Rock

Nazareth “Hair of the Dog” (1975)

In 1975 the Scottish Hard Rock band Nazareth released their masterpiece, and what is one of the greatest Hard Rock albums ever recorded, Hair Of The Dog. This album is simply amazing from first to last and doesn’t have anything resembling a weak song on it. What it does have is one hard hitting earth shaking song right after another. And they are all perfectly balanced by Danny McCafferty menacing, growly Vocals and Manny Charlton snarling searing Guitars.

This album stands tall as one of the greatest Hard Rock icon albums of the 1970’s and of all time. –Karl

The Band “The Band” (1969)

A sepia-toned album that, above all, creates its own space-time, I wouldn’t normally award points for escapism, but this one manages to bring its historical reference points into a rock ‘n’ roll context, which is the best trick they pull off on this tricky little gem of a record. This is funkier than their debut, and funkier than most albums that attempt to be funky. It’s also a lot squarer than most albums, which is a neat trick for an album so funky. Great production, as well. And fantastic use of horns, evokes ol’ time rural America and ’60s soul in equal measures: another neat trick. Another one of those groups who manage to pull off the on-the-verge-of-falling-apart thing with aplomb. That’s enough praise for this Band. –Will

Joni Mitchell “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter” (1977)

After plowing through the budget bins one weekend, I decided to spend five dollars on five Joni Mitchell albums and see what the hype was all about, and of the five I brought home, “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter” was the one I found myself going back to. It seems that most of the people who fell in love with the radio-friendly, “pop” Joni thought this one was too random, weird, and abstract. I find it clever, wandering, curious, and self-indulgent in the best way possible. I love the production, super clean and bright, and every so often… When Jaco Pastorius hits those notes… It’s totally rich and full in the low end. But what I love the most is the experimentation on songs like “Paprika Plains” (which eats up a whole album side), and “Dreamland,” (featuring Chaka Khan) which ditches her traditional acoustic guitars for just drums and chants. The title track is my favorite song with it’s explosive bass drops and wandering lyrics. When you think you’ve heard all Joni has to offer, find this one! –Cameron

Uriah Heep “Uriah Heep” (1970)

Any time the infamous, heavy-hatin’ thought police at Rolling Stone review an album saying “if this group makes it I’ll have to commit suicide,” you know you’re on to something good, and Uriah Heep’s debut remains a cornerstone of vintage hard rock, delivering a crushing assault that belies its 1970 release date. The bloodthirsty “Gypsy” sets things up with some burning guitar/organ interplay before diving into a Paleolithic riff over which Byron soars with layered vocals. It’s those wild, dramatic harmonies and the band’s authoritative thud that stamps these tunes as something uniquely intense and remarkable – Heep ain’t just the poor man’s Purple, folks! Check out the wild “Bird of Prey,” which predicts Queen with it’s jarring vocals (and kudos to whover swapped this in for the useless “Lucy Blues” from the UK issue), heavy boogie beast “Real Turned On,” and churning entries like “Walking in Your Shadow” and “I’ll Keep on Trying.” The melancholy ballad “Come Away Melinda,” and more involved concept pieces “Dreammare” and “Wake Up” are cool diversions from the mayhem, the band stretching out without losing the plot. Factor in a spacious, detailed production that places you right in the crossfire, and you can hear the metal being forged right inside your aching skull. —Ben

Captain Beyond “Captain Beyond” (1972)

Psychedelic rock emerging from its Technicolor cocoon as a decidedly more metallic butterfly. This is one of the first metal albums and still one of the best. It runs through a quick half hour of seriously kick-ass riffs and tricky rhythms that would suffice to leave some of us sufficiently breathless were it not also for the stoner imagery and a general atmosphere of stoopid awesomeness that I find transporting—despite myself. Sure, it gets overly dopey towards the end, but most of its listeners are doped up by that point, anyway. Guitar, bass, and drums manna for those of us who like that sort of thing. As for the rest of you… well, who asked you, anyway? Highly recommended late-night listening. –Ben

Roky Erickson and the Aliens “The Evil One” (1981)

