Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin is an all-star band. Robert Plant is an great singer with the ability to hit all of those high notes, and isn't afraid to do it. Although he might take some time to get used to. Jimmy Page is one of the best guitarists of all-time, enough said. John Paul Jones is a great musician, with many talents, and he is great with any instrument. John Bonham is an amazing drummer. He tragically passed away in 1980 from "drowning in his own vomit" after consuming an in-human ammount of vodka.
Queen - A Night At The Opera
Opening with "Death on Two Legs", a bitter song about their ex-manager driven by Brian May's distorted guitar, we jump to the aesthetic foppery of "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and then into Roger Taylor's straight rock with bent lyrics in "I'm in Love With My Car". This album is nothing if not eclectic.
The stand out track from Side One for me is "'39". This is a country style piece about faster than light interstellar travel; however, this is a misleading descriptoin. While the strumming style is very country, Brian May's voice is soft and English so the effect is almost folky. The lyrics too are written in a style that implies that the song is about ships traveling to the colonies in America, not outer space.
Side Two is where the album is most impressive, and also most progressive. All the songs are of the highest calibre, with the exception of "Good Company" which is merely a good song. From the start of the powerful and atmospheric "Prophet's Song" (which appears to be about Noah) to Brian May playing "God Save the Queen", this would have to be one of the great album sides of all time.
I have only two minor complaints about this album. "Seaside Rendezvous" is not that strong a song, and we have already had our light-hearted Edwardian fix in "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon". Also, "The Prophet's Song", while for the most part brilliant, probably plays around too much with the echoing vocal effects for my taste.
Queen fans may argue about the status of this album as their Magnum Opus, but it is undoubtably one the highlights of their stellar recording career.
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
When I put it into my CD player and listened to it all the way through for the first time I couldn't help smiling and thinking how silly I was to doubt the judgement of the three or four generations preceeding me, who have praised this album as a masterpiece.
There really isn't any word more fitting than 'masterpiece'. Every song is excellant and the concept of the album is brilliant but not overly enforced, meaning you don't have to get swept up in the 'story' of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars in order to enjoy the album.
It's all delivered with glamour and cool, a blend of piano ballads and rock and roll that have what I suppose could be called 'timeless melodies'.
Standout tracks are all of them but especially Starman, Lady Stardust and Suffragette City.
I'm way out of my league in terms of music on Collective, even so, this is addressed to anyone who's just slightly tempted by this album.
Cream - Goodbye
What a Bringdown." The last title of (probably) the final Cream album serves as a capsule summation of Goodbye and, indeed, the whole Cream mess. Certainly Jack, Eric, and Ginger deserved a better fate.
Goodbye is not a very worthwhile album. Critics will probably tear it apart, while even bonafide Cream Freaks will have to be a little disappointed. It's like the once-famous tycoon who dies an anonymous pauper; it's just a bad way to go out.
The studio version of "I'm So Glad" from Fresh Cream is far superior to the live one. What melody the song had is lost as Jack and Eric get involved in a shouting match. "Politician" wasn't an overly brilliant song in the first place, and the live recording doesn't improve upon the original version. "Sittin' on Top of the World" is the best of the live cuts; it is dominated by Jack with a convincing vocal and a creaky bass. Eric comes in with a flash of guitar at the end; it all fits together tightly.
Oasis - Don’t Believe The Truth
James Blunt - Back to Bedlam
Debut album through Atlantic/Custard, recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Tom Rothcock (Beck, Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy), Back To Bedlam takes the listener through heartfelt songs of unattainable romances, lost loves and friend's failures before climaxing with James' first-hand experience of war. 2004.