Your favorite song in real time from every year as a fan (with a twist - READ)

[KevShmev]

In short, since you started listening to music regularly, if someone asked you at the end of each year, what was your favorite song of the year, that is what we are looking for here.

In other words, it doesn't matter what your favorite song is now from, say, 2004.  It matters what your answer would have been at the end of 2004. Apply this same logic to each year.

And here is the kicker: you can only pick songs that came out that calendar year, with one concession being that a song that was released in December from the prior year can count, since we saw that often where a song from x-year ends up charting in the next year because of when it was a single, and a second concession being that if a song from year a wasn't released as a single until year b, it can count in year b for you (one of my picks below will demonstrate this). 

I hope this all makes sense.

1982 was when my music fandom really started thanks to us getting MTV, so I will tackle the 80s first and the rest later.

1982 -- Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (it wouldn't be close to this now, but it was number 1 on the first list I ever made of favorite songs)
1983 -- Come Dancing by The Kinks
1984 -- The Boys of Summer by Don Henley
1985 -- These Dreams by Heart
1986 -- The Final Countdown by Europe
1987 -- Need You Tonight by INXS
1988 -- Always There for You by Stryper (save the catcalls )
1989 -- All I Want Is You by U2 (from 1988, but released as a single in the summer of '89)

Can you tell I loved my MTV in the 80s?

[pg1067]

Geez...this is hard.

1981, however, is fairly easy.  That was the year I graduated 8th grade and my mother and I went and stayed with my sister and her family in Colorado for three weeks.  I slept in the finished basement, which is where my sister had her stereo and albums.  I fell in love with the Beatles.  I got my first stereo (turntable, cassette deck, 8-track player combo) for my birthday in October.  The first two albums I bought were the blue and red Beatles greatest hits albums (one on vinyl and the other on cassette).  I also joined the Columbia Record and Tape Club.  If you'd asked me on 12/31/81, my favorite song probably would've been I Am the Walrus, but my favorite song from 1981 would've been something from that first batch of Columbia albums (all of which came on 8-track).  It probably would've been either We Got the Beat by The Go-Go's or Centerfold by The J. Geils Band.

The rest will require more thought than I have time for right now, so I'll be back.

[lonestar]

Yeah... Considering I was either blindingly drunk or meth'd out to my gills for 20 of those years, I'll have to pass on this one. I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Thank goodness I have so many detailed documents about my listening habits over the years, or this would have been next to impossible.  It was hard enough as it was, trying to get back into my mindset from each year, and I'm sure current retrospection may have colored some of these. 

And the weird thing is that the vast majority of these years I haven't paid that close of attention to new releases as they've come out, mostly just random finds or top bands.  The mid-late 00s and the last three years are really the only times I've attempted to stay on top of what's coming out to some extent. 

'94 and earlier - no idea, the only music I paid any attention to was older classic rock, country, and CCM from my parents' collection
1995 - Jars of Clay - "Flood"
1996 - Eddie & Alex Van Halen - "Respect the Wind"
1997 - The Echoing Green - "Oxygen"
1998 - Bride - "Tomorrow Makes No Sense"
1999 - Drain S.T.H. - "Enter My Mind"
2000 - King's X - "Fish Bowl Man"
2001 - Sonata Arctica - "San Sebastian (Revisited)"
2002 - Carlos Santana/Michelle Branch - "Game of Love"
2003 - Nevermore - "Enemies of Reality"
2004 - Megadeth - "Kick the Chair"
2005 - Opeth - "Ghost of Perdition"
2006 - Scar Symmetry - "Mind Machine"
2007 - Ulver - "Eos"
2008 - Deadlock - "Dying Breed"
2009 - Amorphis - "From Earth I Rose"
2010 - Solution .45 - "Through Night-Kingdomed Gates"
2011 - Tedeschi/Trucks Band - "Midnight in Harlem"
2012 - Katatonia - "The Parting"
2013 - Soilwork - "This Momentary Bliss"
2014 - Lights - "From All Sides"
2015 - Grimes/Bleachers - "Entropy"
2016 - Deftones - "Prayers/Triangles"
2017 - Anathema - "Endless Ways"
2018 - SZA/Kendrick Lamar - "All the Stars"
2019 - Evergrey - "Departure"
2020 - Draconian - "Sleepwalkers"
2021 - Emma Ruth Rundle - "Blooms of Oblivion"
2022 - Chelsea Wolfe - "Ouie Ouie Marie"

[King Postwhore]

Love, love, love Flood & Fish Bowl Man.

[Adami]

Some of you have amazing memories. I know Idioglossia has been my favorite song for many years, but I have no idea how many or what it was before that.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I just noticed that Christian Alvestam has three separate songs on my list.  Haha. 

[hefdaddy42]

No fucking way can I do this.

