Listed below are the best albums of the 1960s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 5 hours ago).
""Evolution" was the first of two Hollies albums released in 1967. The band did a lot of experimenting in those years, both in songwriting and arrangements. Some of it worked, some of it didn't. "Butterfly" is often hailed as their finest and most consistent, whereas "Evolution" suffers from being..."""Evolution" was the first of two Hollies albums released in 1967. The band did a lot of experimenting in those years, both in songwriting and arrangements. Some of it worked, some of it didn't. "Butterfly" is often hailed as their finest and most consistent, whereas "Evolution" suffers from being anything but consistent. The songwriting is more or less on par with "Butterfly", but some arrangements in various degrees ruin the songs.
Worst is the "underwater" effect put on Graham Nash's voice on "Lullaby to Tim". It could have been a great track, but as it is, it's almost unlistenable. I have often wondered if a version with unruined vocals exists.
The distorted guitars put on the opening track "The the Heartaches Begin" and "Have You Ever Loved Somebody", give a forced feeling that does not help the songs, which are really good Hollies songs. The Searchers proved that "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" even had hit-potentials.
Enough negative words said, because there are plenty of succesful tracks that make the album quite enjoyable after all.
Like on the previous album all songs were written by Clarke, Hicks and Nash and Allan Clarke and Graham Nash more or less share the lead vocals with Tony Hicks joining in on choruses etc.
"Stop Right There" is a nice quiet Graham Nash ballad; fine violin solo. Nash also takes the lead vocals on one of the big highlights on the album "When Your Lights Turned On"; classic up-beat Hollies with great guitars and harmonies.
The nostalgic "Ye Olde Toffee Shop" featuring harpsichord is quite charming, but no more.
On "Games We Play" Clarke and Nash share the lead vocals. Incredible that this song was not released as a single. Extremely catchy with funny ( naive ) teenage lyrics.
Allan Clarke demonstrates his powerful vocals on several tracks such as "You Need Love" and "Leave Me".
"Water on the Brain" is another example; a song which also features a charming trombone solo.
So all in all you could call it a hit and miss album, mostly hits!
By the way, this review refers to the British version of the album.
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"Along with “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” this album is the most country-influeced album in the Byrds catalogue. But whereas “Sweetheart” tends to lean on classical country, “Ballad of Easy Rider” shows a much broader approach. This greater variety in styles, plus overall stronger material, makes this...""Along with “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” this album is the most country-influeced album in the Byrds catalogue. But whereas “Sweetheart” tends to lean on classical country, “Ballad of Easy Rider” shows a much broader approach. This greater variety in styles, plus overall stronger material, makes this much more satisfying album than it´s much-acclaimed predecessor, which I honestly speaking find somewhat over-rated.
There is a mature and releaxed feeling in these recordings, and though there is a mellow mood in many of the lyrics, it is somehow quite an uplifting experience to listen to the album.
The playing is great, with brilliant guitar work from McGuinn and in particular Clarence White. The vocals and especially the harmonies are of the same high standards that characterize all Byrds albums; great that Clarence White was finally given a lead vocal. His gritty nasal vocals on “Oil in My Lamp” help making the track one of many highlights on the album. In fact, this may be the first album where White really shines as an equal partner to McGuinn, who was now the only original member of the band.
McGuinn was never a very productive songwriter for the Byrds, and here he only contributes one new song, but on the other hand an outstanding one, “Ballad of Easy Rider”.
All member have lead vocals, and though neither John York not Gene Parsons are great lead-singers, their contributions come out quite convincingly.
Highlights, though, are songs songs with McGuinn in front. “Tulsa County” is a fine song with great vocals and fine harmonies. Even more breath-taking is their new version slower version of Dylan´s “It´s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, and McGuinn´s treatment of Woody Guthrie´s “Deportee” is just beautiful.
Among the seven bonus-tracks you´ll find some real gems. Especially Jackson Browne´s “Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood” and considering the short playing-time of the original album, it´s a big mystery why this fine recording was left out. Along with the title track song is probably the closest they come to early Byrds-sound ( Younger than Yesterday ).
“Way Beyond the Sun” is a nice country-blues song, which may not be among the most memorable Byrds-recordings, but still as good as couple of the weaker original-tracks. The alternate versions are all fine; especially the longer version of “Ballad of Easy Rider”.
https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDbyrds.html"[+]Reply
"When Steve Marriott in late 1968 decided to leave the Small Faces and the group subsequently disbanded, they had already begun recordings for the successor to their legendary masterpiece "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake". "The Autumn Stone" became to some extent this successor, and the album which was ori...""When Steve Marriott in late 1968 decided to leave the Small Faces and the group subsequently disbanded, they had already begun recordings for the successor to their legendary masterpiece "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake".
"The Autumn Stone" became to some extent this successor, and the album which was originally a double album, contains some of these “post-ONGF” recordings. The album that was first released in 1969 by Immediate and never approved by the group members was a mixture of old and new - demos and live recordings.
Immediate had obtained a license to include the group's big hits for Decca such as "All or Nothing", "My Mind's Eye" and "Whatcha Gonna Do About it." The later Immediate hits were naturally also obvious choices for such a release, but most interesting were, of course, the previously unreleased songs, some of which presumably would have been found on what would have been the group's third studio album for Immediate. These include for an exciting interpretation of Tim Hardin's "Red Balloon" and Steve Marriott's own "The Autumn Stone" - both tracks show the group on their way in new directions - more subdued and complex melodies.
"Call it Something Nice" is a classic Small Faces at its best. Instrumental tracks "Collibosher" and "Wide Eyed Girl on the Wall" are fine numbers, for which vocals may have been intended. The singles "The Universal" and "Wham Bam Thank You Mam" also have been the logical inclusions on the album. On this CD re-release also has the late B-side "Donkey Rides a Penny a Glass".
It seems that there are still unreleased recodings with the group, including a cover of "Be My Baby" and a version of "Groovy" with Stve Marriott lead-vocals. This is a song group also recorded with PP Arnold for her debut album.
Finally, on the CD contains 5 live tracks from a concert in 1968 - two of them are also new additions. All in all a fine and essential part of the Small Faces catalogue.
https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDsmallfaces.html"[+]Reply
"This album has it all, lots of blues and even hard-rocking elements with all the great ingredients for a fine album: fine guitar work. a strong vocalist and rhythm section. This album should have more attention when choosing the greatest influencers to the hard rock bands of the future. Fresh and...""This album has it all, lots of blues and even hard-rocking elements with all the great ingredients for a fine album: fine guitar work. a strong vocalist and rhythm section. This album should have more attention when choosing the greatest influencers to the hard rock bands of the future. Fresh and solid"[+]Reply
"Roky Erickson is on four of the eleven tracks, Tommy Hall is on one. It's like the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. There are people who say this is their favorite Elevators album. There are people who will say anything."Reply
Kingturtle | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Jboy56 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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.
