ILM's Now For Something Completely Different... 70s Album Poll Results! Top 100 Countdown!

https://i.canvasugc.com/ugc/original/5c85df2a48069765638e9d775f64f064fa9ad829.png
AKA 1970-1979 WTF - The Hard 'n' Heavy 'n' Loud + Krautrock, Arty, Noisy, Weird, Funky, Punky Shit - Albums Poll!

BOOKMARK THE THREAD!

A poll that does sorta cover a multitude of genres and bands in actual fact and not just RAWK before anyone asks. All of ilx was given the chance to nominate and vote. We received over 1000 nominations, 94 ballots (many of whom were the full 100)

The purpose was to have a poll that would have different results to the previous 2 polls. Stay tuned for the ride! There will be a Spotify playlist hopefully if someone volunteers to do it.

ps the top 100 comes later as we're starting at...

501 Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes 408 Points, 3 Votes
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QNq0NdpCuCQ/SUDCN8YPzdI/AAAAAAAACVk/Gw4vCdEtk9A/s1600/Scorpions+-+Tokyo+Tapes+(1978).jpg
RYM #18 for 1978 , #751 overall

hahaha a classic Top 100 poll starting with #501... love ya AG!

are we doing spotify links?

Lol. You just wanted to start with Scorpions as some kind of symmetry, right?

well the tracks poll started with Scorpions so it made sense. Plus it was a sign from God. Pope Francis looks like Bullseye (UK tv darts gameshow ) presenter Jim Bowen so it clearly was a sign to start at 501!

He doesn't look that much like Jim Bowen.

emil.y otm

viceroy yes but this album wasn't available (in the UK at least)

Would you like to do the playlist?

If anyone wasn't looking there was a tracks poll. Full list of results direct link - Rolling Stone Eat Your Heart Out: The Greatest Rawk Trax of the 1970s ILM/ILX Poll RESULTS

10 min interval between album postings ok?

RYM = http://rateyourmusic.com. Rankings are based on an algorithm using scores submitted by users, number of ratings and other factors. Thanks for doing that AG! I'll be helping with getting info and informative goodies on most of the rest after #450.

i'm looking forward to this one ...

I don't think I can do a playlist for this, its gonna be too huge!

but It's not on spotify US either.

Actually I'll just post whenever but it will usually be around 10 min intervals as its a lot of effort to find album covers,spotify,rym.

why is the albums list longer than the tracks list? shouldn't it be shorter? there were fewer albums nominated!

fnb is doing that stuff from 450 down so he will provide rym and acclaimed music rankings and other surprises.

no there wasnt there was over 1000 albums nominated. plus twice as mant voters

oh, ok. idk why I thought there were more tracks than albums.

Consider that the 2012 albums rollout was 77, which seemed like a good number that people were happy with. But that was just for one year! The equivalent for a decade poll would be 770 albums, so 501 is a fine compromise.

yeah, and after all, what else has AG got to do ...

I haven't peeked at any of the album results so this is all gonna be fresh for me. I wonder how it will compare to the tracks one where Post-Punk seemed to dominate pretty hard.

This being albums, perhaps Prog and Krautrock will get higher marks?

I guess I am just saying what I hope lol.

a lot more genres represented for the nominations in this poll than the tracks poll

TIE
499 Cheap Trick - Live At Budokan 408 Points 4 Votes
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/cheaptrick.jpg
RYM #54 for 1979 , #2847 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/5ttDbNMKXczvp0Z8QRgKs6

499 Bang - Bang 408 Points 4 Votes
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/metalmark1/BANG.jpg
RYM Ranked #276 for 1971
http://open.spotify.com/album/0gC4htPlxAEjXdcFOPuG0F

I just want to point out that albums rule

BANG!!! It made it!

I just hope the one Popol Vuh album that was nominated gets enough votes to place. That's all. The rest will be ok with me if that happens.

there was only one???

yup - i just checked the list!
coeur de verre/heart of glass/herz au glas

I don't really have the foggiest notion what Bang is. Someone care to spill the beans?

ONE Popul Vuh album got nommed?! Insanity this is what I get for focusing on other things to nominate.

IDK much about Bang but it was campaigned for in the nom thread and I liked it.

oh man this is gonna cause extra work

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Signed by Capitol Records on a wave of goodwill toward heavy rock following the gang buster success story that was Grand Funk Railroad, the members of Bang were hastily ushered into the nearest studio while the ink on their contract was still drying and essentially asked to "show us what you got" by their new backers. What they had, as exemplified by memorable opening gambit, "Lions, Christians," was a hard rock style that tempered the sheer bombastic doom and gloom of Black Sabbath with a less oppressive, blues-reliant sound redolent of most every other proto-metal band out there at the time (think Toe Fat, May Blitz, Dust, etc.), to be quite honest, and therefore lacking in the uncontrolled danger of a Blue Cheer or Sir Lord Baltimore. In fact, such outright savagery was only momentarily threatened here on a few subsequent tracks, including the biting staccatos of ""Come with Me" and Neanderthal plod of "Future Shock," but by the arrival of lead single "Questions" and its undeniably infectious sibling "Redman," some measure of civility had largely been restored. And, sprinkled amidst these angrier moments lay a few curious stylistic diversions like the gentle Arthurian fingerpicking of "Last Will and Testament" and the hippie-dippy sentiments of "Our Home," each of which respectively veered into art rock and the sort of post-flower power whimsy that Altamont should have categorically nailed to a tree a few years earlier (and which had dominated Bang's ambitious but flawed first effort, Death of a Country, which was shelved upon delivery). Having thus heard Bang's best shot (if you catch our meaning) and then watched "Questions" flounder on the charts, the bean-counting suits at Capitol Records apparently and perhaps prematurely deemed their new charges to be anything but the perfect marriage of Sabbath and Grand Funk they were hoping for. The naïve musicians in Bang were barely given another chance to build upon this solid debut's abundant promise, and, as would be shown by pair of flawed and confused follow-up albums, their career was to be thrown into a tailspin before hardly getting off the ground.

Thanks K. "the gentle Arthurian fingerpicking" wtf?? I do like May Blitz so maybe I'll give this thing a whirl.

tl;dr - The boys really only had one album worth of songs in 'em.

I came here for a nice tidy 100 countdown and I get 500

" too much *clap clap* time on my hands..."

:D

This being albums, perhaps Prog and Krautrock will get higher marks?

Weren't there three krautrock tracks in the top 10 of the tracks poll?

haha true, there was.

Nice start with two iconic live albums recorded in Japan. Was that tradition started by Deep Purple or does it go back further?

Hoo boy, I won't be able to do it for most of this first round cuz I'll be commuting home from work, but...

Cheap Trick - Acclaimed: #964 | RS: #430

As a result of Cheap Trick's burgeoning Asian popularity, the band's Japanese label recorded a pair of April 1978 Tokyo shows and released a live album, At Budokan, proof of the band's supreme stage power and an opportunity to introduce several previously unreleased tunes ("Need Your Love," recorded for the next studio disc, whose release was held up by the live album's unexpected success, is amazing). The live version of "I Want You to Want Me" was picked up by American radio programmers, who turned it into a Top 10 hit. A dynamic rendition of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" also got play, and the platinum-bound album was finally released in the US the following year. -- Trouser Press

Bang

If you dig: Black Sabbath, Hard Rock, Classic Rock. Bang is a quintessential Heavy Rock album, very influenced by early Black Sabbath, but the band waivers off any over-adventurism or Psychedelic meanderings with only one song to break the five-minute barrier..."Questions" was even a minor radio hit in the States... Loved it? Try: Jerusalem, Hard Stuff, Buffalo, Lucifer's Friend, Pentagram. -- R. Chelled

Again, we're talking holy grails of fledgling metal magic here (see Sir Lord Baltimore... a sort of sickly anemic Sabbath trudge with excellent screechy, Ozzy Byron vocals and handicapped drums, more like traps. Rating 8/7 -- M. Popoff

TIE
497    The Vibrators - Pure Mania    411 Points   3  Votes 
http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/t/the-vibrators/album-pure-mania.jpg
RYM #105 for 1977
http://open.spotify.com/album/1FSQBoO0bABGyl4nQssw2E

review
[-] by Mark Deming

Were the Vibrators real punks? Maybe not, but then again, were the Stranglers? Or Eddie and the Hot Rods? Even more to the point, was Steve Jones? Plenty of rock careerists jumped onto the punk/new wave bandwagon in the wake of the Sex Pistols' success (and more than a few folks, like Jones, stumbled into the new movement by accident), but unlike most of them, the Vibrators took to the fast/loud/stripped down thing like ducks to water, and both Knox (aka Ian Carnarchan) and Pat Collier had a genius for writing short, punchy songs with sneering melody lines and gutsy guitar breaks. If the Vibrators were into punk as a musical rather than a sociopolitical movement, it's obvious that they liked the music very much, and on that level their debut album stands the test of time quite well. Pure Mania boasts a bit more polish (and less politics) than many of the albums from punk's first graduating class (such as Damned Damned Damned or The Clash), but if you're looking for a strong, satisfying shot of chugging four-square punk, cue up "Yeah Yeah Yeah," "No Heart," "Petrol," or "Wrecked on You" and you'll be thrown into a gleeful pogo frenzy. Maybe Pure Mania isn't purist's punk, but it's pure rock & roll, and there's nothing wrong with that.

497    Focus - Focus III    411 Points   3  Votes
http://www.buffalomail.com/image.php?mime=image/pjpeg&destacados=1&idFoto=100070
RYM #84 for 1972 , #2439 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/3N4wCf74U6Ye2c2MbLr9hv

review
[-] by Ben Davies

Riding on the success of their hit single "Hocus Pocus" from the revolutionary Moving Waves album, Focus got to work on this, their third LP in four years. While the debut album featured a style not too dissimilar to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Focus' second LP, Moving Waves, was purely instrumental and wholly serious-minded. Focus III kept this same sound, but approached it with a jollier, more accessible tone. As with its predecessor, Focus III featured only one tune that would have a chance of being a hit single. The enjoyable rhythm of "Sylvia," partnered with Jan Akkerman's victorious guitar solo, some of Van Leer's finest organ work, Bert Ruiter's tight basslines, and Pierre Van Der Linden's mellow drumming, assured the track classic status. "Sylvia" found worldwide success and gained the band valuable radio and press exposure. The song remains one of the most loved and best remembered songs from Focus' catalog. The consistency in musical quality throughout Focus III is enough to merit any listeners' respect. To be frank, this LP has it all: diverse songs, astounding musicianship, one of the finest singles ever released -- Focus III should unquestionably be ranked alongside the likes of Revolver, Dark Side of the Moon, and any others of rock's greatest.

496    Sparks - A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing    412  Points  3  Votes
http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/003/411/0000341167_500.jpg
RYM Ranked #464 for 1973
http://open.spotify.com/album/65RIlZ4KlLzX2MxzV7A4hQ

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

Woofer... starts with another killer opening track, musically and lyrically, with "Girl From Germany," a chugging number detailing the problems the narrator has with his parents over his girlfriend, given their lingering wartime attitudes. The album builds upon the strengths of the debut to create an even better experience all around. The same five-person lineup offers more sharp performances. Album engineering veteran James Lowe takes over production reins from Rundgren, with, happily, no audible sense of trying to make the album more commercial. If anything, things are even wiggier this time around, from the naughtily-titled sea chanty which turns into a full-on rocker "Beaver O'Lindy" and the strings-plus-piano "Here Comes Bob," to the album's completely wacked-out, dramatic centerpiece "Moon Over Kentucky." Melodies start approaching the hyperactivity level which would flower completely on the band's subsequent releases. Ron and Earle Mankey trade off or play against each other, while the rhythm section of Jim Mankey and Feinstein executes the kind of sharp tempo changes which would become de rigueur for thrash-metal bands of the '80s, but fit in perfectly here with the spastic pop being played. Russell soars and croons over it all like an angel on deeply disturbing drugs, wrapping his vocals around such lines as "We surely will appreciate our newfound leisure time" from "Nothing is Sacred." The long-time live favorite "Do-Re-Mi" -- indeed a cover of the number from The Sound of Music -- first appears here as well, taking Rodgers and Hammerstein to a level Julie Andrews might be hardpressed to follow. Anyone wondering why Faith No More appeared on Sparks' self-tribute album Plagiarism need only listen to Woofer to understand -- as a full-on purée of musical styles in the service of twisted viewpoints, it's a perfect album.

Well Focus 3 sounds pretty good if Mr. Davies is to be trusted!

Don't know about the ramblings of this Raggett fellow, though...

the focus album is great

Wow, I didn't think that Sparks album would get even 3 votes. Such a great record.

495    Alternative TV - The Image Has Cracked    415 Points   3  Votes
http://991.com/newGallery/Alternative-TV-The-Image-Has-Cra-497104.jpg
RYM #410 for 1978

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

Starting with a nuttily bombastic synth intro (courtesy of Squeeze's Jools Holland!) which sounds just like the music punk was supposed to be destroying might seem an unusual move for a band founded by the guy who chronicled the original London explosion. But it's that very contrariness in Mark Perry which made the original Alternative TV such a thrilling prospect, and which makes The Image Has Cracked an unfairly neglected classic from the late-'70s upheaval. Seizing on the promise of punk as being a new means of expression rather than a new set of musical rules to be adhered to, Perry, along with a solid-enough band, whip up a series of incendiary pieces that explore as much as they thrash, caught somewhere between the Fall's divine ramalama and three-chord snarls. "Alternatives" captures the tense spirit of the band's work perfectly, a live recording where over a gentle groove Perry invites audience members to come up and "use the soapbox," only to have a bunch of chancers and screamers talk a lot about nothing much at all, until Perry spits vitriol at a pair of people in a punch-up and complains about "diluted sh*t." As an expression of going down defiant while punk became a new fashion, it's fierce and brilliant. A good half of the album comes from the same concert, including the harrowing final track, "Splitting in Two," as perfect a capturing of nails-dug-in-flesh paranoia and indecision as anything in music history, revived as a live favorite years later by the Chameleons. The studio cuts include a solid run-through of Zappa's "Why Don't You Do Me Right?" and the closest ATV ever came to an anthemic single, "Action Time Vision." The 1994 CD version adds 11 extra tracks to the original album, including the reggae-inflected "Love Lies Limp" and "Life After Life" singles, among many others, making it the edition of Image to look for.

494    Bang - Mother/Bow To The King    416 Points   4  Votes
http://sinistersaladmusikal.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/100_3957.jpg
RYM #372 for 1972
http://open.spotify.com/album/5WFIHWa1WyhmrTmVhevQZR

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Bang's sophomore album, 1972's Mother/Bow to the King, probably raised quite a few eyebrows in its day based on its curious cover art alone (is that "mother" herself serving the band a very large pie, and is that one dude wearing a cape?), but it was likely the two-for-one title intended to represent each of its vinyl sides that was most revealing of the young band's impending crisis of artistic direction. Until recently, the Philadelphia natives had been just another inexperienced power trio aspiring to become the next Cream, Mountain, or Grand Funk Railroad; then they were plucked out of obscurity by the latter band's parent label, Capitol Records, and asked to deliver in kind, so one can only imagine the sort of pressure and uncertainty tormenting the members of Bang once their first LP failed to set the world on fire. All that being said and notwithstanding the unnecessary sacking of drummer Tony Diorio, there was nevertheless a lot of musical continuity between that debut and the sophomore Mother/Bow to the King, both halves of which were still dominated by high-energy proto-metal exercises like "Humble," "Idealist Realist," and "Feel the Hurt," among others. The folky handclaps of "Mother," the funky guitar of "Keep On," and the proggy ambitions of "Bow to the King" showcased the band's broadening songwriting interests in a positive light; but it was Capitol's insistence that Bang cover the Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight" (which needless to say stuck out like a sore thumb) that told the real and rather unhappy story behind these sessions -- a sign of bigger problems yet to come. For the moment, however, Bang seemed willing and able enough to tackle these various setbacks and compromises in the interest of developing its career for the long haul. Circumstances would sadly quickly scuttle any chance for them to achieve those long-term goals, but at least for the moment, Mother/Bow to the King saw Bang churning out a decent amount of fledgling heavy rock with which to gain a few new fans.

The write ups really add something, thanks for taking the time to put them on.

Sweet cape that dude's wearing too.

I'll vouch for that ATV album, one of my favourite albums from the first wave of UK punk. Love the doomy cavernous quality of their sound, big influence on lots of good 80s stuff like World Dom and Savage Republic.

Alternative TV - Viva La Rock 'n' Roll
Alternative TV - Splitting in Two

493    Hairy Chapter - Can't Get Through    422 Points,   4  Votes
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WVo-Q9kDbzY/TxXYgbR_mGI/AAAAAAAABDo/8tqrOLB4mRk/s1600/front.jpg
RYM #334 for 1971
http://open.spotify.com/album/7J5HRighwhsSgZw5KaBvQs

I love sparks but not so bothered about that album, assuming kimono my house will do ok in this

Hairy Chapter's one of Julian Cope's favourites iirc. First track's a belter, can't remember much about the rest of it though.

This is a pretty interesting album I've never heard of before.

492    Slade - Slayed?    426 Points,   3   Votes
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U__ix0AABJA/UFKrxDbKiDI/AAAAAAAADD4/iUMLVhDPyso/s1600/g1-12-album-slade-slayed.jpg
RYM #239 for 1972

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Slade might have built its everywhere-but-America fame upon a succession of gut-tearing hit singles, but the band's true rocking credentials were on display elsewhere, in the second to none stage show that had already been preserved on the epochal Slade Alive! earlier in 1972 and across the chain of storming B-sides that had accompanied the smashes so far. Slayed? may have been only the band's second studio album in four years, but it reinforced that barrage with enough mighty stompers that the band could have taken the next year off and still not run out of steam. Even if one excises past hits "Gudbuy t' Jane" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" from the equation, Slayed? is a nonstop party, from the riotously self-fulfilling prophecy of "The Whole World's Goin' Crazee" to the down-key but still eminently stompalong-able "Look at Last Nite," the latter a reminder that, even at its loudest, Slade was still capable of some fetching balladry. Or should that be the other way around? The tomahawk riffing of "I Won't Let It 'Appen Again" is another highlight -- a similar arrangement was later borrowed, to excellent effect, for sometime support band Blue Öyster Cult's version of another Slade favorite, the rocker anthem "Born to Be Wild," while "Gudbuy Gudbuy" lurches like a battalion of tanks and matches a stirring Dave Hill guitar break to one of Noddy Holder's coolest-ever vocals. A couple of covers break the Holder/Lea songwriting domination. A bass-heavy blues boogie through Janis Joplin's "Move Over had graced a Slade BBC session earlier in the year, and provoked such a great response that they had no option but to re-record it, while the closing medley of "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Feel So Fine" was the closest you could come to the mania of a Slade live show without actually going out and buying a ticket. Of course, listeners don't have that option today. But stick on Slayed?, crank the volume well up -- and the whole world will be going crazee all over again.

yeah the 1st track on the hairy chapter album is terrific

love Slade

oh yes ! i have totally fallen for this album in recent weeks ...

Chop off one of their fingers, you get Sade.

Damn, where the heck was Janis's Move Over was in the tracks poll?

ive met a fair few people who will rep for Slade and Sweet albums where they say the albums are quite different from the singles

491    Goblin - Goblin    430 Points,   4  Votes
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/813/MI0001813304.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

nice

GOBLIN!!!

Too low!!!

490    Be Bop Deluxe - Axe Victim    431 Points 4 Votes
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TA-Z3DnjheY/UHrrF_8uUrI/AAAAAAAAAuY/XY4YInNn3Hs/s1600/Be-Bop+Deluxe+-+Axe+Victim+-+Front.jpg
RYM #444 for 1974
http://open.spotify.com/album/7rOE5FXOZzhSvmPQn2mjHn

review
by William Ruhlmann

When Be Bop Deluxe's first album was released during the glam rock wave in 1974 and the band (then comprised of Bill Nelson and Ian Parkin on guitars, Robert Bryan on bass, and Nicholas Chatterton-Dew on drums) turned up on the back of the record cover in heavy makeup, it was viewed as being in the David Bowie mold, which certainly took in Nelson's thin but confident tenor vocals and the uptempo rock approach, and even ballads like "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" that sounded a lot like Bowie's "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide." But it was already obvious that Nelson was an unusually lyrical guitar slinger, and in fact the tunes often took a back seat to his sometimes jazzy, sometimes metal-ish excursions. He was, as he sang, "an axe victim," but at the same time, Be Bop Deluxe's musical identity was uncertain.

Haha what a terrible album cover.

wait, what's the goblin? do the band goblin have an album just called goblin, or is that something else?

always loved that be-bop deluxe cover, still never heard the record

No idea about the Goblin

489    Buddy Miles Express - Them Changes    432 Points   4  Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5_i8IPVbWL8/T1IsBvZktrI/AAAAAAAACJ0/U4foiUIb6cQ/s1600/Them%2BChanges.jpg
RYM #281 for 1970
http://open.spotify.com/album/5oZjIOwDlJ7DC1KQM2BjWz

review
by Steve Kurutz

This 1970 release by former Band of Gypsy's drummer Buddy Miles is, quite simply, one of the great lost treasures of soul inspired rock music. From the funky drive of the title track to Miles' plaintive singing on "I Still Love You, Anyway" and Greg Allman's "Dreams," the album is filled with the best qualities of both genres. Not only does Miles prove himself to be a great interpretor of songs, but with the title track and "Heart's Delight," he demonstrates his ability to write solid material on his own. Complimented by the Memphis Horns, Miles' songs soar and swing as hard as any Stax release, and his voice, underutilized when he played with the Electric Flag and Hendrix, combines the nuance of soul singing with the grit of rock. Them Changes is definately worth the extra effort to try to locate.

I have 2 bill nelson solo records but have never heard any bebop deluxe

now that's a drum kit!

488    Chrome - Read Only Memory    433 Points   4  Votes
http://www.audiophileusa.com/covers400water/60555.jpg
RYM #37 for 1979 , #4985 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/0MinkKLxOwm97glvftpSO9

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

Introducing their disembodied drummer John Q. Cyborg -- in reality a drum machine, publicity photos of the time to the contrary -- Chrome moved into the next phase of its existence with Read Only Memory. The five track release reconfirmed them as being some of the craziest musicians out there working with in a rock format at the time. Beginning with a rising swell of processed Creed guitar shooting towards the skies as Edge provides rumbling keyboard loops, before switching over to the varied cut-up format the early Edge/Creed partnership favored, Read Only Memory is, unsurprisingly, strange and eerily compelling. One curious thing about the release is that, rather that specifically highlighting separate songs, the same Cyborg beat continues relentlessly throughout, fading and reappearing from time to time. Edge and Creed make a variety of different noises over the top as they choose, from soft guitar chimes to punchy randomness, all to good effect. The most distinct number is "I Am the Jaw," if only because Creed's brief lyrical part at the start identifies it as such, while the two musicians add more guitar and keyboard moodiness all around.

Definitely need to listen to more Chrome. What I've heard so far is really good.

Surprised you've never heard any albums

love buddy miles' cover of "down by the river". whole album's cool.

487    Free - Heartbreaker    434 Points   4  Votes
http://991.com/newgallery/Free-Heartbreaker---Pi-130492.jpg
RYM Ranked #172 for 1973
http://open.spotify.com/album/0apoOp8hHx0ZD96CHdFyHS

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Free's return in 1972 was scarred by any number of traumas, not least of all the departure of bassist Andy Fraser and the virtual incapacity of guitarist Paul Kossoff -- one-half of the original band, and the lion's share of its spirit as well. But did their erstwhile bandmates let it show? Not a jot. The hastily recruited Tetsu Yamauchi, and vocalist Paul Rodgers himself, filled the breach instrumentally, and probably 50 percent of the ensuing Heartbreaker ranks among Free's finest ever work. Of course, any record that can open with the sheer majesty of "Wishing Well," Rodgers' so-evocative tribute to Kossoff, is immediately going to ascend to the halls of greatness, all the more so since Kossoff himself is in such fine form across both this cut and the next three -- completing side one of the original vinyl, "Come Together in the Morning," "Travellin' in Style," and "Heartbreaker" add up to the band's most convincing sequence of songs since the days of Fire and Water. Further into the disc, two contributions from another new recruit, keyboard player John Bundrick, fall a little flat, a fate they share with the previously unreleased "Hand Me Down/Turn Me Round," one of the 2002 remaster's six bonus tracks. But a pair of solo Rodgers songs, "Easy on My Soul" and "Seven Angels," close the album with as much emotion as it opened on, and one could well argue that, after such a treat, the aforementioned bonus tracks are all but unnecessary, especially as the first few simply offer outtakes, alternates, and B-sides from the sessions themselves. As the CD wraps up, however, two final tracks reveal what happened once the album was completed, peeping into the band's rehearsal room on the eve of their summer tour of Japan to catch "Heartbreaker" and "Easy on My Soul" in such rough but eloquently heavenly form that this most emotionally weighted of Free's albums could demand no deeper coda.

Thank you AG for at starting at 501 because Tokyo Tapes!!

Wow, I didn't think that Sparks album would get even 3 votes. Such a great record.

― Non-Stop Erotic Calculus (bmus)

Think I had it in my top twenty. Great album, one of their eight masterpieces.

I don't know most of the albums that have placed so far but I'm trying to check them out... This Free album starts off pretty good!

I'm pretty sure that Goblin didn't have a self-titled album, so the list actually starts at an even 500!

well AMG lists it so i posted the cover from there.

that album is actually goblin covering the whole of the tyler record fyi

Well AMG has it listed but no tracklist or anything about it. It allegedly came out in 1975 and was the first thing they released under that name, previously calling themselves Cherry Five.

hiruko the goblin appears to be a japanese horror movie from 1991

Well I hope the only Goblin album to place isn't one that doesn't actually exist.

argh I meant -- I hope more Goblin places.

I'm sure Suspira will get more than 4 votes

who nominated it?

not me.

486    Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen    434  Points  5 Votes
http://www.weareprivate.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/411Q7oH4+hL._SS500_.jpg
RYM #45 for 1978 , #1764 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/1tf86cbNXgFpRDntcj3EDb

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

General judgment holds the Buzzcocks' peerless singles, the definition of punk-pop at its finest, as the best expression of their work. However, while the singles showcased one particular side of the band, albums like the group's long-playing debut Another Music showcased the foursome's other influences, sometimes brilliantly. The big secret is Shelley's worship of Krautrock's obsessive focus on repetition and rhythm, which transforms what would be "simply" basic punk songs into at-times monstrous epics. The ghost of Can particular hovers even on some of the shorter songs -- unsurprising, given Shelley's worship of that band's guitarist Michael Karoli. "Moving Away From the Pulsebeat" is the best instance of this, with a rumbling Maher rhythm supporting some trancelike guitar lines. As for the sheer rush of pop craziness, Another Music is simply crammed with stellar examples. Lead-off track "Fast Cars" starts with the opening of Spiral Scratch's "Boredom"'s intentionally hilarious two-note solo intact, before ripping into a slightly bemusing critique of the objects in question. Most of the similar tracks on the album may be more distinct for their speed, but Shelley in particular always seems to sneak in at least one astonishing line per song, sometimes on his own and sometimes thanks to Devoto via older cowritten tunes redone for the record. One favorite standout: "All this slurping and sucking -- it's putting me off my food!" on "You Tear Me Up." Top all this off with any number of perfect moments -- the guitar work during the breaks on "Love Battery," the energizing yet nervous coda of "Fiction Romance," the soaring angst throughout "I Don't Mind" -- and Another Music flat out succeeds.

there is a series of goblin compilations, i'm guessing this it's the first one of those that people were voting for?

http://www.radioapplepie.org/cinebis/86/goblin_collection.jpg

that Goblin "album" is on allmusic, as an image only. It's an unrelated movie poster. I tried to figure out what was actually intended, and all I could come up with is a possible greatest hits from 1979.

xp, that above cd is from much later.

The cd is from later obv, but it covers music from 1975 (i.e. Profondo Rosso) onwards

485    Cabaret Voltaire - Extended Play    436  Points  4  Votes
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Cabaret_Voltaire-Extended_Play.jpg
RYM Ranked #18 for 1978 , #1162 overall

What is Be-Bop Deluxe like? Kinda wish I could've been arsed to vote but well, I suppose I couldn't be arsed. Looks like you guys did a good job of the tracks poll though. Maybe I would've broken the tie on the Vibrators.

