Consensus Top 350 Albums of All-Time: 77. Funeral – Arcade Fire (226 Viewers)

[Pip's Invitation]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

 

[Pip's Invitation]

@rockaction WXPN kicked off their Highs in the 70s show, which they do Monday through Thursday in the 6 pm hour, with two songs you brought up — Neat Neat Neat and New Rose by The Damned. Today is drummer Rat Scabies’ 70th birthday.

This was followed by two songs featuring a man who would have turned 78 today, David Sanborn, who played saxophone on Bowie’s Young Americans and the Eagles’ The Sad Cafe.

The ‘70s were a hell of a time.

 

[Dwayne_Castro]

79 (tie). Pronounced 'Lĕh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd – Lynyrd Skynyrd (300 points)

@Dwayne_Castro #6
@New Binky the Doormat #25
@Snoopy #31
@BroncoF #31
@Dennis Castro #36
@Atomic Punk #37
@zamboni #41
@turnjose7 #61

(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) is the debut studio album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on August 13, 1973, by MCA Records. Recording took place in Doraville, Georgia at Studio One, following a lengthy period of rehearsals. Prior to the album's conception, many of its songs were already featured in Lynyrd Skynyrd's live repertoire. To promote it, the band released "Gimme Three Steps" and "Free Bird" as singles; these, along with "Simple Man" and "Tuesday's Gone", are among the band's best-known songs.

Should be higher - I had this at #17 on my list - and I got the title right, dammit, including the parentheses! (Cut and pasted directly from Wikipedia, so if I'm wrong so are they...)

@Dr. Octopus , @kupcho1 - we need a re-ranking!

I think it was because you used the parenthesis (not that it was wrong to do so) and I didn't catch it. For obvious reasons I tried to monitor that title closely.

I'll fix and we will re-rank this one. I retract my "Yesterday's Gone" statement since this never happened and so rock can enjoy it again.

I will hold off requesting a song for the playlist in the event that someone else outranks me on the recalibrated list.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I wrote those last couple of posts sitting in a little ampitheater in a park near my house, waiting for Bob Mould to perform a free solo electric show.

Given how high our property taxes are, of course I’m going to take advantage when the county uses them in this way.

 

[Mister CIA]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

THIS is an album.

It's all one song to me.

 

[rockaction]

WXPN kicked off their Highs in the 70s show, which they do Monday through Thursday in the 6 pm hour, with two songs you brought up — Neat Neat Neat and New Rose by The Damned. Today is drummer Rat Scabies’ 70th birthday.

You read that? You read my posts! Heh, that was a long one today. I was up early/late today and have liked The Damned and The Stooges since I was, what, nineteen or so?—so I wrote. Both bands bring me back to first-year dorm with no roommate. Punk rock pumped out of that place and me and a few like-minded weirdos became friends. Dan Mac in his mohawk and heavy fireman’s fireproof coat. Eb Kidd, ginger, and hip hop. Good times. We wound up in the student group picture for a troupe called “We Funk” in the yearbook. Only caucasians in it. I think they were bumping LL Cool J. Mama said knock you out!

Scabies is 70 today, then? Let’s pour a metaphor in Dan, Eben, and hizzoner.

This one is probably my favorite clip of the post-James band (Brian James was really The Damned’s glue if you ask me). They’re introducing them on German TV and he yells out “Rat Scabies”

The Damned - “Love Song”

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[Mookie Gizzy]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

I have read that this album is described as a funeral for the Summer of Love.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

I have read that this album is described as a funeral for the Summer of Love.

That’s certainly accurate.

Oh, and I buried the lede. I sniped @landrys hat !

 

[Mister CIA]

Baby I'm Gonna Leave You is the playlist pick for Led Zeppelin I album. Can someone please add. Thank you.

 

[Zeppelin]

Baby I'm Gonna Leave You is the pick for Led Zeppelin I album. Can someone please add. Thank you.

I approve.

 

[Ilov80s]

Led Zeppelin

One vote for “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”

This is probably the best song on the album. "Dazed and Confused" is probably he most iconic. I'm partial to the Dixon blues covers. And "Communication Breakdown" and "How Many More Times" were concert staples.

But personally I'd go with "Good Times Bad Times." I think it captures the feel of the album the best and introduced the band with an impact that has maybe never been surpassed in any debut album.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You is my #1 LZ song of all time, so I vote for that.

Nothing but a rip-off band

That is unlistenable Sounds like a cat crying to get out.

Really? I like it.

Agree, it's haunting

 

[Ilov80s]

Baby I'm Gonna Leave You is the playlist pick for Led Zeppelin I album. Can someone please add. Thank you.

done

 

[Nick Vermeil]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

I don’t know this album at all, I think it’s the first I can claim that about. Exited to listen.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I wrote those last couple of posts sitting in a little ampitheater in a park near my house, waiting for Bob Mould to perform a free solo electric show.

