Listed below are the best albums of 1974 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 4 hours ago).
"Many will say that you're not a real fan of King Crimson, if you're not so crazy about the group's long and partly improvised pieces, but prefer the melodic side of the band. Personally I prefer the group when it stays within the relatively rigid framework which normally applies to the rhythmic m...""Many will say that you're not a real fan of King Crimson, if you're not so crazy about the group's long and partly improvised pieces, but prefer the melodic side of the band.
Personally I prefer the group when it stays within the relatively rigid framework which normally applies to the rhythmic music. Then you can then say that I have not understood the group's uniqueness, well, so be it.
In any event, is widely agreed that "Red" is one of the big albums in rock history, so if I allow myself to make objections, it is obviously I who is something wrong.
The title track "Red" is one of the tracks that I have a little trouble with. It is an instrumental with guitarist Robert Fripp in focus. That he is musical equillibrist is beyond dioscussion, and the sound of the guitar is superb. I think, however, that more than six minutes at the top.
In contrast, "Fallen Angel" has everything I like about the group; A beautiful melodic composition by Fripp / Wetton / Palmer-James. Both vocally and instrumentally very convincing, and in this case, the playing time is perfect.
"One More Red Nightmare" is a little harder to go to, but it is actually a very interesting compostition, both musically and lyrically.
The long instrumental "Providence" may well be hard diet and it contains both harmony and dissonance. As a friend told me, "You can not play music like this, when children are nearby, it could go in their nerves". He may have a point.
"Starless" is as beautiful a song as "Fallen Angel" and it may bring to mind the title track on the group's first album. Unfortunately the group here lets the number grow in some instrumentally complex directions, which some will love and others will feel destroy more than it benefits.'
If you are unfamiliar with King Crimson, this probably won't be the best album to introduce to you. "In the Court of the Crimson King" was the album that convinced me of the band's musical importance.
The sound on this new edition is superb, and moreover the album is expanded with three alternate versions and a DVD containing an interesting live performance from France."[+]Reply
"The title track is excellent, Motion Pictures is basically perfect, but then he goes ahead and closes the album with Ambulance Blues. A perfect album closer, among the best ever, and certainly the best acoustic ballad album closer aside from Desolation Row. I might even prefer it for it's emotion...""The title track is excellent, Motion Pictures is basically perfect, but then he goes ahead and closes the album with Ambulance Blues. A perfect album closer, among the best ever, and certainly the best acoustic ballad album closer aside from Desolation Row. I might even prefer it for it's emotional impact. It's such a devastatingly beautiful song. I've literally spent hours listening to it on repeat. There are some weak moments on Side 1, but Side 2 is breathtaking.
Edit: Oops, realized this is my 2nd comment (not counting my response to another comment). I don't think I can delete it."[+]Reply
"The Lamb just keeps getting better and more relevant with age. The most Peter Gabriel driven of any Genesis album, and the last before he left the band because of creative differences. Gabriel’s amazing voice and lyrics work perfectly with the highly melodic and sometimes very heavy progressive r...""The Lamb just keeps getting better and more relevant with age. The most Peter Gabriel driven of any Genesis album, and the last before he left the band because of creative differences. Gabriel’s amazing voice and lyrics work perfectly with the highly melodic and sometimes very heavy progressive rock grooves. Songs flow from one to the next as well as side two of Abbey Road. The atmosphere and texture at times could be mistaken for the best of Radiohead, before you are brought back by the sound of a flute, and you remember this was recorded in 1974.
Gabriel brings a wicked edge to his voice right from the opening title track and into ‘Fly on a Windshield’. Five songs in is the 8+ minute ‘In a Cage’, which rocks as hard as anything ever recorded, with an organ solos thrown in to remind you this is Genesis. Next is ‘Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging’ which may still be ahead of its time in music and message, followed by ‘Back in N.Y.C.’ another highlight on a double album full of them…it really kicks in at the 1:50 mark. Even quiet interludes like ‘Hairless Hart’ are really good. ‘Counting Out Time’ is a great little pop number that foreshadows what Genesis did so well after Gabriel left, but still has a progressive edge in places. Next, ‘Carpet Crawlers’ has the power to haunt…it’s so hypnotic and layered. ‘Chamber of 32 Doors’ closes side two of disk one with some of my favorite parts of the album at the 1:45 and 4:22 marks.
Lilywhite Lilith starts the second disk beautifully followed by the bazaar and beautiful ‘The Waiting Room’, which if you have the patience for really pays off in a big way at 3:10…out floyding Floyd at their best…(imo only parts of Dogs off of Animals surpass it). Outstanding run of songs continues with ‘Anyway’, and ‘Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist’. ‘The Lamia’ is next, while wordy has become another favorite. ‘Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats’ is next, and could have been made last week by your favorite indie hipster pitchfork darling to be played on late night ambient mix playlists. Next, ‘Colony of Slippermen’ start so weird, has some weird parts, and is responsible for Gabriel’s weirdest stage costume. Nevertheless, it’s also become one of my favorites. ‘Ravine’ – similar vibe to Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats. ‘The Light Lies Down on Broadway’ ties together several musical themes (especially the title track and ‘The Lamia’) into quite a remarkable song…almost a mash-up of the two in places. If there has to be a weakest part to even the best album, it would be the third last song, ‘Riding the Scree’ (unless time simply hasn’t caught up to the genius of the song). The album closes with a nice combo of ‘In the Rapids’ and ‘it’, the later of which is great to scream along too in your best Gabriel voice…..”it is here!…it is now!”
