288. Todd Rundgren | A Wizard, a True Star (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Track

1. International Feel
2. Never Never Land
3. Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off
4. You Need Your Head
5. Rock & Roll Pussy
6. Dogfight Giggle
7. You Don't Have to Camp Around
8. Flamingo
9. Zen Archer
10. Just Another Onionhead/Dada Dali
11. When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd.
12. Le Feel Internacìonále
13. Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel
14. Does Anybody Love You?
15. Medley: I'm So Proud / Ooh Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk
16. Hungry for Love
17. I Don't Want to Tie You Down
18. Is It My Name?
19. Just One Victory

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A Wizard, a True Star is an trippy album. The music is art rock, which here means, some pop rock, some rhythm and blues and some soundboard noodling. The first half of the album is driven by fast-paced, fast-switching melodies, sort of like a medley. The second half keeps the same pace, but stretches out with longer songs.

This album may be considered prog rock because it appears to be a concept album. However, it's not clear what the unifying concept might be, so perhaps it failed to convey the concept clearly, didn't intend to a concept or maybe it's pure subtle genius.

Aside from the concept album trait, this album doesn't have much else in common with prog rock. Actually, it seems to have more in common with psychedelic rock.

I find this album fascinating. There's a lot of wacky nonsense and the album never seems to jell, but Todd Rundgren is a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. He comes up with pleasing melodies, he can rock out when he feels like it and he can do Motown. Plus, he comes up with a few witty quips now and then. What I liked most of all is Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel. There's a depth of compassion and weakness not found in pop music.

I think the album is worth listening to, but I'm not sure why it should be on the 1001 Albums list.

Most of the songs are good. Some are just silly noodling. The stand outs are International Feel, Never, Never Land, Rock & Roll Pussy, Zen Archer, Just Another Onionhead/Dada Dali, When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd., Le Feel Internacìonále, Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel, Medley: I'm So Proud / Ooh Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk, Hungry for Love, I Don't Want to Tie You Down and Is It My Name?

★★★★★★★★★☆

287. Mike Oldfield | Tubular Bells (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Track

• Tubular Bells

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Note: It is generally noted that album has two tracks, Part One and Part Two, but nowhere on the original 1973 album versions is that indicated. Most albums list Tubular Bells on both sides, along with Side One and Side Two to make it clear which side is which. But Side One and Side Two shouldn't be considered part of the song title or an indication that this song has two parts. It's clear that there is one work on this album and it is called Tubular Bells. It's also clear that it's split in two because one side of an LP can not play for more than 40-odd minutes and this work is over 50 minutes long. Thus, it had to be split into two parts. But that hardly implies it is a work in two parts. The problem was exacerbated when the CD was became the medium of choice. Since a CD can play nearly 70 minutes of music continuously, the track listing should have only indicated one track: Tubular Bells. But most CDs I've seen, have it listed as two tracks.

Tubular Bells is an ambitious album. The music is progressive rock, although it shares very little in common with the other progressive rock bands of the 1970s. The sole piece on this album should be thought of as having several to a dozen or perhaps more distinct sections. In some ways it would have been better to have broken them into tracks, but since their transitions are seamless, it's clear they are part of one whole.

While there are melodies, hooks, riffs and grooves, the piece lacks structure and direction. It almost seems like Mike Oldfield is making it up as he goes.

I do like this album. It certainly has its moments, but it can get tedious at times and pointless at other times. There's certainly no regret when I'm interrupted and have to stop listening to it. So, I think it certainly be listened to because there isn't much else like a 50-minute plus piece of work in popular music. Maybe it's just novelty. I don't think it needs to be on the 1001 Albums list.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

280. Genesis | Selling England by the Pound (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
3. Firth of Fifth
4. More Fool Me
5. The Battle of Epping Forest
6. After the Ordeal
7. The Cinema Show
8. Aisle of Plenty

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Selling England by the Pound is a majestic album. The music is progressive rock. That means most songs filled with long instrumental jams. And with Genesis, especially on this album, each song is packed full with lyrics, too. Genesis is heavy on the keyboards and less reliant on the guitar.

The songs are uniquely English, the same way the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the English Empire) is English; it's about modern English society told via Victorian era musical and lyrical references. Peter Gabriel's lyrics feature a wide range of characters acting within the stories he tells. It's something that seems unique to Genesis' style.

While Genesis is a progressive rock band, they don't seem to have shared the close relations that other prog rock bands shared with each other. Thus, Genesis differs greatly, stylistically. However, Genesis seems to be the band which fulfils most completely the qualities that makes one a prog rock band. Arguably, the lyrics are the most colorful and sensible. During long instrumental jams, Genesis does a better job transitioning from one section to another. I think the albums, especially this one, are more conceptionally cohesive. I think Genesis rarely included filler. Even More Fool Me and Aisle of Plenty adhere to the mood and concept of the album.

I've been listening to this album for almost thirty years and it's still magical. This album is certainly worth listening to. It's a must-have for progressive rock listeners.  I think it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list for being one of the best prog rock albums.

All the songs are good. The stand outs are Selling England by the Pound, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), Firth of Fifth, The Battle of Epping Forest, After the Ordeal and The Cinema Show.

★★★★★★★★★★

274. King Crimson | Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part One)
2. Book of Saturday
3. Exiles
4. Easy Money
5. The Talking Drum
6. Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part Two)

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Larks' Tongues in Aspic is a violent album. The music is progressive rock. King Crimson, or rather, Robert Fripp likes to push the dynamic range within a song to the limit. And he likes to go from one extreme to another in a minimal about of time. It's as if he's trying to re-create the Big Bang in song. There's nothing more shocking then that burst of music nearly four minutes into the first song. I'm not sure what other bands make so much use of dynamic range.

This use of dynamic range also helps to make the band's extended instrumental jams, which occur on each song, more interesting. That there are moments of peaceful calm and frenzied chaos, makes the album seem sinister, aggressive, unpredictable and dangerous.

I think this album is absolutely stunning. King Crimson gets progressive rock right, just not all at once. The two key elements of prog rock to me are: a thematically unified album and extended instrumentals that are not overindulgent. The first two incarnations of King Crimson, from 1969 to 1972, succeed at the former. The third incarnation, which starts with this album, succeeds at the latter. Larks' Tongues is one of my personal favorites, so of course I think it's worth listening to. I also think it belongs in a serious record collection, especially one that is open to prog rock. I also believe this album deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list since it's one of the finest examples of prog rock.

All the songs are excellent. The stand outs are: Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part One), Book of Saturday, Exiles, Easy Money, The Talking Drum and Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part Two).

★★★★★★★★★★

250. Yes | Close to the Edge (1972)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Close to the Edge
2. And You and I
3. Siberian Khatru

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Close to the Edge is an impenetrable album. The music is progressive rock. It's a concept album—obviously. Fortunately, for the band, they are able to come up with enough "concept" to avoid adding filler.

Like all progressive rock albums, this one suffers from self-indulgence. Beautiful, elaborate, complex and technical music is created to support a supposed revelation of profound and life-altering truth, but which makes little sense, either logically or lyrically. Either that or I'm too dimwitted to appreciate the truth within. Ultimately, this is music which is created to serve itself.

This is a good album musically, though. Unlike a lot of prog rock, the music doesn't assault the listener. This album features prog rock at its best, so it should be on the 1001 Albums list.

All three songs are quite good. I prefer the last two over the first, though.

★★★★★★★★★☆

249. Deep Purple | Made In Japan (1972)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Highway Star
2. Child in Time
3. Smoke on the Water
4. The Mule
5. Strange Kind of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

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Made In Japan is a lively album. The music is hard rock. It's a live album recorded in Japan. Four songs come from Machine Head and one comes from In Rock which are two albums already featured on the 1001 Albums list. For the live performances, the band extends the songs with guitar solos and jams.

Deep Purple sound louder, faster and fuller on a live recording than on a studio recording.

This is an outstanding album, even though its length despite so few songs can test your endurance. It's definitely worth listening to and is probably a better substitute for buying the three studio albums which the songs come from. I'm not sure it needs to be on the 1001 Albums. That it's such a good live performance and a model for future hard rock and heavy metal bands to emulate are two reasons for including it.

