Welcome back to another episode kiddies. It's another hodge podge of music, not so much genre wise but a poor to amazing thing. A handful of some of my favourite bands appear, and some bands I've never warmed to as well. So business as usual I guess.
0084 -The Beau Brummels – Triangle
I did not like this one. It's a folk rock deal, with more of a leaning to folk. Actually, it's more leaning to a folkier Dylan style rock. It just sounded awful. The songs were not memorable at all, and the singer sounds like Arlo Guthrie, which isn't a good thing. So this folk/psychedelic rock album gets a big pass from me.
0085 Monkees – Headquarters
I love the Monkees, so I am pleased and surprised to find them on this list. The Monkees always get a shit kicking due to being a blatant Beatles rip off marketed for the kiddie scene. The thing is, they really are good. The songs they were given to sing are legitimately good songs, and for a prefab band, they actually have some talent. Which brings us to this album. While Davey and Mickey were pretty firmly in the actor/entertainer mode, Mike and Peter came out of the folk scene and always bristled at not being able to do their own songs on the LPs. This was their shot, and they wrote and played most of the material. It's a dead solid album, featuring many of their best songs. Great stuff from a band that many consider to be a joke. You just have to love the Monkees!
0086 Buckley, Tim – Goodbye & Hello
since I haven't been living under a rock, I had heard of Tim Buckley before, but I don't think I've ever actually listened to him. This was folk music with a capital "P" for protest. Hell, there was even war sounds on the one of the tracks. This is the type of thing that usually has me running to the hills, but in this case it worked. He had an amazing, singular voice that was perfect for these songs. So this gets a well done, and I plan to give it a few more listens.
0087 Love – Forever Changes
At the risk of sounding like a retard, I have loved this album since the time I became aware of it. It's a pop masterpiece if ever there was one that cleverly mixes amazing arrangements in an incredibly pleasing ways. The hip kids today would call this baroque pop I think. Whatever the hell that means. I call it amazing. I'm yet to tire of it, and on this list, it grew to be even more impressive after listening to that album of theirs in the last pack. It's a huge leap in craftsmanship between the two. The joys of listening to music chronologically!
0088 Cream – Disraeli Gears
I have an admission to make. I've never liked Eric Clapton. Never been all that impressed by his music, his guitar work or his songs. Just a big bore for me. I probably admitted this already. Anyways, due to this dislike, I've never been impressed with Cream as a band. Sure, "White Room" and "Sunshine Of Your Love" are great songs, but the rest? It's a pass for me. This is probably my 5th time giving this album a shot, and it still hasn't warmed on me. Which means it never well. Sorry Cream, you fail.
0089 Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn
I've been doing more then a fair bit of sixties psychedelia bashing on this list. Well, it stops here because I love this album. Yeah, it sounds right out of 1967, but it also kicks ass. With psycho-rockers like "Astronomy Domine" sitting alongside charming, almost children song sounding track like "Bike", it's hard not to fall in love with Pink Floyd at this time. I love it, and you should to, you really really should!
0090 Who – Sell Out
Being a big fan of the Who, I've loved this album for a while now. People consider "Sgt. Pepper" to be the first concept album, but the idea of a concept album is much better done here. This plays out like listening to pirate radio, adverts and all. Well, it does to a point anyways, the radio bit mysteriously vanishes about halfway through side 2. Anyways, this is a damned good one for a Who record. The songs are varied, Entwistle gets a chance to shine with "Silas Stingy", and it features one of my favourite, most over looked songs "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands". Basically, this is a win all around, and the remastered versions adds more songs and commercials, so get that one.
0091 Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
If there was ever a band to be over rated and labelled a critics darling, it's the Velvet Underground. They are also entirely awesome, and I have a deep love for them and their music. this is the first album, largely overseen by Andy Warhol, and the only LP to feature Nico. It's damned good too. It's a bit psychedelic, but in an ugly way that stands in the face of peace of love with songs about S&M and Heroin. As a result, it feels much more real and honest, so the proper love songs like "I'll Be Your Mirror" stand out. I believe in the Velvet Underground, and you should check this out and spin it a few times if you haven't.
