For The Record (rebirth): Top 10 Albums challenge

My friend Deb recently tagged me for the "Top 10 Albums" challenge on Facebook.  I normally disregard such "chain letter" bait, but this challenge hits at the heart of who I am as a music fan and writer. I've been wanting to resuscitate my long-neglected blog, and this was the perfect primer to re-launch my "For The Record" online column.

I obsess over music they way most guys obsess over sports; therefore, when this challenge came my way, I pushed it off until the weekend so I could devote myself to generating a proper list with quality write-ups. I began brainstorming my Top 10 List, which quickly grew to more than 20 albums that I felt were foundational in my life. With much difficulty, I was able to narrow the list to a true "Top 10" (OK, I went "Spinal Tap" and took my list to 11) and immediately planned to add a bonus "Next 10" list later.

To enhance the "challenge" aspect, I decided to set some parameters for formatting: cover pic (from my actual collection), release year, and write-up, 200 words MAX.

Here's the first installment. Stay tuned!

-Greg

U2 Acthung Baby (1991)

As a 21-year-old exchange student in Japan, I first spotted the “new U2” on music TV in their frankly confusing “Fly” video. Where’s the stunning, black-and-white starkness of The Joshua Tree? What the fuck is up with the sunglasses and cigarillos? Are those rhinestones on Edge’s pants? Then the boys from Dublin really pissed me off. On November 11, 1991, I asked for the album at the underground CD shop (literally in a subway station). The clerk instead handed me a flyer touting “Super Rock Band U2.” The release date had been overwritten in Sharpie to November 18. I had saved my yen and searched them out, and U2 stood me up. To spite them, I bought an album by Japanese band Fence of Defense, digitaglam-FOD VI, whose sci-fi-infused single “9.9.9” I’d also seen on music TV. That album is phenomenal--one of the greatest headphone records I’ve ever experienced--but it’s a novelty compared to the depth, discombobulation and painful rebirth pangs of Achtung Baby. The songs sound like Japan felt. I have an undying love for Achtung Baby, perhaps because it initially played so “hard to get” on so many levels.