Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Sorcerer

We’ve taken a bit of a break from jazz, and coming back seemed appropriate. On Prince of Darkness, even though a good chunk of the song doesn’t really feature him, the opening here is like an announcement from Miles that he’s present. The sound is just so purely him. On the title track, the band is really tearing it up, an energy that spills over into Limbo nicely. Masqualero is similarly a killer 8 minute jam that might not operate at a constantly speedy tempo, but feels very impactful. Miles was quite soulful in his delivery on this one, another classic amongst the many.

The Essential Track: The Sorcerer

Up Next: Sam Rivers - Contours

[VinylGuy]

I love Sorcerer yeah, its a very cool album. Kinda soul more than jazz. Its one of my favs.

[Kevin Davis]

Miles Davis - Sorcerer

We’ve taken a bit of a break from jazz, and coming back seemed appropriate. On Prince of Darkness, even though a good chunk of the song doesn’t really feature him, the opening here is like an announcement from Miles that he’s present. The sound is just so purely him. On the title track, the band is really tearing it up, an energy that spills over into Limbo nicely. Masqualero is similarly a killer 8 minute jam that might not operate at a constantly speedy tempo, but feels very impactful. Miles was quite soulful in his delivery on this one, another classic amongst the many.

The Essential Track: The Sorcerer

Up Next: Sam Rivers - Contours

This is my favorite era of Miles -- mid-60's, second great quintet. Every album they released -- ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro -- is among my favorite jazz albums of all time. Some great live albums too.

[liebzz]

Sam Rivers - Contours

Jazz-Jazz fusion! Well, moreso the worlds of avant garde jazz and more tradition jazz come together to create a really exciting album where the experiments and chaotic breakdowns never fully collapse on a phenomenal rhythm section that keeps this thing together. Loose and forgiving, yet roles are a bit more clearly defined, which results in a phenomenal album here. The bookends are my favorite here in Point of Many Returns and Mellifluous Cacophony, but the middle of this is still fantastic. A great listen start to finish.

The Essential Track: Point of Many Returns

Up Next: Don Cherry - Symphony For Improvisers

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Sorcerer

We’ve taken a bit of a break from jazz, and coming back seemed appropriate. On Prince of Darkness, even though a good chunk of the song doesn’t really feature him, the opening here is like an announcement from Miles that he’s present. The sound is just so purely him. On the title track, the band is really tearing it up, an energy that spills over into Limbo nicely. Masqualero is similarly a killer 8 minute jam that might not operate at a constantly speedy tempo, but feels very impactful. Miles was quite soulful in his delivery on this one, another classic amongst the many.

The Essential Track: The Sorcerer

Up Next: Sam Rivers - Contours

This is my favorite era of Miles -- mid-60's, second great quintet. Every album they released -- ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro -- is among my favorite jazz albums of all time. Some great live albums too.

I will have to go back to these.

[liebzz]

Don Cherry - Symphony for Improvisers

So this is a very layered listen, much of which was rewarding (sorry but I just couldn’t get behind the piccolo squawks). Symphony for Improvisers, the song that comprises side A, is chaotic in spots, but ultimately finds its way around nicely, and closes in tremendously beautiful fashion for a song that takes a long road to get there. Side B, Manhattan Cry, is living in a similar vibe, doesn’t have those crazy squawks, but I ended up preferring side A in any event. While this won’t be something I much return to, I certainly see the musicianship, and the beauty in the chaos.

The Essential Track: Symphony for Improvisers

Up Next: Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn

[liebzz]

Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn

In a year where rock music and the jazz we covered even, sort of descended into anything goes, and psychedelic sounds were ruling the day, this one seems to take it just a hair even further down that road. There’s so many wild tracks on this it’s hard to keep track, but Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Pow R. Toc H., The Scarecrow, and Bike stand out as particularly killer tracks that are mostly pretty far fetched at the same time. The whole thing feels anchored by the 9 minute journey into the abyss that is Interstellar Overdrive, centered around a killer riff that quickly gives way to sonic experimentation not unlike the space the Grateful Dead were occupying at the time. Fascinating to know a future where the Grateful Dead would take those sounds out live every night and focus their career there while Pink Floyd would find legendary status searching in the studio.

