Mt. Rushmore: Singers

 

     I've already spoiled my Mt. Rushmore of singers over the course of the series, but I wanted to make it official and mail in a post. Sorry, I've been very busy lately but I still want to post everyday. Generally, I don't care much about singing as a skill. I don't watch American Idol, I don't care about Mariah Carey's range and I hate opera. Even in the context of rock music I don't value the lead singer's vocal skills. I like Wayne Coyne as much as Freddie Mercury. And don't make me explain why I like Tom Petty, but can't stand Zimmerman. My top four are pretty good, though. I think what they have in common is their voices have character. I can't define it, but I know it when I hear it. Oddly, three of them are Americans and one is a Brit. I didn't rank them, so in no particular order here's my Mt. Rushmore. 

     Jay Farrar is the voice of God. It's powerful and cuts right to the soul. It puts the country in alt-country. His songs in Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt are largely about struggle and fighting to get by. His voice is a rock in a raging river that you cling to for survival. "Standing in the neutral zone, living on sleep deprivation". "Whiskey bottle over jesus, not forever, just for now". "As soon as we're out, we're kickin' our way back in". "Nothing's free in this country and there's no place to hide". So good. 

     The singer I enjoy listening to because of his voice is Jackson Browne. It's beautiful, but you can tell he has lived some real shit. "Running on Empty" is a top five song in the American Songbook. "Running into the sun, but I'm running behind". He's an artist that I only know the hits, but someday I will dig into the albums. It gives me something the look forward to. 

     I can't put a finger on what I love about Evan Dando, but The Lemonheads are my security blanket. No matter what kind of day I've had, hearing Dando's voice puts everything right. I hope his singing is as healing for him as it is for me. 

     Finally, the great Ray Davies of The Kinks. He was the most English of the British Invasion singers. He was clever and cheeky. There was so much character in songs like "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" and "Well Respected Man". "Lola" was way ahead of its time. And there was the raw power of "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night". "Waterloo Sunset" is beautiful. "Til the End of the Day" is a rocker. My personal favorite is "Do It Again". "Standing in the middle of nowhere. Wondering how to begin. Lost between tomorrow and yesterday, between now and then. And now it's back where we started. Here we go round again. Back where we started, come on do it again". Peace. 

Mt. Rushmore: Drummers

 

     I've had a long day of trying to find a hip-hop album from the 2000's to post about in an attempt to expand my musical horizons. No luck with Ludacris, The Roots or Outkast. Missy Elliott is still a possibility. Anyhow, I decided to throw together my Mt. Rushmore of drummers to feel like I did something today. It's not a typical Mt. Rushmore. These are four drummers that I feel are important for various reasons, not the four best. 

     My favorite drummer is Keith Moon. He was the heart of The Who. His style was unique and can't be duplicated. The way he and Pete Townsend played off each other was magic. Too bad he had to die before he got old.

     The best drummer was Neil Peart of RUSH. He never stopped trying to be the best, even after it was clear to everybody else. Glad I saw him multiple times. Also glad they were inducted into the Rock Hall while he was still alive. 

     The most underrated drummer is Bun E. Carlos, formerly of Cheap Trick. He's tremendous, but never got credit because he looks like an old, chain smoking accountant. He was the engine that powered Cheap Trick. If you don't believe me, go watch At Budokan. Too bad I never saw them until after he was kicked out of the band. 

     The drummer who was most important to his band is Bill Berry of R.E.M. He single-handed got the band off the ground with his connections to IRS Records and by threatening to join Love Tractor if the other guys didn't get serious. He was key to their sound and was it's most vocal defender. Just listen to the albums after he had to retire. Peace.

Tommy Keene: Crashing the Ether (2006)

 

     It sucks that I had never heard of Tommy Keene until he teamed up with Robert Pollard for their Keene Brothers album in 2006. It was released shortly after Tommy Keene's own fantastically jangly album, Crashing the Ether. The only time I ever saw Keene perform was as Pollard's side man in his band The Ascended Masters, which also included Jon Wurster and Jason Narducy. It was at St. Andrew's in Detroit, also in 2006. I dragged my pregnant wife to the show. There was no seating and people were smoking like chimneys. However, what annoyed her most was me not talking to Robert Pollard when he walked by us multiple times during the opener's set. I never know what to say. Sorry. My wife was a champ, but we did leave early. I'm not a monster. 

     Tommy Keene had been a solo artist since 1982 and had been in many bands, including The Nazz, before that. In 1984, he released a song called "Places That are Gone", that in an alternate stream of the Multiverse may have been a huge hit, but not ours. Ten years later, he performed that song on the Conan O'Brien Show, but there would be no Big Star style revisionism for his career. It took Robert Pollard introducing him to indie pop fans to finally generate some buzz for Keene. Crashing the Ether came out at this time and that's where I started my deep dive. 

     Tommy Keene, in retrospect, gets lumped in with power pop. In reality, he writes mostly guitar-driven indie pop. The most exquisite example is the second track from Crashing the Ether, "Warren in the '60s". It has a Gin Blossoms vibe. Keene's vocals are laid back and the guitars are jangly. "Wishing" is another strong guitar track with a great singalong chorus. "Eyes of Youth" is a rocker with great drum work that teases a hooky chorus, but takes off again instead. "Driving Down the Road in My Mind" is beautifully languid. He even makes an XTC reference about his senses working overtime. And the guitar runout is tremendous. The most muscular tracks in this set are "Alta Loma" and "I've Heard That Wind Blow Before". They are his most powerful vocals on the album and the guitar and drums are right in your face. There's not a bad song on this album.

     If you're interested in Tommy Keene, there was a 2 disc compilation released in 2010, Tommy Keene You Hear Me. which is a great sampler of his career up to 2009. He also put out an amazing covers album in 2013, Excitement at Your Feet. His cover of The Who's "Much Too Much" is worth checking it out. He also covered the excellent Guided by Voices song, "Choking Tara". Sadly, Tommy Keene passed in 2017, but he left behind an impressive catalog of songs. Peace.

Kasabian: The Alchemist's Euphoria (2022)

 

     Why am I posting about the new Kasabian record instead of the debut or Empire? I'm not sure. I guess I'm trying to process everything that has happened with the band over the past few years. I've been a huge fan of Kasabian since I first heard "Clubfoot" from their self-titled debut in 2004. A couple years ago, Kasabian went through a seismic upheaval when lead singer Tom Meighan was involved in a domestic violence incident with his then girlfriend and current wife, which lead to his dismissal from the band. The Alchemist's Euphoria is the first Kasabian album since the incident and features songwriter Sergio Pizzorno on vocals. Pizzorno had always been important to the sound of Kasabian, but not as the front man. The new album is pretty much a Sergio production and is a departure from their previous catalog. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The last couple albums were alright, but not at the level of their first three releases. 

     As they began releasing singles from The Alchemist's Euphoria, I was concerned about the direction of the band. Sergio is an okay singer, but lacks the gravitas of Meighan. The new album is pretty heavy handed with the vocal effects. Also, there seemed to be a lack of guitars and a surplus of electronics. When the album finally came out it went straight to the top of the U.K. charts. It took a couple weeks for my record store to get it in stock, so I had to stream it at first. I finally got to listen to the LP yesterday. My first impulse was to question why they didn't just scrap the name Kasabian and start fresh. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's not a Kasabian album. It's adventurous and sounds modern. It's rhythmically interesting and has some world music influence. If you're young and hanging out at the club it's fantastic. If you're an old dude who likes anthemic arena rock it's a curiosity. 

     The closest they come to a rock track is "Chemicals". This song has some modern elements, but the guitars and drums are more up front. Had the whole album taken this approach it would have been a good transition to whatever Kasabian is going to become in the future. The album closes, oddly, with a mostly acoustic song, "Letting Go". It's on tracks like "The Wall" that Sergio struggles as a lead singer. In his defense, some of this might just be the production. I do like some tracks, like "SCRIPTVRE" and "ALYGATYR". Yes, those are the spellings. Like "Chemicals" they are a combination of the old Kasabian swagger and modern electronics. I have only listened to The Alchemist's Euphoria fout times, so I'm not writing it off yet. However, I am looking forward to hearing Tom Meighan's solo album when it's finished. He is married and seems to be working on his personal problems and I am pulling for him. We need to reach a point as humans where we can resist the urge to erase anyone who makes a mistake in their life. Next time it might be you. Peace.

The Weakerthans: Left and Leaving (2000)

 

     The Weakerthans are another band, like The Mountain Goats and Neutral Milk Hotel, that I discovered from listening to WRUW; the college radio station at Case Western Reserve University. They hail from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and are fronted by singer-songwriter and poet laureate of The Great White North, John K. Samson. Ok, he's not actually the poet laureate, but he should be. Few bands have more literate lyrics than The Weakerthans. Their style ranges from punk pop to pedal steel tinged country to sparse ballads to indie rock. Samson's vocals sound like a combination of the Schoolhouse Rock guy and the singer from Treblecharger. So...pretty good. I titled this post as an examination of their 2000 album, Left and Leaving, but it will cover their whole catalog, plus some solo stuff, because it's all equally great. I think Samson's world view is best understood in the song "Longitudinal Centre" from his solo album Provincial. "The Atlantic and Pacific are the very same, far away". Winnipeg is the isolated, landlocked centre (center) of Canada. Isolation is a dominant theme in The Weakerthans discography. Only Samson could write "Plea From a Cat Named Virtute", a song from the perspective of a cat whose owner is depressingly alone and sedentary. I especially like the outro, "All you ever want to do is drink and watch tv and frankly that thing doesn't really interest me. I swear I'm going to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood if you don't stop the self-defeating lies you've been repeating since the day you brought me home. I know you're strong". 

