Listed below are the best albums of 1969 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 3 hours ago).
"I would consider this album to be solid through-and-through. Everything is great about this album. I've got to listen to it again to appreciate it more."Reply
"I'm surprised the rave reviews aren't pouring in for this truly great album. I cannot praise it highly enough - I've placed it at No.3 in my overall chart, No.2 in my decade chart and No.1 in my year chart; and would certainly rate it my favourite soul album, notwithstanding the greatness of Aret...""I'm surprised the rave reviews aren't pouring in for this truly great album. I cannot praise it highly enough - I've placed it at No.3 in my overall chart, No.2 in my decade chart and No.1 in my year chart; and would certainly rate it my favourite soul album, notwithstanding the greatness of Aretha, Otis, Marvin, Stevie, Al and the rest. A consummate, heavenly work from beginning to end. And to think that she was too scared to go to Memphis and do the vocals!"[+]Reply
"Okay, and here we are. His 3rd album, and his second of 1969. Townes output in 69 was better than anyone else. It was bonkers. And the production here is nearly perfect! Its so bare and breezy and simple and this gives TVZ's songs room to breathe, to float into your ears and heart and make you we...""Okay, and here we are. His 3rd album, and his second of 1969. Townes output in 69 was better than anyone else. It was bonkers. And the production here is nearly perfect! Its so bare and breezy and simple and this gives TVZ's songs room to breathe, to float into your ears and heart and make you weep. The lyrics and the actual songs, THE SONGS!!!! are even better here than on Our Mother The Mountain. TVZ had really turned the corner in the intervening few months and turned on his next gear. To keep that sports analogy going just a bit more (I hear your groans, I'm sorry, just one second) This album represents the age 27 season of that star QB, when he is still putting up the big numbers, still scrambling aorund and showing off his gifts, still throwing it deep, but now he's throwing less interceptions, he's reading the game next level, and he goes to the championship! But he loses... and its not close. In this case cuz of a couple 30 somethings who just act as killjoys to his glory and poke holes in his schemes. But he moves onto the next season to regroup and hopefully break through. With Townes, he just continues honing his craft and makes 3 or 4 more classics and wins a couple championships.
Okay, and I am done with that. Thank gawd.
What I think is amazing about this Self titled Townes album is how effortless it feels. Right from the jump you are treated with one of the breeziest and subtly morunful and confused songwriting feats ever. "For The Sake of the Song" features a gorgeous guitar line from Townes (who much like Joni, is an underrated guitarist). There's a very subdued little bass line. Some pretty percussion. And over the top of this beautiful and again Breezy sound, Townes just seems to be talking to a friend about his predicament with a relationship. The internal rhyme pattern is detailed but not over the top. And you are just sitting there as the audience marvelling at how deeply thought out and intricate the observations are and how quickly the5+ minute song goes by.
And this is true of the whole album. You go through this subtle, shimmering, at times deeply emotional, at other times just comfortably familiar, journey with TVZ, and you enjoy every second being in its presence.
The songs here don't jump out at me. When I look at the tracklist for Our Mother The Mountain or his debut, or even Delta Momma Blues, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt or even High Low and In Between, I am struck by 3 or 4 absolute stand outs, totally memorable and singular Townes moments. With this album though, the whole album coalesces and plays just right, one song to the next, that I just know when I finish the album there is not a less than stellar track here, and I wanna push play again, and again.
That is probably due to just how warm and simple the production is. There are some more flashy parts, like the groove of the bass on "Waitin' Round To Die" (oh and I suppose this song does stick out on the tracklist, so there is a correction from last paragraph). But those more fl;ashy moments are rare, and they are all in beautiful service to the songs. They make sense. The harmonica and bass groove, so dark and ominous, absolutely pushes this song over the top. It seems like Townes and his producer at the time finally realized the earthy genius of Townes, and that you didn't need bells and whistles to make these songs move mountains. The lone voice and guitar and minimal other things alone can just overcome a listener. This album is proof of that.
