1971

Been real busy and it has not been fun, so hopefully this will be up on March 19, 2013, but I doubt that's the case.  This is another great year, 1971!

10.  David Bowie - Hunky Dory
There was a time that I cited this as my favorite Bowie album.  Now I think it's a bit twee.  Still really great though.  He is at his feyest here, but it's in a pretty glam way and the tunes are fantastic.  It's another big Wes Anderson favorite, but "Life in Mars?" and "Queen Bitch" are just the beginning.  For one, there's "Changes," one of the weirdest opening tracks of all time, which is ideal for an album that ends as perfectly as the haunting "The Bewlay Brothers."  The soon to be ultra-famous Bowie pays tribute to his heroes a bit more tastefully than he would later on tracks like "Song for Bob Dylan," "Andy Warhol," and "Oh! You Pretty Things," some of the greatest songs on the album.  Much as I like The Man Who Sold The World, this is Bowie's first masterpiece of many that would come in this troubling, yet productive decade.  Watch for many, many more appearences.

9.  Pink Floyd - Meddle
Cambridge's seminal rock band finally returns to the heights achieved with former leader Syd Barrett on this one despite it's relatively bland album art.  The four have melded into the singular unit they would remain for the majority of the decade and create some of their most memorable pieces like my personal favorite "Fearless" and the legendary side "Echoes."  The band's ability to turn even a beach vacation into an eerie psychedelic mindfuck on "Saint Tropez" made them the perfect choice to play Pomeii around this era when songs become incidental in their cinematic whole sound which would continue to be their hallmark.

8.  Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson
Serge's pornographic opera about an underage English girl is one of his definitive works.  Though repetitive it's a very engulfing piece full of gorgeous arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier.  Compared to his major hit "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus," a step down in explicitness makes the  music even dirtier, re-purifying and further defiling young wife Jane Birkin.  Without much knowledge of French it is hard to evaluate any plot, but it's clearly full of lust and the wild sex that ensues.  It all ends as dirty and funky as it begins with plenty of beauty and wild hedonism in the middle.  His most personal work?  He certainly would like you to believe so.

7. Yes -  The Yes Album
After two superb albums Yes steps up their game following the addition of former Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe.  The new band shows off all its potential within seconds on the opener "Yours Is No Disgrace," particularly Howe whose shredding might even surpass that of drummer Bill Bruford and bassist Chris Squire.  His vocals give the band their signature three part harmonies that gave Yes their unfathomable musicianship.  Despite hit "I've Seen All Good People," the band gets into the expansive sci-fi/fantasy territory they would explore to great effect in the future which would only get more exciting and a lot less embarrassing.  Perhaps the first "true" Yes album it is more accessible for a typical rock fan but satisfies all the nerdy prog needs in a more catchy and melodic fashion than their mind-bending later work.

6.  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Zeppelin's most famous album some write off for its excessive play and Lord of the Rings obsession.  Actually, it is solid and while the lyrics may be a bit goofy, they were never the band's strong point.  Still it's hard to find any fault with the one song bold and worthy enough to be called simply "Rock and Roll."  Mandolins may dominate a song or two, but the band rocks as hard as ever on most of them reminding future generations not to scoff at keyboards on "Misty Mountain Hop."  I may be a little sick of it to, but to deny this album's greatness would be a lie and really, "Stairway to Heaven" is no joke, there is a reason you have heard it so many times, even after knowing its beginning was stolen from Spirit.

5.  T. Rex - Electric Warrior
While Zeppelin and Yes tried to take rock further and further Mac Bolan and his glam followers were aiming for teenage disposability.  Of course, they got the opposite.  Perhaps the only band with a guitar/bass/drums/percussion lineup should achieve nothing less than legendary status.  The songs matched it too with Bolan's wit matching their sensuality on simple classics like "Mambo Sun" and "Planet."  A fun album too long associated with punk that functions best as a perfect set of pop with unequaled relaxed ferocity.  Others may prefer the other albums, but I could not name one that captures everything to love about T. Rex than this one.  Every song is a classic that will stick with you for the rest of your life with a simple power that begs for repetition.

4. Ramases - Space Hymns
This darkly spiritual record defies explanation.  The music speaks for itself, yet the story behind it  is  almost as fascinating and only slightly more believable.  Firstly the easy stuff:  The six-panel artwork is by Roger Dean and the music is played by the members of 10cc.  Anyway, about Rameses.  He is in fact THAT Ramases, or at least he and his wife, who appears with him as Selket believed it so.  The former drill sergeant turned heating system salesman had a vision informing he was the reincarnation of the pharaoh and with that knowledge  he put together this music career.  It hits its peak on this album which features titles like the powerful opener "Life Child," "Jesus," "Molecular Delusions," and the Midnight Cowboy tribute "You're the Only One."  His story is told on "And The Whole World."  It's not even really space rock, it has to be heard to believed, and that wills till be  a challenge.

3.  Caravan - In The Land of Grey and Pink
The last  album by the original Caravan lineup is often the favorite of prog aficionados.  This is probably because it finds them getting into more Medieval fantasy territory than they had before.  The music is still great despite this, especially on "Winter Wine," which features some of Richard Sinclair's best vocals.  It also takes their extended pieces to a whole side in length on "Nine Feet Underground," but also has some of their most structured pop.  Songs like "Golf Girl" and "Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" make this album their most accessible and the recurring themes keep the whole thing  more structured than ever before.  The title and its  artwork fit suggesting that the band may have perfected their vision as songs have become their most balance even as some charm is lost as the playing gets a bit more subdued.  It is tragic the original band's story ends here.

2.  Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
This heavy psychedelic rock album is a concept about fear, famous for its liner notes from the Process Church of the Creator (who worshiped God, Jesus, Satan, and Lucifer - I highly recommend researching the subject).  It is the funkiest space rock album made particularly on the often imitated title track and "Wars of Armageddon," a song bravely living up to its title with its use of sound effects and samples.  "Can You Get To That" is the pop classic that keeps this album somewhat friendly to any listener along with the call and response of "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks," and the metal (by correct 1971 standards) of "Super Stupid."  In addition to the bookend tracks the dizzying "Back In Our Minds" makes this album one of the best at capturing the psychedelic experience  and all it can do for you.  A  difficult listen, but not one without lots of fun and life-changing rewards... just like mushrooms.

1.  John Cale - Paris 1919
Cale makes a symphonic pop record in tribute to the days that made the 20th century.  The titles are almost entirely literary and geographical with Cale reinterpreting Dylan Thomas' "Child's Christmas in Wales," presumably to his own experience, making it a top runner for the greatest song of all time.  I teared up the first hundred or so times I heard it and most afterward.  This album has such a strong old world feel to it it's hard to believe it was recorded in Los Angeles with Little Feat backing him.  An album of gentle, yet somewhat apocalyptic tone it possesses a rare humor most evident on the title track with its chorus "you're a ghost la la la la la la la la."  Then that harpsichord comes in...  The album is capable of rocking out very hard too as seen on the double-drum piano workout "Macbeth."  This peerless album proves who the greatest genius in the Velvet Underground really was in this bold and under-appreciated artistic statement.  Here is a beauty unseen anywhere else with musicianship as fearless as it is proficient and lyrics with success in their outrageous in subject not even approached until the emergence of Wire.  Perhaps the best album of the decade and in the top tier for all time.