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!
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