I don't know how I forgot to vote for Cab Voltaire. Hopefully Mix-Up will place a lot higher.

484    Tonto's Exploding Head Band - Zero Time    439 Points   6  Votes
http://www.silverdisc.com/images/4/4753314800427.jpg
RYM #566 for 1971

review
by Jim Brenholts

Zero Time is one of the first -- and perhaps best of -- all electronic albums. Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, under the alias of T.O.N.T.O.'s Expanding Head Band, created this analog marvel on T.O.N.T.O. -- "The Original New Timbral Orchestra." The pristine synth washes are crisp and clear. Margouleff and Cecil forged a new sound with a digital feeling. Oddly, this instrument was embraced and used extensively by Motown artists. Steve Hillage used it on Motivation Radio, and Devo used it quite often. (Cecil produced and engineered a number of their albums.) The rest of the rock & roll community ignored it. For historical purposes, this rare and collectible album is essential. For musical integrity, it still stands the test of time and is essential. It is a classic with no real peers, but it will appeal to fans of Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company, Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Wendy Carlos, and Fripp & Eno in terms of its uniqueness and legacy.

http://open.spotify.com/artist/1EAuonSn6FGXejwZS6EU9Z

Are you ready for some funk?

483    Fela Kuti - Roforofo Fight    441 Points  4  Votes
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-JMAu-xy1w/TdJiXdM0cHI/AAAAAAAABZ0/rpK83Y--Ssc/s1600/Fela%2BKuti%2B-%2BRoforofo%2BFight.jpg
RYM #22 for 1972 , #540 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/6F9klNzRwcs3yk40DEUh3l

review
[-] by Thom Jurek

This is essentially a CD reissue of Fela Kuti's 1972 album Roforofo Fight, with the addition of two previously unreleased tracks from the same era. It's true that Kuti's early-'70s records tend to blur together with their similar groupings of four lengthy Afro-funk jazz cuts. In their defense, it must be said that while few artists can pull off similar approaches time after time and continue to make it sound fresh, Kuti is one of them. Each of the four songs on Roforofo Fight clocks in at 12 to 17 minutes, and there's a slight slide toward more '70s-sounding rhythms in the happy-feet beats of the title track, and the varied, yet rock-solid drums in "Go Slow." There's just a hint of reggae in "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am," in the pace, vocal delivery, ethereal keyboards, and lilting yet dramatic minor melodic lines. The James Brown influence is strongly heard in the lean, nervous guitar strums of "Question Jam Answer," and the horns cook in a way that they might have had Brown been more inclined to let his bands go into improvisational jams. The two bonus tracks -- "Shenshema" (from 1972) and "Ariya" (from 1973) -- comprised the segment of the CD titled "Fela Singles" a curious phrase given that they were previously unreleased. "Shenshema" is a nine-minute cut that is heavy on go-go-like percussion and cool, responsive chants from the band. The ten-minute "Ariya" is a real discovery, its urgent spy theme-like melody and Kuti's haunting, driven vocals making it a highlight even relative to the generally high quality of his recordings during this period. The same set was remastered and licensed to the venerable Wrasse Records label. The package is deluxe, in a slipcase. There is a biographical essay included and notes on individual songs by Mabinuori Idowu, the author of the excellent biography Fela, Why Blackman Carry Shit.

First Fela of the poll. I doubt it will be the last!

Known about the Tonto's record since forever but am only just listening now. It's great! Some nice synth tones there. This is possibly slightly off-putting, but it makes me think of really chewy toffee - I think it's the really slow-moving thick rubbery core with all this sweet sugary drool squelching all around about it.

482   The New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon    442 Points   4  Votes
http://covers.box.sk/newsimg/dvdmov/max1156707326-front-cover.jpg
RYM #131 for 1974 , #4734 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/7fSPQODyyLrutYRPIPxgR9

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

After the clatter of their first album failed to bring them a wide audience, the New York Dolls hired producer Shadow Morton to work on the follow-up, Too Much Too Soon. The differences are apparent right from the start of the ferocious opener, "Babylon." Not only are the guitars cleaner, but the mix is dominated by waves of studio sound effects and female backing vocals. Ironically, instead of making the Dolls sound safer, all the added frills emphasize their gleeful sleaziness and reckless sound. the Dolls sound on the verge of falling apart throughout the album, as Johnny Thunders and Syl Sylvain relentlessly trade buzz-saw riffs while David Johansen sings, shouts, and sashays on top of the racket. Band originals -- including the bluesy raver "It's Too Late," the noisy girl-group pop of "Puss N' Boots," and the Thunders showcase "Chatterbox" -- are rounded out by obscure R&B and rock & roll covers tailor-made for the group. Johansen vamps throughout Leiber & Stoller's "Bad Detective," Archie Bell's "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown," the Cadets "Stranded in the Jungle," and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talkin'," yet it's with grit and affection -- he really means it, man! The whole record collapses with the scathing "Human Being," on which a bunch of cross-dressing misfits defiantly declare that it's OK that they want too many things, 'cause they're human beings, just like you and me. Three years later, the Sex Pistols failed to come up with anything as musically visceral and dangerous. Perhaps that's why the Dolls never found their audience in the early '70s: Not only were they punk rock before punk rock was cool, but they remained weirder and more idiosyncratic than any of the bands that followed. And they rocked harder, too.

Acclaimed: #918

The legendary Shadow Morton produced the second album; though the results don't match Rundgren's, the Dolls come roaring through nonetheless. There are fewer originals, but the songs they covered have never been the same. "Stranded in the Jungle," "Showdown," "Bad Detective" and "Don't Start Me Talking," reflecting the band's live repertoire at the time, affirm the Dolls' R&B roots. -- Trouser Press

I'm sure I wont be the only one surprised at that low placing. Still dont think its anywhere near as good as the 1st though.

Glad to have heard this Tonto record, this is really good. Was stuff like Klaus Schulze nommed for this poll?

I wanted to but think Balls vetoed it? I think his compromise for allowing it was to be the krautROCK end of krautrock.

I shoulda sneaked in one tbh

roforofo fight has one of my favorite fela jams: "trouble sleep yanga wake am". it's a relative slow jam by fela standards, but it's awesome

480    Tony Allen - No Accomodation For Lagos    445 Points   4  Votes
http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/t/tony_allen_plays_with_afrika_70-no_accomodation_for_lagos(1).jpg
RYM Ranked #198 for 1979

review
[-] by Marisa Brown

Tony Allen, drummer for Fela Kuti's band Africa 70 and one of the innovators of Afro-beat, has spent much of his solo career exploring other genres, melding them with his distinct percussion style and showing its, and therefore his, diversity. In Lagos No Shaking, however, Allen returns -- literally and musically -- to where he first started. Recorded during ten days in June 2005 in Nigeria's largest city and Allen's hometown, the album is pure Afro-beat, drawing from Kuti's sax players Baba Ani and Show Boy and local singers Fatai Rolling Dollar and Yinka Davies, among others, to complete his band. And what results is a good -- even great at moments -- album, and while it might not take you back completely to the days of Kuti's dominance, it's a lot closer to it that any other contemporary recording. The two guitars, one on rhythm and one on choppy, tinny riffs, and a bass -- probably the actual funkiest instrument on the album -- work in and out of the polyrhythms that Allen and percussionist Yinka Ogunye create as the foundation of the songs. The horns -- sharp and brassy yet slightly muted, just like they should be -- fill in when necessary, generating movement while everything else stays relatively mellow and controlled. Not that Lagos No Shaking is a relaxed record: there's still plenty of punch and swing in the arrangements, but it doesn't have the biting sarcasm and provocativeness that Kuti's music had, focusing more on feeling and continuity instead. Still, it moves, and it moves well. The band is always tight, with thoughtful, interesting grooves, and when Rolling Dollar adds his world-weary vocals, it's almost impossible not to be transported to a hot, bustling Nigerian street. "Ise Nla," the album's opener, is fun and busy, while in "Aye Le," despite its rolling horns, there's a melancholy in the scratchy vocals as he sings about the hardships of life, and the percussion and voice version of the traditional "Awa Na Re" is stunningly profound in its simplicity, the two sounds working together to bring the best out of the others without compromising their own importance. There's a genuine warmth to everything in Lagos No Shaking that comes from Allen's dexterous hands, a sincerity, and soul that can't be faked or duplicated, proving very much why he is such an important figure in Afro-beat, and why his albums should absolutely be listened to.

oh that was a tie with this:

Tonto!

Recorded during ten days in June 2005 in Nigeria's largest city and Allen's hometown, the album is pure Afro-beat

?

480    Flower Travellin' Band - Anywhere    445  Points  4   Votes
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IED63-ftLbM/UEGyK8xt-TI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/wtm1CAVIk9Y/s1600/flower-travellin-band-anywhere.-180g-vinyl-lp-with-original-artwork-and-insert-708-p.jpg
RYM #707 for 1970
http://open.spotify.com/album/64SOkCNwrVJUEtdX5ZwJvl

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Best known for its iconic, quite frankly hilarious cover art -- featuring the four bandmembers riding three motorcycles, Easy Rider-style, only buck naked (gulp!) -- the Flower Travellin' Band's 1970 debut album, Anywhere, unfortunately isn't as original where the actual music is concerned. That's because, with the exception of its minute-long, book-ending solo harmonica workouts, Anywhere was a covers album! And the second of its kind, technically speaking, following 1969's Challenge, which was recorded by the then simply named the Flowers with two different singers tackling Western rock and pop hits of the day by Janis Joplin, Cream, Hendrix, and the Jefferson Airplane. Come time for Anywhere, new singer Akira "Joe" Yamanaka had joined guitarist Hideki Ishima, bassist Joji "George" Wada, and drummer Jun Kowzuki in the newly renamed Flower Travellin' Band, and though they hadn't yet found time to come up with any original material, their often radical reworkings of the songs they covered almost qualified them as such. This is especially true of their 15-minute improvisation on Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues," which they render virtually unrecognizable while introducing numerous themes of the band' own devising; and, to a lesser degree, their extended jam on King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," which breaks off into quite the freak-out halfway through. And, while not as engaging from a creativity standpoint, the band's relatively straightforward take on Black Sabbath's eponymous tune (surely the first time anyone covered the Sabs on record) comes off uniquely idiosyncratic enough, as does their mostly clumsy stab at the enduring folk ballad "House of the Rising Sun," which unfortunately falls apart due to Ishima's exaggerated and often off-pitch octave leaps, and distractingly accented pronunciations ("...rouse of the lising sun," etc.). In sum, a curious listening experience to say the least. But those familiar with the group's subsequent masterpiece, Satori, will recognize all of these elements as building blocks for that album's unique mixture of progressive daring, psychedelic eccentricity, and muscular, heavy rock austerity. Those who haven't heard Satori, on the other hand, will see little point in bothering with Anywhere's covers, no matter how interesting...unless they find it impossible to resist with that legendary cover photo, that is.

yeah it's a review for a different album xp

If you dig: Hard Rock, Blues Rock, Black Sabbath. Their covers of "Black Sabbath" and King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" are worth mentioning, bu the best track in the album is the cover to Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues" which incorporates traditional Blues with strong Japanese influences...The cover art was outrageous this time as well and is quite possibly the coolest ever to grant an LP... -- R. Chelled

late to this but: NEW YORK DOLLS <3 <3 It's like angry, garagey KISS without the corny come-ons. Johansen is one of my favorite frontmen ever, so much attitude. Goddamn they were the shit.

TMTS is awesome! I like the first album a lot because it's so noisy but TMTS is a better album overall for me personally

479    Mother's Finest - Mother's Finest    448 Points   3   Votes
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0003/283/MI0003283685.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
RYM #324 for 1976
http://open.spotify.com/album/2u7SLLZRvtRIPcKnYjMj0H

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Macon, Georgia's answer to Sly & the Family Stone, Mother's Finest spent the first half of the ‘70s vying for work in bars and clubs across the American Southeast -- every last one of which probably possessed an unsigned local resident Southern rock act. And though they even got as far as releasing an oft-forgotten 1972 album that pleased neither their label RCA nor themselves, Mother's Finest would only be properly "discovered" by Epic Records staff producer Tom Werman (Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, etc.) several years later. By then, Mother's Finest had evolved into a fierce live proposition, armed with an explosive combination of urban funk and heavy rock, and this goes a long way toward explaining why this self-titled second try from 1976 frequently sounds like Sly Stone being infected with a welcome case of Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever." For proof, listeners need look no further than the snarling riffs of first single "Fire," but they may just want to stick around ‘til the iron-soul powerhouse "My Baby" rolls around, and probably even through to the very last crash of album closer "Rain," since there is very little filler to be found in between. That first single, for example, may have stalled at number 93 on the American pop charts, but that's difficult to understand once Mother's Finest's co-lead vocal team of Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy (as fiery as Tina Turner, as soulful as Chaka Khan) and her hubby Glenn Murdock (no slouch himself) start going toe to toe. Not to be outdone, the band's instrumental contributors proceed to stretch their wings to the fullest on an epic jam named "Give You All the Love (Inside of Me)," showcasing funky strums and crunchy chords from Hendrix-inspired guitarist Moses Mo, pulsing clavinet from keyboard player Mike Keck, and double-trouble rhythm mastery courtesy of bassist Jerry "Wyzard" Seay and drummer Barry "B.B. Queen" Borden. Another highlight is the confrontational "Niggizz Can't Sang Rock & Roll," which at the time managed to ruffle feathers on both sides of the racial divide, and featured Murdock displaying just as much passion and virtually as many vocal chops as his better half. Unfortunately, widespread success would continue to elude Mother's Finest despite this album's many strengths -- perhaps because their songs were ultimately built to pay bigger dividends on-stage than on the radio, perhaps simply due to bad timing -- and thus a star-crossed, uneven career would follow. But for those able to appreciate where the band and its unique musical vision were coming from, it doesn't get much better than this singular LP. [Rock Candy's reissue includes two bonus tracks recorded live in 1979.]

478    Shuggie Otis - Freedom Flight    449 Points   4  Votes
http://fonkadelica.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Freedom_Flight_1.jpg
RYM #244 for 1971
http://open.spotify.com/album/7suTZDEkiDpzkouw300noM

review
[-] by Thom Jurek

1971's Freedom Flight is perhaps, in its own way, every bit as adventurous and regal as Shuggie Otis' masterpiece, Inspiration Information. Produced by Shuggie's father, R&B legend Johnny Otis, the album features seven stellar, genre bending cuts, most of which were written or co-written by Shuggie. Oh yes, he was 15 was the time. Shuggie not only arranged the date, he played everything from guitars and bass organ to various percussion instruments. Additional musicians include Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, Aynsley Dunbar, Preston Love, George Duke, and a trio of backing vocalists -- Clydie King, Venetta Field, and Shirley Matthews -- all of whom would grace Bob Dylan's Street Legal a few years later. In addition, Johnny employed a full string section for these sessions. Upon listening to Freedom Flight, the influence of Jimi Hendrix is everywhere. Not so much in Shuggie's playing, but in its texture and production. He and Johnny had obviously spent a lot of time listening to Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland. In addition, the recordings of Taj Mahal, Fred McDowell, and Frank Zappa figure in here, too. Freedom Flight boasts Shuggie's single greatest composition: "Strawberry Letter 23," a monster platinum single for the Brothers Johnson. But it's Shuggie's version that stands the test of time best. It's slower, much more baroque and paisley than the cover. The tenderness in Shuggie's voice as he intones the lyrics is a real draw. "Me And My Woman," is one of the funkiest blues tunes ever recorded, with its dirty keyboard bassline that George Clinton stole wholesale three years later. In addition, two long instrumental works that end the album, "Purple" (just try to convince someone that Prince didn't listen to this tune in particular, and this album in general, over and over again before forming his aesthetic), and the title tracks are visionary and expansive with jaw-droppingly virtuoso guitar playing that is so tastefully, soulfully, and elegantly executed it' still hard to believe after all these decades that a 15 year old ever played them: Stevie Ray Vaughan had nothing on Shuggie. Freedom Flight is just as important as Inspiration Information. It's a bit rawer, not quite as lush, but it is every bit as visionary and groundbreaking.

Better album than Inspiration Information, imo

This Tony Allen/Africa 70 is cool. here's the spotify link btw. doesn't show up under a search for Tony Allen for some reason.
http://open.spotify.com/album/3Z7ezuax5xSnfEbeEuYFkh

Cover of that Shuggie Otis album always reminds me of John Cale's Vintage Violence - same font, same general layout. Good record anyhow.

477    Destroy All Monsters - 1974 1976    451 Points   4  Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_US3OpuvDhiI/TVGTA9Koo4I/AAAAAAAAAHY/KZAZMwaCqXU/s1600/cover2.jpg

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

Who knows what exactly prompted it, but one of the most unlikely box sets/multi-disc collections ever put out surfaced in 1994 courtesy of a co-release between Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! and Byron Coley's Father Yod label -- and even got distribution via Warner Bros. at that! Covering the years in question, 1974-76 is an exhaustive three-disc overview of Destroy All Monsters' little-known early days, when the original core quartet were doing music for themselves and nobody else and punk was an incipient scene no matter where one looked. Given that the Asheton years are the ones most people would know, it's thrilling to hear what was going on before he came along -- while the Stooges were an admitted influence on the band, it was merely one of many. Kelley assembled the package, providing the collage of band-created artwork and an informative history of the group, its ties to Ann Arbor, and the desire of the four to do something well beyond the surrounding milieu of post-hippie/frat row life in the town. Given that everything was recorded on cheap tape using often broken or run-down equipment, the sound is still quite good. The three discs clearly show that the band definitely had the same "try anything, screw the rules, and what is supposed to be quality" approach that fellow acts like Pere Ubu, Suicide, and Chrome were coming up with, only steering even further away from what rock was supposed to be. The inclusion of some free jazz guest performers from the area isn't surprising at all, squalling sax and other brass popping up here and there. With a rhythm box providing the percussion and everything from traditional guitars and bass to any number of appliances providing the other sounds, along with Niagara's alternately sassy and sweet singing and other odd spoken word bits, the end result is woozy weirdness of high quality. The occasional cover surfaces -- "Mack the Knife," "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" -- but otherwise it's all original, from the bad movie snippets to the drones and murky hooks throughout. Some of the Asheton tracks surface towards the end, and okay enough rock they are too, but it's the real band material that needs to be heard, and now finally can be, in spades.

Damn, still never heard that either. How available is it these days?

476    Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Ain't That A Bitch    452 Points   5  Votes
http://image.lyricspond.com/image/j/artist-johnny-guitar-watson/album-aint-that-a-bitch/cd-cover.jpg
RYM #432 for 1976

review
by Bill Dahl

Obviously, the storming funk workout that gives this 1977 gold album its title is the album's principal draw (it's been covered countless times, but never duplicated). As was his wont by this time, the multitalented Watson plays everything except drums and horns.

wrong review

review
[-] by Stephen Cook

Coming out of Houston's fertile blues scene with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland, Johnny "Guitar" Watson trod the same route to fame that his peers did in the latter half of the '50s and for most of the '60s. Unlike Collins and Copeland, though, Watson found his biggest success as a funkster in the '70s. And lest one thinks of an aging blues legend embarrassing himself aping the innovations of George Clinton and Sly Stone, Watson found a singular groove by slicking up his already urbane blues style with lots of tasty horn arrangements, plenty of fat basslines, and wah-wah-issue guitar licks. The latter element, of course, was to be expected from a virtuoso such as Watson. And whether reeling off one of his subtle solos or blending in with the band, the reborn blues star was never less than compelling. Ain't That a Bitch, from 1976, heralded Watson's new funk era with plenty of guitar treats and one of the best batch of songs he ever cooked up. The variety here is stunning, ranging from the calypso-based blues swinger "I Need It" to the quiet storm soul ballad "Since I Met You Baby." In between, Watson goes widescreen with the comic book funk of "Superman Lover" and eases into an after-hours mood on the organ-driven jazz and blues gem "I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby." Besides the fine Watson roundups on the Rhino and Charly labels, Ain't That a Bitch works beautifully as a first-disc choice for newcomers, especially those who want to hear the '70s funk material.

http://open.spotify.com/album/2p9rPoWItqbpjcmM1xOiz5

TIE
474    Faces - First Step    455  Points  4 Votes
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a_oAl0zeNEg/TEV6DxqDOAI/AAAAAAAABXE/lTPXc4dkq7c/s1600/First+Step.jpg
RYM #470 for 1970

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The notorious sloppiness of the Faces was apparent on their debut, almost moreso on the cover than on the music, as the group was stilled billed as the Small Faces on this 1970 debut although without Steve Marriott in front, and with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood in tow, they were no longer Small. They were now larger than life, or at least mythic, because it's hard to call an album that concludes with a riotous ode to a hand-me-down suit as larger than life. That was the charm of the Faces, a group who always seemed like the boys next door made good, no matter where next door was. Part of the reason they seemed so relatable was that legendary messiness - after all, it's hard not to love somebody if they so openly displayed their flaws - but on their debut, it was hard not to see the messiness as merely the result of the old Faces getting accustomed to the new guys. Fresh from their seminal work with Jeff Beck, Rod and Ron bring a healthy dose of Beck's powerful bastardized blues, bracingly heard on the opening cover of "Wicked Messenger," but there's a key difference here; without Beck's guitar genius, this roar doesn't sound quite so titanic, it hits in the gut. That can also be heard and Rod and Woody's "Around the Plynth," or "Three Button Hand Me Down," which is ragged rocking at its finest. Combine that with Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan finding their ways as songwriters in the wake of the Small Faces' mod implosion, and this goes in even more directions. Lane unveils his gentle, folky side on "Stone," McLagan kicks in "Looking Out the Window" and "Three Button Hand Me Down." All these are moments that are good, often great, but the record doesn't quite gel, yet that doesn't quite matter. the Faces is a band that proves that sometimes loose ends are as great as tidiness, that living in the moment is what's necessary, and this First Step is a record filled with individual moments, each one to be savored.

474    The Runaways - Queens of Noise    455 Points   4 Votes
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5xlnixWJh1r19b3po1_500.jpg
#515 for 1977

review
by Alex Henderson

The Runaways didn't compromise a bit on their outstanding sophomore effort, Queens of Noise. Melodic yet tough and aggressive, this is hard rock that pulls no punches either musically or lyrically. Classics like "Neon Angels (On the Road to Ruin)," "Take It or Leave It," and "I Love Playing with Fire" wouldn't have been shocking coming from Aerosmith or Kiss, but suburban adolescent girls singing openly and honestly about casual sex, intoxication, and wild all-night parties was certainly radical for 1977. Joan Jett and Cherie Currie articulated the thoughts and feelings of the "bad girls" Kiss and countless others were describing, and they didn't hesitate to say that yes, women fantasized about sex. "Johnny Guitar" is a fine vehicle for guitarist/singer Lita Ford, who had solid chops before she was old enough to vote. Queens of Noise would be Currie's last album with the groundbreaking band.

473    Smegma - Glamour Girl 1941    458 Points,  3  Votes
http://outofprint-store1.s3.amazonaws.com/store%2Fproduction%2Fwww.outofprint.be%2Farticle%2Fimage%2F34820_1_914.jpg
RYM #491 for 1979

472    Iron Maiden - The Soundhouse Tapes    459 Points 3 Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_v0woHQ_nl68/TOPr_FxhZdI/AAAAAAAAAyY/rw_2o2-GPRI/s1600/iron_maiden_1979_the_soundhouse_tapes_front.jpg

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Reviewing a demo recording may seem like a completely pointless exercise. But when the demo in question is influential enough that the average fan knows it by name, its humble intentions transcend beyond the normal bounds of an imperfect pre-career statement. Such is the case for Iron Maiden's legendary Soundhouse Tapes, which became one of the linchpins of the then-emerging New Wave of British Heavy Metal upon its release in November 1979. Recorded nearly a year earlier and named after one of the group's regular early haunts, the rough recordings gave sympathetic DJs clamoring for Iron Maiden material something to spin while the band still waited for a well-deserved record deal to materialize. Containing three early day live favorites ("Iron Maiden," "Invasion," and "Prowler"), the original 7" vinyl's initial 5,000 unit pressing sold out via mail order in less than a week and offered conclusive proof of the band's potential appeal to EMI, which subsequently rewarded them with an impressive five-album deal. The rest, as they say, is history, and while quite impossible to find in its original pressing, occasional re-releases have kept Soundhouse Tapes' legend alive and well over the years. [When Sony Music reissued the entire Iron Maiden catalog (for the third time) in 2002 using a slipcase, mini-LP package, avid fans who purchased six titles were given the chance to remit the stickers inside, along with a check for six dollars and 66 cents (get it?) to receive their very own copy of Soundhouse Tapes on CD.]

Faces! I'm flyyyyiiinnng

471    Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation    460 Points   3   Votes
http://distro.todestrieb.co.uk/images/large/covers12/thinlizzy-badreputation_LRG.jpg
RYM #62 for 1977 , #3080 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/2fF9jiuJYCq1jMpmNewzYi

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

If Thin Lizzy got a bit too grand and florid on Johnny the Fox, they quickly corrected themselves on its 1977 follow-up, Bad Reputation. Teaming up with legendary producer Tony Visconti, Thin Lizzy managed to pull off a nifty trick of sounding leaner and tougher than they did on Johnny, yet they also had a broader sonic palette. Much of this is due, of course, to Visconti, who always had a flair for subtle dramatics that never called attention to themselves, and he puts this to use in dramatic effect here, to the extent that Lizzy sound stripped down to their bare bones, even when they have horns pushing them forward on "Dancing in the Moonlight" or when overdubbed vocals pile up on the title track. Of course, they were stripped down to a trio for most of this record: guitarist Brian Robertson (who'd injured his hand) had to sit out on most of the recording, but Scott Gorham's double duty makes his absence unnoticeable. Plus, this is pure visceral rock & roll, the hardest and heaviest that Thin Lizzy ever made, living up to the promise of the title track. And, as always, a lot of this has to do with Phil Lynott's writing, which is in top form whether he's romanticizing "Soldiers of Fortune" or heading down the "Opium Trail." It adds up to an album that rivals Jailbreak as their best studio album.

Impressive result for Smegma!

^ creepy tape fuckery btw, guess most people know them from the NWW list?

470    Magma - Köhntarkösz    461 Points   3  Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WWIy23PK7tM/TJulmC09aKI/AAAAAAAAKao/8pkgOu0EUiw/s1600/cover.jpg
RYM #53 for 1974 , #1808 overall

review
[-] by Dominique Leone

Magma's famed "Kobaian" saga took a detour with this 1974 release. Drummer Christian Vander's band had heretofore specialized in a brand of progressive rock that had more in common with the Teutonic grandeur of Richard Wagner than the Baroque ornamentation of Yes or Gentle Giant. Kohntarkosz witnessed a change in sound to something altogether stranger, yet by many accounts, more conventionally beautiful. Vander is on record as saying he was worried that other artists had been "stealing" his ideas (most notably, Mike Oldfield, who had been a studio visitor during the sessions for Mekanik Destruktiw Kommanoh), and that may have been the impetus for the new direction. This album emphasized smoother, more textural arrangements than previous Magma efforts. The cyclical themes in the two-part title suite, along with the trance-inducing repetition of the group vocals, were a far cry from the controlled martial fury of earlier records. However, the lengthy solo jam in "Kohntarkosz, Pt. 2" demonstrates that Magma was hardly married to convoluted themes and languages; the band could work up an improvisational fire with the best fusion bands. Jannick Top's "Ork Alarm" is a short piece featuring aggressive cello and guttural vocals that is perhaps out of place on this album; Vander's gorgeous "Coltrane Sundia," an homage to the late jazz legend, ends Kohntarkosz on a solemn, peaceful note. Although the definitive version of the title suite is found on 1975's Magma Live, this record stands alongside the best Magma studio releases.

Yaaay Runaways! I only voted for 20 things so expect me to yaaay for them all.

Anyone want more tonight?

Sorry I was out!! What a great stretch of records!

469    Khan - Space Shanty    463 Points,   5 Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rty8bcqTY7M/Tv8H3yWQnxI/AAAAAAAAACM/R-xtrrT8puk/s1600/Khan-Space-Shanty-397468.jpg
RYM #70 for 1972 , #2043 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/3H1Al8EeGuAeAMje8Bng1g

review
by Richie Unterberger

Almost stereotypically overreaching early-'70s progressive rock; quasi-operatic vocals, spinning guitar solos, lengthy suite-like tracks on the order of "Stargazers" and "Hollow Stone (incl. Escape of the Space Pilots)." The highlight is Stewart's effervescent organ work during the gentle and meditative passages.

