Come Follow Me on the Great Rock Journey

[JERK DISEASE]

I've been doing this for quite some time now (like fourish months). But I realized that this place needs more music discussion anyway, so why not throw this here and not just NPC.

You all know me as the hip-hop guru, but not as the rock guy, not in any sense.

And there's a very good reason for that, it's because I've been raised rockless virtually. I'm way behind on experience for that stuff. So I finally caved in and decided to embark on a huge project where I make lists on my RYM account for every year between 63' and now. And for most of them I planned to listen to 20 albums each on this first go through.
To immerse myself in four decades worth of Rock n Roll.

Check out my account, the progress of the lists is near the top.
http://rateyourmusic.com/~Zephos

Let's talk ralk.

[Nobodyman]

Sounds cool. I love me some rock and I could definitely stand to expose myself to more.

So will you be taking album suggestions Zeph?

[I survived the buster call]

Enjoy Zeph. It's a good journey, indeed.

May I ask why you decided to start with '63? (I'm rather partial to that year for reasons of my own, but I am curious about your choice…)

[Ubiq]

I'm surprised that you didn't have Hot Rats as part of the '69 list. Nice choice with King Crimson there though.

[JERK DISEASE]

@I:

Enjoy Zeph. It's a good journey, indeed.

May I ask why you decided to start with '63? (I'm rather partial to that year for reasons of my own, but I am curious about your choice…)

Prior to that things were pretty album scant, and I'm doing albums.

I'm surprised that you didn't have Hot Rats as part of the '69 list. Nice choice with King Crimson there though.

Nothing is final. I'll be swinging back around later.

[choperman]

I'm liking all the rock and roll Discussions your making, by far my favorite genre of music and i still only know a little about it, i'm up for anything that will strengthen my knowledge in this field

[Ubiq]

@JERK:

Nothing is final. I'll be swinging back around later.

I'd definitely dump one of the latter two to add Hot Rats on there. Ummagumma is an album you really have to be in the right mood to listen to or it quickly wears out its welcome.

Other options for that year would be:

Beck-Ola
Santana
The Allman Brothers Band

That was one great year for guitarists.

If you want something really, really different on there, there's Trout Mask Replica, but that might be too different.

What do you have picked out for '78 so far? Well, besides Excitable Boy?

[Nobodyman]

Well, since your at '78 Zeph, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest listening to Styx and Journey since they're about reaching their prime at that point. Also, Foreigner has just made the scene and they're pretty incredible right from the start.

Also, I know you said you were pretty strict about listening to only rock, but would you consider listening to New Wave and Alternative Rock?

[JERK DISEASE]

@Ubiq:

I'd definitely dump one of the latter two to add Hot Rats on there. Ummagumma is an album you really have to be in the right mood to listen to or it quickly wears out its welcome.

Other options for that year would be:

Beck-Ola
Santana
The Allman Brothers Band

That was one great year for guitarists.

If you want something really, really different on there, there's Trout Mask Replica, but that might be too different.

What do you have picked out for '78 so far? Well, besides Excitable Boy?

I'm not going to dump anything, I'm going to be going back through and adding ten more albums to each list after these initial runs.

Hot Rats isn't planned yet, Trout Mask is though.
I REALLY want to get to Santana but I can't yet.

It's really pretty hard to plan this thing out and get what you want in.

@Nobodyman:

Well, since your at '78 Zeph, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest listening to Styx and Journey since they're about reaching their prime at that point. Also, Foreigner has just made the scene and they're pretty incredible right from the start.

78' is already half done, and instead of Styx, Journey, Foriegner etc, I've been listening to stuff like PiL, Banshees, Wire, and Pere Ubu lol.

Also, I know you said you were pretty strict about listening to only rock, but would you consider listening to New Wave and Alternative Rock?

Those are…I mean they're rock. So of course. Rock is a really broad category.

Well SOME New Wave, like Blondie, The Cars, Elvis Costello etc. The ones that are still rock oriented.

Not so much The Human League or other NW groups that are basically synth pop. Though actually I intend to do an 80's pop thing alongside my 80's lists just for fun.

[Nobodyman]

@JERK:

78' is already half done, and instead of Styx, Journey, Foriegner etc, I've been listening to stuff like PiL, Banshees, Wire, and Pere Ubu lol.

Well, I'd recommend checking them out at some point at any rate.

Those are…I mean they're rock. So of course. Rock is a really broad category.

Well SOME New Wave, like Blondie, The Cars, Elvis Costello etc. The ones that are still rock oriented.

Not so much The Human League or other NW groups that are basically synth pop. Though actually I intend to do an 80's pop thing alongside my 80's lists just for fun.

Okay, I understand. Sorry if that seems like a dumb question, but I'm still kind of a newb when it comes to these sub-genres and music cultures.

Anyway, when you get to '83 you need to listen to Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It's essential listening as far as I'm concerned. Also, if you don't think they're too divergent I'd recommend listening to the B-52's, specificallly Cosmic Thing which came out in '89.

Oh, and I have a huge favor to ask when you get to 1990.

[JERK DISEASE]

Better ask it now before I get too fixed on what I picked.

[Nobodyman]

@JERK:

Better ask it now before I get too fixed on what I picked.

Very well. Flood by They Might Be Giants. It's the album that made me fall in love with the band.

As far as alternative rock bands go they're pretty sing-and-sound-like-whatever-we-want, but they still have a pretty distinct style all their own. I don't even care if you end up liking them or not, but I think everyone should at least give them a try.

[JERK DISEASE]

Quick list of all the albums so far that I've rated as 5 or 6 (perfect score).

1965
-Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
1966
-The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
1967
-The Beatles: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
-The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour
-The Who: The Who Sell Out
-The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?
1968
-The Beatles: The White Album
-The Rolling Stones: Beggar's Banquet
-The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
1969
-The Beatles: Abbey Road
-The Who: Tommy
-The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed
1970
-John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band
-George Harrison: All Things Must Pass
-Derek and the Dominoes: Layla
1971
-Led Zeppelin: IV
-The Who: Who's Next
-Can: Tago Mago
1972
-The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St
-David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
1973
-The Stooges: Raw Power
-Genesis: Selling England by the Pound
1974
-Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
1975
-Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
-Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
-Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
1976
-David Bowie: Station to Station
1977
-The Ramones: Leave Home
-The Ramones: Rocket to Russia
-David Bowie: Low
-David Bowie: Heroes
-Wire: Pink Flag

[Cyan D. Funk]

When you get to 1981, will you tear Face Value to shreds?

[JERK DISEASE]

Actually I'm doing an 80's pop thing alongside my 80's lists, and it's THERE that I'm reviewing Phil Collins solo albums.

So we'll see. If he fucks up enough he'll get lots and lots of unfavorable comparisons to the kickass Peter Gabriel 80's solo joint you betchya.

As for the rest of Genesis…I'll do that on the next cycle.

[Ubiq]

@JERK:

I'm not going to dump anything, I'm going to be going back through and adding ten more albums to each list after these initial runs.

Oh, okay. I thought that you were just going to keep it to twenty albums a year.

If you're going to go back through and do each year again, when you get to '73, do Dark Side of the Moon again, but watch The Wizard of Oz with it.

Hot Rats isn't planned yet, Trout Mask is though.
I REALLY want to get to Santana but I can't yet.

If you like Zappa at all, Hot Rats should be a priority. And Captain Beefheart is something else.

It's really pretty hard to plan this thing out and get what you want in.

Yeah. Some years almost have too many great albums to pick through while others are extremely lean.

[JERK DISEASE]

The difference between 76 and 77 almost blew me away. I was rushing around to find anything to fill up 76, and scrambling around trying to figure out which of the many many 77' albums I couldn't exclude on a first go through.

[Cyan D. Funk]

Saving The Stranger for the second run through of '77 aren't ya.
@JERK:

So we'll see. If he fucks up enough he'll get lots and lots of unfavorable comparisons to the kickass Peter Gabriel 80's solo joint you betchya.

God I would really hate being Phil Collins.

