My All-Time Top 50 Albums - Part 2: 40-31

Continuing my Top 50...

40. Woodstock Soundtrack

The Woodstock Music & Arts Fair of 15-18 August 1969 was probably one of those era-defining moments that will never be repeated (even though many have tried…). It captured the zeitgeist of late 1960s American sub-culture so well, and became the definition of the Hippie movement for many. I was one of those ‘many’: although too young to have appreciated the event at the time, I was aware of it through adverts in the American comics I was reading at the time, and as I grew more musically and politically aware the hippie ideals and modes of dress appealed more and more to me. This album and the accompanying film remind me of the event and the possibility for human living that was, however briefly, demonstrated over those 4 days. And there is some great music: Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Sly Stone, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, Santana, The Who, Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Country Joe MacDonald, John Sebastian, and some great music missing from Janis Joplin & The  Grateful Dead. But what we have is a great reminder of what can be, and what might have been.

39. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus

It was probably Bob Marley’s appearance on the Old Grey Whistle Test that brought reggae to a wider audience, and I have strong memories of John Peel playing some quite challenging Dub Reggae on his radio show towards the end of the 70s, which I found quite intriguing. Exodus is perhaps Marley’s most successful recording, combining as it does a commercial, danceable reggae with an unapologetic use of the spirituality of Rastafarianism, with its resonances with the Old Testament, particularly in the title track. While giving rise to some home-grown reggae acts in the UK in the late 70s and early 80s, such as Aswad and Steel Pulse, Marley & the Wailers remain the benchmark for the genre for many.

38. Camel – Moonmadness

I came to Camel relatively late – possibly in the 1990s, rather than in their heyday of the 1970s – and it was Moonmadness that was my introduction to their music. Here was a collection replete with energy, introspection, inventiveness and instrumental dexterity that just screamed for repeated listens. Exploring the band’s catalogue brought more delights, but nothing could quite top this collection of songs for their variety and vitality.

37. 10CC – How Dare You

As a teenager there were a number of reasons for buying an album, but normally there had to be a very good reason, as money was tight. It might be on the recommendation of a friend; it might be that as a fan and completist you just had to have the latest vinyl as soon as it was released; it might be that, browsing the racks at the record store the album artwork jumped out at you (Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell was one such for me). Or maybe you’d heard the single on the radio and thought ‘You know what, I’d like to explore this lot a bit further…’ I’d been aware of 10CC’s work since Rubber Bullets, but there was something about ‘I’m Mandy Fly Me’ that called to me. What I found in ‘How Dare You’ was a weird, wacky, witty ensemble of songs which, sadly, would be the last creation of the 4-piece band of Gouldman, Stewart, Godley & Creme. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s something about this album that has stayed with me over the past 40+ years.

36. John Coltrane – Blue Train

If you were wondering when jazz would make an appearance in this list, your wait is over! John Coltrane came to prominence in jazz circles as a member of Miles Davis’s quintet in the mid-50s, and featured on many classic recordings. In 1957 he took Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums) from the Miles Davis Quintet and along with Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone) and Kenny Drew (piano) produced Blue Train. This was in many ways a landmark album in the world of jazz, producing a number of tunes that have become standards – Moment’s Notice, Lazy Bird, and the title track – and here Coltrane demonstrated his chord substitution cycles which became known as Coltrane Changes. The first (but not the only) album in my list that pre-dates me, this is and will remain a classic.

35. Queen – A Night at the Opera

There’s always been something about Queen that was different, and difficult to pigeon-hole (if that’s what you’re into with music…): were they hard rock, glam rock, prog rock, what? As their career progressed their inventiveness musically came more to the fore, and to my mind it reached its peak with A Night at the Opera – so much so that they tried (unsuccessfully) to recreate it on A Day at the Races. What strikes me particularly about this album is the variety: the hard rock of Death on Two Legs and Sweet Lady; the almost vaudeville of Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon and Seaside Rendezvous, and the ragtime feel of Good Company; the silliness of I’m in Love with My Car; the pop simplicity of You’re My Best Friend (John Deacon could always write a good pop song); the stomping folk of ’39; the breathy, soulful energy of Love of my Life; and the sheer prog magnificence and staggering pomposity of The Prophet’s Song and Bohemian Rhapsody, and all of these styles held together by Brian May’s signature guitar tone and the band’s increasingly complex vocal harmonies, and by Roy Thomas Baker’s exemplary production. After 45 years it still holds up as a work of art and, if I may dare say, a work of genius!

