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Where is that pop euphoria: Album Edition


MarkZ

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With the great pop song topic, it's worth considering the all time great pop albums.

 

Let's say "Pet Sounds" is the undisputed* heavyweight champ for complete album brilliance.

 

Others?

 

Todd Rundgren "Something/Anything", "Hermit of Mink Hollow"

 

Squeeze "Argybargy"

 

"The Cars"

 

Nick Lowe "Pure Pop for Now People" (aka "Jesus of Cool"), "Labor of Lust"

 

"Marshall Crenshaw", produced by Richard Gotteher who great run in the late 70s-early 80s (the first 2 Blondie albums, The Go-Go's debut, Joan Armatrading "Me Myself I")

 

Fountain of Wayne "Utopia Parkway" and "Welcome Interstate Managers"

 

 

Is it odd that much of what we considered "New Wave" 25-30 years ago was really good pop with an attitude?

 

 

* well, anything is disputable on the web

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Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True

 

I was in pop heaven the day I first heard that album. But why do the angels want to wear his red shoes? Every song has multiple hooks that kill.

 

Carol King's Tapestry

 

Just such solid song craft from the heart rivaling Bacharach and David for pure pop craft genius.

 

Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

 

Elton could absolutely make a climatic hook soar into the realms of euphoria. "Harmony and me... we're pretty good company. Lookin' for an island on our boat upon the sea"

 

Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

Simon is a god.

 

Crowded House - Crowded House and Woodface

 

Neil Finn has the ability to turn pop euphoria into something earthy and spiritual. Deep and old and poppy all at once. One of a kind.

 

I'll add Squeeze's East Side Story

 

Too many great tunes to dismiss, though Argybargy is their masterpiece for sure.

 

Stevie Wonder's Talking Book

 

Funky and yet can grab you by the pop heart strings in a big way. Groundbreaking.

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I used to love that 1979 A&M sampler album called NO WAVE.... anyone remember that? My LP was in clear aqua-colored vinyl.

 

I also had this 2-disc set of British pop, just pre-Beatlemania.... it subtended the British chart hits between the years of approximately 1958--1963. Wish I could remember the name of the album. I loved all those tunes, still do. It was basically your British recordmakers taking the American pop and rock sounds and putting their unique spin on them--- as the Brits have always done so well.

 

I even owned a tremendous 3-disc collection from RCA called TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME. It was a various artists collection of adult pop hits--- definitely not Rock hits--- of the 1950's. It was an important listen for me because it bridged the gap between my grandfather's era and that of my parents. It contained gems by Kay Starr, Jaye P. Morgan, Kitty Kallen, Perry Como, The Ames Brothers, Paul Anka, you get the picture. Those songs showed me the importance and the beauty of a fine arrangement.

 

The AMERICAN GRAFFITTI OST was very formative for me too.... In 1973, all those R&B and rock 'n' roll songs were brand-new to me, 'cause by then the radios had stopped playing those numbers.

 

But do "Various Artists" compilations count here?

 

I second BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER. Roy Halee got some amazing sounds. That shrill violin sound at the end of the album-- the title track--- still leaves me breathless. I now understand that this song was about a junkie getting his smack fix.... How taboo that was in 1969... not so much today...

 

I thought ABC's LEXICON OF LOVE was just a pop masterpiece. I even got to tell 'em so, which was a big thrill for me at age 19.

 

I even thought SOFT CELL's NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET was pretty special from beginning to end.

 

I lo-o-oved Alice Cooper's WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE back in the day. Bob Ezrin et.al. It still sounds great.

 

In recent years, Bacharach/Costello's collaborative album PAINTED FROM MEMORY is just a great, great timeless masterpiece. A bit of a downer maybe... but that's like saying "Macbeth" is a downer. ;)

 

I sure enjoyed Joe Jackson's LOOK SHARP! LP.

 

Blondie PARALLEL LINES was just pop perfection to me. Those songs also still sound great.

 

I sure loved all the Asher/Massenburg albums of Linda Ronstadt in the 1970's....

 

Boz Scaggs's SILK DEGREES just blew me away in 1976.

 

I loved Gino Vannelli's STORM AT SUNUP LP.

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Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road


Elton could absolutely make a climatic hook soar into the realms of euphoria. "Harmony and me... we're pretty good company. Lookin' for an island on our boat upon the sea"


 

 

I just heard that full album for the first time a few weeks and it totally changed my perception of Elton John (and I guess present-day pop music too). That's an unbelievable record.... and Harmony is an awesome song

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THE BEE GEES - The Bee Gees 1st or Cucumber Castle

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - Out Of The Blue or A New World Record

BADFINGER - Straight Up or Ass

THE ASSOCIATION - And Then.....

THE ZOMBIES - The Zombies

THE MONKEES - Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones

SWEET - Desolation Boulevard

 

I thought ABC's
LEXICON OF LOVE
was just a pop masterpiece. I even got to tell 'em so, which was a big thrill for me at age 19.