0092 Sinatra, Frank - Frank Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
I was a bit surprised to find this one on here. I figured by this point, Sinatra was "SINATRA" and you either liked him or you didn't and the albums were all basically standards. After listening to this, I'm guessing it gets the nod since it's "Latin Sinatra". Frank is in fine voice, as always, and surprisingly fits in with this Latin style. He even does "Girl From Ipanema" and it works. That's because it's Sinatra, and he could do no wrong when he picked a song.
0093 Doors, The – The Doors
The Doors make their debut, and Jim Morrison gets to be the Lindsy Lohan of 1967. I've been a Doors fan since the end of Junior High, which is when I think all boys discover The Doors. I then fell out of favour with them and found that damned Keyboard dead annoying. I made peace with them in the past couple years, and am confident that this is a pretty damned good album, especially for a debut. People know it for the hits, but I always liked "20th Century Fox". Anyways, The Doors are one of those bands you're supposed to listen to if you haven't already, so get to it if you haven't!
That's it!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
1001 Albums: 74-83
Keee-rist! This seems to already be taking forever. I thought I was going through these at a pretty good clip, but it's just not happening. Soon, the snow shall fly in my humble city, which means no more reading at the bus stops for me. So my pace on these 10-packs should pick up since no bus reading means more listening.
This one was a real mix up for me. The greatest album ever made ever in the world ever is on it. An album that I think is the first one for me to all out despise is on it too. So here it is, albums 74-83, in all their poorly written and boringly presented glory!
0074 Yardbirds – Yardbirds [aka Roger the Engineer] (1st Album)
I'm a bit torn on this one. Nothing really stood out for me, but it also wasn't really all that bad. I guess it ultimately sounded derivative of everything else that was going on at the time so it all just goes WOOONK in my brain instead of surprising me. So is it worthy of this list? No. Is it that bad? No. If you're curious about early Jeff Back, and some harder then usual rock. It's probably worth a listen. I just wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
0075 Simone, Nina – Wild is the Wind
Unlike the Yardbirds, this one did surprise me! I was expecting a jazzy singer type thing, and what I got was some very sophisticated soul. Her voice is amazing, but if you've ever heard of her you already expected that. The songs for the most part where pretty great. I'm guessing the one that's considered the high point is "Four Woman", but I find this type of social commentary to be way to obvious and annoying. Other then that though, damned good stuff.
0076 Gilberto, Astrud – Beach Samba
The Girl From Ipanema gets her star turn on the list. This was really quite pleasing. The gentle samba rhythms just curl up around you and Astrud herself has a sweet innocence to her that is just perfect for this type of music. So while she's not the greatest vocalist or anything, she's better then the one hit no-name wonder I presumed she was. So great job Astrud! (Presuming Astrud is still alive, has the internet at her beach, and will read this)
0077 Nico – Chelsea Girl
Oh Nico, what to do with you! Yes, you're super hot to look at, but your droning voice... it's a bit charming but you sound like a drag queen with no talent (in case any drag queens are reading this and take offense...). Anyways, this is on the list for one reason and one reason only: it's basically a Velvet Underground album. It features Lou Reed and John Cale. "But Russ, is that a bad thing?" No, no it's not. It's actually a good thing and this is pretty decent. It's the style of music I would describe as "French Chanteuse", only sung with a droning, manly German accent. The weird thing here is, the best song is a Bob Dylan one, "I'll Keep It With Mine'. So while it's not terrible, it's also not as good as any of the Velvet Undergrounds material. I love the Velvet Underground. So you take all that, do the math and make a chart and decide for yourself if it's worth your time to listen to this.
0078 Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
What is there possibly left to say about the greatest rock record of all time? Nothing except that I was bored with the thing until buying it for Beatles Rock Band, and gained a re-appreciation for it. For pop perfection, it's incredibly loose when you play along to it with plastic guitars, and I attribute that feel to it's continued success. It's perfect, and it was played by human hands that were not. It's a beautiful thing, and worthy of it's over-rated legacy.
0079 Country Joe & the Fish – Electric Music for the Mind & Body
This was just shit frankly. Country Joe is only known for one thing, and one thing only: "The Fish Cheer" at Woodstock. Without that moment in time, no one would of gave Country Joe another thought. This album is of the annoying "We're psychedelic and clever and dangerous!" type that annoys the pee and poo out of me. It's also one of those albums where they use the word "high" as if it was a shocking, amazingly rebellious thing. It might of been then, but now it's just cliched and sticks this album firmly in 1967 where it should of been forced to wallow for ever. Fail!
