This year was really hard. While there was no shortage of great music released it was harder than usual to rank it. Things get very weird here. The different sides of music break apart and re-converge in different ways. Eras are ending while other begin and it had yet to truly be figured out. But I guess that's the 70s... up to a point that has not been reached at this point.
10. Fripp & Eno - (No Pussyfooting)
Following his somewhat acrimonious departure from Roxy Music Brian Eno begins his long-standing collaboration with Robert Fripp on this experimental record. Where Eno may have been some kind of mad scientist sideshow in his previous band he begins his long career as a direction-changing collaborator. Fripp testifies that these sessions forever changed his style of playing as seen on all King Crimson albums following the beginning (more on that later). Likewise, Eno begins his work with the studio as an instrument and his creation of ambient music that would dominate the majority of his career. With two side long pieces, the album is created completely through Fripp's playing manipulated by Eno, mostly through tapes, but though other effects as well. It the beginning of a collaboration that would forever change music, and in a way be the climax and conclusion of the idea of "progressive" rock.
9. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
After Ziggy's fall Bowie creates a new space glam supercharacter with an even more vague and mysterious with a lad insane. The album takes points from the last effort and takes them in different directions that make it easier or more difficult to seriously respect depending on the listener. It is a bit less song and theme oriented, which makes its songs less memorable, but no less excellent. Tony Visconti's influence may be the biggest part, as it is the most similar to Bowie rival and Visconti cohort Marc Bolan's work at the same time. It is more complex and less predictable musically than Ziggy, but also deeper, not relying on pressing the same emotional and science fiction buttons. This challenging record is Bowie's final masterpiece and, sometimes considered his peak of the glam era, as after a few records of confusion he would emerge a changed man and even greater artist.
8. Hawkwind - Space Ritual
Hawkwind, despite their reliance on woodwinds, electronics, sci-fi fantasy lyrics and extended song leengths, always leaned more toward the punk end of space rock than the progressive. This double live album catches them at their peak with Lemmy on bass and collects many of their best songs of their early career with all the extended live fury. While these songs are not always sounding the best as their studio efforts they are all here and the spoken word passages manage to preserve the band at what they did best. It rocks very hard, sowing the seeds of punk rock and the very unfortunate future of metal. "Born to Go" is a perfect beginning and "Master of the Universe" says it all about this unique group. "Space Is Deep," and so is the album's penetration of the mind.
7. King Crimson - Lark's Tongue in Aspic
The debut of the greatest Crimson lineup (Robert Fripp, ex-Yes Bill Bruford, and future Asia John Wetton joined by David Cross not-that-one on violin, and percussionist Jamie Muir) is also the band's finest work. Opening with part 1 of the title track, Bruford's reasons for departing Yes are justified with the perplexing interplay between him and Muir which drastically changed and improved the already top drummer's style. Wetton's vocals fit the band perhaps the most of any of their front men with his deep detached tone and the musicians function more organically than any other lineup, placing them apart from the rest of the prog camp. Fripp's playing, in the beginning of it's post-Eno phase is at its best and he creates guitar sounds never heard before that would influence all in its wake - the best example being part 2 of the title track. Crimson at their best.
6. Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power
With the addition of Funhouse hanger-on James Williamson and the demotion of the Asheton brothers the newly dubbed Iggy and the Stooges get back into the studio thanks to David Bowie resulting in this ear-bleeder. Luckily Williamson is a great guitarist who can really wail as opposed to Ron Asheton's wall of crunch. Which a person prefers says a lot about one's personality. There is a lot to like about both and Williamson does shine, particularly on the opener and greatest song "Search and Destroy" which defines Iggy's glam era just as "1969" and "Loose" did for their albums. In full-blown rock star psychotic mode the band oozes with more sexuality than ever before with the tension of "Penetration," being much more titillating than the simple statement of "I'll stick it deep inside." "Gimme Danger." Duh.
5. New York Dolls - New York Dolls
Following the tragic death of original drummer Billy Murcia, the most-appropriately named band of all time finally makes their recorded debut with the aide of Todd Rundgren. This production actually lives a little to be desired, but the songs and the performances do not. "Personality Crisis," is actually the first thing I would play for an alien (hopefully not Earthling) who had never heard rock music before. Johnny Thunders guitar slices with the fury of a sadistic street tough's switch blade, particularly on "Lonely Planet Boy" and the US's greatest glam rocker "Jet Boy." New York trash has its day here in all it's abrasive and comedic charm, best heard on "Frankenstein" and the frighteningly honest "Looking for a Kiss." It's hard to tell if the stupidity is real or not, but it does beg the question of how much intelligence is required for a sense of irony. It's a tight rock record anyhow and a definitive sound of New York City.
4. NEU! - NEU! 2
Another one full of tape experimentation. Following the success of their debut the legendary krautrock duo rush together this album full of shorter songs often manipulated in speeds, to sometimes nauseating effect as on "Hallo Excentrico!" and their most proto-punk song of all "Super" sets the record straight on the pronunciation of their name... at least the regular speed version does. The band incorporates vocals much more than on their debut to excellent, yet no more pop-oriented effect. Are they even lyrics? No one cares. NEU! experiments with the studio as and instrument like Eno the same year, but in a much more simple and rock and roll fashion further solidifying their legend. If that intimidates anyone comfortable in the sounds of their debut, it does start off with the beautiful "Fur Immer (Forever)," the best and longest example of their definitive style.
3. Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star
Working on his own (and really completely on his own) Rundgren attempts to create a musical acid trip to some kind of success. Like the Pretty Things' Parachute, the first side is a collection of short, eclectic songs that flow together opening with the classic "International Feel," and The Wizard of Oz's "Never Never Land," plus the heady instrumental "Tic Tic Tic (It Wears Off)" and the wild "Rock 'n' Roll Pussy," which gained the album a parental advisory warning years later. Things get into more normal territory with "Zen Archer" and continue as such with highlights like the seventies excess tribute "When the Shit Hits The Fan - Sunset Boulevard," and the gorgeous love song "I Don't Want to Tie You Down." Todd exemplifies is unbelievable self-awareness on "Is It My Name?" addressing his continued problem with people ignoring him due to the name (or perhaps how his voices goes so high you would think he was gay). It ends with the inspirational motivation of "Just One Victory" making it his most concise, yet expansive album.
2. Can - Future Days
The most loved lineup of krautrock's heroes is at their best here right before Damo Suzuki's departure. Every moment of this album captures their cohesive group talent in both long form like "Bel Air" and the unusually short funky lounge number "Moonshake." As a title like "Spray" would imply this is one of the most effervescent albums ever made. A title that only Can could earn and outdo. One of the best bands of all time at their best and probably a great place to start.
1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Of course. For any explanation consult local library.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
1972
There's an album out there named after this years, but I don't know much about it. I do know this year rules pretty hard, but maybe not as much as most of the 70s. This year you will finally see the presence of a certain subgenre very close to my, and probably any readers' here's heart. You know what I'm talking about...
10. Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Most of the greatness of this album is that is it's the band's debut. This is the first time the world gets to here ENO, and in my opinion it's his best work with this band. Plus there's Phil Manzanera - one for the upper echelon of guitarists, caveman drummer Paul Thompson, rock's first oboist Andy Mackay, and that fucked up piece of pop culture Bryan Ferry. As usual songs can be pretty meandering, but it's easy to forgive with rockers like the opening punch of "Remake/Remodel" and "Virginia Plain." Roxy's unusual aesthetic is in full form beginning with the album cover with it's tacky sensuality highlighted on Ferry's tribute to his idol "2 H.B." and the style-defining "Ladytron." Here is the band of the 80s for the seventies. One look at a publicity photo and you know it's true.
9. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Sadly Nick Drake's final album would be his best. Another one I don't need to talk about much. It's just stunningly beautiful and of course as his revival came at the peak of music's almost fifteen year descent into the emotional, that is discussed most. I would rather talk about his guitar playing. Drake's playing is on par with other symphonic acoustic players like John Fahey, Leo Kotke, and naturally, Richard Thompson. What sets him apart is his ability to match that with his lyrics and vocals. This album exemplifies his best talents with little else to detract from it. Dig that picking on "Road."
8. T. Rex - The Slider
Often considered Bolan's masterpiece, this album is bigger and brighter than its predecessors. This actually highlights Tony Visconti's genius more than Bolan's. Still there is a lot to love here. The anti-technology tribute (?) "Metal Guru" is one of his greatest compositions and his long-heard knack for creating vague yet intriguing characters is at its best on "Telegram Sam." It's a boisterous glam album made at the artist's peak, around the same time as non-album single and greatest achievement "20th Century Boy." Of course the Americans didn't get it, it was too good. They wanted their hard rock complex and showy, nothing like "Buick Mackane," seemingly tailored for the US audience. Even the softer stuff is heavy and fierce like "Rabbit Fighter."
7. Big Star - #1 Record
Maybe not the first, but probably the most important under-appreciated power-pop record. Rock star kid Alex Chilton puts together a few other talented young musicians from Memphis and births a generation of imitators, most notably (or just noticeably) The Replacements and Wilco. The only album featuring the tragic Chris Bell, his presence is one that defined the band for the rest of history with songs like the now-famous "In the Street," and the opening "Feel." Unfortunately, Beatles-esque music was the last thing the mainstream wanted at the time, and critics' words were meant to be disregarded while the press slams bands like Led Zeppelin. The upper-middle class kids became noticeably cynical in its lack of success. It made subsequent work even better but drove nearly all the band to an early grave. At least we still have this document of their hopeful early youth with its beauty like "My Life Is Right," and "The Ballad of El Goodo."
