A decade after the greatest year for music comes a series of serious contenders. Punk is in full swing by now and with no surprise it dominates this list. A lot of the artists that dominated these past lists were busy embarrassing themselves here, though Animals really almost made it. Also just missing the cut was Bat Out of Hell, so you get the idea.
10. Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Kraftwerk are the best known creators of early electronic music and arguably krautrock. At this point they had already established that, including some surprising US success. Here they are in top form with their four-piece lineup. Often respected as their best work the percussive classical work centered around such heady themes as the space age future and the railroad is their most German work too. The well-dressed group on the cover perfectly captures its "Europe Endless" theme and the title track's reference to meeting Iggy Pop and David Bowie places them in the reality as one of the world's most respected rock groups. The album centers around a hopeful future, but with a shroud of darkness that never completely disappears. "Hall of Mirrors" and "Showroom Dummies" are strongest examples with the latter hinting at the robotic themes the band would further explore. Human music from a robotic future it is, with plenty of room for musicianship.
9. Wire - Pink Flag
One of the greatest band's of all time makes its legendary debut. Seen by many as just another punk album, this record sows the seeds of all that the quartet would do in its brief initial career. Number-based lyrics like "Three Girl Rhumba" and "1 2 X U" signal the likes of what would come on 154 and beyond. The short songs and titles like "Field Day for the Sundays," "106 Beats That," and "Surgeon's Girl" make them an obvious influence on bands like Guided by Voices, plus the whole song begins with "Reuters." While the music is far simpler, faster, and more aggressive than later it is far more than "just a punk album" with it's endless layers of brainy weirdness. The band has stated that every song is a rip off of some classic rock tune, but I hardly ever hear it. If they do they truly are one of the most advanced bands out there. Great things would come soon making their importance even harder to ignore.
8. Popol Vuh - Herz Aus Glas
In the early part of the decade Florian Fricke and company had distinguished themselves as one of the great pioneers of the Moog, but this is foremost a guitar album. Soundtrack to Fricke's best friend Werner Herzog's masterpiece, it follows similar themes throughout, evoking the surreal and mysterious power of the film, even while very little of it is included. The longest track, the opening "Engel der Gegenwart," is one of krautrock's greatest pieces, with a transcended done that sounds like a looser NEU! at their prettiest. The guitars have that kind of sea mammal quality heard at Yes' best moments all throughout and the drumming (also played by guitarist Daniel Fichelscher) fits with equal dynamic prowess. Fricke's keyboards carry these soaring compositions even without bass, allowing this spiritual heaven to achieve unfathomable heights. It sounds like like the film looks, gray skies gutting through deep green hills. The most beautiful electric guitar playing ever recorded.
7. The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
The Pistols get written off far too often. Called imitators, pawns of evil genius Malcom Maclaren, or sometimes "not as good as PiL." Well, that's all bullocks, and you know what to do with those... This album kicks ass. It's the best UK punk album, and guess what, it's also the first. So there's lots of guitar overdubs and that's not punk? Who sold you that? Joe Strummer? Steve Jones playing is definitive punk, even without the range. He made the much older Johnny Ramone intimidated, for god's sake! The songwriting is some of the best, relying neither upon simple rage and stupidity nor pop for the punk sound. Lyrically it's as harsh as anything put out since with Jones and Rotten making "Bodies" more unsettling than any dumb kid with spikes and a mohawk. And about Johnny... Here we find one of rock's most unique vocalists, on re-inspection his voice here is even greater than on his work with PiL, instantly making him the equal of idols Damo Suzuki and Peter Hammill. The word on UK punk.
6. Ramones - Leave Home
The Ramones get even louder and faster on their second album. The band sticks to their formula and still manages to grow. With what Jesse Johnstone described as "the sound of freedom," it kicks into action with "Glad to See You Go," easily the group's best song. Dee Dee's self-destruction hits rock bottom on "Carbona Not Glue," as songs move to "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" and "Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy." The military themes get better too on Johnny's theme "Commando." Likewise, "Pinhead" keeps the horror movie stupidity up to the band's image, with it's "gabba gabba hey" the rally-cry for their whole legacy. The only cover on this one is "California Sun," and it manages to outdo the Dictators', no surprise since Johnny himself did end up there eventually. Leave Home is the Ramones on the rise, showing that while the band might be a one-trick pony, it is a good trick, and one that approaches transcendent perfection.
5. Suicide - Suicide
The duo of Martin Rev and Alan Vega had been around for years before this album was finally released. Vega was one of the oldest guys on the scene even then, but that doesn't stop him from playing the part of a teenage idol on this masterpiece. His croon on "Cheree," plays the perfect counterpoint to Rev's dark presence and musical accompaniment. The Bruce Springsteen favorite begins with the driving super hero tribute "Ghost Rider" and features the violent, sexual epic "Frankie Teardrop," with its seething blue collar rage explaining its famous fan's love. No other album, not even the Boss's Nebraska so well captures the dark American underbelly with all its building violence, comic book fantasy, and plastic veneer of coolness. This album is peerless and defies all category other than "the best."
4. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
...As does this one. Dennis died six miserable years later looking even more haggard than on this album's cover. he had lived the life of a reckless rock star even before his unusually young debut as one. By this point though, he had become even more talented than his older brother (whose burnt-out mind was exploited on this year's garbage heap Love You) and this gigantic and soul-crushing album is all the proof one needs. Water and nature are as big on this album as destruction and hopelessness. Opener "River Song" and the majestic "Rainbows" (both written with Carl) are the big uppers with their gospel choirs, colossal arrangements, and Wilson's phenomenal piano playing are pleas for redemption, never leaving behind Wilson's dark past. The tenderness in his heart comes as clear as his admitted flaws on "You & I" and "Time," but get into the darkest depths on the major downer "Thoughts of You." The darkest moment though, is on the cinematic "Friday Night," which turns its party-friendly title into a David Lynch rock opera that should keep everyone who hears it out of Hollywood for good. Tragically beautiful.
3. Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Continuing their growth, the four New York bruddahs make their finest work before the surprising departure of Tommy. Their first set of all-new songs, as usual it begins off strong with theme song "Cretin Hop" with the first side containing such beloved classics as "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and "Rockaway Beach." Then there's their greatest love song "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow," a simple ballad with sweetness coated in the sadness that never escapes the Ramones, even at their most fun. The second side likewise begins with "Teenage Lobotomy" showing the decline of insanity both Dee Dee and Tommy at the time. Dee Dee's torture concludes the album on the band's darkest final note on "Why Is It Always This Way?" in between there is also his most sincere plea, the simple and relate-able "I Wanna Be Well." Yet, there is also the group's best cover "Do You Wanna Dance?" one of the brighter spots on the Rames' conclusion of their trio of masterpieces.
2. Television - Marquee Moon
Yet another one of the many great bands in New York at the time debuts with an incomparable masterpiece. The dynamic group with its soaring dual (or is it duel) guitars made this spacious rock album that oozes with urban romance that put the other "intelligent" New Yorkers to shame. Tom Verlaine has a unique style of songwriting that maintains a structure throughout, yet allows the four exceptional and compatible musicians plenty of room for expression and extension. Rockers like the opening "See No Evil" and "Friction" stand side by side with the softer drama of "Guiding Light" and "Torn Curtain." The title track is the most pleasurable way to make ten minutes disappear and its organic arrangement earns its recording in Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs (New Jersey!) studio. "Venus" is fun enough to keep the album out of pretentious territory, but contributes to its place alongside Is This It?, Daydream Nation and The Velvet Underground and Nico as one of the most Manhattan albums ever. The complex guitar on "Prove It" in fact proves that punk need not run from musicianship. Too bad all the "punx" out there don't remember.
1. David Bowie - Low
Following collaborator Eno, Bowie begins his Berlin Trilogy with a album of half pop, half ambient. he separates them by side though, which although many love, I see as its one flaw. Also, one is a lot better than the other. Sorry, but it's true. But what a side it is! Bowie is clearly in a better place than Los Angeles with songs like "What In the World" and "Sound and Vision" returning in addition to ones like "Breaking Glass" and "Always Crashing the Same Car." Bowie's unusual knack for staying relevant puts him ahead of the post-punk boom that he partially inspired and this album fits alongside any of the finer goth records that would follow with its moody synths and, as usual, dramatic vocals. The pop side closing instrumental "A New Career in a New Town" is his most beautiful composition and his most tasteful, yet effective tear-jerker. The ambient side is great though. While not as cohesive as the other half, each piece is one of the best of its kind, perhaps outdoing Eno himself. "Warszawa" is the most esteemed, but my favorites are "Weeping Wall" and "Art Decade." Bowie's best?
Well, that's that. While writing this I have battled to keep my sanity (for other reasons) so I hope that didn't ruin this unbelievable list.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
1976
This was the hardest year of them all! I think so, 2008 was very difficult as well, but like that year, as you have over a month to find out, managed to get a very good list, just like this one. I stand by all ten of these records without any hesitation, but if you asked me for another great album for this year I don't know if I could give you one. It's a real transition! Some styles make their last appearance ever in this year (guess...) and others might make their first, depending on how you look at it. Also this begins the gradual and near-complete phase out of the previously-dominant English.
10. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
70s hard rock is a controversial style and I admit I am not the biggest fan. There are some exceptions, as one could tell from all the Zeppelin seen so far. Also nearly included was the supergroup Captain Beyond. Thin Lizzy is another. Most of that is owed to Phil Lynott. Lynott is a real one of a kind frontman who wrote songs that rocked very hard without much of the pomposity, stupidity, or macho tendencies of his peers. It's that distinctly Irish storytelling voice of his perhaps. His approach to vocal rhythm and lyrics is what makes his music so timeless. Then there is the twin-lead guitars, a technique that has always been underused. This album is the only one that made it mostly because I have heard it the most. Best-known for "The Boys Are Back In Town" and the title track, the softer stuff is actually best such as "Fight or Fall" and "Running Back." Also it's got some kind of sci-fi concept, but I prefer not to think about it.
9. Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
Another highly controversial choice, who deserves more exposure on my lists. ELO is known for their mission of picking up where the Beatles left off, super-clean production, and of course the strings - all of which give them the reputation of being pretentious. However, they are a talented band that has made a lot of great music and this album is one of the best. Almost anything with Bev Bevan is worth listening to if you ask me, and Jeff Lynne keeps the reputation of their old band alive with the re-make of their original "Do Ya," which sadly foreshadowed the embarrassing decisions he makes today. Strings and wise chord choices, along with cutting-edge synthesizers give this album a heavenly texture heard on every track with harmonies and melodies that keep with their tradition of 60s pop. Worth it for "Livin' Thing" alone.
8. Bob Dylan - Desire
Dylan picks up right where he left off on Blood on the Tracks stylistically and maybe even outdoes that album's merits. While the bitterness is still there, most evidently on the usual album-ending classic "Sara," Mr. Zimmerman moves away from the divorce topic a bit. The opener "Hurricane" with its setting of New Jersey perhaps owing to following Bruce Springsteen is a return to the protesting drama of his best 60s work, justifying its place as one of his most beloved songs. As the cover may imply, he is feeling a little bit happier too, and while his "Romance in Durango" may be a little trite, it does seem to put the troubador in a better mood. The loose, jammy story of "Isis" is another one of his best, proving that this seventies comeback was no fluke.
7. Serge Gainsbourg - L'Homme À Tête De Chou
The always-changing Gainsbourg tries out progressive rock on this concept album about a murderer with a cabbage for a head, inspiring some of the greatest Canadian comedy of all time. The sounds still change through his classic seductive sound to reggae and back to the catchy baroque pop of "Marilou Sous La Neige." Vannier's influence remains on Serge as he achieves some of his best synthesizer work, practically giving birth to AIR's 10,000 Hz Legend on the narration-heavy "Flash Forward." Most of the album is talk-spoken, which can irritate some, but all the elements one would want in a great 70s rock album are there, especially on the dramatic opening title track. This is one of Serge's most under-appreciated albums, deserving its place alongside Initials B.B., Melody Nelson, and Couleur Café. If you consider yourself an AIR fan and have not heard this record, change that immediately.
6. David Bowie - Station to Station
"I know it was recorded in Los Angeles because it says so on the record," reflects Bowie. He has also reflected that he hated that city and what cocaine was doing to him while there. For proof, consult The Man Who Fell to Earth, the Nicholas Roeg he was shooting at the time and gave the album its cover (it also stars Rip Torn!!!!). The drug threw him into the same hell as John Cale and also yielded amazing results. The ten minute title track dubbed him "The Thin White Duke," his best-fitting, yet least developed persona. "Word on a Wing" is another highlight as is "TVC-15," but its single "Golden Years," may be the album's best song. It's deranged qualities managed to pass as accessible enough for the public, and managed to mask its creator's dark reality. Afterward he returned to Europe, began cleaning up and made his best work of all. This album is the beginning of that phase in which the genius pushes himself up from rock bottom. The ideas are here, but they are lost in the chaos which makes this one of Bowie's best.
5. The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
Some may say this doesn't count, but this was a tough year and regardless this album rules! The Modern lovers were the ultimate proto-supergroup. Jonathan Richman would never be this great again, plus you've got Gerry Harrison from the Talking Heads, David Robinson from the Cars, and Ernie Brooks whose work with discovery Arthur Russell would reveal him to be the greatest bass player of all time many years later. Oh, and John Cale produced it. All the songs are great and with the added tracks on some version coming from the Kim Fowley sessions it's even better, such as on "Government Center," a song which only he could have produced. The lyrics are about such lovely topics as teenage lust and jealousy and love for the USA and Boston, making it essential for anyone living there. It is a fun, aggressive and simple record that really set the precedent for all rock that followed, though sadly not enough really has.
4. R. Stevie Moore - Phonography
The young Nashville outsider makes his debut on this set, giving the world its first second-generation rock musician and one of the few amazing one-man bands. Cultivated from the endless material Moore was already amassing this flawless collection of dense-psychotic pop influenced by Todd Rundgren and the Beach Boys. Moore's distinct guitar sound makes its debut on the dramatic instrumental opener "Melbourne," and his home-made humor makes "Goodbye Piano" the greatest song about attachment to an instrument. Going from dark and weird ("Moons," "Showing Shadows") to sweet ("I Want You In My Life," "I Wish I Could Sing") the album is padded by his skits, a new idea done long before it became common. These are at their best on the thoughtful "The Lariat Wressed Posing Hour" and the anglophobic "The Spot." Moore plays up his alienating Southern and musical roots on "Theme from A.G." showing his place was actually in the ultra-hip New Jersey underground he would make home soon after. Perhaps the greatest "outsider" album of all time.
3. Camel - Moonmadness
It's hard to say why Camel is not heralded as one of the greatest bands of progressive rock. It may have been their surely profitable, yet unplanned tie-in with the cigarette brand, it might have been the unfortunate US album art, or it might have been that people said they were "too much like Floyd." That should be a good thing! However, they are their own distinct band, though as cohesive and single-minded as their more famous peers. The members also expand their musical vocabulary with the integration of other instruments such as the flute on the gorgeous "Air Born." Every member of the classic lineup is one of the finest musicians of their day, but former Them keyboardist Peter Bardens is in a category of his own. The opening "Aristillus" and his solo on the album's greatest piece "Song Within A Song" is enough to place him above the likes Richard Wright and Rick Wakeman. From beginning to end Moonmadness captures everything great about progressive rock and nothing that makes it so maligned.
2. Ramones - Ramones
With that sneering album cover and its whole aesthetic from cohort Arturo Vega the Queens foursome beat up the world with punk rock. "Blitzkrieg Bop" begins it with one of the most perfect pieces of pop ever written. The band's simple force is relentless with each element its own pummeling limb. The band takes on some of the darkest topics in music so far such as Nazis, beating children with baseball bats, the Bay of Pigs, male prostitution and murder, and of course the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a sense of humor that let them get away with it for almost forty years now. Yeah, it's just four chords, but that's all you need in the twisted world of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy. All the fury of the heaviest rock with the catchy fun of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys comes together as only these urbane brats could do inspiring generations and generations beyond. However, none could even hope to match the likes of "Chain Saw," "Judy Is a Punk," and "Beat on the Brat." The first sign of what was to come.
1. The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
San Francisco's most definitive band had been around since the Haight-Ashbury days making many great records that either just missed or did not qualify for these lists. After moving to the more-appreciative France and teaming up with Dave Edmunds in South Wales the Beatle-booted quintet make their finest work of all. At this point the group was double amping their three guitars, matched with a bass tone, drum fury, and vocal harmonies that gave them the biggest sound on Earth without any distortion or complex solos. Edmunds captures all of this and the band lends this sound to their favorite songs by the likes of the Stones, Beatles, and Chuck Berry, who with the Byrds would be mainstays of their set for the rest of the career. The originals are even better though, particularly the title track, which should be on anyone's list of best ever. Though others like "Yes It's True," and the majestic apology of "You Tore Me Down" give it some real competition. Then there's the closing track, "I Can't Hide," with its heavy bass drone that leaves the record ending as powerfully as it began. This album and the band that made it is rock's best kept secret still waiting to be opened.
10. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
70s hard rock is a controversial style and I admit I am not the biggest fan. There are some exceptions, as one could tell from all the Zeppelin seen so far. Also nearly included was the supergroup Captain Beyond. Thin Lizzy is another. Most of that is owed to Phil Lynott. Lynott is a real one of a kind frontman who wrote songs that rocked very hard without much of the pomposity, stupidity, or macho tendencies of his peers. It's that distinctly Irish storytelling voice of his perhaps. His approach to vocal rhythm and lyrics is what makes his music so timeless. Then there is the twin-lead guitars, a technique that has always been underused. This album is the only one that made it mostly because I have heard it the most. Best-known for "The Boys Are Back In Town" and the title track, the softer stuff is actually best such as "Fight or Fall" and "Running Back." Also it's got some kind of sci-fi concept, but I prefer not to think about it.
9. Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
Another highly controversial choice, who deserves more exposure on my lists. ELO is known for their mission of picking up where the Beatles left off, super-clean production, and of course the strings - all of which give them the reputation of being pretentious. However, they are a talented band that has made a lot of great music and this album is one of the best. Almost anything with Bev Bevan is worth listening to if you ask me, and Jeff Lynne keeps the reputation of their old band alive with the re-make of their original "Do Ya," which sadly foreshadowed the embarrassing decisions he makes today. Strings and wise chord choices, along with cutting-edge synthesizers give this album a heavenly texture heard on every track with harmonies and melodies that keep with their tradition of 60s pop. Worth it for "Livin' Thing" alone.
8. Bob Dylan - Desire
Dylan picks up right where he left off on Blood on the Tracks stylistically and maybe even outdoes that album's merits. While the bitterness is still there, most evidently on the usual album-ending classic "Sara," Mr. Zimmerman moves away from the divorce topic a bit. The opener "Hurricane" with its setting of New Jersey perhaps owing to following Bruce Springsteen is a return to the protesting drama of his best 60s work, justifying its place as one of his most beloved songs. As the cover may imply, he is feeling a little bit happier too, and while his "Romance in Durango" may be a little trite, it does seem to put the troubador in a better mood. The loose, jammy story of "Isis" is another one of his best, proving that this seventies comeback was no fluke.
7. Serge Gainsbourg - L'Homme À Tête De Chou
The always-changing Gainsbourg tries out progressive rock on this concept album about a murderer with a cabbage for a head, inspiring some of the greatest Canadian comedy of all time. The sounds still change through his classic seductive sound to reggae and back to the catchy baroque pop of "Marilou Sous La Neige." Vannier's influence remains on Serge as he achieves some of his best synthesizer work, practically giving birth to AIR's 10,000 Hz Legend on the narration-heavy "Flash Forward." Most of the album is talk-spoken, which can irritate some, but all the elements one would want in a great 70s rock album are there, especially on the dramatic opening title track. This is one of Serge's most under-appreciated albums, deserving its place alongside Initials B.B., Melody Nelson, and Couleur Café. If you consider yourself an AIR fan and have not heard this record, change that immediately.
6. David Bowie - Station to Station
"I know it was recorded in Los Angeles because it says so on the record," reflects Bowie. He has also reflected that he hated that city and what cocaine was doing to him while there. For proof, consult The Man Who Fell to Earth, the Nicholas Roeg he was shooting at the time and gave the album its cover (it also stars Rip Torn!!!!). The drug threw him into the same hell as John Cale and also yielded amazing results. The ten minute title track dubbed him "The Thin White Duke," his best-fitting, yet least developed persona. "Word on a Wing" is another highlight as is "TVC-15," but its single "Golden Years," may be the album's best song. It's deranged qualities managed to pass as accessible enough for the public, and managed to mask its creator's dark reality. Afterward he returned to Europe, began cleaning up and made his best work of all. This album is the beginning of that phase in which the genius pushes himself up from rock bottom. The ideas are here, but they are lost in the chaos which makes this one of Bowie's best.
5. The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
Some may say this doesn't count, but this was a tough year and regardless this album rules! The Modern lovers were the ultimate proto-supergroup. Jonathan Richman would never be this great again, plus you've got Gerry Harrison from the Talking Heads, David Robinson from the Cars, and Ernie Brooks whose work with discovery Arthur Russell would reveal him to be the greatest bass player of all time many years later. Oh, and John Cale produced it. All the songs are great and with the added tracks on some version coming from the Kim Fowley sessions it's even better, such as on "Government Center," a song which only he could have produced. The lyrics are about such lovely topics as teenage lust and jealousy and love for the USA and Boston, making it essential for anyone living there. It is a fun, aggressive and simple record that really set the precedent for all rock that followed, though sadly not enough really has.
4. R. Stevie Moore - Phonography
The young Nashville outsider makes his debut on this set, giving the world its first second-generation rock musician and one of the few amazing one-man bands. Cultivated from the endless material Moore was already amassing this flawless collection of dense-psychotic pop influenced by Todd Rundgren and the Beach Boys. Moore's distinct guitar sound makes its debut on the dramatic instrumental opener "Melbourne," and his home-made humor makes "Goodbye Piano" the greatest song about attachment to an instrument. Going from dark and weird ("Moons," "Showing Shadows") to sweet ("I Want You In My Life," "I Wish I Could Sing") the album is padded by his skits, a new idea done long before it became common. These are at their best on the thoughtful "The Lariat Wressed Posing Hour" and the anglophobic "The Spot." Moore plays up his alienating Southern and musical roots on "Theme from A.G." showing his place was actually in the ultra-hip New Jersey underground he would make home soon after. Perhaps the greatest "outsider" album of all time.
3. Camel - Moonmadness
It's hard to say why Camel is not heralded as one of the greatest bands of progressive rock. It may have been their surely profitable, yet unplanned tie-in with the cigarette brand, it might have been the unfortunate US album art, or it might have been that people said they were "too much like Floyd." That should be a good thing! However, they are their own distinct band, though as cohesive and single-minded as their more famous peers. The members also expand their musical vocabulary with the integration of other instruments such as the flute on the gorgeous "Air Born." Every member of the classic lineup is one of the finest musicians of their day, but former Them keyboardist Peter Bardens is in a category of his own. The opening "Aristillus" and his solo on the album's greatest piece "Song Within A Song" is enough to place him above the likes Richard Wright and Rick Wakeman. From beginning to end Moonmadness captures everything great about progressive rock and nothing that makes it so maligned.
2. Ramones - Ramones
With that sneering album cover and its whole aesthetic from cohort Arturo Vega the Queens foursome beat up the world with punk rock. "Blitzkrieg Bop" begins it with one of the most perfect pieces of pop ever written. The band's simple force is relentless with each element its own pummeling limb. The band takes on some of the darkest topics in music so far such as Nazis, beating children with baseball bats, the Bay of Pigs, male prostitution and murder, and of course the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a sense of humor that let them get away with it for almost forty years now. Yeah, it's just four chords, but that's all you need in the twisted world of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy. All the fury of the heaviest rock with the catchy fun of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys comes together as only these urbane brats could do inspiring generations and generations beyond. However, none could even hope to match the likes of "Chain Saw," "Judy Is a Punk," and "Beat on the Brat." The first sign of what was to come.
1. The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
San Francisco's most definitive band had been around since the Haight-Ashbury days making many great records that either just missed or did not qualify for these lists. After moving to the more-appreciative France and teaming up with Dave Edmunds in South Wales the Beatle-booted quintet make their finest work of all. At this point the group was double amping their three guitars, matched with a bass tone, drum fury, and vocal harmonies that gave them the biggest sound on Earth without any distortion or complex solos. Edmunds captures all of this and the band lends this sound to their favorite songs by the likes of the Stones, Beatles, and Chuck Berry, who with the Byrds would be mainstays of their set for the rest of the career. The originals are even better though, particularly the title track, which should be on anyone's list of best ever. Though others like "Yes It's True," and the majestic apology of "You Tore Me Down" give it some real competition. Then there's the closing track, "I Can't Hide," with its heavy bass drone that leaves the record ending as powerfully as it began. This album and the band that made it is rock's best kept secret still waiting to be opened.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
1975
Here's where things really start to get... different. The new generation takes over and some bring it back, some take it somewhere else new. Mostly they do both. A lot of the older guys come back with something very new and unexpected. Either way, this year is maybe the biggest turning point in rock and here are ten of the best examples.
10. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Dylan's first "comeback" album of many (and probably most-deserved after some of the inexplicable dreck he had mad earlier in the decade) is the birth of divorce rock. It became something of a fad as the hippie generations beliefs on love prove faulty. It still happens today and does produce some great records, check out the Apples in Stereo's 2010 Travelers in Space and Time (I don't feel like waiting another 35 or more days to recommend it). It is a return not only to form but to his folk roots and a high point in terms of songwriting. The talk-singing is at its best here with some of the songwriter's best lyrics that can't stop, making for some of his longest and most energetic work. "Idiot Wind" and of course "Tangled Up In Blue," are some of his most cherished songs and their wild style continues throughout. "A Simple Twist of Fate," is a personal favorite.
9. The Dictators - The Dictators Go Girl Crazy
More proudly Jewish rock here from the Bronx. The Dictators, still often placed in the metal category, inexplicably may be the definitive New York punk band. For one there's the accents, for another Punk magazine was formed with the sole intention of meeting the makers of this record, and yet another, they're hilarious. The album art revolving around the band and "secret weapon" Handsome Dick Manitoba says all that, as do brilliant songs like "Teengenerate" with it's opening lyrics "who's that boy with the sandwich in his hand?" and "(I Live For) Cars and Girls." It's the sound of a teenage sausage fest complete with plenty of beer-soaked pro-wrestling theatricality. It's even got great musicianship all around on top of all that. Where were Americas teenage boys in 1975? Clearly not interested in any fun or eating eggs all day, otherwise this band would have been as big as the Stones. Ideal music for eating at McDonald's for lunch or doing your homework at the bar.
8. Sparks - Propoganda
Sparks albums often come in pairs and this one is at least the equal of Kimono My House. Musicianship increases to an even higher level and lyrics move into stranger territory, found immediately on the vocal workout that is the title track. After that the album kicks in hard with the stalker theme "At Home At Work At Play." The humor is as high as ever, as seen on titles like "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her," but there is more drama on the story of a family devastated by divorce "BC." That plus the cinematic adventure of "Bon Voyage" which sets a standard in closing tracks that only Sparks themselves could outdo a few years later. Even with all the growth, the brothers keep their feet on the ground with the glam of "Achoo" and Russell's flamboyant falsetto stretches on "Who Don't Like Kids?" This is as essential as any other Sparks record.
7. John Cale - Slow Dazzle
Cale's days at the top were beginning to end (after the follow-up Helen of Troy I sadly still have yet to hear) thanks to his coke addiction at this point. This album certainly sounds like it. It's all over the place, gets dark, gets innocent, gets funny, and is always very weird. It is best known for its heavy proto-goth cover of "Heartbreak Hotel," but this is just a minor detail. The Western piano of the Springsteen-esque "Ski Patrol," and the Kevin Ayers revenge slam of "Guts," are even better tunes. Even in the search for classic sounds "Dirtyass Rock 'n' Roll excels best at that, completely living up to its title. Then there's "I'm Not the Loving Kind," and his most successful attempt at the mainstream "Taking It All Away." Ending with "The Jeweller" hearkens back to some of his work on White Light/White Heat making this perhaps Cale's most well-rounded work... plus Manzanera and Eno.
6. Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Glam, prog, and power-pop all come together on this huge album produced by Roy Thomas Baker. His over-the top style is in full effect, but only enhances the brilliant songwriting and guitar virtuosity of the young Bill Nelson. Nelson's rhythm section of New Zealand bassist Charles Tumahai and drummer Simon Fox. Fox's playing sticks out in particular on the transcendent centerpiece of the album "Sound Track," on which the many elements behind this record's strength come out into one of rock's hugest songs of all time. Immediately after is the one that says it all, "Music In Dreamland," with its unfathomable lead that keeps the progressive complexity in melodic territory. Pop is at is peak on the concise romance of "Maid in Heaven," a catchy little rocker that belongs on any and every 70s mix. The prog is most evident on "Between the Worlds" and "Sister Seagull," but every track emits the kind of youthful attitude that keeps Nelson and company firmly in the world of punk.
5. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Finally my home state makes it's debut (well, there was already Funkadelic, but their originas are a little more transient) on this list! Of course, there will be plenty more where that came from. Well, what else can I say? It's not how much you like the Boss, it's how big the part of you that LOVES the boss is. This will always be his definitive work. Its sound is as big as the last album on this list yet its themes and creator are as down to Earth as a rotting boardwalk post in the man's home town (if there are any left now). "Thunder Road," will forever be the theme of escape and the title track will always be one of the greatest songs ever created. Springsteen takes a cue from hero Dylan ending the album with the nine and a half-minute "Jungleland" and his working class romantic poetry covers all his words on this album. The E Street Band is no joke either. Album cover co-star Clarence Clemens' sax may really be what broke this one through, but one can never give enough credit to all-star stick man Max Weinberg either. This is New Jersey.
4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Going even further into the theme of their lost mate, Floyd make their third masterpiece in a row. Now one of the most successful bands in the world, their music reflects on the darker sides of the rock star life, most famously on "Have a Cigar," but their take is still sincere and yet to fall into the well of pretension. While the concept is Waters' four members still function as a single unit, with Mason and Gilmour just as much a part of the songwriting process. The nine-part "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," would not have been such a success otherwise. Barrett's appearance at the sessions may have had a lot to do with the album's achievement, but the full-circle effect may have been the band's undoing. The fortuitous, "Welcome to the Machine," may have signaled the beginning of the end as Waters' control on the band increases, eventually to ill effect. Regardless of what happened next (or more accurately, after next) this is one of rock's greatest bands at its peak.
3. Van Der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
Even darker is the return of Van Der Graaf Generator. After four years, Peter Hammill formally reunites with keyboardist/studio bassist Hugh Banton, drummer Guy Evans, and sax man David Jackson to create their finest work. Julian Cope has said that Hammill came close to "THE TRUTH" on this album and with all its hellish arrangements and more direct lyrics, he may be right. Either way, his statement says a lot about the four epics that make up this album. "Scorched Earth" opening the album should confirm that. The guitar-less group uses their instrumental prowess and unusual approach to maximum effect on this album with Evans keeping the beat simple enough at times to let the music speak for itself. On the other end, "Arrow" begins with a free-jazz introduction that signals the second side will be no easier than the first. Then it concludes with "The Sleepwalkers," probably the group's best piece of music. It's apocalyptic beat and organ build and build until Jackson's blaring saxophone and Hammill's howling vocals lead the listener beyond Armageddon into the new world with its new world of post-punk followers.
2. NEU! - NEU! 75
The krautrock professionals finish up their run on a high note with this album. The year in its title functions as to show that two years have past since the last album, and the evolution heard on it clearly has doubled. This one is their best-realized with the range of styles growing even more than on the last. "Isi," with it's gentle piano and joyful synthesizers achieves a relaxed beauty beyond that of even Faust's most tender moments. The following "Seeland" continues the beauty with its symphonic build. The album has much more of a synthesizer presence which is played with such careful delicacy it gives NEU! a feminine quality rare in krautrock (and probably all German music). "Leb' Wohl" continues with this soft side, but the second side does get more aggressive, although not without the added charm of vocals. Those are heard quite differently than on the previous track on "Hero," a song with an echo heard in many of the post-punk groups that followed, particularly Devo's "Beautiful World." The band returns to their classic tried and true form on the ten-minute "E-Musik," before more punk fury on "After Eight." Forget what else you hear, this is their best album.
1. Brian Eno - Another Green World
Another one of those impossibly-perfectly-titled albums. Eno's greatest and most-cherished work evokes that image of a fresh, untouched class-M planet after the trying journey though, dark, unfriendly space. The sounds heard here are without peer, before or after, perhaps as this is Eno's most personal work, with only minimal contributions from frequent collaborators Robert Fripp, John Cale, and Phil Collins. While still a pop record, its many instrumental tracks foreshadow his move into purely ambient music. They have a lot more life to them than that, best seen in the lift to the heavens that is "The Big Ship," a minimalist masterpiece that transmits right to the heart. In fact, Eno's heart is bared as much as his chest on the back cover contrasting from his image as a robot/alien, with songs like "Everything Merges with the Night," and the adorable "I'll Come Running." The self-proclaimed "non-musician" pays extra-close attention to every note and every sound, making this album as much a work of modern classical music as rock, avant-garde, or the burgeoning electronica form. It is all the finest music ever made, but no review would be complete without mention of "St. Elmo's Fire," with some of Robert Fripp's finest playing, and Eno's most ethereal synthesizer work.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that I do like Steely Dan and to not apologize for any Star Trek references. I think they are helpful, even without much familiarity with the show.
10. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Dylan's first "comeback" album of many (and probably most-deserved after some of the inexplicable dreck he had mad earlier in the decade) is the birth of divorce rock. It became something of a fad as the hippie generations beliefs on love prove faulty. It still happens today and does produce some great records, check out the Apples in Stereo's 2010 Travelers in Space and Time (I don't feel like waiting another 35 or more days to recommend it). It is a return not only to form but to his folk roots and a high point in terms of songwriting. The talk-singing is at its best here with some of the songwriter's best lyrics that can't stop, making for some of his longest and most energetic work. "Idiot Wind" and of course "Tangled Up In Blue," are some of his most cherished songs and their wild style continues throughout. "A Simple Twist of Fate," is a personal favorite.
9. The Dictators - The Dictators Go Girl Crazy
More proudly Jewish rock here from the Bronx. The Dictators, still often placed in the metal category, inexplicably may be the definitive New York punk band. For one there's the accents, for another Punk magazine was formed with the sole intention of meeting the makers of this record, and yet another, they're hilarious. The album art revolving around the band and "secret weapon" Handsome Dick Manitoba says all that, as do brilliant songs like "Teengenerate" with it's opening lyrics "who's that boy with the sandwich in his hand?" and "(I Live For) Cars and Girls." It's the sound of a teenage sausage fest complete with plenty of beer-soaked pro-wrestling theatricality. It's even got great musicianship all around on top of all that. Where were Americas teenage boys in 1975? Clearly not interested in any fun or eating eggs all day, otherwise this band would have been as big as the Stones. Ideal music for eating at McDonald's for lunch or doing your homework at the bar.
8. Sparks - Propoganda
Sparks albums often come in pairs and this one is at least the equal of Kimono My House. Musicianship increases to an even higher level and lyrics move into stranger territory, found immediately on the vocal workout that is the title track. After that the album kicks in hard with the stalker theme "At Home At Work At Play." The humor is as high as ever, as seen on titles like "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her," but there is more drama on the story of a family devastated by divorce "BC." That plus the cinematic adventure of "Bon Voyage" which sets a standard in closing tracks that only Sparks themselves could outdo a few years later. Even with all the growth, the brothers keep their feet on the ground with the glam of "Achoo" and Russell's flamboyant falsetto stretches on "Who Don't Like Kids?" This is as essential as any other Sparks record.
7. John Cale - Slow Dazzle
Cale's days at the top were beginning to end (after the follow-up Helen of Troy I sadly still have yet to hear) thanks to his coke addiction at this point. This album certainly sounds like it. It's all over the place, gets dark, gets innocent, gets funny, and is always very weird. It is best known for its heavy proto-goth cover of "Heartbreak Hotel," but this is just a minor detail. The Western piano of the Springsteen-esque "Ski Patrol," and the Kevin Ayers revenge slam of "Guts," are even better tunes. Even in the search for classic sounds "Dirtyass Rock 'n' Roll excels best at that, completely living up to its title. Then there's "I'm Not the Loving Kind," and his most successful attempt at the mainstream "Taking It All Away." Ending with "The Jeweller" hearkens back to some of his work on White Light/White Heat making this perhaps Cale's most well-rounded work... plus Manzanera and Eno.
6. Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Glam, prog, and power-pop all come together on this huge album produced by Roy Thomas Baker. His over-the top style is in full effect, but only enhances the brilliant songwriting and guitar virtuosity of the young Bill Nelson. Nelson's rhythm section of New Zealand bassist Charles Tumahai and drummer Simon Fox. Fox's playing sticks out in particular on the transcendent centerpiece of the album "Sound Track," on which the many elements behind this record's strength come out into one of rock's hugest songs of all time. Immediately after is the one that says it all, "Music In Dreamland," with its unfathomable lead that keeps the progressive complexity in melodic territory. Pop is at is peak on the concise romance of "Maid in Heaven," a catchy little rocker that belongs on any and every 70s mix. The prog is most evident on "Between the Worlds" and "Sister Seagull," but every track emits the kind of youthful attitude that keeps Nelson and company firmly in the world of punk.
5. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Finally my home state makes it's debut (well, there was already Funkadelic, but their originas are a little more transient) on this list! Of course, there will be plenty more where that came from. Well, what else can I say? It's not how much you like the Boss, it's how big the part of you that LOVES the boss is. This will always be his definitive work. Its sound is as big as the last album on this list yet its themes and creator are as down to Earth as a rotting boardwalk post in the man's home town (if there are any left now). "Thunder Road," will forever be the theme of escape and the title track will always be one of the greatest songs ever created. Springsteen takes a cue from hero Dylan ending the album with the nine and a half-minute "Jungleland" and his working class romantic poetry covers all his words on this album. The E Street Band is no joke either. Album cover co-star Clarence Clemens' sax may really be what broke this one through, but one can never give enough credit to all-star stick man Max Weinberg either. This is New Jersey.
4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Going even further into the theme of their lost mate, Floyd make their third masterpiece in a row. Now one of the most successful bands in the world, their music reflects on the darker sides of the rock star life, most famously on "Have a Cigar," but their take is still sincere and yet to fall into the well of pretension. While the concept is Waters' four members still function as a single unit, with Mason and Gilmour just as much a part of the songwriting process. The nine-part "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," would not have been such a success otherwise. Barrett's appearance at the sessions may have had a lot to do with the album's achievement, but the full-circle effect may have been the band's undoing. The fortuitous, "Welcome to the Machine," may have signaled the beginning of the end as Waters' control on the band increases, eventually to ill effect. Regardless of what happened next (or more accurately, after next) this is one of rock's greatest bands at its peak.
3. Van Der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
Even darker is the return of Van Der Graaf Generator. After four years, Peter Hammill formally reunites with keyboardist/studio bassist Hugh Banton, drummer Guy Evans, and sax man David Jackson to create their finest work. Julian Cope has said that Hammill came close to "THE TRUTH" on this album and with all its hellish arrangements and more direct lyrics, he may be right. Either way, his statement says a lot about the four epics that make up this album. "Scorched Earth" opening the album should confirm that. The guitar-less group uses their instrumental prowess and unusual approach to maximum effect on this album with Evans keeping the beat simple enough at times to let the music speak for itself. On the other end, "Arrow" begins with a free-jazz introduction that signals the second side will be no easier than the first. Then it concludes with "The Sleepwalkers," probably the group's best piece of music. It's apocalyptic beat and organ build and build until Jackson's blaring saxophone and Hammill's howling vocals lead the listener beyond Armageddon into the new world with its new world of post-punk followers.
2. NEU! - NEU! 75
The krautrock professionals finish up their run on a high note with this album. The year in its title functions as to show that two years have past since the last album, and the evolution heard on it clearly has doubled. This one is their best-realized with the range of styles growing even more than on the last. "Isi," with it's gentle piano and joyful synthesizers achieves a relaxed beauty beyond that of even Faust's most tender moments. The following "Seeland" continues the beauty with its symphonic build. The album has much more of a synthesizer presence which is played with such careful delicacy it gives NEU! a feminine quality rare in krautrock (and probably all German music). "Leb' Wohl" continues with this soft side, but the second side does get more aggressive, although not without the added charm of vocals. Those are heard quite differently than on the previous track on "Hero," a song with an echo heard in many of the post-punk groups that followed, particularly Devo's "Beautiful World." The band returns to their classic tried and true form on the ten-minute "E-Musik," before more punk fury on "After Eight." Forget what else you hear, this is their best album.
1. Brian Eno - Another Green World
Another one of those impossibly-perfectly-titled albums. Eno's greatest and most-cherished work evokes that image of a fresh, untouched class-M planet after the trying journey though, dark, unfriendly space. The sounds heard here are without peer, before or after, perhaps as this is Eno's most personal work, with only minimal contributions from frequent collaborators Robert Fripp, John Cale, and Phil Collins. While still a pop record, its many instrumental tracks foreshadow his move into purely ambient music. They have a lot more life to them than that, best seen in the lift to the heavens that is "The Big Ship," a minimalist masterpiece that transmits right to the heart. In fact, Eno's heart is bared as much as his chest on the back cover contrasting from his image as a robot/alien, with songs like "Everything Merges with the Night," and the adorable "I'll Come Running." The self-proclaimed "non-musician" pays extra-close attention to every note and every sound, making this album as much a work of modern classical music as rock, avant-garde, or the burgeoning electronica form. It is all the finest music ever made, but no review would be complete without mention of "St. Elmo's Fire," with some of Robert Fripp's finest playing, and Eno's most ethereal synthesizer work.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that I do like Steely Dan and to not apologize for any Star Trek references. I think they are helpful, even without much familiarity with the show.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
1974
Here is another great year. Considering I took an extra day here I am really confident in saying that. If there is one flaw, and there really is just one, it's that there's a lot of artist repetition here.
10. Faust - The Faust Tapes
Richard Branson's somewhat successful marketing experiment to make this album chart is unfortunately more famous than the music. Here Faust actually show off their personality as an artists' collective much more than a recorded singing group with all their live snippets of tracks. Most are originally untitled and consist of a few members jamming on different instruments. Most of them are really interesting, ranging from funk to punk, to classical beauty. The same can be said for the "real" songs here. Jean-Hevrvé Peron brings his native French into the language mix typically revolving around English on the angular punk of "J'ai Mal Aux Dents" and the gorgeous closer "Chere Chambre." Faust classics like "Flashback Caruso" and "Stretch Out Time" inhabit the ends of the album, but the whole middle functions as one of the best pieces of avant-garde rock, paving the way for the likes of "Green Typewriters."
9. Sparks - Kimono My House
The creepy former child models from Pacific Palisades known as the Mael Brothers cross the pond to great success with this album. Beginning with the words, "Zoo time is she and you time. The mammals are your favorite type and you want her tonight," the comedic rockers create a hard rocking set that crosses Zappa with Queen. Punk as T. Rex on the likes of "Amateur Hour," and as pretentiously 70s on the Romeo and Juliet-gone-wrong saga of "Here in Heaven" Sparks set themselves apart from anyone else in the game - usually the case for Americans in the UK like Jimi before and Chrissie Hynde and Holly Beth Vincent later. Sparks' blend of Ron Mael's wit and musical brilliance combined with Russell's flamboyance and SoCal pretty boy charm and both brothers' finely-tuned theatrics hits its stride on this landmark release.
8. Roxy Music - Country Life
With it's similar, yet humorless album cover Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay, Thompson, and recent addition string/keys man Eddie Jobson (plus another excellent yet almsot anonymous bassist) prove that Roxy and Eno are better going their separate ways. Beginning with their finest moment, "The Thrill Of It All" the band shows off its talent for exciting yet sophisticated and complex glam rock. Ferry's honey-dripping romance is at its best on songs like "All I Want Is You," "A Really Good Time," and tribute to then-girlfriend Jerry Hall "Prairie Rose," perhaps the most loving croon to Texas ever made by a non-native. The Mackay-led "Three and Nine," and 50s-style croon of "If It Takes All Night" are some of the band's best work as well making this album their definitive work. No need for any extra electronic tweaking.
7. Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
...And if you need any more proof, here it is. Eno's second album remains unlike anything else he has done. More melodic than the rest and carrying its predecessor's dadaist humor this one is less of artistic statement than any other Eno works, and more of a true pop record. The lyrics may not have any more meaning than on other albums, but they can trick you into thinking otherwise, with the mind being sucked into a false plot on the military farce of "Back in Judy's Jungle" and the unsettling, maybe even disturbing "The Fat Lady of Limbourg." "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More," is more a romantic comedy of espionage than airline jingle and "The True Wheel" is the theme song for the oncoming post-punk generation. Similarly, "Third Uncle" proved to be such an influence on goth that Bauhaus opened their definitive album with their interpretation. The whole thing ends nicely with the gentle title track, making it Eno's most underrated work to date.
6. The Residents - Meet the Residents
This eyeball-headed quartet(?) from Shreveport, Louisiana by way of San Francisco make their debut with this distinctly American equivalent of The Fuast Tapes. Snippets of songs like "Guylum Bardot" and "Breath and Width," prove this as well as hint at what would come with the likes of The Commercial Album. Like Faust they take the time for pure beauty as heard on the classical piano of "Rest Aria." The opening "cover" "Boots," and "Smelly Tongues" foreshadow the many Bay Area followers in their shadow such as Chrome, Primus, and Tuxedomoon who would even be signed to the Cryptic Corporation's Ralph Records. The carefully-staged mystery around the band only slightly adds to the record's eeriness which is the first album of many post-punk followers to have the feeling of a walk through a pitch-black haunted house. A Victorian one, most likely.
5. Big Star - Radio City
Without the massive success the members were expecting or co-leader Chris Bell the Memphis now-trio makes a darker, bitter album that stands as their best work. Well known for the song "September Gurls," which should have extended their notoriety beyond Bomp! and Creem devotees, it is, even more than the debut the birth of the subsequent underground power-pop movement. Gone is the youthful romance of "Thirteen" and "The India Song." Taking it's place is the anger of "You Get What You Deserve" and "Life Is White," much darker than the still fun energy of "Don't Lie To Me." Even "I'm in Love With a Girl," is inexplicably coated in tragedy. At least this darkness brought out the best in the young musicians before it destroyed them.
4. Yes - Relayer
After the blunder of the four-sided, four-tracked Tales from Topographic Oceans, yes returns to literary adaptation. This time they take on War and Peace. Alan White is no longer the new guy and while he may not be Bill Bruford, he certainly is a perfect cog in the Yes machine, as is tasteful Swiss keyboard god Patrick Moraz. If not for "Sound Chaster," the misstep that led the future of prog into permanent disrepair this would be the group's finest album. The 22-minute "The Gates of Delirium" kicks off immediately, with no need for as dramatic a buildup as "Close to the Edge." With Jon Anderson's kit of sheet metal and other scraps the band invents industrial music before they were written out of history by the artists who are considered its originators. The song's complexity allows it for both the mind-bending torture of war and the transcendence of the peace that will hopefully come "Soon." Where their last masterpiece closes with a cool-down "To Be Over" achieves the band's height of heavenly beauty with Steve Howe's steel guitar achieving the kind of beauty normally only reserved for nature. Don't underestimate the power of switching guitars.
3. Can - Soon Over Babaluma
Can joins Yes, Big Star, and Roxy in the loss of a key member in vocalist Damo Suzuki, leading many to skip over this classic follow-up. While the remaining members may not excel at vocals the way the Japanese drifter-turned-Jehovah's Witness did, they remind you that they never really needed them. As "Splash" would imply, this album is as much, if not more effervescent as the last. The violin-dominated "Dizzy Dizzy" is one of their smoothest songs, with the psychedelia being matched with a sexuality heard on several tracks. Most notably, that is heard on the space funk of "Chain Reaction" with its drastic alternation between loungy groove and wild shake. The scientific element plays out until the end with "Quantum Physics," which if not for his playing of a lyre-like instrument is the kind of music one would imagine Spock creating. Can proves once and for all that they are a single-minded musical machine, one that Suzuki was lucky to be a part of.
2. Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Eno's debut solidified his place in rock's history long before his work with the Talking Heads and faux-influential chumps like U2 and Coldplay. He embraces electric noise with a sense of humor and adventure that makes it stick more than the gritty darkness of the Velvets could have and takes glam from the teenage TV party to the modern art museum. I guess that's what "Cindy Tells Me" is all about. Both Robert Fripp and Phil Manzanera play on this album, with their loyalty growing to the unusual man who gets the best work of their careers out of both. Also featured is the rest of his past Roxy mates (barring Ferry), Chris Spedding, and John Wetton. The album has a wide range of sounds from the silliness of "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" and "Dead Finks Don't Talk" to the nauseating weirdness of "Driving Me Backwards" and "Baby's On Fire." Then there's the heart-breaking moments of staggering beauty "On Some Faraway Beach," and the title track which in addition to inventing shoegaze is easily the greatest recording of all time. Period.
1. Faust - Faust IV
Actually the greatest krautrock album of them all. Actually, don't quote me on that, but it is that exceptional. Perhaps in response to Zeppelin's boldly-deserving title they open with the almost 12-minute "Krautrock," ending their initial run as the definitive band of the style. They quickly change the pace with the ode to thuggish violence "The Sad Skinhead," which may have been responsible for the next generation's evolution from punk to post-punk so drastic. The band focuses on its drone, making its large group of minds meld together as well as Can's, yet with each individual's talents still distinguishable. The high aspirations of this album are even more evident on their wise choice to remake "Picnic on a Frozen River" with this "Deuxieme Tableau" being one of their best recordings. In addition to the brutality and drone, the band allows for more sensitive material on such beauties as "Jennifer," their most identifiable love song(?) and "Giggy Smile," which may be the finest marriage of nylon-string guitar and punchy drums ever caught on tape. With the quiet blues of "It's a Bit of Pain" concluding the album, Faust makes their final statement the final word on the great music the Germans gave us in the 1970s.
Normally, I don't do this and will continue not to (though 1985 is tempting) but I have to give an honorable mention to John Cale's Fear which would have given an additional appearance for many already on this list, and to King Crimson's Red - one of the heaviest albums ever recorded.
10. Faust - The Faust Tapes
Richard Branson's somewhat successful marketing experiment to make this album chart is unfortunately more famous than the music. Here Faust actually show off their personality as an artists' collective much more than a recorded singing group with all their live snippets of tracks. Most are originally untitled and consist of a few members jamming on different instruments. Most of them are really interesting, ranging from funk to punk, to classical beauty. The same can be said for the "real" songs here. Jean-Hevrvé Peron brings his native French into the language mix typically revolving around English on the angular punk of "J'ai Mal Aux Dents" and the gorgeous closer "Chere Chambre." Faust classics like "Flashback Caruso" and "Stretch Out Time" inhabit the ends of the album, but the whole middle functions as one of the best pieces of avant-garde rock, paving the way for the likes of "Green Typewriters."
9. Sparks - Kimono My House
The creepy former child models from Pacific Palisades known as the Mael Brothers cross the pond to great success with this album. Beginning with the words, "Zoo time is she and you time. The mammals are your favorite type and you want her tonight," the comedic rockers create a hard rocking set that crosses Zappa with Queen. Punk as T. Rex on the likes of "Amateur Hour," and as pretentiously 70s on the Romeo and Juliet-gone-wrong saga of "Here in Heaven" Sparks set themselves apart from anyone else in the game - usually the case for Americans in the UK like Jimi before and Chrissie Hynde and Holly Beth Vincent later. Sparks' blend of Ron Mael's wit and musical brilliance combined with Russell's flamboyance and SoCal pretty boy charm and both brothers' finely-tuned theatrics hits its stride on this landmark release.
8. Roxy Music - Country Life
With it's similar, yet humorless album cover Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay, Thompson, and recent addition string/keys man Eddie Jobson (plus another excellent yet almsot anonymous bassist) prove that Roxy and Eno are better going their separate ways. Beginning with their finest moment, "The Thrill Of It All" the band shows off its talent for exciting yet sophisticated and complex glam rock. Ferry's honey-dripping romance is at its best on songs like "All I Want Is You," "A Really Good Time," and tribute to then-girlfriend Jerry Hall "Prairie Rose," perhaps the most loving croon to Texas ever made by a non-native. The Mackay-led "Three and Nine," and 50s-style croon of "If It Takes All Night" are some of the band's best work as well making this album their definitive work. No need for any extra electronic tweaking.
7. Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
...And if you need any more proof, here it is. Eno's second album remains unlike anything else he has done. More melodic than the rest and carrying its predecessor's dadaist humor this one is less of artistic statement than any other Eno works, and more of a true pop record. The lyrics may not have any more meaning than on other albums, but they can trick you into thinking otherwise, with the mind being sucked into a false plot on the military farce of "Back in Judy's Jungle" and the unsettling, maybe even disturbing "The Fat Lady of Limbourg." "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More," is more a romantic comedy of espionage than airline jingle and "The True Wheel" is the theme song for the oncoming post-punk generation. Similarly, "Third Uncle" proved to be such an influence on goth that Bauhaus opened their definitive album with their interpretation. The whole thing ends nicely with the gentle title track, making it Eno's most underrated work to date.
6. The Residents - Meet the Residents
This eyeball-headed quartet(?) from Shreveport, Louisiana by way of San Francisco make their debut with this distinctly American equivalent of The Fuast Tapes. Snippets of songs like "Guylum Bardot" and "Breath and Width," prove this as well as hint at what would come with the likes of The Commercial Album. Like Faust they take the time for pure beauty as heard on the classical piano of "Rest Aria." The opening "cover" "Boots," and "Smelly Tongues" foreshadow the many Bay Area followers in their shadow such as Chrome, Primus, and Tuxedomoon who would even be signed to the Cryptic Corporation's Ralph Records. The carefully-staged mystery around the band only slightly adds to the record's eeriness which is the first album of many post-punk followers to have the feeling of a walk through a pitch-black haunted house. A Victorian one, most likely.
5. Big Star - Radio City
Without the massive success the members were expecting or co-leader Chris Bell the Memphis now-trio makes a darker, bitter album that stands as their best work. Well known for the song "September Gurls," which should have extended their notoriety beyond Bomp! and Creem devotees, it is, even more than the debut the birth of the subsequent underground power-pop movement. Gone is the youthful romance of "Thirteen" and "The India Song." Taking it's place is the anger of "You Get What You Deserve" and "Life Is White," much darker than the still fun energy of "Don't Lie To Me." Even "I'm in Love With a Girl," is inexplicably coated in tragedy. At least this darkness brought out the best in the young musicians before it destroyed them.
4. Yes - Relayer
After the blunder of the four-sided, four-tracked Tales from Topographic Oceans, yes returns to literary adaptation. This time they take on War and Peace. Alan White is no longer the new guy and while he may not be Bill Bruford, he certainly is a perfect cog in the Yes machine, as is tasteful Swiss keyboard god Patrick Moraz. If not for "Sound Chaster," the misstep that led the future of prog into permanent disrepair this would be the group's finest album. The 22-minute "The Gates of Delirium" kicks off immediately, with no need for as dramatic a buildup as "Close to the Edge." With Jon Anderson's kit of sheet metal and other scraps the band invents industrial music before they were written out of history by the artists who are considered its originators. The song's complexity allows it for both the mind-bending torture of war and the transcendence of the peace that will hopefully come "Soon." Where their last masterpiece closes with a cool-down "To Be Over" achieves the band's height of heavenly beauty with Steve Howe's steel guitar achieving the kind of beauty normally only reserved for nature. Don't underestimate the power of switching guitars.
3. Can - Soon Over Babaluma
Can joins Yes, Big Star, and Roxy in the loss of a key member in vocalist Damo Suzuki, leading many to skip over this classic follow-up. While the remaining members may not excel at vocals the way the Japanese drifter-turned-Jehovah's Witness did, they remind you that they never really needed them. As "Splash" would imply, this album is as much, if not more effervescent as the last. The violin-dominated "Dizzy Dizzy" is one of their smoothest songs, with the psychedelia being matched with a sexuality heard on several tracks. Most notably, that is heard on the space funk of "Chain Reaction" with its drastic alternation between loungy groove and wild shake. The scientific element plays out until the end with "Quantum Physics," which if not for his playing of a lyre-like instrument is the kind of music one would imagine Spock creating. Can proves once and for all that they are a single-minded musical machine, one that Suzuki was lucky to be a part of.
2. Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Eno's debut solidified his place in rock's history long before his work with the Talking Heads and faux-influential chumps like U2 and Coldplay. He embraces electric noise with a sense of humor and adventure that makes it stick more than the gritty darkness of the Velvets could have and takes glam from the teenage TV party to the modern art museum. I guess that's what "Cindy Tells Me" is all about. Both Robert Fripp and Phil Manzanera play on this album, with their loyalty growing to the unusual man who gets the best work of their careers out of both. Also featured is the rest of his past Roxy mates (barring Ferry), Chris Spedding, and John Wetton. The album has a wide range of sounds from the silliness of "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" and "Dead Finks Don't Talk" to the nauseating weirdness of "Driving Me Backwards" and "Baby's On Fire." Then there's the heart-breaking moments of staggering beauty "On Some Faraway Beach," and the title track which in addition to inventing shoegaze is easily the greatest recording of all time. Period.
1. Faust - Faust IV
Actually the greatest krautrock album of them all. Actually, don't quote me on that, but it is that exceptional. Perhaps in response to Zeppelin's boldly-deserving title they open with the almost 12-minute "Krautrock," ending their initial run as the definitive band of the style. They quickly change the pace with the ode to thuggish violence "The Sad Skinhead," which may have been responsible for the next generation's evolution from punk to post-punk so drastic. The band focuses on its drone, making its large group of minds meld together as well as Can's, yet with each individual's talents still distinguishable. The high aspirations of this album are even more evident on their wise choice to remake "Picnic on a Frozen River" with this "Deuxieme Tableau" being one of their best recordings. In addition to the brutality and drone, the band allows for more sensitive material on such beauties as "Jennifer," their most identifiable love song(?) and "Giggy Smile," which may be the finest marriage of nylon-string guitar and punchy drums ever caught on tape. With the quiet blues of "It's a Bit of Pain" concluding the album, Faust makes their final statement the final word on the great music the Germans gave us in the 1970s.
Normally, I don't do this and will continue not to (though 1985 is tempting) but I have to give an honorable mention to John Cale's Fear which would have given an additional appearance for many already on this list, and to King Crimson's Red - one of the heaviest albums ever recorded.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
1973
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.
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.
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.
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