Essential Studio Albums

[wease]

I’ll admit though I preferred Countdown to Ecstasy, but Pretzel Logic is real good too. I mean both are reasonably high on my list that I am keeping on all these albums.

Yeah. Their next one is gonna blow you away.

[liebzz]

I’m hesitant to suggest it because it really is the beginning of the slide, but Win, Lose or Draw by the Allman Brothers was in 1975.

Can’t Lose What You Never Had is awesome…then it crashes and burns. Haha.

[oasisfan35]

Alice Cooper Welcome to My Nightmare
David Bowie Young Americans

[wease]

I’m hesitant to suggest it because it really is the beginning of the slide, but Win, Lose or Draw by the Allman Brothers was in 1975.

Can’t Lose What You Never Had is awesome…then it crashes and burns. Haha.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I was talking about. Nothing like the first track being the only good tune on the album.

[VinylGuy]

I’ll admit though I preferred Countdown to Ecstasy, but Pretzel Logic is real good too. I mean both are reasonably high on my list that I am keeping on all these albums.

Yeah. Their next one is gonna blow you away.

Wease, top three of Steely Dan albums? or top five

[wease]

I’ll admit though I preferred Countdown to Ecstasy, but Pretzel Logic is real good too. I mean both are reasonably high on my list that I am keeping on all these albums.

Yeah. Their next one is gonna blow you away.

Wease, top three of Steely Dan albums? or top five

Katy Lied?

[VinylGuy]

just one? so steely dan sucks for you

[liebzz]

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

There’s so much happening in this double album. So much ambition and instrumentation, and the concept tying it all together that it’s simply impossible to make an adequate call on this album in just one listen. Granted, some double albums seem to just fly by, and this one does not do that. It feels like a long journey, where you earn every twist and turn. It may not land as one of my favorites, but it’s one I certainly feel I am going to have to go back to and take in again.

The Essential Track: The Carpet Crawlers

Up Next: Blue Oyster Cult

[wease]

just one? so steely dan sucks for you

No. I was asking you if you were asking me if Katy Lied was top 3 or top 5.

Are you asking me to rank their albums?

[wease]

Here. Let’s not highjack his thread.

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... 7#p2183437

[liebzz]

Blue Oyster Cult

…and we’re back and starting with a trio of Blue Oyster Cult albums because why not?

Their debut seems like a hybrid between the prog rock we’ve covered a bit of with 60s psychedelia and 70s blues rock, all mixed together to form a nice album. There’s still an element here where it feels like their sound isn’t fully formed yet, and there’s good songs from the opening Transmaniacom MC, Stairway to the Stars, and Before a Kiss a Redcap, but it all seems to come together for the big riffage in Cities On Flame with Rock and Roll, the kind of perfect 70s rock song. A quite solid debut.

The Essential Track: Cities On Flame with Rock and Roll

Up Next: Blue Ouster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation

[liebzz]

Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation

This second album picks up nicely from the first, in particularly the first half. The Red & the Black, OD’ed on Life Itself, and Hot Rails to Hell is a scorching start. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters is solid, and Wings Wetted Down is another highlight of an album that seems to refine what they had started with with a slightly heavier sound.

The Essential Track: The Red & the Black

Up Next: Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties

[liebzz]

Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties

On this third album, Blue Oyster Cult continue to progress by really focusing on their strengths - big heavy riffs against solid songs and some faster playing. Career of Evil, Subhuman, ME 262, and Harvester of Eyes are all solid tracks that accomplish that heaviness, though nothing comes close to Flaming Telepaths, which is the exact spot for the band to scratch and hit pay dirt. Astronomy closes this one out with a keys and guitar led epic.

The Essential Track: Flaming Telepaths

Up Next: KISS - Hotter Than Hell

[liebzz]

KISS - Hotter Than Hell

KISS continue to bring heavier rock without the weight of taking themselves too seriously. Precisely the kind of stuff a 15 year old could jump into without too much thought or analysis. There’s certainly a value to this of course, in the larger array of what’s happening in the 70s, full of weight, excess, and a huge range of approaches. Here, the album is largely front loaded, though the star of the show for me is Watchin’ You, which has a pretty killer riff going on. This may not make the top of any lists, but it’s fun nonetheless.

The Essential Track: Watchin’ You

Up Next: Jackson Browne - Late for the Sky

[liebzz]

Jackson Browne - Late for the Sky

I’m not sure if it’s contextual placement or just a sort of exhaustion with this exact sound that made this one sort of boring for me. For the most part, Browne rarely breaks out of the deep thoughts packaged in pseudo-laid back but somehow searching ballads, and the sameness sort of grates after a while. When he does bust out of his funk, like on The Road and the Sky, he sounds downright excellent. Shame he didn’t explore that space here.

The Essential Track: The Road and the Sky

Up Next: The Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

[wease]

KISS - Hotter Than Hell

KISS continue to bring heavier rock without the weight of taking themselves too seriously. Precisely the kind of stuff a 15 year old could jump into without too much thought or analysis. There’s certainly a value to this of course, in the larger array of what’s happening in the 70s, full of weight, excess, and a huge range of approaches. Here, the album is largely front loaded, though the star of the show for me is Watchin’ You, which has a pretty killer riff going on. This may not make the top of any lists, but it’s fun nonetheless.

The Essential Track: Watchin’ You

Watchin’ You is an acceptable answer. We would’ve also accepted Parasite or Got To Choose. GTC has my second favorite guitar solo ever on it. Nothing crazy or flashy but fits the song perfectly.

All three get better treatment on ALIVE!

[liebzz]

KISS - Hotter Than Hell

KISS continue to bring heavier rock without the weight of taking themselves too seriously. Precisely the kind of stuff a 15 year old could jump into without too much thought or analysis. There’s certainly a value to this of course, in the larger array of what’s happening in the 70s, full of weight, excess, and a huge range of approaches. Here, the album is largely front loaded, though the star of the show for me is Watchin’ You, which has a pretty killer riff going on. This may not make the top of any lists, but it’s fun nonetheless.

The Essential Track: Watchin’ You

Watchin’ You is an acceptable answer. We would’ve also accepted Parasite or Got To Choose. GTC has my second favorite guitar solo ever on it. Nothing crazy or flashy but fits the song perfectly.

All three get better treatment on ALIVE!

I was very close to picking Parasite. And agreed that Alive! is the real document for KISS, maybe overall.

[liebzz]

The Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

There’s no greater surprise than how much I have enjoyed the Doobie Brothers albums on this journey. This one isn’t quite as high on my list as the others, but it still sports quite a few excellent tracks, especially when they pick up the pace on Down in the Track and Daughters of the Sea. The classic here, Black Water, I really had no clue was theirs. Certainly fascinating album though, as the transition from blues based lighter rock goes to a folkier rock, which will in turn become in the future more of a soft rock.

The Essential Track: Black Water

Up Next: Aerosmith - Get Your Wings

[wease]

You didn’t know they did Black Water?

[oasisfan35]

You didn’t know they did Black Water?

I thought it was the artist known as 99 Rock WPLR for the longest time...