Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

OB1 said:
Truth is that has never happened. Classic rock has endured far more.
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Excellent, it will be fitting if we are going to recreate the musical argy bargy of the late 70s !! The mod revivalist and ska crews haven't even turned up yet either! Used to cause punch ups in the playground at secondary school.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
Well not much punk other than Anarchy and New Rose to go off…….. I’m lurking around waiting for 77 to blow the prog rockers away…….
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No one's done New Rose which seems wrong given it's pioneering status so I'll put you down for that :-)

The Vibrators We Vibrate was 76 too but that's never really struck me as that punky tbh.
 
OB1 said:
I know there were ups and owns in my life in 1976 but most of what sticks in my memory is the good stuff (first successful visit to Wembley, the summer weather), oh and that it was my O-Levels year. The soundtrack to my revision was Alive! by Kiss, who I saw for the first time in May.

My first song pick is not Kiss though. We need to go to the end of a rather good year to find the inspiration for this pick, Christmas Day to be precise. As he has done for the last 50 years, Santa deposited a generous helping of albums by his part eaten mince pie next to the hearth place. 1976’s delivery provided me with quite simply the greatest listening experience I can recall. Prior to being called for Christmas lunch, which was well past lunchtime of course, I put my headphones on and played three albums back-to-back, two of them double lives. All of them records that I put on my Xmas list without having heard a note by any of the bands, trusting in favoured Sounds jounos’ reviews.

One of these albums was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “One More From the Road”, one of the great live albums and my first listen to tracks like Sweet Home Alabama and the monster that is Freebird. But I am not picking a track from that wonderful record. I am not selecting one from the other double live; at least not the live version, although I was tempted but that would deny listeners the pleasure of a full five minutes of tremendous music. To say I was left in stunned disbelief at what I was hearing on the second album would be an understatement. The album was an import because the band in question had never had a record released in the UK – how could that be case when the band were so good!?

The band of course was the musical equivalent of a Marmite sandwich Rush, who were about to become the biggest cult act in the UK. The album “All the World’s A Stage”, which remains my favourite Rush album. Earlier in ’76, Rush had released their fourth and most pivotal album: 2112 and it is the 20 minute title track that I am making my first pick.

The track is divided into seven parts and tells a dystopian tale set in 2112, where people are under the rule of the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx, who suppress individuality. The protagonist discovers an ancient guitar, learns how to play it, and experiences the joy of music. He presents it to the Priests, hoping to enrich society, but they reject and destroy it, viewing it as a relic. His resulting despair leads him to end his life.

It’s a simple story inspired by Libertarian Ayn Rand, a Russian-American writer, and her novella Anthem, which emphasises individualism against collectivism. Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart was heavily influenced by Rand.
Rand's Objectivism has been polarising, with some viewing it as promoting selfishness, while others see it as a defence of personal freedom. This led to debates, such as Barry Miles in NME accusing Rush of fascism, which Geddy Lee, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, defended as an "anti-totalitarian, anti-fascist story".

Many critics praised its musicianship and innovative storytelling, with Rolling Stone calling it "their most extreme, grandiose and Rush-like record, and thus their greatest.

The studio album that was part of the trio that knocked my sox off will be the source of my next pick.
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Have to agree with your well written piece, and worth adding that 2112 was a make or break album for the band, After the first and second albums saw a a change in drummer, switching from support to small headline act and the band still learning their chops, a third album - Caress of Steel, also with a full side piece upsetting fans and the record company to a certain extent. The fourth album had to be right. The record company wanted an album, of short tracks and a single or two. Still hoping for the next Led Zeppelin. The rest they say is history, they did exactly the opposite, knowing if it flopped they'd probably be done. As you say it became their pivotal album.

On a side note, several years ago I saw the the Queen musical, we will rock you, and since that day I've always though author Ben Elton totally ripped off the story of 2112 for that musical. Never seen it mentioned.
 
brummie blue said:
Have to agree with your well written piece, and worth adding that 2112 was a make or break album for the band, After the first and second albums saw a a change in drummer, switching from support to small headline act and the band still learning their chops, a third album - Caress of Steel, also with a full side piece upsetting fans and the record company to a certain extent. The fourth album had to be right. The record company wanted an album, of short tracks and a single or two. Still hoping for the next Led Zeppelin. The rest they say is history, they did exactly the opposite, knowing if it flopped they'd probably be done. As you say it became their pivotal album.

On a side note, several years ago I saw the the Queen musical, we will rock you, and since that day I've always though author Ben Elton totally ripped off the story of 2112 for that musical. Never seen it mentioned.
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Thank goodness Rush didn’t do what Mercury wanted.

Never did see “We Will Rock You”. Talking of Queen, they released “A Day at the Races” at the tail end of 1976, along with the single “Somebody to Love”, which should be on any 1976 playlist.
 
OB1 said:
Thank goodness Rush didn’t do what Mercury wanted.

Never did see “We Will Rock You”. Talking of Queen, they released “A Day at the Races” at the tail end of 1976, along with the single “Somebody to Love”, which should be on any 1976 playlist.
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A Night at the Opera gets all the plaudits, because it has Bohemian Rhapsody on it, but A Day at the Races is a brilliant album
 
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Mad Eyed Screamer said:
FFS….
I get the comparison but there was no over indulgent 4 minute guitar solos and songs about wizards and other such nonsense
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I’ve said on here a couple of times that some of the tracks that have been nominated have been too long and self-indulgent. I even said that whilst I’m no fun of punk, I can sympathise with the punk bands and why they thought some things needed to change.

But one of the problems of punk for me was that they tried to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The tracks by Boston, BOC and Kansas demonstrate that you can achieve a lot with songs that have fabulous instrumental parts but still clock in at a reasonable running time. The vocalists could really sing, and most importantly, they have incredibly catchy riffs that a lot of punk music lacked.
 
brummie blue said:
On a side note, several years ago I saw the the Queen musical, we will rock you, and since that day I've always though author Ben Elton totally ripped off the story of 2112 for that musical. Never seen it mentioned.
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The hotel I go to in Spain did their version of We Will Rock You a few years ago, and I must admit, I was sitting there thinking that is basically the story of 2112. Im surprised Rush didn’t sue Ben Elton.
 
RobMCFC said:
I’ve said on here a couple of times that some of the tracks that have been nominated have been too long and self-indulgent. I even said that whilst I’m no fun of punk, I can sympathise with the punk bands and why they thought some things needed to change.

But one of the problems of punk for me was that they tried to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The tracks by Boston, BOC and Kansas demonstrate that you can achieve a lot with songs that have fabulous instrumental parts but still clock in at a reasonable running time. The vocalists could really sing, and most importantly, they have incredibly catchy riffs that a lot of punk music lacked.
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A lot of it was overblown production wise, theatrical and more importantly, said nothing to me about my life.
Punk was the bare bones. Striped down and low on production, high on energy and the majority of times delivered with a message that the kids got.

The worst 4 years of my life was when I left school and worked as an apprentice in a Ford Main Dealer in the parts department.
The fact I didn’t then and still don’t now give a shit about cars was bad enough, but being forced to listen to wonderful Radio 1 all day almost sent me over the edge. 79-83 and daily force fed REO Wankwagon, Air Supply, Journey, Foreigner, Styx, Boston, Kansas, Toto, Chicago…….. no no no!!!!!!
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
A lot of it was overblown production wise, theatrical and more importantly, said nothing to me about my life.
Punk was the bare bones. Striped down and low on production, high on energy and the majority of times delivered with a message that the kids got.

The worst 4 years of my life was when I left school and worked as an apprentice in a Ford Main Dealer in the parts department.
The fact I didn’t then and still don’t now give a shit about cars was bad enough, but being forced to listen to wonderful Radio 1 all day almost sent me over the edge. 79-83 and daily force fed REO Wankwagon, Air Supply, Journey, Foreigner, Styx, Boston, Kansas, Toto, Chicago…….. no no no!!!!!!
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Yeah, the Queen’s a tourist attraction.
 
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