Friday, 3 January 2014

1969

Here we go! The 1960's. Birth of modern pop music. This decade is filled with classic albums that changed the world. Almost all of the modern music has their biggest influences on this decade. 1969 was the year of Woodstock and the summer of love. The list this year is again pretty amazing! Some of the best rock, pop and folk albums of all times are found on this list. I had to leave quite many great albums off the list as well. When it comes to rock music history, this year is one of the most legendary years. The top four are super-amazing!


10. Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

Janis Joplin is more known for her singles than for her albums, but she has so many great songs that her albums are also pretty great. This is not as legendary as Pearl a few years later, but it still has some great pieces of rock with some soul and blues influences. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) is one of the best Joplin songs. The sounds on this album are not as straightforward rock as on Pearl. There are more jams and improvising going on here. Joplin's band plays beautifully throughout the album and her edgy voice is fantastic. This album was made at the hight of Joplin's success and this material must've been quite amazing at Woodstock. Some of the songs don't have enough hooks to catch your attention and for that reason this album is on the tenth place. It's a great album nevertheless! Listen to the album on Spotify.

9. The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

The Kinks are one of the absolute masters of melodic pop-rock. They're usually known for their few hit singles, but their strength truly lies on brilliant concept albums. Arthur is one of their best albums even though it does not contain any of the band's most famous songs. The album was first constructed to be a concept album for a television programme, but the programme got cancelled and was never produced. The album, however works brilliantly on its own. The Kinks make beautiful and innovative melodies and I'm sure their music has influenced many of the indie pop bands of the later years. you can hear bands like The Shins and The Thrills looking back to these sounds. I have not listened to The Kinks as much as I probably should and for that reason I can't rate this album higher. Listen to the album on Spotify.

8. The Velvet underground - The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground's self-titled album is fairly different from their earlier albums. The sounds are not as rough and there are no pure rock songs on it. Most of the songs are psychedelic ballads with airy feel to them. I can hear the influence of the drug use that was so common in those days, but it's not just futile experimentation. The melodies are beautiful and hypnotic. This album is a lot easier to listen to than the band's previous albums and in my mind this is a good thing, since I like simple approaches to music. This is my favourite era in Velvet Underground's production, even though it is not as legendary as their debut or White Light/White Heat. This era could be seen as the transformation in Lou Reed's career from Velvet Underground singer to a solo artist. Listen to the album on Spotify.

7. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

As I've said before, I don't see The Rolling Stones as a band that makes great coherent albums, but rather as a band that makes great singles. Let It Bleed is, however in the middle of their golden years and a great album. It kicks off with amazing song Gimme Shelter. It doesn't get much better than this with the Stones. There's a strong country element on this album, but it also paves the way for glam-rock sound. The title-track is among the best songs on this album. I really like the genuine piano sounds used in this song. Even though this is one of the best albums by the band, there are some songs on it that are a bit boring. This is why I can't rate this album higher. This blog has, nevertheless, made me appreciate the band a bit more, as I'e made myself listen to this band a bit more. Listen to the album on Spotify.

6. The Doors - The Soft Parade

The Soft Parade is probably the worst album by The Doors, but it's still quite amazing of an album. The Doors never made an album that wouldn't be great. The Soft Parade has probably the biggest sounds and most ambitious production of all the Doors albums. It features the hit song Touch Me, which is among their most recognisable songs. Wild Child and Wishful Sinful are also great songs. The over eight minute title-track is a great piece of more experimental songwriting with multiple parts and musical styles. The Doors is one of the best bands of all times and all of their albums deserve to be remembered as classics. It's amazing how this band managed to make so many great albums in only four years while touring at the same time. How many band's can say the same for themselves. Listen to the album on Spotify.

5. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

I remember talking to one of my friends at the beginning of the uni about Frank Zappa and he couldn't understand why I liked Zappa, since in his mind it was just humour music. I didn't understand his comments, since I had mainly listened to hot Rats, while he had only heard songs like Don't Eat the Yellow Snow. Hot Rats, is really nowhere close to humour music. It's ambitious jazz-influenced progressive rock. Peaches En Regalia are among his best known songs. All the instruments are played with amazing talent. Nowadays Zappa is played by various cover bands and starting musicians awe before his songs that are really hard to play. Zappa even has his own statue in Vilnius. The reason apparently is that after the communist rule, Lithuanian people wanted to commemorate some western artist and they chose Zappa. Listen to the album on Spotify.

4. Led Zeppelin - I

Led Zeppelin released their two first albums in 1969. I had to think quite a long time whether to add the debut or number 2. I then decided on the debut, since it has a broader variety between the different styles, which has always been Zeppelin's main strength. Even though the main sound is hard rock, there are significant influences from blues and folk. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and Dazed and Confused are among the best songs by the band with the former showing their talents in ballad-making and the latter showing the amazing experimentalism of the band. Communication Breakdown and Good Times Bad Times are good examples of more customary Zeppelin. You Shook Me and I Can't Quit You Baby show the blues roots of Led Zeppelin. Listen to the album on Spotify.

3. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left

I can't believe that I have to put this album to the third place, since almost any other year it would be number one. nick Drake's debut album is his best one. It has melancholic folk songs with hypnotic beautiful singing and amazing guitar-playing. River Man is one of the best songs ever written and performed. The string arrangements are amazing. Way to Blue and Day Is Done are also beautiful symphonies of sadness. Cello Song shows the amazing guitar-playing talent of Nick Drake. The bass-lines in this song are also interesting. Nick Drake has been a direct influence for many singer-songwriters through the years, but the one that resembles him the most nowadays is probably Jose Gonzales. He even made a version of Cello Song with Books for the compilation album Dark Was the Night. Listen to the album on Spotify.

2. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

King Crimson started their career amazingly strong. Their debut album was an instant masterpiece and it may be said to have started the progressive rock genre. Nothing quite similar had ever been heard before. 21st Century Schizoid Man starts the epic album with a bang. This experimental extravaganza has rough guitars and amazing bass-lines. Epitaph is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It has quite strong English folk influences. Moonchild is also sheer beauty with its night-like hypnotism. Doves made an interesting paced-up version of this song using the word moonshine. The ending title-track seals the deal for one of the best albums ever made. Unfortunately the driving force behind this band, Greg Lake, left the band to join Emerson, Lake and Palmer and even though King Crimson has made some fairly good other albums, none of them compare to this masterpiece. Listen to the album on Youtube.

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road

Abbey Road is the best album by legendary The Beatles. It was also their last recorded album. The band already knew this was going to be their last performance and it shows as ambitious range of songs. The second half of the album is sheer bliss, combining songs together to make a unified sound out of many different songs. Because is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Here Comes the Sun shows the full song-writing potential of George Harrison. The first half also has some amazing moments, such as Come Together, Something and I Want You (She's So Heavy). Even though there are couple of songs, that could've been left out (Octopus's Garden and Maxwell's Silver Hammer), this album is one of the best ones ever made. It shows the full potential of the best band in the world. Listen to the album on Youtube.

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