The Essential Track: Interstellar Overdrive

Up Next: The Doors - Strange Days

[liebzz]

The Doors - Strange Days

It’s universally tough to follow up on an epic debut, and The Doors seem to do their best here to continue on a similar though comparatively muted path. That notwithstanding, this is a very solid album, now that I am going back to it. Strange Days, People Are Strange, and Love Me Two Times are the easily recognizable hits here. But a deeper dig gets you to Moonlight Drive, My Eyes Have Seen You, and I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind. The album ends in similar fashion to the debut, with an epic drawn out When the Music’s Over. I’m giving this much higher marks than I did when I completed that Doors run a few years ago.

The Essential Track: When the Music’s Over

Up Next: Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

[liebzz]

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

On their second album, Jefferson Airplane found a pretty good groove here with Grace Slick on vocals, particularly on the classic tracks Somebody to Love and White Rabbit. While I generally preferred rock tracks on here like 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds, I really also enjoyed Embryonic Journey, a folkier acoustic number. There’s much more range here than you think and the album kind of sneaks up on you in the subtle ways it keeps your attention. White Rabbit though is pure genius.

The Essential Track: White Rabbit

Up Next: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love

[liebzz]

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love

This is my personal most underrated album of all time, meaning I personally underrate this album constantly. In between two albums I grew up loving to death, Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland, I just don’t give this album the adequate time of day, which frankly is my own misgiving. This album is straight up awesome. A sure bet here is any song with the word Castle in it. Plus there’s the obvious to me epic tracks Little Wing and If 6 Was 9. Wait Til Tomorrow was always one I could hit up. But it’s after that now, on this listen, that I am gravitating more to how phenomenal this thing is. One Rainy Wish, a song I never payed attention to, grabbed me by the horns this time. So did the album closer Bold As Love. Really, I am not sure there’s much of a weak moment here, with Hendrix really mixing in rhythm and blues with that guitar, and a fair dose of psychedelic rock. What a masterful mind.

The Essential Track: Little Wing

Up Next: The Beatles

[VinylGuy]

Hendrix was something else really. Its amazing how influential he is still after all this time.

[liebzz]

The Beatles

If Magical Mystery Tour was my introduction to the Beatles in album form, The White Album is the one I have heard the most. It’s the most perplexing of their albums because it’s completely scattershot. No two songs really sound alike as they hit nearly every conceivable form of music in some way, and though the band is fractured at this point, there’s buoyancy to this album that keeps kicking back in. It’s even hard to focus on particular tracks here because nothing really symbolizes the record - it’s just got so many parts and really has no business being an album in the form of a singular statement. And when you mix all colors of light together, as they did here in their expert songwriting and individual contributions, you get white (ah, the cover comes into focus at last).

The Essential Track: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Up Next: The Kinks - Something Else

[liebzz]

The Kinks - Something Else

Something else, indeed. Having toured a series of classic rock albums that push the boundaries of the genre, or jump around to expand sounds of the artist, this album stands as an almost retro feeling album of pure pop glory. With the frills largely in check, you get a good sense of their song craft, which is fantastic. This was always that band that I had a collection of early greatest hits, loved it, wanted to dig deeper, but just haven’t, so starting here with them is a nice start because I am not familiar with any of this, and it’s a reminder of no matter how much you listen to, there’s always more to discover. Really enjoyed this one.

The Essential Track: Love Me Til the Sun Shines (there’s about 6 songs that equally could sit here)

Up Next: Big Brother and the Holding Company

[liebzz]

Big Brother and the Holding Company

This band had an absolute ace in their pocket in the form of Janis Joplin. Her voice is singular in rock music, and would bring a sense of blues, soul, and a gravitas to anchor this band. On this debut, they had yet to fully realize her potential, and the best moments here are really when they let her jump out of the speakers. Her parts in All is Loneliness and The Last Time make the songs, and she is similarly brilliant in Coo Coo and Bye, Bye Baby. The remainder and when she is relegated to the background is where this album doesn’t hold up as much as the others. They’d find their footing soon enough, but this is another where there’s value to starting at the beginning of a brilliant but all too short career.

The Essential Track: The Last Time

Up Next: Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa

[Sloppy Dupree]

I love this thread and I’m getting some good recs. Keep em coming, liebzz!!

