Desperado by Eagles
I like most albums release by The Eagles but this one is not my favorite. It was ranked at the 22nd rank on my 1973 top chart but after listening to it again it descends to the 30th rank. Of course Tequila Sunrise is a fantastic song and so is Tequila Sunrise but that's about it.
Albums on my wishlist and as promised another Al Stewart album:
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Past, Present And Future by Al Stewart
On this album he really starts to find his true form. As the title suggests this is a historic concept album and especially on the long epic Nostradamus he really hits the good buttons with a perfect combination of very good guitar play and his magnificent voice and storytelling. But nearly every single track is very much OK. The other long epic here is Roads To Moscow which describes the German Invasion of Russia during the Second World War in a great way. Currently my 15th album of 1973 and in the contest USA-Scotland certainly a better album than Desperado in my opinion.
Album I already own:
Red City Radio
I suppose this is the worst of their 3 albums but still a very good and the CD I own is a compilation of the first and this one. In comparison to #1 which is very much based on harmonies (with also Chris Bell who left the band after the first album) , this one is much more guitar driven. But the great songs are still there with Daisy Glaze, September Gurls and the short but effective I'm In Love With a Girl as standouts. This album increases from the 9th to the 8th place in my 1974 year chart.
Album on my wishlist:
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Not Fragile by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
I only know that classic classic radio hit You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet and I suppose like many people not the rest of their discography which seems to fairly large but only seems to have one important album: this one with also their hit included. I have to admit this is fairly run-off-the-mill seventies hard rock and the voice of Randy Bachman doesn't really sound good on many of the tracks but the album has some fine songs and guitar solos with You Ain't.., the title track and Roll On Down The Highway as the best, so earns the 20th rank in my 1974 year chart.
So the Big Star album is definitely the better of the two.
Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen must be one of the most underrated artists in my top charts. I like most of his many albums but none really stick out. But nevertheless this must be one of my favorite albums of his with of course the title track as the absolute highlight. But also Thunder Road, Night, Backstreets and Jungleland are very good. After a new listen this album climbs from the 18th to the 10th place on my 1975 top chart.
On my wishlist another Al Stewart album:
Modern Times by Al Stewart
Again an album with many historic references. No real standouts but a solid album which deserves its 14th rank on my 1975 top chart.
Year Of The Cat by Al Stewart
This remains by far his best album and in my opinion a true classic with two fabolous tracks: On the Border and the title track. The musicality and vivid imagery painted in these two songs is without precedent. But also tracks like Lord Grenville and If It Doesn't Come Naturally Leave It are top notch. This album used to belong to my overall top 100 albums but dropped out of it. But after registering, it re-enters at no 92. What a record!
An album on my wishlist:
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New England by Wishbone Ash
I only know Argus and really like that one and that's why a number of their other albums are currently on my wishlist amongst which this one. But what a bummer: this album completely sucks and notwithstanding its fairly short length it was a drag listening to this eternal and dated noodling. Not one for my top chart of the year.
An album from my collection: this was the year punk really broke so this one can't be ignored:
Rattus Norvegicus by The Stranglers
I'll quote freely from my 2015 album comment: I think the Stranglers were the first punk band we heard of in Belgium, not because we heard the music but because there were a lot of scandal press messages that songs of the Stranglers were banned from the BBC, of course with "Peaches" at the top of that (later on the intro of "Peaches" became the intro of a famous Belgian sports program on national television).
I think the first time, the Stranglers were actually played on the Belgian radio was "Something Better Change" and "No More Heroes", both from their second album which I bought in an earlier stage than their first album.
But in a way I like "Rattus Norvegicus" better with one important reason: "Down in the Sewer", a sort of screwed up mini-opera but an incredibly good song: the moment the song switches gear around 3:50 is one of the most exhilarating and psychedelic moments in rock history. And there are many other good ones like "London Lady", "Hanging Around" and of course "Peaches" on this album. It's always a switch between the two first albums but for the moment this one wins and it moves up from rank 17 to 5 on my 1977 year chart and just falls out of my overall one album per artist top chart (at rank 103).
