Yes I did. Interesting we have similar tastes. Although I am probably older.
As a fellow Dead head. American Beauty is one of their great albums. Not a bad cut on the album.
Album? It is dated. Today it is lists.
In some ways that is sad. I like hits as well as the next guy. However, when albums were the thing I liked plenty of songs that were not hits from albums.
I go on binges of artists. For the last week or so I got on a Allman Brothers binge. Had not listened to them in a long time. Damn they were good. I have always loved Gregg's voice. Just a great blues voice.
After the death of Duane when Gregg came out with "Laid Back." Man I loved that album.
Once the digital age (and maturity) set in, I really didn't have the free time to listen to entire albums. Most of my listening is during workouts, while driving or trying to figure out a song to play on my guitar.
I don't understand this. Why would digital age and growing older strip you of the time to listen to a record/album? I MAKE the time, every day, to listen to several albums. Often when cooking dinner, cleaning up/dishes after dinner and then in the early evening I sit down and while I plan for tomorrow's work I listen to more records. By 8/8:30PM my wife and I usually stream & watch something on tv together. But, on weekdays between 5:30 and 8:30 it is essential album listening time. On the weekends I often put the records on much earlier. In fact, I currently have a Hugh Masekela record playing (SA trumpeter) as I type this and while I pack (we're moving house next weekend).
If it means something to you, you will find the time.
I also agree with PortlandDawg...there have been some brilliant records released post 1970s AND I will add, post 1990's as well!
That's the saddest part of all about the lost art of listening to entire albums. From my experience the very best songs of the artists I have listened to, are never their hits. It's the songs people would never hear without listening to an entire album.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Yes I did. Interesting we have similar tastes. Although I am probably older.
As a fellow Dead head. American Beauty is one of their great albums. Not a bad cut on the album.
Album? It is dated. Today it is lists.
In some ways that is sad. I like hits as well as the next guy. However, when albums were the thing I liked plenty of songs that were not hits from albums.
I go on binges of artists. For the last week or so I got on a Allman Brothers binge. Had not listened to them in a long time. Damn they were good. I have always loved Gregg's voice. Just a great blues voice.
After the death of Duane when Gregg came out with "Laid Back." Man I loved that album.
American Beauty is beautiful. Through and through. I’ll add Blues for Allah as another strong album of theirs. Talk about a concept album...
I too do the same with binges. I’ll pull out an album I haven’t listened to in a long while listen to it again... think to my self, “damn, I miss this album”... and listen to it again and again until I ‘tire’ of it once more. I went through an early ‘90’s kick not too long ago. Cycled through PJ’s Ten, Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish, and Sister Hazel’s Somewhere More Familiar. Sister Hazel was a one hit wonder charting with the song All For You, but the rest of the album was pretty good. I looked them up the other day. They’re still making music together all these years later. Good for them to keep it going for 30ish years with only one hit.
American Beauty is beautiful. Through and through. I’ll add Blues for Allah as another strong album of theirs. Talk about a concept album...
I went through an early ‘90’s kick not too long ago. Cycled through PJ’s Ten, Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish,
'Wake of the Flood' is a decent studio record of theirs too.
Funny you mention SPs...a few weeks ago I was listening to both 'Gish' and 'Siamese Dream' as well as STP's 2nd ('Purple') a lot. Great albums. That said, I saw the Pumpkins between 'Gish' and 'SD' and they were, and still are, the worst band I have ever seen live. It put me off them, to be honest. Then, they went and followed up 'SD' with that overblown double LP of theirs and I was definitely off the bus. BUT...'Gish' is a killer record!
I love hearing new music but when I have watched the Grammy's the last couple years: Been really disappointed with the lack of new artists and the music.
I don't consider myself as someone who lives in the past. However, when you look at the history of music after WWII.
When the Baby Boomers hit their age. It was unreal the glut of talent that hit music. It was an explosion.
I actually thought SM Melancholy double disc was a great album all the way through.....
As far as the 90's go....
I really liked STP's Purple and Tiny Music...both were solid all the way through...
I thought Sublime's self-titled album, along with 40oz. to freedom, and the Stand by Your Van live album were great from start to finish...
