My 16-20 picks are quite a diverse group; a jazz legend, a British super-group, a garage band, Southern rockers and a jazz-rock fusion guitar master. My Top 15 will be more obvious selections, with a few surprises sprinkled in for good measure.
20. Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro ( 4 Stars )
This album marks Miles' transition from his Second Quintet of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams to the In a Silent Way sessions. The tracks "Petits Machins" and "Mademoiselle Mabry" feature the arrival of electric piano wizard Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland. Filles is a very good album, but never reaches the heights of Nefertiti or In a Silent Way or Bitches Brew. It was a necessary step in getting there. It is subtitled Directions in Music by Miles Davis. I would classify it as confident explorations by transcendent musicians.
19. Blind Faith - Blind Faith ( 4 Stars )
This is one of the best super-group albums of all-time. I think what makes it great is everyone stays in their respective lane. Ordinarily, I'm not a fan of Eric Clapton, but on Blind Faith he pays service to the songs, rather than his reputation as "God". Ginger Baker and Rick Grech hold done the rhythm section in a loose, free-form manner. And Steve Winwood is one of the most criminally underrated vocalist in rock history. His performance on "Had To Cry Today" is incendiary, then he follows that with the hauntingly, beautiful classic track, "Can't Find My Way Home". Tremendous.
18. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams ( 4 Stars )
Brothers and sisters. It just takes five seconds to decide if you are part of the problem or part of the solution. This is the rallying cry that leads into the raved up, garage rock one-two punch of "Ramblin' Rose" and "Kick Out the Jams". This record is live and raw. Summer of Love it ain't. Brother Wayne Kramer done kicked it out. Leave it to Southeast Michigan to produce Kick Out the Jams and The Stooges in 1969, as well as the garage rock revival lead by The White Stripes. Must be the gasoline fumes.
17. The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers Band ( 4 Stars )
Clearly one of the best debut albums and a landmark release in Southern blues rock. The combination of Greg Allman's soulful vocals and the scorching guitars of his brother Duane and Dickie Betts is singular. "Trouble No More" is a fantastic, boot-stompin', shit kicker of a song. And, of course, the tour-de-force is "Whipping Post". The influence of this record cannot be denied.
16. Santana - Santana ( 4 Stars )
Speaking of amazing debut albums. At one time (pre-Supernatural), Carlos Santana was my favorite guitarist. His playing has so much "feel". Feel is hard to define. It's emotional, spiritual and pyrotechnic. It seems Santana enters some type of Flow State when he picks up the guitar. This album is bolstered by the vocals of Greg Rolle and the percussion team of Michael Shrieve, Mike Carabello and Jose Areas. Santana's combination of jazz, rock and latin music was unique and created a signature sound. Hopefully he still has some of that Supernatural money. Peace.
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