And then a threesome of the Scorpions, a band of which I really love their seventies period (with the Tokyo Tapes as the quintessential live album) but not so much what came after that. When going through this album I keep going back to the Tokyo Tapes tracks and in nearly all instances find that the final versions of those tracks are on the live album and not on the regular albums:
- Fly To The Rainbow by Scorpions (nr 216 of 1974 and nr 16944 overall): a bit of an inbetween album between their psychedelic first album (which I also really like) and their later hardrock albums with the title song as the perfect and very good example of their first period and the opening track Speedy's Coming as the example of their latter period. All by all I like it.
- In Trance by Scorpions (nr 132 of 1975 and nr 8469 overall): there is a magnificent quartet of songs to be found on this album: Dark Lady, the title track, Top Of The Bill and Robot Man; the rest of the album is still ok
- Virgin Killer by Scorpions (nr 112 of 1976 and nr 7920 overall): and again enough good tracks to make this a very fine album: Pictured Life, Backstage Queen and Polar Nights.
70s Scorpions are the bomb!!! EAsily one of the best hard rock bands of the 70s. Don't forget Blackout though from the 80s - that album kicks serious ass. they din't go downhill until after that.
I think In Trance might be their highpoint. besides Tokyo Tapes but it's all great hard rock.
Starting with Rainbow, they are certainly a contender. These two albums are the perfect collaboration between Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.
To be honest it's fairly difficult to choose between the two albums which are indeed Rainbow's best. Long Live Rock 'n Roll has besides the great title track also one of the most quintessential hardrock songs ever: Kill The King. This song has everything: a great epic song and theme, the voice of Dio here is excellent and there are some really breakneck (or breakfinger) guitar solos by Blackmore. There are two other highlights here: the title track, maybe a bit overplayed but still very good, and another epic: Gates of Babylon. But this album has one big negative: the final and longest track, Rainbow Eyes, in which they try prog, is a real letdown and to me this is the main reason why my preferred album is not this one but....
Rising does slightly better: it has two epic tracks: one in the kind of Kill The King, A Light In The Black, and one very symphonic but excellent track, Stargazer, another highlight of Dio's voice. And on top of that two other excellent songs: Tarot Woman and Starstruck. This album has only 6 tracks but none of them loses their excitement for one second.
So to conclude: Rising wins for me and is a real contender for the hardrock top ten of the 70s.
I'm looking forward to your view on these two albums and to the next contest ànd to a lot of discussions on what is hardrock 🤡😉
And finally: totally not a contender for this but I just wanted to draw your attention to a track of a band you might never have heard of and are otherwise totally forgettable but which have made one hardrock song which was played over and over at my favorite hardrock program at the time: Under The Table by The Godz, and this for two and only two reasons: the intro and the guitar solo outro.
And finally: totally not a contender for this but I just wanted to draw your attention to a track of a band you might never have heard of and are otherwise totally forgettable but which have made one hardrock song which was played over and over at my favorite hardrock program at the time: Under The Table by The Godz, and this for two and only two reasons: the intro and the guitar solo outro.
Love it! It's just rough & free. I've heard of the Godz before but this is my first time listening to it & I like it. will defininetly give it a few more spins.
Love you reviews of those two Rainbow albums. I'm actually leaning towards Long Live R&R for reasons I'll get into later but there's no question that Stargazer & A Light In Black are two of the best hard rock songs of the 70s.
I'm going to burn both discs for a little road trip I'm doing this afternoon & get back to you in a couple of days. I also think we should add
And finally: totally not a contender for this but I just wanted to draw your attention to a track of a band you might never have heard of and are otherwise totally forgettable but which have made one hardrock song which was played over and over at my favorite hardrock program at the time: Under The Table by The Godz, and this for two and only two reasons: the intro and the guitar solo outro.
I think we have a mix up here. I was a bit puzzled that you called the Godz a punk band but then I discovered that The Godz were a NYC prepunk band of the end of the sixties/beginning of the seventies (I've never listened to them). On BEA they are identified as
The Godz (Psychedelic)
But the Godz of Under The Table are something completely different and a real seventies hardrock band and they are identified as
The Godz (Hard Rock)
On Under The Table: I exaggerated a bit in saying that only the intro and the outro are good; indeed the whole tracks is excellent and it's one of my favorite tracks ever so it can't just be that intro and outro.
And there are some ok tracks on the rest on the album: Candy's Going Bad is not a bad cover of a song by the Dutch band Golden Earring (their 1973 album Moontan which features this tracks is also a good hardrock album of the seventies: check out Radar Love if you don't know it yet). But like I said The Godz as an album not a real contender for the top 10.
And on the Dictators (some real punk): I'm familiar with a few tracks of Bloodbrothers but should check out their whole album but I especially like their 2001 album D.F.F.D.
I think we have a mix up here. I was a bit puzzled that you called the Godz a punk band but then I discovered that The Godz were a NYC prepunk band of the end of the sixties/beginning of the seventies (I've never listened to them). On BEA they are identified as
The Godz (Psychedelic)
But the Godz of Under The Table are something completely different and a real seventies hardrock band and they are identified as
The Godz (Hard Rock)
On Under The Table: I exaggerated a bit in saying that only the intro and the outro are good; indeed the whole tracks is excellent and it's one of my favorite tracks ever so it can't just be that intro and outro.
And there are some ok tracks on the rest on the album: Candy's Going Bad is not a bad cover of a song by the Dutch band Golden Earring (their 1973 album Moontan which features this tracks is also a good hardrock album of the seventies: check out Radar Love if you don't know it yet). But like I said The Godz as an album not a real contender for the top 10.