All of the songs quite good. The stand outs are Highway Star, Child in Time, Smoke on the Water, Strange Kind of Woman and Space Truckin'.

★★★★★★★★★★

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. 

★★★★★★★★★★

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.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

218. Yes | Fragile

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Roundabout
2. Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms' 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement)
3. We Have Heaven
4. South Side of the Sky
5. Five Per Cent for Nothing
6. Long Distance Runaround
7. The Fish (schindleria praematurus)
8. Mood for a Day
9. Heart of the Sunrise

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Fragile is a brawny album. The music is progressive rock. The album is focused on virtuosity, speed, synchronicity and volume.

Roundabout, South Side of the Sky and Heart of the Sunrise are the meat of the album, totaling more than half the running time of the album. The remaining six songs are centered on one member of the band playing a solo. It's an interesting idea, but it pushes aside the idea of an album as a unified concept or a series of related concepts.

This is an outstanding album. The three main songs are the templates for future progressive rock bands. It's worth listening to and one prof rock album that definitely belongs in a serious album collector's collection. It also deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list, since it really carves out the territory where prog rock rules.

All the songs are good. A Day in the Life of a Tree is the odd man out. The stand outs are: Roundabout, South Side of the Sky and Heart of the Sunrise.

★★★★★★★★★☆

209. Yes | The Yes Album (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Yours Is No Disgrace
2. The Clap
3. Starship Trooper
4. I've Seen All Good People
5. A Venture
6. Perpetual Change

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The Yes Album is an intense album. The music is progressive rock. It's a busy mix of bass, guitar, drums and keyboards with each musician doing his utmost to make the most of his instrument. 

The music on most of the songs have a grand, epic-scale quality to them. The songs are long, the music is loud and full, the music is constantly being played at breakneck speed and in kind of lock step. 

The music has an jaw-dropping quality at first, but it fails to deliver after listening a few more times. By then, it feels like an exercise in self-indulgence. The lyrics are vague and puzzling.

The album is uneven. There are three epic sounding prog rock songs and then some lighter hard rock songs. The two kinds just don't mix well.

I like the album, but less so than when I first heard it long ago. I think it's worth listening to mainly because it's one of the first definitive prog rock albums. Thus, it should be on the 1001 Albums list. 

Most of the songs are good. I think the stand outs are: Yours Is No Disgrace, Starship Trooper and I've Seen All Good People.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

205. Jethro Tull | Aqualung (1971)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Aqualung
2. Cross-Eyed Mary
3. Cheap Day Return
4. Mother Goose
5. Wond'ring Aloud
6. Up to Me
7. My God
8. Hymn 43
9. Slipstream
10. Locomotive Breath
11. Wind-Up

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Aqualung is a thought-provoking album. The music is progressive rock. It's a mix of aggressive riff-based songs and beautiful, contemplative melodies. The flute plays a main role in many of the songs which seems to be a first for a rock album.

The lyrics are interesting. They seem to be a mix of social and religious commentary. Some seem to be honest and forthright, others scathing, vicious and snide. I don't find the lyrics to be very deep, but I really like the mental imagery they paint when I'm listening.

This is a really good album. It's actually one of my favorites, but I has trouble being cohesive. The first half of the album seems to be somewhat linked thematically and the second half is as well. There have been claims that this album is a concept album. Ian Anderson denies that it is. I never even considered it to be one.

I think it's an album worth listening to. I'm mixed about it being on the 1001 Albums list. It's listed as a progressive rock album. I disagree with that designation. I think it's nothing more than hard rock. But, if it were actually a progressive rock album, then it should be on the list.

All of the songs are good and there are a ton of stand outs: Aqualung, Cross-Eyed Mary, Mother Goose, Up to Me, My God, Hymn 43 and Locomotive Breath.

★★★★★★★★★☆

199. Traffic | John Barleycorn Must Die (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Glad
2. Freedom Rider
3. Empty Pages
4. Stranger To Himself
5. John Barleycorn
6. Every Mother's Son

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John Barleycorn Must Die is a vigorous album. The music is a mix of jazz fusion and progressive folk rock.