I'll take more but if you want to stop you can.

I love the sleeve artwork of Space Shanty

Khan is not available in my country. Booo!

I'm following, but also busy assembling stuff for the rest of the rollout!

xpost KHAAAAAAAN

I'm listening to FTB's cover of 21st century schizoid man right now it might be better than the original! </challops>

TIE
467    James Brown - Love Power Peace    464  Points  4  Votes
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dz5mrOSwV6Y/T_sz8Bc1kMI/AAAAAAAAARY/lrcU-pSrgrM/s1600/731451338922.jpg

467    Jethro Tull - Aquadung    464 Points   4 Votes
http://ring.cdandlp.com/elysee/photo_grande/115159591.jpg
RYM #12 for 1971 , #193 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/0NGM3Ftwjw0dLNpAowmz3x

review
[-] by Bruce Eder

Released at a time when a lot of bands were embracing pop-Christianity (à la Jesus Christ Superstar), Aqualung was a bold statement for a rock group, a pro-God antichurch tract that probably got lots of teenagers wrestling with these ideas for the first time in their lives. This was the album that made Jethro Tull a fixture on FM radio, with riff-heavy songs like "My God," "Hymn 43," "Locomotive Breath," "Cross-Eyed Mary," "Wind Up," and the title track. And from there, they became a major arena act, and a fixture at the top of the record charts for most of the 1970s. Mixing hard rock and folk melodies with Ian Anderson's dour musings on faith and religion (mostly how organized religion had restricted man's relationship with God), the record was extremely profound for a number seven chart hit, one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners. Indeed, from this point on, Anderson and company were compelled to stretch the lyrical envelope right to the breaking point.

WTF Aqualung was about God stuff? I've listened to the album at least a dozen times and never picked up on any of that.

I might be a bit thick... as a specific object.

Then again I have to point out all the obvious Xianity stuff in Master of Reality sometimes to friends...

This just came out Wednesday:
Looking Back (and Forward) on Jethro Tull's 'Thick As a Brick'
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/166734-looking-back-and-foreword-on-jethro-tulls/

Destroy All Monsters 1974/1976 was a top-20 pick, and though the Chrome comparisons are OTM in terms of lo-fi basement ambiance, this triple-disc set is stocked w/ ambling and occasionally freeform psych episodes that only occasionally rock (though they're v. cool and def. rawk). closer comparisons might be Throbbing Gristle, early SPK, Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos, Jandek, early Half Japanese, early Pain Teens, F/i's Past Darkly Future Brightly, Smog's Sewn to the Sky, Mahogany Brain and more recently Eric Copeland and probably half of the Not Not Fun roster. (freeform noise isn't usually my thing, so I'm sure others could make better comparisons). three of my fave tracks from 74/76:

Conga: http://youtu.be/yQWNwVyV17g
Shiver: http://youtu.be/xmF5ltz1HAQ
To the Throne of Chaos: http://youtu.be/2kSHjd1uOvU

466    Led Zeppelin - Presence    464 Points   5 Votes
http://www.terminal-boredom.com/presence.jpg
RYM #218 for 1976

review
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Presence scales back the size of Physical Graffiti to a single album, but it retains the grandiose scope of that double record. If anything, Presence has more majestic epics than its predecessor, opening with the surging, ten-minute "Achilles Last Stand" and closing with the meandering, nearly ten-minute "Tea for One." In between, Led Zeppelin add the lumbering blues workout "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and the terse, menacing "For Your Life," which is the best song on the album. These four tracks take up the bulk of the album, leaving three lighthearted throwaways to alleviate the foreboding atmosphere -- and pretensions -- of the epics. If all of the throwaways were as focused and funny as those on Physical Graffiti or Houses of the Holy, Zeppelin would have had another classic on their hands.

I suppose I may as well take it down to 451 if you're all gonna be around

I've never heard that album, probably because it wasn't my dad owned while I was growing up.

I read a good reassessment of Presence about 6-8 yrs ago that inspired me to dig back into it. Can't remember where it was from though! Ima gonna make a drink and order food but will be around.

465    The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Framed    468 Points   3  Votes
http://www.caratulas.com/caratulas/T/The_Sensational_Alex_Harvey_Band/The_Sensational_Alex_Harvey_Band-Framed-Frontal.jpg
#153 for 1973 , #4595 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/6anl2vYU9wr5h1kEh5XAQ4

review
by Steven McDonald

Harvey's merger with Tear Gas, a faltering rock band, was the smartest move of his career. With a heady mix of theatrics and driving rock, SAHB quickly made a name for themselves across England, releasing this album along the way. Harvey struts and yowls and gets raunchy (prefiguring the SAHB version of "Delilah") while Zal Cleminson rips up the territory with some astounding guitar work. A great debut and a hell of a rock album.

I don't think this band ever crossed over to the states. I'd never heard of them before the tracks poll.

464    Graham Central Station - Now Do U Wanna Dance    468 Points   4  Votes
http://991.com/newgallery/Graham-Central-Station-Now-Do-U-Wanta-Da-541208.jpg

review
by Craig Lytle

The fifth album from the funk aggregate generated a smash hit with the title track, "Now Do-U-Wanta Dance." Paced by Larry Graham's rumbling bass and animated lead vocals, which feature the group leader on the vocorder, the synthesized funk track stayed on the Billboard R&B charts for ten weeks, peaking at number ten. The influence doo wop had on the bassist is revealed on songs like "Stomped Beat-Up and Whooped" and "Happ-E-2-C-U-A-Ginn." The former, paced by a rhythm track and Gail Muldrow's vocals, has a catchy hook phrase; it was the second single from the album to hit the Billboard R&B charts (number 25, 11 weeks). The latter is an upbeat, joyous a cappella number groomed around a melodious arrangement, Graham's streetcorner ad libs, and the group's vocal exchanges. Larry Graham's musical talents are inviting. He gives his own rendition of the Al Green classic "Love and Happiness." Maintaining that soulful appeal, Graham injects his robust riffs and his own dose of funk throughout this album. Even when he tones down the funk, the relish always remains present.

Lots of funk in this rollout!

463    Michael Rother - Sterntaler    473 Points,   4 Votes
http://ring.cdandlp.com/gintonic/photo_grande/114253781.jpg
RYM #307 for 1978
http://open.spotify.com/album/7MdQCuPtTOYIQOlb7QccZv

review
[-] by Thom Jurek

Sterntaler marked the beginning of Michael Rother's deep preoccupation with introspective melodies projected outward. Where Flammende Herzen was full of anthemic instrumental rock that was constructed to be just that, Sterntaler is more reflective even if its drive is as insistent and mechanically accurate. Again collaborating with producer Conny Plank and Can's drummer, Jaki Leibzeit, Rother set out with Sterntaler to create true electronic rock music -- even if what he came up with was the first real ambient trance music. Unlike his former bandmates in Kraftwerk and Harmonia who had wholeheartedly embraced electronic music as an end in and of itself, Rother was deeply entrenched in the idea that the entire idea for synthesizers and drum machines was to make rock & roll itself more futuristic. What's so odd about that notion is his method of composition. On the opener, "Sonnenrad," his signature electric guitar sound plays melodies that are almost folk-like in their simplicity over his trademark Motorik percussion and rhythmic churn. On "Blauer-Regen" Leibzeit's cymbals mark the simple chord changes on an introspective ballad filled with the sounds of falling rain cascading down through the guitars. "Stremlinien" and the title track are more hypnotic rock tracks with veritable choruses of guitars all playing the same notes in harmony over a cut-time drumbeat and Leibzeit's percussive embellishments. Keyboards swim through the mix, creating a chords progression -- though it feels like one phrase over and over again -- and Rother concentrates on using a slide guitar to control and advance dynamics in the swirl. This is awesome driving music, perfect maybe for the Autobahn, but certainly for American two-lane blacktops during the first flush of fall.

xp Alex Harvey is so good. I talked about that some when discussing "The Faith Healer" in the singles thread. I had only first heard of him when I was digging deep into glam stuff in the 90s.

Michael Rother has been a key Kosmische player since before he briefly was a member of Kraftwerk. He and Dinger established the influential “motorik rhythm” (a misnomer due to the fact that the subtle inconsistencies are distinctly humanoid) in Neu!, and breaking further boundaries in collaborating with Cluster in Harmonia. It’s often been mentioned that Rother turned down an opportunity to collaborate with Bowie. The truth came out, according to David Buckley’s Bowie bio, Strange Fascination, in a 2001 email exchange between the two that neither had turned the other down, but rather Bowie’s management tricked them into thinking so. How Rother would have influenced Bowie’s Berlin trilogy is anyone’s guess. The elliptical guitar playing in his solo work is certainly mellow, but the sublime, subtly shifting melodies end up with something more personal and emotional than he’d previously achieved. Working with producer Conny Plank and Can’s Jaki Leibzeit, his solo debut Flammende Herzen (Flaming Hearts) actually sold more copies initially than the Neu! and Harmonia albums combined. It also inspired a movie of the same title, created around the album as a soundtrack. The epic Sterntaler edges it out as the one to start with. Named after a Brothers Grimm tale, the sound is filled out with keyboards and vibraphones, bringing his background in Arabic music (he lived in Karachi, Pakistan as a child), Chopin and Hendrix into fullest realization. His creative arc continued with Katzenmusick (1979), which made NME‘s year-end top 40 list, and Fernwärme (1981), which mostly drops the guitar for chilly electronics. Impatient listeners might dismiss them as too new agey, but they’re far more rewarding than any other contemporary ambient work.

Presence.is too low, thats a fun lil record

Also, I forgot about Sterntaler, would've voted for

Wow that sounds awesome, can't wait to check it out!

462    Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now    475 Points   3  Votes
http://img.maniadb.com/images/album/177/177443_1_f.jpg
RYM #81 for 1974 , #3038 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/5nflfddG6Tlrt2YiZhXJAD

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

If Dixie Chicken represented a pinnacle of Lowell George as a songwriter and band leader, its sequel Feats Don't Fail Me Now is the pinnacle of Little Feat as a group, showcasing each member at their finest. Not coincidentally, it's the moment where George begins to recede from the spotlight, leaving the band as a true democracy. These observations are only clear in hindsight, since if Feats Don't Fail Me Now is just taken as a record, it's nothing more than a damn good rock & roll record. That's not meant as a dismissal, either, since it's hard to make a rock & roll record as seemingly effortless and infectious as this. Though it effectively builds on the Southern-fried funkiness of Dixie Chicken, it's hardly as mellow as that record - there's a lot of grit, tougher rhythms, lots of guitar and organ. It's as supple as Chicken, though, which means that it's the sound of a touring band at their peak. As it happens, the band is on the top of their writing game as well, with Bill Payne contributing the rollicking "Oh Atlanta" and Paul Barrere turning in one of his best songs, the jazzy funk of "Skin it Back." Each has a co-writing credit with George -- Payne on the unreleased Little Feat-era nugget "The Fan" and Barrere (plus Fred Martin) on the infectious title track -- who also has a couple of classics with "Rock and Roll Doctor" and the great "Spanish Moon." Feats peters out toward the end, as the group delves into a 10-minute medley of two Sailin' Shoes songs, but that doesn't hurt one of the best albums Little Feat ever cut. It's so good, the group used it as the template for the rest of their career.

xp I meant to post this for Khan - Space Shanty:

Brace yourself for some tasty licks and free-flowing rock-jams on this Steve Hillage vehicle. Like a limber, bendy Quicksilver Messenger Service, Khan plied a fluid coherent symphonic prog (with construction based on the modernist essentials of Guitar/Bass/Drums/Organ) without too many of the jarring jump cuts that can bedevil Prog. Rilly nice. -- Woebot

461    Wishbone Ash - Pilgrimage    479 Points   3  Votes
http://991.com/newGallery/Wishbone-Ash-Pilgrimage-211477.jpg
RYM #227 for 1971
http://open.spotify.com/album/7mbCAtpPslFbiyBrla2aGv

review
[-] by Dave Sleger

Wishbone Ash's sophomore release, Pilgrimage, unveiled their creative genius after a debut that merely presented them as a boogie- and blues-based rock outfit. The opening track, "Vas Dis," with its jazz bassline, slicing rhythm guitar, and gibberish vocals was their answer to "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (or vice versa as both were released in 1971). "Jail Bait" has gone on to become a Wishbone Ash staple as well as possessing one of the more memorable guitar riffs of '70s rock & roll. A conscientious effort seemed to be in place for this band to write and perform material better suited to their gentler vocal tendencies. Where Wishbone Ash essentially went full tilt throughout, Pilgrimage is a moodier affair that includes beautiful, slower melodies like the brief instrumentals "Alone" and "Lullaby" along with the chilling "Valediction," which should have been an Ash classic but is rarely featured on live and hits collections. Even though this band toned it down a bit for this album, their impressive guitar playing was heightened due to the variance in their songwriting. Next to Argus this is the Wishbone Ash album to judge all other Ash albums by.

TOO LOW!!!!

459    Dom - Edge of Time    479 Points   5  Votes
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2v62San9rpI/S-PxGjrBFKI/AAAAAAAAAQk/xXI39JL7gZM/s1600/f.jpg
RYM #231 for 1971
http://open.spotify.com/album/1KoGU3TfOPF9fNxGZKac5R

review
[-] by Rolf Semprebon

Witch & Warlock reissued Dom's Edge of Time in 1991, but one could barely hear the music over the scratchy vinyl they dubbed it off of and the poorly engineered sound. Thankfully, the more recent Second Battle reissue gives this classic early-'70s Krautrock album the CD treatment it deserves, with crystal-clear sound and even a bunch of bonus tracks. Edge of Time combines cosmic folk, psychedelic freeform, and electro-acoustic avant-garde in a unique mix that is strange and surreal. With just four long tracks, the album is dark and brooding, at times even haunting, as the music wends from hypnotic psychedelic folk to bizarre soundscapes of drones and clankings. Though much of the vocals consist of wordless trills similar to the first Ash Ra Tempel record, a couple of tracks, "Silence" and the title cut, have spoken word in English that only adds to the bleak beauty of the sound. Most of the bonus pieces date a couple years later by the original group, and though not quite as effective, are similar to the album cuts, though three of them at slightly over a minute long apiece are way too brief. The last cut, "Let Me Explain" from 1998, is the Baksay brothers from Dom fooling around with more contemporary, electronic-based music.

Thats a tie with
459    Buzzcocks - Love Bites    479 Points   5   Votes
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080523191629/lyricwiki/images/4/4e/Buzzcocks_-_Love_Bites.jpg
RYM #99 for 1978 , #4657 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/7p6Nh183RUdsEM5wltdv9Q

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

More musically accomplished, more obsessively self-questioning, and with equally energetic yet sometimes gloomy performances, Love Bites finds the Buzzcocks coming into their own. With Devoto and his influence now fully worked out of the band's system, Shelley is the clearly predominant voice, with the exception of Diggle's first lead vocal on an album track, the semi-acoustic, perversely sprightly "Love is Lies." Though the song received even further acclaim on Singles Going Steady, "Ever Fallen in Love," for many the band's signature song, appears here. With its note-perfect blend of romance gone wrong, a weirdly catchy, treated lead guitar line, and Shelley's wounded singing deserves its instant classic status, but it's only one of many highlights. The opening "Real World" is one of the band's strongest: a chunky, forceful yet crisp band performance leads into a strong Shelley lyric about unrequited love and life. "Nostalgia"'s strikingly mature, inventive lyrics about where one's life can lead, and the sometimes charging, sometimes quietly tense, heartbroken "Nothing Left" are two other standouts. The group's well-seasoned abilities, the members' increasing reach and Martin Rushent's excellent production make Love Bites shine. The Garvey/Maher rhythm section is especially fine; Maher's fills and similar small but significant touches take the music to an even higher level. His undisputed highlight is the terribly underrated concluding instrumental "Late for the Train." Originally done for a John Peel radio session and rerecorded with even more a dramatic sweep here, it gives the group's motorik/Krautrock new power. Not far behind it is "E.S.P.," a strong rock burn that only fades out at the end very slowly and subtly.

uuuhnnn Pilgrim is so good

458    Rush - Hemispheres    480 Points   5 Votes
http://991.com/NewGallery/Rush-Hemispheres---Red-1189.jpg
RYM #14 for 1978 , #655 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/0jZ4xWuaEyUItsAtR6e6FD

review
by Greg Prato

While such albums as 1980's Permanent Waves and 1981's Moving Pictures are usually considered Rush's masterpieces (and with good reason), 1978's Hemispheres is just as deserving. Maybe the fact that the album consists of only four compositions (half are lengthy pieces) was a bit too intimidating for some, but the near 20-minute-long "Cygnus X-1 Book II - Hemispheres" is arguably the band's finest extended track. While the story line isn't as comprehensible as "2112" was, it's much more consistent musically, twisting and turning through five different sections which contrast heavy rock sections against more sedate pieces. Neil Peart had become one of rock's most accomplished lyricists by this point, as evidenced by "The Trees," which deals with racism and inequality in a unique way (set in a forest!). And as always, the trio prove to be experts at their instruments, this time on the complex instrumental "La Villa Strangiato." Geddy Lee's shrieking vocals on the otherwise solid "Circumstances" may border on the irritating, but Hemispheres remains one of Rush's greatest releases.

I think I will leave it here for the night. I may post the 457-451 at odd times (ie if theres more chat or i wake up or whatever.) But the 450 wont start til 1 or 2 pm UK time

If someone can do the recap or the spotify playlist (and post link here) that would be great.

Direct Link to poll recap & full results

I wasn't doing a spotify playlist its too much stuff!

a lot of great stuff already!

477 Destroy All Monsters - 1974 1976 451 Points 4 Votes

Former DAM saxophonist Ben Miller (brother of Mission Of Burma's Roger) is doing amazing work these days, both as a guitarist (tabletop, mostly) and saxophonist/composer/arranger (with his Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra).

Love Bites beating Another Music is just wrong, it's easily the weakest of the first three albums.

Really want to listen to Dom, Khan, Destroy All Monsters, and Alternative TV just based on the descriptions given here.

Finally listening to all of Khan. Really liking it.

Some nice Hillage soloing on "Stargazers".

nobody should sleep on that james brown record, it's my second fave live album, right after swans' public castration is a good idea. they're similar records, both being extended primal ecstatic onslaughts delivered by crackerjack teams of rhythm daredevils who execute with rigorous simplicity the bootcamp bombast demanded by their shamanistic + monomaniacal frontmen. while the strigency of these ascetic aesthetics can alienate some listeners who judge such din hopelessly self-involved, these strange beat beasts never pause to admire their own musculature in the icy mirrors of their frozen abbatoirs; they're too busy clubbing listeners like baby seals to pause to preen, let alone to address petty concerns about safe + humane behavior. both contain moments that forced an agog me to ask, is this even music? yes, yes it is.

here's a spotify link, guessing it's not available in the UK?

http://open.spotify.com/album/4pZ4G1VNCk3vTE3JCTQGDT

also lol at it tying w/ aqualung

Sterntaler TOO LOW. I know neu! & ld will do well & that's great but rother's solo stuff is underappreciated. So pretty & plangent. Not at all the ROCK end of kraut but hey it was nommed so I voted. Also: jaki!

thanks for the recap viceroy!

and here is the next album..

457    Eloy - Dawn    482 Points,   3  Votes
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yRxfvH6kBOI/TMXGY605B7I/AAAAAAAAAsc/AxsL52COliE/s1600/Eloy+-+Dawn-Front.jpg
RYM #90 for 1976 , #4764 overall

Before recording this album, Eloy's fifth, Frank Bornemann had to rebuild his group. With Klaus Peter Matziol (bass), Detlev Schmidtchen (keyboards), and Jürgen Rosenthal (drums), he had the lineup that would become known as the "classic" Eloy. Furthermore, this version of the band crowned him producer, giving him a wild card to do what he had in mind. Thus the transformation of the group from a blues-rock-influenced avatar of Jethro Tull (circa Benefit and Aqualung) to a symphonic progressive rock group leaning toward Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd was completed with the release of Dawn. A concept album co-written by Bornemann and Rosenthal, it tells the tale of a man who after a sudden death comes back as a ghost. He tries to pass on his newly acquired knowledge to his loved one (Jeanne, also the name of the girl in Power and the Passion). The album ends with his dissolving into light, closing on the quote, "Nous sommes du soleil" ("We are of the sun") from Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans, released two years before. The hard rock edge featured on earlier LPs has been purged (including most of Bornemann's guitar solos) to make way for multi-layered keyboards. A string orchestra complements the group on many pieces, most notably "Glinding Into Light and Knowledge," the end of "Lost!?? (Introduction)," and the opener, "Awakening." Together with Ocean, Dawn remains one of Eloy's finest albums, at least musically. The new lineup is able to ornament and refine Bornemann's generally simple songs. As for the lyrics, it's a question of taste.

Dom and Eloy both pretty good, but both (I think) missed out on my ballot.

455    456    Sly & The Family Stone - Small Talk    484    5  
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-okmXV4WmlgA/T2hwwqqJwyI/AAAAAAAAMa8/KjzN7_HTA3g/s1600/Senza%2Btitolo-6.jpg
RYM #558 for 1974
http://open.spotify.com/album/1KJAI0W9nvK2insqlsKacw

review
by Rob Bowman

A new bass player and drummer signaled a toned-down Sly & the Family Stone sound. Partially in keeping with changes in much of popular music in the early '70s, and maybe the result of marriage and a child, Sly became more introspective, quieter, and calmer, even employing a string section on various cuts. A less exhilarating album than earlier efforts, there is still much of merit here, including the Top Ten R&B hit "Time for Livin'."

thats #456 obviously

455    Bobby Beausoleil - Lucifer Rising OST    489 Points   5  Votes
http://musicfortrips.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/beausoleil.jpg
RYM #61 for 1972 , #3,394 overall
http://open.spotify.com/album/5pk3Fu369hrE00HdQai0jY

Everyone reviewing this record seems to get hung up on the fact that Bobby BeauSoleil is an inmate, serving a life sentence for murder, who had ties with the Charles Manson cult, and who recorded and produced this psychedelic prog rock soundtrack, in prison, for a film extolling the virtues of Lucifer. If these are the only things that lend credence to this album, someone forgot to actually listen to it. Lucifer Rising is a beautifully realized work, no matter what the circumstances were surrounding its coming to be. BeauSoleil is a talented arranger and a fine guitarist, with a knack for guerilla recording that most D.I.Y. engineers, on the outside, would be envious of. Layers of guitar, processed through handmade effects units, and hot-rodded junks hop synthesizers issuing indescribable tones arc and dive throughout BeauSoleil's spacious soundscapes. The sound stage is wide and horizon-less, with dark-toned movements rising up from stygian depths and then ascending heavenward with gorgeous chordal fusillades. For a compact introduction to BeauSoleil's epode-like songsmithing, "Part III" offers a strata-revealing overview. Moving from Piper at the Gates of Dawn-era Floyd motifs, the song evolves into an intricate and vacillating progression reminiscent of Air's "Don't Be Light" with all of the dazzling chordal movement, but none of the pomp. Floyd and Air comparisons aside, the most accurate description of BeauSoleil's trajectory would be psych-prog by way of Claude Debussy, and hard rock as it may have been envisioned by Ennio Morricone. Lucifer Rising is far too beautiful to be labeled as hard rock, far too focused to be written off as meandering prog, and too full of merit to be judged solely on the heteroclite life of its composer.

Good write-up. Great record.

454    James Gang - Rides Again    490 Points   4   Votes
http://www.soulstrut.com/images/uploads/reviews/James-Gang-Rides-Again-F.jpg
RYM #90 for 1970 , #2681 overall

review
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With their second album Rides Again, the James Gang came into their own. Under the direction of guitarist Joe Walsh, the group -- now featuring bassist Dale Peters -- began incorporating keyboards into their hard rock, which helped open up their musical horizons. For much of the first side of Rides Again, the group tear through a bunch of boogie numbers, most notably the heavy groove of "Funk #49." On the second side, the James Gang departs from their trademark sound, adding keyboard flourishes and elements of country-rock to their hard rock. Walsh's songwriting had improved, giving the band solid support for their stylistic experiments. What ties the two sides of the record together is the strength of the band's musicianship, which burns brightly and powerfully on the hardest rockers, as well as on the sensitive ballads.

Next one up is m.eily friendly

453    Walter Wegmüller - Tarot    490 Points   5  Votes
http://www.tribute-to-ashra.de/Picture/TarotBox3.JPG
RYM #187 for 1973

review
[-] by Rolf Semprebon

This massive double album is cosmic Krautrock at its finest hour, as visionary Walter Wegmuller leads a tour through the entire major arcane of the Tarot deck while the Cosmic Couriers -- basically Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, and whoever else producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser could rope in -- create a remarkable soundtrack encompassing space rock, folk music, funk, psychedelia, and electronic music. Wegmuller's album followed in the footsteps of Timothy Leary's Seven Up, Ash Ra Tempel, and Sergius Golowin's Lord Krishna von Goloka, backed by Wallenstein, the duo Westripp-Witthuser, and keyboardist Klaus Schulze. Tarot, with almost all these musicians on the roster, is the culmination, a bizarre roller coaster ride through sonic soundscapes, while Wegmuller intones in his deep voice, sometimes augmented by more effects, though he often remains silent for long instrumental stretches. From the opening track, a funky number with blazing guitar and rolling piano over which a circus-barker voice announces the band with grand élan, to the side four track's nonstop blast into hallucinogenic after-burn, this one is a monster all the way. Shimmering Ash Ra Tempel guitar freakouts blend with Wallenstein's more rollicking psych rock, Schulze's deep space keyboards, and Westripp's cosmic folk to create strange blitzes of electronic weirdness. This album provide an incredible pallet of styles that all seem to gel in a cohesive mass of pure mystical wonder.

TOO LOW

countdown to posts by everybody else saying WHO???!!!111 ;)

Is there a reissue of this on vinyl with tarot cards? If so, do you have it emil.y?

452    Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes    490 Points   6  Votes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d7ewgPSRH_o/UEP7pe4k1jI/AAAAAAAAEtQ/TLguVqgp8ek/s1600/Mott_The_Hoople-All_The_Young_Dudes_%25281972%2529-Frontal.jpg
#176 for 1972
http://open.spotify.com/album/2aOWMZo9zarFg3wIPLdTA7

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Just at the moment Mott the Hoople were calling it a day, David Bowie swooped in and convinced them to stick around. Bowie spearheaded an image makeover, urging them to glam themselves up. He gave them a surefire hit with "All the Young Dudes," had them cover his idol's "Sweet Jane," and produced All the Young Dudes, the album that was designed to make them stars. Lo and behold, it did, which is as much a testament to Bowie's popularity as it is to his studio skill. Not to discount his assistance, since his production results in one of the most satisfying glam records and the title track is one of the all-time great rock songs, but the album wouldn't have worked if Mott hadn't already found its voice on Brain Capers. True, Dudes isn't nearly as wild as its predecessor, but the band's swagger is unmistakable underneath the flair and Ian Hunter remains on a songwriting roll, with "Momma's Little Jewel," "Sucker," and "One of the Boys" standing among his best. Take a close look at the credits, though -- these were all co-written by his bandmates, and the other highlight, "Ready for Love/After Lights," is penned entirely by Mick Ralphs, who would later revive the first section with Bad Company. The entire band was on a roll here, turning out great performances and writing with vigor. They may not be as sexy as either Bowie or Bolan, but they make up for it with knowing humor, huge riffs, and terrific tunes, dressed up with style by Ziggy himself. No wonder it's not just a great Mott record -- it's one of the defining glam platters.

I don't have Tarot. Used to be impossible to find for under a gazillion pounds, but I'm sure there is a reissue by now.

Never heard this, only know of it from the cope book. I get carried away by his enthusiasm when reading but I'm never sure if I trust him enough to take the leap of actually buying the obscurer records. Xxp

I've been meaning to check them out (Mott The Hoople) for years. Time to do so I reckon.

xp

Chances are a Tarot reissue would be really limited and impossible to find for under a hundred pounds

xxp

It's really great! but download it if its OOP as emil.y says, it sells for shitloads. I think there was a cd reissue but dunno if thats oop or not.