34. Crosby Stills & Nash – Crosby Stills & Nash

Arguably one of the first ‘supergroups’ in popular music, drawing together David Crosby from The Byrds, Steven Stills from Buffalo Springfield & Graham Nash from The Hollies, Crosby Stills & Nash brought their own particular brand of harmonic folk rock to the hippie scene of the late 1960s, and their iconic appearance at Woodstock was only their second gig together! Their debut album is full of their trademark harmonies, and brings together excellent song-writing from all three members and a wonderful variety of musical styles, acoustic and electric, folky & psychedelic, bluesy & pop-y, optimistic & apocalyptic – perhaps summing up musically that ‘something in the air’ that Thunderclap Newman sang of at the time. The creative energy that flows throughout this album lifts me every time I listen – of its time, yet timeless.

33. Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

The first but (SPOILER ALERT) not the last appearance by Pink Floyd in this list brings us to their last studio album as a band, albeit by then only a 3-piece. The band had transitioned during their 25+ years as a recording unit from the Psychedelic house band of the UFO Club under Syd Barrett’s leadership, to the experimental soundscapes of Ummagumma & Meddle, the prog superstars of Dark Side … and Wish You Were Here, and the stadium rockers of The Wall and the post-Waters era. I’d kind of lost touch with Floyd after The Final Cut, which just didn’t do it for me (and still doesn’t – sorry of that upsets anyone…), and was visiting family in Vancouver when I found this album on my host’s shelf. Listening to it, to me it seemed like the old Pink Floyd were back, perhaps a little more conventional and bluesy, but with a challenging edge to their music. For me the standout track was always High Hopes, with its nostalgic melancholy and trademark Gilmour guitars.

32. Rick Wakeman – 6 Wives of Henry VIII

I discovered Rick Wakeman before I discovered Yes, and my finding Rick was mainly down to a school friend, Pete. He lived quite close to school (which I didn’t), so his house was a convenient bolthole from annoying aspects of school life such as games! One of the records that we used to listen to frequently on those visits was 6 Wives… and I was struck by two things really: one was Wakeman’s manual dexterity on the keyboards (it was that that lead me to explore Yes’s music), and the other was his amazing hair! (I know: shallow, aren’t I!?) As a fellow blond, he became a role-model for me, though the school authorities were less impressed and kept sending me to the barbers every 3 weeks! Enough of this sartorial reminiscence: the music is varied, powerful, poignant, reflective and is still perhaps (for me) the best thing he’s done on his own.

31. Genesis – Foxtrot

Genesis were the first band I really got behind, having been ‘converted’ hearing Seconds Out. The music just grabbed 16-year-old me and I quickly began to explore their catalogue. Foxtrot was one of their early albums that really stood out for me: being the one that had Supper’s Ready on it did help. So why is it only at number 31 in my list? About 4 years ago, I wrote: ”This album marks a significant milestone in the band's development: their song-writing has reached a new peak with each of the band's members maturing as musicians. This would be the last album that was dominated as much by 12-string and Mellotron, as advances in synthesiser technology were to transform their sound in the coming months. With Foxtrot, Genesis were beginning to make an impact on the British music scene (though not as yet in the US) and this would continue in the next couple of years as their star rose steadily, and Foxtrot rightly holds a place at the top table of Progressive music as one of the best examples of the genre.” But maybe familiarity has soured it a little for me; there are other works that I now consider of better class, certainly from Genesis’s canon (more on that later). But it is still an album of outstanding class, and it would be remiss of me to omit it completely.

My All-Time Top 50 albums - Part 1: 50-41

A few months ago now I was asked by Graham Harfleet from Progzilla Radio to put together my all-time Top 50 albums for him to broadcast on his show. After some deliberation I agreed, and set about trying to whittle down my collection to the required number - not an easy task!

The list finally coalesced, and then came the task of explaining why I had chosen these particular discs, and why they were placed where they were - an even harder task!

One thing that will be obvious from this collection of albums is that my musical taste is not particularly monochrome. Although this list was put together for a Progressive Rock station there is much here that is outside that genre (if genre distinction is important to you), although I hope much of it could be seen as ‘progressive’ in a broad sense. This is music that has made me; that has stayed with me over many years and many changes; and that at times resonates with key moments in my life’s journey. There are, I think, 43 separate acts in this Top 50, which either shows my breadth of taste or my inability to leave groups out. There may be what some consider to be some glaring omissions in this list, but this is as fair as I could get to demonstrate what makes me tick musically over a long period. I have to confess that I haven’t in a lot of cases found it easy to explain why I like a particular album, or what in particular I like about it, probably because music is essentially a ‘heart’ thing rather than a ‘head’ thing.

Anyway, here we go with the first 10 albums on my list.

50. Tom Waits – Small Change

By his fourth album, Tom Waits’s lifestyle had taken a toll on his voice, but had given it a unique feel that added to his appeal as a songwriter and singer. This is a collection of songs about drinking, lost (and found) love, the dodgier side of advertising and the seedier side of being a performer, sung in a kind of louche lounge bar style. I find all of his first four albums wonderful, but Small Change just tips it with its honesty, simplicity and alcoholic haze!

49. The Beatles – Rubber Soul

For me, this album is where the Beatles as a band started to really develop as songwriters and began to take the band a little off the ‘pop’ route. George develops well as a songwriter, and even Ringo gets a writing credit. But this album sees some of Lennon & McCartney’s best sub-3-minute songs – ‘Michelle’, and ‘In My Life’ – and the start of their experimentation with a more psychedelic sound in ‘Nowhere Man’. This was their turning point album, which led to Sergeant Pepper and beyond.

48. Todd Rundgren – Hermit of Mink Hollow

I had the great joy of seeing Todd Rundgren play at Knebworth in 1979, on the same bill as Led Zeppelin, and had been aware of his music for a few years before that event. Todd is a great versatile musician, and this album is a wonderful mix of rock, pop, soul, prog, lunacy, social comment and apocalyptic love song, thoughtfully written and excellently played. There’s a wonderful depth to this album, which repays repeated listens, which is why I go back to it often.

47. David Bowie – Hunky Dory

The thing with Bowie is that, from album to album one was never sure who he was going to be. This added to the interest, of course, and affected the music that he made. Perhaps the start of his ‘chameleon’ years, Hunky Dory has some of his most enduring songs on it: Changes & Life on Mars were hits for him; Oh! You Pretty Things for Peter Noone; but Fill Your Heart is just as catchy, and Quicksand & Queen Bitch are wonderful examples of his song-writing prowess. And there’s the added attraction for some of Rick Wakeman’s piano playing throughout the album.

46. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On

An album that shows that the idea of ‘concept albums’ isn’t just a Prog thing. Coming from the depths of the civil rights movement in America in the 60s but also in the heat of the Vietnam conflict and the protests surrounding that war, this strikes at the heart of the problems felt by many then – and sadly still now. Just a beautiful piece of work!

45. Rainbow – Rising

This is an album that takes me back to those days in my youth when my musical taste was developing, and I was pushing a number of doors trying to find what connected with me. Rainbow, with Richie Blackmore at the helm, took me back to Deep Purple, but Cozy Powell’s powerful drumming and those bellows of Ronnie James Dio connected me to the other heavy rock that was part of my musical life. But this is music with depth, and Tony Carey’s keyboards brought that to the fore. This is hard rock but with a progressive edge: not a long album – it would probably be classed as an EP these days! – but it packs so much into 36 minutes!

44. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Dylan has always been a poet, and at times a prophet, but always a song-writer – even if his singing voice can be a little marmite for many. One thing he does, particularly on this album, is tell a good story, and it’s probably this aspect that appeals to me in this collection. ‘Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’ takes me back to Sunday afternoons in my teens listening to Annie Nightingale, as she played it often and it was this, I think, that turned me on to Dylan more than anything else.

43. Neil Young – After the Goldrush

Neil Young’s mixture of country, hard rock and good old-fashioned song writing and story telling is perhaps perfectly epitomised on this his 3^rd solo album. He does have a penchant for downright maudlin – ‘O Lonesome Me’ and ‘Don’t Let it Bring You Down’ (as he described it on 4 Way Street: ‘it kinda starts off real slow, and then just fizzles out altogether…’) – but also for good hard rocking anthems, in ‘When You Dance You Can Really Love’ and the timeless ‘Southern Man’. But it’s the title track, with its Sci-Fi, spaced-out hippie-ness, that stays with me.

42. Annie Haslam – Annie in Wonderland

This was an album that I discovered through the Tuesday night rock night at our local ‘disco’ back in the 70s. The DJ used to throw the odd curve ball in every now and then, alongside the usual Quo, AC/DC, Sabbath, Stairway to Heaven, Freebird etc, and one week he played ‘Rockalise’ from this debut solo album from Renaissance vocalist, Annie Haslam. The combination of her voice and Roy Wood’s production, playing and song-writing in places just amazed me, and I go back to this album often to have my soul lifted.

