83. Love | Da Capo (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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1. Stephanie Knows Who
2. Orange Skies
3. ¡Que Vida!
4. 7 and 7 Is
5. The Castle
6. She Comes in Colors
7. Revelation

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Da Capo is a passive-aggressive album. There are a couple of aggressively loud and heavy songs. The remaining songs are very mellow and, with Alvin Lee's highly enunciated singing, almost sound pretentious.


It's certainly an uneven album. There's the loud and heavy, and soft and mellow aspect. the other aspect is that the first six songs don't surpass four minutes while the final song, Revelation, is over twenty minutes long, longer than the first six combined.


Fortunately, the six songs are quite good, but they're not really worth getting excited about. Revelation is OK. It's mainly a bass, guitar, drums and harmonica jam. There's also some screaming, too. It could have used a bit more structure.


The stand out songs are Stephanie Knows Who, 7 and 7 Is, She Comes in Colors.


★★★★★★★ ☆☆☆

82. Moby Grape | Moby Grape (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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1. Hey Grandma
2. Mr. Blues
3. Fall on You
4. 8:05
5. Come in the Morning
6. Omaha
7. Naked, If I Want To
8. Someday
9. Ain't No Use
10. Sitting by the Window
11. Changes
12. Lazy Me
13. Indifference

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Moby Grape is a frenetic album. What would be a three-minute song on any other album is one-and-half-minutes long on this one. Besides being fast, it's also loud and catchy. There's no wonder five songs were released as singles, despite causing each single to fail.


It would have been good if the faster songs were longer. The songs are melodic, but they aren't developed enough. It's like flash of lightning; it's gone before you can fully realize its nature.


There are exceptions to one rule or the other and Naked, If I Want To is an exception to both rules.


I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I never liked the name, so logically I didn't like the band or the songs. But after having listened to this album several times I've changed my mind. It's a wonderful album. It's solid, consistent album and just plain enjoyable.  I highly recommend this album.


There is a career's worth of great songs, but the stand outs are: Fall On You. 8:05, Omaha, Naked, If I Want To, Sitting by the Window and Indifference.

★★★★★★★★★ ☆

81. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band | Safe As Milk (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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1. Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do
2. Zig Zag Wanderer
3. Call On Me
4. Dropout Boogie
5. I'm Glad
6. Electricity
7. Yellow Brick Road
8. Abba Zaba
9. Plastic Factory
10. Where There's Woman
11. Grown So Ugly
12. Autumn's Child

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Safe As Milk is an esoteric album. It will alienate many listeners right away, even though most of the songs are just overdriven country and blues with a prominent lead guitar. However, this is the heaviest rock album so far on the 1001 Albums list.


What contributes to this album being inaccessible is that it's hard to know if this album was done in jest or not. On the one hand, the lyrics and singing are completely flippant and over-the-top; yet, on the other hand, the music and musicianship are incredibly professional. If you think Frank Zappa is strange, Don Van Vliet is certifiably nuts.


I love this album. It's fun, catchy, loud and creative. I couldn't believe I had never heard any Captain Beefheart until I started exploring the music from the 1001 Albums list. The band was certainly underrated and unappreciated. And Ry Cooder is an amazing guitarist—another one who never has gotten his due.


All the songs are great; you just have to give the album a chance. Zig Zag Wanderer, Dropout Boogie, Electricity, Yellow Brick Road, Abba Zaba, Plastic Factory, Where There's Woman and Auntumn's Child are the stand outs.


★★★★★★★★★ ☆

80. Buffalo Springfield | Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Mr. Soul
2. A Child's Claim to Fame
3. Everydays
4. Expecting to Fly
5. Bluebird
6. Hung Upside Down
7. Sad Memory
8. Good Time Boy
9. Rock & Roll Woman
10. Broken Arrow

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Buffalo Springfield Again is a moody album. Some songs are ecstatic and hopeful while others seem sad and reflective. As a result, there's a mix of heavy rock and roll with some poweful riffs and lead guitar work and country-sounding folk songs. And there's Good Time Boy which breaks the mould and could have just as well have been on a James Brown album.