451    The Electric Eels - God Says Fuck You    491 Points   4  Votes
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bLhX--HO3Ww/Tn-gwI-LQUI/AAAAAAAACi8/2SeJ498Hq1c/s1600/ElctrcEls.jpg

review
by John Dougan

Let me quote from the producer's notes to this CD compilation of the entire recorded output of the Electric Eels (including their long-lost LP Having a Philosophical Investigation with the Electric Eels): "The Eels never saw the inside of a recording studio. These tapes were made using an assortment of junk PA equipment and a low-end home cassette deck. No compromises to the recording process would be made and the band played just as always, deafeningly loud." Like the man says, this is grimy, gruesome, and at best, adequately played proto-punk chord bashing, but if you like your punk rock confrontational you'll happily chew on this bone for hours on end. My favorite track is the opener, "Agitated," which, as sung by John Morton, sounds as if he's saying, "I'm so educated." Which is a punky sentiment no matter how you look at it.

says 1991 but I assume it was recorded in the 70s

Sewercide is class gutterpunk, love this album.

From now on in we have a treat for you.

fastnbulbous has been compiling RYM and Acclaimed Music rankings plus some reviews just leaving me to do the album covers/spotify links/amg reviews.

So a big thanks to him!

450. ROD STEWART Every Picture Tells a Story (493 Points, 4 Votes, 1 #1)
RYM: #51 for 1971, #1203 overall | Acclaimed: #159 | RS: #172
http://www.ungthesteeple.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Every-Picture-Tells-A-Story.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/4h1e47X26VQHXCjNZZ5P3v

Because he's tawdry enough to revel in stellar pop-and-flash, Stewart can refine the rock sensibility without processing the life out of it. His gimmick is nuance. Rod the Wordslinger is a lot more literate than the typical English bloozeman, Rod the Singer can make words flesh, and though Rod the Bandleader's music is literally electric it's the mandolin and pedal steel that come through sharpest. A smash as huge as "Maggie May" must satisfy Rod the Mod the way a classic as undeniable as "Maggie May" does Rod the Artist. But it's "Mandolin Wind" leading into Motown leading into Tim Hardin that does justice to everything he is. A+ -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Without greatly altering his approach, Rod Stewart perfected his blend of hard rock, folk, and blues on his masterpiece, Every Picture Tells a Story. Marginally a harder-rocking album than Gasoline Alley -- the Faces blister on the Temptations cover "(I Know I'm) Losing You," and the acoustic title track goes into hyper-drive with Mick Waller's primitive drumming -- the great triumph of Every Picture Tells a Story lies in its content. Every song on the album, whether it's a cover or original, is a gem, combining to form a romantic, earthy portrait of a young man joyously celebrating his young life. Of course, "Maggie May" -- the ornate, ringing ode about a seduction from an older woman -- is the centerpiece, but each song, whether it's the devilishly witty title track or the unbearably poignant "Mandolin Wind," has the same appeal. And the covers, including definitive readings of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time" and Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," as well as a rollicking "That's All Right," are equally terrific, bringing new dimension to the songs. It's a beautiful album, one that has the timeless qualities of the best folk, yet one that rocks harder than most pop music -- few rock albums are quite this powerful or this rich.

lots of interesting stuff to listen to thus far, cool! A couple of mine have placed thus far: Live at Budokan and Love Bites. I too missed Sterntaler, which would have received another vote on top of Drugs A Money's had I noticed it. Ah well.

TIE
448. CURTIS MAYFIELD There's No Place Like America Today (497 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #153 for 1975 | Acclaimed: #2361
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cPBNVxhrpN8/UQLDnVR1B6I/AAAAAAAALb0/6tRmehRYOJM/s1600/172746_1_f.jpg

I had hoped the featureless doodling of his post-Super Fly albums just meant he was treading water while transferring from Viewlex to Warner Comm. Instead it appears that he was seeking new standards of incoherence. D+ -- R. Christgau

review
by Bruce Eder

The title is intended in an ironic way, as illustrated not only by the cover -- a grim parody of late-'40s/early-'50s advertising imagery depicting white versus black social reality -- but the grim yet utterly catchy and haunting opening number, "Billy Jack." A song about gun violence that was years ahead of its time, it's scored to an incisive horn arrangement by Richard Tufo. "When Seasons Change" is a beautifully wrought account of the miseries of urban life that contains elements of both gospel and contemporary soul. The album's one big song, "So in Love," which made number 67 on the pop charts but was a Top Ten soul hit, is only the prettiest of a string of exquisite tracks on the album, including "Blue Monday People" and "Jesus" and the soaring finale, "Love to the People," broken up by the harder-edged "Hard Times." The album doesn't really have as clearly delineated a body of songs as Mayfield's earlier topical releases, but it's in the same league with his other work of the period and represents him near his prime as a composer.

448. SCORPIONS Lonesome Crow (497 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #444 for 1972
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVTj3e2DQAga6dD4mEW-cK4jj909sXvbM4A7Cko23BpJ-A73EP_w
http://open.spotify.com/album/3i5LXHKq3kuAI7s5Ky3Vsm

Nothing but turgid strips of landfill, not really behind the times, but under them, Lonesome Crow is an odd but electric record of faulty prog rock...the redeeming factor is the all-pervading, ear-splitting axe work from one Michael Schenker.. 3/4 -- M. Popoff

review
by Barry Weber

Something of an anomaly for the Scorpions, Lonesome Crow focuses on deep, dark melodies that sound like a bad combination of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones. Although Michael Schenker provides some strong guitar melodies, the album fails to capture any real interest. Klaus Meine's voice, which usually has a tenor pitch, is flat and dull. Neither harmonic nor interesting, Lonesome Crow is one of the Scorpions' weaker releases.

I'm sure this wont be the last FUCK XGAU of the poll.

missed Electric Eels too, I have Eyeball of Hell which is probably a repackaging of much of the same material. They were an awesome band imo

back to James Gang Rides Again, which rules and is likely my highest vote to place so far. Check out The Bomber, which in a fit of perversity I included on my all time metal tracks ballot a couple years back

(am getting the sinking feeling that I might be the only person who voted for a good sixth of my ballot

447. THIN LIZZY Black Rose: A Rock Legend (498 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #21 for 1979 , #1092 overall
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj7L1Kw-42o/T_GmwBYHAqI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/6f7FcqHMfoA/s1600/LP-Thin-Lizzy-Black-Rose.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6iH6E5ePYSOooTiY3p80sR

Two Lizzy classics emerge, minor hit "Waiting For An Alibi" and heartfelt confessional rocker "Got To Give It Up," both tunes propelled by strangely un-nailable, complex chord structures which tend to highlight a strange, melodic other-worldliness, all the while the band creating the intense spaces and pregnant pauses on which these two tracks feed. Title track "Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend" finds Lynott confronting his Irish heritage directly...writing on a plane more in league with fine literature than anything as base as rock 'n' roll. 7/10 -- M. Popoff

review
[-] by Greg Prato

Black Rose: A Rock Legend would prove to be Thin Lizzy's last true classic album (and last produced by Tony Visconti). Guitarist Brian Robertson was replaced by Gary Moore prior to the album's recording. Moore had already been a member of the band in the early '70s and served as a tour fill-in for Robertson in 1977, and he fits in perfectly with Lizzy's heavy, dual-guitar attack. Black Rose also turned out to be the band's most musically varied, accomplished, and successful studio album, reaching number two on the U.K. album chart upon release. Lizzy leader Phil Lynott is again equipped with a fine set of originals, which the rest of the band shines on -- the percussion-driven opener "Do Anything You Want To," the pop hit "Waiting for an Alibi," and a gentle song for Lynott's newly born daughter, "Sarah." Not all the material is as upbeat, such as the funky "S&M," as well two grim tales of street life and substance abuse -- "Toughest Street in Town" and "Got to Give It Up" (the latter sadly prophetic for Lynott). Black Rose closes with the epic seven-minute title track, which includes an amazing, complex guitar solo by Moore that incorporates Celtic themes against a hard rock accompaniment. Black Rose: A Rock Legend is one of the '70s lost rock classics.

xpost - The electric eels looks very, very promising, and The Eyeball of Hell seems to be a fairly complete representation of the group. Do they live up to their reputation? Seems daunting to make music as compelling as "got kicked out of the only club that would have them for bringing a lawnmower on stage".

lol they are v punk before punk, lets just say. I might like em more than Pere Ubu

446. BIRTH CONTROL Operation (502 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #255 for 1971
http://www.jpc.de/image/w600/front/0/0090204820047.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/2N4nQkAdrFbLZ5EhLqot6a

...a nasty, hard-edged prog metal that is hard to define, the band splashing the canvas with psych, baroque, classical, military beats...quite impressive. Favourite would be "Just Before The Sun Will Rise" with its heart-twisting melody and "Flesh And Blood," a jagged rocker with smart dynamics, anguished vocals and measured guitar licks. 6/9 -- M. Popoff

review
[-] by Mike DeGagne

Birth Control's second album, Operation, stands as one of the band's finest recordings, getting the vote as the second best album of 1971 by one of Germany's leading music magazines. Operation has Birth Control employing a nine-piece string section as well as a smaller brass entourage in order to produce a larger sound, and while their progressive air is just beginning to flourish, a rather large difference in musical strength and instrumental craft is noted right away. Not fully abstract or left-of-center just yet, the powerful crunch of Bruno Frenzel's guitar surely leads the way, dominating the rhythms of every track while complimenting the aeronautics of the keyboard passages. With the tempos quicker because of the stern synthesizer work, the entire album moves along at a brisk pace. "Stop Little Lady" has the vocals on par with the whirlwind guitar riffs, echoed perfectly to produce a mysterious rippled effect. "Just Before the Sun Will Rise" and "Flesh and Blood" utilize the keyboards at the heart of both the songs, while the full 11 minutes of "Let Us Do It Now" emanate Birth Control's instrumental coalescence in the momentum of both the drums and guitar. "The Work Is Done" became one of the group's most renowned efforts, with rocksteady percussion creating the perfect bottom-heavy underlay for the strings and horns. The 1997 pressing of Operation includes five bonus tracks, including another version of "The Work Is Done" and a peculiar little number entitled "Believe in the Pill." With the band maturing and slowly working back toward a more progressive rock route, Operation makes for a truly consistent studio album that offers a firm cross section of their sound.

Poll heavy on the german so far

hey if anyone wants some pictures of 1970s American high school kids to look at while they listen to 1970s music, can i recommend going to the archives here http://yearbookeditor.tumblr.com/archive
the 70s start in 1977 (end of october) through today (1971 is just starting to get some faces)

(fyi this is my yearbook blog, but i think the photos are of general interest to 70s enthusiasts)

445. A.R. & MACHINES Echo (506 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #240 for 1972
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb77jkJ1t71qf18g7_1349068068_cover.jpg

It was Steve Freeman from Ultima Thule who clued me into this particular sprawling 83-minute monster back in 1995. Even more so than Walter Wegmuller?s Tarot, which allows the listener to rove from emotion to emotion, Echo operates on such a singular level that listeners actually start to feel inhabited by this record... It?s an ever intensifying ever-speeding-up multi-guitar-led rock?n?roll rampage across the ancient starlit skies without so much as one hoary cliché passing across any of the guitar strings. Theme after theme opens out upon yet-more-themes, as drums build then break down to accommodate, then build up again only to fail like waves breaking on some ancient musical shore. When the drums break down for the last time, Mellotron-like real voiced cyber-choirs have taken over to orchestrate our descent into the end of the track with perfect spiritual applomb. -- J. Cope

That sounds good. Will investigate!

A.R. = Achim Reichel, also of the Rattles and Wonderland.

Great!! I love seeing reactions like that to albums. Thanks to fastnbulbous for tracking down reviews n stuff!
xp

some turkish psych now

BARIS?

444. BARIS MANCO 2023 (508 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #248 for 1975
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_osaKxjJ33dE/S_dUe_sNKrI/AAAAAAAAAvw/PlCcCysRqz8/s1600/2023.jpg

BARIS!

http://weirdorecords.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4098

This first album under Manco's own name is a monster electric space opus he made after releasing only singles for nearly 20 years. Having knocked out songs in every discernable rock subgenre, what can be left but horrific squishy water noises that sit right on top of ultracheesy synth bonks while Manco intones serious poetry? Lines are duly stolen from Ottoman classical music, but played with scorching waka-waka moves, & there are even breakdowns of sheer blaxploitation funk. A catastrophic collision of maqam 'n' moog that shouldn't be missed. Tracklisting: Acih Da Baga Vir, Kayalarin Oglu, 2023, Yolverin Agalar Beyler, Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim, Yine Yol Gorundu Gurbete, Beykoca Destani, Gulme Ha Gulme, Gelinlik Kizlarin Dansi, Kara Haber Turnanin Olumu, Vur Ha Vur, Durma Ha Durma, Tavuklara Kissst De, Kol Basti.

cool cover. Is that a collector record, or is it widely available?

lol click the link

ha not too bad! Not $100s at least...

Hey, just woke up! Other notes on rankings: Acclaimed = http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/. Rankings amalgamated from lists from dozens of music publications throughout the world. | RS = Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rankings based on the original 2003 list. It was updated in 2012, with newer albums pushing some 1970s albums off the list, so I used the original. | Pitchfork = Top 100 Albums of the 1970s from 2004.

Quotes
R. Christgau = Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide | M. Popoff = Martin Popoff's The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 1: The Seventies. Ratings: The first number is the heaviness number. The second is how good Popoff thinks the album is on a scale of 10. | R. Chelled = Ra'anan Chelled's Demons, Fairies & Wailing Guitars: The Best 100 Obscure Rock Acts 1968-1976 (2012). The entries in the book are much longer, often including extensive interviews. Well worth checking out. | J. Cope = Julian Cope's http://www.headheritage.co.uk. | Woebot = Matthew Ingram's (aka Woebot) 100 Lost Rock Albums From The 1970s (2011) (when a # rank follows, that's from his all-time top 100 albums) | Classic Rock = "The 150 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die!" Classic Rock Magazine (November 2009) | Cosmic Egg = Steven & Alan Freeman's The Crack In The Cosmic Egg: Encyclopedia Of Krautrock, Kosmische Musik & Other PRogressive, Experimental & Electronic Musics from Germany.

443. PENETRATION Coming Up For Air (511 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: DNP, 1979
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSUELV6W-YqL7nEimR32ZQErGHDqjAmyLrvbti6ITGte1ukfIDI

Coming Up for Air, produced poorly by Steve Lillywhite, isn't nearly as good, despite some swell tracks. Where the first record was almost consistently exciting, only "Shout Above the Noise," "On Reflection" and "Lifeline" have the same melodic, dramatic intensity. The band had evidently run out of good songs, and the muffled sound only exacerbates the mishmash. -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

The spiky aspirations of their debut album and first few singles notwithstanding, Penetration was always a more convincing hard rock band than most punks gave them credit for. The glee with which they unveiled a twin-guitar lineup, the faith they placed in songs with titles like "She Is the Slave" and "Shout Above the Noise," and, if hindsight be the guide, the accuracy with which they predicted the entire New Wave of British Heavy Metal outbreak -- all these things place Penetration in a very different bag to that they normally wriggle around in. Guitarist Fred Purser went on to form the Tygers of Pan Tang. That should tell you everything. Released in late 1979, their second album, Coming Up for Air, is the sound of the group embracing that destiny. Critically pummeled at the time and often overlooked thereafter, it is a far cry from the scratchy urchins who unleashed "Don't Dictate" a mere year earlier, a rip-roaring, riff-heavy leviathan that places its focus on Purser and Neale Floyd's wailing guitars, then layers Pauline Murray's banshee-bark vocals atop of them. Unfortunately, in ripping apart the punk formbook, Penetration also tore up their songwriting manual. Without exception, the ten songs on the original album are uniformly leaden, while two live bonus tracks merely amplify the band's lumpen metal pretensions. Only "Danger Signs," the third bonus track and the band's last memorable single, stands proud, but even that is not a recommendation.

It's funny, a lot of those Trouser Press entries I grew up reading for many years before actually getting to hear the albums. I'd forgotten how brutally they dismiss a lot of the stuff, yet I was still excited to hear it all! You four voters feel free to defend the album! I actually don't have that one, need to correct it.

It's also the lowest rated album in Rateyourmusic so far, the 3.00 so low they didn't even rank it.

lol yet 4 voted for it? a bad punk album can become a cult fave to metal fans?

anyone like Tygers of Pan Tang? like to recommend a record?

I know a few irl people who liked them.

Sure I like Tygers, start with Spellbound (1981).

More on Echo:

...venturing further into the cosmos was the grand opus ECHO, a double album of echo trips, echoed echoes, spiralling guitars, rock and psychedelic trips beyond Ash Ra Tempel, again ending up in the realms of total weirdness! Simple description isn't possible. -- Cosmic Egg

441.  JUDAS PRIEST Rocka Rolla (512 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #824 for 1974
http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/j/judas_priest-rocka_rolla(1).jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/7G2yBPbPAgSKucJQui2JT3

A strange, bitter record that no one could love unconditionally, Rocka Rolla timidly announced the recording career of a band that would transform metal like no other...a proud but confused work drawing from Purple, Heep and fellow Birmingham bashers Sabbath...finding a unique sound that is medieval, dark and blurry with a hint of German prog. 7/8 -- M. Popoff

review
by Steve Huey

A sketchy and underfocused debut, Rocka Rolla nonetheless begins to delineate the musical territory Judas Priest would explore over the remainder of the decade: frighteningly dark in its effect, tight in its grooves, and capable of expanding to epic song lengths. On the other hand, Rocka Rolla is also murkier, less precise and powerful in its riff attack, and more blues-based; the stylistic debts to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are obvious at this juncture, although they would become much less apparent on subsequent releases. The compositions alternate between short songs and extended suites; some are decent, but overall they don't establish a real direction and tend to plod aimlessly in many of the longer pieces. Mostly a curiosity for hardcore fans, Rocka Rolla definitely hints at Judas Priest's potential and originality, but doesn't always suggest the quantum leap in vision that would occur with their very next record.

I wanted to call this the most readable album since Quadrophenia, but it's only the wordiest--two inner sleeves covered with lyrics and a double-fold that's all small-type libretto. The apparent subject is the symbolic quest of a Puerto Rican hood/street kid/graffiti artist named Rael, but the songs neither shine by themselves nor suggest any thematic insight I'm eager to pursue. For art-rock, though, it's listenable, from Eno treatments to a hook that goes (I'm humming) "on Braw-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-dway." B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Given all the overt literary references of Selling England by the Pound, along with their taste for epic suites such as "Supper's Ready," it was only a matter of time before Genesis attempted a full-fledged concept album, and 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a massive rock opera: the winding, wielding story of a Puerto Rican hustler name Rael making his way in New York City. Peter Gabriel made some tentative moves toward developing this story into a movie with William Friedkin but it never took off, perhaps it's just as well; even with the lengthy libretto included with the album, the story never makes sense. But just because the story is rather impenetrable doesn't mean that the album is as well, because it is a forceful, imaginative piece of work that showcases the original Genesis lineup at a peak. Even if the story is rather hard to piece together, the album is set up in a remarkable fashion, with the first LP being devoted to pop-oriented rock songs and the second being largely devoted to instrumentals. This means that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway contains both Genesis' most immediate music to date and its most elliptical. Depending on a listener's taste, they may gravitate toward the first LP with its tight collection of ten rock songs, or the nightmarish landscapes of the second, where Rael descends into darkness and ultimately redemption (or so it would seem), but there's little question that the first album is far more direct than the second and it contains a number of masterpieces, from the opening fanfare of the title song to the surging "In the Cage," from the frightening "Back in NYC" to the soothing conclusion "The Carpet Crawlers." In retrospect, this first LP plays a bit more like the first Gabriel solo album than the final Genesis album, but there's also little question that the band helps form and shape this music (with Brian Eno adding extra coloring on occasion), while Genesis shines as a group shines on the impressionistic second half. In every way, it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave the band after this record: they had gone as far as they could go together, and could never top this extraordinary album.

How long will this poll take to reach to No. 1?

Are you in a rush?

No plans as such and we're not in a rush or anything. If we finish on friday then fair enough if we finish mid of next week then fair enough too. Lets just see how things go and enjoy the rollout and the chat and the discovery of new albums.

lots of cool albums dont end up being ranked by RYM (multiple x-posts)

Of course. But we'll see if that's the only one for this poll or not.

I ignored that first Priest album for years. I didn't have high expectations when I heard it, and was pleasantly surprised. On the other hand, it wasn't nearly great enough to make it anywhere near my top 100.

Never could get into Genesis in a big way, but can appreciate the ambition and scope of that one.

TOO LOW for The Lamb (my #8). A favourite for long car rides.

Rod and Mott albums really classic too.

440. THE RED CRAYOLA Soldier Talk (512 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #283 for 1979
http://www.connollyco.com/discography/red_krayola/soldier_hi.jpg

Exhilarated by the critical success of Pere Ubu's dada punk, Radar Records reissued The Parable of Arable Land in 1978 and God Bless in 1979. Mayo Thompson and New York drummer Jesse Chamberlain reformed Red Crayola to make Soldier-Talk, aided by Lora Logic and the entirety of Pere Ubu (which Thompson later joined). Uniting Red Crayola's flower-power garage music with modernistic, fragmented arrangements and a fierce, broken beat, the album centers on cynical military themes. A challenging work. -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Thom Jurek

Issued in 1979 by the short-lived Radar imprint under Warner UK, Soldier Talk is among the loopiest of the Red Krayola's offerings. Featuring Mayo Thompson and Jesse Chamberlain's vocal warbling, with ear-woundingly thin Fender guitar with the treble turned all the way up, and Chamberlain's very jazz-like drumming. While these two pair up on a number of cuts as simply a duo, there are other players here as well, including all of the Chrysalis-era, New Picnic Time Pere Ubu, Lora Logic, Dick Cuthell, and Christine Thompson. Yeah. These "songs" are engaging, even compelling in places, but seldom together. Thompson is as humorous as a sarcastic academic most of the time here, as though he hasn't fully digested all the theory he was still taking in. This is more like Deluze and Guatarri doing avant rock than Thompson's later exercises which are roaring-out-loud hilarious. That said, there are great moments here and any real fan of the Krayola needs this -- for the post-punk drive, drop, and crash of "Conspirator's Oath," the drifting instrumental washes of "X" with Logic; or the angular, off-kilter, knife's-edge white-boy funk of "Uh, Knowledge Dance," which could have actually been covered by the Pop Group -- and Thomspon sounds uncannily like Mark Stewart of same here. There are stronger moments by the Red Krayola, but this one certainly has its own, and should be snagged by anyone interested in the band, Art & Language, or post-punk's more musically adventurous side.

xp I voted for the Mott album too now I think about it (and check my ballot!), a much-underrated band IMO. Everyone mentions "All the Young Dudes" but the stuff they wrote themselves was every bit as good. Ian Hunter is a dude as well, would like to read his tour diaries some time.

Surely Mott will place though, no?

My albums ballot was way less radio-friendly than my tracks ballot, btw, partly because I spent much more time on it, but also because I think of e.g. avant-garde prog and fusion as albums genres. (Forgot to vote for Area though!)

439. HUMBLE PIE Humble Pie (514 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #454 for 1970
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AQBAU8.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V1141321255_.jpg

review
by Jim Newsom

Alternating hard-driving blues-rockers with country-folk numbers, Humble Pie neatly showcases the two sides of this band's personality on their first release for a major American label and third album overall. All of the elements are in place for the sound that would reach its studio peak with the next release, Rock On, and culminate with the classic Live at the Fillmore album. "Earth and Water Song" provides a blueprint for the acoustic guitar-based sound Peter Frampton would ride to multi-platinum success as a solo artist later in the decade. "One Eyed Trouser-Snake Rumba" and "Red Light Mama, Red Hot!" show the hard-rocking direction in which Steve Marriott would move the band after Frampton's departure the following year.

Love Frampton-era Humble Pie, but I've never been able to find a copy of that one.

I like the Aubrey Beardsley style cover art!

^yeah wow at that

438. BRASS CONSTRUCTION Brass Construction (514 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #493 for 1975
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/468/MI0002468407.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

Some bands enjoy their greatest success with their first release, and this Brooklyn-based funk ensemble is a good example. Their first single was the chart-topping "Movin'." Aside from the verse being chanted in unison, this aggressively paced dance number, with its catchy, melodious hook line, utilizes reeds and brass, complemented by keyboard and synthesizer solos from bandleader Randy Muller. The single moved its way to the number one spot on the R&B charts, the group's only chart-topper out of 17 singles that reached the charts, and one of two to ever crack the Top Ten. The follow-up single, "Changin'," has a similar arrangement at a slightly slower tempo. The melody is not seductive like its predecessor. Seeming to be more of a musical exhibition and less dance-oriented, it still managed to peak at number 24 on the charts. While the group's music is centered around its horns, the majority of the songs from this album feature vocals throughout the verses and choruses. Adding their social awareness to the mix on a couple tracks, all numbers are consistent with the album's dance/funk appeal.

Such a great album this, pleased to see others liked it too! Some great guitar on it too.

more great cover art, look at those trousers!

Do people still laugh at 70s fashions? I remember in the 80s and 90s that the 70s was seen as by far the worst.

Wasn't the 90s all about reviving the 70s? Always thought 80s got the most laffs.

Not going to be able to keep up with all of this obv, but got Red Crayola - Soldier-Talk on just now and it's sounding good.

those trousers are funny/amazing by any aesthetic standards

Yeah, I wasn't actually specifically thinking of these clothes when I said that.

Oh here is xgau on Brass Construction

All disco bands sound alike--and if you've seen one ghetto you've seen them all, not to mention their residents, with their swarthy skin and flat (or is it hooked?) noses. Yeah sure. This specific disco band is black-identified, i.e., non-hustle/samba with lots of funk. It owes more lyrically to Gil Scott-Heron than to Barry White but evokes both and is candid to the point of wryness (and terseness) about using words primarily for musical color. I like the way the synthesized violins are timed and love the fanfare coda to "Love," my favorite cut. B+ -- R. Christgau

437. GARY WILSON You Think You Really Know Me (515 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #338 for 1977
http://beck-static.s3.amazonaws.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/gary_510.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/2hSaFxn4AKOLAbLt2TfBAT

He makes his own record (with a little help from friends here and there, but mostly just him) at home. He wants to be cool, but he sounds like Lou Reed's dumb cousin trying to be Mel Tormé or something and has these songs that sound like the electric-piano-dominated, bleached-out funk-jazz soundtracks for public service announcements. Such is the medium for his fevered imaginings: "I wanna lose control (hey!) for 15 minutes (hah!)…" The "groovy girls make love at the beach" but are "out of reach." "Sick trips take the place of someone else's blind date." And so on. The more he screams, "She's got red lips ... she's real," the more you know she's not. (She's a blow-up doll.) And then he'll dip and swerve into a psychedelic guitar mood piece ("sometimes I wish I were dead…") Intense! -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Michael Sutton

Gary Wilson's You Think You Really Know Me may be the weirdest album released in 1977; it's also one of the most influential. The impact of this quirky lo-fi record can never be truly measured. Not many people are aware of it; however, it inspired Beck's sonic collages and showed college radio stations that home tapings shouldn't be ignored. Wilson recorded You Think You Really Know Me in his parents' basement, and it certainly has an intimate feel. On "6.4 = Make Out," Wilson sounds like he's whispering in your ear. With a voice reminiscent of Lou Reed's, Wilson aches like a sexually frustrated Barry White. Porno-movie synthesizers create a sleazy atmosphere as Wilson reaches new heights of emotional intensity when he bellows, "She's real/She's so real," at the track's end. A person is left wondering if the girl actually exists or if he's just trying to convince himself that she does. Even more unsettling is "Loneliness," wherein Wilson confesses in a distorted, psychotic voice, "Sometimes I wish I were dead," followed by samples of running water and a telephone operator. But this isn't a gloomy LP. "You Keep on Looking" and "And Then I Kissed Your Lips" utilize chirpy new wave keyboards years before they became fashionable. Wilson is having fun on You Think You Really Know Me, and his enjoyment is infectious, especially when his lunatic personality hogs the spotlight.

