
| Belle & Sebastian | Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant | 68 | 8.5 |
| Many critics felt the band's fourth album paled in comparison to previous releases | |||
| Blonde Redhead | Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons | 73 | 8.7 |
| The indie band's more tuneful fifth album was produced by Fugazi's Guy Picciotto | |||
| Deftones | White Pony | 73 | 9.3 |
| The metal band's third release was their most diverse and sophisticated album to date | |||
| Ian Brown | Golden Greats | 69 | 8.6 |
| Not a greatest hits album, Greats is probably the Stone Roses singer's best solo outing | |||
| Jurassic 5 | Quality Control | 77 | 9.2 |
| The hip-hop group's major-label debut earned them some of the best reviews of their careers | |||
| Nelly | Country Grammar | n/a | n/a |
| The rapper's debut album remains his best-selling release to date; critics liked it, too | |||
| Queens of the Stone Age | Rated R | n/a | n/a |
| The second LP for Josh Homme's QOTSA project first established the group as a band to watch, and is considered one of the better rock albums of the decade | |||
| Richard Ashcroft | Alone With Everybody | 70 | 7.0 |
| The Verve frontman struck out on his own with this solo debut | |||
| Saint Etienne | Sound of Water | 80 | 7.2 |
| One of Saint Etienne's most mature and experimental albums, Water was recorded with To Rococo Rot and includes the standout track "Heart Failed (in the Back of a Taxi)" | |||
| Sinead O'Connor | Faith and Courage | 64 | 9.6 |
| Liked by some but definitely not all critics, Faith was the singer's first new LP in six years | |||
| Steve Earle | Transcendental Blues | 86 | 9.3 |
| The guitarist's acclaimed 2000 release blends country and rock, but mostly avoids the bluegrass sound of his prior album, The Mountain | |||
| Sunny Day Real Estate | The Rising Tide | 72 | 9.3 |
| The Rising Tide was the final LP for the Seattle emo band | |||
| Super Furry Animals | Mwng | 84 | 8.7 |
| The Furries' all-Welsh release may be the most successful album of all time in that language | |||
| Tahiti 80 | Puzzle | 66 | 9.6 |
| The French indie band's debut is filled with bright, summery pop | |||
| The White Stripes | De Stijl | n/a | n/a |
| As we previously suggested, this second LP is one of Jack and Meg White's best albums | |||
Albums from June 1990
Key Release:
Goo
by Sonic Youth
Goo, of course, fails to match the heights of Daydream Nation, the album that preceded it -- but what record does? The band's major-label debut, the relatively accessible Goo is best known for the Chuck D-assisted single "Kool Thing" -- probably the closest Sonic Youth ever came to a hit -- but contains a number of strong, challenging tracks, and isn't anything close to the sellout that fans feared. One year later, Sonic Youth would release a VHS version of Goo, featuring music videos for each of the album's 11 tracks.
A brilliant, extended essay in refined primitivism that deftly reconciles rock's structural conventions with the band's twin passions for violent tonal elasticity and garage-punk holocaust. --David Fricke, Rolling Stone (4/5)
More Reviews: All Music Guide (4/5), Blender (5/5), Blogcritics (5/5), CMJ, Entertainment Weekly (A), Pitchfork (8.5/10), Robert Christgau (A-), Sputnik Music (4.5/5), Stylus (A-)
| Artist | Album | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 808 State | Utd. State 90 | AMG, CMJ, SL |
| The U.S. version of the Manchester band's Ninety is one of the high points of early '90s acid house | ||
| Billy Bragg | The Internationale | AMG, RC |
| The folkie's disc of protest song covers was not well received by reviewers | ||
| Cabaret Voltaire | Groovy, Laidback And Nasty | AMG |
| Easily their most "pop" album, Groovy was far outshadowed by the groundbreaking Sheffield band's other 1990 release, a collection of their early singles called The Living Legends | ||
| Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey | AMG, RC |
| The singer's massive-selling debut album launched her into superstardom with four #1 singles | ||
| Crosby, Stills & Nash | Live It Up | AMG |
| It's not a live album, and it's also not very good; it was their first studio LP not to go platinum | ||
| Danzig | Danzig II: Lucifuge | AMG, CMJ, MA, RC, SP |
| The metal band's bluesy second album was again produced by Rick Rubin | ||
| Dead Can Dance | Aion | AMG, CMJ, SP |
| The duo's fifth album of vaguely medieval music wasn't released in the U.S. until 1994 | ||
| Entombed | Left Hand Path | AMG, MA |
| This highly regarded, genre-defining album was the first release for the Swedish death metal act | ||
| Eric B. & Rakim | Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em | AMG, EW, LAT, RC |
| The groundbreaking hip-hop duo's third LP sacrifices hit singles for album-length coherence | ||
| The Field Mice | Skywriting | AMG, P4K, ST |
| Barely qualifying as an album -- it's only 6 tracks, though a 2005 reissue adds 5 more -- the divisive Skywriting was the second of three LPs from the short-lived London indie pop band | ||
| Gene Loves Jezebel | Kiss of Life | AMG, CMJ |
| The alt-rockers continued on without co-founder Michael Aston, and scored a hit with "Jealous" | ||
| His Name Is Alive | Livonia | AMG, CMJ |
| The 4AD band's popular debut album consists of tracks recorded in the late 1980s | ||
| Bruce Hornsby & The Range | A Night on the Town | AMG, EW |
| The pianist's final album with The Range includes the hit single "Across the River" | ||