Most of the album works well together. Good Time Boy and Broken Arrow, while great songs, seem out of place.


I really like Buffalo Springfield. Stephen Stills has such a pleasant voice and Richie Furay has one of the most powerful voices I've ever heard. I also really like how the songs sound. This is something that carries over to Crosby, Stills and Nash (and Young), Stephen Stills' solo work and Neil Young's solo work. Broken Arrow has a really haunting sound.


While all the songs are wonderful, Mr. Soul, Bluebird, Hung Upside Down, Good Time Boy, Rock & Roll Woman and Broken Arrow are the stand outs.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

79. Country Joe and the Fish | Electric Music for the Mind and Body (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Flying High
2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
3. Death Sound Blues
4. Happiness Is a Porpoise Mouth
5. Section 43
6. Superbird
7. Sad and Lonely Times
8. Love
9. Bass Strings
10. The Masked Marauder
11. Grace

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Electric Music for the Mind and Body is a spacey album. Not only do the lyrics often refer to drug use in general and psychedelic drug use in particular, but with the ethereal atmosphere created by the organ and lead guitar, so does the music.


The album is more innovative than original . Songs are getting longer. There are long, meandering, ethereal instrumentals. There is lots of soloing from the lead guitar (and organ). References to drug use is more overt.


This album could be more organized, but maybe the band was too stoned. The album is uneven with the mix of long and short songs. However, the album stays very consistent in its themes and style. At least for the 1001 Albums list, this album is certainly the first hippie album. And that's no surprise given that they originated from Berkeley.


The album is certainly worth listening to, especially if you plan to do some drugs. Flying High, Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine, Section 43, Superbird, Bass Strings and Grace are the stand out songs.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

78. The Beatles | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With a Little Help from My Friends
3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing a Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
8. Within You Without You
9. When I'm Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day in the Life

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a mind-blowing album experience. There are thirteen different songs on this album and thirteen different styles fused to a rock and roll frame.

The Beatles have yet again expanded the rock and roll boundary. This time, they pretty much pushed the boundary so far that anything possible is permissible.

Anyone who has listened to rock and roll has surely heard this album before. Therefore, opinions have already been formed. I have listened to this album since childhood and I have never grown tired of it. I still hear things on it that I have never heard. More than forty years later, it's remarkably modern and fresh. This album will have the ability to inform new musicians and bands well into the future.

Every song is near perfect. The two I cherish the most are Within You Without Out and A Day in the Life; they are simply two of the best rock and roll songs ever.

★★★★★★★★★★

77. Nico | Chelsea Girl (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. The Fairest of the Seasons
2. These Days
3. Little Sister
4. Winter Song
5. It Was a Pleasure Then
6. Chelsea Girls
7. I'll Keep It With Mine
8. Somewhere There's a Feather
9. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
10. Eulogy to Lenny Bruce

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Chelsea Girl is an improbable album. The songs are folk songs with more production. Most of them have a style reminiscent of Bert Jansch's. This reason for success of this album is not the featured artist, but rather the musicians who supported her.


According to a quote from Nico herself from the Chelsea Girl Wikipedia page, she envisioned a different sound for her album and was disappointed by the outcome. That's why this is an improbable album. Had she had her way, it might have been a mess. As it is, the music is what makes her singing tolerable.


To be fair, though, her singing style grew on me the more times I listened to the album. As I mentioned the music on this album makes the album. In fact it's really good. The lyrics are rich in imagery and that also helps to explain why this album is on this list.


It's a strongly cohesive album; the songs really fit together well and are all worth listening to. The stand out songs are: The Fairest of the Seasons, Winter Song, It Was a Pleasure Then, Chelsea Girl and Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.