Other examples of the extra ornamentation working beautfully here is the strangely timed bass drum rhythm on the stunning blues reimagining of "Lungs". And the gorgeous violin backing, and tambourine fun of "(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria".
Songs like "Don't Take It Too Bad", "Colorado Girl", "None But The Rain", "I'll Be Here In the Morning" and "For The sake of the Song" seem to me like perfect examples of that distinctly Townes way of just being the most inviting, sensitive, singer/songwriter of the folk/country field.
Anyway, this album is damn near perfect. And if you wanna know where to get started with becoming a huge Townes fan, here it is your best bet methinks.
This album is proof that you can do a TVZ album without added stuff, and it proved that all by himself, Townes Can Zandt! (I'm sorry...)
"All the mountains and the rivers
And the valleys can't compare
To your blue lit dancin' eyes
And yellow shining hair
I could never hit the open road
And leave you layin' there
Lay your head back easy, love,
Close your cryin' eyes
I'll be layin' here beside you
When the sun comes on the rise
I'll stay as long as the cuckoo wails
And the lonesome blue jay cries" -Townes
Rating: 9.7/10"[+]Reply
"Finest example of the importance of creative freedom. When Stax broke with Atlantic Records in 1968 and lost her entire back catalogue, Hayes was compelled to make a studio album. He wasn't very happy to; his debut album "Presenting Isaac Hayes" failed to chart and Hayes had decided to stay in th...""Finest example of the importance of creative freedom. When Stax broke with Atlantic Records in 1968 and lost her entire back catalogue, Hayes was compelled to make a studio album. He wasn't very happy to; his debut album "Presenting Isaac Hayes" failed to chart and Hayes had decided to stay in the background as a songwriter and session musician. When Al Bell, record executive for Stax, persuaded Hayes to record a new album, Hayes demanded total creative freedom. The result: a groundbreaking soul record, consisting of only four tracks that changed the entire future for soul music. Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" aren't likely to have existed if it weren't for this album."[+]Reply
"Bowie’s 2nd album is a very good one indeed. Space Oddity is one of his best songs. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed is a deep cut waiting to be found. Cygnet Committee is another underrated deep cut. This is Bowie’s interpretation of the end of the hippie era"Reply
"'Scott 4', by far Scott Walker's best album, maintained the Brel influence of his previous three, but now the material (a decadent mileu of prostitutes, gansters and misfits) and his operatic vocal style, was all his own. Whereas the arrangements on his previous albums were influenced by Bacharac...""'Scott 4', by far Scott Walker's best album, maintained the Brel influence of his previous three, but now the material (a decadent mileu of prostitutes, gansters and misfits) and his operatic vocal style, was all his own. Whereas the arrangements on his previous albums were influenced by Bacharach and Spector, here Morricone shines through. Walker's significance is he managed to transcend the up-dated but essentially old fashioned easy-listening sound of the ballad, to something altogether deeper and philosophical in a manner that not only predated, but was superior to, the work of somebody like David Bowie. Key track: The Old Man's Back Again. "[+]Reply
"New Review. I love this all the more... Due to laziness, I will just include this review of sorts I have on my as-of-now-nonpublic Dylan chart. I wrote this 4 years ago! (Time flies, love all you BEA buddies I've had for 5 years now) "Beautiful, charming, short-and-sweet, countrified, humble, and...""New Review. I love this all the more...
Due to laziness, I will just include this review of sorts I have on my as-of-now-nonpublic Dylan chart. I wrote this 4 years ago! (Time flies, love all you BEA buddies I've had for 5 years now)
"Beautiful, charming, short-and-sweet, countrified, humble, and fantastic album through and through! What I love about this album is it just manages to make me feel happy. It's so optimistic. It is so clearly a huge change away from serious or overly introspective elements of his music. It's amazing to me that Dylan could switch off to a whole new zone and genre of music and pull it off so perfectly.
The lyrics are simple, direct country-style nuggets of beauty. It ain't hard to pick up what is being expressed here. The musicians that back him up here sound great.
Man, there ain't much I dislike about this album at all. I will say I don't like the first track featuring Cash. It just doesn't sound too good. But after that track it rolls so well. It's 24 minutes of solid fun!