An album I really enjoyed that doesn't get much respect, Everclear Sparkle and Fade...I met Art Alexakis once and told him that that was one of my favorite pop/rock records from the 90's....
Of course Nirvana's Unplugged, Nevermind, and In Utero...
Tool Undertow....
And I have to mention Aquemini and Stankonia by Outkast…..Awesome Albums...
I don't understand this. Why would digital age and growing older strip you of the time to listen to a record/album? I MAKE the time, every day, to listen to several albums. Often when cooking dinner, cleaning up/dishes after dinner and then in the early evening I sit down and while I plan for tomorrow's work I listen to more records. By 8/8:30PM my wife and I usually stream & watch something on tv together. But, on weekdays between 5:30 and 8:30 it is essential album listening time. On the weekends I often put the records on much earlier. In fact, I currently have a Hugh Masekela record playing (SA trumpeter) as I type this and while I pack (we're moving house next weekend).
Good for you, that's you're main hobby. What's so difficult to understand? My hobbies are different than yours. My priorities are work, biking, photography, birding and playing the guitar. I love listening to music, but now it's songs, not entire albums.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
I don't understand this. Why would digital age and growing older strip you of the time to listen to a record/album? I MAKE the time, every day, to listen to several albums. Often when cooking dinner, cleaning up/dishes after dinner and then in the early evening I sit down and while I plan for tomorrow's work I listen to more records. By 8/8:30PM my wife and I usually stream & watch something on tv together. But, on weekdays between 5:30 and 8:30 it is essential album listening time. On the weekends I often put the records on much earlier. In fact, I currently have a Hugh Masekela record playing (SA trumpeter) as I type this and while I pack (we're moving house next weekend).
Good for you, that's you're main hobby. What's so difficult to understand? My hobbies are different than yours. My priorities are work, biking, photography, birding and playing the guitar. I love listening to music, but now it's songs, not entire albums.
I didn't intend for my reply to come across as sarcastic nor obnoxious. I apologize if it did. That is, however, often the case online and in the typed word rather than speaking directly. I was only making the point that I don't understand how we have less time in our days in the digital world of 2019 or as we grow older to do the things we enjoy or did growing up (playing records).
The album as an art form only really came to be in the late 60s with 'Sgt. Peppers' being the most obvious example, but there were many other bands releasing records that tried to convey a story. It kinda peaked in the early 70s with the conceptual rock or progressive rock/opera albums and the ability to extend a single LP to 40+ minutes. Before 1967 it was mainly singles/45s and by the 80s MTV glommed onto the visual aspect of pop and rock and helped shift albums via the singles that bands turned into videos. So, on the whole, in pop & rock the single or "songs" have a longer history rather than the 12" LP/album. Some 60s bands careers were even killed by their promoters or the label releasing most of the album as 45s. By the time the LP was released nobody bought it as they had the 45s. Haight-Ashbury band, Moby Grape, suffered terribly from this massive misjudgement. Many thought they could be the next really big thing, but their promoter screwed up badly and the band suffered for it. Drugs also didn't help, however.
My apologies, but I am going to begin w/an album from the 1970s. It is Led Zeppelin's 4th album. It is referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, The Four Symbols or The Ruins album. I think it is actually untitled, but it was the 4th LZ album.
I would have arranged the songs in a different order, but this album is amazing because it has fast-paced, high energy songs like "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," and "Misty Mountain Hop," and much more mellow songs like "Going to California" and the very underrated "The Battle of Evermore."
Of course, the signature song is "Stairway to Heaven," which in my mind and the minds of many, many others is the greatest song of all-time. It contains both the aspects of a softer ballad and the high-energy, kick-ass rock and roll. The last song, "When the Levee Breaks" features some awesome drumming by John Bonham.
We can talk about plagiarism, but I would rather not because this is one of the greatest albums every recorded and I would simply like to appreciate the music.
I went through multiple copies of this album because I played it so often. I wasn't alone.
I'll include two of the aforementioned songs that perhaps not everyone has heard of.
When I lived in Atlanta a friend of mine worked for Atlanta News Agency. They delivered all the news publications and magazines all over the city.