| James | Gold Mother | AMG, CMJ |
| The band's third album -- released at the peak of the "Madchester" scene -- featured the single "Come Home," though a 1991 re-release added non-album singles "Sit Down" and "Lose Control" | ||
| Mazzy Star | She Hangs Brightly | AMG, CMJ, EW, RC, SP |
| This debut for the Hope Sandoval-fronted dream-pop band earned Mazzy Star acclaim for their atmospheric blend of psychedelia, blues, shoegaze, and acoustic rock | ||
| Nelson | After The Rain | AMG, RC |
| This was the debut for the glam-metal duo of Matthew and Gunnar Nelson | ||
| New Kids on the Block | Step by Step | AMG, EW |
| The pop act's third album was another chart-topping smash, thanks to singles like the title cut | ||
| Railway Children | Native Place | AMG |
| At one time a Factory Records act, England's Railway Children had a modest hit with the poppy Native Place, featuring the modern rock single "Every Beat of the Heart" | ||
| Revenge | One True Passion | AMG, CMJ |
| One of many New Order side projects, Peter Hook's Revenge scored a minor hit with the single "Pineapple Face" from this, their one album; a later spin-off, Monaco, produced better music | ||
| The Stranglers | 10 | AMG |
| The veteran English band's 10th LP included "Sweet Smell of Success" and a cover of "96 Tears" | ||
| Keith Sweat | I'll Give All My Love to You | AMG, EW, RC |
| The R&B singer's second album was a hit, but fell short of his debut three years earlier | ||
| Teenage Fanclub | A Catholic Education | AMG, CMJ |
| This first album for the Scottish alt-rockers is more aggressive and less polished than later LPs | ||
| Uncle Tupelo | No Depression | AMG, CMJ, P4K, RC, RS, SP |
| No Depression marked the debut for the alt-country outfit whose members -- including Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar -- would later go on to form Wilco and Son Volt | ||
| Wire | Manscape | AMG, CMJ, EW, PM |
| This middling, electronics-heavy 7th album seemed like the beginning of the end for the groundbreaking art-rockers ... at least until their unlikely but strong recent comeback | ||
Albums from June 1980
Key Release:
Underwater Moonlight
by The Soft Boys
Hailed as a masterpiece by critics, Underwater Moonlight was the second album for the English post-punk band led by Robyn Hitchcock. If you're looking for just one track, opener "I Wanna Destroy You" is a classic; but if you like Hitchcock's solo work, or any of the bands that were influenced by Moonlight (R.E.M., for starters), seek out the whole album, which serves as an intriguing update of jangly 1960's guitar rock. Matador's 2001 CD reissue adds a boatload of outtakes and demos.
Underwater Moonlight remains the Soft Boys' definitive statement and, like The Velvet Underground & Nico and #1 Record, it's one of those albums that nobody seemed to buy when it was released but that has subsequently proven to be hugely influential. --PopMatters
More Reviews: All Music Guide (5/5), Austin Chronicle (3/5), Entertainment Weekly (A), Pitchfork (8.5/10), Tiny Mix Tapes
| Artist | Album | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson Browne | Hold Out | AMG, RC |
| Reviews weren't great, but this seven-song LP is Browne's only #1 album | ||
| Chic | Real People | AMG, RC |
| The R&B group's 4th album lacked the hit singles of previous efforts | ||
| Commodores | Heroes | AMG, RC |
| The group's 10th album was one of its last LPs to feature singer Lionel Richie | ||
| Bob Dylan | Saved | AMG, BC, EW, RC, RS |
| A gospel-tinged outing, the religious Saved followed after Dylan's conversion to Christianity | ||
| The Kinks | One for the Road [Live] | AMG, BL |
| This 21-song live album was recorded at several concert stops in early 1980 | ||
| Huey Lewis and the News | Huey Lewis and the News | AMG |
| The band's debut album included the single "Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later)" | ||
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | Uprising | AMG, RC, SP |
| Uprising, featuring "Could You Be Loved," was the final studio LP released while Marley was alive | ||
| Negativland | Negativland | AMG |
| Probably the least accessible (in terms of music and availability) of all of the Bay Area collagists' albums, this self-titled debut comes in one-of-a-kind, homemade packaging; no two are alike | ||
| Pere Ubu | The Art of Walking | AMG, RC |
| The experimental Ohio rockers were joined by The Red Krayola's Mayo Thompson on this 4th LP | ||
| Queen | The Game | AMG, NME, RS, SP |
| The band's best-selling album in the U.S. includes "Another One Bites the Dust" | ||
| Rolling Stones | Emotional Rescue | AMG, BC, BL, RC, RS |
| The Stones' chart-topping 15th album includes the title cut and "She's So Cold" | ||
| Roxy Music | Flesh + Blood | AMG, RC |
| Certainly not their best effort, but "Same Old Scene" and "Over You" are worth seeking out | ||
| Carly Simon | Come Upstairs | AMG |
| The singer-songwriter rocked a tad harder on this almost New Wave release | ||
| The Vapors | New Clear Days | AMG |
| They may be one-hit wonders, but this debut album includes that one hit: "Turning Japanese" | ||
| Various | Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | AMG |
| Urban Cowboy aimed to be for country music what star John Travolta's earlier Saturday Night Fever was to disco. The Grammy-nominated soundtrack wasn't actually very "country," but it included hit tracks from The Eagles, The Charlie Daniels Band, Jimmy Buffett, and Bonnie Raitt. | ||