For most of the songs, the music is driven by a funky groove with the rest of the band jamming on top of it. The jams are interesting enough, but they lack a destination; Glad just ends where Freedom Rider begins. The album itself is directionless, too.

Although, I like this album, I'm not impressed by it and I don't really see its significance. Miles Davis and Soft Machine have done similar things, but more definitively. While there are some good grooves and melodies, a great album they do not make.

All the songs are enjoyable. The real stand outs are: Freedom Rider and John Barleycorn.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

194. Soft Machine | Third (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Facelift
2. Slightly All the Time
3. Moon in June
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous

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Third is a schizophrenic album. The music is combination of jazz fusion and progressive rock. It's a double album with each track spanning one side of an LP. The first two songs sound a lot like In the Court of the Crimson King, Bitches' Brew and A Love Supreme. I would almost say they are rock's answer to Miles Davis' Bitches' Brew. The last two tracks are pure and unique progressive rock songs.

This album is a real challenge to get through. With each song just under twenty minutes long, it's a test of endurance to stay focused for the entirety of each one, let alone for the whole album. Also, each song has many parts. Some parts are more structured than others. Some parts are more melodic, others are more dissonant.

I think, after having listened to this album five times, I find it interesting. But is it necessary to be patient and wait for something to become interesting? I think so, but I suspect there are a lot more people who would disagree.

I do think this album is worth listening to and I think it deserves to be on the 1001 Albums list. It demonstrates clearly a shift in rock music. Psychedelic rock is on the way out and progressive rock is on its way in. This album is not the first harbinger of that, but the last two songs are really fine example of what prog rock will become.

I think all four songs are good and I don't think any of the four songs stand out from the other three. They are all unique in their own way.

★★★★★★★★★☆

178. Spirit | Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Prelude – Nothin' to Hide
2. Nature's Way
3. Animal Zoo
4. Love Has Found a Way
5. Why Can't I Be Free?
6. Mr. Skin
7. Space Child
8. When I Touch You
9. Street Worm
10. Life Has Just Begun
11. Morning Will Come
12. Soldier

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Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is an amebic album. Maybe it's an exaggeration, but it really seems like each song has its own distinct rock style. What's really impressive is that, despite all the variety, the album has the feel and flow of a concept album; the title sort of suggests a concept album, but it could also be alluding to twelve distinct ideas.

I didn't have high hopes for this album after listening to the first two songs. They sounded good, but they didn't impress. However, the album just gets better and better as it progresses. The songs become more intense and catchier. Now that I've heard it the first two songs have even grown on me.

This album is a real hidden gem. For how damn good it is, I'm surprised I had never heard of the album or had heard any of the songs on it. It just blows my mind that something this good could go under my radar for so long. I ain't that naïve.

Needless to say, this is an album worth listening to. I'd also say it's an album worth owning. I do think it belongs on the 1001 Albums list. The band has done a good job of incorporating a lot of different styles on one album. I think they also are straddle the two growing styles of music: funk and prog rock.

All the songs are really great–not a throwaway song among the bunch. The songs I was really impressed with were: Prelude–Nothin' to Hide, Nature's Way, Animal Zoo, Love Has Found a Way, Mr. Skin, When I Touch You, Street Worm, Morning Will Come.

★★★★★★★★★★

174. Frank Zappa | Hot Rats (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Peaches en Regalia
2. Willie the Pimp
3. Son of Mr. Green Genes
4. Little Umbrellas
5. The Gumbo Variations
6. It Must Be a Camel

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Hot Rats is an entertaining album. It's jazz and rock fused together.  It's mainly an instrumental album, but Captain Beefheart does provide do some singing on Willie the Pimp. Other than that short side trek, this album jams from beginning to end.

I won't even pretend to critique the music or even describe it. However, I liked his style of jazz and I thought it went really well to his kind of rock and roll. Anyway, it sounds good and there's some good melodies.

This is an outstanding album. Frank Zappa's music is often to far out for people to get into, but this is a real accessible album. It's definitely a must to listen to and it's certainly would make a good addition to any serious album collection.

Although there are clear boundaries between songs, it's hard to notice once you've listened to it a few times. So really all the songs are stand outs. However, for me, Willie the Pimp and The Gumbo Variations were simply awesome.

★★★★★★★★★★

168. King Crimson | In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
4. Moonchild
5. The Court of the Crimson King

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In the Court of the Crimson King is both a frightening and beautiful album. This is one of the first rock albums which isn't heavily influenced by the blues. Its influences come from jazz and classical music. 

The opening and closing songs are fast, heavy and chaotic while the middle three are slow and concentrate more on melody; although, Epitaph stands somewhere in the middle.

In the Court of the Crimson King is one of my favorite albums, so of course, I'm going to say it's worth listening to. But more objectively, it's worth listening to because it's an excellent example of both a shift away from blues-based rock and the extreme direction psychedelic rock has taken with long songs, the focus on musical ability and musical experimentation.

The stand out songs are 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph and The Court of the Crimson King.

★★★★★★★★★★

162. Chicago | The Chicago Transit Authority (1969)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. Introduction
2. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
3. Beginnings
4. Questions 67 and 68
5. Listen
6. Poem 58
7. Free Form Guitar
8. South California Purples
9. I'm a Man
10. Prologue (August 29, 1968)
11. Someday (August 29, 1968)
12. Liberation

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The Chicago Transit Authority is a lively album. The songs are catchy and full of horns. Despite the horns, there are some heavy songs and some wild, extended guitar solos.

Having horns in a band is always tricky. Jazz horn players are talented and serious musicians and it reflects in the music. The problem is that jazz isn't always accessible to the mainstream listener. So it's a danger to include horns in more accessible music like rock and roll. To people who know real horn playing, it may sound inauthentic or amateurish. This album doesn't suffer from that problem, but it's a bad influence on future bands and musicians who want to do the horn thing.

I usually associate Peter Cetera's cheesy pop music career with Chicago. With this album it's unfair. This is a solid hard rocking album. There's nothing cheesy or mainstream about the music. In fact, it was a ballsy move to release a debut album as a double. It's only problem is being a double. The album is too long because the songs are too long. They should have stuck with the jazz and hard rock labels and abandoned the progressive label.

All the songs are quite good, but Liberation becomes tiresome being that it's the last song on a double album and it's the longest song, running to almost fifteen minutes in length. The stand outs are Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Beginnings, Listen, Poem 58, South California Purples and I'm a Man.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

108. Traffic | Traffic (1968)

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Wikipedia Entry

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Tracks

1. You Can All Join In
2. Pearly Queen
3. Don't Be Sad
4. Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring
5. Feelin' Alright
6. Vagabond Virgin
7. (Roamin' Thru the Gloamin' with) 40,000 Headmen
8. Cryin' to Be Heard
9. No Time to Live
10. Means to an End

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Traffic is a mature album. It's also dynamic and smart. The songs are rock and roll, but there's a more subtle and intricate structure to them. Traffic isn't the first rock and roll band to come up with this type of album. Certainly, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pet Sounds come to mind, but I don't they achieved what this album has.

I believe this album signals a new and positive development in rock and roll. Channeling pure rock and roll energy is great, but controlling it and giving it more structure is about time. ('Structure' may not even be the right term. The right word might be 'polish'. It certainly isn't 'restraint'.) Of course, knowing the course of rock and roll, it's clear this direction rock and roll took led down some undesirable paths, too.

I've heard this album once or twice before and I thought it was good. Certainly, You Can All Join In and Pearly Queen are instantly likable. But the rest of the album took me by surprise this time. I do think the songs works well together musically, but I'm not sure about the lyrics. They seem to be all over the map. (Roamin' Thru the Gloamin' with) 40,000 Headmen is a good example. No matter, this album is definitely worth a listen and might even be worth owning.

All the songs are enjoyable, but the real stand outs are You Can All Join In, Pearly Queen, Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring, Vagabond Virgin, (Roamin' Thru the Gloamin' with) 40,000 Headmen and Cryin' to Be Heard.

★★★★★★★★★☆

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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★★★★★★★★★ ☆