Third verse same as the second.
I’m doing a list of my favourite albums back to 1960, with commentary on selected albums. The first part of this list, from 2000 to the present day, can be found here, and the list from 1980 to 1999 can be found here. Without further ado, let’s go.
1979: Earth, Wind & Fire – I Am
1978: Taeko Ohnuki – Mignonne
Many of Ohnuki’s first albums were titled in French. Mignonne is the feminine form of the word meaning “cute.” I had to select at least one album from the J-pop subgenre of city pop for this list, and 1978 was (for me) a barren enough year in the US that it seemed apt to include this one (even though Mariya Takeuchi, Tatsuro Yamashita, and Meiko Nakahara are my favourite city pop artists). City pop is Japan’s take on adult contemporary, combining influences of quiet storm, funk, R&B, rock n’ roll, yacht rock, and jazz (in various doses, and including other influences, depending on the artist). The genre fascinates me and I find it oddly nostalgic given that I have only a superficial amount of knowledge of the Japanese language, I have never been to Japan, I am not Japanese, and I was born after the heyday of the genre.
“4:00 AM” is my favourite track, though “Jajauma Musume (Aggressive Girl)” is a close second.
1977: Steely Dan – Aja
Get ready to see this band’s name a lot in this list. Steely Dan are my favourite band of all time.
1976: Steely Dan – The Royal Scam
Here it is: the best Steely Dan album. Tighter musicianship than Katy Lied, better songwriting than Pretzel Logic, and greater coherence than Can’t Buy a Thrill or Countdown to Ecstasy. It’s not polished to the same mirror sheen as Aja (which has my favourite individual song by Steely Dan, namely “Deacon Blues”) nor is it as cynical as Gaucho, which makes it less tiring to listen to on both counts.
“Caves of Altamira” and “Haitian Divorce” are the must-listen tracks for me.
1975: Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
1974: Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
1973: Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy
1972: Steely Dan – Can’t Buy a Thrill
To my ears, Steely Dan is the ultimate band of the 1970s (at least among White artists). The Dan’s music was all about the excesses of the ‘70s playboy lifestyle, filtered through a uniquely sarcastic lens that I’m surprised maintained traction with a major label. Rock music’s two favorite slackers (ironic given how obsessive Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were in the studio) started out their career here.
1971: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (“Zoso”)
1970: Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
1969: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Willy and the Poor Boys
1968: Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
1967: Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
“Not necessarily stoned, but… beautiful.”
1966: Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence
Silence isn’t S&G’s strongest album musically – I hand that crown to Bridge Over Troubled Water – but I consider this to be Paul Simon’s most focused album from a lyrical standpoint. Bridge took more risks musically and foreshadowed Paul Simon’s career-long fascination with worldbeat, but Silence resonated more deeply. Must-listen tracks include “I Am a Rock,” “Sounds of Silence,” “Kathy’s Song,” and “Somewhere They Can’t Find Me,” two of these being reinterpretations or covers of songs from Wednesday Morning 3 A.M., the duo’s first album from 1964.
1965: John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
There is nothing original I can say about this album, truly a crowning achievement not only of jazz but of recorded music as a whole. Every person endowed with the sense of hearing must hear this album at least once in their lifetime. It’s as simple as that.
1964: Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch!
1963: Miles Davis – Seven Steps to Heaven
1962: Beach Boys – Surfin’ Safari
This is far from the Boys’ best album (Pet Sounds and Wild Honey would like a word), but I had a hard time with the year of 1962. This album, the Beach Boys’ first, is notable for being recorded by the Beach Boys themselves rather than using session musicians as was so very common with early-60s “bands,” and it’s indicative of the style of music that was considered “rock & roll” in the early ’60s.