 

 

WOW! I forgot about that one.."How To Be A Zillionaire" was good too but Trevor Horn's production of "Lexicon" is fabulous..

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I even owned a tremendous 3-disc collection from RCA called
TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME
. It was a various artists collection of adult pop hits--- definitely not Rock hits--- of the 1950's. It was an important listen for me because it bridged the gap between my grandfather's era and that of my parents. It contained gems by Kay Starr, Jaye P. Morgan, Kitty Kallen, Perry Como, The Ames Brothers, Paul Anka, you get the picture. Those songs showed me the importance and the beauty of a fine
arrangement
.

Small world. A couple of months ago a met a fellow by the name of Billy Mure. Billy had some old records that he wanted me to "fix" for him and transfer to cd. One of the records was by an artist by the name of Billy Ekstein and Billy (Mure) had written the song. I had heard of Ekstein over the years but wasn't all that familiar with him so I started to quiz Billy (Mure this is getting confusing) about other things that he worked on in the past. As it turns out, he had worked with most of the artists that you mention above. He played guitar on many of their hits and did the arrangements on still more of them. Billy is STILL playing (with HIS band) at a club here every Sunday evening and at other clubs another couple of nights when he gets the bookings. He is now 91 years old (turns 92 next month) and still having a great time. I hope to work with him on an album that he is puting together of kids songs for his grandchildren. That is what got me back into this stuff after being out of recording since the analog days. Now I have to learn Cubase. :lol:

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THE BEE GEES - The Bee Gees 1st or Cucumber Castle

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - Out Of The Blue or A New World Record

BADFINGER - Straight Up or Ass

THE ASSOCIATION - And Then.....

THE ZOMBIES - The Zombies

THE MONKEES - Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones

SWEET - Desolation Boulevard



WOW! I forgot about that one.."How To Be A Zillionaire" was good too but Trevor Horn's production of "Lexicon" is fabulous..

 

Nice list! ELO kills me. Listen to the latest ELO album from a couple years back. It's really just Jeff Lynne and Ringo mostly. It is a really great half an album. It's good all the way through, but the first half... IS GREAT. :thu:

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John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman by John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman

Wheatstraw Suite by the Dillards

In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra

Lilly & Maria by Lilly & Maria

Clear Spot by Captain Beefheart

Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart

Songs of Leonard Cohen by Leonard Cohen

Records Are Like Life by Andy Pratt

Andy Pratt by Andy Pratt

Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane

After Bathing at Baxter's by Jefferson Airplane

Love Songs by Nat King Cole

Pandemonium Shadow Show by Nilsson

James Taylor by James Taylor

Sweetheart of the Rodeo by the Byrds

The Notorious Byrd Brothers by the Byrds

The Birth of Cool by Miles Davis

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

Bitches Brew by Miles Davis

Da Capo by Love

Forever Changes by Love

Talking Heads 77 by Talking Heads

Remain in Light by Talking Heads

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by David Byrne and Brian Eno

Another Green World by Brian Eno

Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno

Taking Tiger Mountain by Brian Eno

El Dorado by Electric Light Orchestra

London Calling by the Clash

Real Life by Magazine

Fearless by Family

In Rainbows by Radiohead

 

More than a few albums on other folks' lists would have made it to mine, too, foremost among them, My Aim is True, Pet Sounds, Parallel Lines. (I threw that last one on my list above, you know, kinda pro forma... since I can't help but feel it's contributed to the zeitgeist that perhaps helped foster this topic. I know I'm certainly enjoying it and a lot of folks are excited about it.)

 

I'm just gonna cork this, now, 'cause, fueled by coffee and a desire to escape actual work, I could probably do this all day long. (And since I finally made peace with Yahoo and subscribed to their Yahoo Music Unlimited that replaced the old Music Match On Demand subscription service, I can follow through on a lot of it. Not all maybe. But it feels good to have a "couple million" songs within reach again. And only about 1.2 million seem to be duplicates and alt versions. :D Seriously, though, it's pretty good. If I'd known, I would have switched over quite a while ago. Call me resistant to change. Yeah, you could call me that. ;) )

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I'm sure I'll get flamed for being so cliche but I think Sgt. Pepper's beats out all of the above. There aren't many albums that take you so far in so short a time, and just feel so satisfying to listen to.

 

-We have really happy songs (With a little help from my friends, Getting Better, Lovely Rita)

-Trippy songs (lucy in the sky w/diamonds)

-really sad songs (she's leaving home)

-songs about mortality and spiritual awareness (within you without you, when i'm sixty-four)

-and an epic closer that combines all of these things into one track (a day in the life)

 

and to top it off, every song sounds totally different and is a musical masterpiece on its own (even without the lyrics) that ranges in styles from classical to present day. just think of the sheer variety of instruments on that album... beautiful vocal harmony... etc

 

yea... so maybe im just a fanboy... but whatever

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