240. David Bowie | Hunky Dory (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Changes
2. Oh! You Pretty Things
3. Eight Line Poem
4. Life on Mars?
5. Kooks
6. Quicksand
7. Fill Your Heart
8. Andy Warhol
9. Song for Bob Dylan
10. Queen Bitch
11. The Bewlay Brothers

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Hunky Dory is a charming album. The music is glam rock. The songs have a hard edge to them, but they aren't bluesy enough to be called hard rock. The lyrics are impenetrable, but there are sensible fragments that evoke interesting imagery and humor. The album is also replete with melody which is its strength.

There's not a whole lot to say about this album. It's not a profound album, but neither is it pretentious or smug. It's just a set of incredibly catchy songs with song weird, funny and evocative lyrics. It won't change your life, but it'll brighten your day.

The album is wonderful. It's worth listening to and would make a fine addition to a collection. I'm not sure it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list, though.

All the songs on this album are excellent. The stand outs are Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Eight Line Poem, Life on Mars?, Kooks, Quicksand, Fill Your Heart, Andy Warhol, Song for Bob Dylan, Queen Bitch and The Bewlay Brothers.

★★★★★★★★★★

239. T. Rex | Electric Warrior (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Mambo Sun
2. Cosmic Dancer
3. Jeepster
4. Monolith
5. Lean Woman Blues
6. Get It On
7. Planet Queen
8. Girl
9. The Motivator
10. Life's a Gas
11. Rip Off

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Electric Warrior is a sultry album. The music is glam rock. For this album, that seems to mean pop songs with a hard rock edge. The lyrics are really neat. I don't know what it all means, but as snippets, they drip sexuality and attitude.

The music is slow and grinding and Marc Bolan's voice is seductive. This is nothing but the blues. However, the bluesmen were men in a man's world, but Marc Bolan's world is sexually ambiguous and anyone can play the role of seducer.

The album is fantastic. I never had much faith in glam rock and T. Rex was no exception, but I've come to adore the style. I like the sexuality and the sexual ambiguity implied by both the music and the art and the artists. That's the real attraction to this album. It's worth listening to and would make a fine addition to a collection. I think it also deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list since this is the strongest example of glam to appear.

All the songs on this album are excellent. The stand outs are Mambo Sun, Cosmic Sun, Jeepster, Monolith, Lean Woman Blues, Get It On, Planet Queen, Girl, The Motivator, Life's a Gas and Rip Off. Yes, that's all of them. Truly amazing stuff.

★★★★★★★★★★

238. Harry Nilsson | Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Gotta Get Up
2. Driving Along
3. Early in the Morning
4. The Moonbeam Song
5. Down
6. Without You
7. Coconut
8. Let the Good Times Roll
9. Jump into the Fire
10. I'll Never Leave You

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Nilsson Schmilsson is an unserious album. The music is baroque pop. There's really no center of gravity. Most of the songs are wild, poppy and fun. But there are some that go way out on a ledge. Coconut is probably the most extreme because it's a calypso song and that's not a style which gets much air play. Without You is a power ballad which is a style that it just coming on the scene. Jump into the Fire is a raging rocker.

The main feature here though is Harry Nilsson's singing. The reason there can be so much variety on this album is his vocal abilities. His range is vast—from pretty low notes to extremely high ones and everything in between. He is also quite charismatic and fun to listen to. He reminds me of a comedic Scott Walker.

Cococut is probably the only problematic part of the album. It's a really fine song, but it doesn't fit. It's also so close to, if not really, a novelty song that it can distract. It's unfortunate because it's a great demonstration of Harry Nilsson's vocal talent.

The album is excellent. Without a doubt it's worth listening to and it's a good addition to any collection. This album drives a wedge between rock and roll and the singer/songwriter kind of folk rock and pop and creates a highly energetic pop that doesn't take itself very seriously. For that, it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. However, with this style, there is so much opportunity for no talent hacks, that one must wonder if it's worth bargaining with the devil for great albums like this.

