Octopus manages to be one of the most beautiful, creative and insane albums from the 70’s simultaneously. Gentle Giant’s strange progressive mix of classical music and hard rock, along with the medieval feeling vocals is very refreshing. Especially among other “prog” groups like Pink Floyd that grow stale. Octopus branches in as many directions as an octopus has legs. Very few other prog-rock groups have ever come close to equaling this level of achievement. –Rob
Rock
Chameleons “Strange Times” (1986)
How can you not think The Chameleons are the most underrated band of all time, once you get this far into their catalogue? The guitars single handedly inspired U2 and Interpol, the lyrics were approaching topics unconventional and honest, and the albums were just so complete and original. From the sorrow of losing a close friend to the excitement/desperation of losing your virginity, Strange Times carried a weird variety of topics and themes that carried feelings of joy and sadness. With no mention in Rolling Stones top 500 albums list, no mention in Pitchfork’s 80s list, a recent reunion that went unnoticed, there is no second chance for the mainstream to get a glimpse into the genius of The Chameleons. It will forever be remained as that band with the awesome sleeves that your uncle has in his collection. Probably some derivative post-punk shit, nothing important. –Allistair
Jeff Beck Group “Truth” (1968)
Blow by Blow is the only other Jeff Beck album I’ve heard and it’s completely different from this one. It’s groovy, instrumental fusion that matched the musical trends of the 1970s. Truth on the other hand is heavy Blues-Rock that a lot of people cite as the birth of Heavy Metal. Blues slide guitarists like Robert Nighthawk and Hound Dog Taylor that would crank their amps way the hell up and play with a mean streak deserve just as much credit though. You can’t pin the creation of any genre on a single person. In general the music has a vibe that really reminds me of The Who for some reason. The guitar playing of Jeff Beck is potent and the vocals are a surprise. Rod Stewart used to know how to rock? I wonder what happened to the guy. –Rob
Jefferson Airplane “Crown of Creation” (1968)
By the time “Crown of Creation” came out the Airplane were fully loaded with incredible musicians and an album’s worth of uniquely creative songs. Ranging from their exotic take on alternative lifestyles to the acid crazed end of the world. The instruments, voices and sound experiments expand in an effortless collage of psychedelic consciousness. A collision of modern art and contemporary music that helped to define the hypnotic sixties. –Scott
The Beach Boys “Wild Honey” (1967)
Short, sweet, and playful, this modest collection of effortless pop might not deliver on the promise of Pet Sounds or “Good Vibrations,” but its take on white soul has a sunny, domestic charm to it that’s irresistible, and the unadorned production—sketchy underproduction, in fact—is a great antidote to hermetic studio indulgence and the psychedelic trappings of the day, which makes this, in its own way, a rather bold release for its time. I’m in agreement with the reviewers who put this in the upper ranks of the group’s albums; there are days when I prefer this to Pet Sounds. –Will
13th Floor Elevators “Easter Everywhere” (1967)
If all psychedelic records where this good I’d listen to nothing else. As we all know there not. Side one is flawless with even the Dylan cover (“Baby Blue”) being mind expandingly good. Side two’s almost as good and that alone is an incredible feat. One of my favorite 60’s albums of all time and my favorite psych album period. –Brian
Alice Cooper “Love It to Death” (1971)
Love it to Death is the perfect brew of the Alice Cooper band’s mixture of hard rock, juvenile delinquency and shock rock theatrics. A lot of its strength relies in its diversity and the band always manages to sound convincing and original. Just look at the final three songs: the dark “Second Coming” plays out with a grand, stirring piano section into the unnerving lunacy of “The Ballad of Dwight Fry” before ending with the folky sing-a-long “Sun Arise”. “Caught in a Dream” and “Long Way To Go” are effective, short garage rockers that contrast with the extended, intense psychedelic trip of “Black Juju”. “I’m Eighteen” has simple lyrics that perfectly capture the confusion and disarray of adolescence and “Is It My Body” is a short, lusty rocker with a great guitar tone. “Hallowed be thy Name” is the weaker of the bunch, but it doesn’t really detract from the album as a whole and “Love it to Death” is a first rate seventies hard rock album. –Ben
Maxophone “Maxophone” (1975)
The lone album from Maxophone is another piece of archaeological evidence pointing towards the inevitable conclusion that the Italians took progressive rock to heights only hinted at by their UK contemporaries. While richly melodic, Maxophone nevertheless are as go-for-broke with their ornamented arrangements as any other Italian prog act, regularly spouting riffs offering more twists than a bowl of fusilli, bursting into flowery orchestral beauty, or detouring down a jazzy sax-mad side road at the drop of a hat. The layered vocals are delivered with the inspired passion that hallmarks the genre, also managing to hit some angelic falsettos along the way. –Ben
Fleetwood Mac “Then Play On” (1969)
