Essential Studio Albums

[Ello Sailor]

Oh damn. Sounds spicy.

[liebzz]

It’s that time where we see what I am missing for the next year of albums, which would roughly be 1979. So far, I got:

The B-52s
Kenny Loggins - Keep the Fire
Rupert Holmes - Partner in Crime
Kool & the Gang - Ladies Night
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
Van Halen II
Rainbow - Down to Earth
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
ZZ Top - Deguello
Allman Brothers Band - Enlightened Rogues
The Buzzcocks - Single Going Steady
Germs - GI
The Clash - London Calling
Cheap Trick - Dream Police
The Pretenders
Patti Smith - Wave
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Armed Forces
Van Morrison - Into the Music
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
The Specials
The Police - Regatta De Blanc
Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
Rock N’ Roll High School
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Pink Floyd - The Wall

[Ello Sailor]

Jesus Christ, what a year. Unbelievable.

[Ello Sailor]

I had no idea Germs were around then. This thread serves as a great history lesson.

[wease]

KISS- Dynasty The last big one of their heyday. Not saying it’s great, but if you’ve already done everything prior…

[liebzz]

KISS- Dynasty The last big one of their heyday. Not saying it’s great, but if you’ve already done everything prior…

I am a completist so I understand and added.

[LoathedVermin72]

Sparks - № 1 in Heaven

[liebzz]

The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms

Somehow this ended up on my list way too soon since it is a 1980 album, but it actually fit sonically quite nice right after Television. This album is also quite spectacular, with the album title apt for what you are about to get. This is rhythm focused rock that seems to bridge whatever gap would exist between the Velvet Underground, Big Star, and what’s to come in R.E.M. - all different sounds in one frenetic and necessary album. The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness, Loveless Love, Moscow Nights, the title track, and Raised Eyebrows are all essential listening, but also don’t miss out on their rhythmic take on Everybody’s Got Something Hide Except for Me and My Monkey. This is a damn fine band who I have actually seen live years back opening for Sonic Youth without hearing any of their albums. Shame I didn’t get to this one sooner.

The Essential Track: Crazy Rhythms

Up Next: Patti Smith - Easter

[liebzz]

Patti Smith - Easter

Patti Smith took a big leap here towards pure rock star, and a bit away (save for Babelogue and the closing of the album) from the sort of beat poet over rock music sound she was going for on Horses. I think it works for her, and commercially, the co-write Because the Night is I think her peak since it was a massive hit. Til Victory and 25th Floor > High On Rebellion are my personal highlights here.

The Essential Track: Because the Night

Up Next: Van Halen

[wease]

Because the Night is my favorite tune that Springsteen ever had a hand in.

[liebzz]

Van Halen

On this debut, Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth establish themselves as an all time lead instrumentalist/leas singer duo - the way Roth’s over top personality and swagger do its best to match Van Halen’s fireworks is a defining moment in hard rock - very much in the lexicon of great duos like Daltrey and Townshend, Page and Plant, or Scooter and the Big Man. It may be too much of an assault on the senses for some - certainly not for me as this is one of those albums I grew up on.

The songs here are what ultimately drive this band straight into such conversations. Runnin’ With the Devil, Jamie’s Crying, and Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love are all classics, their cover of You Really Got Me might get more airplay than the original - and yet nothing feels so revolutionary than Eruption, a guitar solo of epic proportions. The key to their success was being a band that didn’t take their songs too seriously, which really only reach to dazzle and entertain you more than leave an emotional mark. That may turn off some, but when that’s the point and you maximize that freedom from emotional weight, an album like this is possible.

The Essential Track: Eruption

Up Next: Boney M. - Nightflight to Venus

[liebzz]

Boney M. - Nightflight to Venus

This is a really cool funk/dance/rock album, starting with an almost Parliament like space odyssey of an opening track and then without seeming any breaks, veering in and out of covers that span several genres but held together by seamless transitions. King of the Road, Rivers of Babylon, Voodonight, and Heart of Gold - all very different songs - all have some pretty mind bending versions. This was another strong suggestion.