0080 Buffalo Springfield – Again
Alright, after bashing Country Joe for being a walking gimmick, I'm going to be a hypocrite and praise Buffalo Springfield. Yes, it very much sounds like a 1967 album. The difference though is, The Springfield at this time was pretty much falling apart, and everyone was contributing their own songs. So the different flavours and styles that show up are much more honest, speaking for the artists as opposed to coming off as desperate gimmicks. When said artists are the likes of Neil Young and Stephen Stills, you will hear the things they are doing here in their later work. So my love of all things Neil Young, and love for this period give this one a giant pass because it is a pretty fantastic record. I feel like Young and Stills both went on to do greater things (well Young did, I never cared for "Crosby, Stills & Nash" without Young being involved), but this stands up with it's head held high in light of that future fact. Not many could say the same of their past.
0081 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Safe as Milk
I'm mostly familiar with Beefheart through his connection with Frank Zappa. So I was a bit surprised not to see Zappa'a name anywhere on here since some of the tracks sound like the Studio Z stuff Zappa recorded with Beefheart. Anyways, this was good. Some nasty, dirty blues to be found here, snarled out in that voice only Beefheart has. There are a few moments where this slips into a bit of psychedelic cliche, but for the most part the Captain manages to rise above it. So I give this one a win, and in many ways I preferred this to the much more lauded "Trout Mask Replica" (which oddly enough, was produced by Zappa.)
0082 Moby Grape – Moby Grape (1st Album)
The band's called "Moby Grape", so you kind of want to hate this from the get go. It ended up actually being pretty good. Yeah, it's more psychedelia, but it's grounded in a dead solid country/blues roots base that makes this work in ways that, again, that Country Joe record just didn't. So it's a pretty pleasing album.
0083 Love – Da Capo
I've heard of Love before, and am a pretty big fan of their album "Forever Changes", so I knew what to expect here. Except I was wrong! This was a real surprise. "Forever Changes" is a piece of elegant pop perfection. This one is a band that seems to be struggling between it's garage/bar band routes and what would later become the gentle perfection that is found on "Forever Changes". The real mind blower though is the song "7 and 7 is", a song that's so sonically punk that it blows the doors off. I had heard and loved this track before thanks to the brilliant "Nuggets" boxset, but never in a million years thought that the "Love" credited to 7 was the same as the one responsible for "Forever Changes". That my friends, is a true sign of greatness, and I think this record is the "find" for me on this ten pack. Well worth a listen!
That's that! Until next time friends, be good to one another.
*If anyone knows how to make all the links look the same on this stupid thing, I'd greatly appreciate it!
This one was a real mix up for me. The greatest album ever made ever in the world ever is on it. An album that I think is the first one for me to all out despise is on it too. So here it is, albums 74-83, in all their poorly written and boringly presented glory!
0074 Yardbirds – Yardbirds [aka Roger the Engineer] (1st Album)
I'm a bit torn on this one. Nothing really stood out for me, but it also wasn't really all that bad. I guess it ultimately sounded derivative of everything else that was going on at the time so it all just goes WOOONK in my brain instead of surprising me. So is it worthy of this list? No. Is it that bad? No. If you're curious about early Jeff Back, and some harder then usual rock. It's probably worth a listen. I just wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
0075 Simone, Nina – Wild is the Wind
Unlike the Yardbirds, this one did surprise me! I was expecting a jazzy singer type thing, and what I got was some very sophisticated soul. Her voice is amazing, but if you've ever heard of her you already expected that. The songs for the most part where pretty great. I'm guessing the one that's considered the high point is "Four Woman", but I find this type of social commentary to be way to obvious and annoying. Other then that though, damned good stuff.
0076 Gilberto, Astrud – Beach Samba
The Girl From Ipanema gets her star turn on the list. This was really quite pleasing. The gentle samba rhythms just curl up around you and Astrud herself has a sweet innocence to her that is just perfect for this type of music. So while she's not the greatest vocalist or anything, she's better then the one hit no-name wonder I presumed she was. So great job Astrud! (Presuming Astrud is still alive, has the internet at her beach, and will read this)
0077 Nico – Chelsea Girl
Oh Nico, what to do with you! Yes, you're super hot to look at, but your droning voice... it's a bit charming but you sound like a drag queen with no talent (in case any drag queens are reading this and take offense...). Anyways, this is on the list for one reason and one reason only: it's basically a Velvet Underground album. It features Lou Reed and John Cale. "But Russ, is that a bad thing?" No, no it's not. It's actually a good thing and this is pretty decent. It's the style of music I would describe as "French Chanteuse", only sung with a droning, manly German accent. The weird thing here is, the best song is a Bob Dylan one, "I'll Keep It With Mine'. So while it's not terrible, it's also not as good as any of the Velvet Undergrounds material. I love the Velvet Underground. So you take all that, do the math and make a chart and decide for yourself if it's worth your time to listen to this.
0078 Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
What is there possibly left to say about the greatest rock record of all time? Nothing except that I was bored with the thing until buying it for Beatles Rock Band, and gained a re-appreciation for it. For pop perfection, it's incredibly loose when you play along to it with plastic guitars, and I attribute that feel to it's continued success. It's perfect, and it was played by human hands that were not. It's a beautiful thing, and worthy of it's over-rated legacy.
0079 Country Joe & the Fish – Electric Music for the Mind & Body
This was just shit frankly. Country Joe is only known for one thing, and one thing only: "The Fish Cheer" at Woodstock. Without that moment in time, no one would of gave Country Joe another thought. This album is of the annoying "We're psychedelic and clever and dangerous!" type that annoys the pee and poo out of me. It's also one of those albums where they use the word "high" as if it was a shocking, amazingly rebellious thing. It might of been then, but now it's just cliched and sticks this album firmly in 1967 where it should of been forced to wallow for ever. Fail!
0080 Buffalo Springfield – Again
Alright, after bashing Country Joe for being a walking gimmick, I'm going to be a hypocrite and praise Buffalo Springfield. Yes, it very much sounds like a 1967 album. The difference though is, The Springfield at this time was pretty much falling apart, and everyone was contributing their own songs. So the different flavours and styles that show up are much more honest, speaking for the artists as opposed to coming off as desperate gimmicks. When said artists are the likes of Neil Young and Stephen Stills, you will hear the things they are doing here in their later work. So my love of all things Neil Young, and love for this period give this one a giant pass because it is a pretty fantastic record. I feel like Young and Stills both went on to do greater things (well Young did, I never cared for "Crosby, Stills & Nash" without Young being involved), but this stands up with it's head held high in light of that future fact. Not many could say the same of their past.
0081 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Safe as Milk
I'm mostly familiar with Beefheart through his connection with Frank Zappa. So I was a bit surprised not to see Zappa'a name anywhere on here since some of the tracks sound like the Studio Z stuff Zappa recorded with Beefheart. Anyways, this was good. Some nasty, dirty blues to be found here, snarled out in that voice only Beefheart has. There are a few moments where this slips into a bit of psychedelic cliche, but for the most part the Captain manages to rise above it. So I give this one a win, and in many ways I preferred this to the much more lauded "Trout Mask Replica" (which oddly enough, was produced by Zappa.)
0082 Moby Grape – Moby Grape (1st Album)
The band's called "Moby Grape", so you kind of want to hate this from the get go. It ended up actually being pretty good. Yeah, it's more psychedelia, but it's grounded in a dead solid country/blues roots base that makes this work in ways that, again, that Country Joe record just didn't. So it's a pretty pleasing album.
0083 Love – Da Capo
I've heard of Love before, and am a pretty big fan of their album "Forever Changes", so I knew what to expect here. Except I was wrong! This was a real surprise. "Forever Changes" is a piece of elegant pop perfection. This one is a band that seems to be struggling between it's garage/bar band routes and what would later become the gentle perfection that is found on "Forever Changes". The real mind blower though is the song "7 and 7 is", a song that's so sonically punk that it blows the doors off. I had heard and loved this track before thanks to the brilliant "Nuggets" boxset, but never in a million years thought that the "Love" credited to 7 was the same as the one responsible for "Forever Changes". That my friends, is a true sign of greatness, and I think this record is the "find" for me on this ten pack. Well worth a listen!
That's that! Until next time friends, be good to one another.
*If anyone knows how to make all the links look the same on this stupid thing, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
1001 Albums: 64-73
A week off work means I fell a bit behind again. I'm attempting to get in 10 albums a week on this thing, but it doesn't seem to be happening. Stupid life! Anyways, after getting over a puppy emergency (he's fine) I'm finally able to wrap up and post my incredibly intelligent and thoughtful thoughts on the next batch of albums on this furshlunginger list! On the whole, this is a good batch, featuring a couple of my all time favourite artists and no jazz!