     Gun to my head, Left and Leaving is probably their best album. My favorite track is "Aside". I am tempted to post the entire lyrics, but there's a lot. So here's a sample that I really relate to, "Terrified of telephones and shopping malls and knives. We're drowning in the pools of other lives. Rely a bit too heavily on alcohol and irony. Get clobbered on by courtesy. In love with love and lousy poetry". The track "Watermark" is a bittersweet track about a relationship, "I've got this store-bought way of saying I'm okay. And you learned to cry in total silence. We're talented and bright, we're lonely and uptight, we've found some lovely ways to disappoint". Another great track is "This is a Fire Door, Never Leave Open". "I still hear trains at night when the wind is right. I remember everything. Lick and thread this string that will never mend you or or tailor more than a memory of a kitchen floor. Or the fire door that we kept propping open". 

     Much like Franz Kafka and Prague, John K. Samson can never seem to escape Winnipeg. The title track to Left and Leaving begins, "My city's still beathing, it's true, but barely, through buildings gone missing like teeth. The sidewalks are watching me think about you, sparkled with broken glass". The song "My Favorite Chords" begins, "They're tearing up streets again, they're building a new hotel. The mayor's out killing kids to keep taxes down". Perhaps, The Weakerthans best known song is their homage to Winnipeg, "One Great City" from their album Reconstruction Site. Apparently, the title came from the billboard when you enter Winnipeg that proclaimed it "One Great City". It's a love-hate song with the refrain "I hate Winnipeg". "The Guess Who sucked, the Jets were lousy anyway". Ironically, they recorded a show at the Burton Cummings Theatre. Of course, Samson doesn't hate Winnipeg, but some days it's a thin line. 

     So, to wrap up this post before it gets too long. let me list some of my favorite Weakerthan songs that I couldn't squeeze in here. Maybe I will revisit them in the future. Wellington Wednesdays. Diagnosis. The Last Last One. Anchorless. The Reasons. Reconstruction Site. Psalm For the Elk's Lodge Last Call. Our Retired Explorer. A New Name For Everything. Tournament of Hearts. Sun in an  Empty Room. 

     I would like to close with a another section from "Longitudinal Centre" that may be Samson's finest bit of songwriting. "So the sun pulls me out a bit and lets me go. I'm a vacuum power chord in the back of a van full of kids cleaning carpets for the Lord. And I make a list of sounds I found have comforted us in the past; the roar of the rumble strips and the Mennonite meter of the flood forecast. Oh how the wind strums on those signs that say the Atlantic and Pacific are the very same, far away". Peace.

The Long Winters: When I Pretend to Fall (2003)

 

     The 2004 benefit album Future Soundtrack For America was an oddly significant release in the development in my taste in music. It was here that I first heard Jimmy Eat World's cover of "Game of Pricks" by Guided by Voices, which lead me down the Robert Pollard rabbit hole. It's also where I discovered artists like Clem Snide, Nada Surf and The Long Winters. The Long Winters track was "The Commader Thinks Aloud", which is in the tradition of "A Space Oddity" and "Rocket Man". Although it was an interesting song, it didn't fire my curiosity like "Game of Pricks". I soon forgot The Long Winters. Years later, I was listening to the  Judge John Hodgman podcast and his guest judge was John Roderick of The Long Winters. "Hey, that's that band from the thing", I thought to myself. During the segment, John Hodgman promoted John Roderick's podcast with Merlin Mann, Roderick on the Line. I became an avid listener of RotL and soon began listening to The Long Winters albums. My clear favorite is 2003's When I Pretend to Fall. 

     When I Pretend to Fall finds Roderick being assisted by members of R.EM., Death Cab For Cutie, The Posies and Harvey Danger to create The Long Winters most accessible album. The opening track, "Blue Diamonds", has an infectious chorus; "Cause you're so good at waiting, I'm just saying". The next song, "Scared Straight" is an up-tempo number with great horns. "Shapes" employs one of my favorite songwriting devices. During the middle instrumental section, Roderick shouts out to the band, "Let's go". It's almost as good as a count in. "It'll Be a Breeze" is a beautiful acoustic song about someone who was in an accident. At one point he sounds like Jeff Mangum. In the bridge he sings, "I'm fading in and out and I don't mind. I try to let you know I'm fine and I can hear you crying". "Stupid" is one of my favorite relationship songs. "You have no idea how stupid I would feel if 15 years from now I'd see her and she says why didn't it happen between us stupid". "New Girl" has one of the best lines ever, "Twice you burnt your life's work; once to start a new life and once just to start a fire". The best song on this album is "The Sound of Coming Down". It has anonther of those great repeating choruses, "Hey, you know nobody's chasing us". The most powerful and poignant song is the closer "Nora". "Now I don't feel she feels the same way about me. She wonders if I will ever be who she dreamed I'd be. But she never says "I love you" til I say "I love you". Like we're exchanging hostages". Wow. 

     While I enjoy the Roderick on the Line podcast, I wish Roderick would finish his next album. I also hope he puts out a 20th anniversary vinyl reissue of When I Pretend to Fall next year. I'm going to attach the video for "Blue Diamonds", but it has a bunch of exposition at the beginning, so you may want to skip the first part. Peace.

Wet Leg: Wet Leg (2022)

 

     Last year I was looking up some kitschy, mid-century ultra lounge music and stumbled across a reference to a group called Chaise Lounge. So naturally, I went to You Tube looking for something by Chaise Lounge to check out. What I immediately found was a video with a couple young ladies dressed up like Amish dancing around singing about buttering muffins and warm beer. It was interesting, but I had other fish to fry. Fast forward a month or so and one of my co-workers asked me if I had heard Wet Leg. I thought for a second. I asked if that was the Amish girls with the chaise longue song. It was and I had. He was fired up about them, so when I got home I got online and really dug into Wet Leg. At the time, they only had two songs, "Chaise Longue" and "Wet Dream". I was struck by the great songwriting from this weird group with two songs on the internet. The lyrics were smart and funny and confident. It was refreshing to hear a female singer, Rhian Teasdale, so brash about sex and relationships. There is no innuendo or double entrendre. "What are you doing sitting down, you should be horizontal now". "Hey you in the front row. Are you coming backstage after the show?" "I was in your wet dream, driving in my car. What makes you think you're good enough to think about me when you're touching yourself?" "You climb onto the bonnet and you're licking the windscreen. I've never seen anything so obscene. It's enough to make a girl blush". 

     Over the following months, Wet Leg would periodically release a video for a new single. They were all fantastic. Finally they announced an album for Spring 2022. As Rhian and her bandmate Hester Chambers began doing interviews, they seemed surprised, but cheeky, about the hype. Whenever they would perform "Chaise Longue" they always smiled at each other during the "excuse me...what?" part, like they were getting away with somethng. They are from the Isle of Wight and apparently Wet Leg is a term from riding ferries. Not what I assumed. 

     I was at the record store the day they got the album in stock. Wet Leg is clever, provocative and the playing is incredible for a new band. My only small gripe is "Chaise Longue" should be the opening track. "Being in Love" is a good song, but not a lead track. "I Don't Wanna Go Out" lifts the guitar riff from "The Man Who Sold the World" to great effect. One of the album highlights is "Angelica". Teasdale juxtaposes "Angelica" and herself at a party. It gives the listener a great sense of the point of view of the album. "Angelica was on her way to the party.She doesn't need to wait for anybody. Knows exactly what she's doin' . I watch as she commands the room. The ambience is overrated at the party. I want to run away before it's even started. I look at my feet, then I look at the door. Can't find my friends, so I just take a bit more". 

     One of my favorite tracks is "Oh No". It's a fun commentary on modern life. "I went home, all alone, checked my phone, oh no. Oh my god, life is hard, credit card, oh no. You're so woke, diet Coke, I feel gross, oh no. I went home, all alone, I checked my phone and now I'm inside it". The closing track, "Too Late Now", also has a great bit about technology and media. "I don't need a dating app to tell me if I look like crap, to tell me if I'm thin or fat, to tell me should I shave my rat. I don't need no radio, no MTV, no BBC. I just need a bubble bath to set me on a higher path". Sounds like the Wet Leg Manifesto. Peace.

The Strokes: Is This It (2001)

 

     How many years does it take a middle-aged hipster to get past excessive hype for a band and finally listen to their album? The answer is, apparently, 21. Part of this exercise of examining albums from the 2000's is to push back on my music biases. One of my biggest biases was The Strokes. I was vaguely aware that they were Guided by Voices adjacent, but they were so buzzed about and from New York. I guess that was a death sentence for 21 years ago me. Had I known they wrote a song called "New York City Cops", which was pulled from Is This It due to 9/11, I may have been more receptive. Obviously, I have heard "Someday" and "Last Nite". I don't live in a cave. Yesterday was the first time I listened to Is This It in its entirety. 

     It's interesting how Interpol was constantly slagged by critics for ripping off Joy Division, but The Strokes could lean in hard on Lou Reed and ... crickets. Despite the blatant influence, I thought Is This It was pretty good. I also had no idea, until yesterday, that the video for "Someday" features a game of Family Feud, hosted by Richard Karn, between The Strokes and Guided by Voices. How is it possible I didn't know about that? Apparently, they did some opening gigs for GbV and were big fans. Unfortunately, they weren't an influence on their sound.