The Essential Track: Nightflight to Venus

Up Next: Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove

[liebzz]

Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove

So this is one of the finest guitar albums I think I’ve ever heard. I mean, up there with Hendrix, Van Halen, Skynyrd, Allmans, you name it. The difference here is the guitars are over funk grooves, making these shred-fests fully danceable. Given one of the tracks is Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock!? Yes, indeed. This for me was far and away the best Funkadelic or Parliament record I have heard thus far. Absolutely killer.

The Essential Track: Promenthalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)

Up Next: Bob Marley and the Wailers - Kaya

[liebzz]

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Kaya

This album is another that contains a number of Marley classics: Is This Love, Easy Skanking, Sun Is Shining, Satisfy My Soul, and Time Will Tell…but I was most impressed with the deeper cuts here. The run of She’s Gone, Misty Morning, and Crisis finds Marley still slinging reggae rhythms and grooves, but presented in a much less predictable way. This is one of the better Marley albums for me, and was quite solid throughout even if less revolutionary in tone.

The Essential Track: Misty Morning

Up Next: The Police - Outlandos D’Amour

[Birds in Hell]

It’s that time where we see what I am missing for the next year of albums, which would roughly be 1979. So far, I got:

The B-52s
Kenny Loggins - Keep the Fire
Rupert Holmes - Partner in Crime
Kool & the Gang - Ladies Night
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
Van Halen II
Rainbow - Down to Earth
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
ZZ Top - Deguello
Allman Brothers Band - Enlightened Rogues
The Buzzcocks - Single Going Steady
Germs - GI
The Clash - London Calling
Cheap Trick - Dream Police
The Pretenders
Patti Smith - Wave
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Armed Forces
Van Morrison - Into the Music
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
The Specials
The Police - Regatta De Blanc
Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
Rock N’ Roll High School
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Pink Floyd - The Wall

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys

[liebzz]

The Police - Outlandos d’Amour

Right out the gate, the Police immediately are the best of the bunch concerning a mash of rock and reggae. But when you dig into this, you learn just how good these guys were instrumentally and perhaps they get some extra credit from holding back (especially if the shred of Peanuts is any indication). So Lonely is so damn catchy and it hooks you in, Roxanne is a classic mash of reggae and rock, Can’t Stand Losing You is another, Truth Hits Everybody stuck out for me, and the closing track is weirdly hypnotic. Great debut.

The Essential Track: So Lonely

Up Next: Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

[liebzz]

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

So this minimalist album is about an hour long, just one song, and done with voices and instruments. It is highly compelling and the high water mark so far for me in this genre or really many of the associated genres we’ve listened to here. It is layered to repeat its cycle but constantly drawing you in rather than the numbing effect that happens in some other releases - and for that reason it works just as well in the foreground as the background.

The Essential Track: there’s really just one, Pulses

Up Next: the B-52s

[Birds in Hell]

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

So this minimalist album is about an hour long, just one song, and done with voices and instruments. It is highly compelling and the high water mark so far for me in this genre or really many of the associated genres we’ve listened to here. It is layered to repeat its cycle but constantly drawing you in rather than the numbing effect that happens in some other releases - and for that reason it works just as well in the foreground as the background.

The Essential Track: there’s really just one, Pulses

Up Next: the B-52s

So glad you enjoyed it!

[coptheriotact]

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

So this minimalist album is about an hour long, just one song, and done with voices and instruments. It is highly compelling and the high water mark so far for me in this genre or really many of the associated genres we’ve listened to here. It is layered to repeat its cycle but constantly drawing you in rather than the numbing effect that happens in some other releases - and for that reason it works just as well in the foreground as the background.

The Essential Track: there’s really just one, Pulses

Up Next: the B-52s

So glad you enjoyed it!

this cleaned my brain

[liebzz]

Yeah, I won’t necessarily be at the top of my personal list, but it was a strong recommendation. It’s highly impressive to pull it off - call it minimalism but there’s a ton going on there.