Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Steamin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet

The fourth and final from these sessions is another stunning collection of tracks. How they managed to get so much out of 2 sessions is just bonkers. Salt Peanuts is a wonder rendition here. Something I Dreamed Last Night, Well You Needn’t, and When I Fall in Love are also highlights - Miles’ trumpet taking the lead vocals in the latter. I mean, his talent is just limitless it seems, not bound to any particular style or format, which I guess is the point as his career progressed.

The Essential Track: Salt Peanuts

Up Next: Miles Davis - ‘Round About Midnight

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - ‘Round About Midnight

This is Miles’ debut with Columbia Records, and you can tell right away that the recording itself is a bit crisper and clearer. It’s also another Miles Davis album with the quintet that you’d be hard pressed to find any real flaws - just expertly delivered jazz - though perhaps a bit less exciting than the four albums we just discussed. Ah-Leu-Cha seems like the real instrumental workout here, but each track has plenty to offer, including personal preferences for All Of You, Bye Bye Blackbird and the title track that again burns slow.

The Essential Track: All Of You

Up Next: Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

This catches the second great quintet just before Miles starts moving more toward fusion, and there’s a sense here like the band is combining all the different elements of Miles’ sounds and putting it all together on the fly. Every one of these tracks is essential to this album, a sort of moment where the conventions Miles basically created collide with free jazz, but never completely lose their form. Circle is beautifully expressive and then sort of gives way for Footprints to take off. Dolores is like a groove reset that gets even more deeper when Freedom Jazz Dance hits. Gingerbread Boy is its own beast but is a great closer here. For me, this is on the Kind of Blue/Birtth of the Cool level of excellence. Absolute must.

The Essential Track: Footprints

Up Next: Miles Davis - Nefertiti

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Nefertiti

Here, the band really takes the lead on songwriting, and everything after the title track nevertheless retains a pure Miles sound. Each of the tracks here are quite strong, even if a little less boundary pushing than Miles Smiles, except, that is, for the opening title track. Nefertiti is both fascinating and moving, a piece where the role of the band is inverted - Miles and Wayne Shorter are playing the repetitive form molding parts (though they still feel like a top layer) while drums and bass are providing the improvisation underneath. If not for Miles and Shorter, this descends into chaos, but it retains its form while Williams is going all sorts of places underneath. Brilliance. Again.

The Essential Track: Nefertiti

Up Next: Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky

This is the last of the pure second great quintet albums, and it veers ever more closely to fusion. Williams, Hancock, and Ron Carter hold down the groove so well here and are locked in from start to finish. Tony Williams in particular shows as much chops as we’ve seen from him in these albums. Stuff and Paraphernalia are both great showcases for Herbie Hancock, even if Miles is still the star. Black Comedy is full of amazing chemistry even as the most economical of the tracks at nearly 8 minutes. And Country Son is just as solid as the rest of this. At points it just seems like Miles’ only competition is his imagination.

The Essential Track: Black Comedy

Up Next: Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro

Miles gives about 2/3 of this album to the second great quintet, and 1/3 subs in Chick Correa on piano and Dave Holland on bass. The latter are the bookends of the album, the first Frelon brun seemingly pushing further to fusion while Mademoiselle Mabry bringing a deliberate blues pattern into the album. The middle is all second great quintet, which Herbie Hancock shining on Tout de suite and Petits Machins. The whole band drops and holds a killer groove on the title track, and as it goes on, it just becomes more addictive while Miles plays over top. Another really phenomenal Miles album here.

The Essential Track: Filles de Kilomanjaro

Up Next: Miles Davis - Amandla

[doug rr]

well done..keep going

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - Amandla

So now we fast forward to the end. We’ll take another run later, and for now go with the last two. Remember I discussed I think about a dozen of his most well known albums throughout this thread. I think this is the 23rd Miles album here.

In any event, wasn’t really thrilled with this one. Miles actually sounds great, but the compositions for the most part don’t feel like they are inspiring at least my listening, and the sound just frustrates me, like he’s playing over some Casio keyboard presets. The title track and album closing Mr. Pastorius are exceptions to this and are at the tail end of the album, leaving hope for the lifetime swan song coming next. We did have a great run of albums though.

The Essential Track: Mr. Pastorius

Up Next: Miles Davis - AURA

[liebzz]

Miles Davis - AURA

This is the last studio album Miles released in his lifetime, an ensemble that’s large and delivers on the Aura concept. Each track is a different color, and each track sort of jumps around with very different sounds. Orange and Electric Red were my favorites here, but all of the tracks for the most part were solid, and this one at least felt more organic than the last, even if he used a ton of musicians for this. A great swan song and final bow for Miles - might not be among my favorite of his, but one helluva way to finish one od the most important musical careers of the 20th century.

The Essential Track: Orange

Up Next: Lounge Lizards - Voice of Chunk

[liebzz]

The Lounge Lizards - Voice of Chunk

I don’t think since Count Basie’s The Atomic Mr. Basie has a jazz album been this fun. The band exists in some universe in between jazz and rock without the weight of fusion. It touches seemingly every sound imaginable in jazz and rock without any pretense, but also simply sounds great, moves constantly, and is just pure enjoyment. A Paper Bag and the Sun was my favorite on here, and then its transition into Tarantella is the sort of carefree jump that shapes the personality of this album. This was a really fun suggestion.

