1999 - My Top Albums By Clark Benson  [84 more lists]

This is my list (and my notes) from the time - in retrospect I would certainly disagree with at least some of my summary about the year (not a lot of quality releases, BUT at least 6 or 7 EXCELLENT ones) as well as some Rankings, but the "revised look back at 1999" list will come later:

In general, 1999 was a pretty grim year for albums; probably the worst year since some dim period in the 80s . . . That said, there are still always some good records out there, though certainly a shortage of outstanding ones.

Probably the worst trend, of course, is that the big hit rock records that are actually artistically good are few and far between - in my book a couple of radio songs really help make a big rock record a classic. Unfortuantely this doesn't happen when A) the big great bands are breaking up or dormant, and B) the rock radio airwaves are dominated by Creed, Limp Bizkit, Lit, Oleander, Staind, and other such mediocrity. Oh well. There were a few pleasant surprises (whod'a thought the Chili Peppers actually had it in them, Ben Harper put out the best record of his career, and I was quite impressed with the Pavement record, having never really been much of a fan). But all in all, it was gruesome out there.

On the bright side, I saw many of the best live performances of my life in 1999, and so will have to mention those below so as we don't write the year off as a total loss. In fact, pound for pound I saw more amazing live music than ever - aided by lots of multiple-band and festival bills.