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Post by berkley on Apr 5, 2024 23:01:26 GMT -5
Aw, hell, 1984 already? Just when I decided to belatedly throw my hat into the ring for 1974. Well, what the hell, here goes... My whole list is jammed into a single post, because a) I’d been slammed with work since late February and didn’t have the time previously think much about this much less do posts one at a time, b) I’m not really knowledgeable enough about the music I like to write intelligently about it at length, and c) I only have the vaguest notion of the release years of various albums and don’t really categorize music in my head in that way (e.g., I had to go look up albums released in 1974 on Wikipedia just draw up this list). Also, this is sort of a combination of my actually favorite albums from that year with a few honorable mentions at the lower end that I thought deserved a shout-out. Of the albums/acts I know from the remainder of your list, these are my brief thoughts... I don't mind David Bowie, but I'm more of a casual, Greatest Hits-type fan, so I don't know Diamond Dogs in its entirety. I don't know that specific Quincy Jones album, but pretty much anything by Jones from this sort of era is worth hearing. Supertramp I have no time for whatsoever, I'm afraid. Great musicians, but their music is too slick, too polished, too middle-of-the-road for me and ultimately I find them a bit boring. I'm not a big prog rock fan, with the exception of early Genesis, so King Crimson are just one of those bands that never really spoke to me. Amazing musicians in that band though -- especially Robert Fripp. Funkadelic and other George Clinton-related bands like Parliament are a huge blind spot for me. I love late 60s/early 70s soul and funk though, so I really need to listen to some of this stuff more. The Doobie Brothers are always a fun listen -- especially in the first half of the 70s -- though for me their peak was a couple of years prior to this with Toulouse Street.
I quite like Supertramp, especially this one, Crisis, What Crisis?, and Even in the Quietest Moments, which were the only three I had myself. Then came Breakfast in America, which I think I also would have bought and enjoyed if it hadn't been so overplayed on the radio that I got sick of it and even of the band itself in general for quite a few years. Not their fault, just the nature of the pop music industry back then, I suppose, when certain successful bands would be played to death on the radio, and then you'd hear them at parties, etc too, like there was no escape. Probably this varies from listener to listener but certain bands can withstand this kind of relentless exposure without becoming tiresome but most, including some very good artists that I like a lot, cannot.
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Post by berkley on Apr 5, 2024 23:18:57 GMT -5
Diamond Dogs by David Bowie
For me this is one of Bowie's very best albums featuring some of his best songwriting, lyrically and musically. I would cite the title song, Sweet Thing, Rebel Rebel, and Rock and Roll With Me in particular as up there with the best things he ever wrote. I don't think there's an over-arching storyline that can be traced through the album because apparently it started off with the idea of adapting 1984, until Bowie found out he couldn't get the rights and thereafter evolved into something else. But lyrically he creates some stunning scenes and images from what I think it's fair to say is some kind of vaguely post-apocalyptic setting - Diamond Dogs and Sweet Thing would be good examples, though not the only ones.
I think Bowie, like certain other artists (one of whom will be appearing later in my list), isn't well-served by compilations - his output is too varied in style and approach and most of his work, at least from Man Who Sold the World through to Scary Monsters, is best encountered as individual albums, each of which having such a distinct personality, as it were.
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2024 0:37:08 GMT -5
Well, since life got in the way and I'm behind the curve on 1974, I'm going to try and catch up. I won't be participating in the current 1985 run, because I'm going to be traveling starting Saturday and won't be back until Wednesday afternoon. So let's get on with it.
Favorite albums of 1974
#3-- Axe Victim-- Be-Bop Deluxe
This album is the band's initial official release, and I still think it's one of their best. Be-Bop Deluxe is difficult to categorize for the uninitiated, but early records such as this one tend to lean toward the mid-70's Glam movement, but only in the musical sense, as the band wasn't really known for dolling it up like most other glam bands. However, the influence of Bowie is palpable, and the themes lean heavy into science fiction at times. The Bowie comparison miffed band leader/guitarist Bill Nelson so much that he fired the entire band after this record, and re-formed around a different group of musicians. Later records by the group are much more in a prog/art rock vein. Even so, if you like early-mid '70s Bowie, it's pretty much a shoe -in that you'll like this album. Bill Nelson is an incredibly talented guitarist to boot, with a real knack for blending melody with rhythm passages. Most of the tracks aren't simply songs, they are sonic landscapes with narration.
