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Classic Album Discussion Thread: The Kinks-Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 (2 Viewers)

AAABatteries said:
I won’t beat a dead horse but for me I easily put PF last there - just not my thing.  I do think the other two is interesting.  I’d take The Beatles entire catalog over anybody else’s in the field but if you give me I, II, IV and PG that’s a killer four albums that would be tough to beat.  I think ultimately how I’d answer this is the proverbial on a desert island - I would never tire of the Beatles albums but feel like eventually I’d need a break from LZ.

Beatles > LZ >>>>>>>>> PF
For the Beatles, i currently have SP, AR, Revolver, Rubber Soul.

As for LZ, I would show HOTH some love, but I don't know if they make the top four.

For PF, it's DSOTM, WYWH, Animals, and the Wall.  That's a solid four for a PF fan.

 
timschochet said:
Steely Dan- Aja (1977)

Black Cow

Aja

Deacon Blues

Peg

Home at Last 

I Got the News 

Josie

Aja was an epic attempt to fuse jazz and rock together. Fagan and Becker enlisted a wide number of jazz musicians, including Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd. The result was one of the best listening experiences of the 70s, or ever- I have known people who still own the vinyl to this and swear by it as the only way to hear it. In fact, a few years back I had a tenant in one of the shopping centers I managed who built very expensive, personalized audio equipment, and he mentioned this album as a  favorite among his customers (who were paying $300,000+ for his stereo systems!) 
This album an all time great.  Go to you tube and watch some videos with WB and DF taking about crafting this masterpiece, song by song.

 
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Solid album.  Was always in play when we were looking to calm the mood down for a bit.  These guys are probably under-mentioned from that era.  
? I was gonna say it was a great cocaine record, but I think we mean the same thing.

Steely Dan and Earth, Wind, & Fire (ahem @timschochet) made the best, most consistent mellow-out or jam-a-little albums of the mid-to-late 70s. Both bands were filled to the gills with veteran, ringer musicians. Both knew how to compose/play music that sounded fantastic coming out of speakers or with headphones. Both bands were also full of themselves.

 
timschochet said:
Steely Dan- Aja (1977)

Black Cow

Aja

Deacon Blues

Peg

Home at Last 

I Got the News 

Josie

Aja was an epic attempt to fuse jazz and rock together. Fagan and Becker enlisted a wide number of jazz musicians, including Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd. The result was one of the best listening experiences of the 70s, or ever- I have known people who still own the vinyl to this and swear by it as the only way to hear it. In fact, a few years back I had a tenant in one of the shopping centers I managed who built very expensive, personalized audio equipment, and he mentioned this album as a  favorite among his customers (who were paying $300,000+ for his stereo systems!) 
One of the best albums of all time. These guys were on another plane of existence in terms of writing and producing pop music. The "hidden gem" on this album is "Home At Last" - if you or anyone you know is ever wondering what the "Purdie Shuffle" is, play this song and pay attention to the drum track.

 
This album an all time great.  Go to you tube an watch some videos with WB and DF taking about crafting this masterpiece, song by song.
That was one of those Classic Albums series on Palladia channel, I believe.

But yeah, the whole Aja album is top notch, especially the title track. Steve Gadd’s drum work is outrageous.

 
? I was gonna say it was a great cocaine record, but I think we mean the same thing.

Steely Dan and Earth, Wind, & Fire (ahem @timschochet) made the best, most consistent mellow-out or jam-a-little albums of the mid-to-late 70s. Both bands were filled to the gills with veteran, ringer musicians. Both knew how to compose/play music that sounded fantastic coming out of speakers or with headphones. Both bands were also full of themselves.
Yea, this is a thing - their albums are very well produced, and sound fantastic. Donald Fagan's solo album The Nightfly is like this too - one of the cleanest sounding albums you will ever hear.

 
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That was one of those Classic Albums series on Palladia channel, I believe.

But yeah, the whole Aja album is top notch, especially the title track. Steve Gadd’s drum work is outrageous.
Michael McDonald sings backup on Peg, and he's talked about how demanding Fagen/Becker were regarding every syllable. They wore him out with their criticisms, and their expectations of him to enunciate every word exactly as they wanted.

