der thomas

Albums of my life: 1985

This is the second part of my Albums of my life series and this time we are in 1985.

In this series I am ranking albums that are most important to me for each year since I was born. I won't rank them by how good I think they are and neither will I include albums that I never really listened too even though they might be excellent.

First, I'll start with...

Honourable Mentions

In this section I list albums that I listened to at least twice and which I find good, great even, but albums I don't have an emotional connection with

But now let's move on to what I consider to be my most important albums from 1985. And I only got 4 this time, starting with...

5. Athrax - Spreading the Disease

Album cover of "Anthrax - Spreading the Disease"

So why exactly did Anthrax make it into my ranking but Slayer and Exodus only got into honourable mentions? The answer is simple: because Anthrax means more to me than the others do. I don't know what it is but I do have more of a connection to Anthrax than all the other thrash metal giants. Maybe because they didn't take themselves too serious and were goofy at times?

I don't know, but Madhouse was basically my gateway into thrash metal and it will always have a special place in my heart.

4. Die Ärzte - Im Schatten der Ärzte

Album cover of "Die Ärzte - Im Schatten der Ärzte"

This album is so important to me that I initially forgot to include it in my ranking. However: this album is important for me. My entry to the German Punks was through their 90s albums "Planet Punk" and "Le Frisur", but by the time I got proper allowence I bought their earlier CDs as well, like this one.

Now "Im Schatten der Ärzte" isn't among my favourites, but it does contain absolute hits like Wegen dir, Buddy Holly's Brille and of course Käfer.

To quote:

Ich will, kein Käfer sein!

NEIN NEIN NEIN!

I don't wanna be a bug!

No No No!

I rest my case.

3. EAV - Geld oder Leben!

Album cover of "EAV - Geld oder Leben"

You probably never heard about this album if you are not from Austria. But EAV (Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung = First general (un)insurance) was huge in Austria. They started as a cabaret group in the early 80s and kept that comedic aspect throughout their career. However, their lyrics were always highly political and of course we kids didn't understand any of that. But we loved them back then. In elementary school everyone's favourite band was either "Jazz Gitti", "David Hasselhoff" or "EAV".

Geld oder Leben! is not too political yet, however they do address the struggles of every day life in a very comedic way. But see for yourself ▶️.

2. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

Album cover of "Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms"

Listening to this one brings back very early childhood memories. My mum had a cassette with songs she dubbed from the radio which we listened to in the kitchen when she was cooking and I was doing whatever 5 years olds do. One of the songs on it was Walk of Life.

Let's see if I remember the other songs from that tape: There was Geier Sturzflug - Bruttosozialprodukt, It's a Wonderful Life by Black, The Rubettes with Sugar Baby Love and I think Weiße Rosen aus Athen by Nana Mouskouri. A wild mix, right?

So Walk of Life was the first Dire Straits song I knew. Years later I discovered Money for Nothing and again a bit later Brothers In Arms. Since young Thomas didn't really care for the lyrics I thought the song was about brothers holding each other in their arms. I had no idea that it was about war because I didn't knew the actual meaning of "in arms".

I didn't listen to the whole album back then because we didn't have it. I am a huge fan of Mark Knopfler and I adore his guitar playing. He can let the guitar tell stories like no other. The way it talks to you is so unique. Next to the songs already mentioned I really love Why Worry and So Far Away.

Dire Straits didn't need a great singer because they had Knopfler's guitar.

1. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

Album cover of "Tom Waits - Rain Dogs"

First things first: the man on the album cover is not Tom Waits. The photograph is actually one of a series taken by the Swedish photographer Anders Petersen at Café Lehmitz. The photo series is pretty amazing, you can check it out here.

Now to the album.

Up until 2006 I have never even heard the name Tom Waits. Friends at Uni spoke highly of him, then I checked out his music and got addicted. I listened to all the albums non-stop.

And Rain Dogs became my very favourite. I love the stories he tells on Cemetery Polka (rumor has it that these are real stories from his family), the neverending Jockey Full of Bourbon which was also heavily used in the movie Down by Law (must see!), the title track, Clap Hands, Downtown Train, ... It is simply fantastic and I love it dearly.