The Dom track playing in plug.dj/ILXORS right now ("Edge of Time") sounds very nice.

that Gary Wilson album sounds intriguing

xpost - I think that Red Crayola album is my first discovery from the albums rollout. I love the way the vocals *almost* follow the guitar or horn lines, but they're too freaked out to match precisely.

also, You Think You Really Know Me is my first vote to place! I was starting to wonder if I'd voted in the wrong poll.

436.  UNIVERS ZERO Heresie (516 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #106 for 1977
http://img12.nnm.ru/1/6/f/6/2/204964b6d6756ffa214a887fb61_prev.jpg

Hello darkness my old friend! Perhaps even more than the work of Throbbing Gristle Belgian Univers Zero's Heresie, tucked away right at the end of the decade, reveals the irrigation ditch Rock was inevitably going to find itself lying face down in. Like the aforementioned Magma and Plastic People albums, one can hear Bartok and Stravinsky in here, Penderecki and Ligeti too, but the sludge-like brutality and monumentality instantly mark them as Rock. However unlike its progeny, Swans or [insert modern Doom Rock outfit] there is a lightness of touch, an inherent musicality that carry the listener onwards. -- Woebot

I recommend their first album (which was self-titled when released on vinyl but has been reissued on CD as 1313 in a different mix.) Really dark, heavy and very "20th century". I find their approach to rhythm to be more organic and less forced sounding then some of the other RIO bands like Henry Cow. Kinda reminds me of Stravinsky in the same way that Magma reminds me of Wagner at times. But that's just me. Hope this helps! -- Member of Unsung Forum

review
[-] by William Tilland

Univers Zero's debut recording, 1313, may be somber, but it's a walk in the park compared to their second release, which features more or less the same lineup as the first (oboe, bassoon, viola, violin, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums), except for an additional and prominent contribution of cathedral organ from guitarist/keyboardist Roger Trigaux. Studio overdubbing sometimes gives the five-man group the sound of a much larger chamber ensemble. Extremely dissonant and emotionally bleak, Heresie is sometimes quite close to the industrial and gothic genres -- which didn't really even exist for another five years or more. A Magma influence is readily discernible on the long opening track "La Faulx," which includes the guttural chanting favored by Magma's Christian Vander. (In the early '70s, Univers Zero drummer Daniel Denis was employed as a second drummer in Vander's group.) "Jack the Ripper," the second long piece, maintains the oppressive atmosphere, and after a long, brooding introduction, introduces the nervous, jabbing ostinato patterns which were to become a Univers Zero trademark. This music on this CD might have little to do with rock, and might also be a massive downer, but the quality of the writing and playing is extremely high. Michel Berckmans' solo work on oboe and bassoon work is magnificent, and Patrick Hanappier's string playing (violin and viola) also demonstrates the precision of a trained classical musician, along with demonic avant-garde scraping and howling on "Jack the Ripper." Best of all, Univers Zero never cheapens the effect of the music with any of the stock cartoon licks which are associated with the gothic genre today. Group members sound deadly serious about what they're doing, which might call their sanity into question, but which makes for an incredibly powerful listening experience. In fact, Heresie is a stunning one-of-a-kind item that has never been duplicated by anyone -- including Univers Zero. [The Cuneiform label's 2010 remastered edition includes the nearly 12-minute previously unreleased bonus track "Chaos Hermétique."]

You've heard everything but the Red Crayola? There's at least a dozen I haven't heard! Plus Univers Zero!

OK, A.R & Machines - Echo is pretty weird. I like it so far but.. definitely weird.

A strange, bitter record that no one could love unconditionally, Rocka Rolla...

hey now I love that album unconditionally! This is a great list so far too.

xpost to Fastnbulbous: oh god no, I meant it was the first album on the list that really caught my attention. I haven't even heard OF most of these.

xp What if it wasn't Judas Priest tho?

435. FACES Long Player (521 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #317 for 1971
http://www.aggroshop.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/a/faces-longplayer.jpeg
http://open.spotify.com/album/0MDp8mJ7hKXUn5qnEWqTlN

The difference between these guys and their smaller forebears, the ones who released round-covered albums and sang "Itchycoo Park" with whine and phase, isn't just Steve Marriott vs. Rod Stewart. It's 1968 vs. 1971. Marriott was a pop craftsman with the Small Faces; with Humble Pie he's a boogie man. Stewart is a pop craftsman solo; with the Faces he's a boogie man. Boogie's not a bad idea, especially when you play it fast and loose rather than 'eavy like the 'Umbles. But as exciting as it is theoretically--and by comparison with the competition, boogieing and otherwise--it doesn't have much staying power. That's partly because they play it too loose and not quite fast enough. And partly because Stewart reserves his popcraft for solo LPs. B -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

On their second album Long Player, the Faces truly gel -- which isn't quite the same thing as having the band straighten up and fly right because in many ways this is album is even more ragged than their debut, with tracks that sound like they were recorded through a shoebox thrown up against a couple of haphazardly placed live cuts. But if the album seems pieced together from a few different sources, the band itself all seems to be coming from the same place, turning into a ferocious rock & roll band who, on their best day, could wrestle the title of greatest rock & roll band away from the Stones. Certainly, the sheer force of the nine-minute jam on Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" proves that, but what's more remarkable is how the band are dovetailing as songwriters, complementing and collaborating with very different styles, to the extent that it's hard to tell who wrote what; indeed, the ragged, heartbroken "Tell Everyone" sounds like a Stewart original, but it comes from the pen of Ronnie Lane. The key is that Stewart, Lane and Ron Wood (Ian McLagan only co-write "Bad 'N' Ruin") are all coming from the same place, all celebrating a rock & roll that's ordinary in subject but not in sound. Take "Bad 'N' Ruin," the tale of a ne'er do well returning home with his tail between his legs, after the city didn't treat him well. It has its counterpart in "Had Me a Real Good Time," where a reveler insists that he has to leave, concluding that he was glad to come but also glad to get home. These are songs that celebrate home, from family to the neighborhood, and that big heart beats strong in the ballads, too, from the aching "Sweet Lady Mary" to the extraordinary reworking of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," which soars in ways Macca's exceptional original never did. Then, there's there humor -- the ramshackle "On the Beach," the throwaway lines from Rod on "Had Me a Real Good Time" -- which give this a warm, cheerful heart that helps make Long Player a record as big, messy, and wonderful as life itself.

did Faces crack the us?

434. RUSH 2112 (523 Ponts, 5 Votes)
RYM: #13 for 1976 , #919 overall | Acclaimed: #1058
http://gunshyassassin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2112-cover.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6084R9tVaGpB9yefy7ObuQ

One half concept album, one half the usual eclectic display of steel and silk, 2112 is Rush's first truly confident work, a record tall and elegant, completely at peace with the band's inflated mission...most of us were more enthralled by the majesty of the record's high-minded rockers: "The Temples Of Syrinx," "A Passage To Bangkok," and "Something For Nothing," all fueling the theory that Rush could be kinds of the heavy metal heap if they'd only drop the pretensions and raise their fists. But the combined whole was necessary to lend Rush its particular aura as creators of a new sub-genre, progressive metal, the new realm populated by aspiring writers simultaneously parading their musical chops. 7/9 -- M. Popoff

review
[-] by Greg Prato

Whereas Rush's first two releases, their self-titled debut and Fly by Night, helped create a buzz among hard rock fans worldwide, the more progressive third release, Caress of Steel, confused many of their supporters. Rush knew it was now or never with their fourth release, and they delivered just in time -- 1976's 2112 proved to be their much sought-after commercial breakthrough and remains one of their most popular albums. Instead of choosing between prog rock and heavy rock, both styles are merged together to create an interesting and original approach. The entire first side is comprised of the classic title track, which paints a chilling picture of a future world where technology is in control (Peart's lyrics for the piece being influenced by Ayn Rand). Comprised of seven "sections," the track proved that the trio members were fast becoming rock's most accomplished instrumentalists. The second side contains shorter selections, such as the Middle Eastern-flavored "A Passage to Bangkok" and the album-closing rocker "Something for Nothing." 2112 is widely considered by Rush fans as their first true "classic" album, the first in a string of similarly high-quality albums.

that's pretty low isn't it? Thought there were Rush stans on ILM, maybe they're not voters though

Dunno bout radio at the time, I was a toddler, but not on classic rock radio.

Funny thing, this is one of my least favorite Rush albums. I go back and forth between this and other early ones, but I just don't dig the tunes on most of it.

My favorite Rush album!!!

WE ARE THE PRIESTS

OF THE TEMPLE

OF SYRINX

I voted for A Farewell to Kings at #19 and Hemispheres at #61 but not this one.

(Peart's lyrics for the piece being influenced by Ayn Rand).

Thought there were Rush stans on ILM, maybe they're not voters though

yeah theres loads but for whatever reason didnt vote.... or did they?

xps

hah theres 1!

but when a huge band like rush place outside the top 400 then you know its a quality poll (even if i dislike rush i cant deny people really rate them highly)

In both the Classics documentary on 2112 and the Rush movie, they reiterate that while Peart thought Ayn Rand's Anthem was a cool book, he didn't necessarily subscribe to all her philosophies. They showed some of the media backlash at the time calling them ultra-conservatives and neo-nazis, and Lee, who's parents or grandparents survived Nazi prison camps, was deeply offended. By the media's assumptions, not Peart's innocuous lyrics!

Well, let's see how Kings did. It had two big singles. Judging by the tracks poll, though, it might not place that highly.

I do think a lot of the people who would have rated Rush didn't vote this time out.

Yeah, we've talked about the Rand thing over and over on this board. I think AG is just going for a cheap shot tbh.:P

Naw I've never heard of Faces. Stewart solo is huge here, of course but I don't think Faces ever got play here.

Amazingly, three of their albums seem to have gone top 40 on Billboard! But yeah, I never hear them on the radio.

Too Low for 2112!!

433. JEFF BECK Blow By Blow (524 Points, 4 Votes)
#87 for 1975 , #3344 overall | Acclaimed: #1270
http://www.silvertentacle.com/images/JEFF%20BECK%20BLOW%20BY%20BLOW.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/1Wvkdqk2yqnzqsZiSiIOaq

Never before have I been fully convinced that Beck could improvise long lines, or jazz it up with a modicum of delicacy, or for that matter get funky. But he still has absolutely nothing to say. It's not that he's jettisoned the vocalist--lots of jazzmen say plenty without words. It's that he's a technician and nothing more, making music guaranteed to excite only one group of listeners--those who respond to complaints about content the way atheists respond to visions of the Most High. B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Mark Kirschenmann

Blow by Blow typifies Jeff Beck's wonderfully unpredictable career. Released in 1975, Beck's fifth effort as a leader and first instrumental album was a marked departure from its more rock-based predecessors. Only composer/keyboardist Max Middleton returned from Beck's previous lineups. To Beck's credit, Blow by Blow features a tremendous supporting cast. Middleton's tasteful use of the Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and analog synthesizers leaves a soulful imprint. Drummer Richard Bailey is in equal measure supportive and propulsive as he deftly combines elements of jazz and funk with contemporary mixed meters. Much of the album's success is also attributable to the excellent material, which includes Middleton's two originals and two collaborations with Beck, a clever arrangement of Lennon and McCartney's "She's a Woman," and two originals by Stevie Wonder. George Martin's ingenious production and string arrangements rival his greatest work. Beck's versatile soloing and diverse tones are clearly the album's focus, and he proves to be an adept rhythm player. Blow by Blow is balanced by open-ended jamming and crisp ensemble interaction as it sidesteps the bombast that sank much of the jazz-rock fusion of the period. One of the album's unique qualities is the sense of fun that permeates the performances. On the opening "You Know What I Mean," Beck's stinging, blues-based soloing is full of imaginative shapes and daring leaps. On "Air Blower," elaborate layers of rhythm, duel lead, and solo guitars find their place in the mix. Propelled by the galvanic rhythm section, Beck slashes his way into "Scatterbrain," where a dizzying keyboard and guitar line leads to more energetic soloing from Beck and Middleton. In Stevie Wonder's ballad "Cause We've Ended as Lovers," Beck variously coaxes and unleashes sighs and screams from his guitar in an aching dedication to Roy Buchanan. Middleton's aptly titled "Freeway Jam" best exemplifies the album's loose and fun-loving qualities, with Beck again riding high atop the rhythm section's wave. As with "Scatterbrain," Martin's impeccable string arrangements enhance the subtle harmonic shades of the closing "Diamond Dust." Blow by Blow signaled a new creative peak for Beck, and it proved to be a difficult act to follow. It is a testament to the power of effective collaboration and, given the circumstances, Beck clearly rose to the occasion. In addition to being a personal milestone, Blow by Blow ranks as one of the premiere recordings in the canon of instrumental rock music.

Ohhh yeah!!

TOO LOW.

lol Christgau

My #29. And, argh, why the Xgau??:P

xpost ha

"I dunno, he just kinda sucks."
-- R. Christgau

432. ROBERT FRIPP Exposure  (524 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #151 for 1979 | Acclaimed: #1774
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ao0Audpgr0/UCjiy-HCP8I/AAAAAAAAAXU/wIDdUmf1ses/s1600/front.jpg

The loosely autobiographical Exposure is the closest Fripp has come to a pop effort, with guest vocals by Gabriel, Daryl Hall, Peter Hammill and Terre Roche. Interlarded with tape-loop guitar episodes and enigmatic spoken-word communiqués from several sources, the record manages to overcome the self-referential preciousness inherent in such an enterprise — but just barely. -- Trouser Press

review
by Ted Mills

Conceived as the third part of an MOR trilogy that included Peter Gabriel's second album and Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs, Exposure is concerned with a marketplace that Fripp saw as hostile to experimentation and hungry for product. Strangely, then, Exposure is one of his most varied and successful rock albums, offering a broad selection of styles. "Water Music I and II" is pure Frippertronics; "Disengage" and "I May Not Have Had Enough of Me But I've Had Enough of You" are angular, jagged rock like he would make with the reformed King Crimson; "North Star" is a soulful ballad led by Daryl Hall on vocals, and a less bombastic version of "Here Comes the Flood" with Peter Gabriel singing makes a melancholic ending. Peter Hammill, Terre Roche, and Narada Michael Walden also add vocals to a pleasant experiment in pop, Fripp style.

I had no idea Walden was a singer, I only knew him as the second drummer from the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Maybe I should check this album out.

did Faces crack the us?

― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, March 16, 2013 2:24 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yep, "Stay with Me" hit #17, and can still be heard on "classic rock" radio. They toured the US a lot and packed 'em in, but this also coincided with Stewart's popularity.

Ironically, first step was released in the US as by the Small Faces, since the label wanted there to be some name recognition ("Itchycoo Park" was a top 20 hit here).

Christgau's opinions can def. be infuriating! Feel free to rant! ;)

I got the remaster of that Fripp, fascinating stuff. Need to listen some more, it's been a while.

TIE
430. LUCIFER'S FRIEND Lucifer's Friend (530 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #72 for 1970 , #2122 overall
http://www.backtoblackvinyl.com/images/album-artwork/download/lucifers-friend-lucifers-friend.jpg

John Lawton's pipes are clear and powerful (if mixed distant), and the recording is one of the best I've heard on a record this vintage. The very Iommi-ish guitar sound melds seamlessly with those honking Jon Lord-like keys as the boys sludge through it, unaware that they were acting out an integral part to metal's conception, or would have been had anyone been paying attention. 8/10 -- M. Popoff

Although they would develop a more prog-influenced style, this debut album finds Lucifer's Friend living up to their sinister name by performing heavy, keyboard-textured rock in the vein of Deep Purple or Uriah Heep. It gets off to a thunderous start with "Ride the Sky," a punchy rocker built on a rumbling, guitar-fuelled melody reminiscent of "The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin. From there, the band works its way through a series of songs that combine heavy guitar riffs with often-complex arrangements that border on prog rock: "Keep Goin'" builds from organ-led verses into a guitar-dense jam driven home by John Lawton's wailing vocals, and the title track effectively contrasts heavy guitar-laden verses with an eerie chorus full odd keyboard and vocal effects to create its spooky atmosphere. Another highlight is "In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie," an eccentric but fun rocker featuring Lawton delivering an odd take on biblical history over a steady hard rock groove from the band. A downside of the album is that it lacks the varied instrumental textures that would make Lucifer's Friend's later work so interesting, but it makes up for this problem with a consistently high level of energy, clever arrangements, and a full-throttle vocal performance from Lawton. All in all, Lucifer's Friend is a solid debut and a worthwhile album for any listener interested in the roots of heavy metal.

430. JAPAN Adolescent Sex (530 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #308 for 1978
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWIy23PK7tM/TGwL_RQVZSI/AAAAAAAAJwI/3CiXGglS4P4/s1600/cover.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/0b9T6GZMBmrLabXNQXleuQ

Adolescent Sex introduces Japan in all its guitar-rock misery, playing such Bowie-influenced tripe as "Wish You Were Black" with less style than a sense of urgency.  -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Amy Hanson

Although Japan later became one of new romantics' poster children, their 1978 Adolescent Sex LP predated the movement by two years. A remarkable debut, the set snarls with leftover punk intent, a few glam rock riffs, and a wealth of electronics that not only reach back to the band's youth, but also predate much of what would explode out of the next wave of British underground. Sounding absolutely nothing like MTV's mainstream Japan, the quintet snarls across the opener "Transmission," all snotty lads and frazzled hair, setting the stage for what follows. Except, rather than toeing that line, the band pull some remarkable tricks out of their admittedly tight sleeves. The "wow factor" of an incredibly funky bass and guitar on "The Unconventional," repeated again on "Wish You Were Black," is not only a surprise but leaves one wondering if the band were closet Chic fans -- especially in light of the seven-minute jam "Suburban Love" that follows a little later on. Elsewhere, though, the band play closer to their roots while defining their own style, which includes David Sylvian's wonderfully sexy, tousled vocals -- most notably on the epic, and sexy, post-punker "Television" and a cover of the vintage showstopper "Don't Rain on My Parade." A more exciting album than just about anything else they'd ever record, Japan were young, hungry, and more than a little rough around the edges. Despite the slick R&B work twined in, it's important to remember that this band were in the sonic foothold of an early edgy era -- groundbreakers at their own inception. The sound, that look -- it fit them well.

trouser press even more brutal that shitegau

makes me want to listen to it though!

not buy it though!

why not? would probably pick up a 2nd hand vinyl copy if I saw one

2112 is great

That Japan record would be an amazing find in a $5 bin, above that would take a little more consideration. Definitely sounds like a fun record though.

I love that Japan album, highly recommended for anyone who loves the electro-punk of early Tubeway Army, Ultravox, etc.

429. ARMAGEDDON Armageddon (533 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #110 for 1975 , #4531 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/342/MI0002342504.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/45ZKO3Cd83RS8xyALSNtcp

This second string supergroup (Yardbirds, Rod Stewart, Johnny Winter, Captain Beyond, REnaissance, Steamhammer) approximates a Hawkwind/Pink Fairies/Budgie/Baker Gurvitz Army/Nutz hybrid...this album's dense material rumbling with crumply, heavy, quirky, psychedelic and progressive determination... 7/8 -- M. Popoff

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Cynics who perceive many super-groups as nothing more than bloated extrapolations of, at times, perfectly mundane musical components, can back up their assumptions with Armageddon's eponymous debut from 1975. The first and final spawn of the would-be-super-group featuring former Yardbird vocalist Keith Relf, erstwhile Captain Beyond drummer Bobby Caldwell, ex-Steamhammer guitarist Martin Pugh, and Relf's Renaissance partner, bassist Louis Cennamo, the album contains a meager five tracks -- four of which extend beyond the eight-minute barrier due to bouts of arguably unnecessary, self-indulgent waffling. On the other hand, this was the '70s, people, and of course this sort of excess was par for the course, back then. What's more, these same dubious qualities actually contributed to the album's eventual adoption as a precursor to the stoner rock movement by dope fiends everywhere, most of whom rarely heard a lengthy jam session they couldn't nod approvingly to. Whatever one's opinion, the quartet's admirable pedigree unquestionably yielded some inspired songwriting, and even memorable improvisational moments within driving opener "Buzzard," the gently whimsical post-psych ballad "Silver Tightrope," and the 11-minute, prog rock smorgasbord of "Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun" (boasting four subtitled movements). Like the LP's sole conventionally sized offering, the Pugh-dominated "Paths and Planes and Future Gains," as well as its bluesiest, loosest jam, "Last Stand Before" (where Relf finally whips out his famous harmonica), these songs all fall significantly short of their obvious objective, Led Zeppelin, but fare quite nicely in comparison to more down-to-earth contemporaries like Budgie, Hawkwind, or the interconnected Captain Beyond. Upon release, Armageddon was met with wildly polarized love/hate critical reviews and actually skimmed the lower reaches of the American charts; but very infrequent live shows and Relf's shocking death by accidental electrocution the following year put an end to the band's hopes. A few half-assed reunions took place in years to come but, thankfully, none proved serious enough to yield any Relf-less Armageddon recordings, thus guaranteeing the enduring cult status of this far from perfect, but intriguing and understandably one-of-a-kind LP.

that album got 4 1/2 out of 5 despite that review btw

I can't remember the actual process, maybe someome from AMG can chime in, but I think the rating is not made just by the reviewer.

I already wrote about Lucifer's Friend when campaigning for it, but if anyone wants it re-posted LMK.

hippies should be sent to the trenches more often

This guy might agree with you

428. TED NUGENT Cat Scratch Fever (535 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #359 for 1977
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y1a3vegNen8/S9WEeGhlMsI/AAAAAAAABbY/_Ei8DnXjq1E/s1600/Ted+Nugent+-+Cat+Scratch+Fever+-+Front.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/5vndJ1bTQkvu3HZaJjgomB

Nugent may well have turned into a cartoon, but I prefer cartoon carnivores to cartoon vegetarians. And speaking of cartoons, better the Kiss imitation of today than the Robin Trowers of yesteryear--Ted is no more sexist than Kiss, and he sings better. Ten fast, simple, stupid rock and roll songs for guitar and shout, six or seven of which would keep anyone under thirty-five awake for four or five minutes on the interstate, and from here things can only go downhill. B -- R. Christgau

Cat Scratch had its share of mean rock on it, including the title track (one of the biggest radio hits about VD ever penned), "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang," "Sweet Sally," and "Out Of Control," all the above rocking within a headspace not unlike rousing bouts of ZZ Top. 7/8 -- M. Popoff

eview
[-] by Greg Prato

Despite becoming one of the rock's biggest concert attractions, Ted Nugent needed that one album and single that would break through in a big way, and the 1977 album and single of the same name, Cat Scratch Fever, did the trick. Cat Scratch Fever matched the focused ferocity of Nugent's excellent 1975 debut (due to singer Derek St. Holmes' re-entry into the band), featuring another first-rate set of brash hard rockers. While the title track is a certified classic anthem (the only solo Nugent single to crack the Top 30), other tracks are just as delightful, such as the oh-so-subtle "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang." Further standouts include such underrated compositions as "Live It Up," "Workin' Hard, Playin' Hard," and "Out of Control," plus the exquisitely melodic instrumental "Home Bound," which the Beastie Boys would sample on their 1992 mega-hit album Check Your Head (the track "The Biz vs. the Nuge"). A Top 20 release, Cat Scratch Fever was the last Nugent release to feature his original solo band (St. Holmes, along with bassist Rob Grange, left for good in 1978). And while he enjoyed further chart success with such titles as Weekend Warriors and Double Live Gonzo, many consider Cat Scratch Fever to be Nugent's finest hour.

TOO LOW

Ted says he was never too high

Just wish he wasn't such a fuckin' tool. Still like those early albums though.

most objectionable man in rock? Whatevs that record is a killer

oh yeah man cause "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" is a stone cold classic!!

fuck Nugent.

not a fan then?

not one bit.

"Stranglehold" > heavy metal

Ok I'm listening to Homebound though and its neither offensive musically or lyrically. So I guess I like one Nugent song.

As far as ZZ Top comparisons go -- they always seem to be pretty humble bros with a good toungue-in-cheek sense of humor. the Nuge is like John McAfee levels of unappealing narcissism.

nugent is a cunt but that album really is great

I really hate the title track though and it comes on the radio all the time.

ZZ Topp > Nuge, yeah, but Cat Scratch Fever is great

427. SLAVE Slave (537 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #293 for 1977
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/262/MI0002262916.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
No reviews by rolling stone etc funnily enough.. So take it from me, this album is really good so give it a listen!
http://open.spotify.com/album/6FD0UvvoVyO4KF0KhqFdM1

review
by Craig Lytle

The debut album from the Ohio-based funk aggregate Slave was a grand success, but resulted in the release of only one single, "Slide." Being the only single released from the album, "Slide" had no problem gaining airplay with its gothic introduction, animated vocals, and rumbling bassline. The funk anthem claimed the number one spot on the Billboard R&B charts inside of 20 weeks. The other cuts on the album continue the aggressive funk assault, but with subtle passion and their own distinctive arrangements. The exception is "Son of Slide," which is identical to the album's big hit, except that it's an instrumental save a brief chorus chant. The only ballad is "The Happiest Days," a sweet soul song arranged in the vein of the Ohio Players with its horns, lead and backing vocals.

That poor tiny man has to carry ball bearings around all day, even though they easily roll!

being greased up can't help either

Poor little guy can't even straighten his legs without hitting the word "slave" someone attached to the ceiling.

im playing the song Slide in plug.dj/ilxors right now

Yeah, in seriousness it's pretty kickin'. Plenty of vibraslap, if that's your thing.

and a great guitar solo

I forget who the guitarist is but hes great. Plays like Ernie Isley, one of the great guitarists.

seriously give your ears a treat. great guitar solo then an extended outro
http://youtu.be/y1tKTjRgJuE

426. RANDY HOLDEN Population II (538 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #116 for 1970 , #3483 overall
http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/r/randy_holden-population_ii.jpg

Finds the Blue Cheer and Other Half guitarist turning in a rudimentary, howling, jammy, guitary psych collection...lurches forward int o something approaching the riff-mindedness of mountain, and it is quite (accidentally?) doomy. 7/6 -- M. Popoff

If you dig: Hard Rock, Heavy Jams, Acid Rock. Population II was recorded in an Opera house when Holden connected 20 Sunn amps in line (!) in order to create the desired sound. The album is a direct continuation to side 2 he wrote for Blue Cheer's third album...the monumental thunder created by the dual guitars and Lockheed's drums really reveals who invented Heavy Metal. The sound in those tracks can only be comparable to a herd of Mammoths going through your living room...a considerable achievement for an album recorded in 1969. Loved it? Try: Bent Wind, Pentagram, Road. -- R. Chelled

review
by Richie Unterberger

Holden's first solo album (he would not release any more music for about 25 years) was a strange bridge between psychedelia and heavy metal. At times these lurching, extended songs sound like sub-Jimi Hendrix noodling. But at the same time they sound genuinely more sinister and feverish than the by-the-numbers heavy metal soloing that would become so popular starting in the early 1970s. The slow, sometimes dirge-like tempos were a result of an adventurous two-man band situation in which Holden's only accompanist was Chris Lockheed, who played drums and keyboards simultaneously and couldn't be expected to effectively keep rapid rhythms. Holden is much more of a guitar player than a singer/songwriter, but these do have some smoking sustain passages, sometimes with a stratosphere-like wobbly bite, as on "Fruits and Icebergs." According to Holden the album was never officially released, but somehow the tapes or pressings must have reached collectors, as it's been bootlegged more than once.