If I was forced to name a favorite album, then I think I might go for “Then Play On”. I can’t really think of another album I consistently enjoy as much. With Danny Kirwan on board the expectation no longer falls squarely on Peter Green’s shoulders and Kirwan’s arrival had already bore fruit with the preceeding “Albatross” and “Man of the World” singles. There’s a much broader feel on here than the previous Fleetwood Mac albums and “Then Play On” includes everything you could want on an album: soul-searching ballads (“Closing My Eyes”, “Before the Beginning”), raucous rock ‘n’ roll (“Coming Your Way”, “Rattlesnake Shake”, “Oh Well (Part One)”), McCartney-esque pop ditties (“Although the Sun is Shining”, “When You Say”), serene instrumentals (“My Dream”, “Underway”, “Oh Well (Part Two)”) and breathtaking jams (“Looking for Madge”, “Fighting for Madge”). Listening to “Then Play On” is particularly interesting when you consider how troubled the chief song writers would become in the ensuing months, years and decades. You can almost sense something ominous on Peter Green’s horizon when listening to “Closing My Eyes”, “Show-Biz Blues” (which includes the line “and you’re sitting there so green, believe me man I’m just the same as you), the acoustic section of “Oh Well” or “Before the Beginning”. There’s something incredibly sad about Peter Green’s contributions here although he still gets down and dirty for “Rattlesnake Shake”, an ode to masterbation. Danny Kirwan proves himself to be a phenomenal song writer with his delicate, beautiful ballads and his album opener “Coming your Way” has an epic guitar outro. There isn’t one dud to be found here and “Then Play On” is never anything less than an engrossing, moving, imaginative, flawless, impressive album from a band who may not have even hit there peak yet. –Tom
Black Oak Arkansas “High on the Hog” (1973)
Clodhoppin’ rockers Black Oak Arkansas achieved their biggest success with High on the Hog and it’s obnoxious #25 single “Jim Dandy,” which featured raspy vocalist Jim “Dandy” Mangrum and Ruby Starr hootin’ it up like a pair of courtin’ cousins. Featuring a few other, similarly buck-toothed entries in “Happy Hooker,” and acoustic pickers “Back to the Land” and “High ‘n’ Dry,” High on the Hog is redeemed by the inclusion of nasty southern-livin’ rockers like the funky opener “Swimmin’ in Quicksand,” the churning “Red Hot Lovin’,” and “Mad Man,” while “Moonshine Sonata” is a vintage guitarmony laced instrumental. Possessing neither the sophistication of an Allmans or attitude of Skynrd, High on the Hog is yer basic roll in the mud through a set of lowbrow rube-rock, worth checking out for fans of the genre. –Ben
Rainbow “Rising” (1976)
As a blossoming Deep Purple fan ‘Rising’ was my introduction to Ritchie Blackmore’s post-Purple work and although I was initially ambivalent about the sound and Dio’s voice I’ve since come to love this music which, has also helped me appreciate Dio’s stint with Black Sabbath a lot more. After a debut album that fiddled with some of Ritchie Blackmore’s ideas, ‘Rising’ sounds more like a band effort and everything about the sound has got heavier. Dio’s lyrics took me a while to get used to but they sound tailor-made for this kind of dramatic heavy rock and his voice is so good it doesn’t matter matter what is said. The first side of ‘Rising’ is made up of short, punchy heavy rock songs with “Do You Close Your Eyes” being the album’s weakest track and a mood lightener before the album’s two big statements, “Stargazer and “A Light In The Black”. “Stargazer” is a huge undertaking that demands nothing but the best from the people involved. The heavy drone is sustained for eight and a half minutes and Dio’s range is tested in trying to match the constant thunder of the music. “A Light In The Black” is my personal favorite moment of the album, proving that this line-up could rock as hard as anybody. Cozy Powell drives the song along, allowing Dio to swoop and fly vocally, and Tony Carey takes on Ritchie Blackmore in a furious solo battle that brings out the best from both. The album’s a bit short and there isn’t a huge amount of variation but ‘Rising’ contains six good tracks and at least two essentials. –Tom
My Bloody Valentine “Isn’t Anything” (1988)
My Bloody Valentine spent a few years wasting time in paisley limbo before growing a massive pair and reinventing psychedelic music as well as a new language for the electric guitar. Isn’t anything is their first full length representation of this, and in my opinion, their greatest achievement as a band. Jesus and Marychain and Spacemen 3 may have peaked before this, as critics love to point out, but who really gives a shit? The Marychain and Spacemen are the dictionary definition of posers, who in the process of riding on America’s musical history for cool points, happened to luck out and make some good music. But there’s nothing original there, no real emotion. Isn’t Anything, on the other hand, is just a total swirling cacophony of electric sounds and emotions; sometimes bending, sometimes stacked on top of each other,sometimes crashing. You realize that this is truly what it feels like to be an opened up human being. It’s the feeling that you’re feeling everything at once and bordering on insanity except that the one connecting point is, no matter what emotions are consuming your senses, they will be extreme. Love, loss, change, it’s all here in it’s purest form, the abstract form. And what’s truely impressive is that the music doesn’t sound dated at all yet it’s blatently psychedellic. The drums and bass border on hardcore via Dinosaur Jr’s mammoth-like approach, while the guitars and vocals, both provided by the heavenly duo of Kevin Sheilds and Belinda Butcher, flow over and consume the sound in a way that the ocean might look lazy but ultimately it couldn’t give a fuck about you and could wipe you out in a second if you were in the way of it’s power. Just throw this on, and make sure it’s at a somewhat loud enough volume. –Alex
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