     After a couple listens, it seemed like what they were doing on Is This It was influential on artists like Franz Ferdinand and Mikal Cronin. Most notably, the tracks "Barely Legal" and "Alone, Together". "Alone, Together" is my early leader for best song on Is This It. It's high energy with insistent, angular guitar strumming and it's a fantastic lead in to "Last Nite". In fact, it made me appreciate "Last Nite" more and it's overt homage to Iggy Popp's "Lust For Life". There are no duds on Is This It, but they also seem to only have one gear. It's a pretty good gear though. I will probably add this record to the collection. Peace.

     I tried to attach the video for "Someday" with Guided by Voices, but it wouldn't come up through my Blogger search. If you are interested, try searching for it on the You Tube site. 

Centro-matic: Fort Recovery (2006)

     2006 was a tumultuous year in my life. We moved from Michigan, where I had spent my first 41 years on this planet, to Cleveland. I had to transfer to a new store. My wife was pregnant with our son. I had hernia surgery. I began using a CPAP machine. However, it was a good year for album releases from some of my favorite bands; like Kasabian, The Flaming Lips, Silversun Pickups and Sparklehorse. By far, the best release was Fort Recovery by Centro-matic. Over the past ten years, I have posted quite a bit about Centro-matic; especially singer-songwriter Will Johnson. In fact, I mentioned him in yesterday's post. I still have a fantasy about being asked to write Will Johnson's biography and I would call it "Patience For the Ride". 

     By 2006, Centro-matic had progressed light years from the ramshackle brilliance of 1996's Redo the Stacks to well produced alt-country. Fort Recovery saw them take another step into straight up indie rock. The band consisted of Johnson on vocals and lead guitar, Scott Danbom on keys, Mark Hedman on bass and the tastefully bombastic drumming and deft production of Matt Pence. Matt Pence was the secret weapon of Centro-matic. I refer to them in the past tense because they broke up about 7 or 8 years ago. However, they recently got together for a couple hometown shows, so keep hope alive. 

     The spirit of Fort Recovery is encapsulated in the soaring closing track "Take a Rake"; "Tell us tales through alcohol eyes. Count the refills until the sun starts to rise". The song rides out with Pence beating the shit out of the drums and Will playing a distorted guitar freakout. It's fitting because the album opens with distorted guitar on the otherwise beautiful track "Covered Up in Mines". This is followed by the chugging power of "Calling Thermatico". When I saw them live at the Beachland Tavern, Will started to introduce "Calling Thermatico" as a "awful" story of baseball and murder, then he stopped and said, "Well, it's not awful. You can be the judge"; or something to that effect. It was a long time ago.

     My favorite song on Fort Recovery, and probably the one that sums up the Centro-matic sound best, is "Patience For the Ride". That is followed by one of Johnson's most poignant songs, "I See Through You". It contains the verse "Don't talk, just listen to all the voices Nature brung. Pray the light will keep you til your final song, because the more I learn about this world the less I find that I'm afraid to die". There's another great run of songs in the middle of the album, "For New Starts", "The Fugitives Have Won", "Monument Sails" and "Triggers and Trash Heaps". "The Fugitives Have Won" has a great piece of songwriting; "If I held you up to fire I would see a reddish frame of rust around your soul's transparency. And you, you with your beauty and I with my spleen. I'll hitchhike to your bonfire in my suit of gasoline". 

     Fort Recovery is a sonic back road through hope and desperation and loss and perserverance. The songwriting is masterful and the playing is inspired. There really isn't a bad song on this album. I actually just went on You Tube and found the video of Centro-matic playing "Calling Thermatico" at the Beachland. It's hard to make out exactly how Will introduced the song, but I will attach it to this post. Peace.

Songs Ohia: Magnolia Electric Co. (2003)

 

     A couple years ago, I got around to checking out Will Johnson adjacent musician Jason Molina. Turns out he was another December 30th birthday buddy. Anyhow, Molina and Will Johnson recorded an album together in 2009 simply titled Molina and Johnson. Four years after Molina's death in 2013, Erin Osman wrote his biography, "Riding With the Ghost", and asked Will Johnson to write the forward. It was a beautiful tribute to a kindred spirit. The biography was fascinating and prompted me to head down the Jason Molina rabbit hole. Osman went into great detail about the song "Farewell Transmission" from his Songs Ohia album Magnolia Electric Co., so that's where I began. What I discovered was a record that continually veered back and forth between savage power and spare beauty, with Molina presiding like a prime era Neil Young. 

     Magnolia Electric Co. opens with the aforementined "Farewell Transmission" and it is a 7 1/2 minute revelation. I have to resist the urge to just post the entire lyrics; there are so many poignant lines. One that resonates because of Molina's death is "I will try and know whatever I try, I will be gone but not forever". Two other brilliant lyrics are "My kind of life's no better off if I've got the maps or if I'm lost" and "Mama here comes Midnight with the dead moon in its jaws". "Farewell Transmission" ends with a great run out where Molina repeats the line "Long dark blues...LISTEN". Then on the final "LISTEN" the song abruptly ends. Goosebumps.

     "I've Been Riding With the Ghost" and "John Henry Split My Heart" are full on Neil Young and Crazy Horse rockers. "John Henry" opens with a Crazy Horse style jam, then it pulls back for a sparse piano interlude, then kicks the door in with more Crazy Horse jamming. Molina also reprises lyrics from "Farewell Transmission". The song ends with John Henry asking "Boy what are you going to do with your heart in two?" The reply is "If it's good enough and only if it's good enough, half I'm going to use to pay this band. Half I'm saving because I'm going to owe them". Fuck. 

     "Just Be Simple" starts out with some exquisite pedal steel then Molina joins in with fragile vocals. "You'll never hear me talk about one day getting out. Why put a new address on the same old loneliness". My favorite line is "I think he's been letting me win. And I think he's doing it again. Thanks for letting me win. And everything you hated me for, honey there was so much more. I just didn't get busted". 

     I highly recommend this album, as well as, Osman's biography. It's a riveting story. Peace. 

Doves: Lost Souls (2000)

 

     I'm sitting at my desk on a cold, rainy morning coming to the realization that summer will be coming to a close soon. It is this time of year that I invariably turn to my go-to end of summer album, Lost Souls. Lost Souls was realeased in the U.K. in the spring of 2000, but fittingly not released in the States until October. I remember being up in the middle of the night with my daughter, watching MTV2, when the video for "Catch the Sun" came on and blew my mind. I was at the record store the next day. "Catch the sun before it's gone" is the perfect line for late August in a northern clime. I will never understand those who complain about the heat of summer. Every sunny day is a gift. 

     The opening track on Lost Souls, "Firesuite", sounds like what I can only imagine Manchester to be. In my mind, I see seabirds circling in cold, gray skies above a cold, gray cityscape. I can visualize guys going to work in their peacoats and knit caps. I can hear them raising hell in the pub in their fantastic Mancunian accents. Think The Fighting Gallagher Brothers. "Firesuite" sets the atmospheric theme for the entire record. At first listen, Lost Souls may seem dark and depressing, but in fact it's an album about hope and longing and escape. Escape from a place or a person or yourself. And the hope that comes from just one moment in the sun. "Here it comes. Here comes my days in the sun. Here it comes. Here comes my time in the sun. And you don't know how it feels. Here it comes. Here comes my time in the sun". That is the second chorus of track number two, "Here it Comes". 

     The themes of escape and longing resurface in the first verse of standout track "Catch the Sun". "Everyday it comes to this. Catch the things you might have missed. You say get back to yesterday. 'Cause I ain't ever going back. Back to the place that I can't stand, but I, I miss the way you lie. 'Cause I'm always misunderstood, pulled apart and ripped in two, but I, I miss the way you lie". Longing for the simple peace of sleep is a theme in songs like "Sea Song" and "The Cedar Room". "Sea Song" begins "Drive with me, do the things you won't believe. Drive with me, past the city and down to sea. Crushing dreams, leave me be, I cannot sleep". "The Cedar Room" is probably the best song on Lost Souls. The chorus is great; "I tried to sleep alone, but I couldn't do it. You could be sitting next to me and I wouldn't know it. If I told you you were wrong, I don't remember saying it. I don't remember saying it". 

     Other standout tracks are the triumphantly soaring "Rise" and the eerie closer "A House". "A House" begins and ends with a burning sound. Here are the lyrics: "It was a day like this and my house burnt down. And the walls were thin and they crashed to the ground. It was a day like this and my life unwound. You could've struck me a line and that's okay now. We could always put it together again. You could've told me a lie, and a lie so thin, so thin now everything's clear. Day after day and life goes on. And I try to see the good in everyone. If I ever find myself here again I'll give everything". 

     Doves, for me, are the band that defines the 2000's. Lost Souls came out in 2000 and Kingdom of Rust in 2009. In between were The Last Broadcast and Some Cities. They are all 5 star records in my opinion. This decade run is similar to The Beatles run in the Sixties and Zeppelin in the Seventies. One of my regrets is I never saw these guys live and chances are I probably never will. At least I have the records. Peace.

The White Stripes: De Stijl (2000)

 

     The White Stripes were roundly credited for the Garage Revival. As I am revisiting their second album, De Stijl (The Style), it strikes me as mostly a blues album. Yes, there are two tracks, "Let's Build a Home" and "Jumble, Jumble", that are textbook garage rock; complete with crunchy guitars and sloppy drums. However, the album is dedicated to bluesman Blind Willie McTell and much of it sounds like an homage to one of Jack White's guitar hereos, Jimmy Page. 

