1965

Here I begin a top 10 rock records of the album era.  I put more time than ever into making this pretty complete.  That being said, 10 is not a very high number most years.  Sometimes it's a very high number, usually in years including the digit "8."  I can't hear everything, I never will, but neither will you and like you, I have some very controversial opinions.  Guess which ones they are.

The "album era" begins in 1965.  Barely.  Still pretty tricky here in the beginning.  I have no idea what the pace will be and for all I know my 2013 list could be done just on time.  I wouldn't count on it, but I'll say this year has started off pretty well.

So, here's 1965.  This is the format.

1.  The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The album era begins here.  Brian Wilson was not the only one to marvel at the existence of a LP's worth of top-notch original tunes, even though he came pretty close himself.  Many consider this the Beatles' best and those people have a pretty good point.  It's solid and I'm wasting my time talking about the Beatles

2.  Love - Love
Makes sense that the Sunset Strip band with the least hit singles also released the most solid LPs.  The first one in fact.  Anyone paying attention knew that Love had as much or more to offer than any  other band in LA, enough to make the progression of that scene seem like a disappointment.  Love's eclectic sound, energy and songwriting bursts out immediately in an record that dramatically surpassed what probably everyone but the band members would have expected.

3.  The Kinks - The Kink Kontroversy
 People give the Beatles all the credit for the birth of the perfect rock record, but something was in the air and all the best bands took a big step this year.  It's the Kinks at their peak, so what more could you ask for in an album?

4.  The Beach Boys - Today!
Brian did it too, of course.  This one is the most solid so far and like most of the others on this list, the album captures a great band at their best with no gaps in between.  Songs like "When I Grow Up" begin Brian's tragic fall into eternal childhood that would make his music transcendent for the next few years.  So good the demons had to take it down a notch.

5.  The Remains - The Remains
Boston's (Barry &) The Remains remain one of the best stories in rock history.  They opened for the Beatles on their final US tour.  Were shamed by their home city for moving to New York, and are one of the first bands to use the world's best lineup of the guitar, bass, drums, keyboard quartet.  While they have even better material out there we are truly blessed to have an original LP worthy of their legend.

6.  The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
Many write off the Byrds' early albums as spotty collections of strong singles and they have a point (the B-sides being some of their best works).  However, it's not well proven on this one.  Maybe the best American group of their era it's almost a threat to call them spotty at this  time.  Their best material had been built up and they lay it out quickly on the debut making it an exciting listen that set the very high standard of folk rock.  The band has the harmonies, the songwriting, and the dynamic rarely contended that gave American's all the  inspiration they needed in subsequent years.

7.  The Sonics - Here are the Sonics!!
If The Dave Clark Five were a grunge band who could put together a decent LP this would be it.  This is, to my knowledge the loudest, heaviest album that existed in the world at the time of its release and well into the next year (guess what's coming up).  The songs are as great with the likes of "The Witch" and "Psycho" still defining fun rock today.

8.  The Pretty Things - The Pretty Things
The Pretties are to the Stones as the Stones are to the Beatles and debut with this largely unnoticed package of punk R&B that became the calling card of all true rock 'n' rollers.  The future begins here.


9.  Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Dylan slowly goes electric, being a part of the 60s greatest gift to the world:  Folk rock.  Still largely in the acoustic sound, things do start getting heavier and rockier.  Like the Beatles you can't deny anything about Dylan's massively positive influence.  After all many of these songs do appear in superior forms in the following years.  Look no further than other albums on these lists.  They may all be there.

10.  Them - The Angry Young Them
The best-titled album on this list follows the theme of loud proto-punk with the extra edge of being from perhaps the most war-torn city in the West.  Well, that and a musical prodigy on lead vocals, harmonica, and sax.  Morrison's credit for this cohesive band has left guitarist Billy Nicholls bitter, as seen in recent Ugly Things, and if you're curious about the justification of that just listen to this album.  It's no joke.

As the years go, albums become more of an art and the game gets more competitive.  It jsut gets better from here... for a while.