 
I am a few days behind. 

News of the World has the two obvious classics and a couple other good songs, but has some real crap on it.  I am a huge Queen fan, but this album is where their albums started getting really spotty and, with the exception of Innuendo which was recorded right before Freddie's death, they never got back to making albums that were as consistently great as records like Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera. 

I love Aja. I remember my cousin playing this for me when I was 18 and being stunned at how different it was. It was unlike anything I had really heard before.  It's not an album I revisit often, but whenever I do, I am taken back to the summer of '92. 

 
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One of the best albums of all time. These guys were on another plane of existence in terms of writing and producing pop music. The "hidden gem" on this album is "Home At Last" - if you or anyone you know is ever wondering what the "Purdie Shuffle" is, play this song and pay attention to the drum track.
Aja is stacked with great songs, world class musicians, and amazing productions top to bottom. Was going to mention Purdie as well. He's also playing on Deacon Blue. All 7 tracks actually have different world class drummers playing on them, and Purdie is the only one to play on 2 tracks. 

That Classic Albums show that breaks down the making of this record is killer, as others have mentioned. Here it is. Enjoy...

https://youtu.be/8sdMV9TzMkc

 
To me, SD is one of my road trip faves. I put their catalog on shuffle play and am good to go for hours. 

The funny part is I rarely listen to them any other time. Not sure why.  They just seem like such a good choice for driving for me. 

 
I don't know that I have a favorite Steely Dan album but I would say The Caves of Altamira and Don't Take Me Alive from The Royal Scam album are two of my favorites but that Aja album is pretty spectacular.  The thing with most of those Steely Dan albums from this era is that they are pretty much timeless perfection.  I was 9 years old when Aja was released and I wasn't really, really into music back then and I think I was probably in high school or early college when I discovered Steely Dan but even 10 or 15 years after the album was released it still sounded fresh to me.  If you watch that break down, it's absolutely incredible to think about.  They brought in completely different bands to play PIECES or PARTS of songs.  I mean, seriously, this album is artwork of the highest order. 

I really don't think you can put this music in a genre either.  This isn't this mindless throw away crap that you hear on the radio or to liken in to a trendy painting you know?  I mean this isn't buckets of paint thrown at a canvas.  No way man, this is each and every single brush stroke accounted for.  Nothing, not one single layer of music on any of these tracks is an accident, each and every single note was placed on there very carefully.  To me, honestly, Steely Dan is Rembrandt, Michelangelo or Caravaggio these albums from this era are seriously works of artistic perfection that come around once in a lifetime.  I do believe these albums will be studied one hundred, two hundred years from now.

 
Steely Dan- Aja (1977)

Black Cow

Aja

Deacon Blues

Peg

Home at Last 

I Got the News 

Josie

Aja was an epic attempt to fuse jazz and rock together. Fagan and Becker enlisted a wide number of jazz musicians, including Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd. The result was one of the best listening experiences of the 70s, or ever- I have known people who still own the vinyl to this and swear by it as the only way to hear it. In fact, a few years back I had a tenant in one of the shopping centers I managed who built very expensive, personalized audio equipment, and he mentioned this album as a  favorite among his customers (who were paying $300,000+ for his stereo systems!) 
Probably my most played vinyl. Love this record. Someone mentioned bring the mood down. Someone else mentioned cocaine. That's what I love about it. It's like hitting a bong rip laced with cocaine and chasing it with scotch. It takes everything up a notch while also grounding you. This is my go-to "we're about to stay up way too late and make some regrets album". So much so that the last time I put this on my drinking buddy jumped off the couch on the first note of Black Cow and yelled "Oh no! I can't do Steely Dan tonight. I gotta go". And he left. I've since made those first few Black Cow notes my text message ringtone. (and I ####### hate that most people hear it and think it's from a ####### rap song). I also love playing this entire album on a jukebox when it's the right kind of bar and the right kind of jukebox. Last done at The Saloon in San Francisco getting day drunk on tequila & OJ waiting till it was time to catch a flight home. 