All the songs on this album are excellent. The stand outs are Gotta Get Up, Driving Along, Early in the Morning, The Moonbeam Song, Down, Without You, Coconut, Jump into the Fire and I'll Never Leave You.

★★★★★★★★★☆

237. John Prine | John Prine (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Illegal Smile
2. Spanish Pipedream
3. Hello in There
4. Sam Stone
5. Paradise
6. Pretty Good
7. Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
8. Far from Me
9. Angel from Montgomery
10. Quiet Man
11. Donald and Lydia
12. Six O'Clock News
13. Flashback Blues

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John Prine is a smart album. The music is folk, but that classification seems incorrect. I'd say this is a country album. Everything about this album screams country, especially John Prine's twang.

If anything suggests folk music, it's the lyrics. Many of the songs are critical or sarcastic social commentaries. War and drugs seem to be the two major themes. If it weren't for John Prine's smart and witty lyrics this album might have been too preachy.

The album is excellent. Country music gets a bad rap from lots of Americans who don't grow up on it, but that just seems unfair. All musical styles have their share of crap. I was certainly convinced that country was crap, but I glad I have been disabused of that notion.

There is a lot of good country music and this album is one of the best I've heard so far. It's worth listening to and should be a part of any serious collector's collection. I think it should be on the 1001 Albums list. Although there haven't been many country music albums on the list, this one is clearly different from the previous one. It certainly has more to say about society than the others, except for maybe Johnny Cash's songs.

All the songs on this album are excellent. The stand outs are Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Hello in There, Sam Stone, Paradise, Pretty Good, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore, Angel from Montgomery and Quiet Man.

★★★★★★★★★★

236. Gene Clark | White Light (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. The Virgin
2. With Tomorrow
3. White Light
4. Because of You
5. One in a Hundred
6. For a Spanish Guitar
7. Where My Love Lies Asleep
8. Tears of Rage
9. 1975

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White Light is an exquisite album. The music is country. While it's country music, it doesn't incorporate all the elements of country music. There isn't any twangy guitar sound. Gene Clark doesn't sound at all like a country music singer and the lyrics don't follow the common themes found in country music. So, while this album doesn't resemble country music in any way, it's unmistakably country. I'm guessing it's the slow tempo, the sad and somber tone and the harmonica that makes this a country album.

The main focus is the lyrics. They are central to the songs and Gene Clark delivers them in a deliberate and detached way. He's just a storyteller even if the songs involve him.

The music is notable. The playing is mature and restrained. Only the essential comes through which gives Gene Clark room to sing. And he has a wonderful voice to listen to. It's so cool and calm. There's a timeless quality to the songs.

The album is wonderful. This is one of the best overall albums I've heard so far. It's the kind of album I want to put on again and again. It's surprising for me to feel this way because I think Gene Clark is one of the main reasons I don't really enjoy any pre-Gram Parsons Byrds' albums.

I certainly think this album is worth listening to and it deserves to be in any serious collector's collection. I believe it should be on the 1001 Albums list. Gene Clark takes country music in an interesting direction. I suspect he's the only one who went in this direction, but it would have been worthwhile for other country artists to pursue.

All the songs on this album are outstanding. For a Spanish Guitar is my favorite and With Tomorrow a close second.

★★★★★★★★★★

235. The Flamin' Groovies | Teenage Head (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. High Flyin' Baby
2. City Lights
3. Have You Seen My Baby?
4. Yesterdays Numbers
5. Teenage Head
6. 32-20
7. Evil Hearted Ada
8. Doctor Boogie
9. Whisky Woman

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Teenage Head is a retro album. The music is garage rock, but that classification is probably due to the album not being released on a major label. The style is most definitely rock. While many bands have been gone back to playing rock and roll, it's more like a revved up or idealized kind of rock and roll.

This album comes closer to the rock and roll of the 1950s. It also comes the closest to channeling Don Van Vliet who himself was channeling Howlin' Wolf. Anyway, it's curious to hear so many bands going back to their roots, as it were, but not really going back to the pure blues so much.

The album is excellent. It's refreshing to hear some original rock and roll songs. Of course, there's nothing groundbreaking at all going on. So, it's certainly worth listening to. I'm not sure it needs to be on the 1001 Albums list, though. If the list serves to indicate changes in musical trends, then this album might deserve a spot since this album is an excellent example of a resurgence in rock and roll.

All the songs on this album are good. The stand outs are High Flyin' Baby, City Lights, Teenage Head, 32–20, Evil Hearted Ada, Doctor Boogie and Whisky Woman.

★★★★★★★★★★

234. Faces | A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Miss Judy's Farm
2. You're So Rude
3. Love Lives Here
4. Last Orders Please
5. Stay with Me
6. Debris
7. Memphis, Tennessee
8. Too Bad
9. That's All You Need

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A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse is a rowdy album. The music is rock. The lyrics are borderline bawdy. It's been some time since there's been an album where lead and rhythm guitars have dominated so many of the songs. Rod Stewart share lead vocal duty with Ronnie Lane. I prefer Rod Stewart. His raspy voice is full force on this album.

(On a really long side note, what the hell happened to Rod Stewart? He's like the king of the rock and roll revival in the early 1970s. How does he go from that to a pop star lightweight? I mean, really. I remember reading Hammer of the Gods, the book about Led Zeppelin, in 1989 or so, and it's mentioned that Jimmy Page had considered Rod Stewart to be the singer for the New Yardbirds. I thought that was such a joke. Of course, that's because 1980s Rod Stewart is a joke compared to 1970s Rod Stewart. I'm so disappointed.)

This album is mixed. There are some really fun and exciting songs that rock like rock and roll used to. Then, there are three songs that bore me, Love Lives Here, Last Orders Please and Debris. Maybe the band should have stayed away from slow numbers. If they could have replaced those, this album would have been something else.

There are some really great songs which makes this album worth listening to. However, it doesn't belong on the 1001 Albums list because, as an album, it's not outstanding and also there's nothing here that Rod Stewart wasn't doing on his solo albums.

There are many great songs on this album. They are Miss Judy's Farm, You're So Rude, Stay With Me, Memphis, Tennessee, Too Bad and That's All You Need.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

233. Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa '70 with Ginger Baker | Live! (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Let's Start
2. Black Man's Cry
3. Ye Ye De Smell
4. (Egbe Mi O) Carry Me I Want To Die

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Live! is a lively album. The music is afrobeat whatever that means. The songs bear a resemblance to funk, especially with the horns and the repetition. There is also a resemblance to Latin music. It's too bad I can't understand Fela Kuti because there's a mix of fun and intensity in his singing.

The songs are quite enjoyable, but they do drag on for quite some time. That's probably because bands like to jam when playing live. They are also very similar-sounding. But I was just wondering if a group of related, yet unfamiliar songs all sound similar, too. For example, would all the songs on Led Zeppelin I sound the same to someone completely unfamiliar with rock and roll? Perhaps we miss all the nuance.

I like this album and I like the potential this style has. Too bad it will always remain on the fringe in the American pop music world. It's certainly worth listening to. I think it should be on the 1001 Albums list because it's very good, but I wonder if there's an album that is more representative of the style. I'd be surprised if this album is the best that Fela Kuti had to offer. On the other hand, this album is out of place on the list because the list leans so heavily on American and British popular music. Therefore, it has no place on that kind of list.

If anyone is expecting Ginger Baker to play a lead role on this album, they'll be disappointed. Fela Kuti references him three times on the album, all during Yeye De Smell. Once when introducing it and twice at the end. So, Ginger Baker is present, but not as much as the album would suggest.

