Top Australian Albums

Spent a bit of time last weekend listening to Triple J and their Top 100 Australian Albums countdown.

I was quite surprised by the amount of recent Albums (last 2-3 years) that made the cut. But really, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all. It is meant to be a ‘yoof’ radio station so there’s probably heaps of voters who hadn’t even heard of Hunters & Collectors and The Cruel Sea and the Hoodoo Gurus and the like.

(Wow. Feeling a bit old now after that statement. Thank god it’s ages to my next birthday)

Anyway, I was reasonably happy that at least the Top 10 did seem to reflect Australia’s music history and included some Albums from as far back as the 80s. The whole thing has inspired me though to do up a list of my own Top Australian Albums. The obvious criteria being that I own or have owned them at some time. So here it is, in no particular order.

INXS – Kick

A big part of my early teenage years when I was really ‘discovering’ music. Am always transported back to those days when I hear the distinctive first chords of “Never Tear Us Apart” and can’t help singing along involuntarily whenever I hear "Need You Tonight". This album is the reason INXS achieved global success and were able to fill Wembley and a like.

Powderfinger – Odyssey No. 5

This topped the Triple J list and with good reason. I’ve talked about it before in my Top 7 Albums of all time post so I won’t rehash it again but will say that it was there for me when I needed it the most. "Waiting for the Sun" is definitely "My Kind Of Scene".

Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty

An album that I discovered a number of years after it was released. It then became the resident ‘tape’ in my stereo for months after. The Hunters certainly were an underrated band that was willing to go ‘big’ on sound and experiment with jazz-funk at a time when it was all haircuts and synthesised keyboards. The haunting "This Morning" being the standout track.

Crowded House – Together Alone

I’ve owned pretty much all of their albums with the first self-titled one a mainstay of my early teenage years. Alas, Together Alone is my favourite as my ‘ear’ matured and took to the more musically diverse sounds on this album. Tracks such as “Private Universe” and “Distant Sun” are my favourites with Distant Sun my all time favourite CH track.

Midnight Oil – Diesel & Dust

Ah, the memories...lying on my bed with this CD playing and reading the inner notes. This Oil’s album introduced me to all sorts of social justice issues and led me to believe that music does matter. It had such an impact on me that I even used a song from it as a poetry project at school. Not sure if my teacher ever caught on that it was a song instead of a poem. It was “Dead Heart” by the way.

The Cruel Sea – The Honeymoon Is Over

The honeymoon is over. No truer word had been spoke at the time. This album hit the airwaves in my final year of high school and was my Schoolies soundtrack after my girlfriend of the time cheated on me. I sang the title track with a fair bit of gusto for weeks after but also loved some of the instrumental tracks on the album which made me realise music doesn’t have to have a singer.

Hoodoo Gurus – Electric Soup

Not an Album per se as this was a compilation put out in 1992. Contains all my favourite Gurus tracks though and opened up a few others to me as well. “A Place in the Sun” is my all time HG track while “Death Defying” takes me back to staying up late and watching Rage into the early hours and thinking I was so grown up.

Cold Chisel – Circus Animals

Yeah, there might be some raised eyebrows over this one due to the fact a lot of Chisel has been hijacked by the bogan element. But there’s no denying that a lot of their songs, on pure song writing and lyrics, tell some powerful stories and should be seen in a better light by a lot of my contemporaries.

This album in particular resonates with me as they decided to stuff the industry expectations and experiment a bit more with their sound. Quite ironic then that this ended up being one of their more popular commercial albums. “Bow River” the standout for mine. One of my favourite songs of anyones.

So there you go. On reflection, I realise now that a lot of these are from my teenage days. Perhaps because Australian music was largely what was available at the time through commercial radio and co.

It’s probably not until my 20s that I gained ‘access’ to a lot of international acts through listening to Triple J and being opened up to more diverse music while at Uni. My Top 7 Albums of all time post certainly had an international bent to it so there’s a theory as to why this list is so 90s oriented anyway.

So are there any that I’ve missed? Any other suggestions from you lot?

EDM.