425. CHEAP TRICK Cheap Trick (540 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #53 for 1977 , #2418 overall | Acclaimed: #2957
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/714/MI0001714118.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/4SuTOyB3SELv2d0nx6msp5

Drawing its primary inspiration from the unexpected Anglo poles of the Move (weight and wit) and Beatles (melody and merriment), Cheap Trick came on hard, loud and smart, investing pure pop with thunder and playing gigs that, while formulaic and gimmicky in the extreme, had (and, in the 21st century, still have) all the punch and spirited good humor that older, tired arena bands lacked. The black-and-white Cheap Trick is an absolute stunner, immediately recognizable in the onslaught of Tom Petersson's treble-ripping bass, Nielsen's incisive guitar theatrics, Robin Zander's nuclear assault voice and Bun E. Carlos' Watts-like simple and steady drumming. Well-honed songs sizzle and explode under Jack Douglas' all-electric production. Ultimately, though, it's the depth of warped personality that comes through the songs that makes this album so potent. "Taxman" turns the George Harrison gripe upside down with a twist; "He's a Whore" rocks with a ragingly melodic chorus; "The Ballad of TV Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy)" displays a healthy nasty streak in portraying Chicago mass murderer Richard Speck (albeit in the vaguest terms); the tautly tuneful "Oh Candy" laments a friend's (true story) suicide in the band's typically oblique fashion. Terry Reid's "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" is indistinguishable from the Nielsen/Petersson originals, which is a credit to both their writing and playing. Rock doesn't get any better than this. (But don't put too much faith in the fabricated biography of the liner notes by future superstar novelist Eric Van Lustbader.) The CD edition that came out in 1998 adds five contemporaneous outtakes, all well worth hearing, including a brisk, rocking rendition of "I Want You to Want Me," a song ultimately left off the album -- Trouser Press

I like their looks--two pretty-boys balanced off by two ugly-guys--and have no objection to their sound, which recalls the Aerosmith of Rocks. Nor am I shocked that they're not as powerful as the Aerosmith of Rocks, Jack Douglas or no Jack Douglas. But given their harmony singing you think they'd try and be more melodic. Sign of smarts: the way the phrase "any time at all" hooks "He's a Whore." B -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Cheap Trick's eponymous debut is an explosive fusion of Beatlesque melodic hooks, Who-styled power, and a twisted sense of humor partially borrowed from the Move. But that only begins to scratch the surface of what makes Cheap Trick a dynamic record. Guitarist Rick Nielsen has a powerful sense of dynamics and arrangements, which gives the music an extra kick, but he also can write exceptionally melodic and subversive songs. Nothing on Cheap Trick is quite what it seems. While the songs have hooks and attitude that arena rock was sorely lacking in the late '70s, they are also informed by a bizarre sensibility, whether it's the driving "He's a Whore," the dreamy "Mandocello," or the thumping Gary Glitter perversion "ELO Kiddies." "The Ballad of TV Violence" is about mass murder, while "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School" concerns pedophiles. All of it is told with a sense of humor, but it doesn't come off as cheap or smirking because of the group's hard-rocking drive and Robin Zander's pop-idol vocals. Even "Oh, Candy," apparently a love song on first listen, is an affecting tribute to a friend who committed suicide. In short, Cheap Trick revel in taboo subjects with abandon, devoting themselves to the power of the hook, as well as sheer volume and gut-wrenching rock & roll -- though the record is more musically accomplished than punk rock, it shares the same aesthetic. The combination of off-kilter humor, bizarre subjects, and blissful power pop made Cheap Trick one of the defining albums of its era, as well as one of the most influential.

Yaaay! This album is so good!

Good stuff. Makes me want to go back and re-listen to the second half of Blue Cheer's New Improved again, as Holden is brilliant on it.

Yay Cheap Trick! They were my first big live rock show when I was 9 at an outdoor fest. My favorite was "He's A Whore" ha ha. I object, Bun E. isn't ugly!

"ELO Kiddies" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and originally released by Cheap Trick on the 1977 album Cheap Trick. It was released as a single twice, in 1977 as an A-side backed by "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace" and in 1979, as the B-side the live "Ain't That a Shame" from Cheap Trick at Budokan. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented on the song's "thumping Gary Glitter perversion."[1] Charles Young of Rolling Stone Magazine regarded both "ELO Kiddies" and "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace" among the standout songs of the Cheap Trick album.[2]
It is a powerful song, driven by Bun E. Carlos' pounding the drums, Nielsen playing power chords on the guitar.[3] The sardonic lyrics include several double entendres and the song has been interpreted in multiple ways, even by members of the band.[3] The most basic meaning is as a "hello, goodbye" story.[3] Nielsen viewed the song as being about the "real maniacs from nuclear power plants."[3] Another interpretation is that the song expresses a "cynical view of education."[3] Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, who considers this song one of his favorites, interpreted the song as telling kids to "go out and have fun and go nuts and go completely wild," but that even deeper is that the kids need to do this fast before they get older and have ulcers and headaches.[3] Basically, Carlos sums up his view of the song's message as "let's have fun, but better have it now."[3] Even the song's title is a play on words, since the "Elo" could simply mean "hello," or it could be "ELO," implying the song borrows ideas from the Electric Light Orchestra.[3] Author Steve Taylor has noted that the song is "vaguely autobiographical" and that it recognizes the band's admiration of Electric Light Orchestra founder Roy Wood.[4]

Cheap Trick as good conceptually as Sparks or Roxy IMO. Great schtick which they schtuck to.

One of the best debuts in music. One of the greatest albums ever. And their live stuff from around that time is insane, like Takayanagi guesting with the Move.

424. THE JAM In the City (540 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #210 for 1977 | Acclaimed: #889
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/568/MI0001568122.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/5DD8e6UAxYd8f1f7j94hWp

Here we find an English hard-rock trio who wear short hair and dark suits, say "fuck" a lot, and sound rather like The Who Sing My Generation, even mentioning James Brown in one song. They also claim a positive social attitude--no police state in the U.K., but no anarchy either. Is this some kind of put-up job, pseudo-punk with respect for the verities? Could be, but it doesn't matter. When they complain that Uncle Jimmy the "red balloon" (or is it "reveloo"?) never walks home at night, they've got his number, but when they accuse him of sleeping between silk sheets they're just blowing someone else's hot air. In the end, they could go either way--or both. In the meantime, though, they blow me out. These boys can put a song together; they're both powerful enough to subsume their sources and fresh enough to keep me coming back for more. A- -- R. Christgau

review
by Chris Woodstra

On their debut, the Jam offered a good balance between the forward-looking, "destroy everything" aggression of punk with a certain reverence for '60s beat and R&B. In an era that preached attitude over musicianship, the Jam bettered the competition with good pop sense, strong melodies, and plenty of hooks that compromised none of punk's ideals or energy, plus youth culture themes and an abrasive, ferocious attack. Even though the band would improve exponentially over the next couple of years, In the City is a remarkable debut and stands as one of the landmark punk albums.

The Rickenbacker opening to "Art School" is my all-time favorite guitar sound.

Xgau baffled by Britishers

423. BE BOP DELUXE Futurama (542 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #265 for 1975
http://www.freecodesource.com/album-cover/51mUd0UDqKL/Be-Bop-Deluxe-Futurama.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/2zv3GPTzPTjyGyQRjjRNsR

review
by Bruce Eder

The original version of Futurama was a little weak on songwriting content, though long on virtuoso music passages. This expanded reissue is a partial improvement, though not because it addresses those problems; rather, it's just got more of something different, in this case the more commercial (and quite beautiful) single version of "Between the Worlds," plus a scintillating live version of "Maid in Heaven," and the achingly lyrical "Speed of the Wind" -- the latter shows off the more reflective side of this band and progressive rock in general, of a piece with King Crimson's "Book of Saturday," and emphasizing their gentler approach to singing and playing. The sound throughout is excellent, and the annotation is reasonably thorough as well.

Non Stop Dancin' and I Got By In Time were two of the best things the jam ever did

Guess I forgot this:

Black mohair suits, smart white shirts, skinny ties, stylish razor-cut hair, Rickenbacker guitars — on In the City the Jam were the new mods, emerging from a sea of spiky-haired leather-and-chain-clad punks. They may have looked different, but their energy level gave no ground, as Weller's jagged, choppy double-tracked guitar led the attack over Bruce Foxton's busy, melodic bass lines and Rick Buckler's stiff-backed drumming. The songs themselves are as taut and well manicured as the group, but match the explosiveness and attitude of the punks easily enough to establish an indisputable kinship to bands like the Sex Pistols and Clash. (It was no surprise when the Pistols swiped the riff for "Holidays in the Sun" from Weller's "In the City.")

If the songs and playing of In the City are derivative — especially of The Who Sings My Generation and '60s Motown — there's no arguing that the Jam was speaking to a generation for whom it was all new. Also, the main points — youth regaining pop culture from the grasp of conservative people with old- fashioned ideas, the individual vs. the crowd — were well taken by the group's growing British following. -- Trouser Press

422.  Speed, Glue & Shinki - S/T (544 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #645 for 1972
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/906/MI0002906648.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/66Y3hEmOGvKsueRyyhx02e

review
[-] by Eduardo Rivadavia

Like their music, the personal and creative relationships of Japanese rock & roll deviants Speed, Glue & Shinki were in a state of total disarray during the recording of their eponymous double-vinyl sophomore album in 1972. The ostensible bandleader, guitarist Shinki Chen, was already partially distracted from the proceedings, and original bassist Masayoshi "Glue" Kabe had completely checked out to resume his hobo-like travels, which left preternaturally wired vocalist and drummer Joey "Speed" Smith to jump into the driver's seat and accelerate the band's psychedelic rock school bus right over the cliff of reason. Replacement bassist Mike Hanopol was a handpicked ex-accomplice of Joey who assisted him in composing the majority of the album's songs, and these were a vast catalog of typically loose, ultra-distorted, proto-metallic acid blues grinds like "Run and Hide," "Calm Down," "Wanna Take You Home," and a wastoid anthem for the ages in "Sniffin' & Snortin', Pt. 1" and "Pt. 2" (which came complete with appropriate sound effects). The cumulative emotional effect of all this gloriously demented garage rock drudgery (think the MC5 meets Grand Funk meets Black Sabbath meets the 13th Floor Elevators) was so disconcerting that when a flute suddenly flutters into view midway through "Don't Say No" (one of Shinki's few songwriting contributions), listeners may find themselves instinctively swatting at it in panic, shrieking like uniformed Japanese schoolgirls. In all fairness, Shinki's Hendrix-worthy talents did shine through on numerous occasions, even reaching religious fervor all over the epic "Search for Love" and in the backwards solo of the aforementioned "Wanna Take You Home," while Hanopol tunes like "Bad Woman" and "Red Doll" revealed his passion for American power trio Mountain. But there was no mistaking Joey Smith's dominant role throughout the LP, whether that meant croaking like Louis Armstrong across "Flat Fret Swing" or jamming together a 13-minute ambient sound experiment on Moog synthesizer entitled "Sun/Planets/Life/Moon," which, along with the slightly less free-form "Song for an Angel," took up all of the fourth vinyl side. Aaaand exhale…COUGH-COUGH-COUGH! As if you hadn't guessed already, and in spite (heck, perhaps because) of the all-consuming chaos, what Speed, Glue & Shinki conjured here was a bona fide proto-stoner rock landmark. It may not have translated into record sales, and the band's messy collapse soon after its release no doubt left a bitter taste in everyone's mouths (particularly their free-spending, un-recouped label backers), but at least the short-lived trio's unique cult legacy was now signed, sealed, and delivered for posterity.

Yay Slave and Randy Holden!

Thought Cheap Trick would be so much higher, maybe even top fifty.

Good to see Brass Construction and Slave place, I think I voted for both. I prefer a few of the later Slave albums but that one is solid.

Surprised to see that Japan album has a few supporters. I like the odd track from that era but don't really rate their glam sound that much, they became an amazing band on Quiet Life.

That's the first one I heard, couldn't get into it. Eve is way better!

I'd say the Slave album is their second best

I did it again, lol

Those European heavy bands were all trying to show they were as good as Cream, but Speed, Glue & Shinki were literally off their fucking heads. I think there's a real uniqueness to them that climbing, disgusting crab-like bass which is undermining everything the blues should do. I think there's gonna be a new generation over here that once they get down with Speed, Glue & Shinki, are gonna be creating some of the most fantastic, un-blues blues you'll ever hear. It's similar to first-album Blue Cheer. The trouble with experimental music is that people who do it don't want to fail. When we did Drain'd Boner, the last Brain Donor album, in many ways it failed because it was so experimental. That's what was so powerful about this band: their wantonness, their greed for the shock and novelty of what they were doing. For me, the best rock'n'roll always has the right combination of novelty and tradition. Because Joey Smith was the singer as well as the drummer, he had control of the rhythm and was literally making his point with the snare and bass drums. He'd be bringing it down until you'd just think: 'What the fuck is than' -- J. Cope, Classic Rock

I voted for at least one Be Bop Deluxe album, but I enjoy all of them. Love that weird mix of glam and prog.

xpost I'm a big fan of The Hardness of the World and Stone Jam, The Concept might even be a better album too. I got that box set of the first five Slave albums a few years back.

421.  AC/DC Jailbreak '74 (559 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #17 for 1984 , #428 overall
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8vDgLPRWjBY/TqrHinf3WFI/AAAAAAAABfA/meKMW53dPLM/s1600/74+Jailbreak+1984.jpg

review
[-] by Greg Prato

Despite longtime AC/DC fans' immediate acceptance of replacement singer Brian Johnson (resulting in one of rock's all-time best sellers, 1980's Back in Black), there was still demand for Bon Scott-era unreleased tracks. Several of their early albums in Australia and Europe (such as T.N.T.) were later combined together for their first U.S. release, High Voltage, while several tracks were cut from the original versions and never issued stateside. 1984's five-song EP, '74 Jailbreak, features these forgotten tracks from the band's early days. "Jailbreak" automatically became a concert standard when the EP came out, and it remains a mystery why it wasn't released earlier. Also included is the largely instrumental "Soul Stripper," a cover of "Baby Please Don't Go," plus a pair of Angus Young-Malcolm Young-Scott originals: "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" and the autobiographical "Show Business." Although '74 Jailbreak is by no means a definitive collection of early rarities (such compositions as "Fling Thing," "Love Song," "Stick Around," "R.I.P.- Rock in Peace," and "School Days" remain unreleased in the States), it is a worthwhile, brief snapshot of early AC/DC.

I'm a bit late with this but just want to mention how incredible that Curtis Mayfield album is that placed. Curtis will always be his masterpiece but There's no Place Like America Today is a close second. I know he has a lot of fans on here but for anyone that only knows Curtis and Superfly, that album is well worth checking out.

I agree. Did you see the pishy Christgau review?

The Concept is my fave Slave album.

Yeah "So In Love" and "Billy Jack" are awesome. Xgau really comes off as a douche on that review!

420. KOOL AND THE GANG Wild & Peaceful (559 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #188 for 1973
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yRxfvH6kBOI/TL3rcUf9wjI/AAAAAAAAAHo/pycasbJJwRI/s1600/Kool++The+The+Gang+-+Wild+And+Peaceful-Front.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/3826fPFgIEBt3yXineniDV

review
by Andrew Hamilton

Prior to James "JT" Taylor adding pop flavor vocals, which help garner a handful of top selling albums, this was Kool & the Gang's most successful album, spawning three bonafide R&B hits. Produced by Robert Bell, and featuring Donal Boyce's incredulous vocals, these songs have held up well. The fast, chugging "Jungle Boogie" was a club favorite, while "Funky Stuff," with its "whoa whoa whoa" hook, was slower and spacier than "Jungle Boogie." The band formerly known as the Jazziacs got their first R&B number one with "Hollywood Swinging," a slightly faster than mid-tempo song with whistles, festive ambiance and lead vocals by keyboardist Ricky West. All three hits were inspired by Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa," and were recorded in one night at a studio in midtown Manhattan. The title cut flash backs to their prerecording jazz days, when they dazzled New Jerseyites with their playing skills.

This is a fantastic funk album and everyone really should check it out. Its nothing like the shitty disco they made later and I urge you all to check it out.

I think some of you may have guessed by now why I wanted this to be a 500. So some of the best funk albums get noticed

No it hadn't notice that, what is he talking about? I think he did plenty of great albums after Superfly like Back to the World, Short Eyes and Sweet Exorcist. He's probably my favourite soul singer of all time.

Because Xgau hasn't got a clue?

Really like that Kool & The Gang album, great artwork too. I only have that one and Spirit of the Boogie which is even better. I really should check out some more of their albums at some point.

Kool & the Gang opened for Van Halen last year. They were great! Mayfield is totally my favorite, I like all his albums to a degree.

I think some of you may have guessed by now why I wanted this to be a 500. So some of the best funk albums get noticed

― Algerian Goalkeeper

Good call on this. A lot of my favourite funk albums were nominated but I'm hoping to discover a few new ones from this list.

417. YES Relayer (560 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #36 for 1974 , #1208 overall
http://hwy74.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/yes-relayer-frontal.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6MK9yp7hFeOLeR7F1hsBp6

review
by William Ruhlmann

Yes had fallen out of critical favor with Tales from Topographic Oceans, a two-record set of four songs that reviewers found indulgent. But they had not fallen out of the Top Ten, and so they had little incentive to curb their musical ambitiousness. Relayer, released 11 months after Tales, was a single-disc, three-song album, its music organized into suites that alternated abrasive, rhythmically dense instrumental sections featuring solos for the various instruments with delicate vocal and choral sections featuring poetic lyrics devoted to spiritual imagery. Such compositions seemed intended to provide an interesting musical landscape over which the listener might travel, and enough Yes fans did that to make Relayer a Top Ten, gold-selling hit, though critics continued to complain about the lack of concise, coherent song structures.

417.  DMZ - s/t (560 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #157 for 1978
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/801/MI0002801659.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/1BLciAqNVEeNeZ9Ufu88S2

One of Boston's primary punk bands, DMZ was led by the maniacal Mono Mann (aka Jeff Conolly, later of the Lyres), an organist/singer whose '60s roots (garage punk and psychedelia) and Iggy Pop fixation formed the basis for the group's influential stylings. Their first album, produced by Flo and Eddie, has bad sound, sloppy playing and little character, despite the raveup playing and general enthusiasm. -- Trouser Press

review
by John Dougan

The infamous debut record. Flo And Eddie's production doesn't help, but DMZ's retrogressive sound did not, at the time, fit the punk model. As a result, they seemed curiously out of place when compared to the other Sire offerings, specifically The Ramones and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Still, this record explodes from the turntable with the benzedrine grunge of "Mighty Idy" and doesn't let up. Sure, it could've been better, but it's not nearly as bad as has been alleged.

417.  BUZZCOCKS A Different Kind of Tension (560 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #62 for 1979 , #3282 overall
http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/26949.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/3v4JnHV14VstZfGKJ49bi9

A Different Kind of Tension makes tentative maneuvers into the new, as the Buzzcocks attempt to throw off the yoke of pop music. It boasts some of Shelley's finest songs, notably "You Say You Don't Love Me" and "I Believe." With Diggle providing some of the material, the band reaches a zenith of effortless craft, especially on Side Two (subtitled "The thorn beneath the rose"), where Shelley dives into the challenging waters of paranoia, selfconscious despair and harrowing uncertainty, climaxing on the title track. That's followed by "I Believe," a seven-minute summation of reasons to be cheerful continually undercut by a chorus of "There is no love in this world any more." Powerful stuff. (The 2008 and 2010 double-CD reissues both add the singles that appeared later on the Parts One, Two, ThreeEP, four more sides that showed up on Singles Going Steady, two Peel sessions from '78 and '79, a batch of contemporaneous demos, a performance of "Autonomy" at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, and "I Look Alone," the final finished recording by the Shelley/Diggle/Maher/Garvey lineup.) -- Trouser Press

I suppose people call them a pop band because they still write about love, but that they say "I can't love you" rather than the usual does make a difference. Not in profundity--one sentiment is as banal as the other--but in a mood that suits a sound as bright and abrasive as new steel wool. Pete Shelley articulates his truisms with insight as well as flair, especially in "You Say You Don't Love Me" and "I Believe." My favorite, though, is Steve Diggle's "You Know You Can't Help It," about sex, which I'm happy to report he likes--although he does observe that "love makes war." Hey, does it? B+ -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

The final album of the Buzzcocks' first phase of existence is the most fragmented of the three, with increasingly ambitious songs fighting for time with tracks that sound much like the group's earliest efforts. Said songs are often quite good, like the opening "Paradise" or the great romantic angst of "You Say You Don't Love Me," but one can sense the band working to avoid the trap the Ramones fell into by simply offering up yet more soundalikes. Diggle makes a definite mark on this album, as on the slow crawl then fast thrash "Sitting Round at Home," a highlight of Tension that also features his electronically distorted vocals. "Mad Mad Judy" is a slightly more straightforward blitz, but with energy to spare and a spacious feel (credit again to producer Rushent). As the album closes, the sense of slight schizophrenia resolves itself as the group embraces all-out experimentation, producing some of the Buzzcocks' all-time best songs. "Hollow Inside" shows the band's knack for disguising scalpel-sharp sentiments with seeming simplicity, and the title track's contradictory slogans/demands disturbing robot vocals and nagging beat and melody up the ante even further. "I Believe" concludes things (aside from the fake found-sound snippet "Radio Nine") on the highest possible note. Shelley's slightly bemused recitation of all the things he believes in is suddenly interrupted by the line "There is no love in this world anymore," turned and electronically distorted into an obsessive, anthemic mantra as the band charges along with him up and out. An invigorating blast of, indeed, tension and angst, it alone makes Tension worth investigating.

This my favourite Buzzcocks album by a long way.

Wow, that's low for Jailbreak '74. I liked that Curtis Mayfield album but only didn't vote for it because I personally didn't find it to be that hard-rocking. Relayer is amazing, of course. "Sound Chaser" probably gets as close as Yes ever got to Zappa territory.

416. PETER HAMMILL Over (560 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #31 for 1977 , #1026 overall
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb391/ElliotGKnapp/Album%20Art/over.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/3kvJOGLuuWZnbg4rjnuSzq

review
by Steven McDonald

One of the best albums ever made about the end of a relationship and the trauma that results, Over is the harrowing document of the failure of a long-term relationship Peter Hammill had been in. With a brief side-step to examine the loss felt by parents when their children move out ("Autumn"), Hammill exposes feelings of guilt, rage, betrayal, attempts at understanding, and attempts at healing. From the self-recrimination of the furious "Crying Wolf," to the angry lashing out of "Time Heals," through the heart-wrenching sadness of "This Side Of The Looking Glass" (with Hammill turning in a beautiful vocal performance against an orchestral setting), to the extremely tentative healing steps of "Lost And Found" (which includes a middle eighth that concludes "La Rossa" from Van Der Graaf Generator's Still Life, but in a cynical way), the songs avoid compromise and simplicity, making this a sometimes difficult listening experience; the lyrics are often bitterly clever and cutting. Beautifully produced, Over is Peter Hammill at his musical and lyrical best.

That DMZ album really grew on me. I've had it for years but re-listening to it for this poll I really got into it and voted for it. Buzzcocks are one of my all-time faves. The title of their last album is appropriate, the tension between their post-punk experiments and catchy tunes. "Sound Chaser" is amazing, it was cool to hear it mixed with the other songs in the mix via the poll.

Must have been a trip to actually play that.

I got into a big Hammill phase for a while but I gotta say I never listen to them anymore. Will have to revisit.

DMZ are another great underrated band along with The Electric Eels who both absolutely ruled.

(Was referring to "Sound Chaser". I love VdGG but never really delved into solo Hammill in any real way.)

415. DUST Dust (564 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #185 for 1971
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/275/MI0002275356.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

The first album belies a hyperactive and slightly psych-tinged version of Mountain, very rhythmic, very Detroit. "Love Me Hard" is '60s thug rock metal chaos personified, while "Stone Woman" also fights with bare fists. 7/7 -- M. Popoff

The cover of their first album depicts three skeletonswhich were photographed in catacombs in Mexico, and without a dbout was ahead of its time in the artistic style of Heavy Metal. Despite the menacing cover art, "Dust" was quite far from the Heavy Metal that characterized the latter end of the Seventies. "Stone Woman" has insane rhythm and a slide guitar which provides a southern tinge while "Chasin' Ladies" resembles Grand Funk Railroad with its catchy riff and loose groove. "Goin' Easy" is a delicate Blues ballad and the 10 minute long "From a Dry Camel" is the only track which truly brings to mind Black Sabbath. Lovied it? Try: Damnation of Adam Blessing, Buffalo, J.D. Blackfoot. -- R. Chelled

review
[-] by Joe Viglione

The first album from Dust is interesting on many levels. The rhythm section featured drummer Marc Bell, who would later join New York punk rockers Richard Hell & the Voidoids, while bassist Kenny Aaronson would sign on with labelmate Stories on the group's third album, as Ian Lloyd moved from bass/vocals to complete frontman. The songwriting team of producer Kenny Kerner and singer/guitarist Richie Wise would go on to produce the third Stories album, making this Dust debut and its follow-up an important piece of the Stories puzzle. Wise's lead vocals on Dust were decent enough to complement his very competent guitar playing; Wise would eventually get hired as A&R man at Scotti Brothers Records. This record is not only the document of a record executive/producer as recording artist, but of musicians who would go on to do more substantial work in the industry. "Stone Woman," with its shimmering slide guitar work from Aaronson, would've fit perfectly on a Leslie West record. What Dust was all about is kind of difficult to get a handle on. A hard rock band for sure, and certainly spirited; the listener has to wonder if the group is successful when progressive, or if things might be better served by staying on the straight and narrow. "Chasin' Ladies" sports a real cool riff and pretty eerie vocal by Wise, while the one song contributed by Aaronson, "Loose Goose," becomes an endless jam. Wise emulates Greg Lake of ELP and, despite the good try, had Dust kept to the poppy influences all these musicians had in them, the group might have had a better chance at success. Kama Sutra, after all, had the Lovin' Spoonful and Sopwith Camel, artists who charted with pop music on the Top 40. For their image, Dust used a photo from the catacombs on the front cover and a camel in the desert on the back. It's an amalgam of hard rock and progressive sounds from co-producer Kerner, who would go on to produce hits for Gladys Knight and edit The Music Connection magazine. Interesting stuff worth hearing at least once.

DMZ is awesome, reviewers are nuts. was disappointed "destroyer" didn't place in tracks.

3 great underrated bands from the 70's = Crime, The Electric Eels and DMZ.

414. UFO Lights Out (565 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #43 for 1977 , #1750 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/024/MI0002024695.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/5T6UwBJTdOur4w9aoYCyub

Often considered UFO's most magical release, in effect, the record where the band becomes itself, Lights Out ironically soars and dives through the most diverse number of postures of any single UFO project, evoking a resultant opacity through puzzling independence and elusive identity.. Superficially, this is one of the more melodic of UFO rounders, still surprisingly guitar-based, but only truly metallic on "Lights Out"and the ponderous "Electric Phase." 6/9 - M. Popoff

review
[-] by Matt Kantor

Despite a few generic moments, Lights Out is probably the best studio document of what elevated UFO above the '70s hard rock fray. Within a Euro-blues framework, the classic lineup that lasted from Phenomenon through Strangers in the Night incorporated challenging dynamics, epic balladry, and a more than occasional sensitivity. On Lights Out, all three of these traits come together in powerful fashion, most notably on the space rocker-cum-ballad "Love to Love," where a ridiculously heavy intro gives way to flourishing poetics. "Gettin' Ready" and an oddball Love cover, "Alone Again Or," also showcase the band's sensitive ambiguities, never compromising the group's overarching hard edge. Not enough can be said either about UFO's stand-out individual performances, particularly Phil Mogg's street level vocals, which no doubt greatly influenced Joe Elliot and Paul Di'Anno. Then, of course, there's the matter of Michael Schenker's deservedly lauded lead guitar. Expressive and bluesy with a tone nearing perfection, even the more pedestrian tunes are made worthwhile due to a Schenker solo. Lights Out holds up well; its subtleties are worth mentioning because the band always make it a point to rock hard, and the playing is always on. Almost completely overlooked stateside, Lights Out is a lost gem.

I love this band, but it's too bad they couldn't put together a more consistent album that totally knocked it out of the park. Their live album serves that purpose I guess, but was it even nominated?

413. GENESIS Trespass (566 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #153 for 1970 , #4926 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/016/MI0000016257.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/0mKr6PDMuhTEWatlw5a4hl

review
[-] by Bruce Eder

Genesis' first truly progressive album, and their first record for the Charisma label (although Trespass was released in America by ABC, which is how MCA came to have it), is important mostly as a formative effort. Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford are here, but the guitarist is Anthony Phillips and the drummer is John Mayhew. Gabriel, Banks, Phillips, and Rutherford are responsible for the compositions, which are far more ambitious than the group's earlier efforts ("Silent Sun," etc.). Unfortunately, much of what is here is more interesting for what it points toward than what it actually does -- the group reflects a peculiarly dramatic brand of progressive rock, very theatrical as music, but not very successful. The lyrics are complex enough but lack the unity and clarity that would make Genesis' subsequent albums among the most interesting of prog rock efforts to analyze. Gabriel's voice is very expressive but generally lacks power and confidence, while the conventional backup vocalizing by the others is wimpy, and Phillips' playing is muted. Tony Banks' keyboards are the dominant instruments, which isn't that bad, but it isn't the Genesis that everyone came to know. The soft, lyrical "Visions of Angels" and "Stagnation" are typical, gentle works by a band that later learned how to rock much harder. Only one of the songs here, "The Knife" -- which rocks harder than anything else on Trespass and is easily the best track on the album -- lasted in the group's concert repertory past the next album.

