1001 Albums: 0349 - 0359, It's 1976!

As the tile says, it's 1976. Friends, 1976 is no 1975. No sirree Bob! It's not all terrible, it just seems very bland compared to the dizzying heights reached in the last blog. It stars out pretty strong, but quickly slides down hill. Only one personal favourite is to be found. It's a little disappointing, but I suppose to be expected as well. Genre albums that no one gives a hoot about have returned in great quantity after taking a break, and it slows everything down. Here it is, you'll see what I mean.


0349 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1st Album) - It's weird to think that Tom Petty goes back this far since I discovered him due to his cool videos in the late 80's. Anyways, this Tom Petty is more of a straight ahead rock guy, and not as jingle jangely as the later Tom Petty. He is good, American Girl and Breakdown are both great songs. So don't let the idiotic album art fool you.


0350 The Modern Lovers – Modern Lovers - I love this album a ridiculous amount. Some may know Jonathan Richman as the lovable balladeer in "Something About Mary". Before that, he did this, an amazing lo-fi album that sounds like The Velvet Underground with a sense of humour and naive romance. It's truly great stuff, Richmans thick Boston accent is perfect for these types of songs. That said, buy the re-issue with bonus tracks since it has my favourite song "I'm Straight" on it. RECOMMEND!


0351 David Bowie – Station to Station - This appears to be the album that introduced the "Thin White Duke" persona. Bowie mentions it in a lyric anyways. The big song on this one is "Golden Years" and it really is a great song. Nothing else though really stood out. The album sounds remarkably cold, and worse, kind of boring. Sorry Mr. Bowie, but I think this is where we start to part ways.


0352 Joni Mitchel – Hejira -Holy shit, ANOTHER JONI MITCHEL ALBUM?!?! Alright then! It starts out with the song "Coyote", which is a fave song of mine. I've listened to it 100's of time on "The Last Waltz" by The Band. The rest of the album is a bit of a blur already even though I listened to it yesterday (as I type this). I remember liking it more then the previous album, but it's not exceptional in any way. I'm also going to stop predicting Joni Mitchel albums...


0353 Boston – Boston (1st Album) - People who hate over indulgent seventies music can point their fingers at this scoundrel. It was practically made by one guy, and everything is polished to a glossy glow. That said, it's actually really good, it's hard not to get caught up in the joy of rock on this. It really does manage to come off as fun and full of life, and ROCKS. Plus it has a cool UFO on the cover. Recommend.


0354 Eagles – Hotel California - My hatred of the Eagles and this album are well documented. All I'll add is, this is as perfect and polished as that Boston album and it shows a huge difference. Boston is full of life, while this is a dead, soulless husk. Avoid!


0355 ABBA – Arrival - My friend Steve Lensman gets his wish, as his favourite band appears! I might be exaggerating, I'm sure he asked about them at some point. Anyways, this is the ridiculously popular bands fourth album so I guess it took a while for them to get up to speed. I've never been huge on them, and I still don't understand their popularity. I mean, grand mothers too little kids like these guys! Big hits like "Dancing Queen" and "Money, Money, Money" can be found here, and are decent enough. Otherwise, I'm a bit meh on this. The awkward "Kiss the Teacher" is no help, that's for damn sure, and the girls sing so loud they sound shrill to my ears. Or this is just evidence that I have no soul since I'm clearly in the minority.


0356 Kiss – Destroyer - The mighty KISS make an appearance. I was never much of a fan, and consider to be not much of a fan to this day. This is still a fun little rock'n record and worth a spin. Detroit Rock City and Beth are the big hits, but the song about Gene licking your pussy is the camp highlight.


0357 Rush – 2112 - Being a Canadian means that I am hardwired by birth to like Rush probably more then I should. This was their big breakout album, and features the 20 odd minute title track. It tells some story that frankly I never full understood. It's certainly no "Bytor Vs. Snow Dog". Anyways, it's dead solid prog-Rush, with amazing playing. Hell, there's more riffs in the first 5 minutes of 2112 then most bands use in 5 years.


0358 Jorge Ben – África Brasil - African Brazil jazz I guess. Did nothing for me.

Joan Armatrading
0359 Joan Armatrading – Joan Armatrading (1st Album) - Overly earnest folk with very little style. This one did nothing for me either.

See? Modern Lovers is the big one here, with Boston and Rush following for the top 3. When Boston and Rush are in the top three recommends, well, that says it all.

The silver lining? The numbering makes sense again since I'm mostly caught up! Hurray!* Let's hope the next batch is better. Come on 1976! You can do it!

Till next time!
*I screwed up the numbering, so fixing it means it makes no sense again. Rats!