My buddy was a crazy NY Jew. All the black drivers thought he was a riot. So we got invited to a bunch of parties in the inner city black neighborhoods.
They were in small houses or apartments. They started around midnight. All the house furniture would be moved outside.
People would be dancing till morning. Really good singers would show up and sing over top of playing songs.
Stevie Wonder songs for hour after hour.
It was nuts. Never had a single incident and we were the white people.
Reggae was new sound when it hit in the seventies and Marley was the most recognized performer. As well as Jimmy Cliff.
"Catch a Fire" was a great album. Marley became a legend.
But for me the album that me got started in reggae music was the soundtrack from the movie "The Harder the Come". I still play the hell out of that album
Always such a subjective topic, lots of albums I agree with, but without a lot of of thought the two I really love that I haven’t seen mentioned, though there are many others:
Beatles: Abbey Road. I actually read in a quick scan of posts in another thread that someone felt that the Monkey’s were equal or better than the Beatles. Holy. There are no words to justify that madness if you really listen to the entire collection and understand the incredible difference between the two bands. That said, I love this entire album.
Carole King: Tapestry. If Carole King were a man she would be heralded as the best and most prolific songwriter of all time. She’s not, so she’ll just get a pat on the head as a good female performer.
My apologies, but I am going to begin w/an album from the 1970s. It is Led Zeppelin's 4th album. It is referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, The Four Symbols or The Ruins album. I think it is actually untitled, but it was the 4th LZ album.
I still remember the Christmas morning that I woke up, came downstairs and opened the first present. I was 7 years old and it was a 12" flat square pressie...I knew what it was from its shape, but thought maybe it was a KISS album who I was obsessed with as a young boy. As I unwrapped I saw the grey colors and textures and then eventually the framed picture of some old hermit with a bundle of sticks tied to his bent, crooked back. Nothing else. "What is this"?, I thought. My brain asked..."Where's the makeup, the blood, fire, heeled boots and snake tongue of the band who had captured my imagination"? I opened the gatefold and saw the illustration of another hermit on rocks, holding a lit lantern...still no name or title. My dad told me he thought "I might like it". I put it off to the side, thanked him and opened the other pressies.
Later that day when I was in my room I put the record on and the opening chords of 'Black Dog' chugged, the falsetto voice shouting "Hey hey mama like the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove..." and then a barrel fist of electric guitars steam rolled in, blew my 7 year old mind and captured my soul.
My favorite tune on the album, is actually the riff master, grooveathon that is 'Four Sticks'. To this day, I still love that tune and it is one of, if not my very favorite, LZ tunes.
Since then, LZ III has become my favorite LP of theirs, although at the time of getting it when I was 8 or 9 I didn't like it nor get it. With exception to 'Immigrant Song' it seemed too mellow. But, that changed when I was 16 and went to the Richfield Coliseum one winter night to see a concert with my girlfriend, the snow came in and we got stuck in the parking lot. I trudged to the payphone and told my folks we didn't want to drive back to Lakewood and we were going to sleep in her car. We had gas, heat, a bag of grass, and each other to keep warm. She also had three tapes that helped keep us company and that we listened to OVER and OVER: Bad Co. 1st, Alice Cooper "Welcome To My Nightmare" and LZ III. That night I discovered the beauty of that third LZ album and it has stuck with me ever since!
Hey Jules. I agree w/you that tastes in music is very subjective. I cringe at some of the choices and roll my eyes at others, but I try not rip anyone because like you say, it's very subjective.
Also, both Abbey Road and Tapestry were on my list that I wanted to talk about. In fact, Carol King's Tapestry was up next. One more thing before I get into it......Carol King is indeed one of the world's greatest songwriters. So was another female....Joni Mitchell. I'll be back later to present Tapestry. If you have time, let me know what you think about my comments about the album.
The next album I want to talk about is Carol King's Tapestry. The album's title is aptly named because King weaves a tale of the past and the future like a finely woven tapestry. The songs are rich and vibrant while blending in subtle emotions that only art can evoke.