An album from my wishlist. If punk wouldn't exist, the Stranglers would be called pub rock and the next one is real pub rock (sometimes also called punk rock but for that it's much too funky:
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Stick To Me by Graham Parker & The Rumour
The New York shuffle was an enormous improbable hit in Belgium and one my favorite songs of the year at the time (I was 14). But after listening to it again it still has this incredible drive and energy I felt at the time. I didn't know the rest of the album and I thought the whole album would be a bit of a letdown but it isn't. It drags a bit near the end but the first 6 tracks are really good so a welcome addition to my 1977 year chart (currently rank 40).
First an album I already own and another Al Stewart one:
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Time Passages by Al Stewart
This is one of the two Al Stewart albums I already owned and it's a great one both on the level of the guitar playing as on the level of the songwriting/singing especially on those historic/epic tracks like Palace Of Versailles and on Song On The Radio there's also the great sax. But there's one big problem with this album: the synths which seem to come out of a box which is already of a problem on Palace Of Versailles and even nearly completely destroys the otherwise very short closing gem End Of The Day. I suppose the producer of this album Alan Parsons is very much to blame for that but it's a real pity. Nevertheless still one his better albums and rises from the 32nd to 28th rank on my 1978 personal year chart.
The an album on my wishlist:
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Dynamite Daze by Kevin Coyne
There's only one album I really know and own and like of Kevin Coyne: Marjorie Razorblade so I have some more of his albums on my wishlist and this is one of them. The story goes that he really liked the new punk vibe and wanted to make an album in the same sense and indeed on some of the tracks he rocks a bit more than on his other albums but these tracks are not the majority. On many tracks he even sounds very underwhelmed. And I don't really like any of the two ends of the spectrum. He's still his best on his usual types on tracks like Lunatic. But that's about the only song I like on this album so I think I will give this one a miss and not include in my year chart.
The B-52's by The B-52's
This is one of the best albums ever. Of course it's goofy (who sings about a rock lobster) but those tracks are so good combining the best of rock and dance music, especially the opening quartet. This is by far their best album.
Making Movies by Dire Straits
Due to the new scoring system (where earlier votes don't count as much as newer ones) the BEA score of this album decreased from 4663 to 3200! But it's still high in the ranking and deservedly do. This is again a masterpiece. The best track is the epic Tunnel Of Love with its many shifts but also Romeo And Juliet, Expresso Love and Solid Rock are favorites of Mine. It's ranked second (behind Remain In Light) on my 1980 year chart and stays there firmly.
From my wishlist another Al Stewart album:
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24 Carrots by Al Stewart
and some golden humor from Al in the title. This is again a good album with some historic references and on a number of tracks also a harder rocking sound: deserves the 26th rank on my 1980 year chart.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
Making Movies by Dire Straits
Due to the new scoring system (where earlier votes don't count as much as newer ones) the BEA score of this album decreased from 4663 to 3200! But it's still high in the ranking and deservedly do. This is again a masterpiece. The best track is the epic Tunnel Of Love with its many shifts but also Romeo And Juliet, Expresso Love and Solid Rock are favorites of Mine. It's ranked second (behind Remain In Light) on my 1980 year chart and stays there firmly.
From my wishlist another Al Stewart album:
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24 Carrots by Al Stewart
and some golden humor from Al in the title. This is again a good album with some historic references and on a number of tracks also a harder rocking sound: deserves the 26th rank on my 1980 year chart.
Nice. Personally, I think Skateaway is the cleverist song on Making Movies. I get a kick out of it every time I hear it.
Making Movies by Dire Straits
Due to the new scoring system (where earlier votes don't count as much as newer ones) the BEA score of this album decreased from 4663 to 3200! But it's still high in the ranking and deservedly do. This is again a masterpiece. The best track is the epic Tunnel Of Love with its many shifts but also Romeo And Juliet, Expresso Love and Solid Rock are favorites of Mine. It's ranked second (behind Remain In Light) on my 1980 year chart and stays there firmly.
From my wishlist another Al Stewart album:
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
24 Carrots by Al Stewart
and some golden humor from Al in the title. This is again a good album with some historic references and on a number of tracks also a harder rocking sound: deserves the 26th rank on my 1980 year chart.
Nice. Personally, I think Skateaway is the cleverist song on Making Movies. I get a kick out of it every time I hear it.
Well as a coincidence I didn't change any track scores of this album (most were already high) except for this one: from 80 to 85. It's indeed a gem.
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