The Album Review Club - Week #195 (page 1310) - A New World Record - ELO

Then there's the potential for greatness stopped in it's tracks

1. Party Time
2. In My Mind (Is A Different World - A Cheeky One)

and we'll never know what could have happened next if Lembit Opik hadn't got involved
 
mancity111 said:
Fog, if you prefer 80's to the seventies overall your shouts are on the mark , but from sixties to now I cannot go past Steely Dan and you could make a case for Gaucho as well despite most critics canning it at the time of release when arguments and egos and differences in musical direction took over.

Royal Scam is loved by most ardent fans but yes not so by others it is somewhat polarising however it features Larry Carlton so for me it has to be included in the run of great albums.

Aja and Katy Lied for me are not only two of the best albums made in the seventies but both are in my top ten albums of all time and I am sure in many others top twenty if not top ten as well.

You can find faults or pieces of music in any album that make you think meh , or that doesn't do it for me but when you take Steely Dan from 1972 -1977 each album and each track stacks up , no fillers for me at all each track deserves its place on the album and many of the tracks not released into the market place as singles are as good if not better than those that were responsible for each albums commercial success.

Many would disagree I think most on this forum and most music lovers would disagree I know but if you could only have 6 albums on the spin by one artist / band / duet etc to listen to for all time for me it has to be Steely Dan.

Musicianship , sound , lyrics , production , humour even a dig at the Eagles and a preference for listening over great dance music its Steely Dan.
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I actually really like The Royal Scam so I think from debut through Aja that’s a run of six pretty much stellar records and you and I are on precisely the same page (once again!) as to Aja and Katy Lied which are also my two favo(u)rites. Gaucho is ok and I’m not 100 percent on board with Countdown to Ecstasy which I like but not as much as the other six in the run. “Charlie Freak” is still my favo(u)rite Steely Dan song though it’s not one of their better known ones; “Your Gold Teeth II” is probably second — another more obscure one. They really were pretty special — in a category of their own in so many ways.
 
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BlueHammer85 said:
I raise you all.

  1. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan — May 27, 1963
  2. The Times They Are a-Changin’ — February 1964
  3. Another Side of Bob Dylan — August 8, 1964
  4. Bringing It All Back Home — March 22, 1965
  5. Highway 61 Revisited — August 30, 1965
  6. Blonde on Blonde — June 20, 1966
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As a non-Dylan-aficionado I’m in no position to argue but was “Another Side” really considered a classic, iconographic record?
 
The Rolling Stones Some Girls



Great pick BB , classic album from a top band! It’s years since I’ve listened to this and I agree it’s one of their best.
It’s only let down by the cover of ‘Just My Imagination’ and Keefs weak vocals on ‘ Before They Make Me Run’ I much prefer his gruff talking voice on his solo stuff.



8.5/10
 
Mancitydoogle said:
The Rolling Stones Some Girls



Great pick BB , classic album from a top band! It’s years since I’ve listened to this and I agree it’s one of their best.
It’s only let down by the cover of ‘Just My Imagination’ and Keefs weak vocals on ‘ Before They Make Me Run’ I much prefer his gruff talking voice on his solo stuff.



8.5/10
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Love Keefs solo stuff as well.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I actually really like The Royal Scam so I think from debut through Aja that’s a run of six pretty much stellar records and you and I are on precisely the same page (once again!) as to Aja and Katy Lied which are also my two favo(u)rites. Gaucho is ok and I’m not 100 percent on board with Countdown to Ecstasy which I like but not as much as the other six in the run. “Charlie Freak” is still my favo(u)rite Steely Dan song though it’s not one of their better known ones; “Your Gold Teeth II” is probably second — another more obscure one. They really were pretty special — in a category of their own in so many ways.
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CF I was going to have it as one of my Christmas songs for selection however I think you would have pinned me quickly with Jim Gordon at his finest I reckon a fantastic song never grow tired of it.

I think you are a right about being in a unique category on a number of fronts , arrangements to die for.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
IV, Houses of the Holy, Phys Graf — that’s only three in a row and I think as we all discussed PG has a bit of filler as it gets to the last two sides. Never cared much for the first three records (I know many disagree); Presence is a letdown. ITTOD is wildly underrated though IMO. That was THEIR response to disco/punk! Also I think it’s important to point out that they never had much to say about the world at large. And one of their all-time best tunes is a cover. Don’t get me wrong — I like the best LZ tunes more than the Stones’, a fair degree more. For iconography I think the Stones album run is better.
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I think Presence is underrated but not as much as ITTOD, which has three insanely good tracks and one very good one.

TBF, if III & II swapped round the debate would be over.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
On this discussion of greatest album runs I was trying to think of four iconic ones in a row. Pink Floyd? Dark Side, WYWH, Animals (which I think is uneven) and The Wall? I need to do some thinking. I can make a good case for Steely Dan having 6 but a lot of folks think Royal Scam is weak. I’d argue REM and Talking Heads are in with a shout in the 80s — both had very good four record runs (5 even). The Clash first four too. The Ramones? Prince? Others? Trying to think of mega-huge artists so we can call them staples or iconic.

I know no one here cares about Sleater-Kinney except me but their 2nd-5th records are basically 50 songs in a row with no clunkers, but that’s personal.

To @bennyboy’s point, topping the Stones will take some doing.
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I listed some earlier in the thread.

Bowie: MWSTW, Hunky Dory, Ziggy & Aladdin Sane.

And, yes, I’m biased but the first four VH albums are fantastic.

I would agree Steely Dan were very consistent.

AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock through Back in Black is a hell of a run.

None are quite as iconic as The Stone quartet.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I actually really like The Royal Scam so I think from debut through Aja that’s a run of six pretty much stellar records and you and I are on precisely the same page (once again!) as to Aja and Katy Lied which are also my two favo(u)rites. Gaucho is ok and I’m not 100 percent on board with Countdown to Ecstasy which I like but not as much as the other six in the run. “Charlie Freak” is still my favo(u)rite Steely Dan song though it’s not one of their better known ones; “Your Gold Teeth II” is probably second — another more obscure one. They really were pretty special — in a category of their own in so many ways.
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I wouldn’t know which Dan album is which. My SD journey began with a 4 cd box set of their complete works at that point, which I love. Never have I bought a cd or collection and gone why the f*ck am I only just listening to this now to quite the same extent.
 
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