282. John Martyn | Solid Air (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Solid Air
2. Over the Hill
3. Don't Want to Know
4. I'd Rather Be the Devil
5. Go Down Easy
6. Dreams by the Sea
7. May You Never
8. The Man in the Station
9. The Easy Blues

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Solid Air is a tempestuous album. The music is blues, folk rock and folk jazz. The foundation is blues and elements of jazz and rock are developed up from there. The songs are truly wild. They often start out very calm and somewhat downcast. Then they all of a sudden loud and uncontrollable. John Martyn generally sings with a dispassionate mumble despite these songs being deeply emotional.

Once again, this is the reason why there is value in listening to the albums on the 1001 Albums list. This is an album I would never have listened to otherwise. And since it's one of the most amazing albums I've ever heard, I would have been the poorer for not ever listening to it. This is worth listening to and it belongs in every serious album collection. For its uniqueness, it deserves to be on 1001 Albums list. I'll be pleasantly surprised to hear another artist or band who is as different.

All the songs are amazing. The stand outs are Solid Air, Over the Hill, Don't Want to Know, I'd Rather Be the Devil, Go Down Easy, Dreams by the Sea, May You Never, The Man in the Station and The Easy Blues.

★★★★★★★★★★