[Happy Trees]

The Doors - Strange Days

It’s universally tough to follow up on an epic debut, and The Doors seem to do their best here to continue on a similar though comparatively muted path. That notwithstanding, this is a very solid album, now that I am going back to it. Strange Days, People Are Strange, and Love Me Two Times are the easily recognizable hits here. But a deeper dig gets you to Moonlight Drive, My Eyes Have Seen You, and I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind. The album ends in similar fashion to the debut, with an epic drawn out When the Music’s Over. I’m giving this much higher marks than I did when I completed that Doors run a few years ago.

This album is actually a continuation of the first album since most of the songs were written at the same time, and I believe some were even started during those sessions and were merely overdubbed. That's why it was ready so quickly after the first one. Moonlight Drive was actually the first song they ever wrote together. They had 3 albums worth of material at hand when they started. Some would even turn up on the rest of the albums.

For comparison, here is the track listing for the "Live At The Matrix" performances from just before the first LP was released. Most of the "Strange Days" tracks were already long in rotation.

101 Bags' Groove (1967-03-07)
102 Back Door Man (1967-03-07)
103 My Eyes Have Seen You (1967-03-07)
104 Soul Kitchen (1967-03-07)
105 All Blues (1967-03-07)
106 Get Out Of My Life Woman (1967-03-07)
107 When The Music's Over (1967-03-07)
108 Close To You (1967-03-07)
109 Crawling King Snake (1967-03-07)
110 I Can't See Your Face In My Mind (1967-03-07)
111 People Are Strange (1967-03-07)
112 Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) (1967-03-07)
113 The Crystal Ship (1967-03-07)
114 Twentieth Century Fox (1967-03-07)
201 Moonlight Drive (1967-03-07)
202 Summer's Almost Gone (1967-03-07)
203 Unhappy Girl (1967-03-07)
204 Woman Is A Devil-Rock Me Baby (1967-03-07)
205 Break On Through (To The Other Side) (1967-03-07)
206 Light My Fire (1967-03-07)
207 The End (1967-03-07)
208 My Eyes Have Seen You (1967-03-10)
209 Soul Kitchen (1967-03-10)
210 I Can't See Your Face In My Mind (1967-03-10)
211 People Are Strange (1967-03-10)
212 When The Music's Over (1967-03-10)
301 Money (1967-03-10)
302 Who Do You Love (1967-03-10)
303 Moonlight Drive (1967-03-10)
304 Summer's Almost Gone (1967-03-10)
305 I'm A King Bee (1967-03-10)
306 Gloria (1967-03-10)
307 Break On Through (To The Other Side) (1967-03-10)
308 Summertime (1967-03-10)
309 Back Door Man (1967-03-10)
310 Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) (1967-03-10)
311 The End (partial)-Let's Feed Ice Cream To The Rats (1967-03-09)

[Kevin Davis]

“You’re Lost Little Girl” is probably my favorite Doors song — Kreiger at his jazzy best

[Happy Trees]

Strange Days, Love Me Two Times and You Make Me Real were also already around in '66.

[liebzz]

Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa

Anthem of the Sun is the most far reaching psychedelic sound they would get, and the band would soon take a turn towards their classic folk rock/Americana sound soon enough. Aoxomoxoa is the space between, an album that pairs the sounds in interesting ways, and establishes the jammier sound as well - a true mix here that would produce some classic live staples like St. Stephen and China Cat Sunflower, but also great catchy songs that are closer to Workingman’s Dead in Dupree’s Diamond Blues, Mountains of the Moon, Doin’ That Rag, and Cosmic Charlie. And there’s still psychedelic workouts in Rosemary and What’s Become of the Baby. It may make for a slightly inconsistent listen, but the album is so full of good songs that it doesn’t really matter.

The Essential Track: Doin’ That Rag

Up Next: The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

[liebzz]

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

This is very likely the most experimental and abstract album of theirs. The title track descends from a poppy easy track into nearly noise, giving way to an 8 and a half minute spoken word story about a man mailing himself to the love of his life for her to accidentally killing him trying to open the package. Here She Comes Now is a bit quieter but is a nice change of pace, though this album comes down to how you feel about the noise rock epic Sister Ray. This is generally my least favorite VU album, but it definitely keeps you on your toes throughout and is a great listen nonetheless.

The Essential Track: Sister Ray

Up Next: Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida