This is the most legendary of the Velvet Underground albums, but sometimes I have to wonder why. There are few really spectacular songs, yes, but as a whole the album is not as good as it could be. There are many noisy parts on the album that just make me want to change the track. Still, I can understand the meaning of this album as a way to introduce new sounds and techniques. I really like songs like Sunday Morning, I'm Waiting for a Man and Run Run Run. If the album would consist of only these kinds of pre-glam tunes, I would love it. The hypnotic Heroin and shamanic Venus In Furs are also great pieces of art rock. I think my main objection is the last song European Son, that should've in my mind be left out. Mostly this is a fantastic albums and Nico's vocal parts give it nice changes for the usual sound. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I was introduced to this album by the title-track as it was played in the first Austin Powers film. For many people, this is the only song they know from this band. It's a great song so there's no wonder why it peaked quite high on the charts at the time of its release. The greatness of The Strawberry Alarm Clock does not, however, stay there. The whole album is filled with great psychedelic rock songs. It was difficult to understand why this band was not more well-known, until I learned that the albums have been quite hard to find. It took them a long time to release this album on CD and with the years this music has stayed in oblivion. Hopefully many new generations will find this band, because it's one of the best albums of the 60's psychedelic era. Those Hippies sure knew how to make music. Listen to the album on Youtube.
8. The Moody Blues - Days of the Future PassedThe Moody Blues' early albums were strongly influenced by classical music and maybe especially film music. At least there's that kind of feel to these songs. Also, poetry and English folklore play their part in these songs. Days of the Future Passed is a concept album telling a story of a day from the first hours of morning to the night. Nights in White Satin is the most well-known song of the whole band and I can really understand why. Tuesday Afternoon is also worth mentioning. It combines upbeat rock n' roll parts to quiet and hypnotic parts. There are small instrumental parts between the individual songs that have the more classical music sound to them. they often make variations of the themes heard in the individual songs. This is a great concept album and probably one of the first ones. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Most people know the later Pink Floyd better. The one that made Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The early Pink Floyd is a completely different band, when it comes to music. The leader of the band, Syd Barrett, made psychedelic songs combining garage rock and new sound techniques to produce amazing landscapes. This remained the only album fully recorded with Syd Barrett. Other band members got tired of Barrett being so unpredictable due to drugs he was using and the band had to bring in a new guitar-player David Gilmour. The best song on the album is magnificent almost ten minute song Interstellar Overdrive. Lucifer Sam is also a great song with it's riffs that resemble James Bond theme. This album is a masterpiece in early psychedelic rock. Listen to the album on Spotify.
In general, I'm not a huge fan of Eric Clapton. Most of his music can be categorised as adult orientated rock (even the music he made while young). Some of the Cream songs, however, have made an impression on me and almost all of those songs are on this album. Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, SWLABR and Outside Woman Blues are great psych-rock classics. There are huge blues influences on this album, but also rougher garage sounds make this album one of the forefathers of metal music. The album cover shows brilliantly the feel of this psychedelia era, when drugs were widely used to broaden minds to make innovations in music. This album proofs that Eric Clapton is one of the best blues guitarists of all times. Cream certainly has influenced many other bands and this is their best album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Donovan is one of the greatest folk artists of the 60's. His first albums were quite purely folk, but these late 60's albums have great combinations of folk and pop-rock. Mellow Yellow is one of his best albums. Sand and Foam sounds a lot like Nick Drake albums released few years later. House of Jansch shows the guitar skills of Donovan beautifully. Young Girl Blues is amazingly beautiful ballad that gives me shivers every time. Hampstead Incident has beautiful string parts that almost make me cry out of sheer beauty. Donovan is Scottish and his music, although called imitation of Bob Dylan, is more influenced in English folk music than american in my mind. Donovan was also a huge influence on the Beatles at the time. As a whole, the album could be better than this , but there are so many amazing songs, that I can securely rate it this high. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Jimi Hendrix's debut album has a staggering amount of hit songs. Especially if you look at the US version of the album. Almost always, the UK versions are better, when it comes to 60's albums that were different in different countries. this time, however, the US version has much better selection of songs. It includes Purple Haze, Manic Depression, Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire and Foxey Lady. Already on this debut album, Hendrix's guitar-work is exceptional and the sounds are from another planet considering the time it was released. Hendrix performed once in Finland and the story of that show goes to show that Finland really wasn't linked to the rest of the world at the time. The show was only half-full of people and his music was described in the newspapers as non-music noise. Fortunately the later generations appreciate his music as much in Finland as everyone else does anywhere else. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Jefferson Airplane is one of my favourite bands from the 60's. That is all because of this one album. Surrealistic Pillow is filled with amazing melodic pop-rock songs, with psychedelic features and just enough melancholia. The music has significant folk influences as well, so the album contains all the best features of 60's musical styles. Somebody to Love and amazingly absurd White Rabbit are of course known to almost everyone, but the rest of the album is just as good. The lead guitar-player of this band is called Jorma Kaukonen. Every Finn knows immediately this is a Finnish name. Kaukonen's grandparents were Finnish. White Rabbit is often brought up in tv-series and films, when someone's taking hallucinate drugs. The lyrics have been thought to refer to LSD, even though the apparent meaning is in Alice in Wonderland story. Listen to the album on Spotify.
This album has many times been elected the best album of all times. I don't think that's true, since as The Beatles go, this is a very uneven performance by them. Some really fantastic songs, but then again many so and so songs as well. I guess the significance of the album truly lies in the production, which was revolutionary at the time. It's one of the first albums to really use stereo technique in an innovative way. Of course the good songs on this album are amazing. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, She's Leaving Home and With a little Help from My Friends are all great songs. The album also includes one of the best songs ever made, A Day in the Life. Still, the album is not coherently as good as Revolver or Abbey Road. Still, it's one of the most legendary albums of all times, which really influenced many artists to make fantastic albums. Listen to the album on Youtube.
The Doors is one of the most legendary bands in the history of pop-music. Their debut album is one of their best albums along with the last one. The self-titled debut brought about a new sound comparable to nothing else at the time. The rock organ of Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison's poetical weird lyrics took over the world almost immediately. Light My Fire is definitely the band's most well-known song, but the best song of the band is beautifully frightening The End. This almost 12 minute shamanistic hypnosis masterpiece is indeed one of the best songs ever made by anyone. The Doors have always had quite strong blues influences in their pop-rock. Back Door Man is an old blues classic covered beautifully by the band here. The Crystal Ship is one of the most beautiful songs by the band. This album is an amazing classic! listen to the album on Spotify.
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