Underrated album this IMO

412. NOVEMBER En Ny Tid är Här (568 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #205 for 1970
http://recordservice.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Record13Aug-007.jpg

If you dig: Blues Rock, Cream, Acid Rock. Their most bluesy output...the gorup also drew inspiration from Mountain. Rolf introduces a unique rather sensitive style of playing while Stalbrandt is a tad wilder version of Ginger Baker. "Mount Everest" starts things off beautifully with a mellow Blues and was later issued as an English sung single. Other noteworthy tracks are "En Annan Varld," the Prog bent "Sekunder (Forvandlas till ar)," "Grona Blad" and "attonde."

Here's mine:

Lots of Swedish bands have named proto-metallers November as a big influence, like Witchcraft, Graveyard, Horisont, Captain Crimson, probably Dead Man and Troubled Horse. I’m guessing their influence hasn’t stopped spreading, as people beyond Sweden are still just starting to hear about them. It’s hard not to be skeptical that this is just another lost 70s band that is overrated because of its previous obscurity, but I have been enjoying their first three albums immensely for a while now. I think they definitely measure up to other heavy blues Cream acolytes and proto-metal from the time like Mountain, Leaf Hound, Cactus, Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, Jerusalem, Captain Beyond, Night Sun, even Led Zep! They evolved out of two Stockholm groups, Train and The Imps and toured with Fleetwood Mac in 1969 before recording their rocking debut (translates to “A New Time Is Here, which remains slightly more consistent than their second album, 2:a (1971), especially with the less bluesy hard rockers “En Annan Värld” and “Ta Ett Steg I Sagans Land”.

410. GONG You (568 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #49 for 1974 , #1692 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/501/MI0002501633.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/5JMNWeqaC5p09e8e7x4vuD

review
[-] by David Ross Smith

Conveying more advice from AP H.P., You emerges thematically as the third part in the Radio Gnome Invisible series, though not titled as such. Overall a fair release, the album seems somewhat poorly planned and insubstantial, with brief tunes punctuated by several long jams. Guitarist Steve Hillage's role in Gong had become quite prominent, to the point of overshadowing founding member Daevid Allen. You marks Allen's last stand with the band, at least until his quasi-return many years later. The album opens with three light, ethereal pieces. Among the short tunes, "Perfect Mystery" is the standout, a fun but very advanced jazz-oriented composition. The lengthy, epic-like structures on the album are generally solid (though at times uninspired), jazz-tinged progressive rockers, with the instrumental "Isle of Everywhere" taking top billing. Each piece features Pierre Moerlen's hot percussion, and each bandmember steps up front at one time or another. The awkward moments occur in the final cut, the jazzy "You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever." At times early in the song Allen's vocal presentation and lyrics seem at odds with music which dares to outdate him, making some of the most progressive music on the recording.

410. PENETRATION Moving Targets (568 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #405 for 1978
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oj_isVWKbhE/T6Wpqf2VvtI/AAAAAAAAG3w/_M0zAePNLvs/s1600/Penetration-Moving-Targets---105191.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/7LHgN8wNZITpIywXHVBRLb

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Buoyed by the sheer magnificence of their "Don't Dictate" debut single, Penetration's debut album stands among the very last true greats of the first wave of British punk offerings. A glorious collision of adrenalized exuberance and astonishing energies, topped by Pauline Murray's unmistakably soaring vocals, Moving Targets wrapped 11 tracks across its two sides of vinyl, and it was the greatest indication of their quality that it wasn't till you reached the end that you realized "Don't Dictate" itself was absent. In its stead, "Stone Heroes," the explosive "Movement," and the swirlingly atmospheric "Vision" were all classics in the making, while a cover of Patti Smith's "Free Money" is simply spellbinding, crunchier than the original but more emotive, too. And then there's the opening bars of the title track, a hilarious reminder of how fast things were changing back then -- it's the Pistols' "Holidays in the Sun," and doesn't it sound old-fashioned! All of which illustrates the sheer versatility bound up in the band. In another lifetime, they could have given the likes of Led Zeppelinand Deep Purple a run for their money, at least in terms of demonstrating dexterity, and it was Penetration's bad luck that they were riding a wave that had little time for such abilities. Not that they allowed the disappointment to show. Moving Targets shrugs aside most of punk's archetypes as it rockets along, while the decision to cover the Buzzcocks' "Nostalgia" reminds listeners that Penetration weren't the only band around that didn't give a toss for fashionable accessories. Of course, that determination would lead to the disappointment of the band's second album -- and, thereafter, their demise. As of mid-1978, however, Moving Targets could only herald a dazzling future.

I forgot to include in the first quote:

Loved it? Try: Incredible Hog, Vatten, Blueset, Midsommar. -- R. Chelled

That was for November of course. It's gettin quiet here! I'm about to go for a run before it gets dark. AG, you forgot this one for Penetration:

Originally inspired into existence by Patti Smith and the Sex Pistols, Penetration emerged from northern England (Durham, near Newcastle) in 1977 with a great punk single, "Don't Dictate." Led by singer Pauline Murray, the band's brash amateurism had been converted into competent musicianship by the time of Moving Targets, released at first on glow-in-the-dark gimmick vinyl that was far noisier than illuminating. Playing mostly originals (written by Murray in collaboration with bandmates), but including Smith's "Free Money" and the Buzzcocks' "Nostalgia," Penetration's debut LP mixes expansive creations and direct punk-outs, all done with flair and originality. Unlike other LPs by young bands of this era, Moving Targets still sounds surprisingly fresh. (The belated CD issue adds five tracks, including "Don't Dictate" and its B-side, 1978's "Fire Squad" and its B-side, and the flip of the album's incisive "Life's a Gamble.") -- Trouser Press

409. OHIO PLAYERS Ecstacy (569 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #892 for 1973
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/435/MI0000435386.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/2V2CNrtpHFdxpVLHrTKGxe

review
[-] by Alex Henderson

Throughout the 1970s, the Ohio Players were famous (or infamous) for their erotic album covers. But there are major differences between the covers of Mercury albums like Skin Tight, Fire, Honey, and Contradiction and the covers of such Westbound releases as Pleasure and Pain. At Mercury, the Players' album covers favored softcore erotica à la Playboy or Penthouse, whereas the covers of their Westbound LPs were more bizarre and offered kinky bondage/S&M imagery. Those covers came under attack from different parts of the political spectrum; some of the more radical feminists accused the Players of objectifying women, while Republicans and Christian fundamentalists accused them of promoting moral decline. And the Players were laughing all the way to the bank -- at least from 1974 on. When their third Westbound album, Ecstasy, came out in 1973, they were still a year away from signing with Mercury and becoming really huge. But they did have a small cult following, which found that Ecstasy fell short of the excellence of Pain and Pleasure. Nonetheless, the material is respectable and generally decent. Serious Players fans will find sweaty funk items like "Spinning," "Black Cat," and the title song to be enjoyable even though they aren't among the band's essential recordings. While Ecstasy isn't recommended to casual listeners, it isn't a bad album to have in your collection if you fancy yourself a hardcore Players addict.

I do and therefore I do!

And I hope Kitchen Person does too!

Sadly I've never listened to any of the earlier Ohio Players albums, I've been meaning to for ages. The only ones I have are Skin Tight, Fire and Honey. Honey is by far my favourite of those.

You dont have any of the wonderful Westbound era albums with Junie on them???

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!

408. MX-80 SOUND Hard Attack (575 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #192 for 1977
http://991.com/newGallery/MX-80-Sound-Hard-Attack-452186.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/5qIAGr56lIjdK14jOosSFb

If ever a band realized the potential of pre-punk "underground" noise rock, MX-80 is it. This weird post-metal art band, which originated in Bloomington, Indiana (from the same scene that spawned the goofy Gizmos), centered around Bruce Anderson's slashing, trebly guitar riffing and Rich Stim's deadpan, often indecipherable, mumble. As a five-piece (with two drummers), they twice released Big Hits, a seven-song 7-inch EP (subtitled "Hard Pop From the Hoosiers"), on local labels, impressing Island Records enough to sign them. But the resulting Hard Attack never came out in the States and attracted little attention aside from some critical raves. (The reissue on Atavistic pairs Hard Attack with Big Hits, adding a bonus outtake from the Hard Attack sessions.) -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Ned Raggett

MX-80 Sound's first full album found the band balanced in some sort of weird zone where punk, art metal, and a drawling sort of humor Stephen Malkmus would chase down in later years could all happily coexist. That the band was a contemporary (in terms of time, if not exact location) of Devo and Pere Ubu makes a perfect sort of sense -- the quartet's songs were less immediately anthemic, but something in the Ohio water seems to have seeped over to Indiana as well. Lines like "There's an electrical alliance when you turn on that appliance" could be pure spud-boy attitude, while the nervous frazzle of the music and the semi-sci-fi identity the band used for their appearances and photos make for pure herky-jerky fun. If anything, Hard Attack may just well be the secret counterpart to the Fall at the time, and for good reason (even the two-drummer team of Armour and Mahoney arguably beat Mark E. Smith and company to the punch). Stim is a wonderfully offbeat singer, ranting without ever raving, as prone to talk over, around, and beside the beat as to sing anything straightforward, while his occasional turns on horn seem like the type of thing he would do for the hell of it. The rhythm section's affinity for prog rock's tempo switching and jazzy breakdowns never become an end in and of itself; the goal instead is to keep both the noise and the groove on, and they do it with raunchy power. Lead guitarist Anderson makes some righteously giddy feedback and circus/carnival riffs (Stim aiding him at points, other times finding its own path), and the end result is a sharp balance between insanity and just enough control. Outrageously funny/bad lyrical joke: "A horse that lives for a year is a yearling, but a horse that lives for a week, is it a weakling?"

Contradiction is the last Ohio Players album I have and it's good too. Supposedly the ones after aren't that great.

You dont have any of the wonderful Westbound era albums with Junie on them???

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!

― Algerian Goalkeeper

I know I know, I'll get on it. Is Ecstacy the best place to start? I actually had Contradiction too but didn't really rate it so sold it on at some point. As I said I love Honey, one of my favourite albums of that genre.

Ecstacy, Pleasure and Pain are all on Spotify.

no Pain and Pleasure are better but since they wont be that expensive you may as well pick up Ecstasy along with them

Ok cool, I'll get on it. It's good their albums seem to be pretty easy to track down.

407. AMON DüüL II Made In Germany (578 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #581 for 1975
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/884/MI0001884658.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/2H59RzjJkRWS984ZQhMRCH

Then, even more wide ranging, was the double opus MADE IN GERMANY, lyrically Amon Düül II's ultimate stab at German society, attitudes, the media, the record industry, etc. The great shame was that musically much of it wasn't too inspired. Even before the departure of Renate Knaup (she moved on toPopol Vuh) there had been hoards of changes in personnel. -- Cosmic Egg

If you dig: Krautrock, Prog, Psych, Experimental. Further changes in the personnel accompanied the release of the album Made In Germany, an ambitious double...concept album on the German society and told the story of a fictional character called "Mr. Kraut." The album was certainly better than the last two and integrated between broad musical influences, but it was no longer "it." The album didn't sell well and the band was now in debt, which prompted Heible, Tischer and Rogner to quit, frustrated. -- R. Chelled

Recently I've been filling in the cracks of my Amon Duul awareness, and in so doing read a lot of online commentary and reviews about their career. Generally such overviews conclude along the lines of "in 1974 they made an album called Hi-Jack, which sucks, and nothing after that is worth hearing." LIES I TELL YOU! Because 1975's "Made In Germany" is actually the best of their post-freakout albums (by which I mean all those coming after 1971's "Tanz der Lemminge.") After those early freaky records the Duul tried to be more like a conventional rock band with shorter songs such as you might actually hear on the radio, which sometimes worked quite well ("Wolf City" LP) and sometimes not so well ("Hi-Jack" which isn't actually THAT bad, at least not all of it.) But even then "Germany" is kind of unique in their catalog, because it's not just more "conventional" it's outright "pop music" with hummable singalong melodies and catchy swingin' arrangements.

For some reason the sound & vibe of the album makes me think this is what Jefferson Airplane would have sounded like by 1975 if they hadn't imploded in a haze of hard drugs, egos and fuzzy politics. Because Renate Knaup is the teutonic Grace Slick! Her voice has the same icy beauty, and the lyrics she sings have the same sly countercultural wink. I don't think any of the other Duul albums really use her vocal talents as well as this one. It's also something of a concept album, the concept being "German history" more-or-less. But thankfully it's not too serious about that, it's more a case of the lyrics having a unifying theme and the way the record is sequenced: it begins with a Straussian classical overture, then about 10 catchy pop tunes are interspersed with brief krautrockische instrumental interludes, and it ends with a smokin' jam on the traditional tune "La Paloma" (here retitled "La Krautoma.") 

Among my favorite tracks are the bouncy prog-pomp of "Wilhelm, Wilhelm" which is a sort of acid-befuddled call to bring back the Kaiser and has lyrics alternating between German, French and English. Also "The Emigrant Song" which has a banjo (!) and is sung in (deliberately) heavily accented English: "zee Krauts are coming to zee U.S.A." (pronounced auf Deutsch as "ooo-ess-ahhh.") And "Loosey Girls" which is a haunting melancholy rock version of Marelene Dietrich/cabaret music. There's also tunes about Fritz Lang ("Metropolis") and Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria. But my favorite of all is the jaunty pop of "Wide-Angle" with the lovely Renate at her best reminiscing about those old acid-gobbling days on the commune but then today we're all "drinking compromise cocktails." A great song from the days after the hippy dream collapsed.

This albums strikes me as their most lyrically profound (almost the only Duul album where I pay attention to the lyrics in fact.) And although it may sound like a shocking "sellout" if you're used to their sound on rightly celebrated albums like "Yeti" and "Phallus Dei", it's actually quite stellar if you take it on it's own terms. The very definition of "unsung"!  -- J. Cope

review
by Steven McDonald

There is a lovely moment in "La Krautoma," after the surf music intro gives way to a strange Peter Leopold drum solo and moves on, that the sound begins to mutate into early-'70s Hawkwind, a gleeful nod from one notable space rock outfit to another. "La Krautoma" is more than that, though; it's a six-minute distillation of acid rock, space rock, and Krautrock that shows the band's knowledge of their own history. It is also an eyebrow-raising moment in the midst of this particular, which spends more time getting into the same space as mid-'70s Europop, providing an antimatter universe version of an average Eurovision song contest lineup -- think early ABBA in vinyl raincoats, singing ditties about old King Ludwig and the like. Equally perverse, the Blue Angel motif of the cover fits completely with this approach: life as a cabaret, the decadent edges visible through the veneer. In many respects, it's a neat record, though sometimes a bit too glossy and clever for its own good -- nowhere near the sprawling Tanz Der Lemminge, for example. One of the essential set, however.

Hard Attack - what an amazing noise MX80 make on that thing! When I was in my late teens my friend had that on a tape in his shitty Metro with The Modern Dance on the other side, perfect combination imo. Used to sound great over the top of the squealing and the whining of its runty little engine. Would have slung it a few votes for sure.

BTW Bruce Foxton is a dead ringer for Kim Wilde on the cover of In The City, don't you think?

Quite an underrated album this, if a bit poppier. It has the majestic Metropolis on it. Which outloud regulars will know very well.
xp

you didn't vote,nick?

I think in the late 80's + having a friend with a shitty metro was standard.

406. PATTO Patto (586 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #202 for 1970
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=WWxipiU6bKBzUM&tbnid=m7c7SrniTDhUJM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.halidon.it%2Fmusica-c1-patto_patto-g2772-d1.html&ei=9gJFUZDECaHU0QWChIGQCQ&psig=AFQjCNHEBEj6H3XRqTVMbisQe4SeYiLKBg&ust=1363563634466800
http://open.spotify.com/album/66Bzh4knbBKurn14HuRrNU

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Criminally underrated at the time, but borne into legend by the unspeakable tragedies that awaited its makers, the debut album by Patto can safely be described among the finest jazz-rock fusion albums ever cut by a British band. Mike Patto's vocals certainly match that billing, a throaty, emotive sound that puts one in mind of the effect that Steve Winwood spent much of his career pursuing, while first lieutenant Ollie Halsall's reputation as one of the era's hottest guitarists is revealed as only one of the strings to his bow -- early into the opening "The Man," he unleashes a mean vibraphone solo as well. However, "Hold Me Back" quickly restates his lead duty and, though the song itself is little more than a crude rewrite of the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues," the riffs that scythe through the brew are sparkling enough to camouflage any lyrical redundancies. "Money Bag," too, offers up a showcase that is difficult to shake, dueling with a scat rhythm section that is tasteful enough to eat, but never overwhelming the mood. The passing of time has not preserved all of Patto's joys -- like so much of the fusion of the age, there are elements that sound preposterously overwrought today. At its best, however, it re-establishes all the glories for which Patto was renowned at the time; at its very best, it occasionally even overpowers the group.

This album is quite brilliant. Ollie Halsall was one hell of a guitar player.

http://www.soundstation.dk/images/products/large/41/111541-a.jpg

I need to hear that Amon Duul, I have all of them up to that point. I got Patto a while back on some other recommendation, can't remember where, interesting stuff.

I'm not sure which makes me want to dole out back-handed bitchslaps more, Xgau's reviews, or all the people who admit to not voting. You had over 5 goddam months! If you couldn't get yr shit together to spend at least 5 minutes on a 20 album ballot, we don't fuckin wanna hear about it!

Heh, but everyone's welcome to comment ;) I'm stir-crazy, must go run wild and play hopscotch along the lake path with the goose flops left behind by the melted snow.

The bizarre thing is THEIR BEST ALBUM WASN'T EVEN NOMINATED
so go check out the other album and Im including the other album as a joint nomination!
406. PATTO Patto (586 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #202 for 1970
http://www.soundstation.dk/images/products/large/41/111541-a.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/66Bzh4knbBKurn14HuRrNU

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Criminally underrated at the time, but borne into legend by the unspeakable tragedies that awaited its makers, the debut album by Patto can safely be described among the finest jazz-rock fusion albums ever cut by a British band. Mike Patto's vocals certainly match that billing, a throaty, emotive sound that puts one in mind of the effect that Steve Winwood spent much of his career pursuing, while first lieutenant Ollie Halsall's reputation as one of the era's hottest guitarists is revealed as only one of the strings to his bow -- early into the opening "The Man," he unleashes a mean vibraphone solo as well. However, "Hold Me Back" quickly restates his lead duty and, though the song itself is little more than a crude rewrite of the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues," the riffs that scythe through the brew are sparkling enough to camouflage any lyrical redundancies. "Money Bag," too, offers up a showcase that is difficult to shake, dueling with a scat rhythm section that is tasteful enough to eat, but never overwhelming the mood. The passing of time has not preserved all of Patto's joys -- like so much of the fusion of the age, there are elements that sound preposterously overwrought today. At its best, however, it re-establishes all the glories for which Patto was renowned at the time; at its very best, it occasionally even overpowers the group.

This album is quite brilliant. Ollie Halsall was one hell of a guitar player.
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/657/MI0000657451.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/5hvjYrTVhPDNHv6ql3KF4K

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Ignore the fact that the opening title track sounds almost exactly like the intro to Neil Young's "Ohio" and Patto's second album kicks into gear from the moment needle strikes vinyl. A driving fiesta of good-time bluesy-rock, Hold Your Fire retains just enough of its predecessor's jazz fusion sensibilities to ensure that you're never sure what will happen next, but similarly imbibes sufficient oxygen from elsewhere on the early-'70s British rock underground to line up alongside any other primal gem of the age. Certainly producer Muff Winwood seems considerably more at ease than he did his last time around, hauling Ollie Halsall's tuneful soloing high up in the mix and framing the album's best tracks -- the melancholy "You, You Point Your Finger" among them -- within some breathtakingly lovely arrangements. Another highlight, the funky Faces-like "See You at the Dance Tonight," almost single-handedly blueprints the best of the still-unborn pub rock boom, while Halsall's playful "Air Raid Shelter" would not have been out of place on Hold Your Fire, which further proves that not all of Patto's early instincts have been suppressed. Neither do the surprises stop with the music. Hold Your Fire was released in positively the most un-Roger Dean-like sleeve design to which Dean ever put his name. There again, vast spacescapes filled with floating islands and flying elephants were never really Patto's forte -- not when the alternative offers barefoot cops, scantily clad damsels, and hippies bearing colorful mushrooms.

No, I didn't vote K - was going to but then other things got in the way. Nommed a whole bunch of stuff though.

405. MILES DAVIS Live-Evil (588 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #31 for 1971 , #545 overall | Acclaimed: #1361
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/550/MI0001550560.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/4eK5DQxLCshZCUk6D5a8Q1

"Inamorata" wanders when Gary Bartz isn't making Coltrane noises and ends up with a recitation in which music is equated with "masculinity," but the three other long pieces are usually fascinating and often exciting: "Sivad," which begins fast and funky, then slows down drastically, and finally revs up again; "Funky Tonk," Miles's most compelling rhythmic exploration to date; and the gospel-tinged "What I Say." The four short pieces are more like impressionistic experiments. Two of them, "Selim" and "Nem Um Talvez," hark back to the late '50s. Sound quite appropriate, too. A- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Thom Jurek

Live-Evil is one of Miles Davis' most confusing and illuminating documents. As a double album, it features very different settings of his band -- and indeed two very different bands. The double-LP CD package is an amalgam of a December 19, 1970, gig at the Cellar Door, which featured a band comprised of Miles, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonist Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett on organ, and percussionist Airto. These tunes show a septet that grooved hard and fast, touching on the great funkiness that would come on later. But they are also misleading in that McLaughlin only joined the band for this night of a four-night stand; he wasn't really a member of the band at this time. Therefore, as fine and deeply lyrically grooved-out as these tracks are, they feel just a bit stiff -- check any edition of this band without him and hear the difference. The other band on these discs was recorded in Columbia's Studio B and subbed Ron Carter or Dave Holland on bass, added Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock on electric pianos, dropped the guitar on "Selim" and "Nem Um Talvez," and subbed Steve Grossman over Gary Bartz while adding Hermeto Pascoal on percussion and drums in one place ("Selim"). In fact, these sessions were recorded earlier than the live dates, the previous June in fact, when the three-keyboard band was beginning to fall apart. Why the discs were not issued separately or as a live disc and a studio disc has more to do with Miles' mind than anything else. As for the performances, the live material is wonderfully immediate and fiery: "Sivad," "Funky Tonk," and "What I Say" all cream with enthusiasm, even if they are a tad unsure of how to accommodate McLaughlin. Of the studio tracks, only "Little Red Church" comes up to that level of excitement, but the other tracks, particularly "Gemini/Double Image," have a winding, whirring kind of dynamic to them that seems to turn them back in on themselves, as if the band was really pushing in a free direction that Miles was trying to rein in. It's an awesome record, but it's because of its flaws rather than in spite of them. This is the sound of transition and complexity, and somehow it still grooves wonderfully.

Maybe some of the people on the POLLIN' WITH THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET (ILM artist poll #32 voting thread)
might like to comment if any of them are reading.

404. THE POLITICIANS The Politicians Featuring McKinley Jackson (591 Points, 3 Votes)
RYM: #449 for 1972
http://www.meltingpotblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/PoliticiansCover.jpg

A brilliant funk album that I think Primal Scream must have heard because I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have/Loaded sounds remarkably similar to The World We Live In

I think I might have nommed that patto. I didn't think I should do both because I didn't think anyone else cared or would vote for them so I picked the one with The Man on it. But yeah, both are great. I may not have even voted for it because I spent like 5 min on my ballot and kind of screwed it up, but there's a lot of great vertigo stuff that might not be nominated. Ramases, gracious, colosseum, etc

Was out this evening so missed a bunch. Shame Gary Wilson didn't get very high, I thought that might appeal to more people.

I will give full credit to AG for introducing me to Made In Germany - I would otherwise have written off that period Amon Duul, but while it's not at all like their earlier stuff, it's a good pop album with at least one GREAT track.

Ollie Halsall was one hell of a guitar player.

Ahhhhhhhhh, I didn't realise Halsall was from Patto! I only know his name from the Miniatures LP.

Should have campaigned for it. Trust me when I say albums that got campaigned for got a spike in votes after it.

You know; for all the Faults of Mojo; it introduced me to Patto. Though I didn't like it at first but eventually I went back to try them again and was rewarded.

this next ones for turrican and alexinnyc

403. THE STRANGLERS No More Heroes (591 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #117 for 1977
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/589/MI0000589858.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/4WsDFcdDl3UU9ztRmyxQQ4

No More Heroes continues in the same vein, but drops whatever hint of restraint may have been in force the first time around. Rude words and adult themes abound, with no punches pulled, from the blatant sexism of "Bring on the Nubiles" to the sarcastic attack on racism ("I Feel Like a Wog") to the suicide of a friend ("Dagenham Dave"). Despite the increased virulence, the music is even better than on the debut, introducing pop stylings that would later become a more common aspect of the Stranglers' character. No More Heroes is easily their best album. -- Trouser Press

review
by John Dougan

Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers' first album (and first of two in 1977), was hardly a punk rock classic, but it outsold every other punk album and remains a pretty good chunk of art-punk. On the other hand, No More Heroes, recorded three months later and released in September 1977, is faster, nastier, and better. At this point the Stranglers were on top of their game, and the ferocity and anger that suffuses this record would never be repeated. Hugh Cornwell's testosterone level is very high, but it's still an enjoyable bit of noise that holds up better than anyone would have guessed at the time.

I should really check out more stranglers stuff. Only heard in full the 1st album. I did have the Golden Brown 7" as a kid though haha

oh emil.y hang around for 401!

402. ALICE COOPER Welcome to my Nightmare (599 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #47 for 1975 , #1957 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/982/MI0001982295.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

The solo debut actually ain't so bad--no worse than all the others. "Department of Youth" is his catchiest teen power song to date, "Cold Ethyl" his catchiest necrophilia song to date, and "Only Women Bleed" the most explicitly feminist song to hit top forty since "I Am Woman." Alice's nose for what the kids want to hear is as discriminating as it is impervious to moral suasion, so perhaps this means that the more obvious feminist truisms have become conventional wisdom among at least half our adolescents. Encouraging. B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Greg Prato

With the 1974 disintegration of the original Alice Cooper group, Alice was free to launch a solo career. He wisely decided to re-enlist the services of Bob Ezrin for his solo debut, Welcome to My Nightmare, which was a concept album tied into the story line of the highly theatrical concert tour he launched soon after the album's release. While the music lost most of the gritty edge of the original AC lineup, Welcome to My Nightmare remains Alice's best solo effort -- while some tracks stray from his expected hard rock direction, there's plenty of fist-pumping rock to go around. The disco-flavored, album-opening title track would be reworked on the stage as more of a hard rock tune, while "Some Folks" dips into cabaret territory, and "Only Women Bleed" is a sensitive ballad that became a Top Ten hit. But the rockers serve as the album's foundation -- "Devil's Food," "The Black Widow," "Department of Youth," and "Cold Ethyl" are all standouts, as is the more tranquil yet eerie epic "Steven." Despite this promising start to Cooper's solo career, the majority of his subsequent releases were often not as focused and were of varying quality.