The greatest tracks here are "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", "Nashville Skyline Rag" (what a smokin' instrumental to really kick this album off!), "Lay Lady Lay" (sexy as hell) and of course the very tragic-sounding "I Threw It All Away".
It is hard for me to say how this album compares to other Dylan favorites because it is so different in mood and style and theme and even in the way his vocals are delivered...
On its own terms this album is an essential release in Dylan's discography. I really love it. And it is a great way to end off the 60s! I look at these first 16 albums I've listened to for this chart and it blows my mind how much music he made from 62-69 and it astounds me how consistently great it was. He was just on fire for so long!"
Okay, now present-day Ryan again: Has my love for this album remained? Yes! As a matter of fact its increased greatly! I now LOVE that first Cash track now. Still not my fave track here, but its soooo warm and sweet. Also, Cash + Dylan = automatic good.
Now, compared to that Vince Martin album, its amazing how starkly different this is. Dylan had a clear plan, a short sweet statement delivered in perfectly constructed 2 or 3 minute songs. Martin took the same great band and just said "Let's see where this takes us.".
And as I listen yet again to this classic, I am indeed feeling joyeous, and optimistic again! Dylan is the closest thing to a sonic best friend I have ever had. I mean, that sounds lame, so let me dig the whole deeper with an explanation: Ever since I was a lad o' 12 I have always looked to Dylan's music and words and interviews and story as inspiration, or as a sort of reference point to my life. He has been a constant "friend" and presence. And I truly get emotional thinking about what he has meant for me in my life. So there, I reached the required 6 feet into the ground, kill me now. lol.
I had this album at 12, then moved up to 8 then 9 then 10 on this list...then as I wrote this and listened again, i came to and was like "WHAT?! Are you crayzy!? Get Dylan back on his rightful pedestal, fool!" So up to a (perhaps still too low position ) of #7 it goes!
Oh, and I would like to thank Gram Parson, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, Doug Dillard, The Byrds in general, and Dylan of course, for showing the rock kids that Country was cool back in 1968 and 1969. That 4-peat statement of "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", "The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark", "Gilded Palace of Sin", and "Nashville Skyline" has been an inspiration for a huge percentage of my favorite music ever. Thanks, you fine geniuses all for doing what was right! (I suppose the Grateful dead, somewhat the Band, and many others deserve credit as well, so thanks Danko, Garcia, Robertson, and all you fine people too.)
Rating: 9.5/10
Oh and damnit! I forgot to mention this... The cover of Nashville Skyline is a miracle. Its awesome in general, Dylan looks so happy and handsome and all... but look at that nearly perfect triangle! How cool is that?!? Okay, bye. "[+]Reply
"This is my favorite Leonard Cohen album. It is my favorite for many of the same reasons the self titled Townes Van Zandt album is my favorite Townes album or why Nebraska is the best Springsteen album, or Pink Moon is my fave Nick Drake, or or or etc. Its one of the most starkly grim albums I've ...""This is my favorite Leonard Cohen album. It is my favorite for many of the same reasons the self titled Townes Van Zandt album is my favorite Townes album or why Nebraska is the best Springsteen album, or Pink Moon is my fave Nick Drake, or or or etc. Its one of the most starkly grim albums I've ever heard. This album has shadows and pits of blackness so deep, when I listen to this record I am transported to some sort of bleak world with brief flashes of wonder and humanity. This album takes me on a surreal tour through the more shadow lands which exists right before me but is never seen or fully confronted, and my guide is a grizzled wiseman who has seen it clear and has charted and documented all its byroads and ramifications.
I don't know how to talk about this album without getting lost in some ethereal goo. Leonard Cohen was such an accomplished writer and artist by this point. A relatively "old" and very wise 35, already a published and respected Poet. He had more questions and insights than maybe any songwriter at the time of this album. Yet, this album isn't just some scholarly exercise. There is such a depth of feeling in this album which is unleashed in waves of pain and awe due, i think, to the fact that the words are so carefully chosen and so spot on that it strikes a very deep and up that point sleeping nerve.