The Essential Track: A Paper Bag and the Sun

Up Next: Grateful Dead - Built to Last

[liebzz]

Grateful Dead - Built to Last

Really, it’s the next album that I wanted to use for a transition from jazz back to rock, but I also wanted that pass the torch moment, so I took this one first. Granted, this is probably my least favorite Grateful Dead album as a whole, but the parts and maybe the album itself is worth a bit of redemption. Yes, Brent Mydland has nearly half this album as the lead, and he does give off some serious Michael McDonald vibes on this, which is sort of discordant with the general Grateful Dead sound, but Just a Little Light and Blow Away are actually pretty good. Jerry’s got two quality tracks here in the title track and Standing on the Moon. Bobby’s got the true keeper on this album in Victim or the Crime, plus the song that keeps getting better as it progresses in Picasso Moon. There’s stuff here is my point. I will admit it’s a bit disappointing that the sign-off moment for studio Grateful Dead ends up being a really lame I Will Take You Home, but let’s try to remember the good moments here. It would be the last for this band in the studio (6 more years of live shows and countless offshoots and cover bands to follow for the next 30), but another band would come along, pick up the baton, and create their own world of music…

The Essential Track: Victim or the Crime

Up Next: Phish - Junta

[Birds in Hell]

The Lounge Lizards - Voice of Chunk

I don’t think since Count Basie’s The Atomic Mr. Basie has a jazz album been this fun. The band exists in some universe in between jazz and rock without the weight of fusion. It touches seemingly every sound imaginable in jazz and rock without any pretense, but also simply sounds great, moves constantly, and is just pure enjoyment. A Paper Bag and the Sun was my favorite on here, and then its transition into Tarantella is the sort of carefree jump that shapes the personality of this album. This was a really fun suggestion.

The Essential Track: A Paper Bag and the Sun

Up Next: Grateful Dead - Built to Last

Glad you enjoyed it!

[liebzz]

Phish - Junta

This is the first proper Phish album, though they had some demos they released over the prior few years that were self-released. This is a rare moment for Phish, given their lack of a major record contract, where the recording seems uncompromising - a wild blend of rock, jazz, prog and improv that showcases a band capable of just about anything in these epic long track. The songwriting probably leads a fair amount to be desired, and the lyrics are often silly and nonsensical, but even in these early days, they could flex that few bands could play like them, and at least at this point their sound was singular. You Enjoy Myself, The Divided Sky, and David Bowie are the primary highlights, but Fluffhead and Fluff’s Travels are a sneaky underdog here, with a number of jazz and rock movements. The Divided Sky takes it here, but by a hair against those other two epics.

The Essential Track: The Divided Sky

Up Next: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother’s Milk

[liebzz]

The Lounge Lizards - Voice of Chunk

I don’t think since Count Basie’s The Atomic Mr. Basie has a jazz album been this fun. The band exists in some universe in between jazz and rock without the weight of fusion. It touches seemingly every sound imaginable in jazz and rock without any pretense, but also simply sounds great, moves constantly, and is just pure enjoyment. A Paper Bag and the Sun was my favorite on here, and then its transition into Tarantella is the sort of carefree jump that shapes the personality of this album. This was a really fun suggestion.

The Essential Track: A Paper Bag and the Sun

Up Next: Grateful Dead - Built to Last

Glad you enjoyed it!

Effortlessly fun album.

[liebzz]

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother’s Milk

I like all three of the Chili Peppers’ early albums, and I have all the respect in the world for Hillel Slovak’s time with the band, enhanced by watching that documentary. Ultimately, this is the Chili Peppers that I would fall for and be a fan of for decades. John Frusciante might have been channeling Hillel on this album, but there’s a magical chemistry with this particular lineup that’s undeniable. On this first album with Frusciante and Chad Smith, there are so many highlights it’s just throwing out the tracklist. The covers of Higher Ground and Fire have been in my regular rotation forever, Subway to Venus, Pretty Little Ditty and Johnny Kick a Hole in the Sky are the songs I always get excited about because I keep forgetting they are there even if I love them every time. Then there’s that middle section of Knock Me Down and Taste the Pain, both mammoth songs in their catalogue for me. I am always bummed people don’t put this in line with their next album - this one is also so good!

The Essential Track: Knock Me Down

Up Next: Faith No More - The Real Thing

[wease]

Didn’t realize Fire and Higher Ground were on the same album. I did get Fire the only time I’ve seen them but would’ve preferred Higher Ground. Top 5 cover of any song ever.

[VinylGuy]

Both Knock Me Down and Taste the Pain are top ten songs for me. I think Mother´s Milk kinda lost its appraise as time went by, because as a kid i remember it was a very well known and loved album, but yeah, with everything these dudes did after, it got a little lost.

[liebzz]

Faith No More - The Real Thing

I have and had this on CD back when it came out - a huge moment it seemed back then when a band pushing out funk and metal were the kings of MTV with Epic. Even though this one does go up and down a little, there’s a lot I have always loved on this, the first three tracks being paramount, but always also loved Underwater Love, The Real Thing, and that blazing cover of War Pigs. This listen I also really enjoyed Woodpecker From Mars and Edge of the World - the range on this album is just crazy. If two years later Nirvana and co. brought it home, this always seemed like that first real breakthrough album that started the pull away from glam and hair metal, even if it persisted for a few more years.

The Essential Track: Epic

Up Next: Alice Cooper - Trash

[liebzz]

Alice Cooper - Trash

I wasn’t much into this one, which kind of simultaneously felt like it was leaning towards a more glam rock, and at the same time seemed a bit stale, like leftovers from the late 70s. Granted, I never much cared for Cooper save for a few hit songs in the early 70s, but this just didn’t click for me at all.

The Essential Track: Spark in the Dark

Up Next: Aerosmith - Pump

[Ello Sailor]

Essential Tack: Epic?

Come the fuck on, dude.