Given how high our property taxes are, of course I’m going to take advantage when the county uses them in this way.

Some of those counties go all out. I went to one where the headliner was Live (of earlier in the thread fame) when they were big, and had the Alarm and Fountains of Wayne among other bands on the bill.

Chuck Berry actually went on first set of the day - and I had to miss his performance because I was coaching a soccer game that morning. I didn’t really have a choice but huge regret not seeing Chuck.

This was the Union County Music Festival.

 

[Ilov80s]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

Not many votes compared to some of the other albums appearing recently but obviously it's extremely well thought of by those that do. 4 top 10 votes is impressive.

 

[zamboni]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

I don’t know this album at all, I think it’s the first I can claim that about. Exited to listen.

Curious to hear your thoughts when you do.

 

[Eephus]

WXPN kicked off their Highs in the 70s show, which they do Monday through Thursday in the 6 pm hour, with two songs you brought up — Neat Neat Neat and New Rose by The Damned. Today is drummer Rat Scabies’ 70th birthday.

You read that? You read my posts! Heh, that was a long one today. I was up early/late today and have liked The Damned and The Stooges since I was, what, nineteen or so?—so I wrote. Both bands bring me back to first-year dorm with no roommate. Punk rock pumped out of that place and me and a few like-minded weirdos became friends. Dan Mac in his mohawk and heavy fireman’s fireproof coat. Eb Kidd, ginger, and hip hop. Good times. We wound up in the student group picture for a troupe called “We Funk” in the yearbook. Only caucasians in it. I think they were bumping LL Cool J. Mama said knock you out!

Scabies is 70 today, then? Let’s pour a metaphor in Dan, Eben, and hizzoner.

This one is probably my favorite clip of the post-James band (Brian James was really The Damned’s glue if you ask me). They’re introducing them on German TV and he yells out “Rat Scabies”

The Damned - “Love Song”

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

We saw Mr. Scabies a couple of months ago playing with the Damned. He still can bang the drums at age 69/70. The band has gone through a lot of personnel changes over the years but are currently closer to their classic lineup than they've been in decades.

 

[shuke]

82. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin (286 points)

@Mister CIA #16
@shuke #21
@timschochet #24
@Tau837 #24
@simey #40
@Dwayne_Castro #50
@turnjose7 #53
@MAC_32 #62
@ConstruxBoy #63

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound and drawing from influences including blues and folk music, Led Zeppelin are cited as a progenitor of hard rock and heavy metal. They significantly influenced the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock and stadium rock.

What a debut album! It's my second favorite Zep album, but probably my most played. This is the soundtrack of my sophomore year, cruising the streets of suburbia on warm nights with the windows rolled down and cigarettes burning. I would have voted for You're Time Is Gonna Come. My friends and I would geek out about that first minute or so leading up to the drums.

 

[timschochet]

Regarding “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”- there is an amazing cover of it by, of all people, P!nk, from the Los Angeles wildfire benefit concert earlier this year:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Down In the Valley

It's a cover. Hope that doesn't ruin it.

Got your cruel shoes on today?

 

[Idiot Boxer]

Never heard of Love or their album. Will check it out.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Regarding “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”- there is an amazing cover of it by, of all people, P!nk, from the Los Angeles wildfire benefit concert earlier this year:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Why "of all people"? Unlike Joni Mitchell, Pink can actually sing.

 

[timschochet]

Regarding “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”- there is an amazing cover of it by, of all people, P!nk, from the Los Angeles wildfire benefit concert earlier this year:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Why "of all people"? Unlike Joni Mitchell, Pink can actually sing.

She can, but hard blues is not normally her genre. And she absolutely kills it IMO. Love to hear her do more of this.

Also, per Joni Mitchell: you’re insane.

 

[jwb]

Regarding “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”- there is an amazing cover of it by, of all people, P!nk, from the Los Angeles wildfire benefit concert earlier this year:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Why "of all people"? Unlike Joni Mitchell, Pink can actually sing.

She can, but hard blues is not normally her genre. And she absolutely kills it IMO. Love to hear her do more of this.

Also, per Joni Mitchell: you’re insane.

She's been doing this song for a decade-plus (Bohemian Rhapsody too). That video is from her "Funhouse" tour I believe.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Regarding “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”- there is an amazing cover of it by, of all people, P!nk, from the Los Angeles wildfire benefit concert earlier this year:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I mean, Pink is a really good singer.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

77. Funeral – Arcade Fire (305 points)

@Barry2 #2
@Juxtatatrot #6
@Dreaded Marco #17
@shuke #28
@Ilov80s #33
@krista4 #49
@Pip's Invitation #58
@Ghost Rider #70

Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format. Its lyrics draw upon themes of death, change, and the loss of childhood innocence, inspired by the recent passing of several bandmates' family members during its production. The first half of the album, dubbed the 'Neighborhood' suite, centres around a town struggling with a power outage in the middle of winter, based on personal experience during the North American ice storm of 1998.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

If you think you don’t like the Grateful Dead because of their meandering jams, please give this album a listen.

It’s a beautiful piece of Americana - with some of the best songwriting contained on one album.

@Nick Vermeil gets honors - but I would suggest Box of Rain or Ripple for playlist.

 

[kupcho1]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68

One of these 7 people submitted the album as America Beaut

Honest mistake? Or an accidental reveal that they'v been behind @Studs & Duds all along?

 

[zamboni]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

I was waffling between this and Terrapin Station (don't think it's a spoiler at this point).

 

[krista4]

All Things Must Pass is mine to choose the song for, but that's a tough call. My favorite, the "naked" version of "Beware of Darkness," is not only my #1 post-Beatles Beatles song, but it's one of my top three songs of any British isles tracks from any artist. But I'm not sure it represents the overall feel of the record well. My other two top-rated from this album ranked nearly as well in my post-Beatles Beatles countdown, with the title track at overall #2 and "What Is Life?" at overall #3. I'm open to arguments for either of those instead.

It looks like I was second highest ranker. Since mentioned open to arguments (though I’ll call it more a thought than an argument), of those three, I’d probably say “What Is Life?” represents the overall feel of the album the most. But all are great, and obviously your call.

Ok, let’s put What Is Life on the playlist!

 

[simey]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

@Nick Vermeil gets honors - but I would suggest Box of Rain or Ripple for playlist.

Ripple is my very favorite, but I love Box of Rain too, and maybe that is the one that should go on the list in honor of Phil since he passed this year. It's up to Nick.

I gave some friends a smart bulb that changes colors and lightness, and it was given to them the day Phil died. You name the bulb to tell Alexa to turn it on, etc. We named it Phil so he could continue to shine some light on us in another form.

 

[krista4]

All Things Must Pass is mine to choose the song for, but that's a tough call. My favorite, the "naked" version of "Beware of Darkness," is not only my #1 post-Beatles Beatles song, but it's one of my top three songs of any British isles tracks from any artist. But I'm not sure it represents the overall feel of the record well. My other two top-rated from this album ranked nearly as well in my post-Beatles Beatles countdown, with the title track at overall #2 and "What Is Life?" at overall #3. I'm open to arguments for either of those instead.

All three of your top three came from this album?

Yep! And every song on the first two of the three-album set (the non-experimental stuff) made my countdown. The Plastic Ono Band record was the only other one that achieved that.

Spoiler alert: this is my top Beatles-related record on this countdown.

That last spoiler merits a wow. Paul and John got aced out of the top spot, huh? I had a bit of a story for you about The Beatles, but decided not to send it and get all emo. But it's a cool one. Maybe I'll pass it along someday. You'd probably dig it. It's really one of those gestures somebody makes that blows you away and then for whatever reason you get sad about it because it reminds you about the finality of things. But it's very cool.

Switching it up just a touch, I have "Jet" going through my head right now, and I know I'm a post-Beatles total ingenue and dilettante, but that would be my number one. That or "Band On The Run." I was always, always a Paul guy, even in college when most people thought I was more like a John. Nope. It's Paul.

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime

I’ll be eager to hear the story some day when you’re ready to tell it.

Paul did have four in my top 10, including #4 and #5, the latter of which was “Band on the Run.” George also had four of the top 10, and John had two. Sorry, Ringo.

“Jet” was my #15 from Paul but should have been higher.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

All Things Must Pass is mine to choose the song for, but that's a tough call. My favorite, the "naked" version of "Beware of Darkness," is not only my #1 post-Beatles Beatles song, but it's one of my top three songs of any British isles tracks from any artist. But I'm not sure it represents the overall feel of the record well. My other two top-rated from this album ranked nearly as well in my post-Beatles Beatles countdown, with the title track at overall #2 and "What Is Life?" at overall #3. I'm open to arguments for either of those instead.

It looks like I was second highest ranker. Since mentioned open to arguments (though I’ll call it more a thought than an argument), of those three, I’d probably say “What Is Life?” represents the overall feel of the album the most. But all are great, and obviously your call.

Ok, let’s put What Is Life on the playlist!

Done.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

77. Funeral – Arcade Fire (305 points)

@Barry2 #2
@Juxtatatrot #6
@Dreaded Marco #17
@shuke #28
@Ilov80s #33
@krista4 #49
@Pip's Invitation #58
@Ghost Rider #70

Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format. Its lyrics draw upon themes of death, change, and the loss of childhood innocence, inspired by the recent passing of several bandmates' family members during its production. The first half of the album, dubbed the 'Neighborhood' suite, centres around a town struggling with a power outage in the middle of winter, based on personal experience during the North American ice storm of 1998.

A highly dynamic and emotional record, and the last album I really got into as my Lost Years came to a close. They draw on so many genres and are so versatile — which you can see in concert when the members are switching instruments constantly.

This is the other mixed-gender band on my list aside from Talking Heads, who are a major influence on Arcade Fire.

 

[krista4]

77. Forever Changes – Love (303 points)

@Pip's Invitation #4
@zamboni #5
@Mookie Gizzy #7
@landrys hat #9
@Mister CIA #27


Forever Changes is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released in November 1967 by Elektra Records. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-influenced sound based around acoustic guitars and orchestral arrangements, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee explored darker themes alluding to mortality and his growing disillusionment with the era's counterculture. It was the final album recorded by the original band lineup; after its completion, guitarist Bryan MacLean left the group acrimoniously, and Lee subsequently dismissed the other members.

I expected @krista4 to vote with me!

Those of you who followed the MAD 5 countdown know how much I love this album. It accounted for 9 songs in my Arthur Lee and Love top 31, including 4 of the top 6 and 7 of the top 14.

And it sounds like nothing else Arthur Lee ever did. Love was an eclectic folk-rock band for 2 albums and then Lee heard sounds in his head that he didn’t think his bandmates — many of whom were hooked on heroin — were capable of playing. So he dreamed up horn and string parts and hummed them to arranger David Angel, who made them reality.

The record has been called “the American Sgt Pepper,” but its sound and content is much more complicated than that. Some tracks sound blissed out but this is not a hippie-dippie record in the slightest. The arrangements are gorgeous but have a vibe of eerieness and foreboding. The lyrics sometimes don’t make sense on the surface but do if you know that Lee a) was very upset over his friends being sent to die in Vietnam b) was very ambivalent about the carefree attitude of the hippie scene c) was uncomfortable with his place as a Black man in a white-dominated country and music scene, to the extent that he didn’t tour outside of California until 1970 because he was convinced racists would assassinate him and d) was convinced he had a terminal illness and was dying; the final track “You Set the Scene” is essentially his goodbye message.

I have owned this album since high school and it always sounds fresh to me. I am adding to the playlist the #1 song from my countdown, “A House Is Not a Motel.”

I expected to have voted Forever Changes in, too. It was apparently another one, like Talking Book, that was accidentally lost when cutting and (apparently not) pasting as I moved it around. Last I saw it, I think it was around #30 on my list.

 

[simey]

What a debut album! It's my second favorite Zep album, but probably my most played. This is the soundtrack of my sophomore year, cruising the streets of suburbia on warm nights with the windows rolled down and cigarettes burning. I would have voted for You're Time Is Gonna Come. My friends and I would geek out about that first minute or so leading up to the drums.

I love the organ intro.

 

[Ilov80s]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

If you think you don’t like the Grateful Dead because of their meandering jams, please give this album a listen.

It’s a beautiful piece of Americana - with some of the best songwriting contained on one album.

@Nick Vermeil gets honors - but I would suggest Box of Rain or Ripple for playlist.

It's a good album but I got so used to hearing the Dead from their live concert recordings that whenever I hear a studio recorded song of theirs it doesn't feel right.

 

[rockaction]

76. American Beauty – Grateful Dead (306 points)

Jeb #2
@Nick Vermeil #4
@Dr. Octopus #10
@simey #12
@zamboni #39
@shuke #56
@rockaction #68


American Beauty is the fifth studio album (and sixth overall) by American rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, released earlier in the year.

Upon release, American Beauty entered the Billboard 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it later achieved Platinum and double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list.

I’m going to link to my review of this. It’s long, of course, but if you like the album you might like the review. This should have been higher on my list and I won’t mention any one song because you can’t miss. This album is a 10/10 with 10 great songs.

Post in thread 'live Grateful Dead'
https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/live-grateful-dead.469051/post-22690128

 

[Ilov80s]

77. Funeral – Arcade Fire (305 points)

@Barry2 #2
@Juxtatatrot #6
@Dreaded Marco #17
@shuke #28
@Ilov80s #33
@krista4 #49
@Pip's Invitation #58
@Ghost Rider #70

Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format. Its lyrics draw upon themes of death, change, and the loss of childhood innocence, inspired by the recent passing of several bandmates' family members during its production. The first half of the album, dubbed the 'Neighborhood' suite, centres around a town struggling with a power outage in the middle of winter, based on personal experience during the North American ice storm of 1998.

I don't go back to this much anymore but in the aughts I thought Funeral, Neon Bible and The Suburbs were the best 3 album run any band has ever kicked their career off with. Even though I don't listen as much these days, don't care for any of their recent work and feel their albums are feel a bit trapped in the aughts I still would have to challenge someone to name a better first 3 album run. There are some options but not many.