After serving some time in a mental institution, Roky Erickson, gifted vocalist of the prolific psych outfit 13th Floor Elevators, pheonixed into a paranoid messiah of rock, shedding any traces of campiness from his 60’s catalog in the proccess. “The Evil One” is a raging slab of psychedelic punk driven by Roky’s wonderful Texas fried and acid fed voice. He shrieks in terror as if to warn world of the demons in his mind. Although the lyrical subject matter is almost comical; vampires, a two headed dog, the devil, etc…, it’s delivered with a sincerity comparable to Syd Barrett’s solo albums or even a homeless person in the street raving on about something out to get them. But aside from any side stories of mental breakdown or heavy drug intake, the record is a cold cut ripper. Full speed 70’s hard rock with out any filler or forced attitude and killer guitar runs throughout. A must have for rock, punk, or psychellic heads. Just make sure your mind is together before dropping the needle, it might not come back. -Alex

Tubeway Army “Tubeway Army” (1978)

This is the Gary Numan we know and love, in his infancy. And although this is essentially a more guitar-oriented blueprint for Replicas, its sloppiness and low-rent ambiance give it a creepy feeling and skuzzy attack that makes this album a keeper not only for fans of the man-machine’s two or three subsequent classics, but of early “new wave” in general, before it had its edges smoothed away. Still, the album would have more impact as an EP, as Numan’s limits show themselves not quite equipped for the long player’s haul. Granted, the latter could arguably be said of his two or three subsequent classics, as well. –Will

Queen “Jazz” (1978)

In comparison to much of the Queen back catalogue, this album has been ripped apart, criticised, and sometimes even ridiculed to the point that one begins to believe in the negativity and almost approaches this 1978 release with a view that it is going to stink however hard one tries to judge it objectively. O.K, it doesn’t contain any of the anthemic masterpieces one had become accustomed to. There is no “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody To Love”, ” We Are The Champions”, or “We Will Rock You”. Yes it does open with one of the most bizarre songs the band would ever record, the pseudo Arabesque “Mustapha”, which must have been a shock to regular fans.Yes one has to agree that their choice to stage an all nude female bicycle race at Wimbledon Racetrack and include a poster of the event with the album was not the most inspired promotonal strategy, particularly when one considers that The Womens Liberation Movement were at that time getting a certain amount of empathy for their vehement stand against Playboy, Miss World, and anything that showed women as objects for masculine amusement. Although the album would be released with the poster in the U.K, both Kmart and Sears in the States refused to handle “Jazz” with the poster, so American fans would only be able to purchase through Mail order. (It sounds like a Spinal Tap scene doesn’t it ?). The American press were particularly scathing, Rolling Stone reviewer Dave Marsh panned “Jazz”, and added “Queen may be the first truly Fascist Rock band”.

So..is “Jazz” really that bad ? Quite honestly, no it isn’t , it’s actually a good album. Ostensibly, it is the most diverse Queen album up to that period but much of the material is strong, entertaining, and one gets the impression that the band enjoyed “stretching themselves”, both musically and generically. The fun element of this recording comes through on songs like the macho Rocker “Fat Bottomed Girls”, the magnificent multi tracked Vocal arrangement on “Bicycle Race”, and the double entendre filled “Don’t Stop Me Now”, a whirling soaring Pop/Rock song on speed, and easily the best cut from the album. Freddie’s ballad “Jealousy” is gentle and sweetly performed and works well as does Brian May’s “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy”. The Roger Taylor songs are pretty bad (“Fun It”, clunky Disco Rock) and (“More Of That Jazz”, badly edited reprise music) and the John Deacon song “In Only Seven Days” seems like an act of appeasement so that all the band members can be recognised as song contributors.

“Jazz” really needs to be re-considered as a good album that was dumbed down by a Rock press who really didn’t understand that every top Rock band needs to diversify at some stage in their career, and although this isn’t Queen’s best work, it is at times both fun and entertaining. –Ben H

Bob Dylan “Oh Mercy” (1989)

Just when I’d begun to keep my ears open for all the glowing eulogies that were sure to be showered upon the late Mr Dylan’s head, he undergoes a miraculous recovery and produces his finest album of the eighties. I realise that Oh Mercy doesn’t have much competition in that regard but, if I qualify the statement by saying it’s his best since Blood On The Tracks released fifteen years earlier and falls not far short of that pinnacle, I think that puts it into perspective.

Not since the days of Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde has Dylan sounded so comfortable fronting a fully fledged band. His voice has the same distinctive croak but sounds richer. Whether that is solely due to the skills of Daniel Lanois in the producer’s chair, I don’t know, but I’m certain a great deal of the credit can be laid at his door. The best songs on Oh Mercy compare favourably with anything in Dylan’s back catalogue. “Ring Them Bells”, “What Was It You Wanted”, “Man In The Long Black Coat” and “Most Of The Time” – a painful telling of not coping with lost love – are all excellent. But, in the end, it’s the negative side of Dylan that this album brings to the fore.