Put on your headphones and give this album a serious attempt."[+]Reply
"The track ratings for this album are all wrong. How are Rudy and Asylum, two of the best tracks, the lowest rated ones? How is the brilliant Hide in Your Shell only 85/100? How is the relatively corny School the highest rated track? How are Bloody Well Right and Dreamer not at the bottom? You're ...""The track ratings for this album are all wrong. How are Rudy and Asylum, two of the best tracks, the lowest rated ones? How is the brilliant Hide in Your Shell only 85/100? How is the relatively corny School the highest rated track? How are Bloody Well Right and Dreamer not at the bottom? You're all listening to this album wrong.
The real order is Hide In Your Shell > Crime Of The Century > Asylum > Rudy > School > If Everyone Was Listening > Dreamer > Bloody Well Right"[+]Reply
"Here's an updated review I just posted on www.listology.com (another great site)..."Arranged as a complete bout of stream-of-consciousness, cast from a holy scripting of instrumental brotherhood, comes a deep exhale of "oneness" steeped in universal tragedy and spearheaded by a tra...""Here's an updated review I just posted on www.listology.com (another great site)..."Arranged as a complete bout of stream-of-consciousness, cast from a holy scripting of instrumental brotherhood, comes a deep exhale of "oneness" steeped in universal tragedy and spearheaded by a trance of destiny through an enigmatic malaise, Wyatt assumes an improbable plethora of emotional identities, each magnified by an impossible sense of self awareness and clarity that, en masse, forces into existence an otherwise impenetrable subjectivity of the greatest integrity, character and conviction. In a communal mustering of the affinities of the universe: elemental, spiritual, physical and natural, the work progresses as a prodigal event. A happening. Not just a recording of an event, but a miracle unfolding. As a single entity where each aspect is interconnected to a greater whole, a single thrust, a single emotion that encapsulates within it, all emotions, all expressions, all viewpoints and beingness. A spiritual ascension that, incredibly, becomes increasingly disoriented, flummoxed and senseless the more awareness it acquires, the more profundity it emotes; thus mired in an ultimate dichotomy, blossoming from a gradually upending kaleidescope of succumbing emotional episodes. Sea Song, fraught with a narcotic, otherworldly milieu and contemplated by a profound, painfully heavy impression of sorrow, is a funeral march on a despairing search for answers. It magically erupts into a submerged, overwhelmed choir and then into the passionate, lost grief of Wyatt's lone, plaintive and confused cries as the keyboards strike repeating chords, haunting and ominous. A Last Straw floats oceanic, ascending and descending in eternal swim. It moves in an unorthodox, cyclic, rhythmic pulse as Wyatt calls out like a dying, drowning mammal, in between flexibly patterned, elastic percussion before the bottom drops out in a series of descending, increasingly dreadful, low notes. Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road explodes in a sensational, vibrant show, a coalescing influx of multi-faceted liberation, the unfurling of states of being; of mind over matter; Buddhi. It is a confused, colliding series of transformations, infusing Wyatt into and out of existence. His words carry in and out of the brilliant, frenzied strobe light vacuum, slowing down, speeding up, and dramatically reversing direction into inverse semantics and back again. Alifib/Alife opens as a dramatic rebirth, an ode to his loved one, a naked solitude at the beginning of the universe. Wyatt casts tears of regret into constellations of sparkling love beneath a calm and drifting sea, and sinking ever so slowly he gradually drowns away, farther and farther from her. Beneath his lonely keyboard strokes, his voice calls out over and over in a sacred whisper of paralyzed and comatose cardiac arrest. He is praying for her from the brink of death, trying to bring himself back, trying to postulate their togetherness back into reality. Simultaneously he sings a hymn from the edge of birth, mourning their distance and failures in an aching poem of clumsy baby talk, thus dying for her and living for her, now reborn in a heartbreaking show of eternal dependency; as with a newborn to his mother. Drowning further, a gradual rise of calamity, confusion and suspense ensues. Wyatt repeats his words in a less formulated, dying stupor as narcoleptic fits take hold. Clarinet and sax figures contort and spit and squeal and squirm, anxiously contriving a strange, brewing storm of pent up intensity, before spewing out a wrenching, overflowing spastic attack of uncontrolled, unmitigated abandon, bursting and then calming into a striking and damning retort from his loved one while a haunting sense of eternal damnation seems to swell before them. Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road explodes in a relentless storm of manic, increasingly frantic percussion and instrumental fireworks while Wyatt repeats a mantra of prayers behind the screaming call of his keyboard play, before passing out and drowning into a heavenly backdrop of dreamy viola where an awkward stupor of unintelligible vocals drift about, hypnotized and stuck indefinitely in a void and godless world.""[+]Reply
"This is regarded as Joni's 2nd best album. It is all that & more it is hard for me to separate this and my favourite Joni album Hejira but this is also my 2nd best Joni album. It is full of great songs the first 3 tracks being an example of Joni at her best. Overall the album has a jazzy feel to ...""This is regarded as Joni's 2nd best album. It is all that & more it is hard for me to separate this and my favourite Joni album Hejira but this is also my 2nd best Joni album. It is full of great songs the first 3 tracks being an example of Joni at her best. Overall the album has a jazzy feel to it which she would further explore in her next 3 albums. "[+]Reply
"Fantastic album of immaculate sounding, experimental and yet hooky songs. As others have noted, this is far more similar to other early 70s glam rock than Eno's later ambient work. As someone who far prefers glam rock to ambient music, that's fine with me. In fact, I prefer this album to any of R...""Fantastic album of immaculate sounding, experimental and yet hooky songs. As others have noted, this is far more similar to other early 70s glam rock than Eno's later ambient work. As someone who far prefers glam rock to ambient music, that's fine with me. In fact, I prefer this album to any of Roxy Music's work. I quite like Eno's voice, even though he himself didn't seem to be a big fan.