 
Sullie said:
I don't know that I have a favorite Steely Dan album but I would say The Caves of Altamira and Don't Take Me Alive from The Royal Scam album are two of my favorites but that Aja album is pretty spectacular.  The thing with most of those Steely Dan albums from this era is that they are pretty much timeless perfection.  I was 9 years old when Aja was released and I wasn't really, really into music back then and I think I was probably in high school or early college when I discovered Steely Dan but even 10 or 15 years after the album was released it still sounded fresh to me.  If you watch that break down, it's absolutely incredible to think about.  They brought in completely different bands to play PIECES or PARTS of songs.  I mean, seriously, this album is artwork of the highest order. 

I really don't think you can put this music in a genre either.  This isn't this mindless throw away crap that you hear on the radio or to liken in to a trendy painting you know?  I mean this isn't buckets of paint thrown at a canvas.  No way man, this is each and every single brush stroke accounted for.  Nothing, not one single layer of music on any of these tracks is an accident, each and every single note was placed on there very carefully.  To me, honestly, Steely Dan is Rembrandt, Michelangelo or Caravaggio these albums from this era are seriously works of artistic perfection that come around once in a lifetime.  I do believe these albums will be studied one hundred, two hundred years from now.
I love those two. Also The Fez from the Royal Scam and probably my 2nd favorite Steely Dan song (after Peg) is Night By Night off Pretzel Logic. They have so many great songs.

 
Anarchy99 said:
To me, SD is one of my road trip faves. I put their catalog on shuffle play and am good to go for hours. 

The funny part is I rarely listen to them any other time. Not sure why.  They just seem like such a good choice for driving for me. 
One of my favorite driving songs of all time is a Steely Dan song, Glamour Profession

 
The Doors (1967)

Break On Through (To the Other Side)

Soul Kitchen

The Crystal Ship

Twentieth Century Fox

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)

Light My Fire

Back Door Man

I Looked At You

End of the Night

Take It As It Comes

The End

The debut album of The Doors was one of the most massive and influential records in rock history, and it remains well-loved today. Psrsonally I’ve never been a fan; Morrison’s image and lyrics always struck me as the height of pretentiousness, and while Manzarek is obviously a brilliant organist, that sound doesn’t do much for me. But tons of people love it, and this record clearly belongs as an essential one to discuss in this thread. 

 
The Doors’ debut is hardly perfect, but such an out of nowhere powerhouse. Yeah, it’s Jim at his bombastic self, but that’s a big part of its greatness. 

IMO “The Crystal Ship” is among the best songs they ever recorded - so short that it always leaves me longing for more (similar to Cream’s “Badge”).

And “The End” is ever haunting no matter how many times I hear it - hard not to think of Apocalypse Now every time. 

 
I love The Doors debut album. They definitely had their own sound. Jim was the primary songwriter, but Robby Krieger wrote or co-wrote a lot of their songs too.  "The Crystal Ship" is my favorite song on the album. 

 
The first album I ever received as a kid.

Still one of the all time best.

Light My Fire, Break On Through, The Crystal Ship, 20th Century Fox...etc

 
I really like the Doors, and their debut album is fantastic (along with their final one, LA Woman). Had a pretty unique sound. And Jim is a pretty fascinating guy - terrible drunk, though. 

I wish some of their live stuff sounded better. I've mentioned this before, but they sound very "thin" live.

 
I really like the Doors, and their debut album is fantastic (along with their final one, LA Woman). Had a pretty unique sound. And Jim is a pretty fascinating guy - terrible drunk, though. 
Yeah, I agree here and I am always surprised to hear how many people don't like their music. It's iconic 60s rock IMO.

 
Steely Dan does sound great, but the songs are just not up my alley. 

The Doors are okay. Lots of cringeworthy bombast kind of makes me shake my head.  

