1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die was first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Edited by Robert Dimery, it contains a chronological list of albums chosen by a panel of music critics to be the most important, influential, and best in popular music between the 1950s and the 2000s. It was reissued in 2008 with a revised list, and again in 2011, 2013 and 2016. From first publication the list has been a topic of much debate, with some disagreement regarding albums left out or included; however, it is widely regarded as a very useful starting point for the main musical references of the late 20th century. As the 2005 book is the first and has the most impact, that is the list I've used here.
I'm working my way through the list, and also comparing it with other lists.
Albums so far: 307
Albums marked $ are ones I agree with (124)
Albums marked + are ones I have added to the list (129)
Albums marked XX are ones I have removed (152)
Total albums recommended = 482JZ = Jazz / jz = Jazz-fusion or an album with jazz elements, but where jazz may not be the main impetus
FK = Folk and folk-rock (British and American) / fk = Elements of folk
FK = Folk and folk-rock (British and American) / fk = Elements of folk
PG = Prog rock / pg = Elements of prog rock (32)
CW = Country
Syn = Synthpop/Electronic
SL = Soul
EB = Electric blues (British and American)
RB = Rhythm & Blues
Syn = Synthpop/Electronic
SL = Soul
EB = Electric blues (British and American)
RB = Rhythm & Blues
HR = Heavy rock, perhaps heavy metal
Albums marked RS are on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums
Albums marked MC are on Mojo's 100 Records That Changed The World
Albums marked CCC are on Robert Christgau's Core Collection (pre-1980 albums)
Albums marked C4 are on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Albums
Albums marked NM are on NARM The Definitive 200
Albums marked G50 are on The Guardian 50 Albums That Changed Music
Albums marked UC are on Uncut's 200 Greatest Albums Of All Time
Albums marked NME are on NME's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
Albums marked Q are on Q's 100 Greatest Albums Ever (2006)
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| 1970 |
$ Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NME) (Q) (ATT) [FK] This is one of the high achievements of mankind. A work of staggering beauty and high art. Totally unique, with an emotional depth that exceeds the words and music. Something wonderfully magic happens on this album that is hard to define or explain. The title track is quite possibly the greatest song ever written. Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) [FK] It's a masterpiece. One of the greatest albums ever made. A cultural highlight. A combination of Paul Simon's song writing ability, Art Garfunkel's push for perfection, and the general cultural ambience the duo found themselves in as the popular youthful/alternative sound of the Sixties with the withdrawal of Dylan and the breakup of the Beatles. Score: 10
$ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà vu (RS) (NM) (ATT) [FK] Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) [FK] It's a masterpiece. One of the greatest albums ever made. A cultural highlight. A combination of Paul Simon's song writing ability, Art Garfunkel's push for perfection, and the general cultural ambience the duo found themselves in as the popular youthful/alternative sound of the Sixties with the withdrawal of Dylan and the breakup of the Beatles. Score: 10
$ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà vu (RS) (NM) (ATT) [FK] Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Derek and the Dominos / Eric Clapton – Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (RS) (CCC) (ATT) [EB] One of the great moments in music history. A quantum leap forward from the August album, here everything is assured, confident, taken to the limit. The guitar playing is sublime, perhaps Clapton's best in his career, and he has found his voice so is able to sing with true tenderness and emotion. It perhaps helped him to be vocally supported by Bobbie Whitlock in the soul style they had seen Delaney & Bonnie do when they toured with them. The songs are good, and his fellow musicians are accomplished - the band have worked together well since touring with Delaney and Bonnie, and there is a great spirit and understanding. But the main key to this album's musical achievement is Duane Allman. Clapton had first heard Allman when he was working as a session player for Muscle Shoals and played guitar on Wilson Picket's Hey Jude (1968) album, particularly the title track. But it wasn't until The Allman Brothers Band played a concert in Miami near to where he was recording the Layla album that he met Allman. They jammed together and found they had a rare instinctive affinity, so Allman joined Clapton's band, Derek and the Dominos for the recording of the album. Extended blues jams with dual electric guitars were popular at this period, though interest declined after the early Seventies; Layla shows what could be achieved when two gifted guitarists play together with feeling and affinity. Exceptional album. Score: 9 1/2
$ Led Zeppelin – III (RS) (ATT) [HR] This was my first Zeppelin album. I bought it purely on the enthusiasm of school friends. I put on "Immigrant Song" and from that moment I became a fellow enthusiast. We saw them at Wembley in 1971, and that remains one of my all time favourite concerts. While some of the bands first five albums are weaker than others in parts, they together constitute one of the greatest achievements of mankind. They were very exciting at the time, hugely influential and significant, and still stand up today as unique works of art. This is a leap forward from the heavy electric blues of II and the psychedelic heavy rock of I. It's a confident and assured album that embraces heavy rock, progressive Chicago blues, British R&B, and British folk and treats them all with respect, energy, creativity and originality. Score: 9
+ Syd Barrett - Barrett Syd Barrett released two solo albums in 1970 - this is the second and better album. If I were to cut one it would be The Madcap Laughs which is less satisfactory than this one, though more well known. Score: 8
$ The Who – Live at Leeds (RS) (ATT) In its original six tracks format this is a blistering live album. Various increasingly bloated versions have been released over the years - the Deluxe version has 33 tracks, which includes a live recording of Tommy. That one is not a blistering live album - it is drawn out and ultimately boring. Listen to, and only to, the original six track album. Score: 8
$ The Who – Live at Leeds (RS) (ATT) In its original six tracks format this is a blistering live album. Various increasingly bloated versions have been released over the years - the Deluxe version has 33 tracks, which includes a live recording of Tommy. That one is not a blistering live album - it is drawn out and ultimately boring. Listen to, and only to, the original six track album. Score: 8
+ Laura Nyro - Christmas & The Beads Of Sweat Score: 7 1/2
+ The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (ATT) A great example of the Stones live at their peak with Mick Taylor on guitar in his first big tour, and Ian Stewart on piano. Some overdubbing was done at Olympic Studio, but the feel is very live. One of the best live albums. Score: 7
+ The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (ATT) A great example of the Stones live at their peak with Mick Taylor on guitar in his first big tour, and Ian Stewart on piano. Some overdubbing was done at Olympic Studio, but the feel is very live. One of the best live albums. Score: 7
+ The Beatles - Let It Be (RS) (ATT) Full of nostalgia, this is a moving record of a band about to break up, playing songs they had written when younger, snatches of songs from their past, and recently written songs which evoke memories of the past, or hint at it subconsciously in the lyrics ("Get back to where you once belonged") - a raw and astonishing and sadly overlooked album. Score: 7
$ Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman (RS) (NM) (ATT) Pleasant pop-orientated singer-songwriter material. Popular at the time, and representative of the shift from Sixties pop to Seventies singer-songwriting, as this hovers nicely on the border between. Holds a certain naive charm, but it's Brill-building approach to song-writing lacks the depth, subtlety, poetry, and authenticity of the best early Seventies singer-songwriters. Score: 7
+ Kevin Ayers - Shooting At the Moon (ATT) [PG] Score: 7
+ James Brown - Sex Machine (C4) (RD) [SL] Funky extended mixes. Sounds live, but most tracks were studio recorded and then treated to make them sound live. Powerful funk. Brown made many albums (too many). This is one of the better ones. Some people feel it's his best. Score: 6 1/2
+ James Brown - Sex Machine (C4) (RD) [SL] Funky extended mixes. Sounds live, but most tracks were studio recorded and then treated to make them sound live. Powerful funk. Brown made many albums (too many). This is one of the better ones. Some people feel it's his best. Score: 6 1/2
+ Michael Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor A folky, jazzy singer-songwriter in the style of John Martyn, Roy Harper, and Al Stewart. Only ever had a cult following, but there has been retrospective interest since his death in Sept 2021. Good stuff. Score: 6
$ John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (RS) (MC) (CCC) Score: 6
$ James Taylor - Sweet Baby James (RS) (ATT) [FK] Rather modest songs and singing, but he had a pleasant warmth that captured the mood of the early Seventies and for a short while was the biggest singer-songwriter on the planet, and it seemed everyone had this album. This is widely regarded as his best album. Score: 6
$ John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band (RS) (MC) (CCC) Score: 6
$ James Taylor - Sweet Baby James (RS) (ATT) [FK] Rather modest songs and singing, but he had a pleasant warmth that captured the mood of the early Seventies and for a short while was the biggest singer-songwriter on the planet, and it seemed everyone had this album. This is widely regarded as his best album. Score: 6
$ Deep Purple – In Rock (ATT) [HR] (See also Now That's What I Call Classic Rock (2015)) Landmark hard rock album that influenced heavy metal. The band were decent musicians, and this is a flexible and viable progressive rock album that works well as entertainment. Put it on and bang your head to your heart's desire. Exciting in a primal visceral manner that gets the toes tapping and the heart beating a little faster. Good stuff, release yourself into it, and don't blame all the copyists that it sounds cliched today, back in 1970 this was new and fresh. Score: 6
$ George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (RS) (NM) (ATT) From the moment of its release until now this is an album that is probably talked about more than listened to. As a triple album it is rather long, and feels it. A lot of the creative work on the album done by other musicians, Eric Clapton in particular, was never properly acknowledged by Harrison - indeed, many of those "guesting" didn't even get paid. It's a solid enough album with the sort of decent enough songs that you tend to ignore on the Beatles albums, plus a handful of stand out songs like "My Sweet Lord". I'm inclining to the thought that while this is a decent album, it's not a great album, and probably not Harrison's best work - I think that was done in The Travelling Wilburys, but it does loosely belong in that Dylanesque country-rock vibe that was popular at the time, and is quite good of its type - there is a consistency about the vibe which is engaging once you get into it. Worth listening to because it's such a monumental work, and the most respected solo Beatles album outside of Lennon's work. Score: 6
+ Various - Woodstock Woodstock is of cultural and historic significance in itself, but it also made some bands well known, and though the bands involved were diverse, on the whole they seemed to represent an ethos for the Woodstock generation, much as bands who emerged around 1977 represented an ethos for the Punk generation. This album was pretty much owned by every hippy in the early 70s. Frustratingly there isn't a true version of the original LP on the internet. This is the closest I could find, but it adds songs not on the original LP, and presents the tracks in the wrong order. Sigh. Score: 6
+ Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys - Band of Gypsys (ATT) [EB] Hendrix's last album, his only official live album, and the only official album recorded with musicians other than Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell of The Experience. This is Hendrix giving a new focus and substance to his music. Previously he had been a little bit bombastic psychedelic blues in the style of Cream - quite commercial and with a wide appeal, but swept along in the tail wind of Cream, lacking true originality, and replacing musical ideas with gimmicks and guitar noises. But here he introduces funk to heavy blues, and puts his guitar to the service of the music rather than to dominate and impress. What he makes is a bold statement that confused critics, but inspired generations of, mostly black, musicians who went on to develop funk rock. No Band of Gypsys, no Prince. Score: 6
+ Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys - Band of Gypsys (ATT) [EB] Hendrix's last album, his only official live album, and the only official album recorded with musicians other than Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell of The Experience. This is Hendrix giving a new focus and substance to his music. Previously he had been a little bit bombastic psychedelic blues in the style of Cream - quite commercial and with a wide appeal, but swept along in the tail wind of Cream, lacking true originality, and replacing musical ideas with gimmicks and guitar noises. But here he introduces funk to heavy blues, and puts his guitar to the service of the music rather than to dominate and impress. What he makes is a bold statement that confused critics, but inspired generations of, mostly black, musicians who went on to develop funk rock. No Band of Gypsys, no Prince. Score: 6
+ Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (ATT) There's a pleasant, relaxed, and cohesive feel about Tumbleweed Connection - it feels like a proper unified album. While the individual songs may not amount to much on their own, together they create a mood and ambiance of easy-listening country and western music that is both relaxing and evocative. The gospel swing in some of the choruses works very well. The notion of a wild west album would be picked up two years later by The Eagles who would use a similar album cover styling of sepia photographs. Though Elton and Bernie had picked ideas themselves from CSN&Y's Déjà Vu album, and The Band (1970). Not all (or indeed most) of the songs are easily related to the Wild West, so thoughts of this as a concept album are probably misplaced, but it would be true to say that elements of America, American music, and the Wild West are present in the album, and influence it significantly. I find this the most attractive and complete of Elton's albums. It's my favourite. And it has Dusty Springfield involved as one of the backing singers. Best track - "Country Comfort", which was written for Rod Stewart for his Gasoline Alley album. "My Father's Gun" is possibly influenced by the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and has a similar theme to Neil Young's "Powderfinger". It's not on the same level as those two extraordinary pieces of art, but in a small way it deals with the same themes. "Love Song" is a Lesley Duncan's song, and she accompanies him on the song. Score: 6
+ Joni Mitchell - Ladies of The Canyon (ATT) [FK] This album balances the approaches of her first two albums - returning to the lighter, floating, folky approach of the first, utilising her varied and beautiful voice, while retaining the sombre structure of the second, and the sense of being a more serious artist. While there are some jazz inflections here, they are much lighter, and the album retains a folk feel. I like this better than Clouds. There's a sense of Laura Nyro about this when Mitchell accompanies herself on piano, and allows some soul music into her voice. Score: 6
+ Joni Mitchell - Ladies of The Canyon (ATT) [FK] This album balances the approaches of her first two albums - returning to the lighter, floating, folky approach of the first, utilising her varied and beautiful voice, while retaining the sombre structure of the second, and the sense of being a more serious artist. While there are some jazz inflections here, they are much lighter, and the album retains a folk feel. I like this better than Clouds. There's a sense of Laura Nyro about this when Mitchell accompanies herself on piano, and allows some soul music into her voice. Score: 6
+ Barclay James Harvest - Barclay James Harvest [fk] [prog] Debut album of a Moody Blues style band with folk rock and prog rock elements, sounding at times like The Strawbs. Harmonious, baroque, gently rocking, very pleasant. They were always sort of on the fringes - not quite underground, not quite mainstream, not quite rock, not quite pop, not quite prog, not quite folk. They had a minor hit with "Mocking Bird", which is on their second album, Once Again (1971), which some feel is their best album, though I feel that this album states everything that the band were, and is a tight and enjoyable album. Score: 6
+ David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World A sadly underrated album containing the first of Bowie's truly great songs, "The Man Who Sold the World" and "The Supermen", plus half decent songs like "The Width of a Circle". Score: 5 1/2
+ Gerry Fitz-Gerald - Mouseproof [PG] A lost album which was re-released on CD in 2006. This was the only album that Fitz-Gerald made. It sold poorly, and was only championed by John Peel. Sitting on the edge of the psychedelic folk-rock scene which was coming to an end by 1970, with quirky touches here and there of Sixties pop, and the edge of the sort of musical experimentation that informed early Seventies prog-rock, Krautrock, and the Canterbury scene, it lacks cohesion, or a singular voice or vision. The individual pieces are each listenable and interesting, but the whole is a bit of a mess giving the feel of a disjointed 1970s sampler. But that is also its main interest now - as a representation of the transition between some of the more interesting music of the Sixties with some of the more interesting music of the Seventies. None of it really commercial, but all of it alive with musical ideas. Score: 5 1/2
$ Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (RS) (ATT) [JZ] The most famous and acclaimed jazz fusion album in the history of music. I've never found it hugely likeable (though I can relax into it at times), it's here mainly because of its status and influence. Score: 5 1/2
+ Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You [pg] UK organ led blues-rock and semi-prog band. Tight, moody and brooding. Score: 5 1/2
$ Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (RS) (MC) (G50) [HR] This is mostly heavy blues in the style of Zeppelin, Cream and Hendrix, though without their skill. A number of bands were doing something similar, and some were working in a similar moody, death obsessed arena, such as Atomic Rooster with Death Walks Behind You . But there is something rather special about the mood the band create in the title track. The black magic subject matter, while more crudely done than Sympathy For The Devil, utilises some of the moody threat of Paint It Black. It is a hugely distinctive piece with shuddering deep chords that penetrate and terrify the soul. This is not just heavy blues rock, this is something new, raw, and powerful. It generated a lot of interest, and influenced a musical trend that would become known as Heavy Metal. Score: 5 1/2
$ The Stooges – Fun House (RS) (MC) The 1969 debut album is also worth listening to. It's also worth listening to their influences and contemporaries to see that they fitted into the contemporary late Sixties music scene very well, and were actually a little more reactionary rather than revelatory compared to some of their peers. What particularly makes the Stooges stand out is Bowie's interest in them, and Iggy Pop's character. Score: 5 1/2
+ Popol Vuh - Affenstunde Electronic ambient music. Score: 5
+ Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms [FK] Ethereal folk. Possible. Score: 5
+ Kris Kristofferson - Kristofferson [CW] Great songwriter, and a fascinating man. One of the top modern country artists who crossed over into rock and popular music. This is his debut album. The session musicians were quickly assembled and back Kristofferson adequately but without depth or intimacy. Kristofferson was not yet confident about his voice, so the singing is limited, but the hesitation and uncertainty gives an appropriate vulnerability to the album that suits the main thrust of the themes of ordinary but vulnerable individuals. The liberalism and vulnerability, and the embracing of hippie ideals was something at odds with the usual redneck country fans, but would eventually prove to be significant and, along with Cash, Jennings, and Nelson, he became part of the outlaw country movement that modernised and opened up country music. There are a number of traditional country songs here which are a bit of a dirge, but there's also some impressive songs such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "Sunday Morning Comin' Down", "Help Me Make It Through The Night", "Blame It On The Stones", and "For The Good Times" which reach out toward folk and rock and middle of the road pop songs. Score: 5