★★★★★★★ ☆☆☆

76. Astrud Gilberto | Beach Samba (1967)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Stay
2. Misty Roses
3. The Face I Love
4. Parade
5. Oba Oba
6. Canoeiro
7. I Had The Craziest Dream
8. Beach Samba
9. My Foolish Heart
10. Dia Das Rosas
11. You Didn't Have To Be So Nice
12. Não Bate O Coração

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Beach Samba is a mellow album. There are American and Brazilian songs on this album, most of which are performed in the samba or bossa nova style.


The songs mostly work well together, but I am confused by what makes this album exceptional. Usually when the artist is a vocalist, the music is passable at worst. The music isn't meant to steal the show; it's meant to support the vocalist. This music on this album is no exception; it gets the work done.


Since the music isn't the draw, then it has to be the vocalist and on the 1001 Albums list there have been some great vocalists featured so far. I don't think Astrud Gilberto is exceptional enough to warrant her own album, let alone be on a list of must-listen albums. I suspect this album and her career are a direct result of the surprise popularity of her singing on The Girl from Ipanema on Getz/Gilberto.


I didn't hate the album, I just found it pointless. It's not a bad album, but it's not a good album either. It's like sitting in lukewarm water–you get no feeling from it. Some songs worth listening to are: Stay, Misty Roses, Parade and Beach Samba.

★★★★ ☆☆☆☆☆☆

75. Nina Simone | Wild Is the Wind (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. I Love Your Lovin' Ways
2. Four Women
3. What More Can I Say
4. Lilac Wine
5. That's All I Ask
6. Break Down And Let It All Out
7. Why Keep On Breaking My Heart
8. Wild Is the Wind
9. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
10. If I Should Lose You
11. Either Way I Lose

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Wild Is the Wind is a gritty album. The music does a good job supporting Nina Simone, since the music is all about her singing. She has deep and powerful voice; it's not beautiful, but it's emotional–and that's what really matter.


And it's the emotion which links all these songs together. Without that, these songs become an arbitrary collection. She puts more emotion in one note than most singers put in a whole career. 


The first time I heard this album, I liked it, but it didn't appreciate it. After having listened to it a few more times, I'm just so overwhelmed by the honesty and purity of her singing.


The songs are all great, but the really outstanding ones are: I Love Your Lovin' Ways, Four Women, Lilac Wine, Break Down And Let It All Out and Wild Is the Wind.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

74. The Yardbirds | Yardbirds (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Lost Woman
2. Over, Under, Sideways, Down
3. The Nazz Are Blue
4. I Can't Make Your Way
5. Rack My Mind
6. Farewell
7. Hot House of Omagarashid
8. Jeff's Boogie
9. He's Always There
10. Turn into Earth
11. What Do You Want
12. Ever Since the World Began

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Yardbirds is a confrontational album. The music is loud and heavy. Many of the songs are driven by riffs and the lead guitar swings from lyrical to aggressive.


The blues has always had sexual overtones. This album, with the help of a rock and roll infusion, takes that sexuality and infuses it with aggression. This may not be a completely original style, but it's incredibly innovative.


This album is an essential piece of the rock and roll puzzle and it's one worth listening to, if not downright owning. Jeff Beck is a master on guitar. That Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were members of this band is a curious fact.


There is a lot of variety among the songs, yet the album remains strong and consistent. There isn't a weak song, but the real stand outs are: Lost Woman, Over, Under, Sideways, Down, The Nazz Are Blue, Rack My Mind and He's Always There.

★★★★★★★★★ ☆

73. John Mayall's Blues Breakers | John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. All Your Love
2. Hideaway
3. Little Girl
4. Another Man
5. Double Crossing Time
6. What'd I Say
7. Key to Love
8. Parchman Farm
9. Have You Heard
10. Ramblin' on My Mind
11. Steppin' Out
12. It Ain't Right

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John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton is a furious album. The music is straight blues with an electric current running straight through its heart. This album, by far, has been the most guitar-driven. Certainly, it's the first album where there are extended guitar solos.