     The Jimmy Page influence is all over songs like "Little Bird", "I'm Boung to Pack It Up" and the Son House cover "Death Letter". Of course, Jimmy Page was featured in the film "This Might Get Loud" with Jack and U2's The Edge. I've never listened to Son House or Blind Willie McTell, so I don't know the extent that their style may have influenced Page or White. It is clear that Page was an influence on Jack White. 

     The album opens with "You're Pretty good Lookin' (For a Girl)". I wish I could take this song in a time machine back to 1965 and give it to The Kinks. It would have been a huge hit. The second track is the tremendous "Hello, Operator". This is more like the sound we would come to expect from a White Stripes song. The second verse is fantastic. "Find a canary, a bird to bring my message home. Carry my obituary, my coffin doesn't have a phone. How you gonna get the money? Send papers to an empty home. How you gonna get the money? Nobody to answer the phone". I also love Meg's drum rim solos.

     There are a few more tracks that point to the future sound of the band, like "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?" There are also a couple tracks that are like "We Are Gonna Be Friends" from White Blood Cells. I liken this type of Jack White song to those old tyme Paul McCartney songs that he would put on every Beatles album. They are cute, but not my personal favorites. 

     It was nice to really dig into De Stijl again. Truthfully, when I'm in the mood to listen to The White Stripes I just put on White Blood Cells. I forgot how good this record is. The White Stripes were a rare band who could combine style AND substance. The red, white and black motif was striking. And the whole marketing thing about whether they were married or brother and sister was brilliant. I still kick myself for not going to see them Downtown when I lived on the mean streets of the Detroit suburbs. I have seen Jack at the Little Caesar's Arena and The Raconteurs at the Agora here in Cleveland and he is an amazing performer. I'm sure The White Stripes will be first ballot Rock Hall inductees. Hopefully they will reunite for the ceremony. If they do I will be there. Peace.

     

The 2000's Revisited

 

     Now that my yearly album Mt. Rushmores are done, I feel like I may have taken an unintentional crap on the 2000's. While I stand by my perspective regarding Mt. Rushmores for the 2000's, there admittedly have been many tremendous records released in the past 22 years. I reviewed the year 2000 again and would be hard-pressed to come up with a Mt. Rushmore without doing a deep dive on dozens of records I don't own and have never heard. But I love Doves Lost Souls and Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast and Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica. And De Stijl by The White Stripes is pretty good too, but are these albums Mt. Rushmore wothy? 

     I think going forward, I would like to focus on albums of the 2000's. As I said, there are many great records that I know and love. There are also thousands I have meant to get around to, but haven't managed. It might be chronological, or just random. I haven't made that call yet. This could also be an exercise to step out of my comfort zone and try new genres. My instinct is to examine records I enjoy and not bother with those I don't. Who am I to tell people Adele is horrible? And who knows, maybe Harry Styles is amazing. Or BTS. I do know my faith in music has been restored by artists like Yard Act, Wet Leg, Horsegirl and D.C. Fontaines. 

     On a side note, my next Sound Mind post will be number 200. Not too impressive since I began this blog almost 10 years ago, but it's a milestone nonetheless. It feels good to publish something everyday, even though these posts are basically stream of consciousness, unedited first drafts. Hopefully it's not too obvious. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: Sixties Recap

 

     My top ten albums for the Sixties aee very good. Not Nineties good, but probably better than the Seventies and Eighties. The Sixties was interesting because the early years were still singles dominant, but the second half was marked by the concept album, rock operas, garage rock, psychedelic rock, prog rock, hard bop and festivals. Music took a huge creative leap in the Sixties, much like the Space Program putting a man on the Moon by 1969. No band exemplified this more than The Beatles. But how will they fare on my list? Let's find out.

1)  Odessey and Oracle

2)  My Generation

3)  Abbey Road

4)  Revolver

5) The Doors

6)  Nefertiti

7)  A Love Supreme

8)  Are You Experienced

9)  The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

10) I've Got a Tiger By the Tail

     This list might be better than the Nineties. It's hard to say because it's more diverse. The Nineties doesn't have two jazz albums and a country record. Every album on this list is 5 stars. And I didn't even have Pet Sounds, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan or Simon and Garfunkel. Great decade! Peace. 

Mt. Rushmore: 1964

 

     1964 was a bit more difficult than I first thought. It turned out I had five solid options and the final cut was painful. It came down to The Beatles and Getz / Gilberto. Most of you probably don't consider that a hard decision, but it was for me. Stan Getz will probably be on my Mt. Rushmore of saxophonists and Getz / Gilberto has "The Girl From Ipanema" and "Desifinado", which are jazz classics. The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night was the second album, all-time, to feature all originals by a group or artist. In the end, I decided a Mt. Rushmore for 1964 has to have The Beatles on it. 

     My number one may, or may not, be a surprise. It's Buck Owens and His Buckaroos I've Got a Tiger By the Tail. Where do I start? The Buckaroos were named by Merle Haggard when he was in Buck's band for a hot minute. I consider Buck and his Buckaroos to be the country music equivalent of Miles Davis' Second Quintet. Buck on vocals and guitar, Don Rich playing lead guitar on a Fender Telecaster, Doyle Holly on bass, Tom Brumley on pedal steel guitar and Willie Cantu on drums. Buck was also a hell of a guitarist. He learned in the Grapes of Wrath era work camps as a kid as his family moved west to Bakersfield, California. He started out as a session player, but eventually came to create The Bakersfield Sound; which went up against the Nashville machine. That's why he was always written off by mainstream country music, until Dwight Yoakam became a champion for his legacy. Buck had an affinity for songs that start with the chorus, like the title track of I've Got a Tiger By the Tail and "Fallin' For You". He was an influence on The Beatles and they covered "Act Naturally", which is another song that begins with the chorus made popular by Buck Owens. Other great Beatles songs that lead with the chorus are "HELP" and "You're Gonna Lose That Girl". Someday, after I reread "Buck 'Em", I will do a post on Buck Owens. He was a one of a kind entertainer. And this album was released two days before I was born, on December 28th. 

     Number two and three are by two more heads on my saxophone Mt. Rushmore; John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. Just to end the suspense, Sonny Rollins would be the fourth. Anyhow, Coltrane released Crescent in 1964 with his clasic quartet of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. Tyner and Jones also played on Wayne Shorter's 1964 release, Juju. These are both tremendous, overlooked classic jazz records. If you are only passingly familiar with Kind of Blue or Time Out or A Love Supreme, I would recommmend really digging into these albums. They are top shelf hard bop. 

     So, number four is A Hard Day's Night. It's a movie soundtrack, but it's all originals written at the time. Of course, it begins with that iconic chord being struck at the beginning of "A Hard Day's Night". Then there's that classic "music video" during the film where they play "Can't Buy Me Love" while they are frolicking around in a park. Truthfully, it's not high in my ranking of Beatles records, but the movie is fantastic. It was an important album in the band's development and a critical landmark in the history of rock music. Therefore, Mt. Rushmore worthy. 

     Tomorrow is the Sixties recap. Since there were only six years covered, I will pick a few wildcards to round it out to a top ten. This exercise has been fun and it made me post everyday, so win-win. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1965

 

     1965 was a little rough for albums. Not due to a lack of quality, but rather a lack of originality. There were so many artists with a couple originals who then supplemented their albums with covers. Hell, that's how The Beatles started. I was considering Here Are the Sonics by The Sonics and Begin Here by The Zombies, but I felt there were too many covers. I even briefly considered Highway 61 Revisited out of desperation. Other contenders were Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage and Miles Davis ESP. In the end, I have my top four and they are pretty good. 

     Ironically, my number one has three covers and questionable sequencing. It's The Who Sings My Generation by The Who. I'm puzzled why a band would come out of the gate with a manifesto like "My Generation" and bury it on track six behind a James Brown cover and an original that sounds like an R&B cover. "People try to put us down just because we get around. Things they do look awful cold. Hope I die before I get old". That's a Roger Daltrey punch in the face to the "Greatest Generation". Factor in arguably the best pop song of all-time, "The Kids Are Alright", and this is already one of the most important albums of the Sixties. Then there are several straight up rockers like "Good's Gone", "La-La-La Lies" and "Much Too Much". Try to imagine being alive when this album came out. It was louder, edgier and more confrontational than anything that preceded it. And they had Keith Fucking Moon. So good.

     For my number two, I'm going with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. This is peak Coltrane with his classic quartet of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. If a made a Mt. Rushmore for jazz albums, this would be on it. If you find Coltrane intimidating, go back to his stuff with Miles and work your way through his catalog chronologically. He was a musical genius and a brilliant player. Unquestionably the most gifted individual to pick up a saxophone. 

     Number three is Rubber Soul by The Beatles. An album of originals. Yay! Not as good as Revolver, but a nice companion piece that showed the direction they were heading as a band. The songs were more sophisticated and complex. This change was credited to the influence of Dylan. Perhaps, but it probably would have happened organically anyhow. For me, the standout tracks are "Nowhere Man", "Think For Yourself" and "If I Needed Someone". What else can I say, it's The Beatles.

     Number four is a bit of a stunner. I'm going with A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. It is a beautiful album in the style of Bill Evans. This has to be the bestselling and most listened to Christmas album ever. Worth listening to just for "Linus and Lucy". This is a nostaglia selection sorry, not sorry. 

     Wow, tomorrow is 1964, the year I was born; barely. That will be my last album Mt. Rushmore for specific years. I will do a Sixties recap and some other random Mt. Rushmores. After that I'm not sure. I have published something for 38 straight days and I don't want to lose my momentum. Anyhow, 1964 looks like a lot of jazz and country, but I will review my options one more time. Peace.

