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Depends which era you're comparing them to. In the 70s and 80s the records were made much thinner so those originals didn't sound that great. Most records these days are heavier so the sound is better. They make a point of releasing some titles on 180 gram vinyl for better sound.
I'm sure with the advent of technology, the sound is much crisper now. But there's still something alluring about the snap/crackle/pop sounds of the old analog days.
Agreed - the success of this one is almost certainly due to the Back in Black explosion a couple years later post-Bon.
I'll only push back if people think that S&G doesn't belong here. We've discussed ad nauseum how disingenuous it is to pigeon hole the term "rock".
I'm fairly ambivalent about Foreigner, but IMO "Starrider" is a banger and arguably their best song.
Good rack here.
I think Highway To Hell gave it a nudge before BIB.
The ultimate champion of #2 hits - a record five of them without a #1.
Could be - I think Bon died right not too long after its release. Back In Black put them in the stratosphere though IIRC.
That ain't a bad bunch, IMO, to get stuck behind. For some reason, I had it in my mind that "Proud Mary" got traffic-jammed behind "Hey Jude".
I think "Proud Mary" was a bit later in early 1969. Hey Jude was #1 for 9 weeks in the fall of 1968.
Interesting pack of vinyl.
This is a good record, though - probably better than it has any right to be. All 6 original songs still get airplay on listener-supported station to this day.
I'd be interested to see if there is another artist on this countdown that has as much of a drop off in sales from its one huge album (not including the only-one-album Blind Faiths of the world obviously).
"Fools" doesn't get talked about much, but IMO among their best background harmonies (mainly Michael Anthony).
Seger and Frey go (went) way back from their Detroit days, and Frey must have brought Henley and Schmidt along for the ride here. Frey also sang backup on "Against The Wind".
Love Santana. He's so much a chameleon, though, that I can see why folks can't get a grip on him "Everybody's Everything" sounds like nothing else he did, and this happened over & over.
Once in a while I'll spend a night on CCR tunes. Many of them come from this album. I give my parents credit for turning me on to CCR in the early-to-mid 70's.
I have nothing against CCR or Fogerty. I bought CCR's greatest hits CD (and downloaded a number of other tracks that had been left off). I purchased Centerfield and Eye Of The Zombie when Fogerty reappeared in the mid-80's. That phase for me didn't last long. I can listen to Fogerty and not feel like I have to switch to something else, but I don't often feel compelled to wand to play him. For some reason, I have always felt that most of his songs are too simple and basic (both musically and lyrically). But that's also part of his appeal . . . he doesn't try to have slick production or deep meaning to his music.
Assuming that "Message In a Bottle" never came on in the car.
I ruined a turntable one time thinking Layla was just a needle stuck in the grooves
Better a needle than a meat hook.
Agreed - would be interesting to see the sales trend of this by year. Have to think it flatlined until DSOTM was released, and maybe for awhile after that until the DSOTM-The Wall run.
Blizzard gets most of the recognition, but I think Diary is just as good, if not better. His later solo efforts pale in comparison though IMO.
It's hard to get specifics on a lot of these albums. The 5.7 million number that I saw is actually from 2017. Who knows how many albums they sold since then. From what I can tell, ATM peaked at #55 on the Billboard album charts in the U.S. and earned a designation as a gold record ((500K in album sales). The album was the first PF album to top the UK album charts and accomplished that in 1970. It's said to have sold 1.25 million copies in the U.S. and 3.23 million albums in Europe. Again, I am not sure how, as there is very little mainstream content on the album.
Have to imagine it was mostly the doings of Floyd fans going back to obtain the old stuff .
Teenage and college-age girls and middle-aged moms LOVED it, especially these versions of Layla and Tears in Heaven. This was an audience that otherwise didn't bother with Clapton.
It had to be. It got pretty much zero US radio play then and now.
Can’t imagine too many moms were serving bowls of Crunch Berries with “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” blaring in the background.
Diary is my favorite Ozzy album. Easily. I love most of Ozzy’s albums but Randy was on fire on Diary. The solo in My Crowley may be Randy’s best but I prefer the guitar work in Diary. The guitar work in the title track is beautiful and the solo in Over the Mountain is tone perfection.
Wonder's album was a double, so are we saying it really only sold +/- 2.8 million copies? I find that hard to believe, given its impact.
You are right. I only ran Stevie through one database, and the 5.62 million number that was listed was for the U.S. only. Not sure why that site only used U.S. totals (they didn't do that for other artists). Because of that, that was the only album of his that made the list. However, when adding in international sales that I found on a different site, he would have had more albums make the list.
Don't sweat it, man. You picked a baseline. Keep using that.
Interesting set of albums.
Mick’s falsetto and slow talking (“I…will…be…your…knight…”) on the title track was always more comical than anything.
I like this one even more than Machine Head, which is saying a lot.
Not a favorite stack for me.
I am clearly not in the same strata as you are in terms of Rush knowledge or appreciation, but I will say that in the times I have explored them, I liked more and more the deeper I got into them. Same thing for some of their live shows. I like them a lot more than I used to. As a relative neophyte, I find that they were technically great and had times where everything just fit and flowed like no other band. But what's odd for me is with bands like LZ or PF, I really got into some of their longer songs or live performances . . . but with Rush I was less into their lengthy suites and more into their "songs." As such, I am sure "real" Rush fans would banish me for saying I would rather listen to 80s and 90s Rush albums with shorter songs than the earlier albums with their longer compositions (even if the earlier compositions might be better and more interesting).
You & I are in the same boat on this.
I like this set as much for the artists and the music contained but also because the songs and albums could very well be a playlist for me. This is Saturday cleaning the house music on my alexa.
I was allowed to keep the poster but had to tape on the inside of my door so no one else could see it when the door was open. Mustapha is one of my deep cut pleasures.
Elton was in burnout phase at this point (I don't blame him). "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is so obvious in retrospect, but it was the '70s, so.....
