When this album was released in 1978, I was a teenager growing up in a country music scene. We didn’t have access to rock radio. What we knew, we learned from someone else’s discovery. It was not cutting edge stuff. Bee Gees were dominating with Saturday Night Fever. Disco was getting started and my most influential music partner, my older sister, was fully enthrall with disco. That meant I was listening to it too. Out of nowhere (to me), my sister purchases this disc. She had heard it from some teens she and her girlfriends were hanging out with in a nearby town. My first reaction was shock. I couldn’t believe she liked it. But as we kept playing it, I couldn’t help but fall in love with its raw sound. Eddie, of course, is the guitar god, but that wasn’t the only thing that made the band. Michael Anthony’s high pitched backing vocals, David’s swagger and the snare sound coming from Alex’s drum kit was unlike anything I had heard to this point. Today, I still appreciate what Eddie brought to the table, but David’s shtick grew old over time. Not in a way that I don’t want to listen to the band, but certainly in a way that I want grab this album and play it. My rating is a nostalgic one. This album was very impactful to me when it was released. It also inspired the rock bands that comprised the later 80s hair band movement. Which is interesting because I never considered VH to be as glam as what followed.

I have an embarrassing confession. I didn’t hear this album until almost 10 years after its release. I was only familiar with Stairway. Roadtripping to Albion for my first ever cross country meet. My ultra cool classmate, a migrant from Portland, OR, world-wise and profoundly less naive, popped this cassette into his portable boombox and cranked it in the van. Out came the bombast of Black Dog. I did not know what to think. The production quality was lower than stuff I was playing at the time. And it was raw. Unlike any of the highly produced pop rock from REO, Journey, Foreigner, Styx, among others that had been dancing in my ears at that time. But I reveled in it. It was like I was taking my first secret sip of alcohol or first puff of a joint. So wrong, but you couldn’t help that it somehow felt right. It was decadent. Yet, for some unknown reason, I still didn’t delve into their catalog even though I can clearly remember the first time I heard this album. The full Zeppelin came later, beginning in college. After fully embracing Zeppelin, while I enjoy this album, it is not my favorite. A sacrilegious view among rock fans. Even more sacrilegious, Stairway to Heaven probably doesn’t even break into my top 10 Zep songs. The rawness and straightforward rock of Black Dog is still my fave off this album. Even though it is not my favorite, I probably consider this album to be their first truly complete effort. Instead of feeling somewhat disjointed, this is an outstanding piece of work that flows well from beginning to end.

Poor Beck. I was in thrall with the dimpled brunette that was grunge and didn’t give him much attention. He was trying hard, but I barely noticed. “Loser” was a catchy song with a great groove. I thought that was cool, but then later Beck released his classic Odelay. I heard it on the radio, enjoyed the songs, but never enough that I wanted to take him on a date. Lol I appreciate upon re-listening to this album what he was going for. Genre bending (at least to rock fans) before it was fully cool. But somehow it still doesn’t excite me enough to play it. Some of it is his voice. It’s his style, but feels flat to me. I won’t tell you to turn him off if you play it, will even enjoy it, but I probably won’t play it again.

Dusty, I think I thought you were Buffalo Springfield. I was way off base. I loved this album. When Amy Winehouse released Back to Black it reminded me I needed to checkout the Jazz and Soul singers that were important to music before I was born. This album’s recording quality surprised me. But it does a great job capturing a mood that apparently is referred to as Memphis style. I will certainly be revisiting this album. Kinda wish I could even find the vinyl. You could be a 5, with time and repeated listens, but right now it’s a solid 4. Plus, I feel I need to explore other soul and jazz singers to fully know what I think is great.

I bought this cd solely based on the song Take Me Out which was frequently being played on the radio. I loved the song. It was catchy and different than most of the music getting airtime. But the album never fully grabbed me. I’m not sure exactly why. I think there was disappointment that the remaining songs were not as strong as Take Me Out. Or the band created that song solely for radio to grab listeners and it wasn’t ultimately their style. Either way, the album felt disjointed and lacked additional songs to fully pull me in. Upon listening to the album today, I enjoy it more than I recall 20 years ago. But to my ears, it still lacks flow or consistency. The album as a whole doesn’t provide a listening experience that entices me to come back. And while the songs are enjoyable, I find them to be forgettable.

When this album was released in 1978, I was a teenager growing up in a country music scene. We didn’t have access to rock radio. What we knew, we learned from someone else’s discovery. It was not cutting edge stuff. Bee Gees were dominating with Saturday Night Fever. Disco was getting started and my most influential music partner, my older sister, was fully enthrall with disco. That meant I was listening to it too. Out of nowhere (to me), my sister purchases this disc. She had heard it from some teens she and her girlfriends were hanging out with in a nearby town. My first reaction was shock. I couldn’t believe she liked it. But as we kept playing it, I couldn’t help but fall in love with its raw sound. Eddie, of course, is the guitar god, but that wasn’t the only thing that made the band. Michael Anthony’s high pitched backing vocals, David’s swagger and the snare sound coming from Alex’s drum kit was unlike anything I had heard to this point. Today, I still appreciate what Eddie brought to the table, but David’s shtick grew old over time. Not in a way that I don’t want to listen to the band, but certainly in a way that I want grab this album and play it. My rating is a nostalgic one. This album was very impactful to me when it was released. It also inspired the rock bands that comprised the later 80s hair band movement. Which is interesting because I never considered VH to be as glam as what followed.

I enjoyed listening to this album. It has a grooving vibe that is easy to get into. I had never listened to the Sparks before.

Physical Graffiti It is often said that Physical Graffiti is Led Zeppelin at its peak. Which is interesting because the album is a mixture of new songs and songs created in earlier sessions up through Houses of the Holy. Up through Kashmir (the first disc of a double album) the vibe is much different than what follows. If released separately, the first disc could be titled “Long Songs Where We Repeat Chords and Riffs Until We Get Bored.” This is the rockier disc and the structure of the songs are oddly repetitive. Almost as if there is no true bridge or chorus that we frequently expect in later rock albums. But it works quite well. I think the true hero of this disc is the rhythm section of Bonham and Jones. They provide the soul that holds the songs together in a powerful way. The second disc is almost a startling turn. Here the songs are influenced by different genres. Whereas the first disc provided raw intensity, the second disc allows us to cool down a bit. I enjoy these songs, but they are not frequently played like the first disc. Listening to Physical Graffiti makes me wonder what it was about Led Zeppelin that later 80s bands would cite as one of their biggest influences. These later bands played nothing like LZ. It almost makes LZ misunderstood and mislabeled as merely a hard rock band. But their songs, spanning multiple albums, visited many genres. They weren’t really a metal band in my view. I imagine 80s bands were focused on Plant’s high pitched vocals. But to single Plant out seems to miss the essence of LZ. They are truly a sum of parts. I could easily rate every Zeppelin album from II through Physical Graffiti as “5”. Maybe I should. I am a big LZ fan.

Ah, prog rock. Who else can get away with the opening track taking nearly nine minutes before a vocalist appears? Heck, let’s throw in the guitar solo too before the singer! But that’s the beauty and intrigue of Pink Floyd and prog rock. Rules are meant to be broken. I was late to the Floyd game. Sure, I knew the big hits off The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, but the rest of their work didn’t get to pour their sonic vibes over me until much later. I have a confession, sacrilegious opinion even, this is my favorite Floyd album. While DSOTM and The Wall are fantastic, they are somewhat complex albums sonically. Wish You Were Here is an album that I can lay down on my couch, crank to 10 and enjoy the mood of the music as it washes over me. I don’t even care about the lyrics. I find it to be a sonic feast mostly in its simplicity. It’s almost not trying hard to grasp, but interesting enough that it is not quite letting you be lazy either. Shine on You Crazy Diamond is a tribute to Syd, a founding member of the band that was deemed a creative genius. He struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse and was eventually ushered out of the band. Lyrically it is simple and not hard to grasp. But musically it is a complex, multi part composition. I saw Floyd’s live performance via DVD from their Pulse album series. Shine On was the opening song. It’s a perfect buildup with synchronized lighting. I imagine it was a treat to experience live. Now I can’t say inserting Crazy into the title seems appropriate today, but I’ll that slide. I struggled with ranking it a 4 or 5. I could change my mind on a later date, but today, it’s getting a 5. If I could only pick one Floyd vinyl purchase, this would be the one.