0064 Dylan, Bob – Blonde on Blonde
Many consider this to be Bobs best, but I've never warmed to it. It has some amazing work on it, "Just Like A Woman", "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" and "Visions Of Johanna" are awe inspiring to me. There's plenty of other good material to be found too, it's just a bit too mired in weird, gimmicky, 1960's arrangements for me to really love this as a whole.
0065 Monks – Black Monk Time
I really liked this one. Garage rock at it's finest. Noisy, obnoxious and damned satisfying. It's also incredibly negative, which just makes you love it more. Great stuff.
0066 Kinks – Face to Face
I quite enjoyed this one. Despite being from a part of the 60's that can be a little too clever for it's own good, this one has a solid, consistent sound. It also finds the Kinks moving from the harder edge "The Who" sound in to something best described as suburban. Not boring suburban though since many of these songs are interesting not just musically but lyrically. It's simply a nice record to throw on and listen to. Which is all it needs to be in the end.
0067 Mamas & the Papas – If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
I've never liked this band, and I still don't. That's completely ignoring the history and story of the players and concentrating on the music. This is the record that kicked off all that San Francisco peace and love bullshit, and it's dead annoying. The original songs are at best decent, the covers though are fucking awful and smothered in the worst 60's gimmick sound you'll find. the highlight for this band is supposed to be the harmonies, but they're shit compared to the three "B's" operating at the time. (The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, in case you haven't been paying attention.) So the whole thing is a waste of time for me. This is the first album I've encountered on the list that I think should of been bumped for something else. Well done Mamas & Papas, you baby fuckers!
0068 Revere, Paul & the Raiders – Midnight Ride
This one shouldn't be on the list either. No, it's not bad or annoying like that Mamas & Papas record. It's simply unexceptional in every way. At it's worst, it's incredibly desperate. You get a bit of garage rock, some peace and love stuff, a surf tune, a car tune, pretty much a bit of everything to be found in 60's pop music. None of it's as good as other stuff out there, which is why it smacks of a band with a gimmick (American Revolution uniforms) trying desperately to have a hit. Basically, "The Monkees" will come out and do all of this stuff way better. So they should of bumped this off and just had a Monkees album in it's place. Unless this is on the list to show just how desperate a band can be, then it's a total success.
0069 Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!
I am a huge Zappa fan, and I've always loved this album since I first heard it years ago. I can't possibly give an honest critique of this, since I love pretty near every aspect of it. What was fun about revisiting it here though, was just how much of a total "Fuck you' it is in comparison to what everyone else was doing. It sounds nothing like anything out there, the lyrics are scathing to the whole love scene, it's a massive double album affair, and it's their label debut. It's simply even more brilliant then I previously thought!
0070 Rolling Stones – Aftermath
First off, this is a pretty solid Stones albums. All the songs are good, they're pushing themselves a bit with stuff like "Paint It Black" it's all good. The thing is though, I'm listing to this based on this list., so it's hard not to compare it to everything else. After all, this is the 1001 Albums You Should Listen too, or whatever it is. In that context, it's not all that great. Compared to their contemporaries, the Stones sound like they're playing catch up. This album sounds like a collection of singles while everyone else are making cohesive albums. So it's good, but not great.
0071 Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
The duos third album makes for their debut on the list. It's a nice one. It doesn't come off as heavy handed as some of their stuff is and actually sounds pretty relaxed. Good stuff for a mellow afternoon.
0072 13th Floor Elevators – Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
This is pretty good garage rock. Theirs a weird sound to this album, so I googled it and found it was an electric jug! That's pretty cool huh? That said, I still think this is on the list more for the fact that the leader, Roky, is legitimately crazy as opposed this being an amazing record.
0073 John Mayall’s Blues Breakers – With Eric Clapton
This is probably the album that started that whole "Clapton is God" bullshit. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album. If you like rocking blues, it's a great album. I've just never cared much for Eric Clapton in any of his numerous bands. He's good, but also kind of boring. I think he's popular for discovering a cool guitar tone instead of actual technical prowess. Most of the guitar solos in this era sound a bit clunky based on the tone. Clapton sounded good. Big deal! Fuck!
I peeked ahead, and the next batch of albums features the greatest album ever made. I wont be able to use that teaser again, so be sure to come on back!
0064 Dylan, Bob – Blonde on Blonde
Many consider this to be Bobs best, but I've never warmed to it. It has some amazing work on it, "Just Like A Woman", "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" and "Visions Of Johanna" are awe inspiring to me. There's plenty of other good material to be found too, it's just a bit too mired in weird, gimmicky, 1960's arrangements for me to really love this as a whole.
0065 Monks – Black Monk Time
I really liked this one. Garage rock at it's finest. Noisy, obnoxious and damned satisfying. It's also incredibly negative, which just makes you love it more. Great stuff.
0066 Kinks – Face to Face
I quite enjoyed this one. Despite being from a part of the 60's that can be a little too clever for it's own good, this one has a solid, consistent sound. It also finds the Kinks moving from the harder edge "The Who" sound in to something best described as suburban. Not boring suburban though since many of these songs are interesting not just musically but lyrically. It's simply a nice record to throw on and listen to. Which is all it needs to be in the end.
0067 Mamas & the Papas – If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears
I've never liked this band, and I still don't. That's completely ignoring the history and story of the players and concentrating on the music. This is the record that kicked off all that San Francisco peace and love bullshit, and it's dead annoying. The original songs are at best decent, the covers though are fucking awful and smothered in the worst 60's gimmick sound you'll find. the highlight for this band is supposed to be the harmonies, but they're shit compared to the three "B's" operating at the time. (The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, in case you haven't been paying attention.) So the whole thing is a waste of time for me. This is the first album I've encountered on the list that I think should of been bumped for something else. Well done Mamas & Papas, you baby fuckers!
0068 Revere, Paul & the Raiders – Midnight Ride
This one shouldn't be on the list either. No, it's not bad or annoying like that Mamas & Papas record. It's simply unexceptional in every way. At it's worst, it's incredibly desperate. You get a bit of garage rock, some peace and love stuff, a surf tune, a car tune, pretty much a bit of everything to be found in 60's pop music. None of it's as good as other stuff out there, which is why it smacks of a band with a gimmick (American Revolution uniforms) trying desperately to have a hit. Basically, "The Monkees" will come out and do all of this stuff way better. So they should of bumped this off and just had a Monkees album in it's place. Unless this is on the list to show just how desperate a band can be, then it's a total success.
0069 Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!
I am a huge Zappa fan, and I've always loved this album since I first heard it years ago. I can't possibly give an honest critique of this, since I love pretty near every aspect of it. What was fun about revisiting it here though, was just how much of a total "Fuck you' it is in comparison to what everyone else was doing. It sounds nothing like anything out there, the lyrics are scathing to the whole love scene, it's a massive double album affair, and it's their label debut. It's simply even more brilliant then I previously thought!
0070 Rolling Stones – Aftermath
First off, this is a pretty solid Stones albums. All the songs are good, they're pushing themselves a bit with stuff like "Paint It Black" it's all good. The thing is though, I'm listing to this based on this list., so it's hard not to compare it to everything else. After all, this is the 1001 Albums You Should Listen too, or whatever it is. In that context, it's not all that great. Compared to their contemporaries, the Stones sound like they're playing catch up. This album sounds like a collection of singles while everyone else are making cohesive albums. So it's good, but not great.
0071 Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
The duos third album makes for their debut on the list. It's a nice one. It doesn't come off as heavy handed as some of their stuff is and actually sounds pretty relaxed. Good stuff for a mellow afternoon.
0072 13th Floor Elevators – Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
This is pretty good garage rock. Theirs a weird sound to this album, so I googled it and found it was an electric jug! That's pretty cool huh? That said, I still think this is on the list more for the fact that the leader, Roky, is legitimately crazy as opposed this being an amazing record.
0073 John Mayall’s Blues Breakers – With Eric Clapton
This is probably the album that started that whole "Clapton is God" bullshit. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album. If you like rocking blues, it's a great album. I've just never cared much for Eric Clapton in any of his numerous bands. He's good, but also kind of boring. I think he's popular for discovering a cool guitar tone instead of actual technical prowess. Most of the guitar solos in this era sound a bit clunky based on the tone. Clapton sounded good. Big deal! Fuck!
I peeked ahead, and the next batch of albums features the greatest album ever made. I wont be able to use that teaser again, so be sure to come on back!
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