     

     

Mt. Rushmore: 1966

 

     1966 was an extremely top heavy year. I only have five contenders. You may be thinking to yourself "That's not possible idiot". Well, if you factor in that Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones aren't going to be contenders it's slim pickings. So the one that didn't make the cut was Freak Out by The Mothers of Invention. Originally I penciled that one in for the Mt. Rushmore, but it got edged out in the end. 

     So, obviously the two albums that came out in 1966 were Revolver and Pet Sounds. My personal preference is Revolver, so that's my number one. Revolver is my fourth favorite Beatles album. If it included "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" it would be the greatest record of all-time. It's interesting that the opening track is one of George's songs, "Taxman". Apparently by 1966 taxes were the number one concern of the Fab Four. George also contributed one of my favorite tracks on Revolver, "I Want to Tell You". I love that guitar riff he plays after he sings "I don't mind". While critics point to "Eleanor Rigby" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" as the seminal songs from this album, but my favorite is "And Your Bird Can Sing". I really love this jangly period the band went through before they went psychedelic. And it has "Yellow Submarine", which was the first Beatles song I was exposed to as a kid. I mentioned 10 years ago, when I started Sound Mind, that being born in 1964 skewed my Beatles fandom. When I started to listen to music they were all in the middle of solo careers, so I knew them as solo artists before I knew who The Beatles were. Crazy. 

     Ok, number two is Pet Sounds. It's basically my number two because I don't want to be a contrarian dickhead. I understand it's an important album and many bands I love were inspired by it. However, apart from a couple tracks, I find it quite boring. I question how many people have actually listened to this entire album more than a few times through. It's a critics album. There's nothing wrong with that, but listening to Pet Sounds is like doing homework. "God Only Knows" is a very good song, but it's not the greatest song of all-time. Having said that , it is an important record and deserves Mt. Rushmore status. 

     The Miles Davis Second Quintet didn't release an album in 1966, but Wayne Shorter did. He enlisted fellow quintet members Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, as well as, Freddie Hubbard and Elvin Jones to record Speak No Evil. It was actually recorded a week before I was born in December 1964, but not released until 1966. Wayne Shorter composed all the tracks. Herbie Hancock, in particular, is on fire on this record. Everyone made impressive contributions to Speak No Evil though. This album served to get Shorter out of the shadow of John Coltrane, which is quite a feat. Brilliant record. 

     Finally, a sloppy, psychedelic garage classic, The Psychedelic Sounds of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. This is one of the earliest, and best, albums of the garage rock movement. The guitar work of Stacy Sutherland is incredible. It's like lysergic surf guitar. Roky Erickson's vocals are fantastic and they even had an electric jug player. which is delightfully insane. If you are a fan of the Garage Revival of the Aughts, you need to go back and check out this album. Tremendous.

     Looking ahead to 1965, I have some pretty diverse contenders and it may be a difficult task to get down to four albums. There's a lot of jazz, British Invasion and a Christmas album, so chew on that. My number one is locked in and it's probably not the one you think it is. Peace. 

Mt. Rushmore: 1967

 

     As I dug into 1967, it didn't hold up as well as I originally thought. I also have a conundrum whether to count Magical Mystery Tour as an actual studio album. If I did it would be on the Mt. Rushmore. However, it's basically an EP from a TV show, plus some singles that had already been released, so I'm not going to count it. Many of my contenders for 1967 were disappointing upon further review. They included The Moody Blues Days of Future Passed, Mothers of Invention Absolutely Free, Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow and Cream Disraeli Gears. I also gave Forever Changes by Love a chance, because I've never listened to it. Turns out I had heard the opening track before and I hate it. There were a couple decent songs, but overall not my thing. Moby Grape was a close call. I liked it quite a bit, but it couldn't crack the top four. Finally. Miles Davis, like many other artists in 1967, had two albums in 1967 and they split the vote. 

     My number one for 1967 is a fellow left-handed guitarist who was much better than me; Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced. This is almost a greatest hits album. Purple Haze. Manic Depression. Hey Joe. The Wind Cries Mary. Fire. Foxey Lady. Are You Experienced. While Hendrix is remembered as an innovative guitarist, these are great songs as well. 

     Number two is The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. When it came out it blew minds around the world. It hasn't aged as well, however I feel Glies Martin's remastering a few years ago gave Sgt. Pepper a new life. It's probably the number three Beatles record in my opinion. I love tracks like "Good Morning, Good Morning", "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". Some of the weaker songs, like "She's Leaving Home", were greatly improved on the Giles Martin remaster. 

     "Gate is straight, deep and wide. Break on through to the other side". Yes, number three is the debut by The Doors. I know Morrison is a divisive figure for rock fans, but I'm a sucker for pretentious music so I love The Doors. "She won't waste time on elementary talk, she's a 20th century fox". Like Are You Experienced, this is basically a greatest hits record. Maybe I have arrested development, but I enjoy lines like "Show me the way to the next whiskey bar", "You can eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans. I eat more chicken than any man's ever seen" and "He took a face from the ancient gallery and he walked on down the hall". "The End" is probably my favorite pretentious song of all-time. "Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain and all the children are insane". Fantastic!

     Number four is Piper at the Gates of Dawn by the Syd Barrett lead Pink Floyd. As much as I love David Gilmour, it's a shame Syd couldn't handle being in a rock band. He was extremely talented and charismatic. This record features some trippy tunes like "Lucifer Sam", "The Gnome" and "Bike". There are also epic tracks that show what the bands future would be, such as, "Astronomy Domine", "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Great album!

     Looking ahead to 1966, there are obviously two albums locked in. I will review the year one more time to sort out the other two spots. Well, the clocks says it's time to go now. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1968

 

     1968 was an easy year, as there were only four albums I seriously considered. I did listen to Big Pink and Sweetheart of the Rodeo, but they didn't crack my original four choices. I love these four records almost equally, but I can rank them for these purposes. 

     Number one is Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies. Not to get ahead of myself, but this is probably the best album of the Sixties. It's unfortunate that the band had already broken up when this album finally clicked with the stupid public. "Time of the Season" is easily a top three song of the Sixties. "What's your name? Who's your daddy? He rich? Is he rich like me? Has he taken any time to show you what you really need to live?" Rod Argent and Chris White were genius pop songwriters and Colin Blunstone's vocals were smooth and penetrating. Blunstone's high point on Odessey is "This Will Be Our Year". "The warmth of your love's like the warmth of the sun. And this will be our year, took a long time to come". I mentioned "Care of Cell 44" previously when discussing Sloan's One Chord to Another. It's a beautiful pop tune about waiting for your love to come home from prison. For the love of God, go listen to this album right now!

     Number two is The Kinks' The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. I think I've decide that the fourth member of my Mt. Rushmore of singers is Ray Davies. HIs voice is like a warm blanket. Village Green is the beginning of a series of nostalgic albums by the Kinks. It's a concept album celebrating a Britain that Davies fondly recalls. It makes the listener hope that there really was a Britain this idyllic. Probably not though. Standout songs are the title track, "Picture Book" and "Last of the Steam-powered Trains". Dave Davies also contributes the excellent "Wicked Anabella". Great album. 

     Number three is The Beatles' White Album. What else can I say about this record. Every song on this record launched a new subgenre of pop music. Someday a should write an extended piece on that topic. Anyhow, this is a double album where everyone in the band is at the height of their powers. It makes for a rich and diverse listening experience. If you read my blog, I'm sure you are quite familiar with this record and have your own feelings about it. It's my second favorite behing Abbey Road. I have no problem with it being a double album, even if there are a few turds in the punch bowl. 

     Number four is Nefertiti by Miles Davis' Second Quintet. Truly the most talented band ever assembled. Everything they recorded was magic. In some ways, this record is peak Miles Davis as a traditional jazz player. After Nefertit he begins his journey to electric jazz-rock fusion; not that there's anything wrong with that. It's sort of a companion piece to 1967's Sorcerer, which is also brilliant but may have a hard time making my Mt. Rushmore in a stacked field. Besides Miles, Herbie Hanccock really stands out on this record. And Tony Williams on "Hand Jive" is quite spectacular on drums. It's a testament to Miles Davis that he always encouraged (pushed) his band members to stretch out and go for it. Even though I ranked this album fourth, it is number one quality. 

     Looking ahead to 1967, it's going to be a straight up bitch to pick four albums. I may have to leave off Sgt. Pepper, which is crazy. People always talk about Sgt. Pepper being innovative, and it was, but there were many albums out that year just as groundbreaking. Pink Floyd. Mothers of Invention. Jefferson Airplane. Moody Blues. The Doors. It's nuts. I have contended for quite some time that the last half of the Sixties was the most creative period of music in almost every genre. 1967 was the peak year. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1969

 

     1969. We're into the Sxities and the Summer of Love. Apparently everybody was too busy with love to make good albums. For me, this was a crap year, except at the very top. It's so bad that one band has two albums on my Mt. Rushmore. I considered three other records, The Band's Brown Album, CCR Green River and King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King, but they were extremely overrated. Even my number four isn't particularly one of my favorites. It does look like the rest of the Sixties will be solid though. 1967 is going to be a slugfest. Anyhow, let's get 1969 over with. 