The high points on this album are simply stunning, with On Some Faraway Beach and Some of Them Are Old standing out as exceptionally beautiful tracks (OSFB could almost bring me to tears). Needles in the Camel's Eye is a top-tier glam rocker (used to great effect at the beginning of Velvet Goldmine - a movie I'd recommend to any glam rock fans), while Baby's on Fire has one of the most intricately explosive solos (courtesy of King Crimson's Robert Fripp) I've ever heard. It all wraps up in one of Eno's earlier ambient experiments, the wonderful title track, which I can honestly just zone out and listen to on repeat and be perfectly content.
While it's not a perfect album, each track has something new to discover on repeat listens. Highly recommended to fans of glam rock, as well as anyone looking for an album of pop songs crafted by one music's most creative minds. "[+]Reply
"I have always rated this album very highly in Bowie's canon, though there've been plenty of demurrals. It was meant to be a straight musical of 1984, but the Orwell estate wouldn't give him the rights to the material - presumably because they predicted Eurythmics ten years hence in the very year ...""I have always rated this album very highly in Bowie's canon, though there've been plenty of demurrals. It was meant to be a straight musical of 1984, but the Orwell estate wouldn't give him the rights to the material - presumably because they predicted Eurythmics ten years hence in the very year depicted. So Bowie reinvented it as a dystopian fantasy of his own, gave an elegant two-fingered salute to literary snobbery and produced a musically exciting, lyrically disturbing world in which NOT ONE element is misplaced or extraneous, and which features the last outing on a Bowie album of stellar pianist Mike Garson at his effervescent, effortless best. So there!"[+]Reply
"I'm a Queen fan because of albums like this, and this truly is an excellent album, jam packed with great tracks and hidden gems. It starts with Brighton Rock, which recently had renewed interest due to the Baby Driver movie. It's a top notch track that shows off just how great Brian May's guitar ...""I'm a Queen fan because of albums like this, and this truly is an excellent album, jam packed with great tracks and hidden gems.
It starts with Brighton Rock, which recently had renewed interest due to the Baby Driver movie. It's a top notch track that shows off just how great Brian May's guitar playing really is.
That's followed up by Killer Queen. Little needs to be said about this one. Everyone knows it.
Then comes the three songs that blend into one another - Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, and Lily of the Valley - which is truly amazing, and those three tracks are some of my favourite that Queen's ever done.
Now I'm Here is a great catchy rock number. What an excellent first side to an album.
Then side two starts with In the Lap of the Gods. I particularly love the way this track starts. A strong opener for side two. Then comes Stone Cold Crazy, the track Q magazine described as "thrash metal before the term was invented". It's a great fun heavy rocker. Dear Friends gives us something more melodic and mellow, before we get onto a Deacon track, Misfire. Which is a decent pop-rock song. Bring Back That Leroy Brown is an incredibly clever track. It really shows just how diverse Queen were. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) is both haunting and wonderful. Such an underrated gem. And then the album finishes perfectly with the anthemic In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited. All in all one of my favourite albums ever. Brilliant album."[+]Reply
"Excellent album. Named by Rolling Stone Brazil as the 6th best album in the history of Brazilian music. In my opinion, "Africa Brasil" by Jorge Ben is better, but "A Tabua de Esmeralda" is also a great album that has lots of great songs like: "Os Alquimistas Estao Chegando", "O Homen Da Gravata F...""Excellent album. Named by Rolling Stone Brazil as the 6th best album in the history of Brazilian music. In my opinion, "Africa Brasil" by Jorge Ben is better, but "A Tabua de Esmeralda" is also a great album that has lots of great songs like: "Os Alquimistas Estao Chegando", "O Homen Da Gravata Florida", "Minha Teimosia, Uma Arma Para Te Conquistar" and "Zumbi". I like the mix of Brazilian rhythms and topics with 70's style music, especially funk. "[+]Reply
Onater | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (8 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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AfterHours | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (11 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Tamthebam | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Caesar01 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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InsanityPrawnBoy | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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