If you like this, I highly recommend what I think is the finest record by this relatively short-lived group, 1977's Live! In the Air Age.
The title track- Axe Victim--wherein Bill Nelson both celebrates and slightly lambasts the "Glam-rock" movement-
My personal favorite track from the album: Jets at Dawn--
And my second-favorite track, Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape--
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Post by berkley on Apr 6, 2024 0:57:46 GMT -5
Well, since life got in the way and I'm behind the curve on 1974, I'm going to try and catch up. I won't be participating in the current 1985 run, because I'm going to be traveling starting Saturday and won't be back until Wednesday afternoon. So let's get on with it.
Favorite albums of 1974
#3-- Axe Victim-- Be-Bop Deluxe
This album is the band's initial official release, and I still think it's one of their best. Be-Bop Deluxe is difficult to categorize for the uninitiated, but early records such as this one tend to lean toward the mid-70's Glam movement, but only in the musical sense, as the band wasn't really known for dolling it up like most other glam bands. However, the influence of Bowie is palpable, and the themes lean heavy into science fiction at times. The Bowie comparison miffed band leader/guitarist Bill Nelson so much that he fired the entire band after this record, and re-formed around a different group of musicians. Later records by the group are much more in a prog/art rock vein. Even so, if you like early-mid '70s Bowie, it's pretty much a shoe -in that you'll like this album. Bill Nelson is an incredibly talented guitarist to boot.
My older brother had one of their records that I used to like but looking through their discography I'm not sure which one - I would have said Modern Music, but the album cover wikipedia shows definitely isn't the one I remember - perhaps there were regional variations? My memories are from that time and thus very misty but such as they are, they coincide with your description. I have an impression of very slick and intricate guitar lines, smooth vocals, unconventional song structures (for pop music), ...
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2024 1:36:04 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#2-- Good Old Boys-- Randy Newman This is the fourth studio album by perhaps one of the most acidic musical wits of our time. In this case Mr. Newman paints a musical pastiche of Southern culture, both from a modern (for 1974) perspective, and also a retrospective viewpoint on many songs. Newman spent a portion of his childhood living in New Orleans (where his mother was from) and despite being the nephew of film composers Lionel Newman and Alfred Newman ( not Alfred E. Neuman!) and being born in California, Randy's childhood summers were largely spent in New Orleans with his maternal relatives. Newman has a talent for Jonathan Swift-like satire, Oscar Wilde-like candor, and an even greater talent for setting it all to musical composition. With the opening song, Rednecks, Newman manages to take a jab at racism in both the South and the North, but from the viewpoint of a close-minded bigoted southerner... the same type of person who complained about "Short People" in his later hit (on another album). Nevertheless, the chorus of the song can be disturbing to many people, as it uses the pejorative "N-word" liberally. Even so, one must keep in mind that the voice in the song is coming from a true bigoted "redneck", and is not an espousal of the writer's personal viewpoint (Newman is Jewish, and politically a well-known liberal). It's also important to remember that when this album was released, the Civil Rights Act in the US was barely 10 years old, and it takes a lot more than 10 years to erase generational prejudices, so Newman did his best to help things along by roasting these uncivilized viewpoints.
I won't post a clip of this song, as I'm not looking to stir the pot or potentially cause discomfort or risk that the lyrics might be taken at face value-- they should not. It's out there if you wish to seek it. The rest of the album is nowhere near as controversial, but does include unusual topics such as a drunkard revealing his love for his wife, The Great Depression, The Mississippi flood of 1927, a musical nod to Huey P. Long, a circus-freak wedding, among other themes. Most, but not all songs are from a poor southern man's viewpoint, and Newman's wit and turn-of-phrase are liberally sprinkled throughout. True to his heritage and his resulting later output, Newman writes and arranges this album as if it were a soundtrack, and it could easily have been one. The songs flow evenly into each other, painting various pictures of life in the south, good and bad.
Birmingham--
Louisiana 1927-- (not remastered, volume is a little low)
Naked Man--
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2024 2:15:42 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#1-- Past, Present and Future-- Al Stewart
North America cover: (comic-related trivia-- yes, that figure leaping through the time portal is supposed to be Dr. Stephen Strange! The same character also appears on the US cover of Stewart's follow-up album, Modern Times)
UK/Euro cover: (much more stoic- no tea and biscuits, What?)
Yes, that Al Stewart, of Year of the Cat fame. Past, Present and Future was Stewart's fifth studio album, but his first to make any real impact in the US. This is largely because his first four albums were born out of the British folk movement of the mid-1960's. Stewart cut his teeth in coffee bars and the collegiate circuit throughout the UK, on a repertoire of folk and often highly personal and autobiographical love songs. A self-avowed history and literature junkie, he later decide to shift his writing focus to things of a more historical nature, and basically invented "history pop"-- and is still likely one of its few champions. This album is where Stewart really begins to feel his true muse.
In fact, there's not a single love song on the entire record.
Since I am also a history and literature buff, my gravitation toward the album and the artist was quite organic in nature. The production values are average, but the musicianship is top-hole, and features several notable musicians, including Tim Renwick (of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver), Bruce Thomas (later of Elvis Costello and the Attractions), Rick Wakeman, and Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention) to name few. Stewart himself is no slouch on acoustic guitar, either.
As you can see from my selections from 1974, while I do have pretty wide tastes, I do lean into certain styles frequently. I love storytelling songs, and I love acoustic guitar as much as I love electric. Rock, pop, soul, country, jazz, blues, classical, rap, big band, showtunes, etc; I'm willing to give anything a shot, and I strive to find some redeeming quality in just about any genre (well, excepting maybe Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music). I also particularly love music that inspires me to write as well. 
Roads to Moscow--
Old Admirals--
Nostradamus--
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 6, 2024 3:37:53 GMT -5
Yes, that Al Stewart, of Year of the Cat fame. (...)
Hey, I like "Year of the Cat" (the song). |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 6, 2024 6:13:14 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#1-- Past, Present and Future-- Al Stewart That's a great album. By far Al Stewart's best IMHO. But it's a 1973 album, which is why is wasn't on my list (although I see from Wikipedia that it wasn't issued in the States until 1974, so I'll let you off.  ). But yeah, fantastic album. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Apr 6, 2024 8:08:32 GMT -5
OK, Top 10 albums of 1984. Here we go... #10 - Legend by Clannad This is the eighth album by the Irish folk group Clannad and is a soundtrack to the ITV series Robin of Sherwood, which the band were commissioned to produce. I was a big fan of the TV show when I was a kid – and I still am! – and the mysterious, ethereal, folk-influenced soundtrack music has always been a big part of the show's appeal. My best friend at the time was also a fan of the show and it was he who actually bought this album on cassette tape at the time (I didn't own it 'til I got the CD in the early '90s). I recorded a copy of my friend's tape onto a blank C90 cassette using my newly acquired twin-tape deck ghetto blaster. The music on Legend is a fascinating blend of Old English-style folk melody and acoustic instrumentation, combined with then-modern mid-80s synthesizers and drums drenched in gated reverb. The show's theme "Robin (The Hooded Man)" is by far the most famous song from this album, but there are many better tracks to be found here IMO. Stand out favourites of mine have always been "Herne", "Together We", "Scarlet Inside", "Battles", and "Darkmere". This is the only Clannad album I've ever owned or ever wanted to own, to be honest. Their other '80s albums are slightly less indebted to English folk and tend to be a bit more "pop", in my experience. Legend is a perennial favourite and an album that I return to pretty often. Here's the song "Together We", which provides a good example of the album's blend of folk melodies, acoustic instrumentation, and 80s synths... |
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2024 9:34:12 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#1-- Past, Present and Future-- Al Stewart That's a great album. By far Al Stewart's best IMHO. But it's a 1973 album, which is why is wasn't on my list (although I see from Wikipedia that it wasn't issued in the States until 1974, so I'll let you off. ). But yeah, fantastic album.
Yeah, apparently the US release was an afterthought, hence its delayed release.
You see, Al's only previous album to be released in the US was 1969's Love Chronicles (his 2nd album), mainly because it won the Melody Maker's "Folk Album of the Year" award in 1970, and also because it featured two renown guitarists throughout the record-- a certain James Patrick Page on electric guitar (right in between his Yardbirds and "New Yardbirds"/Led Zeppelin phase), and also Richard Thompson, along with three other members of Fairport Convention. Despite this, Love Chronicles was a victim of corporate accountancy mis-handling. Less than month after its US release (on Epic Records, a CBS sub-label), Epic Records had a change in management and promptly deleted about 1/5 of its current titles as a cost-cutting measure, including Al's newly-released record. Subsequently, not very many copies of Love Chronicles were released in the US, and the few copies that were printed mostly ended up in the "cut-out" discount bins in the shops. So basically, Love Chronicles never had a chance here (although I do own two pristine US copies, as well as a UK edition!).
So Past, Present and Future was Al's first visible release in the US, albeit after much waffling by the CBS-UK executives prior to green-lighting US distribution... this is the primary reason for the tardiness of the US release. To most people in the US, PPF was his first record.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 6, 2024 10:09:53 GMT -5
There's a lot to unpack here. Let's just say that our tastes in music...diverge wildly. (...) Probably not as much as you'd think. I also like some country/western and a lot of blues. It's just that my tastes are kind of all over the place, and while there's a broad range of things I like listening to, my familiarity with a lot of stuff is pretty shallow, esp. when it comes to albums. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2024 13:40:15 GMT -5
There's a lot to unpack here. Let's just say that our tastes in music...diverge wildly. (...) Probably not as much as you'd think. I also like some country/western and a lot of blues. It's just that my tastes are kind of all over the place, and while there's a broad range of things I like listening to, my familiarity with a lot of stuff is pretty shallow, esp. when it comes to albums. It's all good. I'm just thinking that we are pretty close in age and grew up in small town Pacific Northwest. Though, to be fair, my tastes in music are pretty divergent from most of the folks I grew up with. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2024 13:41:41 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1984
#9 - George Strait – Does Fort Worth Every Cross Your Mind
I like, but don't love, George Strait. You're just not going to ever hear me refer to him as King George. But I have a lot of respect for him. He's been putting out solid traditional country albums and songs for the last forty years. And in 1984, two years before Dwight Yoakam or Randy Travis would release their first albums he was one of a precious few fellers playing traditional country music and getting airplay.
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind is just a super solid album top to bottom. You can make a really good argument that it's his best album. I'm not entirely sold, because, while the singles off it are good, none of them are really my favorites. The title track is really good though. And there's just a great cross-section of traditional country sounds on the album, from hot jumpers to honky-tonk weepers. It's just a super tight collection of tracks and I would contend that it's the best pure country album of 1984 (I do have three that are country adjacent above it).
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2024 13:55:15 GMT -5
Well, since life got in the way and I'm behind the curve on 1974, I'm going to try and catch up. I won't be participating in the current 1985 run, because I'm going to be traveling starting Saturday and won't be back until Wednesday afternoon. So let's get on with it.
Favorite albums of 1974
#3-- Axe Victim-- Be-Bop Deluxe
I got nuthin'. Favorite albums of 1974
#2-- Good Old Boys-- Randy Newman This is the fourth studio album by perhaps one of the most acidic musical wits of our time. In this case Mr. Newman paints a musical pastiche of Southern culture, both from a modern (for 1974) perspective, and also a retrospective viewpoint on many songs. Newman spent a portion of his childhood living in New Orleans (where his mother was from) and despite being the nephew of film composers Lionel Newman and Alfred Newman ( not Alfred E. Neuman!) and being born in California, Randy's childhood summers were largely spent in New Orleans with his maternal relatives. Newman has a talent for Jonathan Swift-like satire, Oscar Wilde-like candor, and an even greater talent for setting it all to musical composition. With the opening song, Rednecks, Newman manages to take a jab at racism in both the South and the North, but from the viewpoint of a close-minded bigoted southerner... the same type of person who complained about "Short People" in his later hit (on another album). Nevertheless, the chorus of the song can be disturbing to many people, as it uses the pejorative "N-word" liberally. Even so, one must keep in mind that the voice in the song is coming from a true bigoted "redneck", and is not an espousal of the writer's personal viewpoint (Newman is Jewish, and politically a well-known liberal). It's also important to remember that when this album was released, the Civil Rights Act in the US was barely 10 years old, and it takes a lot more than 10 years to erase generational prejudices, so Newman did his best to help things along by roasting these uncivilized viewpoints.
I won't post a clip of this song, as I'm not looking to stir the pot or potentially cause discomfort or risk that the lyrics might be taken at face value-- they should not. It's out there if you wish to seek it. The rest of the album is nowhere near as controversial, but does include unusual topics such as a drunkard revealing his love for his wife, The Great Depression, The Mississippi flood of 1927, a musical nod to Huey P. Long, a circus-freak wedding, among other themes. Most, but not all songs are from a poor southern man's viewpoint, and Newman's wit and turn-of-phrase are liberally sprinkled throughout. True to his heritage and his resulting later output, Newman writes and arranges this album as if it were a soundtrack, and it could easily have been one. The songs flow evenly into each other, painting various pictures of life in the south, good and bad.
I mostly know Newman from radio airplay, but he is one of the great musical satirists. The fact that people don't get that it's satire makes it that much funnier to me. Favorite albums of 1974
#1-- Past, Present and Future-- Al Stewart
North America cover: (comic-related trivia-- yes, that figure leaping through the time portal is supposed to be Dr. Stephen Strange! The same character also appears on the US cover of Stewart's follow-up album, Modern Times)
UK/Euro cover: (much more stoic- no tea and biscuits, What?)
I literally know Al Stewart just from Year of the Cat. Sigh. I'm very parochial. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2024 13:59:49 GMT -5
OK, Top 10 albums of 1984. Here we go... #10 - Legend by ClannadThis is the eighth album by the Irish folk group Clannad and is a soundtrack to the ITV series Robin of Sherwood, which the band were commissioned to produce. I was a big fan of the TV show when I was a kid – and I still am! – and the mysterious, ethereal, folk-influenced soundtrack music has always been a big part of the show's appeal. My best friend at the time was also a fan of the show and it was he who actually bought this album on cassette tape at the time (I didn't own it 'til I got the CD in the early '90s). I recorded a copy of my friend's tape onto a blank C90 cassette using my newly acquired twin-tape deck ghetto blaster. The music on Legend is a fascinating blend of Old English-style folk melody and acoustic instrumentation, combined with then-modern mid-80s synthesizers and drums drenched in gated reverb. The show's theme "Robin (The Hooded Man)" is by far the most famous song from this album, but there are many better tracks to be found here IMO. Stand out favourites of mine have always been "Herne", "Together We", "Scarlet Inside", "Battles", and "Darkmere". This is the only Clannad album I've ever owned or ever wanted to own, to be honest. Their other '80s albums are slightly less indebted to English folk and tend to be a bit more "pop", in my experience. Legend is a perennial favourite and an album that I return to pretty often. Here's the song "Together We", which provides a good example of the album's blend of folk melodies, acoustic instrumentation, and 80s synths... I vaguely know the name Clannad just from seeing some CDs now and then. It's the kind of thing that I enjoy for about ten minutes...and then get super tired of pretty quick. Of more interest to me was your twin cassette ghetto blaster. Because I had one of those babies too. |
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). But yeah, fantastic album.