All the songs are good. They're so similar to me that none stand out.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

232. Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band | Pearl (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Move Over
2. Cry Baby
3. A Woman Left Lonely
4. Half Moon
5. Buried Alive in the Blues
6. My Baby
7. Me and Bobby McGee
8. Mercedes Benz
9. Trust Me
10. Get It While You Can

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Pearl is an overproduced album or at least it seems that way. The music is blues rock. There's no doubt that Janis Joplin is one of the greatest blues singers. She demonstrates that clearly on this album. The Full Tilt Boogie Band sounds like a group of competent players.

But this album sounds too clinical and dispassionate. Everyone is playing and singing what they are supposed to sing and no one dares go off script. Blues rock is spontaneous and filled with emotion because that is what the blues is about. 

I like this album. I can't dislike Janis Joplin and I think this album is worth listening to. Despite its problems, there is hardly any alternative and it really is a good album. I don't really think it belongs on the 1001 Albums list. There are enough blues rock albums. The only good reason would be because there are hardly any great female blues rock singers and Janis was a peer among men.

All the songs are good. I think Move Over, Cry Baby, Half Moon, My Baby, Me and Bobby McGee and Mercedes Benz are the stand outs.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

231. Funkadelic | Maggot Brain (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Maggot Brain
2. Can You Get to That
3. Hit It and Quit It
4. You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
5. Super Stupid
6. Back in Our Minds
7. Wars of Armageddon

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Maggot Brain is a keen album. The music is funk. The opening song revisits the psychedelic rock era with a ten-minute long solo that would make Hendrix's jaw drop. The rest of the album has a hard rock and prog rock sensibility. The difference is in this is more intense and less showing off. The groove is pounding in the foreground and the guitar is just solos in the background throughout many of the songs.

I like this album. It is fun and weird. It's worth listening to. It's a new direction black artists are taking music. It's more dynamic than hard rock and heavy metal and less pedantic than progressive rock. I do think it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. (Unfortunately, this direction won't get very far, but so many possibilites were there. It does actually re-appear in the 1980s.)

All the songs are excellent. I think Maggot Brain, Hit It and Quit It, Super Stupid and Wars of Armageddon are the stand outs.

★★★★★★★★★☆

230. Joni Mitchell | Blue (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. All I Want
2. My Old Man
3. Little Green
4. Carey
5. Blue
6. California
7. This Flight Tonight
8. River
9. A Case of You
10. The Last Time I Saw Richard

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Blue is a personal album. The music is folk. Joni Mitchell sings mostly about her past relationships. Her voice takes some time to get used to, and it's well worth taking the time. The songs aren't very catchy but the music goes well Joni Mitchell's singing.

I can imagine this album was quite risqué when it was released. Although the women's lib movement was in full force, how many women were writing and singing about their sexuality? Even though it wasn't known until much later, how many women would sing about giving up their child for adoption? (Little Green)

I think this album is great simply because it is so personal. I think it's worth listening to, but not too sure about it needing to be on the 1001 Albums list. If it deserves to be on the list, it's because of its personal nature.

All the songs are very good. I think All I Want, Little Green, California, River and The Last Time I Saw Richard are the stand outs.

★★★★★★★★★☆

229. Leonard Cohen | Songs of Love and Hate (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Avalanche
2. Last Year's Man
3. Dress Rehearsal Rag
4. Diamonds in the Mine
5. Love Calls You by Your Name
6. Famous Blue Raincoat
7. Sing Another Song, Boys
8. Joan of Arc

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Songs of Love and Hate is a bitter album. The music is folk. There is generally very little accompaniment to Leonard Cohen's singing. Generally, it's vocals, a guitar and string arrangement.

The lyrics are the central feature of this album. And as the album title indicates, these songs are about love and hate. They seem to be personal songs. Filtered through Leonard Cohen's singing, the lyrics become cynical, scornful and angry. So, I'd say there's more hate than love. But I'm not very good at deciphering lyrics.

Despite that, I think Leonard Cohen is the best folk singer/songwriter. His lyrics are more personal, more authentic, more universal, less whiny and less narcissistic than what is emerging among the pop and new folk singer/songwriters. While his songs and lyrical themes wouldn't work well in the mainstream, it would have been wise had the new crop of singer/songwriters approach their lyrics with more seriousness.