$ Santana – Abraxas (RS) (ATT) The band's fame rests on their first two albums, and this, their second, is the better of the two. Afterwards Carlos Santana moved more into jazz fusion, leaving behind much of the rock feel that made his Latin-rock fusion so appealing. I quite like the sound, but on the whole it feels too middle-aged soft-rock and middle-of-the-road lounge music. Compare the original "Black Magic Woman" by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, to Santana's version: "Black Magic Woman". Everything's been softened, the guitar is no longer crackling with mystical electricity, the drum beat is no longer earthy, primeval, sexy, smoky and scary, everything has been commercialised to a gentle romp with a little swagger for aging cougars to sway their replacement hips along to. This is ballroom dancing music, not sweaty dive music. Each to their own, and I see the appeal of Santana's well mannered sway, but the Doors could walk that line much more dangerously. Score: 5
+ Popol Vuh - Affenstunde Electronic ambient music. Score: 5
+ Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms [FK] Ethereal folk. Possible. Score: 5
+ Kris Kristofferson - Kristofferson [CW] Great songwriter, and a fascinating man. One of the top modern country artists who crossed over into rock and popular music. This is his debut album. The session musicians were quickly assembled and back Kristofferson adequately but without depth or intimacy. Kristofferson was not yet confident about his voice, so the singing is limited, but the hesitation and uncertainty gives an appropriate vulnerability to the album that suits the main thrust of the themes of ordinary but vulnerable individuals. The liberalism and vulnerability, and the embracing of hippie ideals was something at odds with the usual redneck country fans, but would eventually prove to be significant and, along with Cash, Jennings, and Nelson, he became part of the outlaw country movement that modernised and opened up country music. There are a number of traditional country songs here which are a bit of a dirge, but there's also some impressive songs such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "Sunday Morning Comin' Down", "Help Me Make It Through The Night", "Blame It On The Stones", and "For The Good Times" which reach out toward folk and rock and middle of the road pop songs. Score: 5
$ Santana – Abraxas (RS) (ATT) The band's fame rests on their first two albums, and this, their second, is the better of the two. Afterwards Carlos Santana moved more into jazz fusion, leaving behind much of the rock feel that made his Latin-rock fusion so appealing. I quite like the sound, but on the whole it feels too middle-aged soft-rock and middle-of-the-road lounge music. Compare the original "Black Magic Woman" by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, to Santana's version: "Black Magic Woman". Everything's been softened, the guitar is no longer crackling with mystical electricity, the drum beat is no longer earthy, primeval, sexy, smoky and scary, everything has been commercialised to a gentle romp with a little swagger for aging cougars to sway their replacement hips along to. This is ballroom dancing music, not sweaty dive music. Each to their own, and I see the appeal of Santana's well mannered sway, but the Doors could walk that line much more dangerously. Score: 5
$ Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die (ATT) [jz] [pg] [sl] Traffic incorporated jazz, soul, and folk into their sound without making a fuss about it. Opinions vary, but I feel this is their finest album, though The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (1971) comes close. However, it's not a hugely engaging album. One to quietly respect rather than groove along to. Often quite light with more pop-jazz aspects than anything really interesting. Score: 5
+ Fotheringay - Fotheringay [FK] Folk-rock singer Sandy Denny has a significant reputation. This is her own band, created after leaving Fairport Convention, and this is their only album. Score: 5
+ Various - Jesus Christ Superstar Score: 5
+ Randy Newman - 12 Songs (RS) (CCC) (ATT) The first of the trilogy of albums that are considered Newman's finest (12 Songs, Sail Away, Good Old Boys). Which of the three are the best depends on individual point of view. After repeated listening I kinda like this one. Newman is a mildly humorous, sardonic observer and commentator on life. Nothing special, but he does what he does well. His music and style moved away from this mildly folky approach to something more pop mainstream, and now he concentrates on film scores, writing songs for movies such as Toy Story. Score: 5
+ Various - Jesus Christ Superstar Score: 5
+ Randy Newman - 12 Songs (RS) (CCC) (ATT) The first of the trilogy of albums that are considered Newman's finest (12 Songs, Sail Away, Good Old Boys). Which of the three are the best depends on individual point of view. After repeated listening I kinda like this one. Newman is a mildly humorous, sardonic observer and commentator on life. Nothing special, but he does what he does well. His music and style moved away from this mildly folky approach to something more pop mainstream, and now he concentrates on film scores, writing songs for movies such as Toy Story. Score: 5
+ Funkadelic - Funkadelic [SL] Debut album of Parliament-Funkadelic, one of the pioneering and influential funk acts of the Seventies, generally regarded as being in third place after James Brown and Sly Stone. A bit quirky, which is both positive and negative. The quirky humour gives a feel that the band are not taking themselves seriously, and often the humour/quirkiness doesn't work. Funkadelic are a fusion of rock and funk, and this album contains ideas and sounds that the band would go on to explore in the Seventies, but still has a feel and sound of Sixties psychedelic soul with a nod toward Hendrix. Prince took a lot of his ideas from this band, and most of them are right here. Score: 5
+ Stone The Crows - Stone The Crows [EB] Sadly neglected. Damn fine band. Raw gutsy singing from Maggie Bell, great guitar work, and an interesting blend of soul and blues. The band had talent, were awesome live, got good reviews, but never got the sales they needed. Score: 5
+ The Last Poets - The Last Poets Black social poetry by several voices over music, a progenitor of hip hop, including swearing and an aggressive attitude. Score: 4 1/2
+ Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer Electronic music. Score: 4 1/2
+ Stone The Crows - Stone The Crows [EB] Sadly neglected. Damn fine band. Raw gutsy singing from Maggie Bell, great guitar work, and an interesting blend of soul and blues. The band had talent, were awesome live, got good reviews, but never got the sales they needed. Score: 5
+ The Last Poets - The Last Poets Black social poetry by several voices over music, a progenitor of hip hop, including swearing and an aggressive attitude. Score: 4 1/2
+ Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer Electronic music. Score: 4 1/2
+ Third Ear Band - Third Ear Band / Elements [PG] Second album of avant-garde instrumental band on the fringes of modern classical, minimalist, and jazz-inflected prog-rock. Membership of band was fairly loose - and included John Peel playing Jew's harp on their debut album. The self-titled second album contains four pieces named after the elements, and so is sometimes known as Elements. The album was re-released on CD in 2018 complete with the soundtrack album, Abelard and Heloise, along with additional tracks, including different takes of the four tracks on Elements, which indicates how much the band were driven by improvisation. "Earth", with its repetitive notes and harmonic rhythms is reminiscent of Steve Riech's minimalist work. Fascinating stuff, reflective of the desire and willingness of musicians to explore and explore the boundaries of music in the early Seventies before the advent of Punk made such bold and creative, yet sometimes challenging, music unpopular. Score: 4 1/2
+ Amon Düül II - Yeti The second album by Krautrock band Amon Düül II is a double album - the first disc containing pre-thought out structured songs, and the second containing looser improvisations. The band's first few albums are widely considered their best, and these five are the most respected: Wolf City, Tanz Der Lemminge, Yeti, Live in London, Phallus Dei, with no agreed consensus on the order they should be listed. I'm having doubts about including this album. Score: 4
+ The Free Design - Sing For Very Important People Simple but harmonically attractive sunshine pop. The album is themed as being songs for children. Score: 4
+ The Free Design - Sing For Very Important People Simple but harmonically attractive sunshine pop. The album is themed as being songs for children. Score: 4
XX Stephen Stills – Stephen Stills Stills first solo album stuffed full of famous guest musicians including Clapton and Hendrix, and including the awesome "Love The One You're With"; it's OK, but somehow fails to have impact and gravitas, and lacks unity. Score: 4
XX Paul McCartney – McCartney (1970) Contains what is possibly McCartney's best ever track, "Maybe I'm Amazed", but the rest of the album is the sort of embarrassing drivel that often ruined Beatles albums. Here he's clearly trying to be Lennon, and showing the gap between them. McCartney is much better playing to his own strengths of simple melody. Score: 3 1/2
XX The Carpenters – Close to You (RS) Very light-hearted and superficial treatments of often quite good songs - it can be painful to listen to at times as they murder "Reason To Believe" and "Help". Compare Rod Stewart's cover of "Reason" with The Carpenters' version. The Carpenters arrangements are often simplistic, plodding, and unrefined. They sound sweet and sugary and meaningless. I think part of the appeal is an undefined melancholy in Karen Carpenter's singing, but for me I just wish she would engage more fully and directly with each song. Score: 3 1/2
XX Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (RS) (CCC) I understand that CCR were popular in America, but not so the rest of the world; though the singles did have chart success, the band themselves and their albums were not taken seriously. There have been various musicians who have been popular, like the Monkees, Bay City Rollers, etc, but I think there needs to have been some cultural significance beyond fleeting popularity to suggest that people who have not heard an album should make an effort to listen to this run-of-the-mill derivative and unimaginative rockabilly. CCR do not appear to be musically or aesthetically significant, their music was old fasioned, simplistic and limited, and their cultural impact appears to have been also rather limited in time and location, and I question their historical significance - but I will look into Swamp Rock. OK, I looked, and it seems that Swamp Rock consisted of mostly just CCR. Score: 3
XX Paul McCartney – McCartney (1970) Contains what is possibly McCartney's best ever track, "Maybe I'm Amazed", but the rest of the album is the sort of embarrassing drivel that often ruined Beatles albums. Here he's clearly trying to be Lennon, and showing the gap between them. McCartney is much better playing to his own strengths of simple melody. Score: 3 1/2
XX The Carpenters – Close to You (RS) Very light-hearted and superficial treatments of often quite good songs - it can be painful to listen to at times as they murder "Reason To Believe" and "Help". Compare Rod Stewart's cover of "Reason" with The Carpenters' version. The Carpenters arrangements are often simplistic, plodding, and unrefined. They sound sweet and sugary and meaningless. I think part of the appeal is an undefined melancholy in Karen Carpenter's singing, but for me I just wish she would engage more fully and directly with each song. Score: 3 1/2
XX Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (RS) (CCC) I understand that CCR were popular in America, but not so the rest of the world; though the singles did have chart success, the band themselves and their albums were not taken seriously. There have been various musicians who have been popular, like the Monkees, Bay City Rollers, etc, but I think there needs to have been some cultural significance beyond fleeting popularity to suggest that people who have not heard an album should make an effort to listen to this run-of-the-mill derivative and unimaginative rockabilly. CCR do not appear to be musically or aesthetically significant, their music was old fasioned, simplistic and limited, and their cultural impact appears to have been also rather limited in time and location, and I question their historical significance - but I will look into Swamp Rock. OK, I looked, and it seems that Swamp Rock consisted of mostly just CCR. Score: 3
$ Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (RS) (CCC) (NM) (NME) (Q) (ATT) One of the greatest albums ever made. An exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Led Zeppelin – IV (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (Q) (ATT) [HR] Their best album. An exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story (RS) (CCC) (C4) (ATT) One of my all time favourite albums. An exceptional album. Score: 10
$ John Lennon – Imagine (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (ATT) Beautiful and thoughtful album - the one everyone knew he was capable of making and hoped that one day he would. And then he did, bless him. Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ The Doors – LA Woman (RS) (ATT) Exceptional album. The Doors made two great albums: their first, and their last. Score: 10
+ Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention – Fillmore East – June 1971 The inventiveness and musicianship on this album is extraordinary - it is Zappa and his band at their ultimate peak. The album should be liked by music critics as it has elements that critics normally like - a "concept", taking a story about a rock band and groupies as the linking concept, with the infamous Led Zeppelin mud shark incident as the central theme, in a playful and exuberant exploration of various music styles, using in places some of Zappa's most musical pieces alongside music specially composed for the concert, utilising the very venue as part of the story. Rarely has a band been so inventive and fun - clearly enjoying themselves. This is Zappa at his most inventive and tongue-in-cheek, yet also most musical and appealing, so the whole is bright, inventive, fascinating, and enjoyable. This is not just the best Zappa album, but also one of the best albums of the early Seventies. Oddly, given the inventiveness of the album, that it is a concept album, indeed, a live concept album, that the band are musically tight throughout, and that the humour is the most effective of Zappa's career, this is not a critic's favourite. Score: 8
$ Yes – The Yes Album (ATT) [PG] Because of the circumstances by which I first came to hear this album, I may be biased toward it, however, I do feel this is a special album. There are some strong songs here which the band continued to play throughout their career. This is my favourite Yes album, and for me this is the best line-up of the band. There was a difference when Rick Wakeman joined; even though he is a supremely skilled keyboardist, and the band's sound required the depth and richness his keyboards could bring, he is also a little inclined to go overboard, to lose focus, and to go for bright sounds rather than emotional impact. I wonder how the band would have developed with Kaye remaining on the keyboards. Score: 8
$ Yes – The Yes Album (ATT) [PG] Because of the circumstances by which I first came to hear this album, I may be biased toward it, however, I do feel this is a special album. There are some strong songs here which the band continued to play throughout their career. This is my favourite Yes album, and for me this is the best line-up of the band. There was a difference when Rick Wakeman joined; even though he is a supremely skilled keyboardist, and the band's sound required the depth and richness his keyboards could bring, he is also a little inclined to go overboard, to lose focus, and to go for bright sounds rather than emotional impact. I wonder how the band would have developed with Kaye remaining on the keyboards. Score: 8
+ The Strawbs - From The Witchwood [PG] Progressive folk rock with the added touch of Rick Wakeman's keyboard madness before he joined Yes. A number of fans and some critics regard their following album Grave New World (1972) as their definitive album, but I feel Witchwood is the more interesting album as it remained successfully within the folk framework, while with Grave New World the band moved more into prog rock, for which there are more notable albums by other bands to listen to. There are some great songs here, and the album presents as a unified whole. Wonderful. Woefully underappreciated. Score: 8
$ The Who – Who’s Next (RS) (NM) (Q) (ATT) Compared to the band's studio work since their debut, this is a crisp, rocky album full of energy. In many ways it's the band's most complete and satisfying studio album. There are some solid, stand up songs, including "Baba O'Riley" and "Behind Blue Eyes", as well as one of the band's all time best, "Won't Get Fooled Again". While it's held back as usual by Moon's limited drum ability (great at drum rolls and cymbal clashing, not so good at holding a simple rhythm, let alone developing new ones), which tends to be more exposed when listening to an entire album rather than just one song, the band have matured together, and work well. The album was made during Townshend's rock opera phase, and indeed, the album was originally intended to be a science fiction rock opera under the project title of Lifehouse, but was thankfully abandoned as being too stressful. It might be the release from the constraints of a concept that give the album it's looseness, light and energy. The music at times follows a fairly narrow and predictable path which makes it less than likeable on extended play, but can burst out at times, such as on "Won't Get Fooled Again". The Who are treading here on similar ground to Led Zeppelin, inviting dangerous comparisons because Zeppelin were gifted with supremely talented and original musicians, but this is a decent rocky album. Not groundbreaking, no, but entertaining enough. And "Won't Get Fooled Again" is simply one of the most exciting rock songs ever! Score: 7 1/2
+ Laura Nyro - Gonna Take A Miracle Simply beautiful. Great album. Score: 7 1/2
+ The Who – Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy A decent overview of The Who in the Sixties. Score: 6 1/2
+ The Who – Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy A decent overview of The Who in the Sixties. Score: 6 1/2
$ T. Rex – Electric Warrior (RS) (ATT) I was a big Marc Bolan fan. Really loved T. Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Had all the albums. I even had Bolan's book of poetry, which, madly, I sold on Amazon a few years ago and now totally regret it, especially as I had written some poems of my own in the book. Sigh. Anyway. Though I was big Bolan fan, and had this album and played it to death and thought it was his best album, I don't think the album stands up today. Yes, there's a bit of nostalgia in listening to it, but also a recognition that the songs are rather thin, and the performances similarly so. This is the T. Rex album that most people bought, so is the one that people will remember, and critics will write about, but it's not Bolan's best album - the work he did with Tyrannosaurus is far more interesting and telling. And the transitional album, T. Rex is also worth checking out. But, enough of the moaning, this album does have some good commercial-rock tracks, "Jeepster", "Get It On", and "Rip Off", all of them quite slight, but with an immediate catchy appeal. Of course, it misses the big hit "Hot Love" which after the breakthrough of "Ride A White Swan" confirmed Bolan as a star and helped bring in Glam Rock, but "Get It On" was also a hit, and is the better song. Score: 6 1/2
$ David Crosby – If Only I Could Remember My Name (ATT) I think most of us overlooked this at the time, and it has taken the Pope to wake us up to just how good it actually is. Score: 6 1/2
+ Lindisfarne - Fog On The Tyne [FK] This is very homely and attractive British folk-rock. Some solid and attractive songs, but the band got overlooked, and never really gained the confidence to develop. This is their best album. Score: 6
+ Hawkwind - In Search Of Space Their second album, and their best. Hypnotic. Rocky. Jazzy. Electronic. Firmly in the trend coming from German which would become known as Krautrock - the band at this point used the bass guitarist from Amon Duul II. Hawkwind became more rock when Lemmy took over on bass. Good album. Score: 6
+ Alice Cooper - Killer Though the public bought School's Out in their thousands because of the breakthrough hit of "School's Out", the album actually sucks. The two best Alice Cooper albums are Love It To Death and Killer. Both are good, though Killer is the more imaginative and developed album. It kicks off right from the start and doesn't let go. This is proper rawk, spirited, dirty, sexy, slightly naughty and dark, and very melodic. The band's best album. Score: 6
+ Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Live! Double live album with material from the Curtis album, the Impressions period, plus some new songs. While it was poorly received by Jon Landau in 1971, modern retrospective reviewers Wilson & Alroy and Allmusic have been almost deliriously enthusiastic. While there are weaknesses, this is a great album, and an almost perfect summary of Mayfield's talents and his weaknesses. If getting only one Mayfield album, this is the one to get. Score: 6
+ Karen Dalton - In My Own Time [FK] Karen Dalton was a fascinating singer and person. By the time she emerged on the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s, singing with Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin and Fred Neil, she had already worked her way through two husbands, had two children, had broken her two bottom teeth in a fight, and had a destructive alcohol and heroin addiction. She was 21. Folk-rock blues with a smokey white Bessie Smith voice. She didn't write her own songs, but interpreted them in her own unique and fierce way, refusing to compromise, fighting with producers who tried to make her more commercial. She only recorded two albums which didn't sell. Bob Dylan said of her: "My favourite singer in the place was Karen Dalton. She was a tall white blues singer and guitar player, funky, lanky, and sultry...Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed and went all the way with it." Nick Cave said she was his "favourite female blues singer". Fred Neil said "She sure can sing the shit out of the blues". She ended her days as a penniless and sometimes homeless drug addict, largely forgotten and ignored.... Score: 5 1/2
$ Fela Kuti and the Africa '70 with Ginger Baker - Live! Half the drumming on this is done by Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's partner in the creation of modern Afrobeat, though Ginger Baker replaces Allen on two tracks - essentially copying his style. Allen and Baker are both great drummers, and both are essential to the groove Kuti is creating, but this is a Fela Kuti album, and it's a damn good one. The much later CD release includes a 16 minute drum duo of Allen and Baker recorded live in 1978, which is a bit self-indulgent, and it wasn't worth including it. Score: 5 1/2
+ Basil Kirchin - Worlds Within Worlds Experimental composer with elements of jazz and electronica. While this falls within the scope of the fiddling around with noise ideas that happened during the late Sixties / early Seventies (a notable early example being "Revolution 9" by John Lennon in 1968), and can at times be simplistic sonic doodling, there is an overall attractive ambient mood generated here that influenced Brian Eno and others, and is worth paying attention to. Score: 5 1/2
$ Can – Tago Mago (MC) Score: 5 1/2
+ Judee Sill - Judee Sill Yes, I like this. Will try out her Heart Food (1973) album to see which is better. Score: 5 1/2
+ Focus - Focus 3 or III [PG] Focus were pop and classical orientated, taking their cue from Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Their top albums are acknowledged to be Moving Waves, III, Hamburger Concerto and Live at the Rainbow. Focus 3 is a double album that captures them at their peak, and allows them space to develop longer pieces alongside the more pop-orientated short pieces. It was their most successful album, and contains their hit "Sylvia". Score: 5
+ Hawkwind - In Search Of Space Their second album, and their best. Hypnotic. Rocky. Jazzy. Electronic. Firmly in the trend coming from German which would become known as Krautrock - the band at this point used the bass guitarist from Amon Duul II. Hawkwind became more rock when Lemmy took over on bass. Good album. Score: 6
+ Alice Cooper - Killer Though the public bought School's Out in their thousands because of the breakthrough hit of "School's Out", the album actually sucks. The two best Alice Cooper albums are Love It To Death and Killer. Both are good, though Killer is the more imaginative and developed album. It kicks off right from the start and doesn't let go. This is proper rawk, spirited, dirty, sexy, slightly naughty and dark, and very melodic. The band's best album. Score: 6
+ Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Live! Double live album with material from the Curtis album, the Impressions period, plus some new songs. While it was poorly received by Jon Landau in 1971, modern retrospective reviewers Wilson & Alroy and Allmusic have been almost deliriously enthusiastic. While there are weaknesses, this is a great album, and an almost perfect summary of Mayfield's talents and his weaknesses. If getting only one Mayfield album, this is the one to get. Score: 6
+ Karen Dalton - In My Own Time [FK] Karen Dalton was a fascinating singer and person. By the time she emerged on the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early 1960s, singing with Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin and Fred Neil, she had already worked her way through two husbands, had two children, had broken her two bottom teeth in a fight, and had a destructive alcohol and heroin addiction. She was 21. Folk-rock blues with a smokey white Bessie Smith voice. She didn't write her own songs, but interpreted them in her own unique and fierce way, refusing to compromise, fighting with producers who tried to make her more commercial. She only recorded two albums which didn't sell. Bob Dylan said of her: "My favourite singer in the place was Karen Dalton. She was a tall white blues singer and guitar player, funky, lanky, and sultry...Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed and went all the way with it." Nick Cave said she was his "favourite female blues singer". Fred Neil said "She sure can sing the shit out of the blues". She ended her days as a penniless and sometimes homeless drug addict, largely forgotten and ignored.... Score: 5 1/2
$ Fela Kuti and the Africa '70 with Ginger Baker - Live! Half the drumming on this is done by Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's partner in the creation of modern Afrobeat, though Ginger Baker replaces Allen on two tracks - essentially copying his style. Allen and Baker are both great drummers, and both are essential to the groove Kuti is creating, but this is a Fela Kuti album, and it's a damn good one. The much later CD release includes a 16 minute drum duo of Allen and Baker recorded live in 1978, which is a bit self-indulgent, and it wasn't worth including it. Score: 5 1/2
+ Basil Kirchin - Worlds Within Worlds Experimental composer with elements of jazz and electronica. While this falls within the scope of the fiddling around with noise ideas that happened during the late Sixties / early Seventies (a notable early example being "Revolution 9" by John Lennon in 1968), and can at times be simplistic sonic doodling, there is an overall attractive ambient mood generated here that influenced Brian Eno and others, and is worth paying attention to. Score: 5 1/2
$ Can – Tago Mago (MC) Score: 5 1/2
+ Judee Sill - Judee Sill Yes, I like this. Will try out her Heart Food (1973) album to see which is better. Score: 5 1/2
+ Focus - Focus 3 or III [PG] Focus were pop and classical orientated, taking their cue from Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Their top albums are acknowledged to be Moving Waves, III, Hamburger Concerto and Live at the Rainbow. Focus 3 is a double album that captures them at their peak, and allows them space to develop longer pieces alongside the more pop-orientated short pieces. It was their most successful album, and contains their hit "Sylvia". Score: 5
+ Pink Fairies - Never Never Land Debut album of radical underground band which played free street concerts and impromptu free concerts in festival campsites. Score: 5
+ Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill [jz] Freeform jazz incorporating rock and other musical styles. This album is reflective of the musical spirit at the start of the Seventies when much fusion occurred. It may not always be easy listening, but is always interesting. Score: 5
$ Elton John – Madman Across the Water (See Greatest Hits 1974) This opens with the delightful "Tiny Dancer", which is sadly not on Greatest Hits. It's actually not a bad album, and I may reconsider rejecting it. Score: 5
$ Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame [JZ] Though not my sort of music, this is a significant fusion band, and this is their most important and acclaimed album. Score: 5
+ Earth, Wind & Fire – Earth, Wind & Fire Debut album of big band R&B band, similar to Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears but with added funk and weirdness. Score: 5
+ Popol Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos Score: 5
+ Joy of Cooking - Joy of Cooking Little known band who appeared at number 6 on the first Pazz & Jop poll. A mixed gender group led by two women, the band attractively, melodically, and skilfully blend rock, soul, country-rock and jazz in a laid back feminine manner. The swirling softness of the music is the main attraction, but is likely also the reason the band were not successful and remain unknown - they lack impact and gravitas. Quality music like this, however, should have been heard. It's odd how much decent music slips by us, and how much trash - fed by TV "talent" shows - sells in the millions. Score: 5
$ Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson A quirky concept album (rock opera?) about lusting for someone. There is a film to accompany the music. Consensus is that that this is Gainsbourg's best album. It's influence can be heard in bands like Pulp, with Jarvis Cocker's breathy vocalisations, spoken words, and fascination with lust. The atmospheric sounds can also be heard in Portishead. Melody Nelson is Jane Birkin. Score: 5
+ Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill [jz] Freeform jazz incorporating rock and other musical styles. This album is reflective of the musical spirit at the start of the Seventies when much fusion occurred. It may not always be easy listening, but is always interesting. Score: 5
$ Elton John – Madman Across the Water (See Greatest Hits 1974) This opens with the delightful "Tiny Dancer", which is sadly not on Greatest Hits. It's actually not a bad album, and I may reconsider rejecting it. Score: 5
$ Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame [JZ] Though not my sort of music, this is a significant fusion band, and this is their most important and acclaimed album. Score: 5
+ Earth, Wind & Fire – Earth, Wind & Fire Debut album of big band R&B band, similar to Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears but with added funk and weirdness. Score: 5
+ Popol Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos Score: 5
+ Joy of Cooking - Joy of Cooking Little known band who appeared at number 6 on the first Pazz & Jop poll. A mixed gender group led by two women, the band attractively, melodically, and skilfully blend rock, soul, country-rock and jazz in a laid back feminine manner. The swirling softness of the music is the main attraction, but is likely also the reason the band were not successful and remain unknown - they lack impact and gravitas. Quality music like this, however, should have been heard. It's odd how much decent music slips by us, and how much trash - fed by TV "talent" shows - sells in the millions. Score: 5
$ Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson A quirky concept album (rock opera?) about lusting for someone. There is a film to accompany the music. Consensus is that that this is Gainsbourg's best album. It's influence can be heard in bands like Pulp, with Jarvis Cocker's breathy vocalisations, spoken words, and fascination with lust. The atmospheric sounds can also be heard in Portishead. Melody Nelson is Jane Birkin. Score: 5
+ Comus - First Utterance [PG] Melodic and quirky British folk and prog band who were almost totally overlooked. Skilful, attractive, interesting, and quirky bands like Comus were a significant part of the musical scene in the early Seventies, though not often heard on mainstream media, and thus not commercially successful. Record labels like Virgin were interested in trying them out, and sometimes - as with Mike Oldfield and Tubular Bells, found they had a hit on their hands, but too often such bands did not make the record companies enough money, and by the mid-Seventies such bands were no longer being supported. The advent of punk, in which loud, simple, and rhythmic-focused music was championed, meant musicians wishing to explore such music found it even harder. This was the band's first of two albums they made. It is a compelling blend of folk and classical music with a touch of psychedelic pop. Their second album was also attractive, but even though they had Henry Cow bassoonist Lindsay Cooper and Gong saxophonist Didier Malherbe on board, the result was less interesting. Score: 5
$ Joni Mitchell – Blue (RS) (MC) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (ATT) Score: 5
+ Caravan - In The Land of Grey and Pink [PG] Gentle, cute, slightly jazzy baroque pop/early prog-rock. Caravan were part of the Canterbury scene and while critically liked were only moderately successful; this, their third album (which has never been out of print), is widely regarded as their best. Score: 5
XX Yes – Fragile A transitional album for Yes containing elements of both The Yes Album and their major prog rock album Close To The Edge. Score: 5
+ Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces Of A Man Contains "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", a funky piece of pop with Lennonesque lyrics which is media smart. But the rest of the album is rather softer and predictable jazz-soul. Score: 4 1/2
$ The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East (RS) (ATT) Not sure. Score: 4 1/2
$ The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East (RS) (ATT) Not sure. Score: 4 1/2
$ Don McLean – American Pie The title song is something quite extraordinary, and essential listening - the rest of the album doesn't quite live up to that, but is pleasant enough, and there is the bonus of having Vincent on the album, a more than decent song. All in all, it's OK, and more than representative of the singer-songwriter tradition that was very popular around 1971, but this is low on the list, and will go if necessary. Score: 4 1/2
$ Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (RS) (MC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (NME) (Q) (ATT) I struggle with this album. It is highly acclaimed, so keeping it in so each can make up their own mind. But it doesn't work for me. Score: 4
$ Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (RS) (MC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (NME) (Q) (ATT) I struggle with this album. It is highly acclaimed, so keeping it in so each can make up their own mind. But it doesn't work for me. Score: 4
+ The Groundhogs - Split Electric blues. Score: 4
+ Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (RS) probably not, but hold on a while. Score: 4
+ Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (RS) probably not, but hold on a while. Score: 4
XX Flamin’ Groovies – Teenage Head This is simple and basic rawk and rockabilly. This is pretty much where The Stones and a lot of rockabilly and MOR rock bands would end up in the Eighties; but, at this point, anyone listening to this after Sticky Fingers, knows that the Stones simply existed on a different level entirely. That the liner notes to the 1999 CD release says that Jagger thought this was the better album is just Jagger being friendly - it doesn't make it true, and a quick comparison will show just how friendly Jagger was actually being. Score: 3 1/2
***
 |
| 1972 |
$ Roxy Music – Roxy Music (ATT) Recorded before the band had a recording contract - the session was paid for by the band's management company. Everything that Roxy were and would be is contained in this album. This was something very new, and it was very exciting at the time, and listening back it still retains that raw energy and enthusiasm, and that intellectual interest in mixing style with substance. The combination of Eno and Ferry works perfectly. The second album is also great, and in some ways is the better album, but this was a flamboyant and exhilarating kick through the door. Awesome album. Awesome cover. Awesome debut. Awesome band. Best drumming of the band's career. All the band are into this, and it's clear it matters to them. You can smell and feel the adrenaline - it bounces all over the album. You rarely get a better debut than this. Score: 10
$ Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (NME) (Q) (ATT) Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Neil Young – Harvest (RS) (NM) (ATT) A widely acknowledged classic. My preference is for After The Goldrush, but this comes a close second, and I understand why it would be many people's favourite. Some great songs, and a good vibe on the whole album. Young suffers from epilepsy and has seizures, as a result his back is weak, and after recording
Goldrush he had a crippling back injury which meant he had to wear a brace and couldn't play an electric guitar until he'd had an operation to remove several discs in his spine that had slipped. Young feels that's part of the reason this album is so mellow. Score: 9 1/2
$ David Bowie – Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (RW) (MC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (NME) (Q) (ATT) Score: 9
$ David Bowie – Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (RW) (MC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (NME) (Q) (ATT) Score: 9
$ Bob Marley and the Wailers – Catch a Fire (RS) (CCC) (G50) (ATT) Reggae Marley's major label debut. Recorded in Jamaica and produced by the Wailers, it was mixed and overdubbed with "rock" guitar and keyboards in London by Chris Blackwell with the intention of making the music more acceptable to an insular American audience. The album sold modestly, and the music and songs are not as good as the previous album, Soul Revolution Part II, nor the next album, Burnin', nor is it the album that broke Marley in the West, Live!, nor the one that made him a global superstar, Exodus, nor the best selling Marley album, Legend, but is the one that critics and fans have returned to and imbued with a semi-legendary status - often liking Blackwell's overdubs more than Marley's own contributions. In 2013 a Deluxe release included the original Jamaican tape without Blackwell's tamperings which reveal a much stronger and authentic album that show that all Marley and the band needed was an audience willing to listen. Score: 5
$ Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill (RS) (CCC) (ATT) [jz] Gosh this is such a great album. Breath of fresh air. Their debut album. This is very cool. Great songs. Good band vibe. Sublime blend of soul, Latin, jazz and pop-rock. After this the band would edge more and more toward commercial smooth jazz, leaving aside the other genres, and rely more and more on the two songwriters, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, until the band became just those two with hired session players, and the vibe that's present here is lost, and it all becomes polished, a little arch and serious and lacking in groove and grit. The band would never better this album, though they came close with the sophi-pop of Pretzel Logic. Score: 8 1/2
+ Man/Brinsley Schwartz/Hawkwind - Greasy Truckers Party Captures the social and musical ambiance of the underground music scene in the early 1970s perfectly. The 22 minutes of "Spunk Rock" by Man on side one is an extraordinary piece of music, and by itself justifies inclusion, but the album also has tracks by the influential yet sadly ignored Brinsley Schwarz ("Wonder Woman", "Midnight Train") (think Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, etc) and two of the three best Hawkwind tracks ever recorded, "Master of the Universe", and "Born to Go" - the third track was also recorded during this concert, but released separately as a single - "Silver Machine". Score: 8
+ Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and The East Street Shuffle (RS) (ATT) Springsteen's second album, and the one where he really got it all today. Probably his second best album after Born To Run. Score: 8
+ Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and The East Street Shuffle (RS) (ATT) Springsteen's second album, and the one where he really got it all today. Probably his second best album after Born To Run. Score: 8
$ David Bowie – Aladdin Sane (RS) (ATT) A return to the Hunky Dory approach of an album of assorted songs. There's some very good songs here, some of my favourites, with at times great lyrical imagery, and occasional brilliant music. However, the album is a little uneven, and doesn't have both the consistency, variety, and charm of Hunky Dory. Score: 8
+ Simon & Garfunkel - (RS) Greatest Hits A good summary of Simon & Garfunkel's work. Score: 8
$ Yes – Close to the Edge (ATT) [PG] Probably, along with Dark Side of The Moon, one of the most successful and popular progressive rock albums of all time. It works. It serves as a template (good and bad) for all progressive music since its release in 1972. The lyrics are daft, but somehow certain lines and phrases resonate, and Anderson has a compelling voice. Yes clearly had very competent musicians, because the playing on the album is impressively competent. However, while technical competence is admirable in itself, when it comes to rock music we tend to look for other things than simple technical accomplishment. "Louie Louie" is awesome because of the feel of the thing, the sweat, desperation and sheer joy of the playing not because of the playing, which is simple and clumsy. While Bruford called the album "Close to the Edge" because he felt the band were at the edge of reason and madness while making it, citing Squire spending over two hours balancing just two controls on the recording desk, it could also apply to the music being close to the edge of rock music - there is a fair degree of jazz playing and formulations, especially in Bruford's drumming and Squire's bass; however, though the music and lyrics are close to the edge of disengagement from emotion, and close to the edge of frippery and meaninglessness, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and is held together by Steve Howe's guitar work which flips elegantly from jazz to rock via country, folk, classical and several other genres. Such a virtuoso display could be another barrier to emotion engagement and enjoyment, yet there is a cool ease about the playing, and it always appears to be fitting rather than showboating, so it somehow works. Wakeman's keyboards, especially on the organ, is less effective, and can be described as distractingly showy at times; while it adds a sonic depth and richness which overall aids the album, I suspect the album would have been better had Tony Kaye been playing instead of Wakeman, whose excesses do grate at times. Side One is quite stunning, particularly the opening track, and mostly overcomes the flaws in terms of excess, flash and superficiality that holds the album back a little. Side Two is probably best ignored as it does tend to undo much of what has been achieved Score: 7 1/2
$ Yes – Close to the Edge (ATT) [PG] Probably, along with Dark Side of The Moon, one of the most successful and popular progressive rock albums of all time. It works. It serves as a template (good and bad) for all progressive music since its release in 1972. The lyrics are daft, but somehow certain lines and phrases resonate, and Anderson has a compelling voice. Yes clearly had very competent musicians, because the playing on the album is impressively competent. However, while technical competence is admirable in itself, when it comes to rock music we tend to look for other things than simple technical accomplishment. "Louie Louie" is awesome because of the feel of the thing, the sweat, desperation and sheer joy of the playing not because of the playing, which is simple and clumsy. While Bruford called the album "Close to the Edge" because he felt the band were at the edge of reason and madness while making it, citing Squire spending over two hours balancing just two controls on the recording desk, it could also apply to the music being close to the edge of rock music - there is a fair degree of jazz playing and formulations, especially in Bruford's drumming and Squire's bass; however, though the music and lyrics are close to the edge of disengagement from emotion, and close to the edge of frippery and meaninglessness, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and is held together by Steve Howe's guitar work which flips elegantly from jazz to rock via country, folk, classical and several other genres. Such a virtuoso display could be another barrier to emotion engagement and enjoyment, yet there is a cool ease about the playing, and it always appears to be fitting rather than showboating, so it somehow works. Wakeman's keyboards, especially on the organ, is less effective, and can be described as distractingly showy at times; while it adds a sonic depth and richness which overall aids the album, I suspect the album would have been better had Tony Kaye been playing instead of Wakeman, whose excesses do grate at times. Side One is quite stunning, particularly the opening track, and mostly overcomes the flaws in terms of excess, flash and superficiality that holds the album back a little. Side Two is probably best ignored as it does tend to undo much of what has been achieved Score: 7 1/2
+ Beaver & Krause - All Good Men Early promoters of electronic music and the Moog synthesiser. I had this album and found it fascinating - well constructed and very forward looking. Sadly overlooked then as well as now. There is very little information on them available on the internet. This album sells for around £2.50, even signed copies in mint condition hold little value. Sigh. Score: 6 1/2
+ Stevie Wonder - Music Of My Mind (RS) (ATT) Music of My Mind is a mature album for a 21 year old. It was made independently by Wonder, and then sold back to Motown under a new contract. Rich with synthesisers and a bold and bright funk music, this is a sharp and sophisticated album that puts Wonder firmly on the road that will deliver Talking Book and the other classic period albums. For some observers the classic period starts here, and one can certainly see the relevance of that argument. The opener, "Love Having You Around", is a strong piece of studied and sophisticated funk, bold and fresh and confident, it balances well the lighter, frothier, slightly twee "Happier Than the Morning Sun". A little of the twee works well as contrast now and again; unfortunately it is a style of music that Wonder would later too consistently cling to. "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" is widely acknowledged as the most accomplished of the songs on the album - it could easily have appeared on Talking Book as it has the same perfect touch, and a very similar sound and feel. A really good album. If you like Talking Book you'll like this. Score: 6 1/2
+ Stevie Wonder - Music Of My Mind (RS) (ATT) Music of My Mind is a mature album for a 21 year old. It was made independently by Wonder, and then sold back to Motown under a new contract. Rich with synthesisers and a bold and bright funk music, this is a sharp and sophisticated album that puts Wonder firmly on the road that will deliver Talking Book and the other classic period albums. For some observers the classic period starts here, and one can certainly see the relevance of that argument. The opener, "Love Having You Around", is a strong piece of studied and sophisticated funk, bold and fresh and confident, it balances well the lighter, frothier, slightly twee "Happier Than the Morning Sun". A little of the twee works well as contrast now and again; unfortunately it is a style of music that Wonder would later too consistently cling to. "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" is widely acknowledged as the most accomplished of the songs on the album - it could easily have appeared on Talking Book as it has the same perfect touch, and a very similar sound and feel. A really good album. If you like Talking Book you'll like this. Score: 6 1/2
$ Hawkwind – Space Ritual Captures wonderfully the edgy chaos and richness of a Hawkwind gig at their height. This epitomises the early Seventies underground scene - you can almost smell the patchouli and dope. Is it a great album? No. Is it a fascinating record of that period? Yes. Score: 6
+ Cymande - Cymande Funky reggae - smooth and attractive and quite unique. Score: 6
+ The O'Jays - Back Stabbers (RS) (ATT) Philadelphia soul Score: 6
+ Cymande - Cymande Funky reggae - smooth and attractive and quite unique. Score: 6
+ The O'Jays - Back Stabbers (RS) (ATT) Philadelphia soul Score: 6
+ Amon Düül II - Wolf City Possibly my favourite album by early and influential Krautrock band. Score: 6
+ Steve Miller Band - Anthology Miller came out of the same psychedelic milieu as the Grateful Dead, but was more focused on the Blues, was tighter, more disciplined, and Miller wrote better songs. From the late 70s onward his work became simpler, more rock and pop, leaving behind the psychedelic Blues of his classic period, and he achieved his greatest commercial success with albums like Fly Like an Eagle (1976) (RS), but his best work was all done earlier. Anthology is a useful summary of his best work. Number 5 (1970) is possibly his most complete and satisfying album, though doesn't contain any of his most popular or acclaimed songs. Score: 6
+ George Gerdes - Son Of Obituary This album has dropped out of existence, and has never been released on CD, though vinyl copies in mint condition (often unsold) can be picked up cheaply. Gerdes made two albums, the first, called Obituary, is supposedly a homage to a functional singer-songwriter. Son Of Obituary is the follow up, recorded using the same musicians that appeared on Blonde On Blonde. Quirky and appealing and unusual songs well played. Sometimes good stuff simply doesn't catch on.... There are only a handful of songs from the album available on the internet. To hear the full album you need to buy the original vinyl album. Score: 6
+ Steve Miller Band - Anthology Miller came out of the same psychedelic milieu as the Grateful Dead, but was more focused on the Blues, was tighter, more disciplined, and Miller wrote better songs. From the late 70s onward his work became simpler, more rock and pop, leaving behind the psychedelic Blues of his classic period, and he achieved his greatest commercial success with albums like Fly Like an Eagle (1976) (RS), but his best work was all done earlier. Anthology is a useful summary of his best work. Number 5 (1970) is possibly his most complete and satisfying album, though doesn't contain any of his most popular or acclaimed songs. Score: 6
+ George Gerdes - Son Of Obituary This album has dropped out of existence, and has never been released on CD, though vinyl copies in mint condition (often unsold) can be picked up cheaply. Gerdes made two albums, the first, called Obituary, is supposedly a homage to a functional singer-songwriter. Son Of Obituary is the follow up, recorded using the same musicians that appeared on Blonde On Blonde. Quirky and appealing and unusual songs well played. Sometimes good stuff simply doesn't catch on.... There are only a handful of songs from the album available on the internet. To hear the full album you need to buy the original vinyl album. Score: 6
$ Paul Simon – Paul Simon (CCC) (ATT) Simon's first solo album after he and Garfunkel split up. An assured and excellent album that firmly sets Simon on the road to Graceland, and contains some bloody good songs. Yes, it's patchy, and yes it's a disappointment after Simon & Garfunkel, but it's a solid album, and to be fair, there aren't many albums this good. Score: 5 1/2
$ The Temptations / Norman Whitfield – All Directions Norman Whitfield is one of the major writers and producers of the Sixties and Seventies. This album contains some of his most famous pieces, such as "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (which the band really didn't want to record), but the album is rather patchy - it's difficult to know which is the better album, this or the follow up Masterpiece. Temptations fans prefer this one as there is more singing than on Masterpiece, which is more about Whitfield and the Funk Brothers than about the vocalists. What I'd like to have is a decent compilation album of Whitfield's best work - such as the 1976 album, The Songs of Norman Whitfield. Score: 5 1/2
+ Various - The Harder They Come (RS) (CCC) Score: 5 1/2
+ Caetano Veloso - Transa Velosa is a Brazilian musician playing in a Latino pop style termed MPB. He made a popular 1967 album, but was exiled for a few years by the military dictatorship during which he he made two albums-in-exile. The most famous is Caetano Veloso (A Little More Blue) in which he moans about the problems in his country in a melancholy way. Transa is the second and more engaging of those albums - in which he has worked through his initial sadness, and is commenting on the world around him as though seeing the world outside Brazil for the first time. The music is refined and accomplished, and is the artist's own favourite. When he returned to Brazil in 1972 he made Araçá Azul which is interesting, but perhaps a little too odd. Score: 5 1/2
+ Various - Nuggets (MC) (ATT) A useful and intelligent summary of the best of the early unsuccessful psychedelic bands of the Sixties. Score: 5
+ Various - The Harder They Come (RS) (CCC) Score: 5 1/2
+ Caetano Veloso - Transa Velosa is a Brazilian musician playing in a Latino pop style termed MPB. He made a popular 1967 album, but was exiled for a few years by the military dictatorship during which he he made two albums-in-exile. The most famous is Caetano Veloso (A Little More Blue) in which he moans about the problems in his country in a melancholy way. Transa is the second and more engaging of those albums - in which he has worked through his initial sadness, and is commenting on the world around him as though seeing the world outside Brazil for the first time. The music is refined and accomplished, and is the artist's own favourite. When he returned to Brazil in 1972 he made Araçá Azul which is interesting, but perhaps a little too odd. Score: 5 1/2
+ Various - Nuggets (MC) (ATT) A useful and intelligent summary of the best of the early unsuccessful psychedelic bands of the Sixties. Score: 5
+ Neu! – Neu! Early Krautrock. Score: 5
+ Wendy/Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange Wendy Carlos (under her then name of Walter Carlos) created music for Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange film. Kubrick did not use all of the music, so the official soundtrack does not contain some of Carlos' more interesting compositions, such as the 14 minute "Timesteps". An album was released of the original music under the title Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange. The title was changed when Walter became Wendy to A Clockwork Orange: Wendy Carlos's Complete Original Score. Score: 5
+ Various - Glastonbury Fayre Early Seventies "underground" music; and - although some of the music was not from the festival, this essentially is a record of the start of the most iconic and successful music festival outside of America (and some may argue, that it is simply the best music festival in the world, period). Score: 5
$ King Crimson – Lark’s Tongues in Aspic [jz] [PG] Hmmm. Jazzy and progressive and quirky and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it's always kinda interesting.... Score: 5
+ Wendy/Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange Wendy Carlos (under her then name of Walter Carlos) created music for Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange film. Kubrick did not use all of the music, so the official soundtrack does not contain some of Carlos' more interesting compositions, such as the 14 minute "Timesteps". An album was released of the original music under the title Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange. The title was changed when Walter became Wendy to A Clockwork Orange: Wendy Carlos's Complete Original Score. Score: 5
+ Various - Glastonbury Fayre Early Seventies "underground" music; and - although some of the music was not from the festival, this essentially is a record of the start of the most iconic and successful music festival outside of America (and some may argue, that it is simply the best music festival in the world, period). Score: 5
$ King Crimson – Lark’s Tongues in Aspic [jz] [PG] Hmmm. Jazzy and progressive and quirky and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it's always kinda interesting.... Score: 5
$ Nick Drake – Pink Moon (RS) (ATT) [FK] Highly regarded British folk singer-songwriter album by a melancholy and romantic singer with a plaintive voice. In the style of early Seventies singer-songwriter folk, reminiscent of John Martyn and the Incredible String Band, etc, though not as inventive or interesting. The appeal is mostly in his voice and the aura of doomed romanticism surrounding him. More image than content. Score: 5
+ Gary Glitter - Glitter One of the leading figures of the tongue-in-cheek glam-rock period in British music history during the early Seventies; his stomping beats, retro rock n roll and bubblegum sound, combined with his camp and flashy image, pretty much defined glam-rock. Never quite taken seriously by the music press, nor by himself, he was, nevertheless, for a period, one of the most successful and popular British musical figures - the convictions for paedophilia related activities stunned the British public and turned him overnight from one of the best-loved entertainers in British music history, to one of the most widely hated and condemned. His music is no longer played, and he is in prison. Score: 5
$ Curtis Mayfield – Superfly (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) Worthy but a little dull. Best track is the title track "Superfly". Score: 4 1/2
$ Curtis Mayfield – Superfly (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) Worthy but a little dull. Best track is the title track "Superfly". Score: 4 1/2
+ Can - Ege Bamyasi Score: 4 1/2
$ Todd Rundgren – Something/Anything (YouTube - full album) (RS) (ATT) The opening track "I Saw The Light" is awesome, and I love the adventurous of A Wizard, a True Star (1973). Rundgren is talented, but seems to miss as much as hit. Not sure about this. Score: 4
$ Todd Rundgren – Something/Anything (YouTube - full album) (RS) (ATT) The opening track "I Saw The Light" is awesome, and I love the adventurous of A Wizard, a True Star (1973). Rundgren is talented, but seems to miss as much as hit. Not sure about this. Score: 4
+ Carly Simon - No Secrets (ATT) Singer-songwriter at the height of the singer-songwriter period, partner to James Taylor, and author of "You're So Vain", this was a popular pop-folk album. Widely acknowledged to be her best. It is warm, familiar, undemanding and attractive. Pure pop. Score: 4
$ Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges – Clube da Esquina [jz] & Borges' album influenced a music movement in Brazil, named after the album: Clube da Esquina. It is highly regarded in Brazil, and appreciated by those outside of Brazil who hear it. Score: 4
$ War – World is a Ghetto (RS) [jz] Pleasant but somewhat predictable and dated funk-jazz. Score: 3 1/2
+ Paul Levinson - Twice Upon A Rhyme Not sure about this. An album which was ignored for 40 years is now getting attention, largely, it appears, via record collectors because it had a limited pressing so copies are rare. The music is quirky, which catches my attention, but I'm not sure it is accomplished or interesting enough to hold that attention. Score: 3
$ War – World is a Ghetto (RS) [jz] Pleasant but somewhat predictable and dated funk-jazz. Score: 3 1/2
+ Paul Levinson - Twice Upon A Rhyme Not sure about this. An album which was ignored for 40 years is now getting attention, largely, it appears, via record collectors because it had a limited pressing so copies are rare. The music is quirky, which catches my attention, but I'm not sure it is accomplished or interesting enough to hold that attention. Score: 3
***
 |
| 1973 |
$ Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (RS) (C4) (NM) (G50) (Q) (ATT) [PG] Exceptional album. Score: 10
+ Faust - The Faust Tapes (extract only) This was the record that everyone had in 1973 - Virgin were selling it for 49p, and it was utterly fascinating. This was for most people their first encounter with krautrock. An exceptional album. Score: 10
+ Gong - Angel's Egg [jz] [PG] The second (and better) part of Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy. Gone were probably the most creative and fascinating jazz rock band, who played with consummate skill and inventiveness, but were also very playful and approachable. Led by Daevid Allen, the co-founder of Soft Machine, the band didn't have wide public appeal, and the throwaway hippiness of the band distracted serious critical attention Score: 10
+ Gong - Angel's Egg [jz] [PG] The second (and better) part of Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy. Gone were probably the most creative and fascinating jazz rock band, who played with consummate skill and inventiveness, but were also very playful and approachable. Led by Daevid Allen, the co-founder of Soft Machine, the band didn't have wide public appeal, and the throwaway hippiness of the band distracted serious critical attention Score: 10
$ Todd Rundgren – A Wizard, a True Star (ATT) A breath-taking album, combining various forms of music in one long superbly engineered and delightful melody. Often playful, always inventive, critics were unsure how to take the collage of styles which often seemed to move too fast for them to catch up, plus it has a veneer of instant pop, which masks the musical intelligence, knowledge and affection that underpins the album and makes it sublime. Exceptional album. Score: 8
+ Gong - Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1 Flying Teapot [jz] [PG] While I have a personal preference for Camembert Electrique, the Flying Teapot album is more important as it was the one that not only introduced Gong to a wider public, but also helped launch Virgin Records. Score: 7
$ Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure (RS) (ATT) This is a good album, but it doesn't develop on from the debut, and is essentially weaker in many ways. The essential Roxy album is the first one. That said, this is still a great album. Score: 7
$ Paul McCartney – Band on the Run (RS) (NM) (ATT) It's a good album. The best album McCartney made as a solo artist, and among the best music he made. It's light years ahead of the usual drivel he recorded, and that may be due to the circumstances of its recording, in which as his band, Wings, were about to fly off to Nigeria to record, most of them quit, partly due to the lack of respect McCartney's music was getting, leaving McCartney to play most of the instruments himself, including lead guitars and drums. He has said he recorded it in a fit of anger and an attitude of "I'll show them". Some of that strength and anger comes through in blistering performances. It is a strong, determined album, with an unadorned rootsy feel, playing to McCartney's strength of simple straight melody, mixing attractive twee pieces such as "Bluebird" with ballsy numbers such as "Jet". This would be the last decent music McCartney would ever make. Score: 7
+ Janis Joplin – Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits (CCC) Pearl (1971) is Joplin's best studio album, but is patchy and incomplete. This compilation album is overall the best summary of her work. It may leave off a few decent songs, but it has all the main ones, and leaves out the weak songs that spoil her main album releases. Score: 7
+ Hall & Oates - Abandoned Luncheonette Attractive white boy Philly soul. Hall & Oates were recording this smooth soul at around the same time as The Bee Gees got into the same music, but The Bee Gees made it mega, while Hall & Oates, with their cooler style, remained largely in the long grass. Score: 7
+ Kool & the Gang - Wild and Peaceful Jazz fuelled funk. Contains "Funky Stuff". Later, in the Eighties they got into smooth soul and had success with commercial material such as "Ladies Night" which contains faint memories of their jazz/funk roots, but it's this early Seventies period in which they did their most significant work. Score: 7
+ The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys In Concert Musically at their best with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar in the band as the rhythm section giving them a muscular sound, the band go through their greatest songs in a more unified and atmospheric manner than any greatest hits package. And this is a great compilation of their songs, covering their full range from the Sixties and the Seventies. Score: 7
$ Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (ATT) [PG] Score: 6 1/2
+ Hall & Oates - Abandoned Luncheonette Attractive white boy Philly soul. Hall & Oates were recording this smooth soul at around the same time as The Bee Gees got into the same music, but The Bee Gees made it mega, while Hall & Oates, with their cooler style, remained largely in the long grass. Score: 7
+ Kool & the Gang - Wild and Peaceful Jazz fuelled funk. Contains "Funky Stuff". Later, in the Eighties they got into smooth soul and had success with commercial material such as "Ladies Night" which contains faint memories of their jazz/funk roots, but it's this early Seventies period in which they did their most significant work. Score: 7
+ The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys In Concert Musically at their best with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar in the band as the rhythm section giving them a muscular sound, the band go through their greatest songs in a more unified and atmospheric manner than any greatest hits package. And this is a great compilation of their songs, covering their full range from the Sixties and the Seventies. Score: 7
$ Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (ATT) [PG] Score: 6 1/2
+ Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie Nelson had been a country singer and songwriter since the 1950s with moderate success. After the critical and commercial failure of his 1971 religious concept album Yesterday's Wine, he retired to Austin, Texas, where - surrounded by liberal hippies and rock music - he became energised and recorded Shotgun Willie. Merging country rock with country music to produce a robust and melodic album full of ideas and energy, this marks the start of Nelson's most important period during which he would record the marriage break up concept album Phrases and Stages (1974) followed by Red Haired Stranger (1975) which eventually gained him mainstream critical attention, and Stardust (1978) which gained him mainstream public attention. But this album beats all of those together, and reflects the important yet largely ignored influence of Kris Kristofferson. Score: 6 1/2
+ Little Feat - Dixie Chicken (ATT) Country rock incorporating Southern rock and swamp rock. Score: 6 1/2
+ Little Feat - Dixie Chicken (ATT) Country rock incorporating Southern rock and swamp rock. Score: 6 1/2
+ Maria Muldaur - Maria Muldaur For a little while Maria Muldaur had the attention of the Western world with her laid back easy listening and highly popular rootsy blues and folk. Either this, her debut solo album, which contained her big hit "Midnight At The Oasis", or the follow up album Waitress In The Donut Shop, which is a more complete and varied album, but perhaps tries too hard, would be worth listening to. The music captures the mood of the times very evocatively. Score: 6
+ The Temptations / Norman Whitfield – Masterpiece This is largely a personal choice as I had this album and loved it. But it is also one of Motown's most accomplished and sophisticated albums, albeit lacking big hits. This displays Whitfield's imagination and musical gasp. It didn't matter who the vocalists were - any of Motown's groups would have sufficed, and The Temptations had a variety of vocalists over the years - it is the production that matters, bringing out the best of the already impressive Motown house band, The Funk Brothers. This would be the last great album by the prime members of The Funk Brothers. Score: 6
+ Kevin Coyne - Marjory Razorblade Blues influenced singer-songwriter with his own idiosyncratic approach. Score: 6
+ The Temptations / Norman Whitfield – Masterpiece This is largely a personal choice as I had this album and loved it. But it is also one of Motown's most accomplished and sophisticated albums, albeit lacking big hits. This displays Whitfield's imagination and musical gasp. It didn't matter who the vocalists were - any of Motown's groups would have sufficed, and The Temptations had a variety of vocalists over the years - it is the production that matters, bringing out the best of the already impressive Motown house band, The Funk Brothers. This would be the last great album by the prime members of The Funk Brothers. Score: 6
+ Kevin Coyne - Marjory Razorblade Blues influenced singer-songwriter with his own idiosyncratic approach. Score: 6
+ Duncan Browne - Duncan Browne Guitar picking and rhythmic folk. Similiar to Roy Harper. Score: 6
+ James Brown - The Payback Score: 6
+ The Upsetters - (14 Dub) Blackboard Jungle (MC) Ground setter for dub and consequently all forms of rapping. Hugely influential especially on hip-hop. Score: 6
+ John Denver - Greatest Hits Very popular country music singer-songwriter who introduced pleasant pop melodies to the country vibe - not always liked or accepted by Nashville because of his pop sensibilities. Score: 6
+ James Brown - The Payback Score: 6
+ The Upsetters - (14 Dub) Blackboard Jungle (MC) Ground setter for dub and consequently all forms of rapping. Hugely influential especially on hip-hop. Score: 6
+ John Denver - Greatest Hits Very popular country music singer-songwriter who introduced pleasant pop melodies to the country vibe - not always liked or accepted by Nashville because of his pop sensibilities. Score: 6
+ Fela Kuti - Afrodisiac Afrobeat - jazzy African polyrythms. Hugely influential on Talking Heads Remain In Light. Score: 5 1/2
$ Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters (G50) [JZ] Jazz fusion - this is actually more about funk and groove than jazz, but there is enough jazz present to class it as a fusion. Quite funky, and while being very much of its time, it does tend to look ahead to how interest in jazz modes would shift into first funk and then hip hop and acid house. Score: 5 1/2
$ Can – Future Days Early ambient music in Krautrock format. Score: 5 1/2
+ Genesis – Live The band built their reputation through their live theatrical performances. This was the only contemporary record of the band live with the original members. It contains most of the significant material from the first albums, the albums which built and developed their ideas and their reputation, and which are their most creative and original. And, apart from all that, It is a great live album. After this the band released the two albums which are always listed at the top of best Genesis albums lists, Selling England (1973) and The Lamb (1974), and then Gabriel left. Score: 5 1/2
$ Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (RS) (MC) (CCC) (ATT) Score: 5
$ Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters (G50) [JZ] Jazz fusion - this is actually more about funk and groove than jazz, but there is enough jazz present to class it as a fusion. Quite funky, and while being very much of its time, it does tend to look ahead to how interest in jazz modes would shift into first funk and then hip hop and acid house. Score: 5 1/2
$ Can – Future Days Early ambient music in Krautrock format. Score: 5 1/2
+ Genesis – Live The band built their reputation through their live theatrical performances. This was the only contemporary record of the band live with the original members. It contains most of the significant material from the first albums, the albums which built and developed their ideas and their reputation, and which are their most creative and original. And, apart from all that, It is a great live album. After this the band released the two albums which are always listed at the top of best Genesis albums lists, Selling England (1973) and The Lamb (1974), and then Gabriel left. Score: 5 1/2
$ Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (RS) (MC) (CCC) (ATT) Score: 5
+ Brian Ferry - These Foolish Things A trivial but attractive and stylish album. Released in the same month as Bowie's Pinups, a similar album, though Ferry's album has stood up better over time. Score: 5
$ Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get it On (RS) (NM) (ATT) Gaye was one of the senior figures at Motown who combined his commercial skills and appeal with the ideas generated by Hayes, Mayfield and Al Green to produce a very slick dollar sign soul album that set up the trend for over-produced "smooth soul" and "quiet storm". This is attractive but largely empty. Score: 5
$ Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get it On (RS) (NM) (ATT) Gaye was one of the senior figures at Motown who combined his commercial skills and appeal with the ideas generated by Hayes, Mayfield and Al Green to produce a very slick dollar sign soul album that set up the trend for over-produced "smooth soul" and "quiet storm". This is attractive but largely empty. Score: 5
$ Lou Reed – Berlin (RS) (ATT) This is an album that can and will yield up treasures for those patient enough to become familiar with it, but the overall sound is just a little too staid and sombre to invite folks to get that close. Score: 5
+ Gila - Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee Krautrock/psychedelic folk (1973) Score: 5
+ Spirogyra - Bells, Boots And Shambles [PG] Beautiful pastoral British folk rock with touches of psychedelia. In the same field as The Strawbs, Pentangle, The Incredible String Band, Donovan, Steeleye Span, Roy Harper, etc, though a little more pop-oriented and pastoral. They made three albums before breaking up through lack of commercial and critical attention. This, their last album, has gained some attention from 21st century prog fans, though there is little prog rock here, apart from the structure and musical structure of track 7, "In The Western World". Co-lead singer Barbara Gaskin moved on to become a backing singer with Dave Stewart's prog-rock band Hatfield And The North, and later, as a duo, Stewart and Gaskin had a number one hit in the 80s with a cover of "It's My Party". Score: 5
+ Clannad - Clannad Debut album of the Irish folk-rock/pop band influenced by Pentangle. They would later become more pop focused, here they are still quite interesting with their meld or rock, folk, pop and jazz. Score: 4 1/2
+ Big Youth – Screaming Target Deejaying or toasting is an early form of rapping. Jamaican disc jockeys would chant and rap over instrumental versions of popular songs. Big Youth is considered important in the development of toasting. Score: 4
+ Pescado Rabioso - Artaud Score: 3 1/2
$ John Cale – Paris 1919 (ATT) Generally regarded as Cale's best solo work. Cale is an interesting and significant figure in 20th century music, though he seems to work best with others, as with Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nico, Terry Riley, Kevin Ayers, and as a producer (Nico, Stooges, Patti Smith). This is moderately interesting, but not as interesting as it should or could be. Songs For Drella, his 1990 album with Lou Reed, is the one to get. Score: 3 1/2
+ Big Youth – Screaming Target Deejaying or toasting is an early form of rapping. Jamaican disc jockeys would chant and rap over instrumental versions of popular songs. Big Youth is considered important in the development of toasting. Score: 4
+ Pescado Rabioso - Artaud Score: 3 1/2
$ John Cale – Paris 1919 (ATT) Generally regarded as Cale's best solo work. Cale is an interesting and significant figure in 20th century music, though he seems to work best with others, as with Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nico, Terry Riley, Kevin Ayers, and as a producer (Nico, Stooges, Patti Smith). This is moderately interesting, but not as interesting as it should or could be. Songs For Drella, his 1990 album with Lou Reed, is the one to get. Score: 3 1/2
+ Jon Lucien - Rashida This is the essence of the trashy aspect of the Seventies! There is something compelling about this. Perhaps more compelling in many ways than Back To Black! Score: 3 1/2
+ Lucio Battisti - Il nostro caro angelo Considered to be the Italian Bob Dylan for his influence and importance using a range of music genres, though remaining pop and popular. Score: 3 1/2
+ Rick Wakeman - Six Wives of Henry VIII [PG] Score: 3 1/2
+ Lucio Battisti - Il nostro caro angelo Considered to be the Italian Bob Dylan for his influence and importance using a range of music genres, though remaining pop and popular. Score: 3 1/2
+ Rick Wakeman - Six Wives of Henry VIII [PG] Score: 3 1/2
+ David Bowie - Pin Ups Released at the same time as Brian Ferry's These Foolish Things, this was Bowie's homage to the music that influenced him, and this blast through early British R&B was both a lesson and an inspiration for a generation too young to have known the originals. The notion of an established song-writing artist doing an album consisting entirely of covers seemed audacious at the time, and has been much imitated since, so it now seems commonplace, though Laura Nyro had done the same thing two years earlier with Gonna Take A Miracle. Score: 3
+ Golden Earring - Moontan Seventies rock. Contains "Radar Love". Simple rock, but it has its charm. Score: 3
+ Golden Earring - Moontan Seventies rock. Contains "Radar Love". Simple rock, but it has its charm. Score: 3
***
 |
| 1974 |
+ Various - June 1, 1974 Kevin Ayres, Eno, John Cale & Nico - c'mon! Live album recorded at The Rainbow in 1974. I went along to The Rainbow with Evie to get tickets for this, but it was sold out, so we compensated with Lou Reed at The Rainbow - an astonishing concert in itself. But I'd still have loved to be here for this one. Also playing as part of that extraordinary ensemble were Mike Oldfield and Robert Wyatt. The first half opens with Brian Eno doing two numbers from his extraordinary debut solo album assisted by the ensemble, and then two covers by John Cale assisted by the ensemble including Nico on "The End", the only number on which she performs. The second half is Kevin Ayres, with Eno joining in on the last number. The atmosphere is great, and the performances are stunning. Hard to pick out best tracks from such an album, but the two numbers by John Cale are extra special. Score: 8
+ Gong - Camembert Electrique [jz] [PG] Originally released in 1971 in France, this got a UK release in 1974 by Virgin for 59p, the price of a single, and helped cement Gong's reputation as a cutting edge jazz rock fusion band. Score: 8
+ Gong - Camembert Electrique [jz] [PG] Originally released in 1971 in France, this got a UK release in 1974 by Virgin for 59p, the price of a single, and helped cement Gong's reputation as a cutting edge jazz rock fusion band. Score: 8
+ Bob Dylan/The Band: Before the Flood (CCC) This album marks a significant change in Dylan's creative energy. Since the contentious 1966 British tour, and his subsequent "motorbike accident", he had withdrawn from the public, had not toured, and his recorded work had been sporadic and often bizarre. There were occasional songs that worked, but on the whole what he produced was not the material that had made him the voice of a generation, nor the stuff that would later gain him the Nobel Prize for Literature. With a change in record companies, Dylan seemed invigorated. He got together with the Band who had toured with him in 1966, and together they made an album, Planet Waves, and then toured to promote it. The album was weak, and as the tour progressed, apart from "Forever Young", Dylan and The Band concentrated on their older material. This is a very strong recording. The tour was a huge success, and this album shows why. Dylan is clearly energised and in command. And The Band are playing at their peak. When it was released there was some discussion and disappointment that one and a half sides were just The Band doing their own material, and there are still divided opinions on the album. My own view is that this is the first official release of Dylan live, the first album in which The Band are not just acknowledged, but given their own space, a key album which marks a change in Dylan's attitude and energy, and it has some great songs well played; so, as well as being an important historical record, this is a damn great listening experience. Score: 8
+ David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (ATT) Imaginative and compelling, with some great rock music blended with soul in a 1984 themed bleak sci-fi fantasy which confused and alienated critics at the time, and has never recovered. A great thumping technicolour cinemascope album which merges musical and lyrical ideas and sounds from Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups and Young Americans into one exhilarating breathless whole. Score: 7 1/2
+ David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (ATT) Imaginative and compelling, with some great rock music blended with soul in a 1984 themed bleak sci-fi fantasy which confused and alienated critics at the time, and has never recovered. A great thumping technicolour cinemascope album which merges musical and lyrical ideas and sounds from Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups and Young Americans into one exhilarating breathless whole. Score: 7 1/2
$ Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (RS) (CCC) (ATT) Not as astonishing as the debut, and if there is a need to cut back albums, then this is the Dan one to go, but still a beautiful and assured album. Sophisti-pop ahead of its time. Score: 7
+ Marcia Griffiths - Sweet & Nice Think you know reggae? Think again. This is smooth soulful stuff. Griffiths had made her name with Bob and Marcia, particularly Young, Gifted and Black (1970), and would go on to work with Bob Marley as one of the I-Threes, and to record the critically acclaimed but more conventional reggae album Naturally (1978) in which she really displays her vocal ability, but Sweet & Nice is the exceptional album for its engaging mix of soul and reggae. Score: 7
+ Elton John - Greatest Hits I have written in depth about Elton John for this blog, with comments on each of his albums. I think people will have their own favourites among his albums, and I can understand why there would be a range of albums on any list. Generally most critics have tended to favour Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) as his best album; my own favourite is Tumbleweed Connection (1970). For the purpose of this list I have selected Greatest Hits as it covers all the songs that made him famous, and which have a resonance. "Your Song" is the song which made his name, and is - for me - his finest achievement, but it appears on his almost unknown second album. It seems a shame to have to select that album just because of that one song, and it seems a shame to include any other of his albums which does not have the song that made his name, and without which we may not now know him. Score: 6
+ Millie Jackson - Caught Up (B side) Smooth deep soul moving into quiet soul and a precursor for modern R&B. Breathless and engaging. The album's theme is an extra-marital affair as seen from the viewpoint of the two women caught up in it. There's some early and raunchy rap on this. This is good by itself, but its main importance is in the direction it points to rap and modern RnB. Good stuff. Score: 6
$ Tangerine Dream – Phaedra (ATT) Score: 6
+ Elton John - Greatest Hits I have written in depth about Elton John for this blog, with comments on each of his albums. I think people will have their own favourites among his albums, and I can understand why there would be a range of albums on any list. Generally most critics have tended to favour Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) as his best album; my own favourite is Tumbleweed Connection (1970). For the purpose of this list I have selected Greatest Hits as it covers all the songs that made him famous, and which have a resonance. "Your Song" is the song which made his name, and is - for me - his finest achievement, but it appears on his almost unknown second album. It seems a shame to have to select that album just because of that one song, and it seems a shame to include any other of his albums which does not have the song that made his name, and without which we may not now know him. Score: 6
+ Millie Jackson - Caught Up (B side) Smooth deep soul moving into quiet soul and a precursor for modern R&B. Breathless and engaging. The album's theme is an extra-marital affair as seen from the viewpoint of the two women caught up in it. There's some early and raunchy rap on this. This is good by itself, but its main importance is in the direction it points to rap and modern RnB. Good stuff. Score: 6
$ Tangerine Dream – Phaedra (ATT) Score: 6
+ Dadawah/Ras Michael - Peace & Love While this is is grounded in the ethos of reggae and rastafarianism, it embraces a wider music and sound range than is typical for authentic reggae, roots reggae. There's African grooves, jazz, and Western sounds. The electric guitar delivers an electric blues sound rather than reggae, and there are gentle, elongated sounds and vocals which are very seductive. This is important in the development of roots reggae, and is a subtle and deep album. Score: 6
+ Barry White - Can't Get Enough Blends Issac Hayes and Al Green in a smooth and rich style that made the world swoon and sway. Unique, instantly recognisable, enjoyable, and very popular. Smooth soul to melt the heart. This album came during his peak in the Seventies and contains his two of his biggest hits "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe". This is lush. Score: 5 1/2
$ Kraftwerk – Autobahn Electronic music. Their earlier work also contained repetitive rhythms and sounds created by electronic instruments, though was more diverse (and interesting), such as their debut 1970 album, Kraftwerk. This album, however, generated a wide appeal, possibly because of the greater focus on simple rhythms and repetitive noises, and the neat commercial trick of presenting such sounds as a representation of modern living in the form of a road trip. Though their earlier work is more interesting, it is from Autobahn onwards that Kraftwerk become popular, and influential. This is the album that started that commercial success, and is worth hearing for the roots of what would influence Bowie and Eighties synth-pop. Score: 5 1/2
$ Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now (CCC) Captured at a time when Morrison was putting some effort and emotion into his live shows, this gives some insight into what those performances were like. Useful and pleasant, though a little way off from being the best live album as is sometimes claimed. Score: 5 1/2
$ Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom Quirky and critically admired. Score: 5 1/2
$ Sparks – Kimono My House The best known of the keyboard focused pop groups of the early Seventies such as Sailor, they had a big hit with "This Town..." from this album, and this album is widely regarded as their best. "This Town" is an awesome track, and while the best songs echo that song, they never quite manage to equal it so there is a sense of a let down on initial listenings, however repeated listenings do reveal a lot of charm and intelligence. Score: 5 1/2
+ Average White Band - AWB This album and Cut the Cake (1975) are supremely well made funky examples of soul regardless of who made them, but everyone who heard the albums found themselves taken aback that AWB were an all white band from Scotland. Score: 5 1/2
+ Cluster - Zuckerzeit Electronic ambient Krautrock. Score: 5 1/2
$ 10cc – Sheet Music Very polished and clever pop music. Opinions are divided on which is their best album, though this was highly acclaimed by critics at the time, and is regarded by the band as their best and their favourite so is appropriate. My personal favourite album of theirs is How Dare You, from 1976. Score: 5
+ Barry White - Can't Get Enough Blends Issac Hayes and Al Green in a smooth and rich style that made the world swoon and sway. Unique, instantly recognisable, enjoyable, and very popular. Smooth soul to melt the heart. This album came during his peak in the Seventies and contains his two of his biggest hits "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe". This is lush. Score: 5 1/2
$ Kraftwerk – Autobahn Electronic music. Their earlier work also contained repetitive rhythms and sounds created by electronic instruments, though was more diverse (and interesting), such as their debut 1970 album, Kraftwerk. This album, however, generated a wide appeal, possibly because of the greater focus on simple rhythms and repetitive noises, and the neat commercial trick of presenting such sounds as a representation of modern living in the form of a road trip. Though their earlier work is more interesting, it is from Autobahn onwards that Kraftwerk become popular, and influential. This is the album that started that commercial success, and is worth hearing for the roots of what would influence Bowie and Eighties synth-pop. Score: 5 1/2
$ Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now (CCC) Captured at a time when Morrison was putting some effort and emotion into his live shows, this gives some insight into what those performances were like. Useful and pleasant, though a little way off from being the best live album as is sometimes claimed. Score: 5 1/2
$ Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom Quirky and critically admired. Score: 5 1/2
$ Sparks – Kimono My House The best known of the keyboard focused pop groups of the early Seventies such as Sailor, they had a big hit with "This Town..." from this album, and this album is widely regarded as their best. "This Town" is an awesome track, and while the best songs echo that song, they never quite manage to equal it so there is a sense of a let down on initial listenings, however repeated listenings do reveal a lot of charm and intelligence. Score: 5 1/2
+ Average White Band - AWB This album and Cut the Cake (1975) are supremely well made funky examples of soul regardless of who made them, but everyone who heard the albums found themselves taken aback that AWB were an all white band from Scotland. Score: 5 1/2
+ Cluster - Zuckerzeit Electronic ambient Krautrock. Score: 5 1/2
$ 10cc – Sheet Music Very polished and clever pop music. Opinions are divided on which is their best album, though this was highly acclaimed by critics at the time, and is regarded by the band as their best and their favourite so is appropriate. My personal favourite album of theirs is How Dare You, from 1976. Score: 5
+ Byzantium - Live And Studio [PG] Byzantium were a band very much of their time, incorporating folk-rock (British and American), prog-rock, pop, and psychedelic country. Accomplished musicians, their sound was very professional and attractive, though never quite got the attention of critics or public, perhaps due to their eclectic approach, or lack of image. This was their third and last album; paid for by the band, they mainly used it to promote themselves - unsuccessfully: they broke up shortly after, the individual members continuing their careers in other people's bands. They have attracted a cult following over the years, mainly for this very attractive and accomplished limited release double album, one side studio, one side live, and in 2004 it was re-released along with the band's first two albums, and the recordings they did in their pre-Byzantium days under the name Ora. The box set is called Halfway Dreaming. Score: 5
+ Raspberries - Starting Over Rather too much like their influences - The Beatles, Beach Boys, the Faces, the Who, etc, but a significant example of the Seventies development of the under-rated genre of power-pop, incorporating pop melodies with rock riffs and drumming. Contains their hit "Overnight Sensation". Very likable. Score: 5
+ The Residents – Meet The Residents The debut album of a quirky and interesting band who are playful, and push the envelope of our understanding of music. The band made a lot of albums, pretty much on the same ideas, so any any album would be representative, and this is generally regarded as their most significant, and sets up everything that will come. It all stems from this debut. Score: 5
+ Magma - Köhntarkösz [PG] French jazz/prog-rock band led by Christian Vander who created a fictional language to tell a story about mankind colonising a new planet. The music blends opera, jazz and prog-rock into a mini-genre termed Zeuhl which has influenced others, particularly Tatsuya Yoshida in Japan. Interesting. Score: 5
+ The Residents – Meet The Residents The debut album of a quirky and interesting band who are playful, and push the envelope of our understanding of music. The band made a lot of albums, pretty much on the same ideas, so any any album would be representative, and this is generally regarded as their most significant, and sets up everything that will come. It all stems from this debut. Score: 5
+ Magma - Köhntarkösz [PG] French jazz/prog-rock band led by Christian Vander who created a fictional language to tell a story about mankind colonising a new planet. The music blends opera, jazz and prog-rock into a mini-genre termed Zeuhl which has influenced others, particularly Tatsuya Yoshida in Japan. Interesting. Score: 5
$ Richard & Linda Thompson – I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (RS) (ATT) Folk rock by Fairport's main man. It's an acclaimed album, though it is in the style of Fairport, and, apart from the rather poppy and appealing title track, it doesn't hold any significance or additional beauty over the main Fairport Convention albums. Score: 4 1/2
+ Henry Cow - Unrest [PG] Though formed in Cambridge, there is something of the Canterbury scene in this partly improvised prog-rock-jazz-rock music by Fred Frith's band. This is generally agreed to be the band's best album. Low key jazz-rock typical of the period. Score: 4 1/2
+ Big Star – Radio City (CCC) (RS) (ATT) Unsure, but whacking it in for now. Poppy Beatlesque power pop. Score: 4 1/2
+ Charlemagne Palestine - Strumming Music Minimalist music in the style of Steve Reich, but with more edge and human variation and emotion. Score: 4 1/2
+ Sui Generis - Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones [PG] Progressive folk-rock from Argentina. Score: 4
+ Sui Generis - Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones [PG] Progressive folk-rock from Argentina. Score: 4
$ Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (RS) (MC) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (Q) (ATT) Exceptional album Springsteen had been working since the late Sixties with modest success, gradually honing his approach. His first album under his own name Greetings... (1973) had been undisciplined, with an incomprehensible torrent of words. and leaned too much on his Dylan and Morrison influences. His second, The Wild... (1973) was more lyrically focused, introducing his theme of working class teenagers living in despair and hope in New Jersey, and with a more complex and melodic sound bringing in elements of rock and soul. The songs are romantic, huge, emotional, yearning, beautiful, poetic, but the album leaned too much on balladry to gain commercial attention. "Rosalita" is the stand out track, and shows the direction Springsteen was going. While containing the same theme and romantic approach of the other songs, "Rosalita" also has boundless energy. That combination of romance and energy would work wonders on Born To Run, and deservedly propelled Springsteen into global stardom. The title track starts energetic and never lets up, indeed it builds, seems to pause, then relaunches. It has a huge sound, cinematic, wall to wall, in glorious technicolor with Spector's wall of sound approach to production - no square inch of sound is left unfilled. Breathless, romantic, exciting, this is intelligent lyric writing and knowledgeable music making - totally committed and authentic. Score: 10
$ Patti Smith – Horses (RS) (MC) (CCC) (C4) (G50) (NME) (ATT) One of the greatest albums ever made. Transcends music genres - this is simply a great piece of art. One of the high marks of human achievement. Exceptional album. Score: 10
$ Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (Q) (ATT) An exceptional album. This not only marked Dylan's return to serious appreciation after a few years in creative wilderness, but also the start of Dylan's second classic period, which some critics regard as better than his first. Score: 10
+ Bob Marley & the Wailers Live! (ATT) The album and the moment that made Marley famous. Possibly the greatest live album ever recorded. And a transcendental moment when Marley sings "no Woman, No Cry". Beautiful album. Breath-taking atmosphere. Superb performances. Wonderful recording which captures the moment perfectly without resorting to overdubs or corrections, so the minor feedback during "No Woman, No Cry" is left intact, as part of that vibrant, magical, and so very alive concert. Score: 10
$ David Bowie – Young Americans (NME) (ATT) Awesome album. The title song is Bowie's hip soul version of "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" - a series of oblique, poetic sound bites. The lyrics suggesting something about the state of America in the Seventies, but never quite pinning anything down, so the imagination is free to be inspired. The music is smooth, beautiful, catchy, and exquisitely produced. Bowie's voice is breathy with soul, reaching places a white boy shouldn't be able to go, building in intensity and passion - and the point where he delivers "Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?" in a reference to Johnny Ray gives me goose-bumps every time. Score: 8 1/2
+ Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years (G50) (ATT) While everyone agrees that Graceland is Simon's major work, there is some uncertainty as to what comes next. A number of people like his first post S&G album, Paul Simon, a few others like the second one, Rhymin' Simon, some critics find Hearts and Bones interesting, while a good number of folks, public and critics, like this one. Put me in the camp that likes this one. There is a cohesive feel about the album. The melodic jazz tones ease the listener through some sardonic observations of middle life. There is the sense of the weight of life on his shoulders - not the life of a pop star, but of an individual, just like the listener. This is not the youthful Simon of the Sixties, this is a mature person looking at himself at middle age - just like his audience, who had grown up with him. There is reflection on the past, some nostalgia (and most effectively done in conjunction with Garfunkel on "My Little Town" - a nice touch, especially in the dark rejection of that nostalgia), as well as a quiet sense of potential rebellion wrapped up in the lyrics - indeed, the title captures that feeling so tellingly. There is the sense of solidity in the word "Still", but also a sense of regret, a sense of wanting a change to come. "After All These Years" captures the sense of the past, the passing years, the experiences. "Crazy" has that hint of potential rebellion. It's a clever title, both self-satisfied, yet regretting. Stuff happens, will happen, has happened. As he says: " Love emerges and it disappears". Life goes on. Indeed, there are numerous mentions of the seasons - time passing, coming round again. But mostly the lyrics focus on the ending of relationships - which is what had happened to Simon who had just divorced his first wife. Great album. Score: 8
+ Dr. Feelgood - Down By The Jetty Score: 7 1/2
+ John Lennon - Rock 'n' Roll Lennon's affectionate homage to the Fifties creates a nostalgic atmosphere that sparkles with excitement. It came at just the right time - glam rock, which had leaned on Fifties rock in a tongue-in-cheek manner, had wrung itself out, and there was in 1975 a more serious reflection on that period with an interest in delivering basic rock, as shown by Dr. Feelgood's Down By The Jetty, and Patti Smith's Horses, Springsteen's Born To Run, and the release of the original Elvis Sun recordings. This stripped to the roots approach would lead to Punk. That is not to say that Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll was the catalyst for that, but it was there as part of the general interest being shown in Fifties style RnB, which could be heard not just in some pub around London by one of several Seventies pub rock bands, nor in some underground band like Patti Smith, but also on Radio One as tracks from Lennon's albums were played. Score: 7
+ Brian Eno Discreet Music (G50) Ambient music takes form here. And, that aside, this is stunningly beautiful music, imaginatively, intelligently and creatively developed. Score: 7
+ Elvis Presley - The Sun Collection / The Sun Sessions (RS) (CCC) (C4) The original Sun sessions in which Elvis and the Sun musicians successfully copied the black R&B sounds they'd been hearing, but with a country swing, so creating a rockabilly style that was accessible to white folks. Originally recorded in the 1950s, but most of these recordings were not released until the mid Seventies. Score: 6 1/2
+ Ash Ra Tempel / Manuel Göttsching - Inventions for Electric Guitar KrautRock / Ambient / proto-Techno. Also worth listening to E2-E4 (1982) and Ash Ra Tempel (1971). Stunning, eh? Score: 6 1/2
+ Grover Washington Jr. - Mister Magic [jz] A pioneer of smooth jazz and jazz-funk. This is a beautiful album. Score: 6
$ Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns (ATT) [jz] Right from the off, the jazz intentions of this album are clear. While the first track is still distinctively Mitchell, the gentle jazz touches on her earlier albums are more apparent, combined with a much rockier feel, including blasts of electric guitar soloing. Essentially this is Mitchell backed by jazz and rock musicians. "The Jungle Line" is a little different with the African drumming and a laid off approach to the rest of instruments and song structure. Interesting and pleasant, though feels a little subdued and also a little out of time. Pretty cool listening at the time in the 70s, but less so now. A little serious and insular perhaps. Score: 5 1/2
+ John Lennon - Rock 'n' Roll Lennon's affectionate homage to the Fifties creates a nostalgic atmosphere that sparkles with excitement. It came at just the right time - glam rock, which had leaned on Fifties rock in a tongue-in-cheek manner, had wrung itself out, and there was in 1975 a more serious reflection on that period with an interest in delivering basic rock, as shown by Dr. Feelgood's Down By The Jetty, and Patti Smith's Horses, Springsteen's Born To Run, and the release of the original Elvis Sun recordings. This stripped to the roots approach would lead to Punk. That is not to say that Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll was the catalyst for that, but it was there as part of the general interest being shown in Fifties style RnB, which could be heard not just in some pub around London by one of several Seventies pub rock bands, nor in some underground band like Patti Smith, but also on Radio One as tracks from Lennon's albums were played. Score: 7
+ Brian Eno Discreet Music (G50) Ambient music takes form here. And, that aside, this is stunningly beautiful music, imaginatively, intelligently and creatively developed. Score: 7
+ Elvis Presley - The Sun Collection / The Sun Sessions (RS) (CCC) (C4) The original Sun sessions in which Elvis and the Sun musicians successfully copied the black R&B sounds they'd been hearing, but with a country swing, so creating a rockabilly style that was accessible to white folks. Originally recorded in the 1950s, but most of these recordings were not released until the mid Seventies. Score: 6 1/2
+ Ash Ra Tempel / Manuel Göttsching - Inventions for Electric Guitar KrautRock / Ambient / proto-Techno. Also worth listening to E2-E4 (1982) and Ash Ra Tempel (1971). Stunning, eh? Score: 6 1/2
+ Grover Washington Jr. - Mister Magic [jz] A pioneer of smooth jazz and jazz-funk. This is a beautiful album. Score: 6
$ Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns (ATT) [jz] Right from the off, the jazz intentions of this album are clear. While the first track is still distinctively Mitchell, the gentle jazz touches on her earlier albums are more apparent, combined with a much rockier feel, including blasts of electric guitar soloing. Essentially this is Mitchell backed by jazz and rock musicians. "The Jungle Line" is a little different with the African drumming and a laid off approach to the rest of instruments and song structure. Interesting and pleasant, though feels a little subdued and also a little out of time. Pretty cool listening at the time in the 70s, but less so now. A little serious and insular perhaps. Score: 5 1/2
+ Bob Dylan and the Band - The Basement Tapes (RS) The Dylan tracks were recorded in 1967 during the period when he became a recluse after the painful 1966 tour of the UK during which he was abused by audiences for going electric. A minor motorbike accident gave him a reason to withdraw and refuse appearances and concerts, and get away from the stresses of his position as the spokesman for his generation. His songs changed during this period, during which he and the Band developed Americana music. The songs they recorded were not officially released by Dylan until 1975, though the Band released Music From Big Pink in 1968, various bootlegs were made, such as Great White Wonder, and artists such as Peter, Paul and Mary, Julie Driscoll, Manfred Mann, The Byrds and Fairport Convention covered his songs. The release stirred interest, but was liked by critics more than the public. The mixing of later Band songs with the 1967 Dylan songs, while leaving off various acclaimed Dylan songs has irked a number of critics. It's a controversial, puzzling, and frustrating collection of influential Dylan songs combined with some songs by the Band that shouldn't belong, but somehow work. Over-long, out of date, and not as exciting as Blood On The Tracks, this is still an interesting release. Score: 6
$ Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (RS) (NM) (Q) (ATT) [pg] Score: 5
$ Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (RS) (NM) (Q) (ATT) [pg] Score: 5
+ Neil Diamond - All Time Greatest Hits (2014) Smooth and successful pop-orientated singer-songwriter whose career has spanned from the 60s to the 80s (with The Jazz Singer), as shown in this collection, though his peak was the 70s. so that's where I'm placing this. This is a good collection of his most popular songs. It's superficial, but pleasant. Score: 5
+ Harmonia - Deluxe This is Eighties synthpop done in 1975 in a Kraftwerk stylie by musicians from Cluster and Neu! Score: 5
+ Harmonia - Deluxe This is Eighties synthpop done in 1975 in a Kraftwerk stylie by musicians from Cluster and Neu! Score: 5
+ Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories [fk] [pg] Renaissance were a respected cult progressive folk-rock unit founded in 1969 by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds, though by 1971 the band had a completely new set of members. This is their most interesting album, though 1978's A Song For All Seasons is their most accomplished, and contains their hit single "Northern Lights". The second side is a suite based on the Arabian (or 1001) Nights, whose main character is Scheherazade. It utilised a recurring motive from Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. At times it sounds more like a score for a theatrical musical than a prog or folk-rock album, but it is listenable, and the first side does hold slightly more attractive songs. Score: 4
XX Keith Jarrett – Köln Concert [JZ] Best selling live album of solo jazz piano. Improvised piano music with a moody jazz and soft classical music feel. There are moments when the melody rises to something special, but too often this piece remains within a limited musical sphere, yet without approaching the profundities that simple repetition can bring. It hovers in a no man's land between attractive and interesting melodic complexity and the beauty of simple repetition. Score: 4
+ Gavin Bryars - The Sinking Of The Titanic / Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet The first release on Brian Eno's Obscure Records label. Bryars is the creator of the Portsmouth Sinfonia and an experimental composer. These two pieces are sound compositions - the Titanic is based on the idea of what the Titanic orchestra would sound like as they sank beneath the waves. Resonant and ambient and unique, these are extraordinary recordings. Score: 3 1/2
+ Steve Hillage - Fish Rising [pg] Score: 3 1/2
+ Steve Hillage - Fish Rising [pg] Score: 3 1/2
$ Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic (RS) (NM) (ATT) Why listen to this? Aerosmith are one of the most popular pop-rock bands. They had two popular periods - during the mid 70s, and again in the 90s. Their poppy, melodic sub-Rolling Stones tunes (dirty in the 70s, polished in the 90s) combined with a strong repetitive beat and occasional flourishes (guitar, vocals, or drums) appealed to a wide audience, as well as gaining them some positive critic attention. This album is their most popular and is widely seen as their best. I find their music on the whole lacks ideas, and simply covers ground pioneered by the Rolling Stones and other bands without adding anything new, but occasionally they do produce something I find enjoyable such as the fun "Love In An Elevator" with all its rock clichés done in a bold tongue-in-cheek slightly excessive manner like Spinal Tap, and the fun collaboration with Run DMC, "Walk This Way" (1986). Score: 3 1/2
+ Tim Maia - Racional (Vol 1) Hedonistic Brazilian rock star who blended Western music styles such as soul with Brazilian music such as salsa, finds Rational Culture cult which believes in a pure life and in aliens, becomes enthused, gives up the drink, drugs and junk food, and records a double album promoting the cult, which his record company refuses to release, so he funds it himself, releasing it in two parts (this is the first, and most wacky). Wacky and fascinating, with some great music. Score: 3
+ Harmonium - Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison / Les Cinq Saisons [PG] Progressive folk from a Canadian band. Score: 3
+ Harmonium - Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison / Les Cinq Saisons [PG] Progressive folk from a Canadian band. Score: 3
***
 |
| 1976 |
$ Wire – Pink Flag (RS) (CCC) (ATT) UK band considered significant in the development of art punk and post punk. Gosh I'm recognising lots of BritPop sounds here, including Elastica's "Connection" which contains a similar sound structure as "Three Girl Rhumba". Score: 8
+ Bob Dylan - Desire (RS) (ATT) Perhaps not one of the top five great Dylan albums, but contains some of his more direct, personal, and also puzzling songs. Full of life and energy. A good one. Score: 7 1/2
+ Graham Parker and the Rumour - Howlin' Wind (CCC) Howlin' Wind is Parker's debut album, and demonstrates his early soul feel, and a style that had much in common with early Elvis Costello as they shared influences, producer, and even some backing musicians. Squeezing Out Sparks (RS) is widely regarded as his best album, and at this point he was moving in a more rocky and stripped back direction. It's all a matter of individual taste I suppose which album you'll prefer. I prefer Howlin' Wind, and as that is also the debut album that put him in front of the critics and started his career, that is the one I have selected as the one to listen to. Score: 7
$ Fela Kuti – Zombie [jz] Afrobeat The Kuti album that had the greatest social and political impact. Score: 7
$ Brian Eno – Before and After Science Score: 6 1/2
+ La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf Debut from krautrock band consisting of Kraftwerk and Neu! members. Significant influence on Bowie's Low. And it sounds great. Bowie said that La Dusseldorf were the sound of the Eighties. I think they are better than that. Score: 6
+ Glen Campbell - The Very Best of Glen Campbell Successful country-pop singer. Placed here as he died today, and I was surprised by the extent of the news coverage and Facebook comments. His period was the Sixties and Seventies. Maudlin songs - quite empty, but very popular, and he appears to have been warmly liked - though not hugely loved or respected. This 1987 CD replaces an almost identical vinyl LP released in 1976, so I am placing it in 1976 as this is more his time anyway. These are quite effective songs. Traditional and unadventurous, but surprisingly warm and likable. Score: 6
$ Jorge Ben - África Brasil Attractive blend of samba soul and funk with modern Western pop and rock styles. Some people prefer the earlier works Gil e Jorge (1975), or A Tábua De Esmeralda (1974), and I can see why, but they are mainly limited to Brazilian samba alone, and do not fly away as Africa Brasil does. Score: 6
+ Augustus Pablo and King Tubby - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (G50) Widely acclaimed as one of the best dub albums. Score: 5 1/2
$ Ramones – Ramones (RS) (MC) (CCC) (G50) (ATT) With a related interest with Blondie in reviving older music styles in a modern stylie, the Ramones blended rock and roll with Phil Spector and Motown in a modern direct and simplistic approach that was commercial and appealing. They had limited musical skill and variation, but the short, simple, direct, melodic approach was very appealing. Completely outdone by the Manic Street Preachers debut album, which took the same idea but blew it up to grand proportions and skillful musicianship to show what the Ramones could have done if they had thought about a little longer. This rather retro loving and almost daftly simple album is widely regarded as an influence on punk music. I'm not convinced about that - the UK pub rockers are a clearer and more direct influence, but the Ramones used the word "punk" so the connection is obvious to all. Hmm. Personally I don't see "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" as being any kind of influence on punk. But there you go... Attractive stuff (in short doses), and talked about, so worth a listen. Score: 5 1/2
$ Fela Kuti – Zombie [jz] Afrobeat The Kuti album that had the greatest social and political impact. Score: 7
$ Brian Eno – Before and After Science Score: 6 1/2
+ La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf Debut from krautrock band consisting of Kraftwerk and Neu! members. Significant influence on Bowie's Low. And it sounds great. Bowie said that La Dusseldorf were the sound of the Eighties. I think they are better than that. Score: 6
+ Glen Campbell - The Very Best of Glen Campbell Successful country-pop singer. Placed here as he died today, and I was surprised by the extent of the news coverage and Facebook comments. His period was the Sixties and Seventies. Maudlin songs - quite empty, but very popular, and he appears to have been warmly liked - though not hugely loved or respected. This 1987 CD replaces an almost identical vinyl LP released in 1976, so I am placing it in 1976 as this is more his time anyway. These are quite effective songs. Traditional and unadventurous, but surprisingly warm and likable. Score: 6
$ Jorge Ben - África Brasil Attractive blend of samba soul and funk with modern Western pop and rock styles. Some people prefer the earlier works Gil e Jorge (1975), or A Tábua De Esmeralda (1974), and I can see why, but they are mainly limited to Brazilian samba alone, and do not fly away as Africa Brasil does. Score: 6
+ Augustus Pablo and King Tubby - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (G50) Widely acclaimed as one of the best dub albums. Score: 5 1/2
$ Ramones – Ramones (RS) (MC) (CCC) (G50) (ATT) With a related interest with Blondie in reviving older music styles in a modern stylie, the Ramones blended rock and roll with Phil Spector and Motown in a modern direct and simplistic approach that was commercial and appealing. They had limited musical skill and variation, but the short, simple, direct, melodic approach was very appealing. Completely outdone by the Manic Street Preachers debut album, which took the same idea but blew it up to grand proportions and skillful musicianship to show what the Ramones could have done if they had thought about a little longer. This rather retro loving and almost daftly simple album is widely regarded as an influence on punk music. I'm not convinced about that - the UK pub rockers are a clearer and more direct influence, but the Ramones used the word "punk" so the connection is obvious to all. Hmm. Personally I don't see "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" as being any kind of influence on punk. But there you go... Attractive stuff (in short doses), and talked about, so worth a listen. Score: 5 1/2
$ The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus (ATT) I like the Stranglers. This is their debut, and generally acknowledged best album, containing their iconic early singles. Score: 6
$ David Bowie – Station to Station (RW) (NME) (ATT) The transition from the interest in funk and soul shown on Young Americans to the Krautrock inspired electronic minimalism of Low. For the exploration into electronic minimalism that starts here and is developed further on the next three albums, the "Berlin Trilogy", Bowie took ideas from Kraftwerk's Autobahn (1974), Neu!'s '75 (1975), Can's Soon Over Babluma (1975), Faust's IV (1973), Cluster's Zuckerzeit (1974), and Tangerine Dream's Phaedra (1974) among others. He is given rather a lot of credit for the innovative ideas explored in those albums, though the innovation had already been done by the German bands, and by his Berlin Trilogy collaborator Brian Eno who was well versed in the electronic minimalism that appears on this and the Trilogy albums as shown by Another Green World (1975), No Pussyfooting (1973), etc. So the credit should not be for the innovation, but for bringing these ideas to a wider audience; or, rather, for making some of these ideas more acceptable to a wider audience by making them poppier and more accessible. This has some good tracks on it; "Wild Is The Wind" is a beautifully performed cover of the Johnny Mathis sung title song from the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind, though Bowie was following, sometimes very closely, the Nina Simone version; and "Golden Years", which though recorded at the Station to Station sessions, feels very much like a left over from the Young Americans sessions, and would be better suited on that album. On the whole, this album is interesting as a transitional album, and that the quality of the songs and performances is very high, but it is patchy and directionless, and so is one of the weaker Bowie studio albums of his classic Seventies period. Score: 5
+ Patti Smith Group - Easter This is not as brilliant an album as Horses, nor is it Horses II, nor is a development on from Horses, and therein lies the problem. Anyone coming to Easter from Horses is going to feel a little disappointed. But approached as an album in its own right, and things take on a different perspective. More direct and rocky than Horses, with an emphasis on simplistic garage R&B, with at times a startling resemblance to the Sex Pistols album a year later, this is Smith being simplistic, commercial and accessible. There's little of interest here for those who got turned on by Horses. This is not art, and in Smith's attempt to reach a wider audience she has lost most of what made her special, however this is still somewhat better than yer average rock album. Score: 4 1/2
+ Prince Far I - Under Heavy Manners Heavy, reverbing, political, challenging reggae. This, for me, is the sound of East London during the Seventies and Eighties - Prince Far I was blasting out of windows in the streets, and at gatherings on bleak council estates during the ten years of riots from Notting Hill to Broadwater Farm. Score: 4 1/2
+ Prince Far I - Under Heavy Manners Heavy, reverbing, political, challenging reggae. This, for me, is the sound of East London during the Seventies and Eighties - Prince Far I was blasting out of windows in the streets, and at gatherings on bleak council estates during the ten years of riots from Notting Hill to Broadwater Farm. Score: 4 1/2
+ Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicles: 20 Greatest Hits CCR were a popular singles band, and this collection of 20 of their hits has remained in the US album charts since it was released in 1976. Impressive. Score: 4
+ Klaatu - 3:47 EST [PG] Beatlesque prog-rock band somewhat similar to Supertramp, who got caught up in rumours that they were the Beatles. Contains "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft". Score: 4
+ Klaatu - 3:47 EST [PG] Beatlesque prog-rock band somewhat similar to Supertramp, who got caught up in rumours that they were the Beatles. Contains "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft". Score: 4
+ Michael Hurley/The Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Fredericks & The Clamtones - Have Moicy! Quirky country. Score: 4
$ Eagles – Hotel California (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) This is hugely popular thanks to the title track, and is listenable and attractive, though lacks the authenticity, focus, and musical genius of Desperados (1973). Score: 3 1/2
***
 |
| 1977 |
$ Dire Straits – Dire Straits (ATT) The debut album of Mark Knopfler's band Dire Straits came out of the blue during a period when punk was the talking point, and such gentle rootsy music was being ridiculed by all and sundry. Clearly inspired by the lyrics of Dylan and the music of J. J. Cale, these are serious, considered, mature, old-fashioned songs. Dire Straits got a bit MTV and slick in the Eighties, but the debut is authentic and very beautiful. An exceptional album. Score: 8
$ Bob Marley & the Wailers – Exodus (RS) (MC) (C4) (NM) (Q) (ATT) Reggae. Gosh, this takes me right back to 1977. I'd just moved to London. Star Wars, Close Encounters and Saturday Night Fever were all out. Punk had settled into its commercial phase with every band under the Sun claiming to be punk. And this played everywhere. I have particular memories of a party thrown by a sexy BBC producer, and dancing to this with the poet Maggie O'Sullivan. Score: 8
$ Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (NME) (Q) (ATT) Classic album. While the album has two great songs, and a handful of very good songs, the bulk is decent or weak. Though combining British Blues with Country Rock, the music on the album lacks drive and ambition, mostly following a safe, predictable and pleasant path. The singing is mostly pleasant and competent rather than outstanding, though the three voices are used well. The musicianship is very professional, with some very solid (though sadly often uninspired) rhythms from McVie and Fleetwood, and some highly competent and sometimes impressive guitar playing from Buckingham. Christine McVie's keyboard playing does not stand out at all. The two great songs, "Dreams" and "The Chain", do cast their spell over the rest of the album, making it sound and feel stronger than what it is. The story of the relationship breakups drive the greater impact of the album, and touch each song with fairy dust, making them sparkle and vibrate to an extent they never could without that background story. The album made a significant impact at a time when musically the world's attention was turned to New Wave, Punk, and the emerging Indie, Synthpop and New World musics - Rumours was music for a new audience: the older generation who had grown up with British Blues, Folk, and Country Rock, and who felt a little alienated by the newer musics. Rumours was Adult Orientated Rock, and it was the first AOR album to have a significant and lasting impact. However, while the format was important, it's difficult to trace any discernible musical or lyrical influence, and its impact on the marketing importance of AOR may be more to do with the audience selecting the album rather than the album creating an audience. The audience were already there, and they picked this album to buy. However, the sum of all these parts makes for a fascinating album, and the continuing cultural attention paid to the album makes it stronger and stronger as each year goes by. It's an album it would be foolish to ignore or disregard. It's not on the same level as genuinely great works of art, such as Starry Night, Macbeth, or The Waste Land, but it is compelling, entertaining, genuinely moving in places, and certainly a classic. Score: 7 1/2
+ Bee Gees & Others - Saturday Night Fever (RS) (C4) (NM) (ATT) Saturday Night Fever defined and shaped and threw disco music into the global limelight. Sharp songs crisply sung to solid beats. The brothers' skills in crafting songs paid off here, and their high register voices and vocal harmonies pitched against solid disco beats worked perfectly. Everything just falls into place. Only a few tracks on the soundtrack album were written specifically for the film - "Stayin' Alive" and three cheesey instrumental pieces by David Shire. The other tracks were either existing numbers by such as Kool & The Gang, and KC & The Sunshine Band or the Bee Gees themselves ("Jive Talkin' "and "You Should Be Dancing"), or were adapted by the Bee Gees from material they were already working on ("Night Fever", "How Deep Is Your Love", "More Than a Woman" and "If I Can't Have You"). But somehow the combination works. The instrumental pieces clog up the album. It would be much better as a tight single album of Bee Gees material, but there you go - this is not a Bee Gees album so the choice was not theirs, it was the choice of Bill Oakes, musical supervisor of the film, and the president of RSO Records. Score: 7
$ Iggy Pop – Lust for Life (ATT) This is the more direct, more exciting, more Iggy Pop album of 1977. Much more effective than The Idiot. Though Bowie also worked on this one, Pop got much more involved as he didn't want Bowie talking control as he did on The Idiot. The result is a powerful album which contains two of Pop's most iconic songs: "Lust For Life" and "The Passenger". Score: 7
$ Muddy Waters – Hard Again Bloody hell, this is good! Score: 6
$ Talking Heads – 77 (ATT) Debut. Contains "Psycho Killer" and has the raw sound and musical approach the band would utilise throughout their career, though the band would get more acclaim for their later albums. Tentative. Score: 5 1/2
$ Talking Heads – 77 (ATT) Debut. Contains "Psycho Killer" and has the raw sound and musical approach the band would utilise throughout their career, though the band would get more acclaim for their later albums. Tentative. Score: 5 1/2
+ Goblin - Suspiria [PG] Italian gothic prog rock band who did horror film soundtracks - this is their most acclaimed. Score: 5 1/2
$ Buzzcocks – Another Music in a Different Kitchen Decent album, though not as impressive as Singles Going Steady (1979). Score: 5
$ Iggy Pop – The Idiot Pop worked closely with David Bowie on this album. Bowie co-writing, producing, and playing on the album. The style of music is more in keeping with some of Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, though remaining more conventionally rock based, and so consequently less interesting. Critically appreciated on release, as this was a restrained and controlled Pop, the album has retained critical respect. Score: 5
+ Cerronne - Supernature / III - Ignore the silly lyrics, this is funky sophisticated electronic disco on a par with Georgio Moroder. The Spotify album includes his first two albums, which is a bonus as they are also funky, and with a smirky sexuality that is difficult to take seriously but will make you grin. I might actually prefer Cerronne I (1976). Score: 4 1/2
+ Gary Wilson - You Think You Really Know Me Something a little wacky that got overlooked in what else was going on during 1977. But is considered an influence on Beck, so is worth checking out. This is not a strong entry, so I may later remove it, but it's quirky enough to be worth paying attention to. Score: 4
+ The Congos - Heart Of The Congos Roots reggae album produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry and considered a lost classic. It had limited release in 1977 due to conflicts between Perry and Island records, and only gained a general release in 1996. Score: 4
+ Radio Birdman - Radios Appear Aussie band's debut of rather old school rock (Stooges, MC5, Golden Earring) that came out at the same time as punk. Has energy and melody. Compare with The Saints. Score: 4
+ Richard Hell - Blank Generation Part of the CBGB scene - member of Television who formed the Voidoids to make this sub-Television album. Score: 3 1/2
$ Iggy Pop – The Idiot Pop worked closely with David Bowie on this album. Bowie co-writing, producing, and playing on the album. The style of music is more in keeping with some of Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, though remaining more conventionally rock based, and so consequently less interesting. Critically appreciated on release, as this was a restrained and controlled Pop, the album has retained critical respect. Score: 5
+ Cerronne - Supernature / III - Ignore the silly lyrics, this is funky sophisticated electronic disco on a par with Georgio Moroder. The Spotify album includes his first two albums, which is a bonus as they are also funky, and with a smirky sexuality that is difficult to take seriously but will make you grin. I might actually prefer Cerronne I (1976). Score: 4 1/2
+ Gary Wilson - You Think You Really Know Me Something a little wacky that got overlooked in what else was going on during 1977. But is considered an influence on Beck, so is worth checking out. This is not a strong entry, so I may later remove it, but it's quirky enough to be worth paying attention to. Score: 4
+ The Congos - Heart Of The Congos Roots reggae album produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry and considered a lost classic. It had limited release in 1977 due to conflicts between Perry and Island records, and only gained a general release in 1996. Score: 4
+ Radio Birdman - Radios Appear Aussie band's debut of rather old school rock (Stooges, MC5, Golden Earring) that came out at the same time as punk. Has energy and melody. Compare with The Saints. Score: 4
+ Richard Hell - Blank Generation Part of the CBGB scene - member of Television who formed the Voidoids to make this sub-Television album. Score: 3 1/2
***
 |
| 1978 |
+ Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (ATT) The debut. Contains "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" and "Wuthering Heights", an extraordinary moment that she has never bettered. This was the album that introduced her - with a scream - to the public, and the sound she has here doesn't really develop significantly over her career. Most critics and fans rate Hounds of Love as her best album, and Dreaming also gets acclaim, but there is still widespread respect for the debut. Her best work overall was her singles, and that is a fascinating body of work, so her most representative album is the 1986 compilation The Whole Story (though, be aware, she redoes the vocal for "Wuthering Heights", so removing that track of its most fascinating aspect). Score: 7
$ Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream (ATT) Everything that the Banshees are and would become are present on this audacious debut. JuJu is widely regarded as their best album, and that is also worth listening to, but everything on JuJu is also here, though not so refined. I like the raw energy and impact of this stage of their career, and that this is their calling card, so for me this is the album to choose. Score: 7
$ The Only Ones – The Only Ones Well crafted and intelligent power-pop/rock songs delivered in a languid romantic style by lead singer Peter Perrett. The band had a hit in 1978 with "Another Girl, Another Planet", which frequently appears on compilation albums of the Seventies punk period, though the band are too well crafted and melodic to be punk. Similar to Buzzcocks, Television, and The Modern Lovers. The album was re-released in 2009 with three additional tracks including "Lovers Of Today", their debut single which caught the attention of the UK music press. Score: 7
+ Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports Subtle, delicate, imaginative, profound,, beautiful. Score: 7
$ Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (RS) Produced by Eno, this comes over as a synthpop version of Talking Heads and the B52s. There is a throwaway intellectualism combined with commercial beats influenced by the Fifties and an overall pop sound that is quite compelling. This is their debut and is widely regarded as their best album. Score: 6 1/2
+ The Albion Band - Rise Up Like The Sun See also Albion Country Band - Battle Of The Field (1976) Quality British folk rock. Score: 6
+ Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians Beautiful. Ambient. Minimalist. Classical. Rock. Pop. Whatever. This is the "posh" version of Brian Eno. Compelling stuff. Score: 6 1/2
+ The Band - The Last Waltz Live final concert of the Band, supported by various artists such as Clapton, Dylan, and Van Morrison, which was filmed by Scorsese, and then released as a triple album. This contains all the Band's best songs, without any dross, plus some great songs from the supporting artists. Of particular note is the performance by Van Morrison of "Caravan". Van Morrison is an awkward and troubled person. Painfully shy, he often found it hard to perform live (and sometimes even to perform in the studio with session musicians he didn't know). Yet, his early Seventies recordings and live performances are seen by critics as amongst the greatest achievements in music (and some say they are the greatest). However, by the mid Seventies his emotional vulnerability overcame him, and he stopped recording and performing for three years. He couldn't write or perform, and after struggling with it for three years he was about to give music up completely, when he was asked to take part in The Band's farewell concert. He knew the members of The Band. They were friends and neighbours, so he agreed. But when it came time for him to go out on stage nerves got the better of him, and he refused. His manager, the beefy Harvey Goldsmith, physically forced him onto the stage, where he staggered on and gave an awesome performance. His own pleasure at his performance is wonderful to see. I have seen Morrison live three times, and I have never seen him high kicking as he does here, and then doing a mic drop and swaggering off the stage. Awesome. After this he returned to performing and has released an album a year ever since.... Score: 6
+ The Albion Band - Rise Up Like The Sun See also Albion Country Band - Battle Of The Field (1976) Quality British folk rock. Score: 6
+ Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians Beautiful. Ambient. Minimalist. Classical. Rock. Pop. Whatever. This is the "posh" version of Brian Eno. Compelling stuff. Score: 6 1/2
+ The Band - The Last Waltz Live final concert of the Band, supported by various artists such as Clapton, Dylan, and Van Morrison, which was filmed by Scorsese, and then released as a triple album. This contains all the Band's best songs, without any dross, plus some great songs from the supporting artists. Of particular note is the performance by Van Morrison of "Caravan". Van Morrison is an awkward and troubled person. Painfully shy, he often found it hard to perform live (and sometimes even to perform in the studio with session musicians he didn't know). Yet, his early Seventies recordings and live performances are seen by critics as amongst the greatest achievements in music (and some say they are the greatest). However, by the mid Seventies his emotional vulnerability overcame him, and he stopped recording and performing for three years. He couldn't write or perform, and after struggling with it for three years he was about to give music up completely, when he was asked to take part in The Band's farewell concert. He knew the members of The Band. They were friends and neighbours, so he agreed. But when it came time for him to go out on stage nerves got the better of him, and he refused. His manager, the beefy Harvey Goldsmith, physically forced him onto the stage, where he staggered on and gave an awesome performance. His own pleasure at his performance is wonderful to see. I have seen Morrison live three times, and I have never seen him high kicking as he does here, and then doing a mic drop and swaggering off the stage. Awesome. After this he returned to performing and has released an album a year ever since.... Score: 6
$ Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance/ Dub Housing (ATT) Post-punk art rock. Quirky and interesting if not entirely successful. Elements of Beefheart, Talking Heads, and The Fall. Score: 6
$ The Police – Outlandos D'Amour (ATT) The Police became one of the most popular bands of the Eighties, and championed the fusion of rock and reggae such that it became their identifiable sound and an influence on other artists. As such they have a cultural significance that demands they are represented on this list. But which album? This album, their debut, is their most focused and energetic, consciously reflecting the energy of the then popular UK punk movement in the hope of commercial success, plus showing their prog-rock/jazz influences which would become clearer on subsequent releases. Their second album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979), dropped any pretence at punk and concentrated on a smoother, more commercial style - blending their prog-rock/jazz influences with a mainstream rock-pop approach that the public found very appealing. The professional and attractive music, combined with Sting's intelligent and literary lyrics (and his good looks), ensured the band's success, and all subsequent albums followed Reggatta's style rather than the debut's. Their final album, Synchronicity, was their most successful, selling over 8 million in the USA, and is the one most often mentioned by critics, especially as it was their most musically accomplished and ambitious album. I don't think there is much to choose between their albums, though for me the energy and excitement and commitment of the first album makes it stand everything that the band were and would become is present in that album, but with the added bonus that the band sound honest and that they really want it. Score: 5 1/2
+ Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Pure Pop for Now People) (CCC) Score: 5
+ Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams Jazzy slightly ambient introspections on the way to something, but not quite getting there, however, a very pleasant, dreamy listen. Surprisingly modern sounding. Produced by Brian Eno. Score: 5
+ Linton Kwesi Johnson / Poet and The Roots - Dread Beat an' Blood Moderately interesting deb reggae by the British West Indian poet. Score: 5
+ Nina Hagen - Nina Hagen Band A rather operatic German rock singer - the style is sort of glam rock with a nod toward Kiss and the New York Dolls, and a bit of the spirit of punk. Not serious, but quite ear-catching! Score: 5
+ Chaka Khan - Chaka (1978) Contains the hit single "I'm Every Woman". Chaka Khan is known as The Queen Of Funk. She sometimes contributes to the writing, but usually she is just the singer. I Feel For You (1985) is her best selling and most critically acclaimed album in which she moved into contemporary R&B, and it contains the hit single "I Feel For You" which is more about Arif Mardin's production, Grandmaster Melle Mel's "Chaka Khan" mutterings, and Stevie Wonder's harmonica than it is about Khan's rather subdued vocals. This is not Khan at her vocal best! She started in the funk group Rufus making energetic funky albums, such as Rufus (1973) and Rufusized (1974), where her singing ability made her stand out, and she was releasing solo albums alongside her work with Rufus until 1985. Her voice is strong, attractive, and carries the funk well. Early on in her career she was compared to Aretha Franklin, and you can hear the potential in her voice in the early Rufus albums, but she never quite developed it. Play "Respect" by Aretha Franklyn and you can see that the comparison is not appropriate. And this performance by Franklyn of "Natural Woman" is quite out of Khan's league. However, she does have a good, funky voice. Score: 5
+ Crass - The Feeding Of The 5000 An early Seventies hippy anarchist commune formed a sort of anti-punk punk group at the height of punk as a sort of political agitprop art project. They blended hippy, anarchist, left-wing socialist, and punk ideas into a very loud and controversial whole. Attitude was more important than the music. This is their problematic debut which initially had to be released without the opening track, "Asylum", because the record plant refused to press it with that track. Crass then formed their own record company and re-released the album in 1979 with the track. Score: 5
+ Various - No New York A "no wave" compilation by Brian Eno. Score: 5
+ Various - No New York A "no wave" compilation by Brian Eno. Score: 5
+ Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool Score: 5
$ The Cars – The Cars (NM) (ATT) Quite likeable "New Wave" (read as "intelligent/arty pop rock from young musicians not crude or loud or violent like punk"). This debut is widely seen as their best album, and it is attractive. But are The Cars the most significant of the New Wave bands? Is this album that much better than other New Wave albums released at the time? And, aside from the New Wave tag, is it genuinely above the ordinary? Score: 4 1/2
$ The Cars – The Cars (NM) (ATT) Quite likeable "New Wave" (read as "intelligent/arty pop rock from young musicians not crude or loud or violent like punk"). This debut is widely seen as their best album, and it is attractive. But are The Cars the most significant of the New Wave bands? Is this album that much better than other New Wave albums released at the time? And, aside from the New Wave tag, is it genuinely above the ordinary? Score: 4 1/2
+ Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution The first significant UK reggae act. A Birmingham band, they presumably influenced early UB40, but never had their success. Score: 3 1/2
***
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| 1979 |
$ Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps (RS) (CCC) (ATT) A great album. It came out when the punk attitude had settled down into being mainstream, and Young showed he was fully on board with that, yet also still able to operate in a folky vibe as well. All new material, yet recorded live (with studio overdubs). One side acoustic, the other side electric; this is both sides of a supremely talented and unique individual. Score: 9
$ Michael Jackson – Off the Wall (RS) (CCC) (C4) (NM) (NME) (ATT) Wow! This is such a hugely influential album - Jackson's most important (though Thriller would be more popular and commercially successful). He and Quincy Jones developed a smooth, rhythmic, very danceable style of music that would become known as modern or contemporary R&B - quite possibly the most successful musical style of the 21st century. This is an important album, and very attractive to listen to. Score: 8 1/2
+ Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady An awesome collection of songs from the seriously underrated but hugely influential power pop band of Pete Shelley. Better and more consistent than the albums. This is the album to listen to - it contains some powerful, some beautiful, and some unique and funny songs. Score: 8 1/2
+ The Roches - The Roches (CCC) Quirky folky trio with Robert Fripp on guitar. There's a Brian Eno feel to this. Beautiful, interesting and intelligent. Score: 6 1/2
$ The Clash – London Calling (RS) (MC) (C4) (NM) (G50) (Q) (ATT) Hugely acclaimed third album by one of the most respected young rock bands to emerge during the UK punk period. Score: 6
+The Fall - Live At The Witch Trials Debut album. Rich and generous. Full of ideas. Good attitude. Score: 6
$ Elvis Costello – Armed Forces (RS) (ATT) Plenty of good songs on here, but Costello is starting to drift away from the energy and feel of his first two albums. Score: 6
$ Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (MC) (NME) (ATT) Joy Division were significant for the post-punk music generation for taking the energy, immediacy, and anger/violence of punk and applying it to mood, expression, and atmosphere. They bridged punk and synthpop. They only made two albums before the lead singer, Ian Curtis, killed himself, but both are seen as important. This is their first, and is generally regarded as their most significant, and is highly regarded, though the second sold more, as it was released shortly after Curtis' death. The band continued without Curtis, under the name New Order, and became one of the major bands of the 80s. Score: 6
+ Swell Maps - A Trip To Marinville Score: 6
+ Madness - One Step Beyond... (C4) (ATT) Replacing The Rise & Fall. This is more typically Madness, and shows their influence on the Ska revival in the UK. Score: 6
+ Madness - One Step Beyond... (C4) (ATT) Replacing The Rise & Fall. This is more typically Madness, and shows their influence on the Ska revival in the UK. Score: 6
+ Various - The Best of 2 Tone Score: 5 1/2
+ Misty In Roots - Live at the Counter Eurovision 79 Subtle and beautiful roots reggae from an acclaimed but commercially unrecognised UK act. This is their powerful debut. Score: 5 1/2
+ Various - The Best Punk Album in the World Ever! (1995) Decent compilation rounding up some of the most commercial and appealing singles released in the UK in the late Seventies. The selection includes those singles strongly associated with the punk movement - New Rose and Anarchy In The UK, for example, plus a variety of tracks that were released around the same time that may have features in common with the punk movement, but were not punk, such as tracks by Adam Ant, Dr Feelgood, and Talking Heads. There is nothing by The Clash or Dead Kennedys Score: 5 1/2
+ Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats Avant-garde jazzy tongue-in-cheek art-rock group. This is widely acknowledged as their best album. Score: 5 1/2
+ Supertramp – Breakfast in America (ATT) [pg] Supertramp were popular, but not important or essential. Breakfast in America is their best known and best selling album, containing several of their best selling songs. A pleasant jazz-pop band who emerged from a progressive band, and retained some of the elements of that in their music. Score: 5
$ Public Image Ltd – Metal Box (RS) Respected album, and almost universally regarded as PiL's most significant. My personal favourite is 1986's Album which contains PiL's finest moment, the extraordinary single "Rise", but I'll hold this Metal Box in place for now. Score: 5
+ Fern Kinney - Groove Me Funky R&B disco. Attractive stuff, though she wasn't critically or commercially successful. Score: 5
+ Cowboys International - The Original Sin Little known but typical late 70s post-punk combined with synthpop. An interesting period piece, and more wide-ranging than some of the band's better known contemporaries. Score: 5
+ Cowboys International - The Original Sin Little known but typical late 70s post-punk combined with synthpop. An interesting period piece, and more wide-ranging than some of the band's better known contemporaries. Score: 5
+ The Pop Group - Y Post-punk band blending several music styles including free jazz and funk. Challenging, but interesting. Score: 4 1/2
+ Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaw Jazzy guitar driven folk with a variety of largely indifferent lyrical themes including Christian. Nice sound. Score: 4 1/2
+ Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaw Jazzy guitar driven folk with a variety of largely indifferent lyrical themes including Christian. Nice sound. Score: 4 1/2
+ Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material Score: 4
+ Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Music Ambient music. Score: 3 1/2
+ Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Music Ambient music. Score: 3 1/2
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