 
Amy Winehouse- Back to Black (2006)

Rehab

You Know I’m No Good

Me & Mr. Jones

Just Friends

Back to Black

Love Is A Losing Game 

Tears Dry On Their Own

Wake Up Alone

Some Unholy War

He Can Only Hold Her 

Addicted 

Amy Winehouse’s second album was her last, and it was a classic homage to doo-***, 60s girl groups, and soul. Well, except for the lyrics. You never heard the Ronettes singing about going to rehab. And even the love songs are particularly dark and woeful; this was a troubled lady. But oh so talented. She was gone too soon. 

 
Love to hear what @wikkidpissahthinks about this choice.

Ilov80s and I took her in the dead rock star draft. 

Definitely a great singer with an ear for a lot of things, including a critical one. Really liked her. She died from stuff I was doing at the time she was around, so I sort of missed out on her while she was alive.  

 
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I think Back to Black is a great album. Winehouse was such a talented songwriter and singer. She had an old school soul sound about her. I wish she had lived long enough to develop even further within her talent. "Wake Up Alone" is my favorite song on the album.

 
rockaction said:
Love to hear what @wikkidpissahthinks about this choice.
well, i'm largely boycotting the thread, but it doesn't mean i can't do requests.

her "blaack...." at the end of the 2nd chorus of the title song is the greatest syllable in the history of music.

love the album bigly but was ambivalent about the direction. i was hoping for more in the jazz vein, as Frank had promised,  because jazz needed a savior and she was hearing music like nobody since Pops heard both jazz & popular music inside the blues, or at least since Hendrix turned his jizz into clouds. but who cannot love Shirley Bassey Big Pop in a modern context from that massive pick-it-off-the-ground-and-turn-it-into-sumn intellect?! dongitbnobettah.

 
I think Back to Black is a great album. Winehouse was such a talented songwriter and singer. She had an old school soul sound about her. I wish she had lived long enough to develop even further within her talent. "Wake Up Alone" is my favorite song on the album.
Brought to you by the Dap-Kings

 
Brought to you by the Dap-Kings
I saw the late Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings open for the Tedeschi Trucks Band a few years ago on one of their Wheels of Soul tours, and they were the highlight of the show for me. The energy they brought was phenomenal. They blended well with Tedeschi Trucks when they joined them on stage too.

 
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timschochet said:
Well, except for the lyrics. You never heard the Ronettes singing about going to rehab.
Nor would they have tried to pull of the classic opening lines from Back to Black:

He left no time to regret
Kept his #### wet
With his same old safe bet
Great, timeless record. Wonderful artist, on par with any/all of the great jazz/R&B/soul divas of our generation.

 
I saw the late Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings open for the Tedeschi Trucks Band a few years ago on one of their Wheels of Soul tours, and they were the highlight of the show for me. The energy they brought was phenomenal. They blended well with Tedeschi Trucks when they joined them on stage too.
The Wheels of Soul stop at Red Rocks that year was a rainy night - and Sharon - God Bless Her - during the combined set with TTB ran out on the edge of the stage and took her shoes off and danced through the rain puddles and pouring rain - just killing it. And saying FU to cancer. A highlight of the many many times I've seen Sharon who was the nicest sweetest person to talk to after a show.

The whole Amy Winehouse Dap Kings saga kinda pisses me off - here was Sharon who busted her butt and traveled all over the place working hard in small clubs to build up the crowd and repertoire over a lot of years for little to no recognition - but a true talent. Along comes Amy Winehouse and her drug addled ways with plenty of talent sure but obviously a hot mess - and she becomes the belle of the ball for that short period with the same band. And she just pissed it away and you rarely saw the love to the sound, the acknowledgment to the situation of stardom that she found herself in - that Sharon would return to you in spades at one of her shows whether it was in front of 100 or 10,000. And here today Tim counts this record as a classic - and it's doubtful he would bring up any of the great records Sharon did with the Dap-Kings.

God Bless Miss Sharon Jones.

 
"Rehab" was featured in a S2 episode of Ozark.  Haven't heard that song in a while, but it was a really catchy tune.  Instant earworm.

 

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