348. Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today (1975)
















Track Listing

1. Billy Jack
2. When Seasons Change
3. So In Love
4. Jesus
5. Blue Monday People
6. Hard Times
7. Love To The People

Review

I was never that impressed with Curtis Mayfield, and comparisons with Marvin Gaye seem totally disproportionate. Still people do them, and there is something of the Gaye here, just not in any way near the same lever of quality as the Gayester. Again, however this is not to say that it is a bad album.

A thing about this list is that bad albums are actually pretty rare and that is why 90% of things here get 7 or up grades. So this is actually quite good but there is stuff in the same genre which is much more impressive. So Marvin Gaye it ain't, however if you have run out of good Gaye albums this is something to check out.

Mayfield isn't a particularly talented writer and although he has interesting things to say he is not the best at putting his points forward. Then there is also a very religious slant to the album which kind of irks me. when people start singing about Jesus I kind of turn off, unless it is particularly impress and this isn't.

Track Highlights

1. Billy Jack
2. When Seasons Change
3. So In Love
4. Hard Times

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.

In February, 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. Mayfield was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Unfortunately, health reasons prevented him from attending the ceremony, which included fellow inductees Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, George Martin, and 1970s Curtom signee and labelmate The Staples Singers. Mayfield died on December 26, 1999 in Roswell, Georgia surrounded by his family. His last work came to be the song "Astounded", with the group Bran Van 3000, recorded just before his death and released in 2000. As a member of The Impressions, Mayfield was posthumously inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

So In Love:

347. Earth, Wind, And Fire - That's The Way Of The World (1975)

















Track Listing

1. Shining Star
2. That's The Way Of The World
3. Happy Feelin'
4. All About Love
5. Yearnin' Learnin'
6. Reasons
7. Africano
8. See The Light

Review

Well this is an interesting soul/funk album. It isn't anything spectacular, it's not the Isley Brothers 3+3 or any of the good Stevie Wonder albums, but it is very good on its own merits. It is fun and funky and there isn't much more that you can ask from Earth, Wind, And Fire.

There is not much to be said about this album, except the fact that it is a very competent one and is peppered with intricate harmonies and instrument play. The brass section is particularly impressive here as well as some of the guitars.

For some reason I know Shining Star really well but in another version, and I can't for the life of me remember where I know it from, Wikipedia is also no help, it might be something in Portugal, I am not sure. So if you know where I might know it from in another version drop me a comment, because this shit drives me insane.

Track Highlights

1. Shining Star
2. Reasons
3. That's The Way Of The World
4. Africano

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

That's the Way of the World is a 1975 album by Earth, Wind & Fire. It was also the soundtrack for a 1975 motion picture of the same name which featured several of the band members in cameo roles. The album is best known for the lead track "Shining Star".

In 2003, the album was ranked number 493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

What a crap video for Shining Star:

346. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger (1975)
















Track Listing

1. Time of the Preacher
2. I Couldn't Believe It Was True
3. Time of the Preacher (Theme)
4. Medley: Blue Rock Montana/Red Headed Stranger
5. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
6. Red Headed Stranger
7. Time of the Preacher (Theme)
8. Just as I Am
9. Denver
10. O'er the Waves
11. Down Yonder
12. Can I Sleep in Your Arms?
13. Remember Me (When the Candlelights Are Gleaming)
14. Hands on the Wheel
15. Bandera

Review

The great Willie Nelson, brings us an interesting country album here. Country music is stripped of complexity here into a new kind of purity, basically drums, acoustic guitar, harmonica and little else. It is also a concept album. Which is very interesting, but it does make it a hard album to sink in.

That is the main problem with the album, it doesn't sink in very fast and its pace is quite slow. This does not make it a bad album, but it makes it an album which is a bit more demanding than your average country thing.

In the end it is a good album, with some interesting ideas and a great deal of influence, but it isn't something that you will be singing all day or that you can immediately relate to. Still it is very much listening to. So if you are at all interested in Outlaw Country get it.

Tack Highlights

1. Red Headed Stranger
2. Time Of The Preacher
3. Denver
4. Bandera

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

A concept album, Red Headed Stranger is about a fugitive preacher, on the run from the law after killing his wife. Sparse and jumbled, with brief, poetic lyrics, no one involved in the creation of the album thought it would sell well. In spite of its inaccessibility, Red Headed Stranger was a blockbuster among both country music and mainstream audiences, going multiplatinum and making Nelson one of the biggest stars in country. In 2003, the same year the album was ranked #184 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Nelson sang background vocals and added some guitar to a cover version of the album done by Carla Bozulich of the alt-country band, the Geraldine Fibbers. It was ranked #1 on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music in 2006.

The first track, "Time of the Preacher", was memorably used in the 1985 television drama Edge of Darkness.