[SoundscapeMN]

I would be better at just identifying 1 song from each year, that I know I enjoyed during-that-year.

To definitively pick 1 as my #1 favorite, from-that-time would be too hard, partially just comparing songs I love, and partially being sure I actually knew about and enjoyed said song(s) at that time, especially anything before say 1993.

[Stadler]

I've been stewing on this for a couple days now.  This is REALLY hard. 

1981:  It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock And Roll) - AC/DC (But I don't think this counts, because it wasn't released in 1981; that's just when I got it)
1982:  The Prisoner or Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden
1983:  Stranded - Rainbow

From there... I have to dig in further....

[lonestar]

I could probably do albums, songs is just too specific, and for the 80s and 90s, I mostly focused on about 10 albums anyways 

[King Postwhore]

Too many rings on this tree to try. 

[lonestar]

 

[RoeDent]

So...a while back I made a list on RYM of my favourite album from each calendar year I've been alive. So I can just take that as a starting point and pick a song from each of those albums. Album title in brackets.

1989: Tears for Fears - Swords and Knives (The Seeds of Love)
1990: Toy Matinee - Last Plane Out (Toy Matinee)
1991: Marillion - Dry Land (Holidays in Eden)
1992: Dream Theater - Surrounded (Images and Words)
1993: Crowded House - Distant Sun (Together Alone)
1994: Pink Floyd - Wearing the Inside Out (The Division Bell)
1995: Marillion - Beyond You (Afraid of Sunlight)
1996: Porcupine Tree - Waiting Phase One (Signify)
1997: The Flower Kings - Just This Once (Stardust We Are)
1998: Ayreon - Isis & Osiris (Into the Electric Castle)
1999: Porcupine Tree - Baby Dream in Cellophane (Stupid Dream)
2000: IQ - The Seventh House (The Seventh House)
2001: Pendragon - A Man of Nomadic Traits (Not of This World)
2002: The Flower Kings - Fast Lane (Unfold the Future)
2003: Spock's Beard - Ghosts of Autumn (Feel Euphoria)
2004: The Polyphonic Spree - When The Fool Becomes A King (Together We're Heavy)
2005: Dream Theater - Octavarium (Octavarium)
2006: Frost* - Milliontown (Milliontown)
2007: Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize (Fear of a Blank Planet)
2008: Beardfish - Sleeping in Traffic (Sleeping in Traffic: Part Two)
2009: Big Big Train - The Underfall Yard (The Underfall Yard)
2010: Spock's Beard - The Quiet House (X)
2011: Dream Theater - Breaking All Illusions (A Dramatic Turn of Events)
2012: Rush - The Wreckers (Clockwork Angels)
2013: Steven Wilson - Drive Home (The Raven That Refused to Sing and other stories)
2014: IQ - The Road of Bones (The Road of Bones)
2015: The Dear Hunter - Is There Anybody Here? (Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise)
2016: Kyros - Cloudburst (Vox Humana)
2017: Steven Wilson - Detonation (To the Bone)
2018: Southern Empire - Cries for the Lonely (Civilisation)
2019: Flying Colors - Love Letter (Third Degree)
2020: Kyros - Technology Killed the Kids III (Celexa Dreams)
2021: Frost* - Kill the Orchestra (Day and Age)
2022: Lonely Robot - Species in Transition (A Model Life)

[HOF]

1995 - Jars of Clay - "Flood"

2000 - King's X - "Fish Bowl Man"

I really like those first two Jars of Clay albums. Big fan of Mr. Bulbous as well.

[SoundscapeMN]

I would be better at just identifying 1 song from each year, that I know I enjoyed during-that-year.

To definitively pick 1 as my #1 favorite, from-that-time would be too hard, partially just comparing songs I love, and partially being sure I actually knew about and enjoyed said song(s) at that time, especially anything before say 1993.

so here's a go at part of it. A lot of it comes down to favorite album during that year and best/favorite song on that album which is kind of boring and predictable.

1993 Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again
1994 Pink Floyd - Lost for Words
1995 Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons
1996 King's X - Train
1997 Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
1998 Marillion - These Chains
1999 Marillion - Interior Lulu
2000 Fates Warning - Still Remains
2001 Transatlantic - Stranger in Your Soul
2002 Pain of Salvation - Beyond the Pale
2003 John Arch - Cheyenne
2004 Marillion - The Invisible Man
2005 The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini
2006 Pure Reason Revolution - The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows
2007 Kaddisfly - Via Rail (Janvier)
2008 Ours - The Worst Things Beautiful

[KevShmev]

So...a while back I made a list on RYM of my favourite album from each calendar year I've been alive. So I can just take that as a starting point and pick a song from each of those albums. Album title in brackets.

 

I am guessing you didn't actually read the first post on this thread, right?

Or, maybe you are just that good that you had a favorite song from the year you were born before you were even a year old. That would be impressive.

[RoeDent]

Everything from 2011 onward is real-time. Sorted.

[Buddyhunter1]

The "Date Added" field in iTunes made figuring out which albums I heard the year they came out easy, though for some of these earlier ones I kinda had to guess which song I liked the most back then.

2009: Dream Theater - The Count Of Tuscany
2010: Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes
2011: Devin Townsend - The Mighty Masturbator
2012: Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
2013: Steven Wilson - Luminol
2014: Devin Townsend - War Princess
2015: Periphery - Omega
2016: Meshuggah - Clockworks
2017: Ulver - Coming Home
2018: Ghost - Life Eternal
2019: Anamanaguchi - Sunset By Plane
2020: Pure Reason Revolution - Silent Genesis
2021: Porcupine Tree - Harridan (I know the album came out in 2022 but this song was released in 2021 so I'm gonna count it for that year)
2022: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Ice V

[LithoJazzoSphere]

2013: Steven Wilson - Luminol

My favorite solo song of his. 

[Buddyhunter1]

2013: Steven Wilson - Luminol

My favorite solo song of his.

It's good, but it's definitely not my favorite song from that year now.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Well sure, I still like everything on my list, but there have certainly been some even better songs I've discovered in some of the years since then. 

[Cool Chris]

I say this with a smile and respect: The way some of you have cataloged your musical journey in your memories is astounding.

[SoundscapeMN]

I would be better at just identifying 1 song from each year, that I know I enjoyed during-that-year.

To definitively pick 1 as my #1 favorite, from-that-time would be too hard, partially just comparing songs I love, and partially being sure I actually knew about and enjoyed said song(s) at that time, especially anything before say 1993.

so here's a go at part of it. A lot of it comes down to favorite album during that year and best/favorite song on that album which is kind of boring and predictable.

1993 Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again
1994 Pink Floyd - Lost for Words
1995 Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons
1996 King's X - Train
1997 Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
1998 Marillion - These Chains
1999 Marillion - Interior Lulu
2000 Fates Warning - Still Remains
2001 Transatlantic - Stranger in Your Soul
2002 Pain of Salvation - Beyond the Pale
2003 John Arch - Cheyenne
2004 Marillion - The Invisible Man
2005 The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini
2006 Pure Reason Revolution - The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows
2007 Kaddisfly - Via Rail (Janvier)
2008 Ours - The Worst Things Beautiful

so here it is from 1982-on, which any music before that I don't recall or even think I listened to and knew, new music when I was that young (born in 1976, so the ages of 0-6)

I took a liberty with 1990-1992 per I know I knew those songs then, and couldn't find any obvious other songs I love, that I loved then from memory, more, so they just kind of went in by default. I will say, 1989 was a fantastic year for Pop music for my taste. Many other tunes could have been picked.

1982: Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
1983: Huey Lewis and the News - If This Is It
1984: Lionel Richie - Hello
1985: Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love
1986: Whitney Houston - Greatest Love of All
1987: Guns N Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine
1988: Roxette - Listen to Your Heart
1989: Faith No More - Epic
1990: Queensryche - Silent Lucitity
1991: Rush - Ghost of a Chance
1992: Dream Theater - Pull Me Under
1993: Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again
1994: Pink Floyd - Lost for Words
1995: Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons
1996: King's X - Train
1997: Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
1998: Marillion - These Chains
1999: Marillion - Interior Lulu
2000: Fates Warning - Still Remains
2001: Transatlantic - Stranger in Your Soul
2002: Pain of Salvation - Beyond the Pale
2003: John Arch - Cheyenne
2004: Marillion - The Invisible Man
2005: The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini
2006: Pure Reason Revolution - The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows
2007: Kaddisfly - Via Rail (Janvier)
2008: Ours - The Worst Things Beautiful
2009: Kevin Gilbert - A Tired Old Man
2010: Foals - Spanish Sahara
2011: The Dear Hunter - Mandala
2012: Ramona Falls - Spore
2013: The Reign of Kindo - I Hate Music
2014: Fjokra - Infinite Loops
2015: The Dear Hunter - Waves
2016: Fates Warning - The Light and Shade of Things
2017: Mutemath - Hit Parade
2018: Ours - Fly
2019: Vonavi - Sunburst
2020: Dirt Poor Robins - Skywriter
2021: Kevin Gilbert - Tired Old Man Suite
2022: Toehider - I Have Little To No Memories of These Memories

[billboy73]

1995 - Jars of Clay - "Flood"

2000 - King's X - "Fish Bowl Man"

I really like those first two Jars of Clay albums. Big fan of Mr. Bulbous as well.

The 3rd album, If I Left the Zoo, is really good too.  It's probably my favorite, but the first 2 Jars albums are great as well.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

The first two are definitely the most consistent, but pretty much all the others have some good material as well.