The opener "Bird On The Wire" is truly one of the very few sacred moments in music history for me. The hugeness of its simple verses, the sheer pain of it, the emotion which that song wells up for me, is something I can't fathom. The sorrow, the need for forgiveness, the brittle vocal delivery, everything....oh man.
The album from that stunning opener, continues to hit you with bleak, austere portraits of friends lost to suicide (Seems So Long Ago, Nancy), of biblical visions of the darkest side of human beings (Story of Isaac), of the immutable devotion to freedom and the endless struggle to overcome evil no matter how futile and no matter what the cost (The Partisan), andof the mysteries of long nights of transient liberty and romance (Lady Midnight), etc.
Musically, there are eccentric touches. The sound backing Cohen on "The Old revolution" (i've no idea what that is, but its cool), the dirgey, low end chug of the acoustic guitar in "The Butcher", hell there is a similar strange effect on "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" and "Lady Midnight as on "The Old Revolution"(can someone smarter than me explain to me what that rattly effect is? I am ignorant, but I like it.) also that sweet, far-off electric guitar is freaking awesome, the women speaking french in the most angellic and doomed way on "The Partison,
the organ in "Lady Midnight", etc. There are a lot of little moments on here which push this album, somehow, to new heights.
And finally the closer "Tonight Will Be Fine" is such a great closer. Its by far the least bleak moment on the album, Cohen humsa sweet childish tune, he makes funny rhymes, he talks sex, he whistles, and the bass line is a playful bounce. If I am thinking of this album as a tour through the darkness, then this is the moment toward the end of the tour when the wise man, seeing you are really shook up takes pity, gives a soft smile, shakes you out of your glossy-eyed horror and looks you straight in the eyes and says in his deep, baritone voice "It's okay, there is much beauty and there is some hope and there are reasons to love and to live and to care. It will be fine for awhile.".
"It seems so long ago,
Nancy was alone,
a forty five beside her head,
an open telephone.
We told her she was beautiful,
we told her she was free
but none of us would meet her in
the House of Mystery,
the House of Mystery.
And now you look around you,
see her everywhere,
many use her body,
many comb her hair.
In the hollow of the night
when you are cold and numb
you hear her talking freely then,
she's happy that you've come,
she's happy that you've come." - Leonard Cohen
Rating: 9.8/10"[+]Reply
"This group has one of the most interesting and unique dynamics amongst any folk group I have listened to and that keeps this record engaging even during the slower moments. To start with there is the fantastic vocal performance which is classically British and leads the instrumentation perfectly....""This group has one of the most interesting and unique dynamics amongst any folk group I have listened to and that keeps this record engaging even during the slower moments. To start with there is the fantastic vocal performance which is classically British and leads the instrumentation perfectly. It fits the style of music so well and the energy and rawness she can put into her voice is simply stunning. She absolutely dominates songs like Tam Lin and Matty Groves where she makes those songs fill with life and emotion. Then there is the stellar cast backing up Sandy Denny with Dave Swarbrick and Richard Thompson being the most significant. The instrumental performances these two put in are simply phenomenal and they take some of the songs here to the next level. The viola especially is absolutely beautiful on this album and is so delicately played that you can only sit back and admire what you are listening to. Everything then comes together to form this unique classic sound that transports you back to an easier time and creates a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable album with some outstanding performances that are just a joy to be able to experience. "[+]Reply
"Yes it's Chicago. Fortunately not quite that Chicago. This is an absolutely underrated record, a stunning album, a psychedelic soul rock masterpiece. Originally a double album it really captures that late sixties atmosphere, with stunning songs such as, beginnings, listen, and, I'm a man. This al...""Yes it's Chicago. Fortunately not quite that Chicago. This is an absolutely underrated record, a stunning album, a psychedelic soul rock masterpiece. Originally a double album it really captures that late sixties atmosphere, with stunning songs such as, beginnings, listen, and, I'm a man. This album deserves a lot more attention and praise. "[+]Reply
ImmortalAl | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Brandon8 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
