![[Sonic Youth - Sister]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SonicYouthSister199458752_f-300x298.jpg)
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
I go on and on about how much I love 1987 that I should just shut up and let the list speak for itself. Unsurprisingly, the Favorite 10 hasn’t changed, saved one correction.
- U2, The Joshua Tree
- Sting, … Nothing Like the Sun
- 10,000 Maniacs, In My Tribe
- Sinéad O’Connor, The Lion and the Cobra
- Bulgarian State TV & Radio Women’s Choir, Le Mystère de Voix Bulgares
- John Adams, The Chairman Dances
- Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Phantom of the Opera
- Wendy & Lisa, Wendy & Lisa
- Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction
- R.E.M., Document
Other favorites from the year:
- Kronos Quartet, White Man Sleeps
- Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses
- Dolly Parton / Linda Ronstadt / Emmylou Harris, Trio
- The Art of Noise, In No Sense? Nonsense!
- Swing Out Sister, It’s Better to Travel
- Hiroshima, Go
- The Smiths, Strangeways, Here We Come
- Eurythmics, Savage
- INXS, Kick
- Sonic Youth, Sister
- The Dukes of the Stratosphear, Psonic Psunspot
- Dead Can Dance, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
- Icehouse, Man of Colours
- In Tua Nua, Vaudeville
- Johnny Hates Jazz, Turn Back the Clock
I originally listed the cast recording of Into the Woods in the Favorite 10, but I discovered it was actually released in 1988.
The extended list is shorter than the one for 1988, but I’ve actually added fewer titles from 1987 since the original list was compiled. I think I also like these albums more intensely because I had discovered them at the time, and they’ve made a lasting impression.
Tags: 10000 maniacs, andrew lloyd webber, bulgarian state radio and television female vocal choir, dead can dance, depeche mode, dolly parton, emmylou harris, eurythmics, favorite edition, guns n' roses, hiroshima, icehouse, in tua nua, inxs, john adams, johnny hates jazz, kronos quartet, linda ronstadt, r.e.m., rewind, sinead o'connor, sonic youth, sting, swing out sister, the art of noise, the dukes of the stratosphear, the smiths, u2, wendy and lisa
![[INXS - Kick]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/INXSKick1987158573_f-300x300.jpg)
At times, the Sibling Rivalry Collection Race waded into some murky waters.
The rule was simple: the first person to buy an album from an artist had a monopoly on that artist, and other siblings could not encroach on that monopoly.
The rule was very clear about albums. Singles, however, usually threw wrenches in jurisdictional claims.
Kick by INXS could have tuned into a civil lawsuit between my brother and me.
Back in 1985, INXS release Listen Like Thieves, which spawned the catchy single “What You Need”. I bought that single after watching the video numerous times on Betamax-recorded episodes of Friday Night Videos. I did not end up buying the album.
A TV appearance by INXS in 1987 premiered the band’s then-new single, “Need You Tonight.” My brother liked it. I thought it wasn’t as good as “What You Need”.
But he liked it enough to buy the album. Technically, that meant INXS became his jurisdiction.
And boy did that rankle my feathers, especially when it turned out the rest of the album was better than “Need You Tonight”. I felt that because I had already established a claim with “What You Need”, I ought to have had first dibs on Kick. My brother pointed out that I was ambivalent about “Need You Tonight”, which could be interpreted as relinquishing that claim.
(Don’t get me wrong about “Need You Tonight” — I eventually grew to like the song, mostly because “Mediate” segued right into it.)
Of course, bratty kids that we were, we didn’t want to share. I don’t remember now how I got my hands on a dubbed copy of the album. He may have relented to making a dub, or I may have borrowed it from a friend. I got my hands on it, despite the rule.
Kick would eventually become ubiquitous, and the radio exposure coupled with my own spins eventually made me grow tired of the album. “Never Tear Us Apart” wasn’t a great single, but it seemed to be the song played to death.
By the time I embarked on building out my own collection, Kick managed to get left behind. For a time, I owned a greatest hits compilation but that too got lost in a cash-strapped purge.
Oddly enough, Kick returned to my collection only after I used the streaming services to listen to its predecessor, Listen Like Thieves. Kick is definitely the stronger album, but Listen Like Thieves is no slouch. It was the much-needed warm-up before the breakout.
It’s probably been 19 years since I listened to Kick, and it was strange to discover how familiar it all felt. That pretty much meant I had really internalized the album, even though I hadn’t owned it till now.
Tags: inxs, my brother's albums, sibling rivalry collection race