     My number one is probably my favorite Beatles album, AbbeyRoad. It was the final album they recorded and they wanted to go out on top. If  you watched Peter Jackson's Get Back documentary, the Let it Be sessions were a drain on the band and the producers. In fact, The Beatles really had to convince George Martin to come back for Abbey Road, because he was concerned it would just be a repeat of Let it Be. However, everyone involved got their shit together and recorded a masterpiece. Even George Harrison contributed two of his greatest songs, "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", rather than keeping them for All Things Must Pass. The standout, for me, is the Abbey Road side two medley. I especially love "Golden Slumbers". It blows me away everytime McCartney sings "Once there was a way to get back home". I sometimes wish they had left the goofy "Her Majesty" off the end of Abbey Road. It takes away from "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make", but their humor is part of what made them great. And then there's the iconic album cover. 

     Number two and three are Led Zeppelin I and II. Gun to my head, I like Zeppelin II better, but not by much. They came out the same year, so they aren't really that different. They created the template of a hard rock band. The golden god lead singer, the riffmaster lead guitarist. the heavy handed bassist and a pyrotechnic drummer. They ruled rock music for a decade, until the death of drummer John Bonham. The highlight for me is "Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid". 

     Number four is Tommy by The Who. My preferred Who is the early power pop and Who's Next. The live stuff and rock operas aren't really my wheelhouse. Of the rock operas, I much prefer Quadrophenia. Tommy is mostly short pieces with just a few actual good songs. "Pinball Wizard" has been too overplayed. I do like "I'm Free" and "We're Not Gonna Take It". I appreciate Pete Townsend's artistic vision, but it's just not my thing. Sorry. Still on the Mt. Rushmore, though. 

     Looking ahead to 1968, the year the Detroit Tigers won the World Series! Once again very top heavy. I will review the releases, but I already have a solid top four. Number one is also locked in. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: Live Albums

 

     I mentioned brfore that the Seventies were the decade of live albums. However, when compiling my live album Mt. Rushmore I realized this phenomenon spilled into the Eighties and had been a thing in the Sixties as well. My contenders were mostly from the Seventies though. I wanted to get The J. Geils Band's Blow Your Face Out on because I love Peter Wolf's classic tale of Reputa the Beauta, but I couldn't do it. Likewise, I wanted to honor The Pat Travers Band's iconic live version of "Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights", but it wasn't to be. I was also conflicted whether to consider all the great live albums or just the one I actually own. I chose to consider all of them and my Mt. Rushmore is 50-50, but I will eventually acquire the ones I don't have. Needless to say, I had to leave off some classic live albums. They are RUSH Exit...Stage Left, Neil Young Live Rust (amazing just for "Powderfinger"), Johnny Cash Folsom Prison, KISS Alive I, The Who Live at Leeds and Miles Davis Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965. Miles Davis was the last cut. His second quintet of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams is the greatest band of all-time. 

     My well documented number one is Cheap Trick At Budokan. It wasn't until Heaven Tonight that Cheap Trick were able to translate their live energy to the studio. The studio and live versions of "I Want You to Want Me" could be no more different. The original At Budokan was great, but since then there have been many reissues of the complete show, which is the much have version. The standout for me is "Come On, Come On". I have a fantasy of creating a anime series about Cheap Trick being secret ninjas that live underground in Tokyo, but doing live shows every night. In their prime they were kind of cartoonish with the two good looking guys, the weird guy and the guy who looked like an old chain smoking accountant. Speaking of which, Bun E. Carlos is the MVP of At Budokan. He should still be in the band.

     Number two is Live Bullet by Bob Seger. I'm not a huge Seger guy, but Live Bullet is tremendous; and really the only Seger a normal person would need. His live versions of "Nutbush City Limits", "Get Out of Denver", "Katmandu", "Beautiful Loser" and "Ramblin', Gamblin' Man" are incendiary. They easily make up for the criminally overplayed "Turn the Page" (pronounced Paaaaaaaaja). 

     Number three is the omnipresent Peter Frampton Comes Alive. Everybody had it and there's a reason for that...it's great. Frampton is possibly the most underrated guitarist of the guitar god era. HIs dad was David Bowie's music teacher and Peter was life long friends with him. Unfortunately, he was never able to translate his talent to the studio. He also has the greatest vocoder performance of all-time on "Do You Feel Like We Do", which is something. 

     Number four is my surprise pick and it's from the Eighties; Under a Blood Red Sky by U2. Early U2 is my wheelhouse. Even though they are a great studio band, I love the live versions of "Gloria", "I Will Follow", "40", "The Electric Co." and "11 O'Clock Tick Tock". This came out a couple months after I started college. Perfect timing.

     I just went to my first live show since covid the other night. It was Guided by Voices at the Rock Hall for almost three hours. They were on fire. Pollard's current band is great. My wife and I are going to see two Crowded House shows next month. The best show we have ever been to was Kasabian at the House of Blues in Chicago. The second best was the RUSH show in Cleveland that was released on DVD, CD and LP. Third best was Midnight Oil at the Cleveland House of Blues. We love going to shows. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 70's Recap

 

     Well, the number ones for the Seventies turned out about as I suspected. Not as good as the Nineties, but better than the Eighties. The problem is going to be ranking them. It's like comparing apples and watermelons. How do you sort out such diverse bands as The Who, The Cars, Genesis and Miles Davis. Despite how my Mt. Rushmores turned out, it seems my bands of the Seventies were Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Elton John and Steely Dan. Looking forward, I will be ending the Mt.Rushmores in 1964, which is when I was born. This is also roughly when studio albums, of original material, actually became a thing. Maybe at some point I will do some Mt. Rushmores for pre-1964 music. Alright, I've stalled enough. Here are the rankings for the Seventies. Peace.

     1) Who's Next

     2) Bitches Brew

     3) Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

     4) The Cars

     5) Born to Run

     6) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

     7) Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

     8) The Wall

     9) Pink Flag

     10) Modern Lovers

Mt. Rushmore: 1970

 

     Don't say I didn't warn you. 1970 is going to be jazz-tastic. Yes, even though this is the year of the final album by The Beatles, and their subsequent solo albums, I'm going jazz heavy. Since I'm on the topic of The Beatles, and we are going into the Sixties, I thought I should clear up a  Sound Mind policy. I have stated previously that I don't include The Beatles in any lists due to my philosophy of Beatles Exceptionalism. However, I am making an exception for the Mt. Rushmores, because it's a one off thought experiment for ranking my favorite albums. So, it would be crazy not to include The Beatles. Having said that, none of their releases for 1970 made my cut. Let it Be was close. I love the album and the Peter Jackson documentary, but it was really recorded before Abbey Road, not 1970. All Things Must pass was the last cut. It has some great George Harrison songs, but too much filler. The other cuts were John Lennon Plastic Ono Band, Black Sabbath self-titled, CCR Cosmo's Factory, Neil Young After the Gold Rush, Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs and The Kinks Lola vs. the Powerman, 

     Number one is by, arguably, the most important musical artist of the 20th century; Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. Admittedly, I had to work my way up to Bitches Brew, but it is a jazz masterpiece. Miles literally runs the voodoo down. The list of musicians on Bitches Brew is like a jazz hall of fame; Dave Holland, Jack De Johnette, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Airto Moreira, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul and Lenny White, just to name a few. The album was ably "produced" by the legendary Teo Macero, who basically spliced together jam sessions. The standout track is "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down". If you want to dig, there are also many outtakes from the Bitches Brew sessions out there which are also tremendous. 

     The opening track of my number two album sounds like it could have been straight from Bitches Brew. The track is "Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" from Abraxas by Santana. Before he released Supernatural, I considered Carlos Santana as a top five guitarist because of his amazing feel as a player. Unfortunately, Supernatural soured me on him. Abraxas is a stellar album though. Interestingly, the two hits were covers; Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va". In addition to Santana's inspired playing, the album is marked by the brilliant percussion work of Mike Carabello and Jose Areas. They really steal the show. 

     Number three is by one of my favorite saxophonists, Stanley Turrentine's Sugar. Despite the album cover being gross, the album is fantastic. Whereas Miles and Coltrane had gone electric and avant garde by 1970, Turrentine teamed up with Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter and George Benson to create a traditional jazz masterpiece. I would consider Stanley Turrentine the last great jazz saxophonist. He is criminally underrated. Check him out if you haven't listened to him. 

     Number four is by a metal band with a jazzy rhythm section. I'm talkin' Paranoid by Black Sabbath. Almost every hard rock band is based on the blues, but Geezer and Bill seem to be influenced by jazz. If you don't belive me, check out "Rat Salad", "Planet Caravan" and "Fairies Wear Boots". This album also features classic rock radio staples "Paranoid" and "Iron Man". At one point I was close to having two Black Sabbath albums on this Mt. Rushmore, but I couldn't pull the trigger. 

     So, tomorrow will be the Seventies recap, then live albums and then on to the Sixties. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1971

 

     1971 is quite top heavy. I had three solid albums and a surprising battle for number four. After that the other contenders are all very good. Those contenders were David Bowie Hunky Dory, T Rex Electric Warrior, Pink Floyd Meddle, Miles Davis Jack Johnson, ELO, Badfinger Straight Up, Ram, Imagine, Black Sabbath Master of Reality, Kinks Muswell Hillbillies, Led Zeppelin IV and the final cut Traffic Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. The amazing thng is who beat out Traffic for the last spot. 

     Number one was a no-brainer; Who's Next by The Who. Every track is a classic. My personal favorite is "My Wife", which is a John Entwhistle song. I also love "Won't Get Fooled Again". "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Those lyrics were never more true than now. Even though it's overplayed, you can't deny "Baba O'Reilly". Pete Townsend is in my top five guitarists and after reading Tony Fletcher's biography of Keith Moon, he has become my favorite drummer. Moon and Townsend had an amazing chemistry playing off each other. This is a perfect record.

