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Cream |
131 |
| Disraeli Gears |
1967
Reaction / Atco
UK: 5
US: 4
Producer: Felix Pappalardi |
| Disraeli Gears remains one of the finest examples of psychedelic blues with its breathtaking sense of dynamics and musical invention; of Cream’s musical contemporaries only Hendrix came close. Clapton had already established himself as a gifted guitarist, and coupled with Jack Bruce’s distinctive vocals and remarkable bass playing, and Ginger Baker’s unique jazz-inflected drums, they created a highly innovative and influential sound. Disraeli Gears features some of Cream’s finest songs, including the eccentric blues rock of ‘Strange Brew’, Clapton’s dynamic ’Tales Of Brave Ulysses’ and their signature tune ‘Sunshine Of Your Life’. Despite their short-lived time as a group, they experienced huge commercial success especially in the US, paving the way for the likes of Led Zeppelin. The group would follow this release with 1968’s Wheels Of Fire that, although a number one in the US, lacked the innovation of this collection. The band would split soon afterwards, with Jack Bruce heading for a solo career, and Baker and Clapton teaming up with Steve Winwood to form Blind Faith.
Track Listing: Strange Brew / Sunshine Of Your Love / World Of Pain / Dance The Night Away / Blue Condition / Tales Of Brave Ulysses / S.W.L.A.B.R. / We’re Going Wrong / Outside Woman Blues / Take It Back / Mother’s Lament.
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Jefferson Airplane |
132 |
| Surrealistic Pillow |
1967
R.C.A.
UK: -
US: 3
Producer: Rick Jarrard |
| Key players in the San Francisco psychedelic rock movement, this was Jefferson Airplane’s second album and the one that broke them through into the commercial mainstream and established them, along with The Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia would be credited as ‘musical and spiritual advisor’ on the back of the album sleeve) as innovative musical pioneers. The group had benefited from the arrival of Grace Slick, whose impressive and powerful vocals would define the band’s unique sound; Slick also contributed the psychedelic anthem ‘White Rabbit’, drawing inspiration from the hallucinatory effects of LSD and Lewis Carol’s literary creations, as well as introducing the group to her brother-in-law Darby Slick’s remarkable ‘Somebody To Love’, both of which were huge hit singles in the US, further cementing the band’s reputation as one of the leading lights of the burgeoning hippie culture. The band didn’t just rely on the spaced out dynamics of the likes of ‘Somebody To Love’ and ‘3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds’, as the gentle atmospheric folk of ‘Today’ and ‘Comin’ Back To Me’ were equally impressive.
Track Listing: She Has Funny Cars / Somebody To Love / My Best Friend / Today / Comin’ Back To Me / 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds / D.C.B.A.-25 / How Do You Feel / Embryonic Journey / White Rabbit / Plastic Fantastic Lover.
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David Bowie |
133 |
| Low |
1977
R.C.A.
UK: 2
US: 11
Producer: David Bowie & Tony Visconti |
| A long way from Bowie's earlier incarnations as a glam-rock superstar and the soul-boy of Young Americans, Low was an oddly haunting and often bleak record that has since become renowned for its avant-garde experimentation. Recalling the producer Tony Visconti, who had worked with Bowie on the Young Americans album, and with help from Brian Eno on the ambitious synthesiser-based instrumental sound collages that made up most of the second half of Low, Bowie produced one of his most influential and impressive recordings. The first half of the album relied on short, simple and hypnotically repetitive pop songs, including the hit single 'Sound & Vision' with its distinctive metallic texture and futuristic production. The lyrics, as had been the case for much of Bowie's mid-1970s' output, would address a sense of estrangement and isolation from the world, with a unhealthy paranoia brought on by his prolific drug use; this bleakness and uncertainty would be most evident in the haunting 'Warszawa', the only song on Low co-written with Eno. Bowie would continue on an experimental path with Visconti and Eno, on Heroes and Lodger, but neither was as compelling as Low, the first album of his Berlin Trilogy.
Track Listing: Speed Of Life / Breaking Glass / What In The World / Sound And Vision / Always Crashing In The Same Car / Be My Wife / A New Career In A New Town / Warszawa / Art Decade / Weeping Wall / Subterraneans.
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The Beach Boys |
134 |
| Surf’s Up |
1971
Brother Records / Reprise
UK: 15
US: 29
Producers: The Beach Boys |
| Following on from the Sunflower album released in 1970, once again, given Brian Wilson’s fragile mental and physical state, all of the band contributed on the song-writing front. It was therefore a patchy affair, saved only by Carl and Brian Wilson’s sterling contributions and Bruce Johnston’s nostalgic ‘Disney Girls (1957)’; Al Jardine’s songs were passable and Mike Love’s ‘Student Demonstration Time’ was instantly forgettable. Brian rescued the ambitious title track, with sophisticated lyrics courtesy of Van Dyke Parks, from the aborted Smile project and also contributed the breathtaking dynamics of the masterful ‘‘Til I Die’. Carl Wilson took the lead vocal duties on his own impressive efforts ‘Long Promised Road’ and ‘Feel Flows’ written with lyricist and manager Jack Reiley. The addition of musicians Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin for the follow up album Carl And The Passions - So Tough led to a dramatic change in the Beach Boys’ sound, and although the remainder of their early 1970s’ output did offer a handful of great songs, they were no longer the musical force they once had been.
Track Listing: Don’t Go Near The Water / Long Promised Road / Take A Load Off Your Feet / Disney Girls (1957) / Student Demonstration Time / Feel Flows / Lookin’ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) / A Day In The Life Of A Tree / ‘Til I Die / Surf’s Up.
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Van Morrison |
135 |
| It’s Too Late To Stop Now |
1974
Warner Bros.
UK: -
US: 53
Producer: Van Morrison & Ted Templeman |
| By the time this remarkable live album was released in 1974, Morrison’s solo career had reached an artistic zenith, having already released seven studio albums, the majority of them of exceptional quality. It’s Too Late To Stop Now captures perfectly Morrison’s emotional intensity and ambitious song-writing gift, combined with his phenomenal abilities as a live performer. Along with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, Morrison recorded two concerts from the summer of 1973 in Los Angeles and London, picking from some of his finest songs; including hits such as ‘Domino’ and the experimental, improvisational based album tracks of the likes of ‘Listen To The Lion’ and ‘Cypress Avenue’. Morrison also acknowledged his past with the R&B outfit Them with the inclusion of two of their best known songs, ‘Here Comes The Night’ and his own composition ‘Gloria’. However, it was the show-stopping ‘Caravan’ that was truly remarkable; a gentle country-soul ramble when released on the Moondance album, when played live it became something else completely, mixing delicate strings arrangements with raucous horn arrangements and an awe-inspiring vocal performance from Morrison.
Track Listing: Ain’t Nothing You Can Do / Warm Love / Into The Mystic / These Dreams Of You / I Believe To My Soul / I’ve Been Working / Help Me / Wild Children / Domino/ I Just Wanna Make Love To You / Bring It On Home / Saint Dominic’s Preview / Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket / Listen To The Lion / Here Comes The Night / Gloria / Caravan / Cypress Avenue.
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Bert Jansch |
136 |
| Bert Jansch |
1965
Transatlantic / Vanguard
UK: -
US: -
Producer: Bill Leader |
| Recorded in producer Bill Leader’s north London flat on a shoestring budget, Jansch’s debut album would meet with considerable commercial success for a folk release, selling in excess of 150,000 copies. His sombre vocal on ‘Strolling Down The Highway’ set the tone for much of the album; sparse arrangements with Jansch’s assured vocals accompanied by his graceful finger-picked guitar. Jansch demonstrated his exceptional guitar abilities throughout, especially on a spirited reading of the instrumental ‘Angie’ that closed the album, written by Davey Graham, a folk musician who would be a major influence on Jansch. However, it was Jansch’s own compositions that were truly impressive; especially on ‘Needle Of Death’ and ‘Running from Home’ where the emotive and haunting imagery was exceptional. Jansch would prove a prolific songwriter, releasing another four collections before joining the groundbreaking folk-rock outfit Pentangle in 1968, becoming a profound influence on successive generations of songwriters and musicians.
Track Listing: Strolling Down the Highway / Smokey River / Oh How Your Love Is Strong / I Have No Time / Finches / Rambling's Gonna Be the Death of Me / Veronica / Needle of Death / Do You Hear Me Now / Alice's Wonderland / Running from Home / Courting Blues / Casbah / Dreams of Love / Angie.
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The Lovin’ Spoonful |
137 |
| Daydream |
1966
Pye International / Kama Sutra
UK: 8
US: 10
Producer: Erik Jacobsen |
| Released just four months after their impressive debut Do You Believe In Magic, Daydream was a huge commercial success, largely due to the title track hitting number two in the singles’ chart in both the US and the UK. The title track was a major highlight of the album and remains one of singer John Sebastian’s finest songs; a mellow and meandering ode to the joys of doing nothing. Other highlights were the wondrous melody of ‘You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice’, written by Sebastian and bassist Steve Boone, and the humorous ‘Jug Band Music.’ The Lovin’ Spoonful followed this collection with a couple of movie soundtracks, including Woody Allen’s What’s Up, Tiger Lilly and 1966’s impressive Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful, but by early 1967 the hits had dried up and their mellow pop songs seemed out of step with the heavy psychedelic bands that would increasingly dominate the US music scene; Sebastian would quit the following year for a moderately successful solo career, leaving a short but impressive legacy from one of America’s finest bands.
Track Listing: Daydream / There She Is / It’s Not Time Now / Warm Baby / Day Blues / Let The Boy Rock And Roll / Jug Band Music / Didn’t Want To Have To Do It / You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice / Bald Headed Lena / Butchie’s Tune / Big Noise From Speonk.
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Van Morrison |
138 |
| Moondance |
1970
Warner Bros.
UK: 32
US: 29
Producer: Van Morrison |
| Following on from the remarkable, meandering jazz-folk of Astral Weeks, Morrison returned with a more relaxed offering in Moondance, that was no less engaging. With the gentle country rock of the nostalgic ‘And It Stoned Me’ with it’s graceful horn parts, the classy jazz of the title track and the emotive R&B of ‘Caravan’, this 1970 release has become to be regarded as one of Morrison’s finest offerings. Parting company with the talented musicians who had made Astral Weeks such an enchanting collection, Morrison assembled another band and took on production duties himself, although Lewis Merenstein would remain as Executive Producer. Lyrically and musically, Moondance was a lot more direct than its predecessors, eschewing the stream of consciousness lyrics of Astral Weeks, and relying on more traditional song structures. Morrison would follow Moondance with the straight R&B of His Band And The Street Choir later in the year, going on to establish himself as one of the decade’s finest musical talents.
Track Listing: And It Stoned Me / Moon dance / Crazy Love / Caravan / Into The Mystic / Come Running / These Dreams Of You / Brand New Day / Everyone / Glad Tidings.
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|
Television |
139 |
| Marquee Moon |
1977
Elektra
UK: 28
US: -
Producer: Andy Johns & Tom Verlaine |
| Although key figures in the New York punk scene, Television were significantly different than many of their contemporaries. How many other punk or new wave groups would release an experimental ten minute song consisting of mainly guitar solo in 1977, when short stabs of angry minimalism were the order of the day? While other bands took pride in their amateurish musicianship, Television, Tom Verlaine in particular, were much more musically adept. Owing more to the experimentation and attitude of the likes of The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones, the band perfected a mix of sombre vocals and melodic inventive guitar lines on this impressive debut, especially on the likes of ‘Venus’ and the ambitious title track. Marquee Moon would be critically acclaimed in the UK, rising to 28 in the album charts, and although the band would only ever experience fairly modest commercial success, this collection’s reputation has remained overwhelming positive since its release. The group would release the disappointing Adventure the following year before Verlaine disbanded the group for a solo career.
Track Listing: See No Evil / Venus / Friction / Marquee Moon / Elevation / Guiding Light / Prove It / Torn Curtain.
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|
James Taylor |
140 |
| Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon |
1971
Warner Bros.
UK: 4
US: 2
Producer: Peter Asher |
| Following the success of his second album Sweet Baby James, Taylor would return with another heartfelt collection of confessional singer-songwriter fare, opening with ‘Love Has Brought Me Around’ - a horn-driven ode to Joni Mitchell with its rousing chorus and sentimental lyrics. A cover of Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ would provide Taylor with his first number one single, winning Grammy awards for both Taylor and King, and the album would also prove a huge commercial success. Backed for the first time by session musicians ‘The Section’, including close associate Danny Kortchmar who contributed his own composition ‘Machine Gun Kelly’, the majority of the album was reflective acoustic balladry; the heartfelt ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ and the nostalgic ‘Places In My Past’ were particular highlights. Taylor would return the following year with the disappointing One Man Dog, that while still managing to reach number four in the US album charts, signalled a watershed in Taylor’s career with future releases becoming increasingly tame.
Track Listing: Love Has Brought Me Around / You’ve Got A Friend / Places In My Past / Riding On A Railroad / Mud Slide Slim / Hey Mister, That’s Me Up On The Jukebox / You Can Close Your Eyes / Machine Gun Kelly / Long Ago And Far Away / Let Me Ride / Highway Song / Isn’t It Nice To Be Home Again.
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| THE GREATEST ALBUMS
EVER 131-140 |
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