1967

Since high school, this has  been my go-to for the best year of all time.  Here's a spoiler to show you its power:  This year's John Wesley Harding was for many years my favorite Dylan album.  Though it is not anymore, it should still be telling that it is absent from the following list while other Dylan albums have a noticeable presence on the last two lists, even an apology for a missing one.  So, Dylan fans, I am sorry, but here are my top 10 records of 1967.

1.  Moby Grape - Moby Grape
Grape, while their legacy is small and their other records spotty is an easy pick for "greatest band of all time."  It's five members Alexander "Skip" Spence, Bob Mosley, Peter Lewis, Don Stevenson, and Jerry Miller were all top of the line singers, players, and songwriters with more professional experience than anyone their age has had since the sixties.  With this prowess they explore the use of triple guitars and five part harmonies that makes their music bigger and heavier than most else, even in the blossoming world of San Francisco.  Often confided to categories of roots rock and psychedelia, I will tell you that's fucking absurd.  From the opening "Hey Grandma," and the top standout "Omaha" it is clear this is punk rock.  Throughout this wild and diverse set they beat everyone at their own game and give birth to a whole subgenre on every single concise track.

2.  The 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere
Also coming out of San Francisco, but via Texas the Elevators outdo themselves on this set opening with their magnum opus "Slip  Inside this House."  Things just keep going strong with the mysterious "Slide Machine" and even get soft and tender with the gorgeous "I Had To Tell You."  Despite changes in the rhythm section the band just gets better, as does contributing lyricist Powell St. John.  With their unusual blend of skills, the band not only captures the essence of the psychedelic experience, but philosophizes on its importance as only Tommy Hall could do.  The science of the mind, the love of the heart, and sexuality of the body meld as well as the guitars and Roky's howl commands all the attention they deserve.

3.  The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Everything has been said about this album, however I always feel the wrong things are highlighted.  Its diversity is usually ignored in  favor of all the distortion and dark subject matter.  There is a lot more to the Velvets than that and they weren't the only ones to do it.  A cohesive band featuring the great John Cale, they are far from just a vehicle for Lou Reed.  If they were, weren't his solo albums be a lot better?  I won't waste any more time.

4.  The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Likewise, it's all been said, though I'll say it's not quite the best.  Still, the Beatles were best as a psychedelic band and there is no shortage of great songs here from all members.  The Beatles at this point are consciously the band of the decade and this album excels in its concept capturing everything around, most importantly musically.  The Beatles greatest days come to their full evolution here and as dark as it gets at times, there is a lot of fun for the last time before things get too fragmented and cynical.

5.  Love - Forever Changes
While psychedelic rock became more and more associated with guitar effects, keyboards, and silly lyrics, Los Angeles' most mysterious band does it almost entirely with acoustic guitars.  The now-refined quintet turn a mirror on the dark side of the 60s from their Gothic Laurel Canyon mansion.  MacLean proves himself the equal of Lee immediately with "Alone Again Or" and again with "Old Man," with Lee sinking into darker and darker territory, particularly as he reaches into Wilson-esque childhood fantasy territory on the likes of "The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This."  An outsider's view of the Sunset Strip, right from "Clark & Hilldale."

6.  Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates  of Dawn
Syd's Floyd picks up where their masterful singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" and exemplifies both UK psych pop and creates space rock as much more than a Joe Meek novelty.  The songwriting would be the best of their career on the likes of "Lucifer Sam" and "Scarecrow," and begin the history of English weirdos like Robyn Hitchcock and Dan Treacy.  Floyd even at this point is one of the tightest and most tasteful bands in rock history with Barrett, Waters, Wright, and Mason functioning as much as one entity as they would years later with Gilmour.  It would me many years before the band topped this, if ever.

7.  The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
With their second masterpiece of the year the Velvets not only get into darker territory, they finally expose the depths of Cale's talents, though unfortunately not enough to his liking.  Oh, and they also pick up where "European Son" left off, bringing drone, poetry, and even more fuzz into rock.  Playing loudly and pushing all their limits they jam to infinity on the overrated "Sister Ray" until their point has been made.  It couldn't have gone any further anyway, that job was for the countless bands to do while Reed took it easier for the next five decades.

8.  Captain Beefheart  and His Magic Band - Safe as Milk
Neither the Captain nor Ry Cooder ever sound better than on this debut.  This band of crazies from Mojave reconstructs the blues and all their instruments to fit their leader's twisted vision.  The captain shares his buddy Frank Zappa's sense of humor and plays it off in an rougher, rawer fashion with a roadhouse beat and vocals from the delta of some other planet's Mississippi.  As the cover design would subtly imply his candy tribute "Abba Zaba"is the highlight, but "Zig-Zag Wanderer" and pretty much all of it equal it in creativity and party energy.

9.  The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
From this point on, all man (and women?) named James will consider calling themselves "Jimi," but too late, it already can never be done again.  Well, Mr. Hendrix completely creates the shape of not just all rock music, but all electric guitar playing to come.  We all know that, and so sometimes one forgets that all the songs kick ass too as well, and The Experience, yes a real band proves the power of the trio.  A hero so obvious that he is under-appreciated.  Modern music starts here.

10.  The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Byrds finally make a perfectly planned and structured album, but make the wise choice of not even relying on original material here.  Explicitly stating their place in the world with the opener "Artificial Energy" the quartet collaborates more closely than ever before and make a flowing, singular album totally phased together.  King/Goffin masterpieces sit perfectly in place alongside both snotty and dreamy Bryds originals.  "Draft Morning" sticks out as the strongest with its ethereal vocals and early use of samples.  Oh, and if you haven't heard this before the Byrds use lots of Moog, so think of that before you call them a Dylan cover band and go on a "Space Odyssey" even before Kubrick took you on one.