I think this is a great album. It's dark and moody. It's an album worth listening to. Folk enthusiasts will definitely want to add this to their collection. Of course, folk has been done to death, and this album isn't extending the genre in any significant way, so it doesn't belong on the 1001 Albums list.

All the songs are excellent. The stand outs are Avalanche, Dress Rehearsal Rag, Diamonds in the Mine and Joan of Arc.

★★★★★★★★★★

228. Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Pictures at an Exhibition (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Promenade
2. The Gnome
3. Promenade
4. The Sage
5. The Old Castle
6. Blues Variation
7. Promenade
8. The Hut of Baba Yaga
9. The Curse of Baba Yaga
10. The Hut of Baba Yaga
11. The Great Gates of Kiev/The End
12. Nut Rocker

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Pictures at an Exhibition is a daring album. The music is progressive rock. Emerson, Lake & Palmer perform an abridged version of the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures of an Exhibition. The trio includes weave their own material into the piece.

I'm really impressed by this album. Any rock band that performs a substantial portion of classical music in concert has a set or brass balls for there are just too many ways that it can fail. The music could be too esoteric, modern instruments may not sound appropriate or the band may just not have the technical skill to adapt the piece.

At first I had no idea what the band was performing and so the album seemed pretentious, self-indulgent and gratuitous. (Perhaps that is why they choose to perform classical pieces.) However, once I figured out what was going on, it all made sense and my opinion of it completely changed.

I think this album is worth listening to, but I can see that this might be more of a novelty album to most people. I do think it belongs on the 1001 Albums list. There just aren't many popular music groups performing classical music. Also, Keith Emerson must be the one responsible for keyboard instruments supplanting the guitar as the choice for lead instrument in a vast number of prog rock bands—this album is serious evidence of that.

All the songs sound great. I think the second half—the Baba Yaga suite—is the more interesting part of the album. 

★★★★★★★★★★

227. Rod Stewart | Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Every Picture Tells a Story
2. Seems Like a Long Time
3. That's All Right
4. Tomorrow Is a Long Time
5. Henry
6. Maggie May
7. Mandolin Wind
8. (I Know) I'm Losing You
9. Reason to Believe

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Every Picture Tells a Story is a rowdy album. The music is rock and roll. There are other styles, but its heart never strays from rock and roll.

This album is no nonsense. There isn't a vapid, vacuous or insipid song on it. There is no flash or showing off. That's the idealized kind of rock and roll realized primarily by Rod Stewart and the Who and sometimes by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

I think this is a great album. It's not a great as Gasoline Alley, but it's worth listening to and worth owning, just for (I Know) I'm Losing You. It probably shouldn't belong on the 1001 Albums list. It's too similar in style and quality to Gasoline Alley. But then again, if not this, then what?

All the songs sound great. Every Picture Tells a Story, Seems Like a Long Time, That's All Right, Maggie May, (I Know) I'm Losing You and Reason to Believe are the real stand outs. 

★★★★★★★★★★

226. Serge Gainsbourg | Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Melody
2. Ballade de Melody Nelson
3. Valse de Melody
4. Ah! Melody
5. L'hôtel particulier
6. En Melody
7. Cargo culte

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Histoire de Melody Nelson is a lurid album. The music is French rock. From the start it's obvious this kind of rock isn't a descendent of the blues. There is a funky rhythm and there are fleeting riffs, but the music sounds owes more to classical music quartets and theatrical music à la Jacques Brel.

If you can't understand French or if you haven't read the English version of the lyrics, you might think this is a sexy album. There is a strong sense of style. Serge Gainsbourg's voice is seductive and the music is cool. It all seems so innocent, that is, until you figure out what he's singing about. The gist is that he has a romance with a young girl. Perhaps that's what all middle-aged men dream of, but when it's told in this manner it's quite depraved and repulsive.

