10. Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Lust for Life has some of the greatest songs of this year, but as a whole, the album is not a masterpiece. I wanted to include the album on the tenth place because of those few brilliant songs, but some of the songs are a bit boring to listen to. The obvious treats are Lust for Life and The Passenger, which are known to most people. Neighborhood Threat is also a great song full of the menacing and aggressive approach of Iggy Pop. Success on the other hand shows quite directly how David Bowie's role as the producer influenced the album. With few more great songs this could've been one of the best albums of the year, but as it is, Lust for Life is just a failry good album that can be described as a collection of rock songs that get their influences from early punk and glam rock. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The one musical style the 70's is most known is progressive rock. Progressive rock made albums the top priority over individual singles. The songs are long and not suitable for radio-play because of that. German band Eloy was mostly unknown to me before I started making this blog, but I came across this album and liked it instantly. The album has wild psychedelic jams, space synthesiser sounds and progressive rhythms. The pronunciation is at places a bit too German, but since the vocals don't play the main part in the album, this can be forgiven. As many of the prog-rock album covers, this one is pretty ridiculous as well, but there's something great about the artwork by which you can immediately recognise what type of music you're dealing with. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Foreign Affairs is by no means Waits' best album. But it sure is not the worst one either. The album can mostly be described as film noir piano blues. Waits' rough voice, jazzy piano, subtle strings, trumpet and double bass give the album a relaxed and beautiful nightly feel. Something is missing though. This album is not as good as the later Blue Valentine, since the individual songs don't stand out as well. The album should be played definitely on vinyl so you get the little scratchy noises on the background. I see myself sitting home in the candle light having long and meaningful conversations with a glass of whiskey and listening to this album. It most certainly has the right and wrong moments of listening to. Barber Shop is the only song that's a bit different closer to wild blues rhythms. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Most people know The Clash through London Calling or their later few hits. it may then be forgotten that The Clash started off with the forefront of the punk's first wave. Their debut album is really straightforward punk with societal critique, simple instrumentations and off-key singing. What makes this album worth listening to is the attitude. The Clash is snottier than Ramones, but more melodic and skilful than Sex Pistols. The album managed to include few hits, White Riot and London's Burning. These songs are, however among the worst songs on this album. This album is not probably something I would often listen to at home, but when it comes to parties, this music just works. I guess it would've been even more special live at the time it was new. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Television is a peculiar band. It's not quite punk, even though they certainly use the same aesthetics in their music. Some sounds resemble those in 60's psychedelia and garage rock. Some songs have some connection to early 70's glam-rock. The main difference with the punk movement is the peacefulness of few songs and the more elaborate melodies and guitar riffs. Marquee Moon is the band's most classic album and for a reason. It has the best overall collection of songs. That said, Television is mostly about the individual songs, instead of whole albums. The one reason I appreciate this album is its influence on many other bands. The best songs are in my opinion left to the end half of the album, where there are grieving songs such as Torn Curtain. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Most people in the world probably know Bob Marley's songs from Legend compilation album. Exodus is in my opinion the best individual album. It has many of those songs that are so familiar from Legend, such as Exodus, Jamming, Three Little Birds and One Love. But there's more. Natural Mystic is in my opinion one of Marley's best songs. No other artist has probably defined so comprehensively one genre of music as Marley has done with reggae. I'm sure that with the mention of reggae almost everyone in the world is first thinking of Bob Marley. His legacy is therefore enormous. I enjoy listening to Marley, but his music requires a certain kind of mood and weather. It's not for cold and dark winter nights, but for long summer days and nights when there's no rush anywhere. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Wire is a quite unique band in its time. It draws influences from punk movement, but maintains slower rhythms sounding more like garage rock. Some of the riffs are beautifully hypnotic. The guitars are a bit off-key, which gives a nice rock n' roll effect to the music. Their debut album Pink Flag is still very simple when it comes to instrumentation, but that actually works as an advantage for the band. The garage sounds give Pink Flag credibility and I think for that reason it's actually their most well-known album. The music has a lot of things in common with Krautrock movement of the time and the band has no doubt influenced a lot of garage bands on later years. The album has 21 songs on it and only three of them are over three minutes long, so in that sense the punk label is earned. Listen to the album on Spotify.
It's weird to think that just a while ago I had never really listened to Elvis Costello. Now I lifted his debut album to the third place on this list. The album is full of great songwriting, beautiful melodies and rock n' roll attitude. All the songs are great! I have to admit that this is of the albums I enjoy listening to most of all these great albums on the list. I don't know if it's the novelty factor or just that this is just the kind of music I like. Costello draws influences from punk, but most importantly from 50's rock n' roll. These influences don't quite describe the great songs though. My Aim Is True is one of the best albums by Elvis Costello, even though I think his sound developed a bit with first few albums. but the collection of songs makes this album great! Listen to the album on Spotify.
Sex Pistol has only one significant album and it is this one. There's no particular skill, no particularly good songwriting or innovative use of instruments on this album, but the attitude and sound make up for all of that. From the first notes it's clear that this album is something very special. No other punk band of the time managed to generate something as loud and as aggressive. The songs are pure rock n' roll and the album made instant history. The cover is also one of the most iconic covers of all times. Anarchy in the UK and God Save the Queen are known throughout the world, but the whole album is full of potential punk classics. Johnny Rotten's accent is amazing. Sex Pistols' sound makes Ramones sound like nice little school boys. This is one of the most classic albums of all times. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I've surprised even myself how highly I'm rating Kraftwerk's albums on this blog, but I can't help it. Their synthesiser electro-pop is unique, and I like it. you can almost see the factories and machinery of the time in front of you when you listen to this music. Where The Man-Machine reminded me of future's great cities with flying cars, Trans-Europe Express sounds more like a communist utopia, where everyone is working happily in factories. I don't know why, but it just sounds like it. It's almost weird that Kraftwerk is not from East Germany, since it certainly draws aesthetics from communist era. Although, had they been from East Germany, I don't think they would've used same kind of imagery and they probably wouldn't have been able to make same kind of music either. I'm certainly happy this music exists. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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