Who are some artists who displayed the most radical change in musical direction over a series of albums? For better or for worse. I.E .The Meat Puppets.
Meat Puppets I – Hard-Core
Meat Puppets II – Cow Punk
Upon the Sun – Psychedelic Country Rock
In a matter of three releases, the Puppets when from sounding retarded to refined.
What a strange trip it was from MP I to Upon the Sun, which is may favorite. It’s just such so laid back, odd and tuneful, compared to “I” which was a hardcore classic. When they toured supporting the debut, the Puppets didn’t like being spit on by their hardcore fans, and decided they needed a change of direction.
Close to the Edge is the easy choice for me. As great as “The Yes Album” and “Fragile” are, I always prefer the versions of songs such as “Yours is No Disgrace” and “Starship Trooper” from Yessongs. The live versions are much more dynamic. CTTE captures Yes at their peak as the group begins is slow decent from the pinnacle of prog rock, with the departure of Bill Bruford.
Live and Dangerous is a very slick show and has got the great Phil Lynot come on line to the chicks…” Anybody got a little Irish in them”. The chicks begin to scream “Yea!”. Lynot concludes…”Anybody want a little MORE Irish in them?” Great 70’s rockers, love China Town and Bad Reputation.
I just rediscovered “All Fools Day”, and unlike the first three discs, this has the big 80’s stadium rock sound, and is very well put together in a craft-like sort of way. Bailey’s got a wonderfully expressive voice and musically there’s a lot of good twists and turns. I recommend it but be warned, it’s closer to pop than punk.
Led Zep I, IV and Physical Graffiti what’s not to like? Obviously this will go back and forth. Led Zep IV has to be the definitive Zep CD, but Graffiti is their most interesting and has a ton of great material…I’m disc 1 is a masterpiece by itself. But sometime, I prefer the raw power of the debut. I’ll admit watching Robert Plant perform during this era was humorous, since lead singers back then were more in touch with there girly side (and he was the most girly of them all). Nevertheless, these are the finest most varied and textured hard rock performances that I can think of. Page was an efficient, tasteful and creative producer, never wasting a note and always keeping the arrangements and music interesting and energetic. Physical Graffiti is a great album, but Plants voice had noticeably weakened due to constant touring. IV is their diverse and well rounded masterpiece, but I love I and II. The bottom end, riffs, and Plant singing at full force are going to make those classics hold up forever.
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Of all the fine Queen LP’s, I prefer the debut the most (Sheer Heart Attack is a very close 2nd). I was a little disappointed with Opera because it was a consolidation of all the ideas in the first three albums. Queen I’s wildly progressive individual songs weave in and out of operative pop melodies and progressive soloing. Other than Keep Yourself Alive and Liar, which are straightforward hard rock tunes, the rest adventurously alternate between various styles, complex and simple, requiring repeated listening. The followup II is also excellent.
Prince has got a high cringe factor with me. Sign of the Times has some great material on but I can’t stand the songs that he sounds like a chipmunk (Housequake), as well as You Got the Look (Ugh! Sheena Easton). But what kept my interest was his ability to turn an original tune. His best most consistent album was “Parade” including such great number as Kiss, Mountains, Anotherloverholenyohead. It’s jazzy, funky pop with a smooth groove.
Time Traveling Blues is my favorite Goblin record. Very thrashy, not as psychedelic as Freq. By the end of it, the bands gets into some incredible Southern rock, including a Southern drawl! These guys are Brits, right? Ingenious arrangements, prog-tendencies and impeccable guitar licks. High energy doom…an oxy-moron, yet the Goblins make it work. Stoner rock thrashed up. Very tasty.
I’m down with Live at Leeds. I prefer the original non-expanded version. Yes the Deluxe version gives a a more rounded version of the band, but when talking about one of the best live albums, I’m thinking
Side A
A1 Young Man
A2 Substitute
A3 Summertime Blues
A4 Shakin’ All Over
Side B
B1 My Generation
B2 Magic Bus
The energy of the record is unbelievable and it’s a real treat to hear Entwistle and Moon dominate they way the do. This is proto-punk in it’s original form.
Deep Purple raged. Another era (or MARK IV, V, I can’t keep track) that gets overlooked was the Come Taste The Band line-up, which featured guitar whiz extraordinaire, Tommy Bolin. Very funky, very fiery style. This is a very tasty and melodically funky album whose bright mood is a stark departure from the catastrophic fear generating “Burn” and “Stormbringer”. During their hey-day, they failed to put together back to back classic, but In Rock, Machine Head, and Burn and Come Taste the Band are expertly played and inspired hard-rock albums.