[fedcom]

Might I recommend trying Deep Purple the next time you come back to the 70s? Machinehead and In Rock absolutely merit listens, IMO

[JERK DISEASE]

@Cyan:

Saving The Stranger for the second run through of '77 aren't ya.

I did a Billy Joel list awhile ago but took it down when I started this.
Here were my ratings.

Cold Spring Harbor: 3
Piano Man: 3
Streetlife Serenade: 3
Turnstiles: 4
The Stranger: 4.5
52nd Street: 4.5
Glass Houses: 4
The Nylon Curtain: 3.5
An Innocent Man: 5
The Bridge: 3.5
Stormfront: 2.5
River of Dreams: 3.5

But yeah, I'll add a lot of that next time.

@fedcom:

Might I recommend trying Deep Purple the next time you come back to the 70s? Machinehead and In Rock absolutely merit listens, IMO

Already planned. :)

On the next go through I've planned a bunch of the records for the following atm.

-The Monkees
-Procol Harum
-Captain Beefheart
-Deep Purple
-MC5
-Tim Buckley
-King Crimson
-Neil Young
-Yes
-The Sparks
-T Rex
-The Eagles
-Bue Oyster Cult
-Cheap Trick
-The Jam
-The Damned
-Japan
-Tom Petty
-Devo
-Dire Straits
-Simple Minds
-X
-Dead Kennedys
-The Minutemen
-10,000 Maniacs

[Cyan D. Funk]

@JERK:

An Innocent Man: 5

Fuck the hell yes.
@JERK:

-Bue Oyster Cult

See above.

[JERK DISEASE]

! Oh…
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Oh yeah!
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Hell yes!!!
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Oh my god!!!!!
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OHH GODDDDD
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OOOOHHHHHH YESSSSSSSS
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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Cyan D. Funk]

I was on fire halfway through 'Easy Money' (JAMES BROWN OHMYGOD WHY DID YOU DIEEEEEEE), and I completely lost it by 'Christie Lee'.

[JERK DISEASE]

My barber is this 60 year old blue collar northeast guy, so he knows, he even had that fuckin' hair when he was in the 70's and shit, I want to bring in half those songs and sing along with him while I get my hair cut.

TRI STATE MOTHAFUCKA

[Cyan D. Funk]

On that note

ErPywgiMb4k

BEST PIANO-FUCKING SINCE JERRY LEE LEWIS LONG ISLAND OUT DOG

[JERK DISEASE]

BRIDGEPORT METRO AREA CHECKIN' IN, WHAT WE GOT HERE.

2Xl558k0QAo

DATS RIGHT, DA HEART

[Cyan D. Funk]

We need a Billy Joel thread to discuss Billy Joel NO WAIT a Billy Joel section to replace the anime section.

[Wagomu]

What are your views on fusion, Zephos? I noticed you missed a couple big fusion albums in 77 (Aja and, of course, Heavy Weather), but I understand if you feel that it doesn't quite fit.

I'm not going to nit-pick much or chime in, unless you miss some huge albums, on the first run through. You've done a fine job so far in picking out the essentials and I trust you'll keep up the pace throughout. When you want to go through again and want more underrated and underground records to go by, though, I'll definitely give you a bunch of suggestions.

[JERK DISEASE]

Make a thread, we can post about it even is no one else does because they ALL SUCK AND JOEL DOES NOT.

[Cyan D. Funk]

it is done .

[JERK DISEASE]

@Wagomu:

What are your views on fusion, Zephos? I noticed you missed a couple big fusion albums in 77 (Aja and, of course, Heavy Weather), but I understand if you feel that it doesn't quite fit.

Aja missing was a mistake. Something got fuzzed in my planning list and I suddenly found myself unable to include it when I had originally planned it there. It came down to either them or Richard Hell, and you can't win against Richard Hell.

I haven't really enjoyed Steely Dan much past their first two, which I only managed to sorta respect rather than actually like.

I barely see much Jazz-like about them.

I'm MUCH more interested in one day checking out the actual Jazz side of Fusion and looking through those famous early 70's Miles Davis albums.

On the plus side Steely Dan sampling lead to this!
yEGAO-5n3xc&showinfo=0

[THC]

This post is deleted!