41. Alan Parsons Project – Tales of Mystery & Imagination

I remember, back in the days of the 5^th form, someone bringing this album into school with a certain excitement. ‘You must hear this’, they said, and proceeded to put it on the common room record player. I was first struck by the album artwork, straight out of the Hipgnosis stable, with a wonderful linear starkness to it, and then by Orson Welles’ stentorian tones in the opening narration. The music moves from rock to funk to classical and is all that Progressive music should be for me.

 

Checking For Echo - The War Is Never Won

With the centenary of the end of the First World War recently marked, there have been a few attempts to analyse the experience and impact of that conflict on those who were directly involved in it, and some of those have been musical ones. Saul Blease's 2018 album 'The Great War', and Freedom To Glide's trilogy, 'Rain', 'Fall' and 2019's 'Seed' are just a couple of examples that particularly stood out for me.

So when I received a copy of Checking For Echo's album, 'The War Is Never Won', I was a little cautious: was this just going to be another version of the same story? But I was pleasantly surprised.

This is the work of Jon Farley, and touches on a number of aspects of the consequences of war in a thoughtful and poignant way. The album opens with an epic-length, multi-part song, 'The War Within', which starts with gentle piano arpeggios before the plaintiff vocals begin, taking us on a journey from childhood innocence, through responding to ones nation's call to arms and the loss of 'friendships barely forged', the desire to return home, and the difference in home and the soldier that war has brought about. The use of the whistle at the start of 'The Whole Nine Yards' and a trumpet sound as reflection begins in 'Field of Souls' are very evocative, as is the contrast in the hope, the realisation and the consequence of 'The Homecoming'. 'The Forgotten Country' touches a little on what we now recognise as PTSD, and the change that war brings to those who fight it and to those who are fought for. One of the most powerful lines says: "The battle comes home and it takes its deadly hold in each mother’s darling son", and at times there only seems one way out from the nightmares... Thoughtful, powerful stuff.

The rest of the album then takes us on a journey through the many conflicts that have followed from 'the war to end all wars'. 'The Greater Good' contrasts the reality with the public voices of those in charge - that this slaughter is for the greater good. Musically this reminded me a little of John Holden's work. Lyrically there's an almost restrained anger at times, without the resort to cynicism or sarcasm, which has a powerful effect. 'Victory's Waltz' is an instrumental interlude of a sort, and it doesn't come across much like a traditional waltz! (I can't quite work out the signature at times) There is attack and drive in it, which raises the mood of the album, which has been a little subdued up to now (understandably). 'Heroes' starts with seagulls screaming and the fleet leaving Portsmouth on its way to the Falklands, and is a tribute to all those who have given their all 'to defend British Isles'. This is not your typical anti-war song, in fact it clearly calls for support for those who serve, which is never a bad thing, however we feel about the morality of war.

'It's a Crude Business' is a delightfully tongue-in-cheek examination of Western (but more specifically, US) foreign policy where defending commercial interests seems to be far higher on the agenda than perhaps it should be in most decisions to go to war. The music gives a light-hearted, funky feel to what is a very serous subject. 'Imaginary Evidence' is billed as another instrumental track, but behind it are sound clips around the controversial decision of Blair to send troops to Iraq, and the questions over Saddam's 'weapons of mass destruction'. 'The Falling Man' is a poignant reflection on one the the most haunting images that came out of the events of 9/11, from the perspective of that man, and musically it begins with echoes for me of Pink Floyd's 'Nobody Home'. The album closer is another epic, 'The Greatest Freedom', which moves its focus to Helmand Province. We open with the sound of helicopters, then muted keyboards, as the narrative seems to flip between a young, naive soldier and a Jihadi warrior. A muezzin's call and the sound of  a dulcimer set the scene, as we settle on the soldier, as he makes his first patrol, always on the watch for ambush and IEDs - a watch he ultimately fails in: "My role in today’s patrol is to be on prime time on the BBC, to show the world the hidden danger, a victim of an IED" The soldier tells of his return to 'the land of my place of birth' where he is paraded through the streets of Wotton Bassett, draped in the Union Flag. For him, and maybe for his adversary, 'The greatest freedom it’s often said will come to us all when all else is dead.'

This is a thoughtful, keyboard-driven collection of songs that tackle to deeper issues around war in its modern context. Quite low-key overall, there are some uplifting moments, and Jon must be commended for the effort he has put into this project both in composition and performance. Every listen brings new insights and new delights, and I would heartily commend it to you. You can find it on Bandcamp here.

