I Will Try This Again

Some time ago, I attempted to start compiling what I believe might be the best albums of all time.

Because I am lazy and don’t really have the inclination, I am not going to go through the hundreds of columns to find the albums I started with. However, if my memory serves me correctly these are the few I started with:

Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, The Who’s Quadrophenia, Who’s Next and maybe Tommy, The Beatle’s Abbey Road and White Album and probably Led Zeppelin IV. Im not sure.

Again, to my new readers, like every else I write about, it’s just my opinion and I am always open for discussion.

Before I delve into this rabbit hole again I think it’s important to understand how I define a great album.

First things first, the album must have more great songs than filler. This pretty simple. An album like Cosmos Factory by Creedence has no filler, at all. Every song could stand alone and be considered great. You want to argue, renew your subscription to Rolling Stone and read all the whining liberals complain about Trump, and leave me alone.

Second, it is a recording, from a studio or on location. It is not live. There are great great live albums that can be included but I just choose not to include them.

Third, it doesn’t need to have historic significance but that doesn’t preclude it either. For example, Miles davis’s Bitches Brew can be included and it was something of a historical marker for Davis and for Rock. Plus, if you listen to the album, it really is great. Not a weak song on it and it sets the mood for just about anything.

Forth thing. I am about rock and roll, that’s true but there are incredible Country albums, Jazz, Blues and Soul. I am familiar but probably not as familiar as I could be so there is a limit to what I will include.

Fifth thing. It is very hard for me to include any Pop at all. Is Taylor Swift worthy of any ranking on anyones list? No. She is a genius at marketing mediocrity. God bless her, leave those sappy songs in some box in your moldy closet, thank you very much.

Now to continue.

I reenter the conversation with Aretha Franklin’s Lady Soul. There really is no argument here, Aretha had the greatest voice in the history of modern music. Beyonce could not carry her purse, neither could Adele or Rhiannon. She sang from a place that no one has ever been to, their soul. This album is 10 songs of her power.

I will be honest here. Having looked at lists over the years from educated critics about great albums, Astral Weeks by Van Morrison was always at or near the top. For years, I never got it. I just could not see how people could think that this album is better than Moondance. Hey Moondance still has the best side of music ever recorded. Yet, I kept coming back to this album and I tried to get it. I finally did. I know I am an over user of hyperbole and I accept that but this is not hyperbole, this album is magical. The lyrics, the poetry, the singing, all of the different arrangements. I may have listened to it 50 times now and I still have not gotten through every feature that makes this album special. This record is the pinnacle of the art form. "Ballerina” is simply one of the most beautiful tributes you will ever hear. The title track may take 10 or 15 listens but once you get it, it will never leave you.

This album might have been mentioned in a previous column and I apologize for that. Stevie Wonder’s Innervision is one of three or four albums by Wonder on my list. This album is probably Wonder’s most personal records. Seeing the World and it’s problems through his unique vision. Like every album on my list, I can’t find a weak song on this record and some of the songs are powerful beyond vinyl. The opening track “Too High” is a perfect example of Stevie Wonder’s brilliance. A simple song that is so complex with it’s arrangement, you can only listen to it in awe. The rest of the record is just as good.

Tapestry by Carole King is another album that is just perfect. King has always been an incredible songwriter and along with her husband Gerry Goffin, they kept the Brill Building in New York, the centerpiece of modern pop for years. Her voice wasn’t as powerful as some of her peers but she wrote these songs for her own vocal style and every song on this album just works.

Another album that is and will always be highly rated by critics that I just never got was Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. Never a fan of the band and while they remain part of the soundtrack of my life (like almost every one my age give or take 10 years) I stayed away. Until the day Brian Wilson passed away. Then a good friend of mine suggested I give it another listen. I did, again and again and then it hit me. This album is a masterpiece in a way that no other album in the mid 60’s could touch. The arrangements alone are spectacular. The album is like Wilson and Mike Love reached into the future and saw what was going to develop. They just developed it earlier. I will always give credit where credit is due and this album just continued The Beach Boys American dream. The harmonies, as you would expect, are perfect but the writing was deeper, the background was more sophisticated. I can’t say i love the album but I can say it is a masterpiece that was recorded before its time.

I don’t think anyone could argue with this selection, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On is an album from another dimension. Gaye’s voice is a smooth as silk yet every word he sings is filled with power, hurt and love. This was a transcendent album for Motown, black musicians and people everywhere. I don’t think it’s possible to understand how important this album ended up being and it still has subtle influences even now. I have this record in constant rotation.

Picking a Beatles album or two for this list is next to impossible. You have Sgt. Peppers, you have Abbey Road, Revolver, The White Album. Even Let it Be could be on this list so I am not going to single out one but I will include all of them. That is why, even to this day, The Beatles will always be in a league of their own.

My last selection for this time is one that will probably be disputed and I am okay with that. I love Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells A Story. Is it perfect? No, not really.Is it close? Yes, I think so. It has some excellent storytelling and Stewart’s vocals were for Rod, pretty perfect too. Ron Wood, Andy Pyle and Ron Lane (sounds like Faces to me), loose and having fun. That’s what Rock and Roll is all about, no?