1001 Albums: 84-93

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!