Originally Posted by toretorden

By the way Certif1ed, you have 9 years up there, not 8.

Originally Posted by TheCellarTapes

Shocker
1965-1969

1965 - The Beatles play Shea Stadium whilst Bob Dylan begins his Holy Trinity and becomes Judas in the same breathe with the release of Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Joe Meek is busy in the worlds first independent studio putting the finishing touches to a whole new genre called Freakbeat. The Kinks release the last of their hard edged RnB albums with the release of The Kink Kontroversy, whilst The Pretty Things release two of their own. The Yardbirds take American black music from a bygone age, inject it with napalm and return to America with the results for a full on Rave Up. Meanwhile over in Washington State, a band release an album so damaging to health it probably should have been banned, thankfully Here Are The Sonics remains available for the purposes of self harming for the ears to this very day. Not to be outdone, The Who turn up with My Generation, whilst over in France, the ye ye girls of Chic Paris rule the airwaves.

1966 - It seems like thousands upon thousands of young lads from across North America emerge from their garages making beautiful noise to take on their British occupiers. The Count Five, The Five Americans, The Seeds, ? & The Mysterians, The Standells, The Music Machine, The Syndicate of Sound and of course The 13th Floor Elevators, all releasing unbelievable albums in this year. Eric Clapton joins John Mayall in a studio whilst over in Germany, a band of 5 ex American GIs reinvent Beat music and create the finest album of any decade called Black Monk Time. Oh and The Beatles release Revolver.....

1967 - What a marvellous year, where do you start? West Coasts where its at my friends.......or is it? The Doors and The Electric Prunes enter history with some brilliant and exceptional debuts. But then there's The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Sly & The Family Stone and The Chocolate Watchband, staggering stuff! Whilst over in Britain, The Beatles have padlocked themselves into a studio where Ringo Starr learns how to play Chess and the other three learn how to create a line in the sand. London's UFO Club becomes the base for Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and Tomorrow, whilst over in a New York Factory, The Velvet Underground meet a German model named Nico. An American named Scott Engel leaves The Walker Brothers, takes songs written by some Belgium dude and reinvents them with an album simply called "Scott", whilst jazz is reinvented under the stewardship of Brian Auger.

1968 - All that has gone before collided in 1967 and exploded leaving schrapnel all over 1968. In Brazil the Troplicalia movement leaves a dictatorship sweating uncontrollably, led by Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes, the power of music gives Brazillians something to behold. In London, three bands are leading the way with the concept album, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, The Small Faces' Ogden's Nut Gone Flake and The Pretty Things with SF Sorrow. The Velvet Underground go off the top board right into the deap end with the release of White Light/White Heat. The Beatles have far toooooooo many songs to just not release and rightly decide balls to it and release the lot! Whilst The Rolling Stones leave Psychedelia far behind and go to their spiritual roots in 1930's Chicago and release Beggars Banquet.

1969 - Woodstock? Isle of White? Hyde Park? Name the artists and the sets they played and say you arnt happy. The Beatles record their last and probably most compelling album with Abbey Road. Johnny Cash in 1969 played San Quentin, The New Yardbirds were doing some interesting things whilst The Who did Tommy. 1969 which ever way you look at it was the end of one era and the dawning of a new, but these five years were the years which I think were the most "awsome"

I have probably missed loads, but Im going for a cup of tea.

Originally Posted by The Monkey

1977-1980 is a pretty good one. I know, just four years, but I don't like much of anything that was released in either 1976 or 81.

Originally Posted by music_phantom13

1987-1991

I could write so much about these 5 years... so much was happening with the music I love. These five years included major developments in alternative, indie rock, rap, and shoegaze. Actually, a huge chunk of my favorite albums come from this small time. In just these five years, so much happened. I could ramble on all day about these 5 years, but here's what I consider the highlights: The Pixies released all 4 of their albums plus Come On Pilgrim, Operation Ivy lived out it's career, Sonic Youth released Sister and Daydream Nation (their greatest work) before signing to a major label and getting worse, Dinosaur Jr. released possibly the greatest album of all time as well as Bug and Green Mind, Nirvana was created and brought grunge and alternative to the masses. Jane's Addiction's early career played out (through the first break up, their greatest work), My Bloody Valentine released both of their only albums, Green Day formed (and they were good back then), The Stone Roses released their self titled album, Fugazi released 13 Songs and their first 2 proper albums, Galaxie 500 lived out their full career, Slint released both of their albums, The Flaming Lips began to get good (their very early stuff sucked, imo), music from the Cocteau Twins, Primal Scream, The Boo Radleys, Lowlife. Husker Du released their final album Warehouse, Guns N' Roses released their debut album Appetite for Destruction, Slayer brought us fantastic thrash with South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss, Metallica released their final good album And Justice For All..., Public Enemy debuted and released their classics It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fear of a Black Planet, NWA brought us Straight Outta Compton Eazy-E released his debut, A Tribe Called Quest brought popularity to jazz rap with People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and The Low End Theory.

Basically, if you don't want to read that orgy of musical happenings that randomly came to me as I was writing, the reason I chose these years is that it signified a lot. You could just start to see alternative music (college rock and the likes) gaining popularity at the start of this time period, and by the end it had simply exploded with the release of Document, Loveless, Nevermind, and a whole host of other music. These were, in my opinion, also the essential years of shoegaze, a genre I always enjoy. In addition, electronic music (outside of the dance genres, think Aphex Twin) was just beginning at the end of this time, as artists like Aphex Twin and DJ Shadow started experimenting a bit more. Rap and hip hop essentially were laid out here, with bands like N.W.A. and Public Enemy forming what would become the popular side of rap and A Tribe Called Quest hinting at the underground scene that would spring up with artists like DOOM and Danger Mouse. Basically, these years were hugely influential on all of the music that most of us listen to since then, and contain more of my favorite albums than any other 5 year period, no contest. 1987 also marks a pivotal year for me in terms of diversity; after this time a much wider range of genres became popular as opposed to earlier times. And 1991 was a perfect year to stop, as it leads into the 90s and the explosion of indie rock (Pavement, Flaming Lips, etc) rap, electronica, and alternative that was about to break through.

Originally Posted by music_phantom13

Thanks Engine! To be honest, I don't think there's really been a five year period that didn't have all sorts of amazing things going on musically, so I'm probably going to do another one soon that is closer to the present.

Originally Posted by music_phantom13

I'm disappointed almost everyone is doing the 60s and 70s and think more current times certainly deserve a mention.