Despite the lyrics, which will be unintelligible and even appealing to most, this album is really good. It has a wonderfully crisp and clear sound. I think it should be listened to, but I don't think it belongs on the 1001 Albums list. Had there been more representation of music from outside the US and UK, I'd be more inclined to say this belongs on the list. But within the context of the list, there is no understanding how this album stands in the world of French rock.

All the songs sound great. Melody, L'hôtel particulier and Cargo culte are the real stand outs. 

★★★★★★★★★☆

225. Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Black Dog
2. Rock and Roll
3. The Battle of Evermore
4. Stairway to Heaven
5. Misty Mountain Hop
6. Four Sticks
7. Going to California
8. When the Levee Breaks

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Note: There is no official title to Led Zeppelin's fourth studio album. Atlantic Records, Led Zeppelin's record label, often used the titles, The Fourth Album and Four Symbols to catalogue it. Other names that have been used are Led Zeppelin IV and Runes. Members of Led Zeppelin have referred to it as The Fourth Album and Led Zeppelin IV.

Led Zeppelin IV is an masterful album. The music is hard rock. Led Zeppelin has gotten even further away from their blues rock style. This album blends folk rock with hard rock which would suggest that the music is tempered, but it's not. This is one of the heaviest rock albums to date. This lyrics give this album a mystical and transcendent aura.

This is a relentless album.  Nowhere on this album is there a down period to recoup. The album just comes charging out of the gate with Black Dog and Rock and Roll which are two of the heaviest songs ever recorded. The album slows down but keeps charging ahead with The Battle of Evermore and Stairway to Heaven which feature the folkier side of the album. The album regains speed with Misty Mountain Hop and then goes into overdrive with Four Sticks which is not very different from the two opening songs. Going to California is another folkie song which slows down the pace just to prepare for the final burst of energy that comes from When the Levee Breaks.

Led Zeppelin has always had a timeless quality to their albums, this album especially. Logically, there is no reason why Led Zeppelin should have sounded any different from the English blues rock bands from the mid-to-late 1960s. A lot of great music came from that group, but none of them transcended their moment in time. Led Zeppelin did and I've always wondered why, as I'm sure many others have. I think this album reveals why. It's not the musicians or songs or group dynamics; it's Jimmy Page's album production. Jimmy Page is a master producer and it's his genius as producer for why Led Zeppelin transcends their moment in time.

This is a phenomenal album. It should be listened to and it belongs in every serious collection. This album deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list because of its timeless quality and also because it just extends the hard rock boundary so far that in some ways hard rock hasn't yet reached the boundary again.

Every song is brilliant. I would list them all as stand outs, but I would rather instead point out that When the Levee Breaks is the best song on the album. And I will never tire of listening to Stairway to Heaven. The final section will always make it worthwhile.

★★★★★★★★★★

224. Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Tarkus (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Eruption
2. Stones of Years
3. Iconoclast
4. Mass
5. Manticore
6. Battlefield
7. Aquatarkus
8. Jeremy Bender
9. Bitches Crystal
10. The Only Way (Hymn)
11. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
12. A Time and a Place
13. Are You Ready Eddy?

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Tarkus is an extravagant/fanciful album. The music is progressive rock. The band devotes the first half of the album, Eruption to Aquatarkus, to a fanciful story of Tarkus, a futuristic armor-plated armadillo-like war machine that battles several enemies until it is defeated by the Manticore and resurrected as the Aquatarkus, an aquatic version of itself. The song is apparently a commentary on the futility of war. The remainder of the album are self-contained songs.

This album demonstrates excellently all the vital elements of a prog rock album. First, there is a concept song which extends close to or more than twenty minutes. Second, the song is a mix of instrumental and lyrical parts, both of which tell the story. Third, the concept topics are fanciful, surreal or allegorical stories which reflect on human nature. Fourth, the commentary is equivalent to a an philosophical essay written for a freshman Intro to Philosophy class. Fifth, the instrumental parts must be over-indulgent demonstrations of the musicians' abilities.

