LED ZEPPELIN
IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR
1979-SWAN SONG
Produced By JIMMY PAGE
1. In The Evening
2. South Bound Saurez
3. Fool In The Rain
4. Hot Dog
5. Carouselambra
6. All My Love
7. I'm Gonna Crawl
The final album by Led Zeppelin is the one most fans put at the bottom of the list. And for good reason...it's the most different of all of their records. Part of the reason is that while Jimmy Page and John Bonham were missing big chunks of time, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were making the bulk of the record. The album features more of Jones than any other Zeppelin album, and also contains two big hits: "Fool In The Rain" and "All My Love" got serious airplay, but were hardly the heavy Zeppelin their fans had come to expect.
The real highlights here are "In The Evening", "South Bound Saurez" and maybe the best Robert Plant vocal ever recorded on the highly underrated "I'm Gonna Crawl". This is not a bad album at all, just not up to par with the rest of the band's catalog. Bonham died shortly after its release, and the band called it quits.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
OFFSPRING
SMASH
1994-EPITAPH
Produced By THOM WILSON
1. Time To Relax
2. Nitro (Youth Energy)
3. Bad Habit
4. Gotta Get Away
5. Genocide
6. Something To Believe In
7. Come Out And Play
8. Self Esteem
9. It'll Be A Long Time
10. Killboy Powerhead
11. What Happened To You?
12. So Alone
13. Not The One
14. Smash
1994 was the year of Offspring. Smash, their third album, was supposed to be the great indie uprising. And it was a good record, led by some not-so-punk songs. The album is still one of the best selling independent release of all time. Led by the unbelievably catchy "Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated)", Smash was a barrage of cool, heavy hits, including "Self Esteem", "Gotta Get Away", and "Bad Habit". A really very exciting record, although its lesser tracks ended up being the most punk of them all.
Offspring sputtered and failed to ride the wave they created. They signed a 7 figure deal with a major label just two years after Smash, and have been fighting to recapture a spark ever since. But Smash is one of the more memorable releases of the mid 90's. Maybe someday they can find the magic again.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE
RAGGED GLORY
1990-REPRISE
Produced By DAVID BRIGGS & NEIL YOUNG
1. Country Home
2. White Line
3. F*#in' Up
4. Over And Over
5. Love To Burn
6. Farmer John
7. Mansion On The Hill
8. Days That Used To Be
9. Love And Only Love
10. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
Hard to believe, but there was a time when Neil Young actually needed a comeback. For him, the 1980's were kind of a lost decade, loaded with bad experiments and questionable records. Freedom was a gasp of life: Ragged Glory was a full blown comeback. The loud stomping of Crazy Horse was finally back on "Fuckin' Up", "Country Home", "Mansion On The Hill", and "Over And Over". For the first time in a long time, Neil turned it up and rocked the house.
Nearly everything here is gold, and it marked a resurgence timed perfectly with the onset of grunge, where he was embraced by Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth, and their fans. He never quite matched Ragged Glory again, but it's out there for you...it's the Neil we all want to remember: loud and in your face, with Crazy Horse rumbling right by his side.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO
1967-POLYDOR
Produced By ANDY WARHOL
1. Sunday Morning
2. I'm Waiting For The Man
3. Femme Fatale
4. Venus In Furs
5. Run Run Run
6. All Tomorrow's Parties
7. Heroin
8. There She Goes Again
9. I'll Be Your Mirror
10. The Black Angel's Death Song
11. European Son
The debut album from The Velvet Underground was an event that changed the way rock music would be made forever...although hardly anyone knew about it at the time. It's been said that the only people who bought their records ended up in bands, and a lot of that may be true. Highly influential, yet mostly unheard. This is where we first got to hear Lou Reed and John Cale, a highly volatile pair. Reed's songwriting is powerful from the beginning, with treasures like "Femme Fatale", "Venus In Furs" and "Heroin". This was not the stuff of hippies, this was the beginning of punk and alternative music.
Nico was a fashion model with a stiff sounding voice that somehow worked. As for Andy Warhol, it's questionable as to what he really had to do with this musically. But this, and all of the Velvet's albums, are of huge importance in the evolution of rock.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO
1967-POLYDOR
Produced By ANDY WARHOL
1. Sunday Morning
2. I'm Waiting For The Man
3. Femme Fatale
4. Venus In Furs
5. Run Run Run
6. All Tomorrow's Parties
7. Heroin
8. There She Goes Again
9. I'll Be Your Mirror
10. The Black Angel's Death Song
11. European Son
The debut album from The Velvet Underground was an event that changed the way rock music would be made forever...although hardly anyone knew about it at the time. It's been said that the only people who bought their records ended up in bands, and a lot of that may be true. Highly influential, yet mostly unheard. This is where we first got to hear Lou Reed and John Cale, a highly volatile pair. Reed's songwriting is powerful from the beginning, with treasures like "Femme Fatale", "Venus In Furs" and "Heroin". This was not the stuff of hippies, this was the beginning of punk and alternative music.
