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.

★★★★★★★★★★

200. The Stooges | Fun House (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Down on the Street
2. Loose
3. T.V. Eye
4. Dirt
5. 1970
6. Fun House
7. L.A. Blues

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Fun House is a ferocious album. The music is hard rock. The drums create a loud, repetitive and pulsating sound while the bass creates a meandering groove. The guitar wails away on top of it all, while Iggy Pop growls, screams, howls and coughs.

This is an amazing album—one of the best I've ever heard.  It's loud, aggressive and relentless and sounds great. (The problem with many proto-punk albums is the sound quality is poor. That's not the case here.)

The opening song is really intense and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Each subsequent song latches on the intensity of the previous one and never lets go. Listening to this album is quite an experience.

I'm quite surprised this album isn't more popular. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are known for their power. This album matches anything those three bands were doing at the time and takes it a step further. While those bands were always very conservative in their style and expression, this album is nothing but unbridled aggression and testosterone. I guess why they are considered proto-punk.

This album is definitely worth listening to and it's a must-have for serious collectors. It also certainly deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. It's certainly an eye-opening preview of punk music.

All the songs are impressive. The ones I really liked are: Down on the Street, Loose, T.V. Eye, Dirt, 1970, Fun House and L. A. Blues. Yeah, that's right, that's all of them. 

★★★★★★★★★★

172. The Stooges | The Stooges (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. 1969
2. I Wanna Be Your Dog
3. We Will Fall
4. No Fun
5. Real Cool Time
6. Ann
7. Not Right
8. Little Doll

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The Stooges is a raw album. The music is rock, but it's stripped down and simpler. The production is quite straightforward; put four musicians in a studio, record them playing and then cut an album. There are heavy, rocking songs, but there are a couple that are slow and droning. There's some good guitar fuzz on Little Doll. 

This album is certainly more reminiscent of the Sonics or the Monks, than, say, Led Zeppelin or the Beatles, both musically and lyrically. Musically, the album has its moments, but the songs are uneven. We Will Fall is the main problem. It's nothing like the other songs, it's smack dab in the middle of the album and it's uninteresting. The lyrics are just downright awful.

Despite We Will Fall, this album is interesting an shows that the Stooges have potential and that rock is also moving in another direction—a direction much different than the direction prog rock is going. Of course, appreciation for this kind of music will have to wait another few years.

This album might be worth listening to, but it's certainly not essential. There's a lot to like about this album. There's some interesting things going on musically, but it doesn't excite me.

I Wanna Be Your Dog is the best song on the album. Other stand outs are: 1969, No Fun, Real Cool Time and Little Doll.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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.

★★★★★★★★★ ☆

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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★★★★★★ ☆☆☆☆

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.  
★★★★★★★★☆☆

49. The Sonics | Here Are the Sonics (1965)

Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. The Witch
2. Do You Love Me
3. Roll Over Beethoven
4. Boss Hoss
5. Dirty Robber
6. Have Love, Will Travel
7. Psycho
8. Money (That's What I Want)
9. Walkin' the Dog
10. Night Time Is the Right Time
11. Strychnine
12. Good Golly Miss Molly

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Here are the Sonics is a manic album. The Sonics have turned rock and roll on its head. The play loud and fast and they scream. Even the themes of their original songs are different from anything anyone's singing.

This kind of rock and roll isn't just raw, it's bloody. What the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are doing seems quaint in comparison.

It's too bad the sound quality sucks. It's all treble and no bass; it's like listening to the band through an aluminum tube.

This is an amazing album and is well worth listening to. They do good cover songs, but it's their originals that are superb. It could have been a game changer, but the Sonics seemed to have fallen off the earth after this. I guess they were ahead of their time.

The album might not seem very good at first. I did enjoy it the first time I heard it, but it took a while to really grow on me. The Witch, Do You Love Me, Boss Hoss, Have Love, Will Travel, Psycho, Money (That's What I Want), Walkin' the Dog, Strychnine and Good Golly Miss Molly are great songs.
★★★★★★★★☆☆