A problem with prog rock is that there is a very fine line between a compelling story and sheer nonsense. If any of the elements mentioned above veers into the absurd the whole concept is ruined. Another problem is that even the best prog rock bands have a hard time avoiding an absurd concept song or album.

This is a decent album. The Tarkus concept doesn't work for me and the instrumental parts aren't all that interesting.  I also don't find much interest in the second half of the album. I do think this is worth hearing and worth being on the 1001 Albums list because it really is a textbook example of prog rock music in it's finest(?) form.

All the songs are decent, but there really aren't any stand outs.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

223. Don McLean | American Pie (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. American Pie
2. Till Tomorrow
3. Vincent
4. Crossroads
5. Winterwood
6. Empty Chairs
7. Everybody Loves Me, Baby
8. Sister Fatima
9. The Grave
10. Babylon

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American Pie is a somber album. The music is folk. Don McLean has a wonderful voice. He is more poetic than his fellow singer/songwriters and more sincere. Many of the songs feel deeply personal and that he is confiding in the listener who he treats as a good friend. 

The problem with the album is the title song, American Pie, and Vincent. Both are far superior to the remaining songs. American Pie also suffers from lyrics that are too distracting. The desire to interpret the meaning of the every lyric obscures a profound commentary about a sad event and its aftermath. Maybe it's not his fault, but had the lyrics been less obvious, temptation may have been avoided.

This is a very good album. I've never had a high opinion of it because of American Pie and all the nostalgic baggage that comes with it. But there's a serious songwriter hidden behind that song. The remaining songs are deeply emotional. I'm glad I had a chance to better appreciate Don McLean. I think this album is worth listening to to know what a good singer/songwriter sounds like. I don't think it really belongs on the 1001 Albums list, though.

All the songs are good. The stand outs are: Till Tomorrow, Vincent, Winterwood, Everybody Loves Me, Baby, Sister Fatima and The Grave.

★★★★★★★★★☆

222. Dolly Parton | Coat of Many Colors (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Coat of Many Colors
2. Traveling Man
3. My Blue Tears
4. If I Lost My Mind
5. The Mystery of the Mystery
6. She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like)
7. Early Morning Breeze
8. The Way I See You
9. Here I Am
10. A Better Place to Live

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Coat of Many Colors is a perceptive album. The music is country. The music light and nimble and leaves no doubt that it is country music, albeit without the twang. Dolly Parton is wonderful singer and very charismatic.

Lyrically, country music is always grounded in the here and now. Dolly Parton knows that well whether or not she's singing from personal experience. She is one among many to sing the great country memes: heartbreak, two-timing, poverty and God.

This is an outstanding album. This album is short and sweet, but is worth listening to many times over. It'd be a good addition to any serious collection. It deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. Although, country music is sparse on this list, this album suggests a new, more-personalized direction in country music.

All the songs are good. The stand outs are: Coat of Many Colors, Traveling, My Blue Tears, She Never Met a Man (She Didn't Like), Early Morning Breeze, The Way I See You and Here I Am.

★★★★★★★★★★

221. Elton John | Madman Across the Water (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Tiny Dancer
2. Levon
3. Razor Face
4. Madman Across the Water
5. Indian Sunset
6. Holiday Inn
7. Rotten Peaches
8. All the Nasties
9. Goodbye

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Madman Across the Water is a catchy album. The music is soft rock. This music focuses heavily on piano and organ. The melodies have an edge to them which makes this album quite dramatic. Many of the song lyrics tell stories. While nothing profound, they enhance the songs.

This is a brilliant album. Soft rock, pop rock, adult-oriented rock or whatever the hell it is can take some pointers from this album about how to do it right. This isn't cheap, superficial, narcissistic music. This is entertainment. It is saccharine, of course, but it's Beatles-quality at least. This is worth listening to and should be on the 1001 Albums list.

All the songs are great. The stand outs are: Tiny Dance, Levon, Madman Across the Water, Rotten Peaches and All the Nasties.

★★★★★★★★★★