Nico was a fashion model with a stiff sounding voice that somehow worked. As for Andy Warhol, it's questionable as to what he really had to do with this musically. But this, and all of the Velvet's albums, are of huge importance in the evolution of rock.
DAVID BOWIE
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST & THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
1972-RCA
Produced By DAVID BOWIE & KEN SCOTT
1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Starman
5. It Ain't Easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang On To Yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock 'N' Roll Suicide
What to say...the greatest of all the great Bowie albums. The concept album mother of them all. One of the twenty greatest albums of all time, period. Ziggy Stardust is an unrelenting powerhouse of rock & roll for eleven straight tracks, uninterrupted. The build from the opening gentle drum fade in on "Five Years" to the thunderous ending of "Suffragette City" is perfect, and then, as a bonus, you get the dirty beauty of "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide". This is a rare, perfect album.
Bowie's character development as Ziggy is punctuated by his best band, including Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. His best batch of songs. His most solid ideas and his greatest persona. This is one of maybe 10 albums that I would consider absolutely must have for a great rock collection. Turn it on and play it loud...Ziggy will blow your mind over and over again.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
1. Some Big City
2. A Man Of Influential Taste
3. Smashed Princess
4. Ten Little Beauty Queens
5. Candy On The Cross
6. Space Cowboy
7. Serial Killer Blues
8. Tinseltown
9. Bouquets, Wreaths And Laurels
10. No Faith
11. Pilgrims, Martyrs And Saints
12. Hoagy Carmichael Never Went To New Orleans
Even without his solo career (Urban Urbane is his fourth solo album), David J has put together quite a resume. He was a founding member of both Bauhaus and the supremely cool Love And Rockets, and played with Porno For Pyros and The Jazz Butcher. Mainly a bassist, he also plays guitar and keyboards, and has proven to be a quite prolific songwriter.
Urban Urbane is not his best solo work, but it is very listenable and worth having. "Ten Little Beauty Queens", "Space Cowboy", and "Pilgrims, Martyrs And Saints" are standouts. J is not a powerful singer, but his voice works well in the surroundings. A good way to introduce yourself to this artist would be through his accomplished bands first, then branch out to his solo work. David J is not spectacular, but he also rarely disappoints.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
OUT OF THE BLUE
1977-JET
Produced By JEFF LYNNE
1. Turn To Stone
2. It's Over
3. Sweet Talkin' Woman
4. Across The Border
5. Night In The City
6. Starlight
7. Jungle
8. Believe Me Now
9. Steppin' Out
10. Standin' In The Rain
11. Big Wheels
12. Summer And Lightning
13. Mr. Blue Sky
14. Sweet Is The Night
15. The Whale
16. Birmingham Blues
17. Wild West Hero
Why was ELO so big? After the huge success of A New World Record, Jeff Lynne (who basically was ELO) went on a writing spree and came up with the two record monster Out Of The Blue, which turned out to be even bigger. "Turn To Stone", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Sweet Is The Night"...all adding to the fact that ELO was one hell of a singles band. Throw in songs like "Jungle", "Across The Border", and "Wild West Hero", and you've got a hell of an album.
But unfortunately, this is a double album, not a single. And with any ELO album, you can count on plenty of filler...so this one has twice as much. And the filler here is pretty below par. Songs like "It's Over", "Starlight", and especially the sleep-inducing "The Whale" can make what should be a great listen tedious. Throw in the Concerto For A Rainy Day (4 songs ending with "Mr. Blue Sky"), and you've got something pretty disappointing with a lot of great material in between. As well, it was the beginning of Lynne's paring ELO down from a string band to a synth band. And his writing was all downhill from here.
Difficult to be so hard on this album...this was my first real purchase when I had finally put together my first real stereo...this was the beginning of my music collecting. But there is just too much lesser material.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
1. Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not
2. Johnny Hit And Run Paulene
3. Soul Kitchen
4. Nausea
5. Sugarlight
6. Los Angeles
7. Sex And Dying In High Society
8. The Unheard Music
9. The World's A Mess: It's In My Kiss
While an entire army of kids were forming the bands that would become the glam metal movement in Los Angeles after the success of Van Halen, X was leading the West coast punk scene forward. by the time of their debut in 1980, Los Angeles, the band was in full stride. Produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and featuring a cover of that band's "Soul Kitchen", Los Angeles was the beginning of a stunning 4 album run of greatness.
What X had was the best lyrics in punk, the best drummer, the best vocals (John Doe and Exene Cervenka were singularly pretty bad...but together it was pretty amazing), and the most consistency of any band in the genre. Los Angeles is led by "Johnny Hit And Run Paulene", "Nausea", "Sex And Dying In High Society"....not a weak track to be found. This band gets overlooked a lot...time to rediscover them, and to remember just how good real punk was in the right hands.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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