Day one of the 1001 albums generator, and a pleasant surprise; been familiar with CCR since as long as I can remember, but was yet to listen to Green River completely (or consciously at least, cause I’m certain dad played it throughout my entire childhood).
Such a great album, and reading their bio, I’m definitely more appreciative of the actual scale of their influence, fame and legacy as a pillar of American (and by extension, global) rock n’ roll.
I’ll be careful with how I describe and compare albums of this period against my contemporary brain, but Green River is honestly about as fresh and polished of a rock sound I can picture for this point in time. The influences are varied and deep and full of character; soulful, bluesy, and folky, it captures an exact essence of America I now understand to be at the heart of the bands myriad classics. The fact they were only even together for four years and produced multiple all-time records regardless is astounding, definitely a point of inspiration for me to get more into bands as a whole; just too many stories and characters to learn about through their music.
Sonically, the blues bass swing and perfectly distorted guitar tone are highlights for me on GR, just lay a foundation of fun and energy which perfectly platform Fogarty’s iconic vocal performance; deep in the mix, charismatic, and textured. Favourite songs (beyond the great Bad Moon Rising) are the incredible title track ‘Green River’, a world-builder that takes us back to the Fogarty brothers childhood days by the river, ‘Tombstone Shadow’, my favourite vocal performance of the album in a song about fate and luck, attached to experiences with specific characters (the Gypsy man from San Berdoo) which add such an important aestheticism to the album for me, and not something I really find in a lot of contemporary stuff as its all so internalised, as well as ‘The Night Time is the Right Time’, a confident blues banger with rich backing vocals that I just adore. Also love the instrumental ‘Broken Spoke Shuffle’, guitar tone is smoother and makes for such a pretty effect on an already fluid riff.
Conceptually, I see the album almost as a book of fables about manhood from the Fogarty boys, full of struggles, characters, locations and successes, set behind a mirage of nostalgia and longing for a simpler childhood by the Green River. Overall, a very important album that I love and have definitely heard more than I know.
This 1975 record is a funny entry point for me with BD, apparently his most emotionally vulnerable and personal album from a period in his career generally recognised as a departure from rock n roll for folk-driven, experimental work.
Really appreciated this one, more than I enjoyed it, and for storyteller of this calibre I think it’s fair to say that will come with several more listens.
Dylan’s voice is truly the pillar from which everything else thrives here; a captivating orator and lyricist by all accounts, whose stream-of-conscious style took the folk and rock genres forward. I’d always heard about the uniqueness of his cadence, but in this narrative context it really shines through. Delivery is almost conversational, which marries with his lyric centrality perfectly, and beyond adding the character which drives his iconic sound, Dylan’s melodic imperfections more importantly add to the relatability of songs themselves.
Instrumentally, compositions are as consistent as they are beautiful; either acoustic, chord driven guitar work, or more upbeat, folky/bluesy support, swinging in a way that often drives the lyric flow into a poetic, stanza-ish delivery. Either of the two primary musical archetypes on this album are infused with the harmonica... that harmonica... It’s melancholic and somehow symbolistic of a vulnerability and lonesomeness I can’t describe, and I love it so much.
I feel that BOTT doesn’t present much casual listenability for me due to its lyric focus and track length at times, but songs like ‘Lily, ‘Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’ (a 9 minute, novella-scale narrative effort) are incredible in the more conscious listening context they deserve.
My favourite songs are ‘Tangled up in Blue’ and Meet Me in the Morning’, which I find to be the most melodically engaging track and something I didn’t find as much of as I expected on this project.
Much more to hear from Bob Dylan to form a more comprehensive opinion on him, but interesting to hear such a vulnerable body of work as a first proper impression.
Afternoon listening session, and a pretty cool one. The Doors were responsible for a seismic push of underground American blues and rock n roll into the mainstream, and 1970’s Morrison Hotel showcases a lot of it.
Beyond the first few, heavily blues driven tracks, this project unveils a surprising variety of influences and performances which I really enjoyed.
The highly popular ‘Roadhouse Blues’ is exactly as advertised; big swinging bassline and confident, textured vocals from lead man Jim Morrison, but my appreciation of this album lies in the integration of funk, soul and acoustic influences across the tracklist.
‘Peace Frog’ is probably my favourite song, a funk driven track with a distorted, percussive guitar fill, cool synth line and fun delivery from Morrison despite a noticeably dark subject matter built on the metaphor of a rising flood of blood across America - seemingly an acknowledgment of growing prejudice and suffering.
‘Blue Sunday’ follows as a pretty love ballad, forming the most unique 2 track run of the album that honestly surprised me.
‘Indian Summer’ is in a world of its own here, a more atmospheric, alternative take on the romantic ballad archetype with more reverbed guitars and a riff that feel quasi-south Asian, layered beneath a softer, spacier vocal delivery from Morrison.
I like this album, and it’s a fun length for the experimentation it offers, but the classic blues sound still isn’t something I’m drawn to listen to casually.
Regarded as pioneers of modern hard rock and heavy metal, Deep Purple are at their best on 1975’s ‘Machine Head’, a pretty highly acclaimed album that I didn’t expect to particularly enjoy going off those genre notes, but had a better experience than I anticipated.
Highway star is a hectic opener and embodies the hard rock/metal sound I wasn’t entirely ready for had the whole album been filled with it, but regardless, the 6 minute track is of such a scale and embodiment of rock itself it’s hard not to enjoy.
Beyond that, ‘Pictures of Home’ was the hardest, most metal driven song which gave space for some classic rock cuts like ‘Never Before’, the legendary ‘Smoke on the Water’ I had no clue was even on this album, and the predominantly instrumental ‘Lazy’ which I loved; organs and a classic, distorted rock riff that carries the song into a late vocal performance.
Overall, I definitely gravitate more to psych and yacht rock as I feel they’re more stimulating for my creativity and active listening while also providing the mellow sonic comfort I usually prefer, but for a pioneering ‘metal’ band, I definitely enjoyed this more than I anticipated.
The generator with a holy grail pull for Christmas. Kind of rolled my eyes when this came up but quickly decided to stop being a Grinch and get my spirit on.
This is how all carols should sound, and I feel pretty strongly about that take. Soul-driven, nostalgic, and imperfect - love it.
The Ronnettes are fire, Darlene Love’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ is an obscene classic, and Phil Spectors ‘Silent Night’ outro was a cool touch.
Whole thing just feels like an 80’s American Christmas and that might be the most ideal holiday atmosphere for me.
