A Podcast of Album Discussions
Coming on the heels of the cut-and-paste sound-collage schizophrenia of The Faust Tapes, Faust IV seems relatively subdued and conventional, though it’s still a far cry from what anyone outside the German avant-garde rock scene was doing.
On Roxy Music’s debut, the tensions between Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry propelled their music to great, unexpected heights, and for most of the group’s second album, For Your Pleasure, the band equals, if not surpasses, those expectations.
The album was recorded over eight days and features instrumental contributions by bassist Danny Thompson and members of Fairport Convention.[4][5] “Solid Air”, the title track, was dedicated to a friend of Martyn’s, Nick Drake, who would die of an antidepressant overdose 18 months after the album was released. – wikipedia
Serving as Gaye’s first venture into the funk genre and romance-themed music, Let’s Get It On incorporates smooth soul, doo-wop, and quiet storm. It has been noted by critics for its sexually suggestive lyrics, and was cited by one writer as “one of the most sexually charged albums ever recorded”. – Wikipedia
Genesis proved that they could rock on Foxtrot but on its follow-up Selling England by the Pound they didn’t follow this route, they returned to the English eccentricity of their first records, which wasn’t so much a retreat as a consolidation of powers. – AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Listeners felt the Berlin album was either a work or macabre genius or a an aural pit of despair – there was not much middle ground. As for critics, the underground press generally loved it, while the mainstream rock magazines trashed it. Lou Reed is trying something different.
On Future Days, the band foregrounds the ambient elements they had begun exploring on previous efforts, dispensing largely with traditional rock song structures and instead “creating hazy, expansive soundscapes dominated by percolating rhythms and evocative layers of keys.
One of John Cale’s very finest solo efforts, Paris 1919 is also among his most accessible records, one which grows in depth and resonance with each successive listen. – AllMusic Review by Jason Ankeny
Space Ritual is an excellent document of Hawkwind’s classic lineup, underscoring the group’s status as space rock pioneers. As the quintessential “people’s band,” Hawkwind carried ’60s countercultural idealism into the ’70s, gigging constantly, playing wherever there was an audience, and even playing for free on five consecutive days outside the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.
Catch a Fire was the major label debut for Bob Marley and the Wailers, and it was an international success upon its release in 1973. Although Bob Marley may have been the main voice, every member of the Wailers made valuable contributions and they were never more united in their vision and sound.
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic showed several significant changes in King Crimson’s sound. Having previously relied on saxophone and flute as significant melodic and textural instruments, the band had replaced them with a single violin. This is Prog-jazz-metal-rock that gets us going and was a delightful surprise.
Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie’s hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. -Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Incredible Bongo Band was the brain child of prolific film and record producer Michael Viner, put together in 1972 to supplement the soundtrack to the virtually anonymous B-Movie film The Thing With Two Heads. They went from a loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their own inimitable percussion-heavy fashion. Viner recorded ‘The Incredible Bongo Band’ at MGM studios during down time assembling line-ups from whoever was available at the time.
Apache, originally made famous by The Shadows, is simply legendary in the worlds of dance music and hip hop. One of the most sampled tracks of all time it has been used by Nas, Beastie Boys, Moby, Kanye West, Sugarhill Gang, Jay-Z, Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Goldie, Double Dee & Steinski, Faith Evans, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Leaders Of The New School, UNKLE, IBM Nation and DJ Spinna, The Bizzie Boyz, Schoolly D, LL Cool J, 2 Live Crew, 4 Hero, Godfather Don, Diamond D, Luke Vibert, Sway & King Tech, Rebel MC, to name a few…
Apache was a staple for the likes of Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as they invented the art of DJing at the Bronx block parties of the ‘70s. Over the years it has become a hip hop and breakers anthem and is revered as the break of all original breaks, with the rhythms of this LP even helping to coin the term ‘breakbeat’
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who’s Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Their 1974 follow-up, Second Helping, featuring King, Collins and Rossington all collaborating with Van Zant on the songwriting, cemented the band’s breakthrough. Its single, “Sweet Home Alabama”
In the spring of 1971, nine years into their existence as the world’s greatest rock & roll band, the Rolling Stones learned to their great dismay that they were not only broke but would also have to leave England to avoid paying high British income tax. They decamped to the French Riviera and began recording their new album in the basement of Villa Nellcôte, Keith Richards‘ impressive mansion by the sea. The result was the Stones’ only double album, the classic Exile on Main Street. Rock out to this classic album!
A wonderful album showcasing Green’s dynamic soul singer whispers, animated cries, and riffing to enhance his already stirring delivery. Prior to this album, Al Green never had a number one song. The title track, “Let’s Stay Together,” achieved that status and held it for nine consecutive weeks.
War’s third album as an act separate from Eric Burdon was also far and away their most popular, the group’s only long-player to top the pop charts. The culmination of everything they’d been shooting for creatively on their two prior albums, it featured work in both succinct pop-accessible idioms as well as challenging extended pieces such as the 13-minute “City, Country, City” and the title track, and encompassed not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia. – AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
Described as a rock opera and also a loose concept album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is about Bowie’s titular alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous bisexual rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings that would like to save the world but only have a limited time to do so. The narrative of the story quick dissolves but our love of this album does not.
School’s Out catapulted Alice Cooper into the hard rock stratosphere, largely due to its timeless, all-time classic title track. But while the song became Alice’s highest-charting single ever (reaching number seven on the U.S. charts) and recalled the brash, three-and-a-half-minute garage rock of yore, the majority of the album signaled a more complex compositional directional for the band.
Falling halfway between musical primitivism and art rock ambition, Roxy Music’s eponymous debut remains a startling redefinition of rock’s boundaries. Simultaneously embracing kitschy glamour and avant-pop, Roxy Music shimmers with seductive style and pulsates with disturbing synthetic textures. – AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
If any musical justification were needed for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel, it could be found on this striking collection, Paul Simon’s post-split debut. From the opening cut, “Mother and Child Reunion” (a Top Ten hit), Simon, who had snuck several subtle musical explorations into the generally conservative S&G sound, broke free. -AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
By 1970, Nick Drake had lost his passion for life and music. Island Records decided to stop paying him and he turned to prescription drugs and pot. His management said Drake smoked “unbelievable amounts of marijuana” and by 1974, the singer was completely out of the public eye. The last song Nick Drake wrote was called “Black Eyed Dog,” supposedly written about Winston Churchill’s description of depression. In 1974, Drake was found dead in his room at age 26, apparently from an overdose of antidepressant medication.
Buckley fans are split on this album but we aren’t. There are plenty of soul/ funk albums that would seem to be more appropriate than another Tim Buckley album that want’s to be a Blaxploitation soundtrack. but that is what the book has.
“Tim Buckley: Greetings from L.A. (Warner Bros., 1972) Perverse as it may seem, Buckley’s mannered, androgynous moan has real erotic appeal for some, and here it turns a trick. This is rock pornography if anything is, complete with whips, foot fetishes, meat racks, and salacious gasps, and while I wouldn’t call the band hard-core, it definitely fills the groove.” – Robert Christgau