Being that the music is blues, the material isn't original, but it is innovative. One great idea was to keep to the blues style but inflect it with rock and roll. The other great idea was to update the style with electric instruments, primarily because the guitar has so much versatility then.


This is solid album. The music doesn't disappoint at all and Eric Clapton is just masterful on the guitar. It's really impressive how much more energy a lead guitar can add to a rock and roll song, especially with well-played soloing.


However, the music does lack the authenticity of a blues album because of both the singing and the rock and roll influence, especially on the drums, and perhaps, because of the electric bass guitar.


The stand out songs for this album are: All Your Love, Hideaway, Double Crossin' Time, What'd I Say, Have You Heard and Steppin' Out.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

72. 13th Floor Elevators | The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
2. Through the Rhythm
3. Monkey Island
4. Roller Coaster
5. Fire Engine
6. Reverberation
7. Tried to Hide
8. You're Gonna Miss Me
9. I've Seen Your Face Before (Splash 1)
10. Don't Fall Down
11. The Kingdom Of Heaven (Is Within You)

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The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is stark album. The music is heavy and in your face. There is a pretty solid lead guitar presence with some brief soloing. The bass guitar propels most of the songs. And then there is a loopy, trippy sound that runs through the duration of many songs. Tell me it doesn't sound like a mocking laugh!


This album alludes to psychedelic drug use in subtle and overt ways. The band would certainly seem to advocate its use. The theme isn't original, but they give 
a fun spin to it.


This is a must-have album. It's fun and would be great for getting high to with friends. I was impressed with this album from the start and it only gets better. The loopy, trippy sound can be annoying and the singers have a whiny, nasally sound which can also be annoying, but those are minor.


There's not a bad song on this album, but the real stand outs are: You Don't Know (How Young You Are), Through the Rhythm, Reverberation, Tried to Hide and Don't Fall Down.

★★★★★★★★★ ☆

71. Simon and Garfunkel | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Scarborough Fair/Canticle
2. Patterns
3. Cloudy
4. Homeward Bound
5. The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
6. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
7. The Dangling Conversation
8. Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall
9. A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)
10. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her
11. A Poem on the Underground Wall
12. 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night

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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is a lyrical album. The music is pleasant, soothing, and catchy. The lyrics seem clever and thoughtful. However, the songs also border on being vacuous and uninspiring–a lot of much ado about nothing.

I'm just not sure about this album. The songs seem to be very intellectual, but the more I listen to it, the more they sound like a poor man's Bob Dylan. At first, the songs sound very intellectual and enlightened, but then there seems to be pointless.

7 O'Clock News/Silent News captures the essence of the album really well. Sure, juxtapose a bad day's newscast with the lyrics of Silent News and it sounds profound, but there's nothing enlightening about that. Sure, life is terrible and life is beautiful, at the same time, no less. Humans have known that for millenia. Where's the insight into why?

The stand out songs are Scarborough Fair/Canticle, Homeward Bound, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), and The Dangling Conversation.

★★★★★★ ☆☆☆☆

70. The Rolling Stones | Aftermath (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Mother's Little Helper
2. Stupid Girl
3. Lady Jane
4. Under My Thumb
5. Doncha Bother Me
6. Goin' Home
7. Flight 505
8. High and Dry
9. Out of Time
10. It's Not Easy
11. I Am Waiting
12. Take It or Leave It
13. Think
14. What to Do

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Aftermath is a modest album. The music is unpretentious and conservative, and never extravagant. It gets the job done. Rock and roll has been moving away from its blues roots. This album brings the blues back to the fore.

The lyrics on Stupid Girl and Under My Thumb seem a bit sexist. It seems strange alongside Mother's Little Helper which shows some sympathy toward the suffering of housewives.

This album is reliable. You can always listen to it and expect to be entertained. It doesn't break new ground or push the boundary and it never pretends to; it simply strengthens the foundations.

All of the songs are great; the more notable ones are Mother's Little Helper, Under My Thumb, Goin' Home, High and Dry, Out of Time, I Am Waiting and Think.

★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

69. The Mothers of Invention | Freak Out! (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Hungry Freaks, Daddy
2. I Ain't Got No Heart
3. Who Are the Brain Police?
4. Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder
5. Motherly Love
6. How Could I Be Such a Fool?
7. Wowie Zowie
8. You Didn't Try to Call Me
9. Any Way the Wind Blows
10. I'm Not Satisfied
11. You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here
12. Trouble Every Day
13. Help, I'm a Rock
14. The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux)

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Freak Out! is an ambitious album. The songs are heavy, high-energy and epic. The lyrics are sarcastic, mocking, flippant, silly and brutally honest. There's some extended lead guitar playing which has only made brief appearances so far on the 1001 Albums list.

This is a serious album that doesn't take itself seriously at all. That it's extremely cerebral and attacks American popular culture so viciously, I can't imagine anybody thinking this album would sell.

It's also sonically rich album. There is so much depth to each song. There's always something new I hear each time I listen to it.

I like this album a lot, but since it takes a lot of effort to listen to it, it's not ideal for casual listening. This is clearly a good example of something that is so avant-garde that it has little impact.

Hungry Freaks, Daddy, Motherly Love and Trouble Every Day are the clear stand outs, but the album is full of great songs. I'm still not sure about The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet in Two Tableaux). It's interesting, but with diminishing returns.

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★★★★★★★★★ ☆

68. Paul Revere and the Raiders | Midnight Ride (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Kicks
2. There's Always Tomorrow
3. Little Girl in the 4th Row
4. Ballad of a Useless Man
5. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
6. There She Goes
7. All I Really Need Is You
8. Get It On
9. Louie, Go Home
10. Take a Look at Yourself
11. Melody For an Unknown Girl

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Midnight Ride is a frustrating album. The songs are a mix of heavy tunes and light, fluffy love songs.

Some songs that start off with a really strong riffs, but they either don't develop it well or they rely too heavily on the riff for the whole song. There's Always Tomorrow and Ballad of a Useless Man lose steam. Get It On and Louie, Go Home don't develop enough. It's really too bad because these songs have so much potential.

There's also a weird dichotomy going on. There's this proto-cock rock sound and then there's this sappy, girly love song soon, too. Other artists and bands have done this with more success. It just fails on this album. Melody For an Unknown Girl is so creepy in a lonely-stalker-kind-of-way that it's actually interesting.

I really wanted to like this album a lot. Kicks is a really great song and I felt like it was going to be a hard rocking album, but then the next couple songs fall flat. The album regains some momentum in the middle and at the end, but it just can't recreate the energy that kicked off the album.

Kicks is the lone stand out song, but (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, All I Really Need Is You, Get It On and Louie, Go Home have a lot of potential to be great, so are worth listening to, too.

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★★★★★★ ☆☆☆☆

67. The Mamas and the Papas | If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (1966)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Monday, Monday
2. Straight Shooter
3. Got a Feelin'
4. I Call Your Name
5. Do You Wanna Dance
6. Go Where You Wanna Go
7. California Dreamin'
8. Spanish Harlem
9. Somebody Groovy
10. Hey Girl
11. You Baby
12. The In Crowd

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If You Can Believe You Eyes and Ears is a feel-good album. There are light, fluffy pop songs and some heavier stuff. The singing is the main feature of this album. The music is good enough, while the lyrics are fluff.

I really liked this album, despite the lyrics and my strong desire not to like it. The album's strengths are the great singing and that the album remains consistent throughout. Aside from Monday, Monday and California Dreamin most of the songs are good, but forgettable. The "In" Crowd is the real surprise here. Cass Elliot has one hell of a voice. Other notable songs are: Straight Shooter, Go Where You Wanna Go, and Spanish Harlem.