Carol King was fairly well-known as a songwriter for years. Some of her songs, like You Make Me Feel [like a natural woman,] Loco-Motion, Up on the Roof, and Will You Love Me Tomorrow were recorded by other musical stars like Aretha Franklin, Herman's Hermits, and the Beatles.
Tapestry was actually Carol King's second album and she changed You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman and Will You Love Me Tomorrow into ballads.
I remember my aunt [who was about 15 years younger than my mother and very cool] was visiting from New York and she introduced the family to Tapestry. We played it on that big mahogany console that I talked about earlier and we were all blown away. I think that album got played daily for a long, long time in our household.
The album was a huge success nationally. It rose to number one on the charts and stayed there for quite some time. It also won a Grammy as best album of the year. I read somewhere where it said something like Tapestry is not only one of the great albums written by a female, but one of the greatest albums of all-time.
Here are three of my favorites of that classic album.
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" has to be one of the most "covered" songs of all time. Besides Carole King's recording in 1971, it was recorded by the following artists:
The Shirelles first recorded it in 1960; the song went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Brenda Lee released her version in 1961 as a single.
Helen Shapiro recorded a version for her 1962 album 'Tops' with Me.
Little Eva released a version on her 1962 album Loco-Motion.
Dusty Springfield recorded the song for her 1964 debut solo album A Girl Called Dusty. She also recorded a version with French lyrics entitled Demain tu peux changer for her 1965 EP Mademoiselle Dusty.
Cher recorded a version for her 1966 album Chér.
Jackie DeShannon recorded a version for her 1966 album Are You Ready for This?.
Sandy Posey recorded the song for her 1968 album Looking at You.
The Four Seasons had a number 24 hit with the song on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.
Linda Ronstadt released a version on her 1970 album, Silk Purse. It reached number 98 in Cash Box and (Bubbled Under to) number 111 in Billboard.
Roberta Flack's version hit number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".
Melanie Safka reached number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and reached the top 40 in the United Kingdom in 1974.
Jody Miller made the charts[vague] with a remake of the song in 1975.
Morningside Drive released a dance version of the song in 1975, which reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Dana Valery recorded a dance version that hit number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.
Dave Mason had a number 39 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978 with his remake. It was his final top 40 hit on that chart.
Laura Branigan recorded a cover of the song on her 1984 album Self Control.
Joe Walsh recorded the song for his 1992 album Songs for a Dying Planet.
Cilla Black recorded a cover for her 1993 studio album Through the Years (Cilla Black album).
Laura Nyro recorded a version in 1994 that was released on her posthumous 2001 album Angel In the Dark.
The Bee Gees recorded a cover for the Carole King tribute album Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King in 1995.
Twiggy recorded a version of the song sometime in the Eighties, and it was finally released in 2003 on her compilation album Midnight Blue.
Inger Marie Gundersen recorded a cover of the song on her 2004 album Make This Moment [6]
Amy Winehouse recorded a cover of the song in 2004 for the soundtrack to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film), and a further version that was released in 2011 on her posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures.
Leslie Grace released a bachata version in 2012 which became her debut single. Her version peaked at number one on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart and number one on the Latin Airplay chart, becoming the youngest female artist to do so.[7]
Kamasi Washington recorded a cover of the song in 2018 for his companion EP to his album Heaven and Earth (Kamasi Washington album).
I agree with you about Led Zeppelin 4. I would add Physical Graffiti to the list as well.
Both you and Jules brought up Carol King Tapestry as well which I too agree with. She was a fantastic talent with writing skills that were not only special, but actually created a scene in your mind you could fall into.
Most of the albums I listed were less listened to and less famous artists in hopes people may listen to something great that they hadn't heard. I think people of our generation know about every Led Zeppelin album word for word cover to cover. That certainly doesn't take away from their greatness or how fantastic the music was for sure.
If I'm going with something that was more popular to add I would go with Aerosmith, Get Your Wings. Songs such as Lord of the Thighs and seasons of Wither didn't get near the attention they deserved.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Most musicians and bands are categorized by genre rock, jazz, R&B, country, etc.
I can not think of anyone who has crossed over all the musical borders like Ray Charles. When you look at his legacy and the music it covers it is astounding.
When I get my Ray Charles mode; I listen for weeks.
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