And on the Dictators (some real punk): I'm familiar with a few tracks of Bloodbrothers but should check out their whole album but I especially like their 2001 album D.F.F.D.
Nice post! Just listened to The Godz(proto-punk) album from 1966 and it's a total gem. Already put it in my 66 chart.
BUT, the GODZ (Hard Rock) also have a very Detroit Rock City ala MC5's "Back in The USA" porto-punk sound which also heavily influenced early NYC punk. Also reminds me of early Alice Cooper. Regardless, this ....
..ROCKS!!! Reminds me of early 70s hard rock with a smudge go mid -period MC5. Has that Detroit rock city muscle and some mid-70s NYC punk swagger. It's easily going in my 78 chart! 😁
Starting with Rainbow, they are certainly a contender. These two albums are the perfect collaboration between Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.
To be honest it's fairly difficult to choose between the two albums which are indeed Rainbow's best. Long Live Rock 'n Roll has besides the great title track also one of the most quintessential hardrock songs ever: Kill The King. This song has everything: a great epic song and theme, the voice of Dio here is excellent and there are some really breakneck (or breakfinger) guitar solos by Blackmore. There are two other highlights here: the title track, maybe a bit overplayed but still very good, and another epic: Gates of Babylon. But this album has one big negative: the final and longest track, Rainbow Eyes, in which they try prog, is a real letdown and to me this is the main reason why my preferred album is not this one but....
Rising does slightly better: it has two epic tracks: one in the kind of Kill The King, A Light In The Black, and one very symphonic but excellent track, Stargazer, another highlight of Dio's voice. And on top of that two other excellent songs: Tarot Woman and Starstruck. This album has only 6 tracks but none of them loses their excitement for one second.
So to conclude: Rising wins for me and is a real contender for the hardrock top ten of the 70s.
Yeah. Both of these albums are stone cold 70s hard rock classics. completely essential for anyone who's interested in 70s hard rock and prot-metal. The drum sound that Cozy Powell nails on A Light In Black may be the most influential drumming in the entire history of metal influencing not only the hard driving sound that Motorhead would perfect but also speed/trash metal. It's just relentless.
Rising is definitely where Rainbow and Dio find their sound. Dio would use this sound for the rest of his career pretty much. Long Live Rock n Roll is where Dio really becomes confident and his vocals are probably the best of his career. And it has more epic & inteersting songs in Lady Of The Lake, Gates of babylon, Kill The King as opposed to the more straight -foward first four songs on Rising. But, you can't top the last two songs of Rising as I've said before - Stargazer & A Light In the Black.
And I actually really like Rainbow Eyes which closes Long Live R & R.
In a nutshell, Rising is where Rainbow developed their signature sound and Long Live R&R is where they ( especially Dio) grew even more confident in that sound and perefected it, but they are both totally essential and undisputed classics.
Since u picked Rising, I'll side with it too for our list, but I think we should make another list too. A list of the essential 70s hard rock albums and BOTH of these need to b on that.
The Essential 70s Hard Rock Collection
1. Rainbow - Rising (****1/2)
2. Rainbow - Long Live the King (****1/2)
Since u picked Rising, I'll side with it too for our list, but I think we should make another list too. A list of the essential 70s hard rock albums and BOTH of these need to b on that.
The Essential 70s Hard Rock Collection
1. Rainbow - Rising (****1/2)
2. Rainbow - Long Live the King (****1/2)
I totally agree: they both deserve to be on that list.
Just to come back to my original project. I've listened to a number of 1982 albums of the overall BEA top 2500 I hadn't listened to yet in full (but however was already familiar with most of the tracks):
- The Dreaming by Kate Bush (nr 4 on the BEA top chart of 1982): this is certainly not her best album overall it is still very good with Sat In Your Lap and the title track as the standouts
- Pornography by The Cure (nr 5): I liked this album better than I thought I would. Of course The Hanging Garden is outstanding but also One Hundred Years and The Figurehead are top-notch.
- 1999 by Prince (nr 7): and this was the opposite. I had already hired this album once and thought I liked most of the tracks here but finally I only dig the best known songs here, ie the title track (really good) and Little Red Corvette (good). I was so disappointed I decided not to include this one in my top chart of the year.
- Rio by Duran Duran (nr 8 ): nearly every track here was a hit in Belgium and while I will never by a Duran Duran fan, these tracks are so familiar it's impossible not to appreciate the catchiness of most of them. But finally not one I would consider a favorite.
- The Nightfly by Donald Fagen (nr 10): and again an album of which nearly every song is on the playlists of my favorite radio stations. And each and every single track convinces me more that this is just one fantastic album where laidback rhymes with catchiness and with I.G.Y. and New Frontier as my favorites.
- Imperial Bedroom by Elvis Costello & The Attractions (nr 11): and another incredible album by one of my favorite artists and one of my all-time favorite tracks: Man Out Of Time. Also Beyond Belief, Shabby Doll and The Loved Ones are standouts and although the second half of the album is maybe a bit too orchestral with not enough song, this album is one of the highlights of his career. I really hope EC can overcome his cancer and wish him all the best.
- English Settlement by XTC (nr 13): the first tracks of this album are very nice with Senses Working Overtime as a highlight but this album suffers of one thing: it is just too long and it would have profited from shorter and less songs. It is still an ok XTC album though.
The next 1982 album to listen to is Peter Gabriel IV.
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