Rating this album requires historical context regarding the music scene in 1965. Rubber Soul was released late that year, but prior to this album, it could be argued that much of The Beatles work was rooted in harmonies and love topics to win the heart of their large teen fan base. Dylan was doing his folk thing. The Byrds released their first album of folk rock. The Stones hadn’t really acquired their songwriting chops yet. Zeppelin wasn’t even a thing, neither was Hendrix. Amidst this backdrop The Who released their debut, My Generation. It was nothing like what was being played at the time. It was not even well received. I am generally indifferent to The Who. I want to like them because they were cited as an influence by the grunge movement of the 90s that I love. But I could never really embrace The Who’s heavy synthesizer use. This album doesn’t use synthesizers and it is a much different vibe from the post 1970 work the band created that I was more familiar with. I enjoyed this album and appreciate why it is considered groundbreaking. The drums. Oh my, Kieth Moon, I understand now why you are considered a legend despite your relatively short life. The ever popular Beatle sound tended to put the drums a bit back in the mix to focus more on the vocals and guitar/bass work. Not The Who. Drums and bass are going to be in the forefront and force you to begin feeling what later harder driving rock will make you do — get out of your seat and bang that head. Feel the groove. This is considered to be the beginning of a louder rock era. And again, put yourself in 1965 and see your mouth dropping and wondering WTF this is. If I had half stars, I might make this a 3.5. Given its historical importance and plus I enjoyed the discovery, it’s gonna get a 4.

I get the importance of this album. But not my cup of tea. The use of a fiddle or violin almost saved this for me. I love those instruments. This album invokes too many memories of southern twang, songs that were frequently performed at 4H music contests that I was forced to endure because my sister, Vicki, was active in the 4H scene. Not to mention I find the lyrics almost too straight forward and religious based for my taste. It borders on being sappy for me.

The Kinks are described as many things, including as a British Invasion band. I think that label is predominantly attributed to either those that didn’t grow up listening to music in the 60s or those that simply don’t care about Brit music to discern the differences. The Kinks are often credited for inspiring later rock, more specifically the punk movement. Even then, their longevity also allowed them to still produce music into the 80s. I don’t want to compare THE Kinks to The Beatles because I think both bands were looking for different things. But as dominate as The Beatles were, sometimes comparisons are inescapable. To me, The Beatles represent a clean, well crafted pop sound while later introducing some more rockier music. Even then, as superb songwriters, their music is technically sound. They knew what they were doing and they were masters. The Kinks, to my ear, are a bit edgier. It’s not hard to see why so many later rock bands cite them as an influence. As someone who is largely a rock fan, it is not hard to appreciate what The Kinks were doing. Plus, since Ray is the predominate songwriter, this album has a more consistent flow. I enjoyed it. It took me 3-4 listens to fully get into to it, and I finally landed on this being a low 4 rating.

This album tests what it is exactly that my rating is supposed to reflect. Is it strictly my enjoyment? The quality of the album in an artistic sense? What exactly am I doing? Purple Rain is hugely nostalgic for me. At the risk of sounding sappy, I was falling hard for a beautiful girl at the time this was released. That summer, I came home from my freshman year of college, looking forward to seeing her more frequently. When Doves Cry was released in May just as I was beginning to travel back and forth from my hometown to spend evenings with my first true love. A 30 minute drive each way. Doves was constantly played on radio during these back and forth trips. Let’s Go Crazy followed mid-summer. So of course this album inspires deep wonderful feelings for me. Upon revisiting, while still nostalgic, it remains a terrific album. It dangerously skirts with an 80s sound, but to my ears Prince pulls it slightly away from being completely outdated. Mostly because the songs are interesting and he is one a hell of a guitar player. He’s also a great songwriter. And good songs hold up.

I get it. This is well crafted dance music. Intoxicating and mesmerizing. The kind of music that will get you grooving with the bass pulsating through your body in a live setting. Maybe even while a little high If you’re in your 20s. I’m not. To listen as album music, it is not my thing. I find the music to be sensory overload in a car or while wearing headphones. My rating reflects my personal interest in this kind of music in a listening setting and not a reflection of the band’s craft.

Thundercat is a legend. Frequently requested as a collaborator on important albums. This album is enjoyable. There are even some incredible songs, but as a whole, it comes across as simply “ok”. An album I’d listen to if you played it, but likely wouldn’t put it on.