Best of the 70s

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  • 06-25-2004, 06:56 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ex Lion Tamer
    I just saw the last instalment of Pitchfork's list...Generally a fine list I'd have to say

    Yeah, I thought they did a very good job, but not surprising since my taste was corrupted at an early age by rock critics. Still, I tried to mix up my list just a little this time with some of the ones I'd been listening to in recent times, at the expense of some of my usual Exile On Main Street/Marquee Moon/Led Zep IV/Blah Blah Blah type selections. I'm also a bit surprised at Low being #1 but it was also near the top of mine so I can't argue. I still think it's his most inspired and ultimately timeless album, and the one I'm most inclined to pull out these days. I also love the heavy Eno showing on this list. Might be kind of a revisionist way to look back at the 70s, but the 3 middle selections on my list also featured Eno, and I mentioned another that just missed at my #11 position.
  • 06-25-2004, 07:51 AM
    nobody
    Lots of good stuff on that Pitchfork list I must admit. Sure, we've all got favorites we love that are missing. I'm still waiting for Germfree Adolescents, Da<a>mnit! And, I still think Led Zep blows no matter what they say. I never liked that stuff even when it was fresh and new to my ears. But, a fun list that has more "outside-the-box" stuff to think about than most.

    Some nice surprises, Low surprised me too, even though I really like it. (The comments on it were a bit odd to me. They act like Eno had nothing much to do with it, even though he gets songwriting credits and is listed as playing on two of the most remarkable tunes, the soundscapes that open side 2. I'm also not sure where they're gong with the whole Low as a comment on Punk thing and the assertation that Punk somehow had no impact on music, only on society. Have those guys been paying attention for the last 30 years?)

    One thing that always bugs me when I see it, which seems to be pretty much all the time....how many places did Miles Davis take up?

    I LOVE Miles Davis, it's not that at all. It just sends a weird message. Does it mean that they are including jazz, and Miles is the only jazz player that did anything worth a crap for an entire decade? Or, does this mean that we have been wrong all these years and Miles is really a rock performer? Oh well, I guess anything that gets people listening to more Miles is a good thing. I'd just suggest that if all those Miles Davis records are very much to their liking, they may wanna expand their jazz horizons beyond a single fella.

    Still, another fun list. Even when I complain about them, I could read these list things all day.
  • 06-25-2004, 08:50 AM
    Dusty Chalk
    It is refreshing, in its absence of the usual suspects canon. Or at least, minimizing it.

    I almost predicted Low's position. I had predicted it would be in the top 10, along with Joy Division. That should have been pretty easy to call.

    Yay for Kraftwerk.

    Hey, Davey, they agree with me as to which Eno album is best. Hee-hee.

    As to Miles -- what it says to me is that either Miles is the only jazz that will appeal to a rocker, or that is the extent of their jazz knowledge. I have to admit, mine does not go much further. But c'mon, what about Coltrane? Thelonius Monk? Chick Corea? Lpppt.

    Someone pointed out on another forum that at least 5 of the artists are credited for "creating" electronica/techno in one form or another. Oops.
  • 06-25-2004, 10:24 AM
    tentoze
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ex Lion Tamer
    I just saw the last instalment of Pitchfork's list...

    I enjoyed reading the whole list, but I have to admit that the final installment today leaves me with a fairly puzzled look on my face, particularly the top 10. Either I must have been in the ditch further than I thought during that decade, or the Pitchfork staff were in an alternate reality (or unborn) back then. Or both.

    :confused:
    :p
  • 06-25-2004, 10:44 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk
    Hey, Davey, they agree with me as to which Eno album is best. Hee-hee.

    Everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY, says Another Green World is his best work. Except lonesome little me. Just label me a free thinker ;)

    I do use part of the cover as my avatar on occasion and I do tend to think of it as his most realized album, just not as my favorite. Not far behind, though.

    http://members.mailaka.net/davey/eno.gif
  • 06-25-2004, 11:50 AM
    BarryL
    These would have been my favorites then, not now
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Davey
    Pick your favorite 10 albums from the 70s. Put them in order, 1 to 10. Anything goes.

    Hmmm.
    1. Yes - Close To The Edge
    2. Yes - Relayer
    3. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
    4. Camel - Moonmadness
    5. Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
    6. Joni Mitchell - Court & Spark
    7. Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
    8. RDM - Contamination
    9. Triumvirat - Spartacus
    10. Moody Blues - This Is The Moody Blues

    Note for Dave G.: No Gino Vanelli

    Boston - Boston

    Max Webster - High Class In Borrowed Shoes
  • 06-26-2004, 03:44 PM
    audiobill
    My top ten for 70's.....
    1. Van Morrison – Moondance
    2. Led Zeppelin – IV
    3. Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick
    4. Pink Floyd – Animals
    5. David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
    6. Roxy Music – Avalon
    7. The Clash – London Calling
    8. Black Sabbath – Paranoid
    9. The Cars – The Cars
    10. Elvis Costello – This Year’s Model

    Great thread Davey.
    Perhaps, once you’ve tabulated the “top ten”, we could each contribute our next 20 & then, 21-30, until say…by the middle of July we have our own top 100 RR 70’s list.

    Whaddya think??
    audiobill
  • 06-27-2004, 07:43 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by audiobill
    Perhaps, once you’ve tabulated the “top ten”, we could each contribute our next 20 & then, 21-30, until say…by the middle of July we have our own top 100 RR 70’s list.

    Whaddya think??

    Well, I think there weren't enough responses to bother tabulating. Less than 15 lists doesn't make a very good sample size but it was fun reading all of them. I think you're in the wrong decade with Avalon, though :)

    NP: The Best of the Waterboys: '81 - '90
  • 06-27-2004, 08:10 AM
    tentoze
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Davey
    Well, I think there weren't enough responses to bother tabulating. Less than 15 lists doesn't make a very good sample size but it was fun reading all of them. I think you're in the wrong decade with Avalon, though :)

    NP: The Best of the Waterboys: '81 - '90

    Digging in hthe vaults, eh.....Ever heard the Secret Life of the Waterboys, with some alternate takes of some of The Big Music stuff? Kinda interesting.
  • 06-27-2004, 09:48 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tentoze
    Digging in hthe vaults, eh.....Ever heard the Secret Life of the Waterboys, with some alternate takes of some of The Big Music stuff? Kinda interesting.

    Never been much of a Waterboys fan but I've noticed this Best Of at the library so prompted by a post by markl at http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...ad.php?t=35673 I decide to grab it yesterday. It is some pretty nice music but maybe I found them a little late cause it doesn't grab me all that strongly. I'm gonna give it some more listens though. Also picked up Neil Young Unplugged which many mention as one of their favorites. Never heard the whole thing before so that's fun too. Got it playing right now. Just came back from a way too hot run. Got a late start this morning. Already about 100 out there.

    Also picked up a couple books to read by Jack McDevitt (Ancient Shores) and Michael Kube-McDowell (Emprise). I only discovered McDevitt in the last year but have read about 5 or 6 of his books now. Great writer and loads of fun. I metioned his <i>A Talent for War</i> in the book thread a couple weeks ago. Right now I'm reading his <i>Ancient Shores</i> which starts out with a North Dakota farmer discovering a perfectly preserved yacht buried in one of his fields, which it turns out is on the shores of what was once a great inland sea 10,000 years ago. And the construction and materials are beyond anything modern man could make. Kube-McDowell writes some really interesting stuff too. His <i>Alternities</i> from the mid 80s is a great alternate universe novel.

    NP: Like A Hurricane
  • 06-27-2004, 10:27 AM
    Dusty Chalk
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by audiobill
    6. Roxy Music – Avalon

    That was the 80's, dude. :)
  • 06-28-2004, 06:11 AM
    audiobill
    I Stand Corrected....
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Davey
    Well, I think there weren't enough responses to bother tabulating. Less than 15 lists doesn't make a very good sample size but it was fun reading all of them. I think you're in the wrong decade with Avalon, though :)

    NP: The Best of the Waterboys: '81 - '90

    Alex,
    I'll take 70's Roxy Music albums for 200.

    What is ............Country Life??

    Cheers, he,he,he,he,he,he
    Bill
  • 06-28-2004, 11:35 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by audiobill
    Alex,
    I'll take 70's Roxy Music albums for 200.

    What is ............Country Life??

    Yeah, I like that one (other than the middle section which always seemed kind of disjointed and meandering to me) and For Your Pleasure (my favorite) better than the more schmaltzy Avalon anyway :)
  • 06-28-2004, 01:34 PM
    Troy
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BarryL
    H
    8. RDM - Contamination

    What's this, Barry?
  • 06-28-2004, 02:35 PM
    BarryL
    Rdm
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    What's this, Barry?

    RDM was an italian band. The initials stand for three words in Italian, which may be their names (Revechio Della Maglioni, or some such). RCA released their second album with english lyrics. It's a prog rockin' dynamo, with heavy and light keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, and some parts orchestrated. It's based loosly on themes by Bach.

    Demetrio sent me the Italian version, which was available on CD at one point, but I've copied my vinyl onto CD. I'll make sure I get a copy to you. I wore out more than one vinyl copy during those prog heydays.
  • 06-28-2004, 04:48 PM
    Troy
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BarryL
    RDM was an italian band. The initials stand for three words in Italian, which may be their names (Revechio Della Maglioni, or some such). RCA released their second album with english lyrics. It's a prog rockin' dynamo, with heavy and light keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, and some parts orchestrated. It's based loosly on themes by Bach.

    Demetrio sent me the Italian version, which was available on CD at one point, but I've copied my vinyl onto CD. I'll make sure I get a copy to you. I wore out more than one vinyl copy during those prog heydays.

    THANKS! Please, don't hurt yourself getting it to me. I am already a mile in the hole with you!
  • 06-30-2004, 09:58 AM
    Troy
    Late to this party, but here's a list. Yeah, more than 10 and not in order. Never was good at following directions

    Frank Zappa- Sheik Yerbouti
    Ambrosia
    10CC- How Dare You
    Billy Joel- Streetlife Serenader
    War- The World is a Ghetto
    Bowie- Station to Station
    Yes- Close to the Edge
    The Buggles- Video Killed the Radio Star
    Camel- Mirage
    Utopia- RA
    The Tubes
    Genesis- Seconds Out
    Jethro Tull- Aqualung
    Gary Numan- The Pleasure Principle
    Elton John- GBYBR
    Be Bop Deluxe- Sunburst Finish
    Bill Nelson's Red Noise
    Pink Floyd- uhhhhhh . . . DSOTM, No, WYWH . . . . . wait, Animals. Can't pick just one.
    Random Hold- Etceteraville
    Rush- Farewell to kings
    Steely Dan- Royal Scam
    Talking Heads- Fear of Music
    UK- UK

    And note that none of these match J's list! What a shock.
  • 06-30-2004, 11:23 AM
    BarryL
    The Tubes - Solid first album
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    The Tubes
    .

    I saw them perform it T.O. on that first tour. I still think that's a great album, from start to finish.

    So tell me, was Mirage the album that introduced you to Camel? My into was Moonmadness, and that's probably why it's my favorite Camel album.
  • 06-30-2004, 12:50 PM
    Troy
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BarryL
    So tell me, was Mirage the album that introduced you to Camel? My into was Moonmadness, and that's probably why it's my favorite Camel album.

    Good guess, but no. My first Camel album was Moonmadness too.

    I picked it mainly to be contrary jagoff. . .

    Actually, I like it a little more because it rocks harder. I could easily pick Moonmadness on a different day.