[Wagomu]

Yeah, I always put Steely Dan more in rock, too, but since I was mentioning Weather Report, anyways, I figured I would lump them together. The question was more for Heavy Weather.

@JERK:

On the plus side Steely Dan sampling lead to this!
yEGAO-5n3xc&showinfo=0

Plus great covers by the Minutemen and Mountain Goats that are among my favorite covers of all time.

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@THC:

wants to see Swans on one of these lists

So underrated they are. I just ordered a Filth shirt the other day, haha. I definitely want to see these guys up there, too, since they were hugely influential.

[Cyan D. Funk]

God I love Heavy Weather.

[Pochipochi]

@THC:

wants to see Swans on one of these lists

I resisted recommending Zephos amounts of experimental works in his journey. I wrote up a bunch of "essential" 90s albums (not even all stuff I actually thought was good, focused more on "big") when he first posted this on NPC to help mold that out since he had everything else basically covered until 1990 onwards.

I figure his journey was more about establishing foundations on this side of music, so trying to move my favorites on to his palette was missing the point!

[Wagomu]

@Holy:

I resisted recommending Zephos amounts of experimental works in his journey. I wrote up a bunch of "essential" 90s albums (not even all stuff I actually thought was good, focused more on "big") when he first posted this on NPC to help mold that out since he had everything else basically covered until 1990 onwards.

I figure his journey was more about establishing foundations on this side of music, so trying to move my favorites on to his palette was missing the point!

Can I see your list? If I give recommendations, I don't want to be redundant, haha.

[JERK DISEASE]

Holy has the right mind.

Some experimental shit I'm up for though, reccomend "Krautrock", Post-Punk, Noise Rock, Space Rock and shit like that liberally. I'm not afraid.

I mean this is the most hip-hop song of the 70's for fucks sake.
yn5VfuOJsHc

[Pochipochi]

hey Zephos, as a birthday present to me, would you make your entire 2000s decade list just Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno's "Iao Chant from the Cosmic Inferno"???

then review it 10 times each year individually.

http://www.mediafire.com/?miyj31ejngj

here u go

[JERK DISEASE]

I'm gonna do a Boredoms album in 89' for fun.

[Pochipochi]

zephos knows whats up

[Pochipochi]

@Holy:

zephos knows whats up

i'll give you a hint

[Pochipochi]

it's his dick after hearing boredoms.

[THC]

This post is deleted!

[Wagomu]

My drone/experimental show did Super Roots 9 and 10 for valentine's day. My friend, the co-host, is quite obsessed. I mean I love the boredoms, but he's one of the true fans, who owns physical copies of their entire discography, including live albums. I love college radio.

[Nobodyman]

Man, I'm so lookin' forward to you doing the 80s Zeph. So much good shit comes out or becomes prominent in that decade.

Duran Duran
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi
Twisted Sister
Huey Lewis and the News
Culture Club
Dexys Midnight Runners
The Offspring

Jeez, I really am an 80's guy.

[JERK DISEASE]

Ten bands from/mostly in the 80's I'm most excited about (not counting U2 because I already know them inside and out).

1. The Smiths
2. My Bloody Valentine (Ommmmmgggggg!!!!!)
3. Dinosaur Jr.
4. The Cure
5. The Replacements
6. Iron Maiden
7. Sonic Youth
8. Guns n Roses
9. The Pixies
10. New Order

The 80's approacheth!

[Wagomu]

I can't wait to see those punk reviews roll in. Please tell me you've got Stations of the Crass going for 79. Huge punk influence there and probably the most pissed off album of the 70s.

[I survived the buster call]

You have to listen to Talking Heads–"Stop Making Sense" changed my life one day, and anything by Jethro Tull, but "Aqua Lung" is one of my faves. Seriously good guitar work.

[JERK DISEASE]

Well I'm not doing live albums, so no Stop Making Sense for the lists.

But I'm doing all their first five releases, I like them alot.

In fact I'm doing "More Songs About Buildings and Food" right now.

[Ubiq]

Are you going to do The Crossing by Big Country?