2 more for tonight to come

401. FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Parallel World (604 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #142 for 1976
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/967/MI0001967534.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/4BdLYRDLFBv8b2uNjrLZXx

If you're a fully geld-up Krautrocker, you're probably best starting with Parallel World. It's produced by ex-Tangerine Dream/Ash Ra Tempel man Klaus Schultze and is an hour of full-on Cosmic Jokers' style space-rock. It doesn't suffer from any dodgy Gong-isms either. It's hard, it's sleek, it's motorik and it really does the business. --- J. Cope, Classic Rock

omg I love Welcome to My Nightmare. Sometimes it's my favorite Alice album. Cold Ethyl and Black Widow are so GREAT

Its weird that its the only alice album not on Spotify (at least in the UK)

One more tonight btw

FEFB = excellent stuff

400. SPIRIT Feedback (605 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: DNP
http://991.com/newGallery/Spirit-Feedback---Yellow-89911.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/0aIqmNuUXicpWUQHutbEzo

In a way, Al Staehely's earthy rock and roll is a relief from the California spaces of what were supposedly this band's great days--songs as hard as his fast ones aren't easy to come by these days. Unfortunately, he sounds like the kind of guy who's more likely to think of his dick than his music when you tell him he's hard. B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Joe Viglione

Feedback is one of the strangest happenings in rock, more dramatic than Michael MacDonald taking over the Doobie Brothers, but more successful artistically than it was financially, and a chapter of the group that is sadly forgotten. The original band was produced by Lou Adler and built around guitar prodigy Randy California, and a bit of history is in order to understand this hybrid project. David Briggs, producer of Kathi MacDonald, Alice Cooper's Easy Action, and Neil Young, helped the band forge their classic Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus and was retained for this follow-up. William Ruhlmann's liner notes to Spirit's Time Circle Epic/Legacy release notes that Randy California resigned from the group at this point. Mark Andes and Jay Ferguson formed Jo Jo Gunne with Curly Smith, and Smith's friends, the Staehely Brothers, joined Cassidy and company. What Ed Cassidy and keyboard player John Locke created with producer David Briggs was a phenomenal reinvention of Spirit, which worked, sometimes better than the original group. Bassist/vocalist Al Staehely wrote the music, with guitar chores and backing vocals by his brother J. Christian Staehely. "Witch," the final track on the disc, is typical of this new Spirit sound, a fusion of pop/jazz/rock with a dab of country. It would have been a perfect blend for Randy California to step back into, though his ego might have been the stumbling block here. In concert, this version of Spirit was serious and precise, playing with a cool efficiency. David Briggs was the perfect guy to oversee this project, allowing the musicians their space and developing a true counterpart to The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, considered by many to be the band's highpoint. The cover is in eerie aqua blue with the faces looking like spirits peering out of a distorted television. The gatefold contains a band photo and a smart evolutionary image for this eclectic and underrated West Coast band. Here's the clincher: musically, some of the best work on Feedback are the two instrumentals by keyboard player John Locke, "Puesta Del Scam" and "Trancas Fog-Out," fragments of the original "Spirit" performed by this new quartet. The stuff is brilliant, and that it was excised from Time Circle is a pity. It was this writer who put Epic/Legacy in touch with Randy California in the development of 1991's Time Circle compilation project, and certainly the elegant "Darkness," the third John Locke title, deserved to be included on that double disc, and some representation of this remarkable work would have been appropriate rather than nine whopping cuts from The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. Jo Jo Gunne guitarist Matthew Andes (brother of Spirit's Mark Andes) co-wrote "Mellow Morning" with Al Staehely, and it, along with "Right on Time" and "Ripe and Ready," all display the Spirit vibe, even hinting at some Jo Jo Gunne, as strange as that may seem. The Cassidy/Locke/Staehely/Staehely combo added enough jazz to Spirit to temper the all out assault that was Jo Jo Gunne, and therein lies the difference. This is not David Bowie's ex-drummer and bassist forming the Spiders From Mars; keep in mind that Ed Cassidy was not only the band's insignia with his Yul Brynner look, he was this group's spiritual leader. As Randy California's step-dad, it's a shame he didn't get more firm with the boy and demand they all be "the family that plays together." Had the Staehely brothers and John Locke stayed on board for Cassidy and Randy California's next project, the erratic Potatoland disc may have mutated into something totally brilliant. The best of Al Staehely, John Locke, and Randy California would have been truly something. Feedback is a solid performance and remarkable album which deserves its place in the Spirit catalog, and not the status of bastard son. It is a legitimate Spirit project and it is very, very good.

That's all for tonight, folks!

Will start around the same time tomorrow afternoon. (between 1-2ish UK)

I think viceroy is doing recaps so hopefully that will come later.

That Far East album is great space rock, but more space than rock. I freakin' love that Stranglers album, and have to say that while they have several underrated albums that came after, they all slightly disappoint me that they're not more like No More Heroes.

I stopped by Reckless on my run and bought a used copy of Los Dug Dug's Smog and the brand-new reissue of Erkin Koray's Elektronic Turkuler on Pharaway Sounds. We'll see if those show up here.

thanks thread for introducing me to Far East Family Band

although it is difficult to listen to this album even on headphones right now since Tonic is playing right outside my office window

who??

Anyway will start about 2 unless there is actually people around before

Some really good albums yesterday I thought and I enjoyed that mott the hoople album. Glad Crut has discovered Far East Family Band.

Hopefully some more really good albums to come today..

Yeah, totally

No plans as such and we're not in a rush or anything. If we finish on friday then fair enough if we finish mid of next week then fair enough too. Lets just see how things go and enjoy the rollout and the chat and the discovery of new albums.

I suppose it's only taken you two days to roll out 100 albums, I had visions of this poll still going on this time next year

(That's my only contribution to this thread btw, I'm not involved in this poll)

tom feel free to hang around and post

should be some good Kraut/kosmische stuff coming up I should think...

Too much hideousness has been revealed so far

Tom you're very knowledgeable about the 70s and I think people would like to see your opinions (I know I would)

anyway here is #399. I REPEAT ONLY #399!!!

What hideousness, tom? (hey in amongst all the love it will do no harm for some dissenting critical voices on albums)

399. CHEAP TRICK In Color (606 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #70 for 1977 , #3557 overall | Acclaimed: #1673
http://popdose.com/wp-content/uploads/cheap-trick-in-color-1287751.jpg

Nowadays, punk makes it possible to resist hard rock so slickly textured, but with these guys why bother? They don't waste a cut, and permit none of the stupidity or showiness or sentimentality of postheavy and/or postboogie professionalism, either. If only they seemed interested in their well-crafted say-nothing lyrics. B+ -- R. Christgau

In Color (And in Black and White), produced by Tom Werman (who went on to score metal with Ted Nugent, Mötley Crüe and Poison), consolidates the band's pop potential by reducing the buzzy guitar raunch in favor of a cleaner, more clearly articulated sound. Trick maintains its anti-establishment coolness with "Downed," an undisguised paean to barbiturates, and the bitchy "You're All Talk" while reiterating the genial leer of the debut's "Hot Love" in "Southern Girls" and less pointed romantic intentions in "So Good to See You" and "I Want You to Want Me." The song's second studio version has an obviously commercial clean pop bounce that didn't work. (The song did, however, a year later when a concert recording of it became the band's first hit single.) The bonus tracks on the reissue include the goofy fun of the non-LP B-side "Oh Boy," demos of "Southern Girls" and "Come On, Come On" and a rollicking pair of 1977 live cuts. -- Trouser Press

...In a way, Cheap Trick is Beatle-esque. But not in the sense of the Raspberries or Elton John or (God knows!) the Bay City Rollers. What sets this group apart is that these guys actually imagine that the important music of the later Beatles was the almost heavy metal (but still melodic) hard rock of "Birthday," "Helater Skelter" and "Back in the U.S.S.R." on the White Album and "I Want You" and "Come Together" on Abbey Road. Reference points are scattered everywhere: "Hello There," the opening track, evokes the manic verve of "Birthday"; "Big Eyes" opens with a direct quote from "I Want You"; "Oh Caroline" and "So Good to See You" have the slightly narcotic feeling of Abbey Road's best rock. Nielsen is a superbly inventive guitarist, though, and while rhythm guitarist Robin Zander's singing owes a large debt to both Lennon and Harrison, Trick isn't merely derivative. Like Boston, Trick is more than the sum of the elements it manipulates, mostly because it manipulates them so skillfully...

...Cheap Trick has already won the battle against the formulaic and pedestrian that punk rock is trying to fight. That vision of the music is also the source of the group's other most salient and appealing characteristic; its humor. Perhaps people who look like Nielsen and Carlos have no choice but to become self-deprecating wits, I don't know. But plenty of these songs are plain funny: "You're All Talk" is brilliantly titled exercise in pure incoherence. "Clock Strikes Ten" opens with a silly imitations of Big Ben, then rips into a song that can only be compared to Little Richard playing "Rip It Up," easily his silliest song, on guitar. "Southern Girls" could be a crapshooter's monologue.

Ultimately, the group's sense of humor may be what I find so attractive about In Color: it's never grim. At a time when almost everything--even proclamations of joy--is so determined, it's nice to find a bunch of guys who can take it easy without having seven women on their minds. -- Dave Marsh, RS

review
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Though Cheap Trick's second album, In Color, draws from the same stockpile of Midwestern barroom favorites as their debut album, it was produced by Tom Werman, who had the band strip away their raw attack and replace it with a shiny, radio-ready sound. Consequently, In Color doesn't have the visceral attack of its predecessor, but it still has the same sensibility and a similar set of spectacular songs. From the druggy psychedelia of "Downed" and the bubblegum singalong "I Want You to Want Me" to the "California Girls" homage of "Southern Girls," the album has the same encyclopedic knowledge of rock & roll, as well as the good sense to subvert it with a perverse sense of humor. Portions of the album haven't dated well, simply due to the glossy production, but the songs and music on In Color are as splendid as the band's debut.

http://open.spotify.com/album/1NXkEAlqn9gKy2fJ9pegeQ

Holding out for the P-Funk poll, about 3 years from now. Why isn't there a Can poll?

Tom you should do it!! When is the pfunk due? btw why didn't you and shakey vote for the pfunk in this poll?

398. FACES Ooh La La (606 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #225 for 1973

They do what they want to do very likably--this is as rowdy and friendly as rock and roll gets. But only on the title song and finale--written by the Rons (Wood and Lane) rather than the Rod--do they slap your back so's you'd still feel it five minutes later. B -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

It wasn't all over but the shouting, but the Faces sure weren't thriving when they released their last album, Ooh La La, in 1973. The problem, of course, was Rod Stewart, who had turned into a superstar, causing innumerable tensions within the band. He had yet to decamp to America, had yet to turn to pop instead of rock & roll, but he was on the cusp of that sea change. Nevertheless, on the record at least, it didn't seem like being with the Faces was a strain on him; it still seemed that he enjoyed a good night out with the boys, and Ooh La La is precisely that: a good night out, one that's blessed with some very memorable moments. If there's not quite as many as on the past two Faces platters, chalk that up to circumstance perhaps. On Long Player and A Nod Is as Good as a Wink, they were a well-oiled machine at the peak of their powers. Here they're trying to rev up -- they get there, but it's possible to hear the effort, as some of the songs fall just a little bit short of memorable. But there are some extraordinary moments here, including Rod's "Silicone Grown" and the wonderful "Cindy Incidentally," a sweet, easy pop song. But the heart of this album really belongs to Ronnie Lane, who dominates the second side of the album, starting with the Stewart collaboration "If I'm on the Late Side" and running through the sweet, soft "Glad and Sorry" to "Just Another Honky" and, finally, to the raucous yet bittersweet "Ooh La La," as great a song as they ever recorded and an appropriate drawing of the curtain on this tremendous band.

Lengthy review from Christgau there. Even NME reviews are longer.

397. BLACK WIDOW Sacrifice (612 Points, 7 Votes)
RYM: #280 for 1970
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/529/MI0002529306.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://open.spotify.com/album/7pvMW7hvj7vDYv5eKX2ezm

review
[-] by Dave Thompson

Black Widow may have enjoyed a reasonably long and defiantly varied career. But to anyone who cares, they will be remembered for just one song, "Come to the Sabbat" -- not a hit single, but a standout on a cheapo label compilation in the early '70s, and destined to live on for decades after the band. Naturally, the accompanying Sacrifice album has bounced along in its wake, first as an increasingly expensive vinyl collectors' item, more recently as a regular on the CD reissue circuit, and here it comes again, this time bearing more primal Black Widow than you could ever have dreamed of hearing. Ultimate Sacrifice: One opens, naturally, with the original seven-song album. More fascinating, however, is the chance to hear five of the seven ("Way to Power" and "Attack of the Demon" are absent) in their original demo form, where they are revealed, if anything, to be even more dramatic than on the final vinyl. "In Ancient Days" in particular profits from the looseness of the performance, while "Come to the Sabbat" packs a feel of abandonment that makes the familiar version seem quite sedate. Of course, the bonus tracks are really only of interest if you truly worship the original record, and, once past "Come to the Sabbat," there probably aren't many people who feel that strongly. But the liners tell the band's tale well, the remastering is impressive, and if you're not doing anything next weekend, you might well want to drop by Black Widow's house. They've got somebody visiting, you know.

Occult Rock is apparently quite a thing now so I keep reading about Black Widow.

Odd to see Ooh La La place above Long Player.

xp Yah I want to check the Black Widow album out myself

396. SLY STONE High On You (616 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #457 for 1975
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_knLOBP6FJ_k/TSipWygjbRI/AAAAAAAACI4/OK0Ma7DV1zs/s1600/High%2BOn%2BYou.jpg

The lyrics haven't regained their punch, and neither have the melodies--when he does try to say something, you barely notice. But the old rhythmic eccentricity, both vocal and instrumental, makes this more interesting to listen to than the run of dancey goop. Let's not give up on him yet. B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Jason Birchmeier

The first album attributed to Sly Stone rather than Sly & the Family Stone, High on You didn't exactly resurrect the troubled artist's sinking career, but it does remain one of the better straight-up funk albums of the '70s. Released during the same mid-'70s era that spawned vibrant funk albums such as the Commodores' Machine Gun, Parliament's Up for the Down Stroke, and the Ohio Players' Skin Tight, along with the first Graham Central Station albums, High on You seems like a genre exercise for Sly -- rather than trailblazing new sounds like he did five years earlier, he's now embracing the sound of the times. Still, even though Sly isn't doing anything especially novel here, he performs an impressive series of succinct, well-crafted funk songs with plenty of pop accessibility. Indeed, High on You has the makings of a comeback album. It's worth noting that the album's title track was an impressive single, peaking at number three on the R&B chart and even making an appearance on the pop chart -- though fairly obscure nowadays, "High on You," remains one of Sly's career highlights. Elsewhere, "Crossword Puzzle" stands out with its distinct horn hook and numerous background vocals (it's become most famous for being sampled by De La Soul on 3 Feet High and Rising), while the gentle "That's Lovin' You," the album's sole ballad, cools down the proceedings for a moment. After these first three highlights, the album drops off a little, though the funk level remains well in the red. In fact, the upbeat nature of the album is perhaps its most satisfying attribute, given the downcast mood of Sly's previous few albums. High on You doesn't measure up to the best Sly & the Family Stone albums of the late '60s and early '70s, granted, but it's a step up in quality from Small Talk and certainly all that would follow. Long written off and long out of print, High on You is an underrated album that deserves re-evaluation.

His last really good album. Shame most have never heard it. I recommend it a lot to Sly fans.

Title track is especially terrific.

is he wearing a magen dovid in that cover??

395. FELA KUTI No Agreement (617 Points, 5 Votes) 
RYM: #110 for 1977
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTTMiP7joQmVpBQ4bckFXv3MyRFpE78VmedjJeYooXErG_thUYu
http://open.spotify.com/album/4Jm5lUkxEcOedBMIT6ce73

Like all groove artists, Fela benefits mightily from marginal differentiation, which on this 1977 outing with Afrika 70 is provided by the blats, splats, and tuneful snatches of Lester Bowie's trumpet. The 15:36 title side is distinguished from its 15:48 companion by a few minutes of Fela mouthing off and a catchier keystone ostinato. B+ -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Sam Samuelson

Recorded in 1977, No Agreement follows the Afro-beat template to a masterful level: amazingly catchy guitar lines that replicate a bass guitar in their construction, a second guitarist to add some JB's funk power, driving horn section proclamations, intricate saxophone, trumpet and organ improv solos, and then Fela Anikulopo Kuti's wit and message for the people. Even though Fela had vowed to speak his mind, he turns in a song where he proclaims to keep his mouth shut if it means that he will harm his brothers and sisters in the population (not that he actually does, as some of his most scathing songs have yet to come). "No Agreement" is decidedly some of the most interesting instrumentation that he had turned in. With help from Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter extradordinare Lester Bowie (Bowie turned in a tenure of about a year with Fela), the solos are magically inspired and the rhythm section rolls on with the power of a steamroller. "Dog Days," the instrumental B-side, sounds more like "No Agreement" part two; it does, however, carry its own weight -- again with the help from Bowie.

WOO FELA

omg you guys Black Widow does not deliver the dark occult goods like you might think they would. I like them but they are very silly.

fela goat - i don't think i even voted for this album but it's such a great one

Good afternoon Viceroy! Have you recovered from your poll exertions?

my organs are far less tender yes, thank you!

And jeez could we get some diversity in here its all white boys up in this poll!

still pondering the organs comment tbh

394. CURTIS MAYFIELD Roots (618 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #47 for 1971, #1061 overall
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2049/1572069066_57d309d7d5_b.jpg

Last time he announced his lack of "concern or interest in astrology," so when the zodiac showed up as a packaging motif I began to get nostalgic for the Impressions. But though the vagueness that was Curtis's chief flaw runs rampant musically ("Love to Keep You in My Mind" goes nowhere slowly) and lyrically ("Underground" is one long mixed metaphor), it's not all that bad--the relaxed, natural groove of Mayfield's falsetto and his rhythm section are both seductive. Only on the lead cuts, however--especially the heavy-breathing sex opus "Get Down"--does he sweep you off your feet. B- -- R. Christgau

review
[-] by Bruce Eder

Curtis Mayfield's visionary album, a landmark creation every bit as compelling and as far-reaching in its musical and extra-musical goals as Marvin Gaye's contemporary What's Goin' On. Opening on the hit "Get Down," the album soars on some of the sweetest and most eloquent -- yet driving -- soul sounds heard up to that time. Mayfield's growing musical ambitions, first manifested on the Curtis album, and his more sophisticated political sensibilities, presented with a lot of raw power on Curtis Live!, are pulled together here in a new, richer studio language, embodied in extended song structures ("Underground"), idealistic yet lyrically dazzling anthems ("We Got to Have Peace," "Keep On Keeping On," and, best of all, the soaring "Beautiful Brother of Mine"), and impassioned blues ("Now You're Gone"). The music is even bolder than the material on the Curtis album, with Mayfield expanding his instrumental range to the level of a veritable soul orchestra; and the recording is better realized, as Mayfield, with that album and a tour behind him, shows a degree of confidence that only a handful of soul artists of this era could have mustered. Charly Records had this album out on CD in the 1980s, but Rhino's acquisition of the Curtom catalog in 1996 led to a remastered and expanded reissue in 1999 with superior sound, detailed annotation, and the addition of four bonus tracks. Apart from a slow, funky, stripped-down but eminently listenable demo of "Underground" (which reveals just how sophisticated Mayfield's conceptions -- forget the finished versions -- of his songs were), the latter consist of the single edits of "Get Down," "We Got to Have Peace," and "Beautiful Brother of Mine." They seem redundant after the album versions, though they don't detract at all from the extraordinary value of this mid-priced CD.

veg do u like fela kuti?

Yeah Coven and Black Widow were not really that good. Recent bands like Devil's Blood, Blood Ceremony and Jess & the Ancient Ones are a vast improvement.

No Curtis that's twigs, not a roots!

xp totally agree FnB.

Yeah I do like Fela!!I havent heard a ton but I've liked what I've heard

Great Curtis album

Do we all love Curtis here?

wow this "Get Down" song is an epic jam - i don't think i've ever listened to any mayfield before

Me neither... Fela is one of those indimidating artists to me who have a huge back catalog. This kept me from Bowie for longer than I care to admit.

whaaaaat oh Mordy you're gonna love it

curtis is THE SHIT

Cant go wrong with any 70s Curtis or Fela

the shit AND the business

<3 Curtis

What makes Curtis *The* ultimate shit, vg? ;)

oh i know this keep on keeping on song so i guess i have heard some before

you need the self titled album in your mife

I'm listening to No Agreement now and it's pretty f'in great! I'm shaking my but in my chair.

somehow this seems the perfect time for the next band

curtis is THE shit bcz he knows whats up

393. A CERTAIN RATIO The Graveyard And The Ballroom (620 Points, 5 Votes)
RYM: #248 for 1979
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1sz7Uf7tbVqFMGbNQdLy0ewQTicq0nP5lPhK1w_Ku_eDdWRFSEw

Manchester's A Certain Ratio (ACR) was one of the first new wave-era outfits to use horns and other instruments to play a soulful brand of contemporary music that defied prevalent trends but proved significantly influential. The Graveyard cassette compiles '79 material — half studio work produced by Martin Hannett, the rest live from their hometown's famed Electric Ballroom. With the subsequent Do the Du, an exciting and original post-punk dance record that does ACR proud (check out "Shack Up" for the decay of modern social values), it seemed certain that ACR would quickly join Public Image in the vanguard of the new rock left. -- Trouser Press

review
[-] by Victor W. Valdivia

The angular, bass-heavy post-punk of A Certain Ratio could conceivably be compared to that of their Factory labelmates Joy Division (singer Simon Topping is a dead ringer vocally for Joy Division's Ian Curtis). One key difference is that A Certain Ratio has a more pronounced funk influence, which makes their music more danceable. Another difference is that Topping's lyrics, more abstract and even humorous (albeit in a dark, quirky way) are less dramatic than Curtis'. The Graveyard and the Ballroom, compiled from a collection of early four-track recordings and a set of live tracks (recorded when the band was opening for the Talking Heads), shows off A Certain Ratio's strengths well. The sound is surprisingly good for such lo-fi recordings, and the band is, for all of their musical amateurishness, rather precise and controlled. Unfortunately, that highlights a key flaw of the album: Too often, it is accomplished enough to be intriguing, but never all that gripping. By emphasizing rhythm over melody, A Certain Ratio makes music that is interesting and danceable, but not hugely compelling. It's mechanically well-played, with quirky, interesting lyrics that never really seem to add up to anything more than an attention-grabbing sound. Nonetheless, those seeking an idiosyncratic, interesting art-funk band can do no wrong with this release, even if it ultimately falls short of any meaning beyond quirky experimentalism.

Bimble is missed here. Can just see his excited posts.

Nonetheless, those seeking an idiosyncratic, interesting art-funk band can do no wrong with this release, even if it ultimately falls short of any meaning beyond quirky experimentalism.

lol ag arty cosmo sophisticated music

btw do the likes of Curtis, Sly & The Family Stone/Parliament/Funkadelic get any radio play on classic or oldies radio? Or any radio?

392. A.R. & MACHINES A.R. IV (622 Points, 4 Votes)
RYM: #385 for 1973
http://teddyspaceship.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/f.jpg

A psychedelic symphony of sorts, Achim Reichel and Machines’ 1973 release, IV, is one of the most impressive psychedelic records to have ever been released in Germany. Achim Reichel indulges his self-described “echo guitar” style wherein he composes music by overlaying repetitive and reverberated melodies. The entire record is essentially one entire track that is partitioned into four parts, or movements, that could unashamedly be described as a Baroque Suite on LSD. The music here accumulates as more and more instruments-among them recorder and a sports whistle-are incorporated, yet it never becomes convoluted-the record is only mellifluous and smooth, discretely transitioning into new melodies as it carries on. Tempo changes drastically and you never even notice-AR IV incorporates the listener into this narrative that the sound that it has devised. A.R. and Machines is another one of those outfits that could be considered to Krautrock what Krautrock was to German “Schlager”(an embarrassing rip-off of American acts such as Elvis Presley that existed in part due to Germany’s loss of cultural identity after WWII). You could consider this a revolution of the revolution. Even Achim Reichel’s lyrics are fantastic: “Wayyyyyy down yonder, in the vaginaaaaa of Earth!”

Track Listing:
Vita A: Cave Explorers + Birdmen (Höhlenforscher + Vogelmenschen)
Vita B: The Man In Kidleather (Der Mann In Nappa)
Vita C: Thin Is The Skin Of Ecstasy (Dünn Ist Die Haut Der Ekstase)
Aqua: Every Raindrop Longs For The Sea (Jeder Tropfen Träumt Vom Meer) H₂O

Personnel:
Achim Reichel- Composer, Mixer, Guitar [Echo]
Hans Hartmann - Double Bass
Hans Boche-Drums
Claus-Robert Kruse- Electric Piano
Helmuth Franke-Guitar
Matti Klatt -Percussion (tracks: A1a to A1c)
Olaf Casalich -Percussion tracks: A1a to A1c)
Frank Wulf -Recorder, Recorder [Bass], Sitar -(tracks: A1a to A1c)
Jochen Petersen -Saxophone [Soprano], Flute

i just can't get into kraut rock. i've tried numerous times. maybe it's extra-musical reasons that prevent me from enjoying it

Wonder who will steal that quote for a d/n first
xp

why mordy?

btw do the likes of Curtis, Sly & The Family Stone/Parliament/Funkadelic get any radio play on classic or oldies radio? Or any radio?

― Algerian Goalkeeper, Sunday, March 17, 2013 8:42 AM (5 minutes ago)

I'd imagine the frequency of rotation changes depending on what city your in but at least everywhere I've lived Sly comes on all the time. I don't think I've ever heard Funkadelic on the radio.

Synthesizers killed his grandparents.

well it sounds very cold + impersonal + almost psychopathic in pathos terms to me - but i can also see why that might be a paratextual affectual response

haha what is it with "cold" in these polls. First la lechera and now you!

was ll also referring to krautrock?

i'm really loving this curtis album btw so funky + awesome

i dont remember
xp

I would agree that krautrock is "cold." But I would say to me its more introspective than impersonal and brooding and angst filled rather than psychopathic. Also its real spacey and psychedelic in a way that stuff like acid rock isn't.

You prefer fun, mordy?

i guess i prefer earthy psychedelics to spacey psychedelics

391. SWEET Desolation Boulevard (622 Points, 6 Votes)
RYM: #113 for 1974 , #4047 overall
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/452/MI0001452484.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

Bazooka-rock lives, even without Chapman and Chinn. In the absence of Slade (whose failure to participate on the recent LP that bears their name must be considered disquieting), these guys play second-bill steamroller to Kiss. B- -- R. Christgau

Side two is devoted to the Sweet's own compositions, reinforcing their tag of "a bubblegum Led Zeppelin." Guitarist Andy Stott is given much more freedom in teh band's lengthier, more experimental format, bending his axe into bizarre contortions a la the Yardbirds-era Jeff Beck on "Sweet F.A.," riffing out submachine-gun riffs on "Set Me Free" and using intervals to create a full, forceful and effective solo on "Into the NIght." ...The Sweet has combined two divergent musical styles -- the tight, restricted control of Chapman and Chinn and the guitar-based experimentalism of their own compositions -- into an explosive package. -- Gordon Fletcher, RS

Sweet were originally dismissed for their bubblegum pop singles, which actually were pretty great. Basically, they matured into a great rock band that spanned from glam to metal to progressive pop. Like Sweet Fanny Adams from that same year, Desolation Boulevard was loaded with hits like “The Six Teens,” “Fox On The Run” and “Teenage Rampage.” “Medussa” was never a hit, but it’s one of their most unique accomplishments, a jaw-dropping experiment in psychedelica that deftly mixes prog and metal. -- Fastnbulbous

review
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sweet hit the peak of their powers on Desolation Boulevard, a wonderfully lightweight collection of fizzy melodies and big, dumb hooks. Essentially, the album consists of three dynamic singles buoyed by a bunch of filler, but those singles -- "Ballroom Blitz," "The 6-Teens," and "Fox on the Run" -- are addictive slices of bubblegum glam rock. And the filler is ridiculously silly and enjoyable, with "Sweet F.A.," "I Wanna Be Committed," and "No You Don't" sounding like a kind of bizarre prototype for the Ramones' punky bubblegum (only without the irony, of course). Although the filler is relatively strong, there are a number of weak patches on Desolation Boulevard, but it remains an intoxicatingly fun record and one that sounds surprisingly fresh, even with all of its kitschy '70s production techniques.

i don't think there's any space [genre] band that i've really enjoyed

maybe it has something to do w/ rhythm?

is there any krautrock that u guys think i'd like? like i said, i've tried to get into it a bunch of times but it has never clicked

Not even Can?

not even can

Check out Future Days

oh

Yes! Sweet! Too bad this albums no up on spotify.