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.
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