John Holden - Rise and Fall

It's an age-old conundrum: when one's debut album had received such considerable critical acclaim, how do you follow it? For John Holden, whose 2018 album 'Capture Light' garnered much praise, that thought may well have been in his mind as he prepared to unleash his sophomore release on the unsuspecting but highly anticipatory public.

How do you follow it? Do you stick with the winning formula and give the people what they love? Well, in John's case, in terms of the ensemble of musicians, yes and no. Still there are Oliver Day on guitars; Peter Jones, Jean Pageau and Joe Payne on vocals; Oliver Wakeman on piano & keyboards; and Billy Sherwood, providing bass this time rather than guitar, but there are a while raft of new musicians added to the crowd, including Michel St-Pere, Vikram Shankar, Sally Minnear and Nick D'Virgilio among many others. This time John has shared the music writing duties in places with Vikram Shankar and Oliver Day, and as before the lyric writing is by John and his now wife Elizabeth.

But what of the music? John has a knack for story-telling, both lyrically and musically, has been evident throughout his output, and this has not changed here. He delves into the more esoteric areas of history with a story of a monk who longed to fly; into addiction, mythology, politics and 'fake news', cultural terrorism, and an overview of earth's history from the perspective of a passing comet.

The opening piano motif to 'Leap of Faith' - a part called 'The Comet' - sets a beautiful contemplative note at the start of the album, reminiscent for me of Danny Manners' work in the opening bars of East Coast Racer (Big Big Train), but the rest of the song opens up in a less abrupt way than the tale of Mallard. The rest of the song is brought wonderfully to life by the vocal talents of Peter Jones, who can himself tell a great story, and the tune soars with the monk, until the realisation: "We can all fly, 'til we hit the ground."

'Rise and Fall' bring the voice of Jean Pageau from Mystery, who gives the song a heartfelt, soulful edge. There's some mournful bass from Jon Camp, a melody that doesn't always go where you expect it, and blistering guitar solos from Oliver Day on lap steel and guitar.

'The Golden Thread' is a quite stunning piece: gentle, lyrical, and orchestral; a love song contemplating the frailty and fragility of life, beautifully sung by Joe Payne and Lauren Nolan. I was privileged to hear this song about 6 months ago, and was struck then by its beauty and simplicity, but the words written by Elizabeth speak very clearly to me now, at a difficult time for my parents. This is just what I need right now.

'The Dark Arts' is a more rocky tune, opening with the wonderfully maleficent tones of Ian Richardson in the guise of Francis Urquart from the BBC's 'House of Cards', and explores the 'fake news' culture that infests modern politics. This is certainly the most up-tempo song so far.

'Heretic' begins with a distinctly Arabic air to it, and touches on religious extremists destroying cultural artifacts that don't fit with their world view, and the pain of those who seek to protect their heritage against such barbarism. Understandably with the subject matter, the mood is somewhat subdued, though there is a note of hope and optimism in the chorus, and an almost strident defiance in the face of the horror. This is a song of hope (as Robert Plant once said...)

'After The Storm' begins, unsurprisingly, with the sound of a storm, then moves into a pleasing 3/4 acoustic guitar tune with what sounds like violin, before piano and guitar take over. The melody is a simple repeated phrase, but Sally Minnear's voice gives it power and passion, with a quite dreamy mood overall. Some very fast guitar work during the instrumental section gives way to ethereal keyboards, before a return to the initial melody. A song about moving on, literally and metaphorically.

'Ancestors and Satellites' has a space-y feel to it to begin with, with synths taking us on a journey into distant realms, both in time and space. Peter Jones leads us from ancient camp fires into the depths of space. The chorus, with its staccato lines, has a slight  vintage Yes feel to it to me, and gives a great shape to the song, and as the liner notes say, it "imagines the chants and magic of those gathered around the ancient fire and how those primitive feelings of belonging, communication and the need to share our stories is still deep within us." The song ends by drawing together the threads of the album, and quietly restating the piano motif from the opening track before an echo of 'We can all fly...'.

This, like its predecessor, is a grower: every listen reveals more depth and wonder to the listener. The songs showcase some amazing talent in the music scene at present, but also an amazing song-writing pair in John & Elizabeth. This is progressive music at its best - up-to-date yet rooted in the measures and patterns of the past. This album will, I have little doubt, be high on many lists come the end of 2020. Thank you, John, for another stunner!