It would be 8 more years before his next great album, Time Out Of Mind, and his insistence in between on releasing second rate material can only be attributed to laziness or a complete disregard for his fans. —Ian

Alice Cooper “Billion Dollar Babies” (1973)

Considering that Alice Cooper’s music was more a soundtrack to his extravagant persona and the sideshow rock and roll theatrics that fans came to love, his early albums still retain a consistent quality as simple stand alone musical experiences. High praise, even if you’re not consumed by the deliberate dark showmanship, the attention grabbing histrionics or the wilful intention to melodramatically shock for the sake of entertainment. Not only did Alice Cooper write strong songs, but they delivered their mix of bombastic heavyweight, glam tinged rock with a knowing pop sensibility and a sense of melody few could compete with. Along with producer Bob Ezrin, and with the powerful dual guitar attack of Glenn Buxton and Michael Bruce, if the band didn’t insult every mother’s heart, they most definitely laid a convincing assault on most kid’s minds.

“Billion Dollar Babies” in many ways is Alice Cooper’s most accessible early work. There’s a more expansive backdrop by the use of a greater range of instrumentation and orchestration. The outstanding opener and worthy cover of the Rolf Kempf original, “Hello Hooray” casts Cooper as the Master Of Ceremonies for every rebellious adolescent searching for thrills with “I’ve been ready, ready as this audience that’s coming here to dream, Loving every second, every moment, every scream”. It lays the foundation for one of the band’s greatest songs, “Elected”, a re-work of a song originally titled “Reflected” from the 1969 “Pretties For You” album. The surging riff that guides the chorus is a revelation in comparison to the original, as Cooper announces himself as the leader of a generation in the simplest terms “Kids want a saviour and don’t need a fake, I wanna be elected”. Much of the remainder of the album perfectly matches Cooper’s ethics to self effacing comedy, manic bravado, and high octane entertainment. There are over egged moments, as in the funereal drawl of “Sick Things”, and the ill fitting polished pop overtones of “No More Mr Nice Guy”, but these slips are overcome by the excellent title track, “Raped And Freezin’”, “Generation Landslide” and the gentle piano ballad “Mary Ann”.

In terms of musical legacy and quality there’s little to choose between 1971s “Love It To Death”, “Killer”, 1972s “School’s Out” and this recording. For a new recruit to Alice Cooper’s wild and wicked world, starting with “Billion Dollar Babies” is the key to enter his dungeon of darkness. —Ben

Sweet “Sweet Fanny Adams” (1974)

One helium-fueled sugar rush of an album, Sweet’s “Sweet Fanny Adams” cuts a glitter-littered path with sky-high vocals, proto-metal guitar crunch, and a set of mesmerizing tunes that find the band splitting writing duties with the Chinnichap bubblegum factory. Sweet seem determined to give their teenybopper image the boot with a series of snarling, bad-attitude rockers like the frantic “Set Me Free,” indignant “No You Don’t,” and the defiant buzz of “Sweet F.A.” lending to the albums aggressive tone, along with glitzy fare like “Heartbreak Today’ and the switch-hitting “AC/DC.” –Ben

Paul McCartney “McCartney” (1970)

A critical dissection will reveal that there’s quite a bit of filler. Yet somehow, taken as a whole, it proves to perfectly capture a mood: an honest snapshot of a place and time. “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Every Night” are the obvious top choices and “Junk” is an essential McCartney composition. Sifting through the rest is like combing through a great assortment of rags and bones. The instrumentals all have wonderful grooves and there’s really not a bad track on either side. Certainly many of the songs would benefit from a good fleshing out and the album as a whole feels like a set of demos. A set of outstandingly performed demos, that is. It was the perfect album for him to make after the dissolution of The Beatles – imagine the pressure of following not only Abbey Road, but the Beatles as an act! It’s the sound of Paul laying it all out there and subliminally saying “hey, this is what I can do, hope you dig it…if not, I’m not shoving it in your face that I was a Beatle” – a feeling not too far away, but not as severe as John’s “I don’t believe in Beatles”. Where John may have felt emboldened by the break-up and therefore took an extreme approach to his first couple of post-Beatles albums, Paul came out of the box seeming a bit amputated and searching for his sea legs. It’s that emotional honesty that I hear on this album that gives it it’s charm. –BH