6. Faust - So Far
I was talking about Krautrock. Following a strong debut, this German collective moves away from musique concrète and into slightly more traditional territory. Starting off with one of their most famous compositions "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl," the band's diverse talents meld together to form something that sets them apart from both their more avant-garde and accessible peers. Odd pop like "...In The Spirit" and the original, instrumental "Picnic on a Frozen River," fit in place just as well as the nylon-string beauty of "On The Way To Abamäe." The group of unusually talented instrumentalists appears more focused here, set on making great music rather than something weird. Still it is the perfect "weird German album," to initiate the curious, it's just much more than that too. Faust, like most krautrock bands, possessed a rare sense of humor. It is less evident here, but keepss this challenging listen fun.
5. Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?
An eclectic, unpredictable artist like Rundgren should not be able to make such a definitive album, but his ability to do so confirms his place as one of rock's greatest geniuses. The double album, with each side having a completely different personality stands as one of the greatest albums (of very, very few) created by a single musician. That is not even the case for the fourth side, recorded live in the studio with a full band and featuring his remake of old band Nazz' "Hello It's Me," and the hilarious multi-generational tribute to high school filth "Piss Aaron." Rundgren's nerdy humor is present throughout the album, even on the first side with his continuing debt to Laura Nyro with the hard rocking Motown of of "Wolfman Jac" and perfect opening track "I Saw The Light." The second side is the weird one starting with his spoken audio nerd intro and the Zappa-esque "Breathless," and the heartbreaking "The Night The Carousel Brunt Down." Third is the hard rock side with the auto life masterpiece "Little Red Lights" and the stacked acoustic guitars of "Couldn't I Just Tell You?" Todd may be funny, but he's no joke. This is something.
4. Can - Ege Bamyasi
Sure most people who keep up with this were shocked to see Tago Mago missing last night. Well, that's because despite it having much of their best work a lot of it is a waste of time. The follow-up highlights Can's ability to play unanimes music on just one disc. The funk and spiritual beauty are even higher than before on songs like "One More Night," and the band's improvised drama is at its peak on the likes of "Vitamin C." "Sing Swan Song," is one of their prettiest and most songs revealing what the quintet really does best more more than most of what can be found on their proper releases. From beginning to end it is Can's most immediate work, with songs keeping shorter length without losing any of their loose, free-form quality that distinguished them from the more mechanical groups in krautrock, proto-punk, and progressive rock.
3. NEU! - NEU!
The Düsseldorf duo of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger creates a minimalist form of rock that is as loose and improvisational as it is mechanical. Ideal for driving it was called "motorik" and proved to be very popular in their native land. It proved even more popular with the next generation of musicians that understood that it captures everything great about music. The two needed only a few notes and a lot of time to create infinite grooves out of the bare essence of music. Songs like "Hallogallo" and "Negativland" make a lot out of very little and the group's influence has been the true sign of an exceptional ever since this album's release. In their brief career they would take this formula, expand it and contract it to great effect. Simply transcendent.
2. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
With cohorts Mick Ronson and, as always, Tony Visconti, Bowie brings glam rock to new heights on this space opera. It can get a little cheesy and emotional and even just unnecessarily weird, but that's David Bowie, and despite their drama "Five Years" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" will always get you and it was David Bowie's duty to have one album with both titles "Starman" and "Star." "Moonage Daydream" has always been my favorite but they are all that strong particularly the perfect glam of "Hang Onto Yourself" with its hand claps and the soul of "It Ain't Easy." This is the peak of Bowie's collaboration with Mick Ronson and his guitar begs for the more that never really came, even after Bowie's work with other greats like Carlos Alomar and Adrien Belew. Based on the fall of British born, new Jersey-raised legend Vince Taylor it's the greatest work documenting rock and roll destruction, and who better than self-torturer David Bowie to have made it?
1. Yes - Close to the Edge
Prog's biggest band making an album/song based on Siddhartha should not have turned out as well as it did. However, this album is a religious experience. Yes has its most famous and legendary lineup of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, and Rick Wakeman here and their playing here, especially Wakeman's is some of the best of their careers. Discovering an album format they would do again on 1974's Relayer, the title track takes over the whole first side and builds in sound until it kicks you in the head. Then it does it again when the vocals come in. Simply, it fries your brain as you see the whole history of the universe and one's own spirit as it is beaten and dragged through the real world until it finally reaches the river of enlightenment. Or something like that seasons will pass you by, at least for a little while. After leaving you in shock, the second side gradually builds you up again on "And You And I" with Howe's guitar lulling the mind back to full attention for the sea mammal-like guitars at the end. It's another mind-blowing song despite some weird lyrics. Clearly the weakest track, "Siberian Khartu" serves a very noble purpose of winding down the listener after the previous 29 minutes, and is the only thing that could readjust a person after all that. Bruford quit to join King Crimson afterward feeling that Yes could go no further. He may have been right. One of the few albums I would describe as a religious experience.
10. Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Most of the greatness of this album is that is it's the band's debut. This is the first time the world gets to here ENO, and in my opinion it's his best work with this band. Plus there's Phil Manzanera - one for the upper echelon of guitarists, caveman drummer Paul Thompson, rock's first oboist Andy Mackay, and that fucked up piece of pop culture Bryan Ferry. As usual songs can be pretty meandering, but it's easy to forgive with rockers like the opening punch of "Remake/Remodel" and "Virginia Plain." Roxy's unusual aesthetic is in full form beginning with the album cover with it's tacky sensuality highlighted on Ferry's tribute to his idol "2 H.B." and the style-defining "Ladytron." Here is the band of the 80s for the seventies. One look at a publicity photo and you know it's true.
9. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Sadly Nick Drake's final album would be his best. Another one I don't need to talk about much. It's just stunningly beautiful and of course as his revival came at the peak of music's almost fifteen year descent into the emotional, that is discussed most. I would rather talk about his guitar playing. Drake's playing is on par with other symphonic acoustic players like John Fahey, Leo Kotke, and naturally, Richard Thompson. What sets him apart is his ability to match that with his lyrics and vocals. This album exemplifies his best talents with little else to detract from it. Dig that picking on "Road."
8. T. Rex - The Slider
Often considered Bolan's masterpiece, this album is bigger and brighter than its predecessors. This actually highlights Tony Visconti's genius more than Bolan's. Still there is a lot to love here. The anti-technology tribute (?) "Metal Guru" is one of his greatest compositions and his long-heard knack for creating vague yet intriguing characters is at its best on "Telegram Sam." It's a boisterous glam album made at the artist's peak, around the same time as non-album single and greatest achievement "20th Century Boy." Of course the Americans didn't get it, it was too good. They wanted their hard rock complex and showy, nothing like "Buick Mackane," seemingly tailored for the US audience. Even the softer stuff is heavy and fierce like "Rabbit Fighter."
7. Big Star - #1 Record
Maybe not the first, but probably the most important under-appreciated power-pop record. Rock star kid Alex Chilton puts together a few other talented young musicians from Memphis and births a generation of imitators, most notably (or just noticeably) The Replacements and Wilco. The only album featuring the tragic Chris Bell, his presence is one that defined the band for the rest of history with songs like the now-famous "In the Street," and the opening "Feel." Unfortunately, Beatles-esque music was the last thing the mainstream wanted at the time, and critics' words were meant to be disregarded while the press slams bands like Led Zeppelin. The upper-middle class kids became noticeably cynical in its lack of success. It made subsequent work even better but drove nearly all the band to an early grave. At least we still have this document of their hopeful early youth with its beauty like "My Life Is Right," and "The Ballad of El Goodo."
6. Faust - So Far
I was talking about Krautrock. Following a strong debut, this German collective moves away from musique concrète and into slightly more traditional territory. Starting off with one of their most famous compositions "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl," the band's diverse talents meld together to form something that sets them apart from both their more avant-garde and accessible peers. Odd pop like "...In The Spirit" and the original, instrumental "Picnic on a Frozen River," fit in place just as well as the nylon-string beauty of "On The Way To Abamäe." The group of unusually talented instrumentalists appears more focused here, set on making great music rather than something weird. Still it is the perfect "weird German album," to initiate the curious, it's just much more than that too. Faust, like most krautrock bands, possessed a rare sense of humor. It is less evident here, but keepss this challenging listen fun.
5. Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?
An eclectic, unpredictable artist like Rundgren should not be able to make such a definitive album, but his ability to do so confirms his place as one of rock's greatest geniuses. The double album, with each side having a completely different personality stands as one of the greatest albums (of very, very few) created by a single musician. That is not even the case for the fourth side, recorded live in the studio with a full band and featuring his remake of old band Nazz' "Hello It's Me," and the hilarious multi-generational tribute to high school filth "Piss Aaron." Rundgren's nerdy humor is present throughout the album, even on the first side with his continuing debt to Laura Nyro with the hard rocking Motown of of "Wolfman Jac" and perfect opening track "I Saw The Light." The second side is the weird one starting with his spoken audio nerd intro and the Zappa-esque "Breathless," and the heartbreaking "The Night The Carousel Brunt Down." Third is the hard rock side with the auto life masterpiece "Little Red Lights" and the stacked acoustic guitars of "Couldn't I Just Tell You?" Todd may be funny, but he's no joke. This is something.
4. Can - Ege Bamyasi
Sure most people who keep up with this were shocked to see Tago Mago missing last night. Well, that's because despite it having much of their best work a lot of it is a waste of time. The follow-up highlights Can's ability to play unanimes music on just one disc. The funk and spiritual beauty are even higher than before on songs like "One More Night," and the band's improvised drama is at its peak on the likes of "Vitamin C." "Sing Swan Song," is one of their prettiest and most songs revealing what the quintet really does best more more than most of what can be found on their proper releases. From beginning to end it is Can's most immediate work, with songs keeping shorter length without losing any of their loose, free-form quality that distinguished them from the more mechanical groups in krautrock, proto-punk, and progressive rock.
3. NEU! - NEU!
The Düsseldorf duo of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger creates a minimalist form of rock that is as loose and improvisational as it is mechanical. Ideal for driving it was called "motorik" and proved to be very popular in their native land. It proved even more popular with the next generation of musicians that understood that it captures everything great about music. The two needed only a few notes and a lot of time to create infinite grooves out of the bare essence of music. Songs like "Hallogallo" and "Negativland" make a lot out of very little and the group's influence has been the true sign of an exceptional ever since this album's release. In their brief career they would take this formula, expand it and contract it to great effect. Simply transcendent.
2. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
With cohorts Mick Ronson and, as always, Tony Visconti, Bowie brings glam rock to new heights on this space opera. It can get a little cheesy and emotional and even just unnecessarily weird, but that's David Bowie, and despite their drama "Five Years" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" will always get you and it was David Bowie's duty to have one album with both titles "Starman" and "Star." "Moonage Daydream" has always been my favorite but they are all that strong particularly the perfect glam of "Hang Onto Yourself" with its hand claps and the soul of "It Ain't Easy." This is the peak of Bowie's collaboration with Mick Ronson and his guitar begs for the more that never really came, even after Bowie's work with other greats like Carlos Alomar and Adrien Belew. Based on the fall of British born, new Jersey-raised legend Vince Taylor it's the greatest work documenting rock and roll destruction, and who better than self-torturer David Bowie to have made it?
1. Yes - Close to the Edge
Prog's biggest band making an album/song based on Siddhartha should not have turned out as well as it did. However, this album is a religious experience. Yes has its most famous and legendary lineup of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, and Rick Wakeman here and their playing here, especially Wakeman's is some of the best of their careers. Discovering an album format they would do again on 1974's Relayer, the title track takes over the whole first side and builds in sound until it kicks you in the head. Then it does it again when the vocals come in. Simply, it fries your brain as you see the whole history of the universe and one's own spirit as it is beaten and dragged through the real world until it finally reaches the river of enlightenment. Or something like that seasons will pass you by, at least for a little while. After leaving you in shock, the second side gradually builds you up again on "And You And I" with Howe's guitar lulling the mind back to full attention for the sea mammal-like guitars at the end. It's another mind-blowing song despite some weird lyrics. Clearly the weakest track, "Siberian Khartu" serves a very noble purpose of winding down the listener after the previous 29 minutes, and is the only thing that could readjust a person after all that. Bruford quit to join King Crimson afterward feeling that Yes could go no further. He may have been right. One of the few albums I would describe as a religious experience.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
1970
The sixties have passed and it's more than just a number. The era had ended already, so when these albums may have actually been recorded is irrelevant. As one would read in the liner notes on Van Der Graaf Generator's The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other, it was clearly a new era as they recorded. The mere existence of Van Der Graaf Generator is proof enough.
Here you will see lots of well-established legends moving into different territory and some major recurring themes. That's what 1970 was all about. Aging toward the future.
10. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
I guess I explained this sprawling triple album in my last paragraph with its title perhaps the msot appropriate on the list.. The quiet Beatle says everything he had been saving up in the past decade here with the help of Phil Spector and buddies like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. The bigness is more than just its length as songs like "What Is Life" and "The Art of Dying" fill the whole room. Harrison's spirituality comes out on tracks like "Awaiting on You All" and his tribute to Beatles fans "Apple Scruffs" make his proper debut as personal as one could want. Harrison was clearly saving all his A material for this and unfortunately it was enough to last the rest of his life making it unquestionably the greatest Beatles solo album. Top pick: The heavy rock workout "Wah-Wah"
9. Van Morrison - Moondance
Morrison tightens up his previous explorations on this fantabulous album, my favorite of all his and a staple of my childhood. Not only does he perfect his Celtic jazz arrangements, but it is a height in the rootsy folk rock style of The Band/Dylan, with opener "And It Stoned Me" the greatest example of this style. The title track is probably the most romantic song of the year and this kind of "Crazy Love" runs strongly through this album, heavily influenced by then-wife Janet Planet. The arrangements are less improvisational and more delicate and majestic, more than deserving of its bold title and a worthy follow up to Astral Weeks.
8. Os Mutantes - A Divina Comédia Ou Ando Meio Desligado
Moving beyond simple tropical garage territory the older, wiser mutants make their third album easily their best work. They are focused and put it all together in a loose concept with killer original songs. The vocals have matured most with the three taking on different parts and Rita Lee at times sounding not unlike Janis Joplin. It's still a tropical party even on the baroque experiment "Haleluia" and many of the songs that fit the title and mostly black album cover. "Desculpe, Baby" is one of their most seductive songs which says a lot for a group of Brazilians. The band shows that they can get a lot headier than hinted at on previous albums and establish their own timeless voice beyond being the wild kid siblings of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Jorge Ben.
7. The Kinks - Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1
Ray Davies sounds pretty defeated here and it's simply stunning. Luckily it gained the band a major comeback hit with "Lola" which lures many into this album that proves to be more than just a cute song about an encounter with a gender-bender. The renaissance this album experienced thanks to Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited was well deserved as "This Time Tomorrow," the bitter "Powerman" and Dave's return to songwriting "Strangers" (also "Rats") are some of this album's greatest songs. "A Long Way From Home" is even better though, and many of these songs will leave you in tears. Davies starts moving into more of that dance hall and skiffle territory that may have been his undoing, but at this point a few banjos is kind of charming.
6. Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Topanga's greatest band, the jazzy psychedelic rockers Spirit follow up their previous three extraordinary albums with this one. Child prodigy Randy California catches up to future hit maker/TV theme composer Jay Furguson and the band is so cohesive its hard to tell who is behind each song. The sound is wild and diverse with the heavy "Street Worm" and (naturally) cosmic "Space Child" sit comfortably with folky "Life Has Just Begun" and simply gorgeous "Nature's Way." "Animal Zoo" is the best known, and Ferguson's tribute to drummer Ed Cassidy (the oldest man to be a true rock musician) "Mr. Skin" keeps it all fun and light, and Marc Bolan may have built his whole sound off "Morning Will Come." We can forgive him, but Jimmy Page on the other hand...
5. The Beach Boys - Sunflower
The Hawthorne Boys make a major comeback here by incorporating the rest of the band as Brian continues going off the deep end. The sessions began with Dennis who finally begins to speak up on songs like "Got to Know the Woman," and the Carl-led "It's About Time," tells Brian's sad tale better than he ever could. The album is rich in a kind beauty new even for this experienced band on songs like "Add Some Music To Your Day" and perhaps Mike Love's best lead "All I Wanna Do." This album is the ban's most enjoyable from beginning to end since Pet Sounds and sometimes considered their best. It's impossible to find a misstep here, even for the most loyal Brian obsessive. The whole thing ends with Smile holdover "Cool Cool Water" with its universal advice to all.
4. Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd do It All Over You
Caravan put out their best record here with this lush and tight prog-pop classic. Appropriately (for today) the cover is green and the members present themselves in such a straightforward way it's hard to imagine that the four of them could be such a force. The anchor of the record "And I Wish I Were Stoned/Don't Worry" is the kind of thing musicians dream of making their whole life with each instrument losing its own voice into the great mix. The eeriness of their debut remains on such standouts as "Hello Hello," and both the unusually long and unusually short songs are constructed from the common consciousness the quartet seems to possess. One of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time, and the best place to start with the sub-genre, particularly for organ nuts.
3. The Stooges - Fun House.
The dirtiest of the dirty. Named after the squalid Ann Arbor home the band and guests such as Nico, the MC5, and the rest of the gang would inhabit at their most drug-addled "Dirt," is the perfect theme song for most listeners. I on the other hand lean more towards "Loose," as these sounds could only come from that kind of approach as brothers and friends play to the same cosmic space with Alexander and S. Asheton's driving rhythms, R. Asheton's filthy playing, and Iggy's minimalistic howl. Recorded in Los Angeles with former Goodtimes leader Don Galluci fresh off his influential prog experiment Touch, Funhouse is easily the wildest album of all time. Factor in Steve Mackay's blaring sax it is free jazz if jazz musicians weren't afraid of a little fuzz and simplicity. Really, it's all been said, though.
2. The Pretty Things - Parachute
Even more than Harrison's album this is the one that best captures the end of the 60s (I presume). It was even Rolling Stone's album of the year, and the only one ever to not go platinum. With the loss of Dick Taylor and Twink, the Pretties change a lot around with Jon Povey and Wally Waller step in and more than compensate. They create some of the lushest harmonies in the UK, fully on par with Americans like the Byrds and the Beach Boys on their already atmospheric songs. The first half is one big piece with short tracks flowing from one into the other. "Scene One" is the anarchic beginning to the section and it hits its peak around "In the Square," "The Letter" and "Rain." The Second side is just as strong, but the last few tracks capture the feeling best "What's The Use" and the title track slowly drop the heavy weight of the end of that radical era into a new, tragically realistic decade. Open the gate fold of this record and it's all there. The post-psychedelic masterpiece.
1. John Cale - Vintage Violence
After being fired from the Velvets, producing the Stooges' debut, and collaborating with Terry Riley and La Monte Young, John Cale finally makes his debut and to no surprise it is one of the best albums of all time (no joke, an easy place in my all-time top 10). His arrangements are simpler and more reliable than he would do later with viola and pedal steel dominating over the standard rock format of guitar, bass, drums, and piano. He runs the gamut on styles, yet the all flow together in a way unlike any other album. It starts off with the honky-tonking "Hello There" and ends similarly with "Fairweather Friend," with the brain-melting masterpiece "Gideon's Bible" on second with its funky hand drums making it a song without peer. At times it gets more playful than one could expect from the mind behind "Lady Godiva's Operation" with "Cleo" and "Adelaide" with sadder stuff like "Please" (still with plenty of offbeat humor) and "Charlemagne" balancing it out. Organs take over toward the end on the fun yet still creepy "Ghost Story," by now making it evident that John Cale would go on to be one of the seventies' greatest artists that only got better.
Here you will see lots of well-established legends moving into different territory and some major recurring themes. That's what 1970 was all about. Aging toward the future.
10. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
I guess I explained this sprawling triple album in my last paragraph with its title perhaps the msot appropriate on the list.. The quiet Beatle says everything he had been saving up in the past decade here with the help of Phil Spector and buddies like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. The bigness is more than just its length as songs like "What Is Life" and "The Art of Dying" fill the whole room. Harrison's spirituality comes out on tracks like "Awaiting on You All" and his tribute to Beatles fans "Apple Scruffs" make his proper debut as personal as one could want. Harrison was clearly saving all his A material for this and unfortunately it was enough to last the rest of his life making it unquestionably the greatest Beatles solo album. Top pick: The heavy rock workout "Wah-Wah"
9. Van Morrison - Moondance
Morrison tightens up his previous explorations on this fantabulous album, my favorite of all his and a staple of my childhood. Not only does he perfect his Celtic jazz arrangements, but it is a height in the rootsy folk rock style of The Band/Dylan, with opener "And It Stoned Me" the greatest example of this style. The title track is probably the most romantic song of the year and this kind of "Crazy Love" runs strongly through this album, heavily influenced by then-wife Janet Planet. The arrangements are less improvisational and more delicate and majestic, more than deserving of its bold title and a worthy follow up to Astral Weeks.
8. Os Mutantes - A Divina Comédia Ou Ando Meio Desligado
Moving beyond simple tropical garage territory the older, wiser mutants make their third album easily their best work. They are focused and put it all together in a loose concept with killer original songs. The vocals have matured most with the three taking on different parts and Rita Lee at times sounding not unlike Janis Joplin. It's still a tropical party even on the baroque experiment "Haleluia" and many of the songs that fit the title and mostly black album cover. "Desculpe, Baby" is one of their most seductive songs which says a lot for a group of Brazilians. The band shows that they can get a lot headier than hinted at on previous albums and establish their own timeless voice beyond being the wild kid siblings of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Jorge Ben.
7. The Kinks - Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1
Ray Davies sounds pretty defeated here and it's simply stunning. Luckily it gained the band a major comeback hit with "Lola" which lures many into this album that proves to be more than just a cute song about an encounter with a gender-bender. The renaissance this album experienced thanks to Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited was well deserved as "This Time Tomorrow," the bitter "Powerman" and Dave's return to songwriting "Strangers" (also "Rats") are some of this album's greatest songs. "A Long Way From Home" is even better though, and many of these songs will leave you in tears. Davies starts moving into more of that dance hall and skiffle territory that may have been his undoing, but at this point a few banjos is kind of charming.
6. Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Topanga's greatest band, the jazzy psychedelic rockers Spirit follow up their previous three extraordinary albums with this one. Child prodigy Randy California catches up to future hit maker/TV theme composer Jay Furguson and the band is so cohesive its hard to tell who is behind each song. The sound is wild and diverse with the heavy "Street Worm" and (naturally) cosmic "Space Child" sit comfortably with folky "Life Has Just Begun" and simply gorgeous "Nature's Way." "Animal Zoo" is the best known, and Ferguson's tribute to drummer Ed Cassidy (the oldest man to be a true rock musician) "Mr. Skin" keeps it all fun and light, and Marc Bolan may have built his whole sound off "Morning Will Come." We can forgive him, but Jimmy Page on the other hand...
5. The Beach Boys - Sunflower
The Hawthorne Boys make a major comeback here by incorporating the rest of the band as Brian continues going off the deep end. The sessions began with Dennis who finally begins to speak up on songs like "Got to Know the Woman," and the Carl-led "It's About Time," tells Brian's sad tale better than he ever could. The album is rich in a kind beauty new even for this experienced band on songs like "Add Some Music To Your Day" and perhaps Mike Love's best lead "All I Wanna Do." This album is the ban's most enjoyable from beginning to end since Pet Sounds and sometimes considered their best. It's impossible to find a misstep here, even for the most loyal Brian obsessive. The whole thing ends with Smile holdover "Cool Cool Water" with its universal advice to all.
4. Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd do It All Over You
Caravan put out their best record here with this lush and tight prog-pop classic. Appropriately (for today) the cover is green and the members present themselves in such a straightforward way it's hard to imagine that the four of them could be such a force. The anchor of the record "And I Wish I Were Stoned/Don't Worry" is the kind of thing musicians dream of making their whole life with each instrument losing its own voice into the great mix. The eeriness of their debut remains on such standouts as "Hello Hello," and both the unusually long and unusually short songs are constructed from the common consciousness the quartet seems to possess. One of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time, and the best place to start with the sub-genre, particularly for organ nuts.
3. The Stooges - Fun House.
The dirtiest of the dirty. Named after the squalid Ann Arbor home the band and guests such as Nico, the MC5, and the rest of the gang would inhabit at their most drug-addled "Dirt," is the perfect theme song for most listeners. I on the other hand lean more towards "Loose," as these sounds could only come from that kind of approach as brothers and friends play to the same cosmic space with Alexander and S. Asheton's driving rhythms, R. Asheton's filthy playing, and Iggy's minimalistic howl. Recorded in Los Angeles with former Goodtimes leader Don Galluci fresh off his influential prog experiment Touch, Funhouse is easily the wildest album of all time. Factor in Steve Mackay's blaring sax it is free jazz if jazz musicians weren't afraid of a little fuzz and simplicity. Really, it's all been said, though.
2. The Pretty Things - Parachute
Even more than Harrison's album this is the one that best captures the end of the 60s (I presume). It was even Rolling Stone's album of the year, and the only one ever to not go platinum. With the loss of Dick Taylor and Twink, the Pretties change a lot around with Jon Povey and Wally Waller step in and more than compensate. They create some of the lushest harmonies in the UK, fully on par with Americans like the Byrds and the Beach Boys on their already atmospheric songs. The first half is one big piece with short tracks flowing from one into the other. "Scene One" is the anarchic beginning to the section and it hits its peak around "In the Square," "The Letter" and "Rain." The Second side is just as strong, but the last few tracks capture the feeling best "What's The Use" and the title track slowly drop the heavy weight of the end of that radical era into a new, tragically realistic decade. Open the gate fold of this record and it's all there. The post-psychedelic masterpiece.
1. John Cale - Vintage Violence
After being fired from the Velvets, producing the Stooges' debut, and collaborating with Terry Riley and La Monte Young, John Cale finally makes his debut and to no surprise it is one of the best albums of all time (no joke, an easy place in my all-time top 10). His arrangements are simpler and more reliable than he would do later with viola and pedal steel dominating over the standard rock format of guitar, bass, drums, and piano. He runs the gamut on styles, yet the all flow together in a way unlike any other album. It starts off with the honky-tonking "Hello There" and ends similarly with "Fairweather Friend," with the brain-melting masterpiece "Gideon's Bible" on second with its funky hand drums making it a song without peer. At times it gets more playful than one could expect from the mind behind "Lady Godiva's Operation" with "Cleo" and "Adelaide" with sadder stuff like "Please" (still with plenty of offbeat humor) and "Charlemagne" balancing it out. Organs take over toward the end on the fun yet still creepy "Ghost Story," by now making it evident that John Cale would go on to be one of the seventies' greatest artists that only got better.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
1969
Some would argue the "60s" were already over and it's easy to see why. Things have changed a LOT by this point on these ten albums exemplify that perfectly. There are some real recurring themes.
10. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
Lou Reed boldly gives his band's third album and sneaky second chance at the self-titled. Perhaps this is how he would remember the influential band best. It's quite a bit gentler than its predecessors and features many ballads. Such songs, "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Candy Says," are fan favorites, but I think they're some of the weaker tracks. "After Hours," on the other hand is one of its finest moments, almost enough to forgive Moe Tucker for her future crimes against humanity in begetting the likes of Heather Lewis and Georgia Hubley. My favorite is "The Murder Mystery" with its swirling mess of thick New York accents and trippy keyboards.
9. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
While their greatest songs were already behind them the Stones finally put together a perfectly solid album. With maybe the strongest opening closing tracks ("Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want"), the band is at its wildest and tightest here. The whole thing is a party record, no matter where the music goes as it features not only the band with both Brian Jones and Mick Taylor and semi-official member Ian Stewart but also collaborators like Al Kooper, Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Jack Nitzsche, and Leon Russell you're hard pressed to find an album with stronger credits. Coated in tragedy and rock 'n' roll excess, Let It Bleed is perhaps the strongest "proper" document of one of rock's greatest bands.
8. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
What is often (though falsely) considered the Captain's magnum opus is the all-time favorite of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Its surreal aesthetic and savvy humor is a clear influence. At double length the album was recorded by Frank Zappa in a house-turned-recording device int he San Fernando Valley in cult-like conditions. Naturally, it resulted in something completely unlike anything else ever. The gruff vocals, dadaist lyrics, and bass clarinet are best remembered, but it's the spoken word bits and complex guitar interplay that have always been my favorite. Well, that and titles like "Dachau Blues," "Frownland" and "Old Fart At Play"...
7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
The "New Yardbirds" kick off the last year of the 60s (January 12) with the heavy sounds of the future, exploding like the Hindenburg over New Jersey. Beginning with "Good Times, Bad Times" rock's biggest band not only play but force the concept of "hard rock," with merely four players raising the standards of musicianship still to be bested. This seemingly impossible task is easy for the likes of Jimmy Page, who also produces this and all their records, with he aid of pummeler John Bonham, incomparable vocalist Robert Plant, and the ultimate secret ingredient John Paul Jones. The debut is perhaps the band's most eclectic, signaling just about everything that the 70s' most successful band would and could do in the future.
6. The Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin
Gram Parsons leaves the Byrds and makes his definitive statement bringing along Chris Hillman to create his aptly-named "Cosmic American Music." People call it country rock, but what an over-simplification! Parsons himself will tell you about the soul and gospel influence and if you're listening at all it's as dominant as Sneaky Pete's psychedelic pedal steel. Songs like "Hot Burrito #2" and their rendition of "The Dark End of the Street" not only exemplify this, but are some of album's strongest cuts. While Parsons' work signaled the transition of Los Angeles music from electrifying psych to bland dad rock, this album shows clearly which side the Harvard dropout Southern trust fund baby is on. Nudie suits made more punk rock than anything Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood ever hocked onto angry British teens.
5. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
After years of their legend growing in the new capital of heavy rock and from the 1968 DNC, the MC5 (not exactly an abbreviation for Motor City Five, as much as the sound of a car part) finally put out a debut full-length. The set, comprised of material from two shows at Detroit's Grande (pronounced grandee) Ballroom sound is not a strong point, but energy is and that's what this band was all about. The loud and tight quintet forces their sound through the speaking blinding the listener to all but the colors of the American flag and Rob Tyber's afro flailing around his shiny satin suit. Brother Wayne Kramer's "Ramblin' Rose" builds up the title tracks forceful demand and the boys burn down the motor city. "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)" will always be the standout, but "Starship" places the band as forgers not only of punk, but the most challenging kind of space rock. RIGHT NOW
4. The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline of the British Empire)
Never one to forget his nationality, Ray Davies finally constructs a true concept album about one Englishman's cynical loss of patriotism and eventual move to Australia. Perhaps the epic size of these songs is what he wanted on Village Green because "Shangri-La" and opener "Victoria" are quite huge, giving birth to the drama he would explore to sadly disappointing effect in the 70s. It gets darker with the military themes in "Yes Sir, No Sir," and the soul-crushing "Some Mother's Son," which is easily the greatest song about war written by a man (more about that much later). "Young and Innocent Days" is easily one of the Kinks' most perfect slices of nostalgia, and an amazing feat for a man of only 25.
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
After changing the face of rock, Zep quickly follow up with this set comprised mostly of explicit tributes to the blues. While its sources are undeniable, originality is stiff a virtue on this energetic set with an even more bad ass cover than the last one. Temporarily diverting from Page's anti-single stance, "Whole Lotta Love" shows the band not only could, but should do it all. Neither Energy nor virtuosity ever wane on tracks like "Heartbreaker" and "Livin' Lovin' Maid" and "Moby Dick" forever remains the prime evidence of Bonham's place as "greatest drummer of all time." Things never really get soft, even on the sweet "Thank You," which is just perfect as the heavy sound was so new we could wait a few more years for the band's sensitive side. Always the perfect album to give a teenage boy.
2. The Stooges - The Stooges
Though their live essence had yet to be captured, the dirty punk sounds from Iggy Pop, The Asheton Brothers, and the always under-appreciated Dave Alexander are first drudged out from Michigan's industrial hellhole by John Cale here. Each member's distinct personality makes its vile, overpowering debut here on the heralded classics of "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "No Fun," and "1969." Here are smart Midwestern people achieving the poetic stupidity long before the New Yorkers like the Dictators and Ramones turned the kids onto it. As progressive rock got bigger these mop-topped thugs dressed in jackboots and aviators showed that all it took to rock was some distortion, a wah pedal, lots of anger, and a great sense of humor. Instantly they invent glam rock while remaining above it the whole time, like they say it's a "Real Cool Time."
1. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Instrumental for all but Captain Beefheart's unforgettable howl on the violin-dominated "Willie the Pimp," this is Zappa's most perfect work. A composed avant-garde Jazz album by most standards, it takes out all of Zappa's influences into a very unified piece. It has all his humor without the use of many words (apart form titles like "Son of Mr. Green Genes") and combines works like Lumpy Gravy and his flirtations with jazz into something that still rocks like the Mothers. Zappa's talents for seeing into the future and the infinite possibilities of music are in the forefront as he collaborates with former Mother Ian Underwood and spots future legends like Shuggie Otis and Jean-Luc Ponty. Everything great about FZ is present on this masterpiece and little of what some find irritating about him. Easily it is his best work and certainly the most re-playable. Recommended to anyone, enjoyed by most.
Tough year!
10. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
Lou Reed boldly gives his band's third album and sneaky second chance at the self-titled. Perhaps this is how he would remember the influential band best. It's quite a bit gentler than its predecessors and features many ballads. Such songs, "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Candy Says," are fan favorites, but I think they're some of the weaker tracks. "After Hours," on the other hand is one of its finest moments, almost enough to forgive Moe Tucker for her future crimes against humanity in begetting the likes of Heather Lewis and Georgia Hubley. My favorite is "The Murder Mystery" with its swirling mess of thick New York accents and trippy keyboards.
9. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
While their greatest songs were already behind them the Stones finally put together a perfectly solid album. With maybe the strongest opening closing tracks ("Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want"), the band is at its wildest and tightest here. The whole thing is a party record, no matter where the music goes as it features not only the band with both Brian Jones and Mick Taylor and semi-official member Ian Stewart but also collaborators like Al Kooper, Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Jack Nitzsche, and Leon Russell you're hard pressed to find an album with stronger credits. Coated in tragedy and rock 'n' roll excess, Let It Bleed is perhaps the strongest "proper" document of one of rock's greatest bands.
8. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
What is often (though falsely) considered the Captain's magnum opus is the all-time favorite of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Its surreal aesthetic and savvy humor is a clear influence. At double length the album was recorded by Frank Zappa in a house-turned-recording device int he San Fernando Valley in cult-like conditions. Naturally, it resulted in something completely unlike anything else ever. The gruff vocals, dadaist lyrics, and bass clarinet are best remembered, but it's the spoken word bits and complex guitar interplay that have always been my favorite. Well, that and titles like "Dachau Blues," "Frownland" and "Old Fart At Play"...
7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
The "New Yardbirds" kick off the last year of the 60s (January 12) with the heavy sounds of the future, exploding like the Hindenburg over New Jersey. Beginning with "Good Times, Bad Times" rock's biggest band not only play but force the concept of "hard rock," with merely four players raising the standards of musicianship still to be bested. This seemingly impossible task is easy for the likes of Jimmy Page, who also produces this and all their records, with he aid of pummeler John Bonham, incomparable vocalist Robert Plant, and the ultimate secret ingredient John Paul Jones. The debut is perhaps the band's most eclectic, signaling just about everything that the 70s' most successful band would and could do in the future.
6. The Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin
Gram Parsons leaves the Byrds and makes his definitive statement bringing along Chris Hillman to create his aptly-named "Cosmic American Music." People call it country rock, but what an over-simplification! Parsons himself will tell you about the soul and gospel influence and if you're listening at all it's as dominant as Sneaky Pete's psychedelic pedal steel. Songs like "Hot Burrito #2" and their rendition of "The Dark End of the Street" not only exemplify this, but are some of album's strongest cuts. While Parsons' work signaled the transition of Los Angeles music from electrifying psych to bland dad rock, this album shows clearly which side the Harvard dropout Southern trust fund baby is on. Nudie suits made more punk rock than anything Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood ever hocked onto angry British teens.
5. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
After years of their legend growing in the new capital of heavy rock and from the 1968 DNC, the MC5 (not exactly an abbreviation for Motor City Five, as much as the sound of a car part) finally put out a debut full-length. The set, comprised of material from two shows at Detroit's Grande (pronounced grandee) Ballroom sound is not a strong point, but energy is and that's what this band was all about. The loud and tight quintet forces their sound through the speaking blinding the listener to all but the colors of the American flag and Rob Tyber's afro flailing around his shiny satin suit. Brother Wayne Kramer's "Ramblin' Rose" builds up the title tracks forceful demand and the boys burn down the motor city. "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)" will always be the standout, but "Starship" places the band as forgers not only of punk, but the most challenging kind of space rock. RIGHT NOW
4. The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline of the British Empire)
Never one to forget his nationality, Ray Davies finally constructs a true concept album about one Englishman's cynical loss of patriotism and eventual move to Australia. Perhaps the epic size of these songs is what he wanted on Village Green because "Shangri-La" and opener "Victoria" are quite huge, giving birth to the drama he would explore to sadly disappointing effect in the 70s. It gets darker with the military themes in "Yes Sir, No Sir," and the soul-crushing "Some Mother's Son," which is easily the greatest song about war written by a man (more about that much later). "Young and Innocent Days" is easily one of the Kinks' most perfect slices of nostalgia, and an amazing feat for a man of only 25.
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
After changing the face of rock, Zep quickly follow up with this set comprised mostly of explicit tributes to the blues. While its sources are undeniable, originality is stiff a virtue on this energetic set with an even more bad ass cover than the last one. Temporarily diverting from Page's anti-single stance, "Whole Lotta Love" shows the band not only could, but should do it all. Neither Energy nor virtuosity ever wane on tracks like "Heartbreaker" and "Livin' Lovin' Maid" and "Moby Dick" forever remains the prime evidence of Bonham's place as "greatest drummer of all time." Things never really get soft, even on the sweet "Thank You," which is just perfect as the heavy sound was so new we could wait a few more years for the band's sensitive side. Always the perfect album to give a teenage boy.
2. The Stooges - The Stooges
Though their live essence had yet to be captured, the dirty punk sounds from Iggy Pop, The Asheton Brothers, and the always under-appreciated Dave Alexander are first drudged out from Michigan's industrial hellhole by John Cale here. Each member's distinct personality makes its vile, overpowering debut here on the heralded classics of "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "No Fun," and "1969." Here are smart Midwestern people achieving the poetic stupidity long before the New Yorkers like the Dictators and Ramones turned the kids onto it. As progressive rock got bigger these mop-topped thugs dressed in jackboots and aviators showed that all it took to rock was some distortion, a wah pedal, lots of anger, and a great sense of humor. Instantly they invent glam rock while remaining above it the whole time, like they say it's a "Real Cool Time."
1. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Instrumental for all but Captain Beefheart's unforgettable howl on the violin-dominated "Willie the Pimp," this is Zappa's most perfect work. A composed avant-garde Jazz album by most standards, it takes out all of Zappa's influences into a very unified piece. It has all his humor without the use of many words (apart form titles like "Son of Mr. Green Genes") and combines works like Lumpy Gravy and his flirtations with jazz into something that still rocks like the Mothers. Zappa's talents for seeing into the future and the infinite possibilities of music are in the forefront as he collaborates with former Mother Ian Underwood and spots future legends like Shuggie Otis and Jean-Luc Ponty. Everything great about FZ is present on this masterpiece and little of what some find irritating about him. Easily it is his best work and certainly the most re-playable. Recommended to anyone, enjoyed by most.
Tough year!
Friday, March 15, 2013
1968
Another winner, but it is the 60s after all. Today I will reverse the order. I think it's more effective that way. I typically do, so I don't know what the last few were all about...
10. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Morrison's first major personal statement is perhaps the birth of improvised rock. It is impossible to ignore the jazz influence, but his Irish roots and blue-eyed soul are perhaps even more prominent elements. Here he has evolved from Them's shouter and pop hit-maker into the legend most people think of today. Musically, it is sonic poetry flowing like the rain on the grassy hills with its flutes, strings, and upright bass while the lyrics Celtic storytelling akin to Joyce, Thomas, et al. Like many good albums, it's a lot like the album cover.
9. The Jimi hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Jimi's final proper studio album and the Experience's last may be his best work. Good reason too as he, Redding, and Mitchell take their music even further than the first two albums. His work with Band of Gypsies is foreshadowed as much as what could have come had he made it into the 70s. Keyboards play a bigger part and songs flow even more naturally in and out of a classic structure and cosmic noise explosion. Featuring some of his most memorable and lasting work it sets the standard very high for heavy jammy psychedelia spanning both rock and jazz.
8. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child is Father to the Man
At last! Jewish soul music. After establishing his name as one of New York's greatest musicians in The Blues Project and with Bob Dylan, Al Kooper puts a big group together with his buddies. While "horn rock" became an embarrassment shortly after his departure, BS&T's debut is nothing short of perfection. White kids who loved the sounds of the Apollo bust it out with killer songs with a distinctly Semitic sense of humor that would satisfy any Woody Allen fan. Kooper's keyboards astonish on each track and highlights include "House in the Country" which predicts the post-hippie attitude with a lot more fun than Joni Mitchell or God forbid, the Eagles, and a cinematic cover of Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory."
7. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
Tropical teen beat brought to you by Gilberto Gil. These swinging teens with home-made pedals make the trippiest party album of the decade with dirty and percussive force that transcends any language barriers. Their originals are as heady as anything coming out of California with titles like "Trem Fantasma" (Ghost Train) and "Ave Lucifer" (Lucifer Bird) and their reinterpretations of Tropicalia standards like "Bat Macumba" and "A Minha Menina" often best or at least equal versions by their elder composers. The gap between garage psych and tropicalia, naturally an essential for anyone who is pro-fun.
6. The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
The first rock opera and the one that should have finally broken England's wildest band into the US. The Pretties fall into the British Underground with the likes of Pink Floyd and new drummer Twink with this masterpiece of heavy psych. The concept may be loose but that keeps its tragic tale a bit less goofy. It would sadly be Dick Taylor's final statement with the band for many years and he wails at his best on "She Says Good Morning" and "Balloon Burning," the latter easily being the best song of the year. While the titular character's life may not be realistic, make much sense or be relate-able, from "S.F. Sorrow is Born" to "Loneliest Person" the listener is definitely taken on a journey through a lifelong tragedy and it's mark is a heavy one, the kind the Pretties would continue to explore.
5. The Outsiders - CQ
I am a bit behind on Nederbeat, but I do know that it's hard to beat the Outsiders' final album. Firstly, look up the album cover. The fact that such aesthetics were released at this time is enough to qualify it for this list. Flawless songs that drip with loneliness and desperation all based around the use of HAM radio and often recorded though one only adds to that. Frontman Wally Tax' Gypsy roots come out throughout this otherworldly psych/punk album. Album opener "Misfit" could pass for the Sex Pistols if not for the vocals and the gorgeous ballad "You're Everything on Earth" is a heartbreaking tale prescient of cyberlove before the home computer was even a pipe dream. It's even sadder than that. The titles get even better with "It Seems Like Nothing's Gonna Come My Way Today" and "Happyville," a song from a stripper's perspective. By the way, "CQ" is the HAM radio call for any response at all.
4. Caravan - Caravan
Canterbury's best band makes their stunning debut here besting their former Wilde Flowers band mates in the Soft Machine. One of the most synchronized bands of all time, Caravan hone their free-form skills into short pop songs that don't skimp on the psych and prog. This one is a bit darker than where the original quartet and a half would go on their following masterpieces with particularly strong results on the Gregorian "Cecil Rons" and "Ride." Even more than usual, David Sinclair's keyboards stand out, but the playing from cousin Richard (bass), Pye Hastings (guitar), and Richard Coughlin (drums) are as masterful - Hastings' guitar establishing itself as easily the most tasteful in progressive rock. Here his and Richard Sinclair's vocal interplay may even be at its best, creating a sound much greater than the sum of its parts.
3. The Move - Move
The Birmingham's supergroup's debut is another often dismissed as another spotty singles collection slapped together with too many covers, but I disagree strongly. The move were another group of five stratospheric professionals, much like Moby Grape, who the America-obsessed Brits even have the good taste to cover. Roy Wood's songwriting may be the star, but Bev Bevan's drumming - the perfect medium between Bonahm and Moon, Tony Visconti's string arrangements, and Carl Wayne's swagger are major players as well. Each distinct vocalist even gets a spotlight, best seen in Tervor Burton's Eddie Cochran cover "Weekend" and Bevan's freakishly low bass on his rendition of "Zing! Went the Strong of My Heart." "Fire Brigade" is not only one of the most exciting singles of the decade, but the basis of "God Save the Queen," and despite what you may have heard, "Cherry Blossom Clinic" is a lot better than it's "revisited" form on Shazam.
2. The Zombies -Odessey and Oracle
Al Kooper makes yet another appearance on the list for producing these poorly-named choir boys with a dark side. Engineered by Beatles regular Geoff Emeric, it is best known for posthumous hit "Time of the Season," experts know it for its use of the mellotron and impeccable vocals. The band is falling apart, but intends to leave the world with an LP that surpasses their transcendent early singles like "She's Coming Home" and "The Way I Feel Inside." That was a task that would require songs about girlfriends in jail, sad old maids, and the brutality of World War I. Songwriters Chris White (bass) and Ron Argent (keys) build a symphony of psychedelic baraoque pop with an avant-garde edge smoothed out by Colin Blunstone's croon. The Zombies left this physical plane with an album as mythological as its title, lurching around the Earth to its now legendary status.
1. The Kinks - The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
Ray Davies may dismiss this album as incomplete, but what it would sound like in his vision would be unfathomable. The songwriter's obsession with the glorious past of the British Empire is the primary theme on this fantastical pop record. The harpsichord remains a big part of the Kinks' sound, but rather than keeping it baroque, it functions as much as a rock instrument as the rest. Nostalgia runs through the whole album on tracks like the title opener, the similarly-named "Village Green," "Picture Book," and "Do You Remember Walter?". Power also rears its ugly head on the likes of "Johnny Thunder" and "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains," prepping fans for the turns the band would make on their next two records. Luckily, the Carrol-esque fantasies of "Phenomenal Cat" and "Wicked Anabella" and the hard-rocking calypso of "Monica" keep it light. Play it with not just your friends, but all their best friends too.
This was tough. It took a long time and I moved things around a whole lot.
10. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Morrison's first major personal statement is perhaps the birth of improvised rock. It is impossible to ignore the jazz influence, but his Irish roots and blue-eyed soul are perhaps even more prominent elements. Here he has evolved from Them's shouter and pop hit-maker into the legend most people think of today. Musically, it is sonic poetry flowing like the rain on the grassy hills with its flutes, strings, and upright bass while the lyrics Celtic storytelling akin to Joyce, Thomas, et al. Like many good albums, it's a lot like the album cover.
9. The Jimi hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Jimi's final proper studio album and the Experience's last may be his best work. Good reason too as he, Redding, and Mitchell take their music even further than the first two albums. His work with Band of Gypsies is foreshadowed as much as what could have come had he made it into the 70s. Keyboards play a bigger part and songs flow even more naturally in and out of a classic structure and cosmic noise explosion. Featuring some of his most memorable and lasting work it sets the standard very high for heavy jammy psychedelia spanning both rock and jazz.
8. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child is Father to the Man
At last! Jewish soul music. After establishing his name as one of New York's greatest musicians in The Blues Project and with Bob Dylan, Al Kooper puts a big group together with his buddies. While "horn rock" became an embarrassment shortly after his departure, BS&T's debut is nothing short of perfection. White kids who loved the sounds of the Apollo bust it out with killer songs with a distinctly Semitic sense of humor that would satisfy any Woody Allen fan. Kooper's keyboards astonish on each track and highlights include "House in the Country" which predicts the post-hippie attitude with a lot more fun than Joni Mitchell or God forbid, the Eagles, and a cinematic cover of Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory."
7. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
Tropical teen beat brought to you by Gilberto Gil. These swinging teens with home-made pedals make the trippiest party album of the decade with dirty and percussive force that transcends any language barriers. Their originals are as heady as anything coming out of California with titles like "Trem Fantasma" (Ghost Train) and "Ave Lucifer" (Lucifer Bird) and their reinterpretations of Tropicalia standards like "Bat Macumba" and "A Minha Menina" often best or at least equal versions by their elder composers. The gap between garage psych and tropicalia, naturally an essential for anyone who is pro-fun.
6. The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
The first rock opera and the one that should have finally broken England's wildest band into the US. The Pretties fall into the British Underground with the likes of Pink Floyd and new drummer Twink with this masterpiece of heavy psych. The concept may be loose but that keeps its tragic tale a bit less goofy. It would sadly be Dick Taylor's final statement with the band for many years and he wails at his best on "She Says Good Morning" and "Balloon Burning," the latter easily being the best song of the year. While the titular character's life may not be realistic, make much sense or be relate-able, from "S.F. Sorrow is Born" to "Loneliest Person" the listener is definitely taken on a journey through a lifelong tragedy and it's mark is a heavy one, the kind the Pretties would continue to explore.
5. The Outsiders - CQ
I am a bit behind on Nederbeat, but I do know that it's hard to beat the Outsiders' final album. Firstly, look up the album cover. The fact that such aesthetics were released at this time is enough to qualify it for this list. Flawless songs that drip with loneliness and desperation all based around the use of HAM radio and often recorded though one only adds to that. Frontman Wally Tax' Gypsy roots come out throughout this otherworldly psych/punk album. Album opener "Misfit" could pass for the Sex Pistols if not for the vocals and the gorgeous ballad "You're Everything on Earth" is a heartbreaking tale prescient of cyberlove before the home computer was even a pipe dream. It's even sadder than that. The titles get even better with "It Seems Like Nothing's Gonna Come My Way Today" and "Happyville," a song from a stripper's perspective. By the way, "CQ" is the HAM radio call for any response at all.
4. Caravan - Caravan
Canterbury's best band makes their stunning debut here besting their former Wilde Flowers band mates in the Soft Machine. One of the most synchronized bands of all time, Caravan hone their free-form skills into short pop songs that don't skimp on the psych and prog. This one is a bit darker than where the original quartet and a half would go on their following masterpieces with particularly strong results on the Gregorian "Cecil Rons" and "Ride." Even more than usual, David Sinclair's keyboards stand out, but the playing from cousin Richard (bass), Pye Hastings (guitar), and Richard Coughlin (drums) are as masterful - Hastings' guitar establishing itself as easily the most tasteful in progressive rock. Here his and Richard Sinclair's vocal interplay may even be at its best, creating a sound much greater than the sum of its parts.
3. The Move - Move
The Birmingham's supergroup's debut is another often dismissed as another spotty singles collection slapped together with too many covers, but I disagree strongly. The move were another group of five stratospheric professionals, much like Moby Grape, who the America-obsessed Brits even have the good taste to cover. Roy Wood's songwriting may be the star, but Bev Bevan's drumming - the perfect medium between Bonahm and Moon, Tony Visconti's string arrangements, and Carl Wayne's swagger are major players as well. Each distinct vocalist even gets a spotlight, best seen in Tervor Burton's Eddie Cochran cover "Weekend" and Bevan's freakishly low bass on his rendition of "Zing! Went the Strong of My Heart." "Fire Brigade" is not only one of the most exciting singles of the decade, but the basis of "God Save the Queen," and despite what you may have heard, "Cherry Blossom Clinic" is a lot better than it's "revisited" form on Shazam.
2. The Zombies -Odessey and Oracle
Al Kooper makes yet another appearance on the list for producing these poorly-named choir boys with a dark side. Engineered by Beatles regular Geoff Emeric, it is best known for posthumous hit "Time of the Season," experts know it for its use of the mellotron and impeccable vocals. The band is falling apart, but intends to leave the world with an LP that surpasses their transcendent early singles like "She's Coming Home" and "The Way I Feel Inside." That was a task that would require songs about girlfriends in jail, sad old maids, and the brutality of World War I. Songwriters Chris White (bass) and Ron Argent (keys) build a symphony of psychedelic baraoque pop with an avant-garde edge smoothed out by Colin Blunstone's croon. The Zombies left this physical plane with an album as mythological as its title, lurching around the Earth to its now legendary status.
1. The Kinks - The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
Ray Davies may dismiss this album as incomplete, but what it would sound like in his vision would be unfathomable. The songwriter's obsession with the glorious past of the British Empire is the primary theme on this fantastical pop record. The harpsichord remains a big part of the Kinks' sound, but rather than keeping it baroque, it functions as much as a rock instrument as the rest. Nostalgia runs through the whole album on tracks like the title opener, the similarly-named "Village Green," "Picture Book," and "Do You Remember Walter?". Power also rears its ugly head on the likes of "Johnny Thunder" and "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains," prepping fans for the turns the band would make on their next two records. Luckily, the Carrol-esque fantasies of "Phenomenal Cat" and "Wicked Anabella" and the hard-rocking calypso of "Monica" keep it light. Play it with not just your friends, but all their best friends too.
This was tough. It took a long time and I moved things around a whole lot.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
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.
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.
1966
Sorry this took so long, but I have been busy with a major family catastrophe and a minor musical one in thinking that the Pretty Things' Get the Picture? came out at least a month later than it actually did. We may be better off not having to include it on this list...
This is sometimes considered the best year for music of all time. Considering all the singles in addition to these albums and the many others that didn't make the cut, there is a good chance that is correct. Regardless, here are the 10 best:
1. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Great as the rest are, this is the Beach Boys' masterpiece. It's only flaw could also be considered its reason perfection: It's all Brian. Well, apart from the vocals. Everyone else soars to their greatest peaks vocally (except for Dennis, still in his surf punk shell), with even Mike Love capturing Brian's vision on tracks like "Here Today" and "I Know There's An Answer." This is the best example of what's great about 60s music, at least made by white people. Each song is a world unto itself, and lighter and instrumental fare is at worst the perfect relief from Brian Wilson's truly nightmarish psyche. Yes, the only thing that could make this album better would be "Good Vibrations." Or not.
2. The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles and Beach Boys' series of one-upmanship took a break while the Beatles made their own masterpiece. Admiteddly there is a stinker or two here, but if you don't forget about "Dr. Robert" by the time the vocals start on "Tomorrow Never Knows" (my pick for best Beatles song of all) you weren't listening in the first place. This is the album that not only shows the band at their most eclectic, experimental, and cohesive, it is also the perfect length, so all musicians, aim for a good 35 minutes. If you only want one Beatles record make it this one and you will still get the whole picture.
3. The Monks - Black Monk Time
Were the other temporary Germans above taking note on this album's cover? Probably. Were many other's noticing? Not likely, but Jimi was, and God knows who else. This German band of former American GIs is usually mentioned in the context of proto-punk, but proto-krautrock is more accurate. This is the heaviest, droniest, and most fun record of its time and probably any, as all these so-called "punks" think that organs and banjos are for "faggots." These people have no sense of humor or music. Really all I need to say is the first line of lyrics are "Alright, my name's Gary," and it features the first song I know of called "I Hate You," too bad only the Coen Brothers noticed.
4. The 13th Floor Elevators - Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The Elevators' flawed debut is known as one of the first records to include the word "psychedelic" and while it achieves much more than that (unlike the Deep's still-worthy Psychedelic Moods) it is a well-deserved honor. Tommy Hall's vision, Roky Erickson's persona and energy, and Stacy Sutherland's musicianship add up to a dark, mind-bending ride through Texas, not without the help of a world-class rhythm section. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is only the beginning and before it got tragic is got much better.
5. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
Serge's symphonic tribute to Brigitte Bardot is if not his best work at least his most accessible. A set of concise pop songs with the kind of in-depth arrangements he would explore over the following years, this album highlights all of the incomparable artist's strengths. A guest appearance from the titular leading lady hardly stands out amongst the likes of the title track and "Qui Est 'In' Qui Est 'Out." Also it's an elementary lesson in the Frech sense of humor and how it transcends language in the likes of "Hold-Up." Forget the dirty stuff (maybe) and start here on Serge if you haven't already.
6. The Kinks - Face to Face
Like Brian Wilson, Ray Davies starts to crack here. His observations on the life of a rock star and those who surround it get darker and more accurate in a way that is as personal as it is universal. However, on this album, the band stays firmly grounded in the raw and dirty sound that made them the Kinks, even as acoustic guitars and harpsichords grow in prominence. Even if You're Lookin' Fine, a Dandy hon Holiday in Waikiki you might have Too Much On your Mind on a Sunny Afternoon or Rainy Day in June. If you're already hip to it, check out Wim Wenders' The American Friend. It's got Dennis Hopper in it!
7. The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
In one fell swoop the world has its first encounter with Frank Zappa, the double LP, progressive rock, and intentionally funny rock music. With another vocalist int he fold Zappa's composition and guitar skills are most apparent, and while his band mates may not have the same pedigree as his later ones would you have that bar band cohesion that would be absent later, making its record-breaking length work so well. Avant-gardge, jazz, psych, doo-wop, and proto-punk are all here as is the only way to ever hear "Who Are the Brain Police?" making this album deserve its title much more than other self-describing psychedelic records.
8. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Well, one day in and I already see how badly I fucked up this list, forgetting Highway 51 Revisted somehow, which I much prefer to the Dylan album listed. Well, what can you do, but talk about how he outdid that very album the next year. His electric double album hits as hard for twice as long and mostly, twice as well. While it can at times get a little too bluesy for my liking as well, it would be just be wrong to complain bout a track like "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat." Rockers like "Sooner or Later One of Us Must Know" and "Stuck Inside of Memphis Blues Again" are the real stars with no small contribution from garage guitarist-turned-organ god Al Kooper who continues to steal the show. Being the perpetual self-competitor, Dyland bests "Desolation Row" with "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," thanks to a little misinformation given to an extraordinary drummer.
9. The Music Machine - (Turn On) The Music Machine
More Nuggets from Los Angeles black-clad Music Machine. A fellow Irish-American Sean Bonniwell leads the band most deserving of that name through his flawless songwriting and powerful, husky voice. Often derided as a patchy collection of singles, this is another garage masterpiece which if the only thing left behind would keep the Music Machine in the top of the 60s rock pantheon. Their sole hit "Talk Talk," hardly stands out against songs like "Double Yellow Line" and "Trouble." Much darker and sexier than the Doors even at their best the Machine may have been the greatest goth band of all time and with 5 virtuosos they had better be. Particularly essential for rock drummers and male vocalists.
