Red Mosquito

I have never been a Kiss fan. Never really got the hype and ¨speaking as a kid from the 90s¨ i didnt quite appreciate the make up and stuff. I kinda turned around with the Unplugged and i got to listen to really cool songs from different eras.

liebzz wrote:

KISS

Most of these songs are baked in my brain from hearing Alive! growing up with an older brother that was a big KISS fan. And I would very quickly argue that they are somewhat unfairly maligned in large part due to dressing like sci-fi cartoon characters. The shtick is a bit much, but at least on their first album, they’ve got a good number of songs, simple in structure as they may be, to be worth the listen. Strutter, Cold Gin, Deuce, and Black Diamond are pretty damn good, ironically or not. They may not be profound but at least the got the party rock thing down.

The Essential Track: Strutter

Up Next: Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

Deuce is the clear winner, here.

I love how cheap their makeup looks on that first album cover. Some pretty darn good rock and roll on that record — I agree with you and Wease that “Deuce” and “Strutter” are the best tunes, though “Black Diamond” is a favorite too. Lots of fond memories of this stuff.

Keep a mental note on the time I was nice to Paul Stanley and David Coverdale on the same page of this topic.

liebzz wrote:Keep a mental note on the time I was nice to Paul Stanley and David Coverdale on the same page of this topic.

Oh, it is noted sir.

liebzz wrote:Keep a mental note on the time I was nice to Paul Stanley and David Coverdale on the same page of this topic.

That’s wild. Back in the mid-80s they didn’t like each other very much.

Farmer John wrote:It's a toss up between On the Beach and After the Goldrush for me

It's between Everybody Knows... and On the Beach for me, and I honestly struggle to choose one.

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

There may be no band on the planet that is more mood dependent for me than Queen. Sometimes I can hear their genius, a combination of big rawk and show tune showmanship. Glam on steroids. Everything big huge and bold. And yet, if I am not feeling it, cloyinflgly excessive. Sheer Heart Attack seems to hit on both front: moments where I wonder why I am sometimes critical, and others wondering why I am even listening to this. Stone Cold Crazy is the winner here, fitting squarely in the corner of genius, while Bring Back Leroy Brown is exactly why I struggle with this band. They don’t and shouldn’t always be serious, but for me, when they miss they miss big.

The Essential Track: Stone Cold Crazy

Up Next: Roxy Music - Country Life

Roxy Music - Country Life

From a band I had hardly heard of before this journey to now their fourth album, seeing the progression of this band is fascinating. Brian Eno is one of those famous names that is just always out there, and I’d expect that the further out we get from what they did with him would be a steady decline, but it’s most definitely not. They sound invigorated here, with a big dramatic energy that’s infectious and if there’s a bit less experimentation going on underneath the hooks, they still deliver thought provoking music that’s simultaneously easy to get behind. In fact, I’d say I prefer this one so far compared to all the others. This gets right what I was on the fence about for the Queen album immediately preceding this because while that album feels so dramatic it falls off the deep end, this one stays consistent and holds everything together nicely - delivering range while not feeling like they are blindly firing away at different sounds.

The Essential Track: The Thrill Of It All

Up Next: Mott the Hoople - The Hoople

Mott the Hoople - The Hoople

This is apparently the sequel to Mott, though I didn’t really make the connection on the listen. This one is a little more up and down, really phenomenal moments and stuff that I wouldn’t associate with their best, though nothing here is bad. The Golden Age of Rock & Roll is a great start to this. Crash Street Kids is reminiscent of the forthcoming punk albums. Born Late ‘58 is a stunningly good rocker on this. Pearl n’ Roy is a fun song that reminded me of barroom music or something to that effect. Through the Looking Glass feels like it could have been on The Wall. And the epic rock finisher Roll Away the Stone might be the best thing here. Very solid album.

The Essential Track: Roll Away the Stone

Up Next: New York Dolls - In Too Much Too Soon

New York Dolls - In Too Much Too Soon

This second album nearly equals the first in its punk meets glam power. There are some theatrics here but mostly straightforward rock music, and definitely still seems like the genesis of a new sound as I noted on the self-titled record. Stranded in the Jungle is a bit crazy, but after that, Who Are the Mystery Girls, (There’s Gonna Be a) Showdown, It’s Too Late, Don’t Start Me Talkin’ and Human Being are all fantastic. A band just rolling.

The Essential Track: (There’s Gonna Be a) Showdown

Up Next: Supertramp - Crime of the Century

Supertramp - Crime of the Century

My understanding is that these folks’ seminal album comes later in the decade, but I found this one on my list. I really can’t say it left that much of an impression, and perhaps it was harmed by fantastic recent albums from say New York Dolls and Roxy Music. It’s certainly fine and I have no complaints, but really not much stuck with me. School and Bloody Well Right are a really good start, and Rudy had its moments, but past that it didn’t connect as hoped.

The Essential Track: Bloody Well Right

Up Next: King Crimson - Red

King Crimson - Red

Despite the apparent internal and personnel problems the band was having, this album is quite exceptional. Landing on the heavier side of King Crimson’s sound, it almost foreshadows a Queens of thr Stone Age in groove and little twists and turns that elevate these tracks. The opening instrumental Red is fantastic and followed closely by Fallen Angel. One More Red Nightmare is also really good, but the slow building and explosive Starless has to take the cake in the end. Glad to feel back on track with this one.

The Essential Track: Starless

Up Next: Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado

Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado

Perhaps no album I have listened to has attempted to deliver on the lush ambition to marry the pop mastery of The Beatles with classical music recalling the latter years of the Beatles creativity, but where the Beatles used lush arrangements as accompaniments, ELO puts those arrangements up front. It in no way reaches the heights of the Beatles, but it’s an approach that seems pretty successful. Its excess is way beyond, but it creates its own universe and space and at least on this album, is never cloying. It actually hits its mark quite well, and each song builds off the last in such a manner that the big finish feels like a deserved pay off.

The Essential Track: Eldorado Finale

Up Next: Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

Countdown to Ecstacy was a masterful blend of rock and jazz, weaving the sounds together with developed and longer tracks. Pretzel Logic attempts to take that sound and transform it into concise pop songs, and it is quite successful at that. Any Major Dude Will Tell You, and Rikki Don’t Lose That Number are quite good at this. I still prefer their hair down, and got the most enjoyment out of East St. Louis Toodleloo and Pretzel Logic, where the music pushes boundaries and is simultaneously moving.

The Essential Track: Pretzel Logic

Up Next: Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

liebzz wrote:

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

Countdown to Ecstacy was a masterful blend of rock and jazz, weaving the sounds together with developed and longer tracks. Pretzel Logic attempts to take that sound and transform it into concise pop songs, and it is quite successful at that. Any Major Dude Will Tell You, and Rikki Don’t Lose That Number are quite good at this. I still prefer their hair down, and got the most enjoyment out of East St. Louis Toodleloo and Pretzel Logic, where the music pushes boundaries and is simultaneously moving.

The Essential Track: Pretzel Logic

Up Next: Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Can’t disagree with any of that. Charlie Freak is also a favorite. That was one of the earliest songs they wrote together and is basically unchanged from the demo recorded years before.

Still a lot of different flavors on the record, but that’s about to end. It’s also the first album of theirs to really start using other studio cats predominantly. The bands drummer doesn’t play a note on the album and Becker doesn’t do all the bass work. He does play some guitar on it tho. The band, enhanced with a couple other dudes (including one Michael McDonald) hits the road to tour behind the album and the group really does seem like there are no heights it can’t reach.

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.

It’s possible the next album is the last before a short Memorial Day Weekend break, but since that’s the case, even though I am not close to done for 1974, here’s what I have for ‘75 thus far (a big big year):

Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger
Waylon Jennings - Dreaming My Dreams
Marshall Tucker Band - Searchin’ For a Rainbow
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Nuthin’ Fancy
The Band - Northern Lights-Southern Cross
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Grateful Dead - Blues For Allah
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
The Who - By Numbers
Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night
Queen - Night at the Opera
Foghat - Fool For the City
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
Harmonia - Deluxe
Neu! 75
Larger - Radio-Activity
Roxy Music - Siren
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Brian Eno - Discreet Music
Brian Eno - Evening Star
Miles Davis - Agharta
Electric Light Orchestra - Face the Music
Kool & the Gang - Spirit of the Boogie
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - One Size Fits All
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow
Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
Neil Young - Zuma
Bob Dylan & the Band - The Basement Tapes
Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner
Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
The Doobie Brothers - Stampede
Parliament - Mothership Connection
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Patti Smith - Horses
Fleetwood Mac

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.