10. Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear
German electronic music was triumphant in the 70's. Bands were finding new sounds and ways to use synthesisers all the time. Tangerine Dream is one of the most ambitious bands relying on long space-jams, synthesisers, mellotrons and guitars with effects. Stratosfear has only four songs on it and it's all instrumental. This music is really meant to be listened on a good stereo and it's not at its best as a background music. I suggest you just lie on the sofa and listen to this album from the beginning to the end. This can be a really hypnotic experience. The album cover could not capture the feel of the album better. This album is like an exploration trip to a new planet. Throughout popular music's history there may not have been too many great German bands, but they sure knew how to make electronic music in the 70's. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Small Change is the first album, on which Tom Waits' voice had taken its well-known rough sound. The songs still sound pretty much the same as on the first two albums. This combination is probably my favourite. his later albums are great in their experimental sound, and the first ones as beautiful piano-ballads. The combination of these lose the best bits of both. Still, Small Change has so beautiful songs that I must include it in this top 10. The album cover looks like the backroom of some dirty cabaret. The music has the feel of late nights and walking in the rain. The opening song Tom Traubert's Blues is one of the most beautiful songs by Waits and he still continues to play that song on tours. In addition to blues-ballads, this album has a few groovy bass-driven jams. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Modern Lovers could be described as the missing link between glam-rock and punk. The sounds have many similarities to Velvet Underground's art rock, Lou Reed's glam-stylings and even to The Doors organ sounds, but the style the songs are played in is more straightforward and closer to punk. The band existed from 1970 to 1974, but the recordings were released only later on and that makes this self-titled album their debut. In that sense the album is a bit late, but the music paves the way for punk beautifully, so it's only proper that this bluesy, rocky and punky album arrived just on the threshold of punk. I especially encourage fans of The Doors and Velvet underground to listen to this album. The jamming songs portray the feel of smoky whiskey bars. Listen to the album on Spotify.
In the 70's funk and jazz found a unique sound in Nigeria. Fela Kuti is probably the most well-known artists of the afrobeat movement and this album will help you understand why. The album has four over 12 minute songs of amazing groove. Basslines, plucking guitars, wild horns and drum rhythms come together in these amazing jams. Even if you're a fan of melodic music rather than rhythm, this mostly instrumental music is very appealing. It's difficult to find a single American or English band that would capture as beautiful groove as on this album. Zombie is among Kuti's best albums and definitely deserves its place in this top 10. It's also refreshing for me to move away from my Europe and US centric music to completely different kinds of sounds. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I've just found the band Decameron, but there's one problem. Their songs are really difficult to find. They cannot be found in any streaming services and their CDs and LPs are out of stock. The few songs I've heard though are amazingly good. Tomorrow's Pantomime is melancholic folk rock. The beautiful use of violin in The Deal is very impressive. The basslines are also great. The title track is also a great example of the greatness of English folk in the 70's. I believe this album could achieve even higher position on this list if I had the chance to hear all the songs, but for now it will have to remain in this spot. I plead to who ever owns the rights for this band to make a new release of these albums, since Decameron is one of the most impressive new finds throughout this blog. Listen to a few of the songs on Youtube.
Blondie's self titled debut album already has everything you would come to expect from a Blondie album. Great and catchy pop melodies with fast drumming and uptempo choruses. The first album does not, however have many well-known songs. I only started recently to listen to this album. It's good, but it doesn't really bring anything new to a listener who has familiarised with the rest of their albums. This album is a bit more pop than punk. I guess the punk was too young to influence them yet on full scale. Debbie Harry's attitude is already there. A Shark in Jets Clothing is a nice surprise with it's melancholic blues jams. It's good to see that Blondie was a great band since the very beginning. Definitely one of the best bands of the 70's. Listen to the album on Spotify.
We're now starting to approach Queen's golden years, when they weren't just about making pop songs, but they had great heavy metal sounds and progressive rock songs. A Day at the Races has a few exceptionally good songs, but as a whole the album is not their best one. My favourite is Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. Somebody to Love is another super-hit from this album. Musical styles move from heavy metal to baroque-pop and from epic rock operas to more traditional rock n' roll. The ending song Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together) is one of the finest ballads by the band. Day at the Races is the second part to Queen's best album A Night at the Opera. Unfortunately they did not succeed in making as great an album, but it wasn't far, sine this is an amazing album as well. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Radio Ethiopia is the second studio album by Patti Smith. It's one of her best albums. There are already traces of punk, but mostly it's just about rock n' roll. Songs have great melodies, masterful guitar solos and clean piano sounds, but above all else is Smith's charismatic voice with all its screams. Smith has a great gift of rocking up-beat songs away as well as producing hauntingly hypnotic slow jams. Ask the Angel shows the rock potential of Smith, but to look for my favourite song, you have to go to Pissing in the River, which has drama, beauty and darkness in it. Pumping sounds like it's made for huge arenas, with it's massive guitar sounds. Saying that i think Smith's music would work most beautifully at a rather small venue, where the audience could see and hear every bit of her amazing music. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Jarre's Oxygene is his life's biggest project. At least it seems like it ,since Jarre has returned to this album over and over again. There are numerous re-releases with different productions, live performances, re-masterings and etc. It's believed that Jarre was never really happy with the result, even though this album is a cult classic and certainly his most well-known piece of work. The ambitious 40 minute album is just one song with six parts. This is synthesiser space music in its best. The beautifully weird album cover illustrates beautifully this space age classic. I grew up with this album, since it was one of my dad's favourites, but still it amazes me sometimes, how beautiful and futuristic music this album contains. The sounds have similarities at times to Clockwork Orange's brilliant soundtrack. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I haven't had any other Ramones albums on this blog before. There are mainly two reasons. The first one is that all the 70's albums sound pretty much the same. The second, and more important reason, is that their debut album could almost be considered their greatest hits album. It's got everything that you could possibly want out of a great rock album. Even though Sex Pistols are usually considered the first true punk band, Ramones managed to get their album out first. Ramones is not as snotty as the UK punk bands, but still there's something amazingly appealing in their simple three chord punk. The vocal harmonies and upbeat melodies make me think that Ramones is like a simplistic and crappy version of the Beach Boys but with a rock n' roll schoolboy attitude. This is one of the most classic albums of rock music! Listen to the album on Spotify.
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