     I may have to change my Mt. Rushmore of greatest hits artists. I would put on CCR and take off the next artist, who has now made a couple Mt. Rushmores; Elton John with Madman Across the Water. The title track, "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" are three of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's greatest songs. I always have to remind myself that Taupin wrote the lyrics. Honky Chateau had bigger hits than Madman Across the Water, but I feel Madman is much for resonant. Elton John's performance on the title track is intense. 

     Number three is Fragile by Yes. This is a musician's album. My favorite track is "South of the Sky", whch is a masterclass on playing by Steve Howe on guitar and Chris Squire on bass. Howe, in particular stands out on Fragile. He even has an instruental, "Mood For a Day", which is fantastic. He's one of my favorite guitarists, but for some reason his solo abums are all Chet Atkins style chicken pickin', which I don't like. Fragile also includes classic rock standards "Roundabout", "Long Distance Runaround" and "Heart of the Sunrise". One of the great prog rock albums.

     Alright, here's the shocker of this whole thought experiment. My number four is an album that literally everyone in the Seventies owned. I had no intention of putting this on my Mt. Rushmore, but after listening to it in it's entirety I couldn't be a dick and leave it off. I am talking about Tapestry by Carole King. Every track on Tapestry is a masterpiece of songcraft. She even rocks out a little bit on "Smackwater Jack". "You can't talk to a man with a shotgun in his hand". I could list all the songs, but it's not necessary. My personal favorites are "So Far Away" and "It's Too Late". I couldn't put it ahead of my other three albums, but it is probably the best singer songwriter album of the Seventies; and that's saying a lot. 

     Looking ahead to 1970, it's a decent year, but not great. My Mt. Rushmore might be kind of jazzy. I'm still sorting it out. My number one is locked in though. After that I will recap the Seventies and then compile my Mt. Rushmore of live albums. Then we come down the home stretch with the Sixties. I can't believe we're almost done. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1972

 

     I had a day off to really dig into 1972 and my album perceptions changed radically. However, number one has remained unchanged. There were a hand full of contenders that I felt were all about the same, but a few emerged to make it on to the Mt. Rushmore. Those missing out are: Todd Rundgren Something/Anything?, Big Star #1 Record, Elton John Honky Chateau, Miles Davis On the Corner, Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill and Neil Young Harvest. I had Big Star as a lock going in, but it didn't quite hold up. 

     Number one is obviously The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars by Bowie. As I revisited the album it struck me that it arguably has the best four song run at the end of an album ever; "Hang on to Yourself", "Ziggy Stardust", "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide". Throw in "Starman" and "Moonage Daydream" and you have a masterpiece. Even though I like Aladdin Sane more, Ziggy was up against much easier competition. Still it's pretty much six of one between the two albums. 

     My number two is an album by a group of Bowie proteges. They came out of nowhere to make my Mt. Rushmore after I fell into a You Tube rabbit hole. I give you Mott the Hoople with All the Young Dudes. The title track was given to the band (after they rejected "Drive-in Saturday") by Bowie, who was a fan and didn't want the to breakup. While it's a Bowie song, it was made great by the idiosyncratic vocals of Ian Hunter. Hunter added spoken word bits to the "All the young dudes" parts and it turned out fantastic. Hunter is one of rocks most unique frontmen. As he says in "One of the Boys"..."I don't say much, but I make a big noise". There's also a good cover of "Sweet Jane" and an early version of "Ready For Love" by Mick Ralphs, who would end up in Bad Company and it would be a hit for them. This version is interesting because Ralphs sings, but Hunter has extra sections that weren't in the Bad Company version. There's also a long guitar outro. The original tracks "Sucker" and "Jerkin' Crocus" are tremendous as well. I forgot how great this album is. 

     Number three wasn't on my radar either, but it is a stone cold classic. Machine Head by Deep Purple is a crimally overlooked album. Ritchie Blackmore was my favorite guitarist at one point, until he became a renaissance fair weirdo. Every track on Machine Head is great and it gave us "Highway Star", "Space Truckin'" and the iconic "Smoke on the Water". There's no denying how important this record was. 

     Finally, I went with Close to the Edge by Yes. Of course, "And You and I" and "Siberian Khatru" are classics. I wasn't super familiar witth the title track, but it's actually very much like Genesis, except when Jon Anderson is singing. I love these guys, especially the classic lineup. They will be returning to the Mt. Rushmore discussion soon. 

     Looking ahead to 1971, it seems like a strong year. There's definitely a locked in number one and two. The other two spots will be hotly contested. I'm listening to The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys as I type to see if it will make the cut. Stay tuned. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1973

 

     Ugh! I still haven't worked out 1973. I'm just going to have to do it as I write. OK, I have my top four albums. While I listed the runners up I will try to pick my number one. The albums missing the cut are: John Lennon Mind games, Stevie Wonder Innervisions, ZZ Top Tres Hombres, ELP Brain Salad Surgery, Steely Dan Countdown to Ecstasy, The Who Quadrophenia and Paul McCartney and Wings Band on the Run. So, now you know who that leaves for the Mt. Rushmore. 

     There is an obvious number one for 1973. It spent years on the Billboard Top 200. However, for me, it is too overplayed and I suffer for fatigue, so I'm not picking it number one. Instead, I am going with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. There are so many hits, as well as, great deep cuts. Saturday Night's Alright. Benny and the Jets. Candle in the Wind. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. All the Girls Love Alice. And it starts out with the amazing "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". I had to give Elton John one of these. He was the greatest performer of the Seventies. 

     So, number two is Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It is a tremendous album, but I have heard these songs a million times. The strength of Dark Side is the lyric writing. I also enjoy the cospiracy theory that they synched it with The Wizard of Oz. I carry on quite a bit about David Gilmour being my favorite guitarist, but the rest of Pink Floyd are amazing as well, especially Roger Waters. 

     Number three is Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, which doesn't include the song "Houses of the Holy". For me, this album and Physical Graffiti are peak Led Zeppelin. The highlights are the rockers, "The Ocean", "Dancing Days" and "Over the Hills and Far Away". "No Quarter" is the "Kashmir" equivalent; brooding and epic. "Walking side by side with death. The devil mocks their every step". Awesome. 

     Number four is Aladdin Sane by David Bowie. This is my favorite Bowie album. "Watch That Man" is my favorite Bowie deep cut. "Jean Genie" is a fantastic stomp rocker, which I believe is about Iggy Pop. "Sits like a man, but he smiles like a reptile". "Panic in Detroit" and "Time" are classic Bowie tracks. Another favorite deep cut is "Cracked Actor". What I love about Aladdin Sane is it still has the glam rock, but he's adding some art rock elements to the songs. Very powerful record. 

     Looking forward to 1972, it's another year with a solid number one and a bunch of very good albums vying for the other three spots. There are going to be some critically acclaimed albums that aren't in contention, like Exile on Main Street, Pink Moon and Transformer, just because I don't like them. Sorry. Anyhow, you can probaly guess my number one. I was just talking about him. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1974

 

     1974 is quite a weak year for albums. I do have a solid number one, but everything else is very good; not great. I considered doing another Easter Island Head, but that's kind of a cop-out. So, the contenders that missed the cut are still good albums. RUSH's debut was the final cut and you all know how I feel about RUSH. Another cut was Gram Parsons' Grievous Angel, which is arguably ground zero of what would become alt-country. My favorite Frank Zappa album, Apostrophe, didn't make it either. And of course the albums by Steely Dan, ELO and Elton John missed out. The other contenders were Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell. That's a decent list. 

     The runaway number one is Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis. One of the concept double albums ever. There is a whole convoluted story about Rael and his misadventures with sex, but the music is the star of the show. Don't get me wrong, Peter Gabriel's vocals are stellar, but the focus is how they interact with the music rather than what he's saying. It makes sense that Peter Gabriel and the rest of the band went their own ways after this, because this was the height of what this version of Genesis could do. Love it!

     Number two might be a surprise...Desolation Boulevard by The Sweet. The first two 7" singles I ever bought were "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run". I love this album. They were lumped in with glam, but they were just a great rock band. I could argue the seeds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal can be found in songs like "No You Don't", "Sweet F.A." and "Set Me Free". "Fox on the Run" is the standout though. The vocals and harmonies are tremendous. 

     Number three is Diamond Dogs by David Bowie. This is the final album of my favorite period of Bowie. It made my Mt. Rushmore one the strength of two of my favorite Bowie songs, the title track and "Rebel, Rebel". "Diamond Dogs" is one of those tracks, like "Watch That Man", were the verses are all attitude and then the hooky chorus just kicks in the door. I love the bridge on "Rebel, Rebel". "They put you down, they say I'm wrong. You tacky thing, you put them on". 

     Number four is a revisionist choice, since virtually no one heard this album when it came out. I'm talking about Big Star's Radio City. They have retroactively been lumped in with power pop, which is a difficult genre to pin down. This is due to the standout track from this album, "September Gurls". They were clearly an influence on Cheap Trick, who is also labeled as power pop even though I would just consider them mostly a rock band. Anyhow, "September Gurls" is a perfect song and it's criminal that it wasn't a huge hit. The rest of Radio City is stylistically diverse and great in it's own right. 

