The Clash

Rolling Stone Rank: 77

It's always interesting to hear the first recording of band you thought you knew. I remember in high school when I first bought London Calling. I was so impressed by the range and depth of The Clash. I never even realized it wasn't their first album. Stupid, yes I know, but in my defense we hadn't quite hit Web 2.0 yet and I didn't trust that crazy wikipedia site yet. Back to topic, after listening to this album some time later I'm initially struck that it's not the band I know. But of course the band I know was two years later in their existence. I'm wondering if you out there have had similar experiences? The only other example I can think of is listening to Nirvana's Bleach for the first time. Thoughts?

Stats

Album: The Clash
Artist: The Clash
Year: 1977
My Favorite Song: White Riot
Next Up: Neil Young

Imagine

Rolling Stone Rank: 76

The second Lennon solo album, ranked much lower on the RS list than the first, is a little bit softer and a little less angry than the first. It contains his most well-known composition (that he performed during his solo career). Imagine, as John points out, was:

"Anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it is sugar-coated it is accepted. . . . Now I understand what you have to do. Put your political message across with a little honey."

Great quote. Anyways, caught in the middle of his mellow anti-war song, and Yoko love ballads, is the vicious How Do You Sleep At Night? The very obvious retort to some of the lyrics from Paul's Ram. Later, Lennon claimed that the lyrics were mostly directed at himself, but that's tough to buy. I think the main thing I get from this album was how close John and Paul were. Even while he (Lennon) was asking for world peace and making grand songs for the love of his life, he couldn't hold back from lashing out at his former writing partner. The thing about Imagine, is that is might be the simplest song on the album, but isn't that how is goes? What do you think?

Stats

Album: Imagine
Artist: John Lennon
Year: 1971
My Favorite Song: Imagine
Next Up: The Clash

II

Rolling Stone Rank: 75

I've written about Zeppelin recently, so I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this. Just wanted to voice the thought I had while listening to this album. Teamwork. Is there a better example of 4 talented musicians giving their full effort to create beautiful music. Working so well together , their second album is where they really came together as a unit.

Stats

Album: II
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Year: 1969
My Favorite Song: Moby Dick
Next Up: Lennon

Otis Blue

Rolling Stone Rank: 74

I've definitely hit that part of the summer. The part when I've been sitting around a bit too long, and it's not close enough to be thinking about the next school year. doesn't help that I haven't slept much and it's 80 outside. On to Otis:

Great album, another one of the great voices of Rock and Roll. Of course, Otis is also known for his untimely death. His legacy, Sittin' On the Dock of a Bay, was recorded days before his plane crash and became his only number 1 hit. But, that song is not on this album, but don't fret it's still a great album. Otis puts so much passion, so much emotion into his singing that he forces you to pay attention to his lyrics. One of the pioneers of soul music, his style inspired a great deal future artists. Hi music is covered and referenced on a regular basis, but the most famous cover that you know is Respect. Take a listen to this great album, two more posts coming soon...

Stats

Album: Otis Blue
Artist: Otis Redding
Year: 1965
My Favorite Song: I've Been Loving You Too Long
Next Up: Zeppelin

Back in Black

Rolling Stone Rank: 73

Probably the exact opposite of Prince, AC/DC are pure rock. Fueled by the loss of the singer and friend, these Aussies put together of the most well-known rock albums of our time. It was a great way to start the 4th, since it was raining. The first of three albums I got through on Saturday...so more to come obviously.

Stats

Album: Back in Black
Artist: AC/DC
Year: 1980
My Favorite Song: You Shook Me All Night Long
Next Up: Otis Redding

Purple Rain

Rolling Stone Rank: 72

Another one of those nights last night. Nights when you just want to scream, only you can't. You feel so uncomfortable, but everyone else is enjoying life. It always leaves me thinking, why did I put myself in that situation? But in the end, I realized its best to go through these stages in life. Because if I don't, then it'll never be ok. Anyway, the silver lining is that I didn't self-medicate so to speak. And the night ended up being pretty ok. all right, on to Prince

I think Prince is one of the more polarizing artists in the last thirty years. There's not a lot of middle ground on him. Personally, I think he's an incredibly talented writer. But, I have trouble getting past his stage persona. I wonder if women actually find him attractive, he was on the Tonight Show the last week before Leno left, I didn't recognize the song but it was really good. Only he was wearing this ridiculous shirt, and he's all manscaped and shit. ugh.

Anyway, Purple Rain is a great soundtrack, not sure I love the movie all that much. What do you think?

Stats

Album: Purple Rain
Artist: Prince
Year: 1984
My Favorite Song: When Doves Cry
Next Up: AC/DC

After the Gold Rush

Rolling Stone Rank: 71

I must say before I start, I was soooo excited to see a comment on this site. It's been FOREVER since I saw one of those. Anaaand it was spam. So shame on you spammer for ruining what was a pretty good day. Anyway"

Awesome album, it's writing like this that made Neil Young Neil Young. You can feel the intimate nature of these songs (recorded in his basement), not to mention the intimate subject matter that he dealt with. Two or three of the ballads are absolutely heartbreaking, and and his high nasal tone is the perfect timbre to bring it across.

Who in my generation can I compare to Neil Young? Well, my first thought was Dashboard Confessional. But, after listening to Neil a bit longer it hit me. Daniel Johnson. I've included videos at the end here. Let me know what you think...

Here's Neil:


And Here's Daniel:

Stats

Album: After the Gold Rush
Artist: Neil Young
Year: 1970
My Favorite Song: Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Next Up: Prince!