The Album Years

In the second part of our deep dive into 1985, we discuss which established artists stayed relevant and which ones struggled to adapt to the new musical landscapes of the 1980s. Amongst those discussed are podcast favourites Joni Mitchell, Roy Harper and Miles Davis, while the zeitgeist conscious guises adopted by Rush and Robert Plant also go under the microscope. Meanwhile, Brian Eno continued to innovate by creating the very first album made specifically for the shiny new compact disc format.

Watch this episode on our YouTube channel!

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1985 was another sensational year for music. On this first part of our foray into the mid-eighties, we discuss the first album in history to sell over one million copies on CD (Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms fact fans), Phil Collins' smash hit album No Jacket Required, Prince's underrated follow up to 'Purple Rain' and much more (David Sylvian and Van Morrison? Check!).

You can watch the video version of this podcast over on our YouTube channel!

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This week’s episode is part 4 of 1968 – and with so much left to discuss we’re doing two episodes in one! Includes Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks," Nico's "The Marble Index," The Velvet Underground's "White Light," and many others.

And would you believe it, Tim Bowness and I share the same favourite album?

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This week’s Album Years - 1968 Part 3 - finds the boys covering singer-songwriters and emerging progressive artists. Pink Floyd, The Nice, Soft Machine, Caravan, Family, Moody Blues and many more are discussed. And, yes, they do manage to shoehorn mentions of Bowie, Fripp and Talk Talk into the conversation! Well done them.

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It's all about 1968 psychedelia on this week's The Album Years podcast episode! Steven and Tim break down albums by The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Iron Butterfly, The Incredible String Band and more, plus a mysterious inclusion on The Notorious Byrd Brothers' album cover...

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The Album Years' time machine lands in 1968! Steven and Tim discuss the "big hitters" from the year alongside UK psychedelic and underground rock, with notable albums by The Pretty Things, The Zombies, Small Faces and more all discussed.

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In the final The Album Years podcast episode for the year 2000, Steven and Tim pick their personal favourite albums of the year and the most influential. There's also discussions on notable progressive rock releases from the year, including albums by King Crimson, Air, Kevin Gilbert and more! You can also watch Steven and Tim's ramblings over on the brand new The Album Years YouTube channel!

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Up for discussion on this week's The Album Years podcast: albums by Linkin Park, Eminem, Iron Maiden, Peter Gabriel & more! And for once, Steven and Tim actually agree on something...

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On this week's agenda: albums released in 2000 by D'Angelo, The Avalanches, At The Drive-In and how Tim somehow believes AC/DC are underrated...

Listen to our friendly arguments here or watch us in HD on our new The Album Years YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@thealbumyearspodcast

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The Album Years podcast continues, and this time also in video form (check out our brand new YouTube channel!) The year is 2000: that means albums by Radiohead, Coldplay, U2 and more are up for discussion, along with Tim's questionable editing techniques...

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We're wrapping up 1987 on The Album Years Podcast! In Episode 2B, Tim and Steven delve into the murky world of metal, rock, the origins of grunge and more!

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This week's The Album Years episode features a death match between Pink Floyd's 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason', and Roger Waters' 'Radio K.A.O.S'! Who do you think wins this one? Listen now to find out!

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On this week's episode of The Album Years Podcast, we return to 1987 and 'mavericks off their rocker'... we discuss the boundary-pushing creativity of singer-songwriter Tom Waits and his 1987 studio album 'Franks Wild Years' and much more! We think it's one of his maddest records, do you agree?

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It's time to move into a new year of The Album Years podcast... introducing 1987! On Episode 1A, we share our thoughts on classics by Prince, George Michael, U2, Depeche Mode, Dead Can Dance and much more... our question of the week is, what's your favourite Prince record?

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Finally, we've reached the last episode of the marathon year of 1977 in The Album Years Podcast! On today's instalment, we commit the cardinal sin of talking about an album we've never even heard… tune in to find out what that might be!

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In one of the most eclectic episodes of The Album Years podcast yet, Steven and Tim delve into records by Queen, Throbbing Gristle and Fela Kuti. Now for our question of the week...do you have a favourite album that your best mate absolutely hates? Or as in Tim's case, is indifferent to...

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On this week's episode of The Album Years, we dive into American 🇺🇸 soft-rock albums from 1977, including Fleetwood Mac's ‘Rumours'. Plus, we also discuss one of our desert island discs, John Martyn's 'One World’. Our question of the week to you: what is your favourite American album from 1977?

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On this week's episode of The Album Years podcast, find out why Tim calls 'The Beach Boys Love You' an album that is 'mad as a hatter'. Have you got an album which fits that description?

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Steven & Tim dive into more iconic albums that defined 1977, with releases by ABBA, Peter Gabriel, 10cc, Jethro Tull & more!

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Steven & Tim dive into the progressive rock albums that defined 1977, with releases by Rush, Yes, Kansas & more!

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Because it's Christmas we thought we'd do something a bit different - we are answering all your questions!

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Because it's Christmas we thought we'd do something a bit different - we are answering all your questions!

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The Album Years returns with Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness discussing the music of 1977 across 8 full-length episodes! 1977 was a pivotal year in music, with the rise of punk and disco shaking up the industry. Artists who were aware of the changing musical landscape were able to connect with the zeitgeist, while others remained oblivious and continued to create in their own style. Episodes covering artists & releases from 1977 will be released weekly, so be sure to follow the podcast on your platform of choice every time a new episode drops!

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The Album Years returns with Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness discussing the music of 1977 across 8 full-length episodes! 1977 was a pivotal year in music, with the rise of punk and disco shaking up the industry. Artists who were aware of the changing musical landscape were able to connect with the zeitgeist, while others remained oblivious and continued to create in their own style. Episodes covering artists & releases from 1977 will be released weekly, so be sure to follow the podcast on your platform of choice every time a new episode drops!

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A CD length excursion into a great 'CD age' year as the boys discuss Tricky, Goldie, Radiohead, David Bowie, Scott Walker, Babybird, Momus, Red House Painters, Tears For Fears and much more.

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Another epic two-parter as the no-man duo take on 1983, a year where bright young things and old curmudgeons alike are on creative fire, even if there’s still a lot of space for honourable eccentrics. 

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Another epic two-parter as the no-man duo take on 1983, a year where bright young things and old curmudgeons alike are on creative fire, even if there’s still a lot of space for honourable eccentrics. 

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Six months after they left it dangling, the boys return to 1978. Part Three features deep dives into Chic, Marvin Gaye, Kate Bush, Peter Hammill, Scott Walker, Kevin Coyne, Be Bop Deluxe, Ange, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh, Steve Reich and much, much more in a truly epic edition! Elsewhere, SW finds a Genesis album he unconditionally likes, chickens are referenced (quite a lot) and, bless the lords of commerce, there's an Album Years t-shirt available…

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Steven and Tim return with 1978, a year so rich with significant albums ripe for discussion it looks like it’s going to require 4 episodes to get through them all! Part 2 of The Album Years' investigation into 1978 continues with some of the more established guard, including The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, 10cc, Warren Zevon, Elton John, Neil Young, Queen and more.

Parts 3 and 4 to follow!

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Steven and Tim return with 1978, a year so rich with significant albums ripe for discussion it looks like it’s going to require 4 episodes to get through them all! Part 1 takes on board Tim's suggestions for 'guilty pleasures’ (a notion which Steven strongly objects to), and the non-stop rise of the New Wave goes interstellar.

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As Noddy Holder keeps on reminding everybody, "It's Christmas!!!". So to celebrate instead of the usual format this episode finds us looking back, and discussing the general state of the physical album based music industry. To help us in this endeavour we are joined by special guest Paul Sinclair, the founder of influential music website SuperDeluxeEdition.com. We also hang our heads in shame at numerous schoolboy errors, answer a few listener's questions, and Tim once more tries to make a case for McCartney II as a masterpiece, but this time with Paul on his side.