     Looking ahead to 1973, it's almost a repeat of 1975. Extremely strong at the top. There is an obvious number one, but it may not be my pick. I haven't decided yet. It's another murderer's row. I can list six albums without even trying; Dark Side of the Moon, Houses of the Holy, Quadrophenia, Aladdin Sane, Band on the Run and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Crazy! Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: Greatest Hits Artists

 

     I thought I'd take a break in the middle of the Seventies to discuss artists that I love, but just for the hits. Some music lovers are snobs when it comes to greatest hits albums, but for some artists that's all you really need. I'm running into this issue with these Mt. Rushmores for best albums. Some of my favorite groups can't make the cut. Before I get to my top four, I have a couple honorable mentions; Jackson Browne and Hall and Oates. Love the hits, can't listen to the albums. I'm not going to rank these artists, because I don't have to; it's my blog.

     The first album I bought with my own money was Elton John"s Greatest Hits Volume 1. I love Elton John, even though I couldn't pull the trigger to see his farewell tour. My babysitter, when I was a kid, always brought over Elton John records. While Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a great album, I have only listened to it all the way through maybe three times in my whole life. The only deep cut that I consider an iconic tune is "All the Young Girls Love Alice". I kind of got away from Reg in the Eighties, but now I love those singles too. I will listen to his greatest hits until the day I die, but not any of the albums. 

     I have two greatest hits collections for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and no albums. Not even Damn the Torpedes.  I have a Rickenbacker and spend time online trying to learn Tom Petty songs, but I don't need any of his albums. I don't have any of his solo albums and I only have The WIlburys first album on CD. I don't remember the last time I listened to the whole thing. Love the hits though...a lot. 

     I do own a few Steely Dan albums on CD, but I only listen to their greatest hits collections, of which I have a few. Well, that's not completely true. I do listen to Aja periodically. The only deep cut I love is "Any Major Dude", if that counts as a deep cut. Their singles are right in my wheelhouse. I keep meaning to really take a deep dive into their discography, but I haven't yet. Maybe I will come around to the catalog someday. 

     I have repeatedly professed my love of Jeff Lynne in this blog. I own some ELO albums, but literally only listen to the greatest hits collections. The hits are tremendous and are really all you need. Sorry Mr. Lynne. 

     I think I will make a Mt. Rushmore for live albums when I finish the Seventies. Then I can recognize some of the bands who were better live than in the studio. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1975

 

     1975 is the battle of the behemoths. I kept my list at seven albums because it was so strong at the top. I didn't even bother including Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. For a change, I will give you my whole list of contenders so you understand the magnitude of my decisions. Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here, Bruce Springsteen Born to Run, Queen Night at the Opera, Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti, RUSH Fly by Night, Paul McCartney and Wings Venus and Mars and ELO Face the Music. 

     In the past 24 hours, I have changed my number one. It was always going to be Zeppelin, but at the last minute I'm going with Springsteen. I know they always say to stick with your first instinct, but Born to Run is the best and most important album of 1975. I have posted before about "Thunder Road". It's arguably the number one song in the American songbook. The opening line is so evocative; "Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays". And the title track isn't far behind. The last verse is so powerful. "1,2,3,4 The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. Everybody's out on the run tonight, but there's no place left to hide. Together Wendy we can live with the sadness. I'll love you with all the madness in my soul. Someday girl, I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place where we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun. But til then tramps like us baby we were born to run". I love count in's. "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out", "She's the One" and "Jungleland" ain't bad either. Oh, I almost forgot Clarence Clemons. He's pretty good too.

     So, number two is Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin. It's safe to say this is the best double album of the Seventies. Sure, it would have been a better single album, but I'm not going to be that guy today. To me, this is peak Zeppelin. "Custard Pie", "The Rover", "Houses of the Holy" and "Trampled Under Foot" is the band at their most confident. One of my personal favorites is "In My Time of Dying". I mostly love it for the ending when Robert Plant sings "My dying, dying...cough". I love that kind of screwing around on records. Obviously, the standout track is "Kashmir". It's epic. 

Number three is Pink Floyd. The title track is Gilmour-tastic. The interesting thing about the recording of Wish You Were Here is Syd Barrett showing up in the studio while they were laying down "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was about him. At first, the band didn't even recognize him, because he was fat and bald. This is my favorite Pink Floyd album. 

     Finally, Night at the Opera by Queen. This is on my Mt. Rushmore solely on the strength of "Bohemian Rhapsody". That was the first song I heard as a kid that blew mind mind. All the movements and dynamics were crazy. There was nothing else like it at the time, at least that I was aware of. 

     Looking ahead to 1974, definitely not as good as 1975. I will come up with four albums, but none of them would have cracked 1975, or most of the other years in the Seventies. I think I have a number one nailed down, though. Peace. 

 

Mt. Rushmore: 1976

 

     1976 was all about the Bicentennial, but for me it was the Summer of "The Bird". Yes, that was the year Detroit Tigers rookie phenom Mark Fidrych was the talk of baseball. A few years ago, my favorite songwriter, Will Johnson, did a painting of Mark Fidrych and I bought a copy. I remember him shutting out the Yankees on Monday Night Baseball 1-0. He finished the season 19-9. He could have won 20 games, except he lost his last start against the Indians. That is all recollection on my part, I didn't go back and research it, but I'm pretty sure that's all correct. 1976 was also a pretty good year for albums. My list isn't huge, but it's high quality. The albums that didn't make the cut are: Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees, Steely Dan Royal Scam, Thin Lizzy Jailbreak, The Ramones self-titled, Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life, ELO New World Record, Kiss Destroyer and the debut by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Not bad. 

     If I were to be honest, my number two album was really my number one at the time. So, my revisionist number one is The Modern Lovers. I discovered "Roadrunner" late in life thanks to my fandom of John Hodgman. This lead me to check out the album and it is tremendous. Once again, I have posted on this previously, so please go back and check it out. The songwriting is great and the album is a really fun listen. 

     If you were to hop into the Wayback Machine and return to 1976, the debut album from Boston would have been everywhere. To this day, you will hear every song from this album played on classic rock radio. It is so good. Back in the day, "More Than a Feeling" ruled the airwaves. I spent hours drawing the Boston Spaceships on anything available for me to draw on. It's hilarious that Bob Pollard named one of his side projects Boston Spaceships. I assume it's a tribute. 

     Number three is Trick of the Tail by Genesis. This post-Peter Gabriel gem is fantastic. The title track is a great storytelling song about aliens. Even though the songs are more concise, the musical showmanship is still in present on tracks like "Dance On a Volcano" and "Squonk". Also "Ripples" is a beautiful track. Stellar album. 

     Finally, I included 2112 by RUSH, even though it's only half a great album. As I posted before, the 2112 side is epic and side 2 is hot garbage. However, side one is so musically brilliant I can't keep it off the Mt. Rushmore. Like Billy Corgan, I spent hours in my bedroom as a kid trying to learn 2112 on guitar. I was not as successful as Uncle Fester. 

     Looking forward to 1975, I have kept my list short because it's a murderer's row. This is probably the most top heavy year since 1995. I'm leaning toward a number one, but it's still up for grabs. I have already noticed that, despite my love of fellow December 30th birthday buddy Jeff Lynne, ELO is going to be my hard luck band of the Seventies. That sucks, but this was the decade of album rock exceptionalism. Peace.

Mt. Rushmore: 1977

 

     1977 was a solid year for albums. It was a big year for punk and Fleetwood Mac, so that's interesting. My list of contenders is wide ranging and there were some tough cuts. Since I didn't include live albums for Mt. Rushmore consideration, Cheap Trick got screwed over in this whole exercise. I had intended to put their debut album on this year's Mt. Rushmore, but couldn't fit them in. While I'm disappointed with this result, Cheap Trick at Budokan is still the greatest live album ever. The other contenders that missed the cut for 1977 are: Jackson Browne Running on Empty, Pink Floyd Animals, ELO Out of the Blue, RUSH Farewell to Kings, The Jam In the City, Foreigner's debut, Kansas Point of No Return, Peter Gabriel Car, Television Marquee Moon and Queen News of the World. Not a bad list of runners up.

     Number one is an album I was not aware of in 1977, but it's a masterpiece; Pink Flag by Wire. Pink Flag was very influential for many alternative bands of the Eighties and Nineties, such as R.E.M. and Guided by Voices. It was punk adjacent, but smart. I have posted on this album previously, so please go back and check that out. 

     Number two couldn't be further removed from Wire, Steely Dan's Aja. Steely Dan's fusion of yacht rock and jazz and clever lyrics is right in my sweet spot. Combine this with stellar session players, Aja is an amazing set of songs. The standout for me is "Deacon Blues". I love the last verse, "This is the night of the expanding man. I take one last drag as I approach the stand. I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long. This brother is free. I'll be what I want to be". "Peg" and "Josie" were big hits and I also love "Black Cow". Finally, a shout out to Tom Scott who is one of my favorite sax players. 

     I didn't intend on putting Rumours by Fleetwood Mac on my Mt. Rushmore, but I can't be a dick. So, that's my number three. Fleetwood Mac ruled 1977 and theses songs are great. Obviously, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were the stars and changed the bands sound when they were brought in. However, I feel Christine McVie is the secret weapon of the group. Literally, the three albums everyone had in the Seventies were Rumours, Tapestry and Frampton Comes Alive. True facts.

     Finally, the other album the defined 1977, Never Mind the Bollocks by The Sex Pistols. Every song on here is tremendous, except "Abortion", which hasn't aged well. I remember crashing at my friends house, listening to his older brothers records and hearing this for the first time. It blew my mind. This is also when I first heard Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage. Even though there was a lot of bullshit involved with The Sex Pistols, this was obviously one of the most important albums in rock history. 

     Looking forward to 1976, I have another revisionist number one. The competition for the other three spots should be pretty stiff. Another solid year. Peace.