The lyrics to "Time of the Preacher" were used to help open the graphic Novel Preacher.

Blue Eyes Crying In Te Rain:

345. Queen - A Night At The Opera (1975)
















Track Listing

1. Death On Two Legs
2. Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon
3. I'm In Love With My Car
4. You're My Best Friend
5. '39
6. Sweet Lady
7. Seaside Rendezvous
8. Prophet's Song
9. Love Of My Life
10. Good Company
11. Bohemian Rhapsody
12. God Save The Queen

Review

As I've said before here, Queen aren't the best band in the world but by Jove they are a lot of fun. And none of their albums is as much fun as this one. Queen thankfully have a self-conscious humour about their own pomposity. And this whole album is an exercise in that. If you compare it to bands like Aerosmith they come across as quite sophisticated, really, while still coming across as a parody of the heavy metal and prog genres.

This is a good thing because both genres are ripe for sendup. Queen are not a completely spoofy band however, and even though there is a constant tongue firmly placed in cheek through here they also make great compositions. Few pop-rock songs are as perfect as Bohemian Rhapsody really.

This is not to say that it is an amazing album, the joke does get old pretty fast, but it is still a pretty entertaining album to listen too. If you like your albums to be pompous but conscious of how ridiculous they might sound this is the thing for you.

Track Highlights

1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Seaside Rendezvous
3. '39
4. God Save The Queen

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album was ranked number 230 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Channel 4 named it the 13th greatest album of all time. It was also ranked #41 on Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" and #16 on Q's "50 Best British Albums Ever!". In 2006 it was voted the ninth greatest Number One album of all time by the British public. Since its release it has consistently ranked high in many lists.

One of the first video clips ever made, Bohemian Rhapsody:

344. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)
















Track Listing

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
2. Welcome To The Machine
3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt.2

Review

Pink Floyd gives us a more friendly album than any that they put out before. It is not as deep as Dark Side of The Moon or as strange as Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, I can't really say that it is radio friendly except from the title track, but it is not nearly as demanding as any of their previous work.

This is all part of a slope into a certain commercialism by the part of the band, even tough Have A Cigar is ostensibly about the evils of musical success, Pink Floyd were going more and more in the direction of easily digestible music. This would culminate a some years later with The Wall. This is not me saying that it is bad, but it is certainly different.

This is a Pink Floyd album that you can actually remember all the lyrics of. It is catchy, shimmery and pretty well produced. While Pink Floyd's hallmark sound effects are not as prevalent here as in Dark Side, the shift from Have A Cigar to the title track is one of the most perfect ones ever done in music. The buzzing sound of a slightly detuned radio, changing stations until you get to Wish You Were Here, which is then built on top of the crappy radio sound with some of the clearest sounds ever put on vinyl is indeed impressive, even if the song has been ruined due to overuse and misuse.

The bookender Shine On You Crazy Diamond, ends up being the real star of the album, being both simple and beautiful and giving Pink Floyd the time they require to make themselves shine. In my opinion this is the second best Pink Floyd album, and because of that an indispensable addition to anyone's library.

Track Highlights

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
2. Shine On You Crazy Diamond pt.2
3. Wish You Were Here
4. Have A Cigar

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

According to drummer Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett actually turned up at the studio in the middle of a recording session on 6 June 1975, which was also the day David Gilmour married his first wife, Ginger, according to the book Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey. Barrett hadn't been seen by any of the band members in five years. He arrived unannounced, his head completely devoid of hair (including eyebrows, as alluded to in The Wall film) and had put on so much weight that most of the band did not recognise him at first. Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley (who was a guest at Gilmour's wedding reception) mistook him for a Hare Krishna devotee. Others were close to tears at the transformation: Waters later confided that he cried. While the band were listening to a song in progress (Mason says he doesn't remember which song, but mentions some 'legends' that contend it was "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"), Barrett sat motionless; he is sometimes quoted as saying, when someone asked to play it back again, that this would be pointless as they had already just heard it. In a recent televised special on Barrett, Gilmour says that it was "Shine On" that they were recording as he showed up. In the same special, Waters says that the part of "The Wall" in which Pink's cigarrette remains unsmoked and burnt down to his fingers was exactly what Barrett did during the "Have A Cigar" sessions. He asked (despite the album being nearly complete) if there was anything he could do, and that he was available if needed. Later on, one of the band's technicians, Phil Taylor, drove past Barrett, who appeared to be looking for a lift. Avoiding an awkward situation, Taylor ducked down in the car as he passed. In a July 2006 interview with a New York City radio station before Barrett's death, Gilmour indicated that they never saw him again after that point. However, Roger Waters has said later on he almost bumped into Syd in Harrods, but did not speak to him. Echoing Barrett's presence, Wright plays a subtle refrain from "See Emily Play" in the final seconds of the album.


Shine On You Crazy Diamond, pt.1: