My Favorite Albums
Hello Humans! Lately, I've been listening to my favorite artists from the 60s and 70s again. So I thought I'd post about my 13 favorite albums of all time. 13 is my favorite number, and when I compiled my list this morning, it just so happened to come out at 13. My favorite part about 60s and 70s music is how the albums were put together. All the attention to detail. The album cover, the lyrics, the guitar solos, the drum beat, the steady bass line, the harmonies, the order of songs on the actual album. I mean, literally everything counted for these bands back in the day. I know that if I put on an album from the 60s and 70s, I can listen to the whole album and be left wanting more. There is just so much punch packed into their albums, which normally have a wide-range of different musical instruments and different styles of rock. They are true masterpieces.
13. NEW
Now, this album is not actually form the 60s or 70s, but actually 2013. However, it was made by Paul McCartney, so I'll let it pass. Paul put many of his memories from his childhood and also from the Beatles into this album, making it mean so much more to him and his fans. Also the fact that he was 73 when he made this is quite the feat. And while some of his albums have not struck it in the big leagues, this one definitely did. The slick album cover made NEW into a fashion icon and a sign of loyalty to Paul among fans. This album changed how I looked at Album Covers and the accompanying artwork of my music.
12. Led Zeppelin IV
Did you know that every song on this album, except one (Four Sticks) made it into their Anthology, "Mothership?" That in itself is a testament of this album's awesomeness. It starts off with a punch in the song "Black Dog." The crazy guitar of Jimmy Page and unique voice of Robert Plant, pulled together by their drummer and bassist, John Bonham and John Paul Jones. This continues into "Rock and Roll," and then you hit "The Battle of Evermore," where everything slows down. Or at least, it's slow for Led Zeppelin. One really cool thing about Led Zeppelin is that they were fascinated with the Vikings and Magic. This works its way into many of their songs, especially this one. Next you come across probably, the best known song in all of Classic Rock history. Strategically placed at the very end of Side A of the vinyl, it gives you time to think about the masterpiece you just heard. "Stairway to Heaven," starts off with some gorgeous guitar by Jimmy Page, and then Robert Plant comes in singing the magical words, "there's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold, and she's buying the Stairway to Heaven." Please do yourself a favor and just listen to this work of art. Also, it's super fun to play on guitar. This song is one of the reasons why I'm so close to buying a guitar over here on the island. Side B is definitely not my favorite, except the bluesy, hard rock song of "When the Levee Breaks." That one is another work of art. The way they advertised for this album too, was super cool. Each of the 4 members came up with a sign that represented them. Led Zeppelin never actually put their names on the album or named the album, they just put their four signs on the inside cover. They wanted to prove to the media that their name wasn't the reason people loved their music, it was because their music was actually really good. It proved to be right.
11. Highway 61 Revisited
Who doesn't love a little Bob Dylan? His poetic words mixed with his inability to sing make it seem all the better. Really, just pick a Bob Dylan album and it's a masterpiece. Bob Dylan's music taught me to listen to the words of the song and figure out their meaning. I picked Highway 61 Revisited over other albums of his, because it was the album where Bob Dylan started changing from pure Folk music into Folk-Rock music. This album influenced many great artists around this time to put Folk music elements into their Rock music. So thank you Bob Dylan for making the switch to Folk-Rock music so that my top 3 albums could exist.
10. Venus and Mars
"Venus and Mars are alright tonight." I painted my first guitar like the accompanying album artwork, it has a song about my favorite Marvel Super Villains, and my favorite Wings line-up recorded it. One of the most successful Wings albums, and for a reason. Like NEW, the simplistic album cover and artwork was made into an icon for fans all over the world. The music is very diverse again, going from the more "pop" song of "Magneto and Titanium Man," to the bluesy "Call Me Back Again," to the just plain weird, "Spirits of Ancient Egypt." But everyone of them is key to the album's success among a diverse group of people all around the world. The harmonies are spot on, and Mmmm, Paul's singing in "Call Me Back Again." It makes my heart skip a beat or two.
9. Wish You Were Here
While this album may look short, at only 5 songs, you are forgetting that it contains the 13 minute "Shine on you Crazy Diamond Pt. 1-5," and 12 minute "Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pt. 6-9." I will say, every single second of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pt. 1-5" is pure artwork. The beginning making you feel like you're in a different universe with the weird sound effects (A Pink Floyd Signature), then the build-up of the guitar until you reach 8 minutes and 41 seconds and you hear the words, "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun." After just two and a half minutes of singing, a Saxophone kicks in, taking you back down to ground level for the next song. Pretty much every Pink Floyd album is what's known as a "Concept Album," where every song fits into a theme of some sort. For this album, you can take the obvious one that comes from, "Welcome to The Machine," which is the the daily grind is boring, or you can look into three songs, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pt 1-5 and 6-9", and "Wish You Were Here." The theme is to not conform. To be yourself.
8. Band on The Run
The most successful album of the Wings, and only made by 3 people, believe it or not, in Africa. Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney played all of the instruments, sung all of the harmonies, and did it all while in a small studio in Africa. That in of itself is a feat. Again, the diversity of songs is incredible. Even within a song, "Band on The Run," we see multiple different techniques and tempos used. The guitar riff of "Let Me Roll It," inspired so many newer artists, and taught them a good method of how to write songs. You start with a good guitar riff and go from there. The album ends with "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five," a personal favorite. This gorgeous piano masterpiece, in the end, ties the whole album back together with the last line being, "Band on the Run, the Band on the Run."
7. In Through the Out Door
This was one of Led Zeppelin's last albums, and was while they had their sound all put together. I personally just love this album's diversity of songs, starting from the bluesy and powerful "In the Evening," to the 10 minute and 34 second "Carouselambra," to the soppy love-song of "All of My Love." The other cool thing besides the amazing music is the album cover. The Vinyl came in, and still does come in, a brown paper covering that says in the corner, "In Through the Out Door, Led Zeppelin," so you can't see the artwork. You open it up and get surprised by which album cover you get. They set up the scene of the album cover, and took a picture from multiple different angles around the room. It's the exact same scene, just seen through a different vantage point. It makes hard-core Led Zeppelin fans want to buy the album 4 different times, just so that they can have all 4 different album covers on display.
6. Tommy
A lot of people think that Pink Floyd was the first band to put out a "Concept Album," but the first known album where all the songs related to a single theme was "Tommy," by The Who. "Tommy" is one album that really has it all put together. From the sleek album cover, to the accompanying artwork, to every musical note and lyric provided, no wonder it took Pete 2 years to write and produce. "Tommy" is not only a concept album, but it is known as the first full-length "Rock Opera." When I first heard this term, I was like "What the heck? Rock and Operas don't mix at all." Well, it turns out, they do very well. No, it's not opera singing to crazy rock'n'roll guitar solos, which is what I had in mind, but just a story told through Rock music. Tommy is a young boy, who ends up witnessing his mother's lover's death, after his father goes off to war, is claimed dead, and then comes back. His parents tell him to not say anything, pretend like you didn't see anything, or hear anything. This triggers the boy Tommy to go deaf, dumb, and blind. The whole album, after "1921" is his spiritual journey through tough tests and struggles he goes through, while his parents try to make him able to see, talk, and hear again. In the end, he ends up being able to get all three back, goes on to teach about his spiritual experiences and how it changed him. Then the people start rejecting him, because they just want money. End of story, Tommy retreats back into himself and there goes his seeing, hearing, and speaking skills again. It's one of those albums you have to listen to a few times to fall in love with it. I have listened to it many, many, MANY times and love it with all of my heart. The lessons I keep learning from its words and music are incredible. Fantastic job, Pete Townshend. They also added a song and change the story up a little bit, at the very last minute, to win over the heart of a music critic. Pete had heard that he like Pinball, so why not add a song about Pinball. That was the birth of the hit, "Pinball Wizard." The plan worked, and the album got boosted up a ton by that one music critic.
5. LOVE
So, this album was technically made in the 1960s, but not put together until the 2000s. The Beatles Love album was made for a Cirque Du Solei show by George Martin, the Beatles music producer, and his son, Giles Martin. George Harrison, lead guitarist for the Beatles, found out about the Cirque Du Solei and talked to the other boys about it. They agreed, and George oversaw most of the project, until his tragic death half-way through it. George and Giles Martin went back to Abbey Road Studios, and took all of the Beatles recordings, cut them up and then mashed them back together. Some songs are played backwards, as "Gnik Nus," others had different songs smushed together, such as "Get Back," shich starts with the opening chord from "A Hard Day's Night," followed by the solos from, "The End," and then the actual song, "Get Back," starts, to harder songs to figure out, such as "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing." For "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing," George and Giles knew that they wanted to mash them all together, but they didn't know how because all of the drum beats were different. That's when they took a closer look at the opening drums from "What You're Doing." It was the key to putting them all together. Thank you Ringo Starr for your contribution to this work of art. "Hey Jude" was enhanced by taking out the last guitar parts, encouraging the crowd to sing, "Na, na, na, nananana, nananana, Hey Jude." "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was an incredible feat. George Martin found some old sheet music that George Harrison had originally wrote for it. He took that, and gave it to a small orchestra to play. The acoustic guitar mixed with the string section brings many emotions to the surface. It's truly incredible.
4. Who's Next
Opening up with the incredible synthesizer of "Baba O'Riley," Who's Next opens up strong. This incredible album has literally changed my life. Again, the diversity of music styles is incredible, from the acoustic guitar in "Behind Blue Eyes," to the piano in "The Song is Over," to the rock'n'roll of "Love Ain't for Keeping." This album came out a few years after "Tommy," and was the result of Pete giving up on another Rock Opera. He wanted the Rock Opera to be interactive with the listener, but sadly the technology was not around at the time. The result of it was a very amazing album. Who's Next is continually ranked as one of the albums to change music's history.
3. Rubber Soul
I dub this as the "Love Song" album of the Beatles. Every song talks about some girl that they love. But don't be fooled, this album was made right after the Beatles stopped touring, and started to focus more on their music. They incorporate so many cool instruments and techniques into their music. In "Norwegian Wood," George uses a Sitar for the first time in an album, "Think For Yourself," has such a strong bass-line that continues in their other albums, and "Nowhere Man," is the beginning of their more psychedelic music. And that's just scratching the surface of this album. There is just so much packed into this album. The "Rubber Soul" normally takes 5th place on "Most Influential Albums of Rock History." No wonder it is the album that started the Beatles off into making music history. That is, after they were already famous for Beatlesmania.
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
This album is normally ranked at the top album in all music history. For me, my top two are really close. I love both of the equally, but Sgt. Pepper's literally changed music history, so I have to rank it higher. All that aside, it is still one of the most amazing albums of all time. It was Paul's idea, because they had just stopped touring a year earlier to focus more on their music, to come up with a fake band and make their music sound different. The result was one psychedelic trip. I started listing my personal favorites, only to discover it was the whole album, so we'll just scrap that part. Just listen to the album, it's amazing. The artwork too, has been re-made by people many times over. There is actually a wall in Salt Lake City with a mock of the album painted on it.
1. Revolver
Wow. I could talk about this album forever and ever. My first vinyl record and my favorite. It starts off with dissing the government, and ends with expanding your mind. The artwork is a picture and drawing collage. Most people think it's named after the "Revolver" Gun, but it's actually named after how it revolves around your record player. The tape on "I'm Only Sleeping" got caught in the machine and started to play this groovy, psychedelic music, which was the beginning of putting reversed music into songs. "Love You Too," was when George was really comfortable with incorporating Indian instruments, ideas, and culture into his songs. Which is shown prevalently through this psychedelic masterpiece. "Yellow Submarine" was made into a movie, and now is an icon and a fashion statement. The guitar riff in "And Your Bird Can Sing" is one that is very popular to master among young guitarists. "Dr. Robert" shows the beginning of their interest and experimentation in drugs at the time. "Got to Get You Into My Life" may seem like a love song at first. Well, it is a love song written by Paul, but its confessing his love of drugs. "Here, There, and Everywhere" set their harmonies to perfection. "Eleanor Rigby" is one Beatles Song that has so many covers by other artists, it's hard to keep track of which one is the real one. This album is just amazing, and you should listen to it right now. It's my favorite for a reason, and that's because it's the best.
BONUS: Abbey Road
I realized as I was writing about the Revolver that I forgot the amazing Abbey Road. Just a little bit of background, it was the last Beatles record Recorded, but not the last released. Paul came to George Martin and asked if he would produce it, like they did back in the day. Abbey Road takes a step back from their more psychedelic take on music to their sound when they recorded "Rubber Soul." It's another amazing album where they were able to piece together many songs that had no fit elsewhere.
I hope you enjoyed my review on my favorite albums and why they're my favorites! And maybe you'll discover a new favorite album from my list. Stay wild, flower child.