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Steven and Tim find themselves marvelling at the greatness of what they’d assumed was a typically flat mid-1980s placeholder year. Talk Talk, The Smiths, Peter Gabriel, Arthur Russell, Miles Davis, Metallica, Momus, XTC, Prince and many an Album Years drinking game favourite are discussed. We also discover that Tim saved a man from drowning while listening to Depeche Mode, and Steven forever associates Peter Hammill’s Nadir’s Big Chance with vile pink medicine.

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The boys' time machine lands in 2006 and the fresh fields of 2001 seem to have become neglected and funky (and not in a glorious James Brown kind of way). Artists discussed include Scott Walker, The Who, Thom Yorke, Joanna Newsome, Arctic Monkeys, Sparks, The Flaming Lips and more. Elsewhere, the fractious duo fiercely debate the merits of Marmite. Yum? Yuck?

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2001, a music odyssey! Tim and Steven venture into the 21st century and, against expectations, they like what they see. Good Lord, it might even be a Golden Age! Artists discussed include Radiohead, Opeth, Bjork, Tool, Elbow, Mercury Rev, Brigitte Fontaine, The Caretaker, Prefuse 73 and Prefab Sprout (with a special shout out to Paddy MacAloon's beard).

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Giving overviews of the years that in the duo's opinion define the era of ‘the classic album’, Season Two opens with 1981. Taking in Post-Punk, Electro-Pop, Metal, Progressive, Jazz and more, in this edition Wilson and Bowness discuss artists as diverse as Japan, A Certain Ratio, Rush, Grace Jones, Rupert Hine, OMD, Pat Metheny, Iron Maiden, Magazine and others. Against all odds, they also make a valiant attempt to defend Phil Collins' masterwork Face Value! Launched at the beginning of the UK lockdown in 2020, The Album Years ended up being in the Top 5 music podcast charts in nearly 30 countries.

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Tim declares 1974 the year of ‘Peak Prog’, while elsewhere Bowie the dog and Tim’s neighbour’s electric drill make debut podcast appearances.

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In the latest episode the guys venture into the nineties. Extra fun can be had by joining in with a drinking game as you prepare to down one every time Tim mentions Robert Fripp or Steven mentions industrial music!

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Tim even sounds like he's beaming in from a barn circa 1969 on this one, as the duo bring you more schoolboy errors in the third of their “9” trilogy. Oh, and it’s 69 minutes long, can you see what they did there?

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Tim and Steven try to to figure out why they don't understand the appeal of an album that regularly appears near the top of greatest albums of all time lists.

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Can it be that the album Tim and Steven finally agree is their unanimous favourite of the year is a 3 hour minimalist opera? Find out by listening to sides 3 and 4 of the double album that is 1979.

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The guys have so many albums to talk about that they decide it's got to be a double! So welcome to The Album Years: 1979, record one.

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The heyday of punk and disco music is just around the corner, but one of Steven and Tim‘s favourite albums from this year is the very antithesis of both; an obscure solo homage to the English countryside by the bass player of a progressive rock band! Elsewhere 1976 proves to be another golden year for the duo.

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The duo make a case for 1967 being the single most significant year in the history of rock and pop, and discuss several genre defining albums, but conclude that Steven being born in this year actually eclipses them all!

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Tim tries to explain the trauma of first hearing David Bowie’s career nadir album Tonight, but otherwise the guys find 1984 to be another very special year.

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The guys can't find much in their collections that they unconditionally love from this year, with even some of their favourite artists releasing what are lesser works in their opinion. They consider why that should be and admit indifference to the dominant grunge music scene of the time.

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Steven and Tim struggle to get their list of great albums released in this year down from a shortlist of hundreds. So much so that they forget to mention King Crimson's Larks Tongues in Aspic completely, shame on them!

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Steven and Tim reckon this is a fantastic year for albums, with the explosion of creative music coming out of the post-punk crucible. There are also some older artists producing some of their very finest work in this year. Plus Tim tries to enthuse Steven about an ex-Beatle's solo album and Steven tries to do the same with industrial noise music.

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