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★★★★★★★★ ☆☆

66. The Kinks | Face To Face (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Party Line
2. Rosie Won't You Please Come Home
3. Dandy
4. Too Much on My Mind
5. Session Man
6. Rainy Day in June
7. A House in the Country
8. Holiday in Waikiki
9. Most Exclusive Residence for Sale
10. Fancy
11. Little Miss Queen of Darkness
12. You're Lookin' Fine
13. Sunny Afternoon
14. I'll Remember

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Face To Face is a polite album. The lyrics appear rather mundane with all the singing about everyday life. The music is mix of heavy songs and pop songs.

The album would have been much tighter if there were fewer pop songs.  As individual songs, they are really catchy and fun, but combined together, they start sounding the same which really makes the album drag. The album is already long; the pop songs make it feel like an eternity.

It's a pretty good album. It's worth listening to just because it really shows how great a songwriter Ray Davies is. He writes catchy pop songs, heavy rock songs and clever lyrics. The stand out songs are Party Line, Dandy, Rainy Day in June and Holiday in Waikiki.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

65. The Monks | Black Monk Time (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Monk Time
2. Shut Up
3. Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice
4. Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy
5. I Hate You
6. Oh, How to Do Now
7. Complication
8. We Do Wie Du
9. Drunken Maria
10. Love Came Tumblin' Down
11. Blast Off!
12. That's My Girl

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Black Monk Time is a crazy album. It is loud, fast and obnoxious which is exactly what it is trying to be. The drums and bass play a relentlessly repetitive beat, the organ and guitar make high-pitched noise over that, and the singer screams angst-ridden lyrics over all of it.

It's actually quite different and amazing because their style is unique. However, their songs are variations on a theme and the singer's voice can become irritating after a while.

I actually think this is a great album. It's definitely unpolished, but that makes it refreshing. It's certainly something everyone should listen to hear for themselves how progressive this band really was. Had they been able to get over to the US to tour I think they could have had an influence on music, but since they didn't they became an evolutionary dead-end. All the songs are worth listening to, but listening to the opening song, Monk Time, is enough to know what the rest of the album will sound like.  
★★★★★★★★☆☆

64. Bob Dylan | Blonde on Blonde (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Pledging My Time
3. Visions of Johanna
4. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
5. I Want You
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
7. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
8. Just Like a Woman
9. Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine
10. Temporary Like Achilles
11. Absolutely Sweet Marie
12. 4th Time Around
13. Obviously 5 Believers

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Blonde on Blonde is a confident album. The music is solid, straightforward and unpretentious. Bob Dylan's singing is just as confident as the music. The songs are lyrical, poetic, full of meaning worth trying to figure out as you listen.

This is an album worth owning. You also know it's going to be a great album right off the bat with Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. It's riotous and rocking fun. There's not a dull moment after, either, and if there's a song on this album not pulling its weight, then I'm unaware of it.

I'd have to say Bob Dylan has surpassed the Beatles with this album. It's not an experimental album, but the songwriting and lyrics are superior to anything that has been done so far; it challenges other musicians and lyricists to write more mature material. Also, Dylan has really defined the modern album concept with this first studio double album.   

★★★★★★★★★★

63. The Byrds | Fifth Dimension (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. 5D (Fifth Dimension)
2. Wild Mountain Thyme
3. Mr. Spaceman
4. I See You
5. What's Happening?!?!
6. I Come and Stand at Every Door
7. Eight Miles High
8. Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)
9. Captain Soul
10. John Riley
11. 2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)

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Fifth Dimension is a bizarre album. The song topics vary from alternative dimensions to alien visitors to a young girl who died in Hiroshima to a lear jet. Bizarre indeed! However, it is nice to listen to something other than sappy songs about high school love. And even a love song like John Riley is worth listening to. The music is melodic, dynamic and energetic.