10. Love - Da Capo
This would be Love's best album if the second side were decent instead of a single bland jam. Side one is 60s Los Angeles perfection in no small part to the addition of harpsichord and woodwinds. Even bigger though is the addition of the "true" Love Drummer Michael Stuart-Ware, and the growth in quality, and most noticeably, diversity of both Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean's songwriting. "Orange Skies" is the classic showtune, "The Castle" is a psychedelic renaissance, "7 and 7 Is" punk as fuck, and "She Comes in Colors" the ultimate hippie love song. Don't flip it, just play it again and you will get the big deal with LoVE.
This is sometimes considered the best year for music of all time. Considering all the singles in addition to these albums and the many others that didn't make the cut, there is a good chance that is correct. Regardless, here are the 10 best:
1. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Great as the rest are, this is the Beach Boys' masterpiece. It's only flaw could also be considered its reason perfection: It's all Brian. Well, apart from the vocals. Everyone else soars to their greatest peaks vocally (except for Dennis, still in his surf punk shell), with even Mike Love capturing Brian's vision on tracks like "Here Today" and "I Know There's An Answer." This is the best example of what's great about 60s music, at least made by white people. Each song is a world unto itself, and lighter and instrumental fare is at worst the perfect relief from Brian Wilson's truly nightmarish psyche. Yes, the only thing that could make this album better would be "Good Vibrations." Or not.
2. The Beatles - Revolver
The Beatles and Beach Boys' series of one-upmanship took a break while the Beatles made their own masterpiece. Admiteddly there is a stinker or two here, but if you don't forget about "Dr. Robert" by the time the vocals start on "Tomorrow Never Knows" (my pick for best Beatles song of all) you weren't listening in the first place. This is the album that not only shows the band at their most eclectic, experimental, and cohesive, it is also the perfect length, so all musicians, aim for a good 35 minutes. If you only want one Beatles record make it this one and you will still get the whole picture.
3. The Monks - Black Monk Time
Were the other temporary Germans above taking note on this album's cover? Probably. Were many other's noticing? Not likely, but Jimi was, and God knows who else. This German band of former American GIs is usually mentioned in the context of proto-punk, but proto-krautrock is more accurate. This is the heaviest, droniest, and most fun record of its time and probably any, as all these so-called "punks" think that organs and banjos are for "faggots." These people have no sense of humor or music. Really all I need to say is the first line of lyrics are "Alright, my name's Gary," and it features the first song I know of called "I Hate You," too bad only the Coen Brothers noticed.
4. The 13th Floor Elevators - Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The Elevators' flawed debut is known as one of the first records to include the word "psychedelic" and while it achieves much more than that (unlike the Deep's still-worthy Psychedelic Moods) it is a well-deserved honor. Tommy Hall's vision, Roky Erickson's persona and energy, and Stacy Sutherland's musicianship add up to a dark, mind-bending ride through Texas, not without the help of a world-class rhythm section. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is only the beginning and before it got tragic is got much better.
5. Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
Serge's symphonic tribute to Brigitte Bardot is if not his best work at least his most accessible. A set of concise pop songs with the kind of in-depth arrangements he would explore over the following years, this album highlights all of the incomparable artist's strengths. A guest appearance from the titular leading lady hardly stands out amongst the likes of the title track and "Qui Est 'In' Qui Est 'Out." Also it's an elementary lesson in the Frech sense of humor and how it transcends language in the likes of "Hold-Up." Forget the dirty stuff (maybe) and start here on Serge if you haven't already.
6. The Kinks - Face to Face
Like Brian Wilson, Ray Davies starts to crack here. His observations on the life of a rock star and those who surround it get darker and more accurate in a way that is as personal as it is universal. However, on this album, the band stays firmly grounded in the raw and dirty sound that made them the Kinks, even as acoustic guitars and harpsichords grow in prominence. Even if You're Lookin' Fine, a Dandy hon Holiday in Waikiki you might have Too Much On your Mind on a Sunny Afternoon or Rainy Day in June. If you're already hip to it, check out Wim Wenders' The American Friend. It's got Dennis Hopper in it!
7. The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
In one fell swoop the world has its first encounter with Frank Zappa, the double LP, progressive rock, and intentionally funny rock music. With another vocalist int he fold Zappa's composition and guitar skills are most apparent, and while his band mates may not have the same pedigree as his later ones would you have that bar band cohesion that would be absent later, making its record-breaking length work so well. Avant-gardge, jazz, psych, doo-wop, and proto-punk are all here as is the only way to ever hear "Who Are the Brain Police?" making this album deserve its title much more than other self-describing psychedelic records.
8. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Well, one day in and I already see how badly I fucked up this list, forgetting Highway 51 Revisted somehow, which I much prefer to the Dylan album listed. Well, what can you do, but talk about how he outdid that very album the next year. His electric double album hits as hard for twice as long and mostly, twice as well. While it can at times get a little too bluesy for my liking as well, it would be just be wrong to complain bout a track like "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat." Rockers like "Sooner or Later One of Us Must Know" and "Stuck Inside of Memphis Blues Again" are the real stars with no small contribution from garage guitarist-turned-organ god Al Kooper who continues to steal the show. Being the perpetual self-competitor, Dyland bests "Desolation Row" with "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," thanks to a little misinformation given to an extraordinary drummer.
9. The Music Machine - (Turn On) The Music Machine
More Nuggets from Los Angeles black-clad Music Machine. A fellow Irish-American Sean Bonniwell leads the band most deserving of that name through his flawless songwriting and powerful, husky voice. Often derided as a patchy collection of singles, this is another garage masterpiece which if the only thing left behind would keep the Music Machine in the top of the 60s rock pantheon. Their sole hit "Talk Talk," hardly stands out against songs like "Double Yellow Line" and "Trouble." Much darker and sexier than the Doors even at their best the Machine may have been the greatest goth band of all time and with 5 virtuosos they had better be. Particularly essential for rock drummers and male vocalists.
10. Love - Da Capo
This would be Love's best album if the second side were decent instead of a single bland jam. Side one is 60s Los Angeles perfection in no small part to the addition of harpsichord and woodwinds. Even bigger though is the addition of the "true" Love Drummer Michael Stuart-Ware, and the growth in quality, and most noticeably, diversity of both Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean's songwriting. "Orange Skies" is the classic showtune, "The Castle" is a psychedelic renaissance, "7 and 7 Is" punk as fuck, and "She Comes in Colors" the ultimate hippie love song. Don't flip it, just play it again and you will get the big deal with LoVE.
Monday, March 11, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Complete Separation: After the Astronaut
The Butthole Surfers have been one of my favorite bands for most of my life. That could be an exaggeration or overstatement, but "roughly half, at least" is certainly true. The peak of my interest in them was in the summer of 2001, so my fourteen year-old heart was pumping wildly in anticipation for The Weird Revolution, particularly after shelling out the hard-saved and snuck-away dough on the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack for "They Came In."
At the time, I managed to convince myself that The Weird Revolution wasn't a total pile of garbage that justifies their lack of new material for the last twelve years, but that didn't even last long. Anyone else who has heard that album would much rather forget as well. It's like a no-easy-excuse Squeeze. Yet, despite all that it came out of an album that was quite good. Although I'm one of the few that will endorse 1991's Pioughd I would go so far as to say this is their best album of the 90s. It is, in fact their best album since Locust Abortion Technician... maybe. Either way, it has more in common with that one than it does Independent Worm Saloon or even Electriclarryland.
Most of these songs appeared in vastly inferior form in 2001, such as "They Came In" which set some (maybe just my) expectations too high on the M:I2 soundtrack, and the more absurd, less discomforting "Weird Revolution." "Jet Fighter," likewise appears in a more dramatic, yet also sincere form making it one of the album's best tracks. However the tracks which would not make it to the revised version are most memorable with tracks like "I Don't Have a Problem" and "Junky Jenny in Gaytown" hearkening back to their 80s peak, with the latter being something of a new take on "Kuntz." This was the last recorded evidence of the Buttholes sounding like themselves, and the first in a long time. It's truly "Turkey and Dressing." Find it. I did.
The Butthole Surfers - After the Astronaut (1998)
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Like Old Times: 2004
Here at my mother's house I found two mixes from late 2004. This is basically an excuse to show off how cool I was when I was young. So, I recommend any 17 year old reading this to go shoplift some Robitussin, listen to these tunes, and ENJOY YOURSELF like we used to here in Basking Ridge.
The numbers were assigned at the time of creation:
1:
2:
The numbers were assigned at the time of creation:
1:
- Old Familiar Way - Of Montreal
- Le Femme d'Argent - AIR
- Katonah - Apollo Sunshine
- Web in Front - The Archers of Loaf
- Give it a Name - At the Drive-In
- The State I Am In - Belle & Sebastian
- In the Morning - Built to Spill
- Five Years - David Bowie
- Christine's Tune - Flying Burrito Bros.
- Jet Generation - Guitar Wolf
- All Downhill From Here - Jim O'Rourke
- Care of Cell 44 - The Zombies
- Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead
- At Least That's What you Said - Wilco
- Melody - Serge Gainsbourg
- My Name is Jonas - Weezer
- Graveyard Shift - Uncle Tupelo
- Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space - Spiritualized
- Good Dancers - The Sleepy Jackson
2:
- Birds - The Butthole Surfers
- Initials B.B. - Serge Gainsbourg
- Silence Kit - Pavement
- Jonathan David - Belle & Sebastian
- Gallo Gallo - NEU!
- A Message to You Rudy - The Specials
- Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers
- Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
- Alone Again Or - LoVE
- Strange - Built to Spill
- Seems So - The Apples in Stereo
- I Am Trying to Break Your Heart - Wilco
- Electronic Performers - AIR
- You Ain't Going Nowhere - The Byrds
- Rascuache - At the Drive-In
- The Freed Pig - SeBADoh
- Old Familiar Way - Of Montreal
- Race for the Prize (Remix) - The Flaming Lips
- Tram #7 to Heaven - Jens Lekman
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