This is an album that takes time to get used to. It's worth listening to. The stand out songs are: 5D (Fifth Dimension), Wild Mountain Thyme, Mr. Spaceman, Wild Mountain Thyme, I Come and Stand at Every Door, Eight Miles High, Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go), Captain Soul and John Riley.

The Byrds have improved since Mr. Tambourine Man. I still don't like their how they sing. They sound smug or smarmy or something. However, their music and lyrics are quite interesting and enjoyable.  
★★★★★★★★☆☆

62. Fred Neil | Fred Neil (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. The Dolphins
2. I've Got a Secret (Didn't We Shake Sugaree)
3. That's the Bag I'm In
4. Badi-Da
5. Faretheewell (Fred's Tune)
6. Everybody's Talkin' 
7. Everything Happens
8. Sweet Cocaine
9. Green Rocky Road
10. Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga

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Fred Neil is a surreal album. Fred Neil's voice lulls you into a trance with his deep voice. The music contributes with a repetitive sound that varies little throughout the song. The lyrics create a dreamlike world that shares many properties our world has.

While the songs are very good, the album could have done with more variety. The album becomes tiresome by the end. Even the final song which is quite experimental seems tedious.

It's interesting that this album is considered a folk album. I suppose it is because of the lyrical content, but the music and the vocal style remind me more of country music than the folk music of Dylan, Bert Jansch or Joan Baez.

I like this album, but in small doses. Fred Neil's voice is memorable. Surprisingly, there are a lot of stand out songs, despite how I feel about the album as a whole. The stand-outs are: The Dolphins, I've Got a Secret (Didn't We Shake Sugaree), That's the Bag I'm In, Faretheewell (Fred's Tune), Everybody's Talkin', Sweet Cocaine, Green Rocky Road and Cynicrustpetefredjohn.  
★★★★★★★☆☆☆

61. The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe in Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting for the Day
6. Let's Go Away for Awhile
7. Sloop John B
8. God Only Knows
9. I Know There's an Answer
10. Here Today
11. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
12. Pet Sounds
13. Caroline, No

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Pet Sounds is a beautifully-crafted album. The songs change from one to another so smoothly, musically as well as thematically. It's as if the album consists of one song. That's one aspect of the genius of this album.

There are so many things happening on each song. It's hard to keep track of all the sounds. The harmonizing vocals also add another layer of depth and complexity. That's another aspect of the genius of this album.

It's also pretty impressive that the Beach Boys were able to start pushing the rock and roll boundary so quickly. That's a third aspect of the genius of this album.

It's bad the Beach Boys couldn't stay at the cutting edge like Beatles were able to for a few more albums. It would have been great to have had a longer competition between to the two bands.

When I was first heard this album, I was confused by all the praise lavished on it. I think I was expecting an album that was sonically like the Beatles since I had heard that Rubber Soul had inspired Brian Wilson to write the perfect rock and roll album. And that demonstrates my naïvety. That this album doesn't sound anything like a Beatles album contributes to its brilliance. That's another aspect of the genius of this album.

This is certainly an album worth owning. All of the songs are great, but the ones I really like are: Wouldn't It Be Nice, Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder), I'm Waiting for the Day, Sloop John B, God Only Knows, I Know There's an Answer, Here Today and I Just Wasn't Made for These Times.  
★★★★★★★★★★

60 .The Beatles | Revolver (1966)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Got to Get You into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows

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Revolver is a brilliant album. There is so much variety on this album that you'd think it was a greatest hits album. It's fair to say that no song is quite like another, yet they all fit together so well.

Once again, the Beatles have expanded the boundaries of rock and roll. Eleanor Rigby, Love You To and Tomorrow Never Knows bear little resemblance to their rock and roll ancestors. It's hard to believe the same four musicians were mostly doing cover songs of early rock and roll hits just two years before.

Revolver will stand the test of time. All of the songs are beyond reproach. The merely good songs on this album would be stand out songs on just about any other album. One of my favorite songs of all-time is Love You To.
★★★★★★★★★★