Time for some catch-up.
66. The Kinks - Face to Face
I am the foremost Kinks geek in this hemisphere, so naturally I think this album is awesome. For non-geeks, it's still a really good album. They took a huge step forward here in both production and songwriting. While they weren't matching The Beatles, they were still showing a high level of creativity. The biggest leap was in subject matter. With a couple of exceptions on a 14-song album, gone are the standard songs about love and longing. When the subject is approached, it's usually a lighted-look at the aftermath ("Sunny Afternoon", "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale"). We also get songs about session men, randy bachelors ("Dandy"), rich assholes ("House in the Country"), and moody pre-Goth chicks ("Little Miss Queen of Darkness"). Musically, we get some harpsichord, a little Hawaiian boogie, and what some consider the first Eastern Indian music in a pop song ("Fancy"), though they only tuned their guitars to sound like sitars. George Harrison or Brian Jones were the first to use actual sitars, but I don't feel like looking it up. Anyway, this is a great place to start if you're looking to get into The Kinks. It has a great amount of progression while still sounding like 60's pop music.
67. The Mamas & the Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
So sunshiney, yet so wheels off. This is one of the few groups my parents listened to that I could agree with. "Monday Monday" and "California Dreamin'" are both on here, and they're great. Otherwise, it's a lot of pretty melodies and harmonies. Some people say Cass Elliott had an amazing voice, but I can't tell the difference between the women here, I mean aside from one's hot and the other's fat.
68. Paul Revere & the Raiders - Midnight Ride
I don't remember a thing about this album. Standard 60's pop/rock group singing songs.
69. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
No one could've been expecting this album or the turn it takes. It's a double LP with the first half being fairly straightforward. Zappa loved doo-wop and it shows on the first record with some white nerd vocal harmonies ("Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder", "Wowie Zowie"). The songs are funny in that he knows to poke some slight parody into an otherwise straight song. The vocals are always just slightly over the top, and no one was that great of a singer anyway. Mix that in with a few more rockin' tunes and you have a nice, if somewhat silly album. The second half is where it gets crazy. First is "Trouble Every Day", a serious song about the Watts riots. It's a good commentary about the times, but not preachy or whiny. Then for the folks who just dropped a tab, there's "Help I'm a Rock" and "It Can't Happen Here" which pretty much give the album its name. They give the first glimpse into the crazy arrangements Zappa would become famous for starting with his next album. This is a good place to start with Zappa as it shows a few different sides of him at once. Crazy, man.
70. The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
The Stones made a big jump here, as well. Everything is original (I think) and they show strong enough songwriting to make their first really good/great album. "Paint It Black" kicks it off, and it's simply one of their best songs, showing off their bad side to The Beatles's good. Brian Jones made a bigger contribution here. He wasn't much of a songwriter, but he could play nearly any instrument you handed him. Some think his contributions are overrated, but he added a lot to their sound with extra instrumentation. He probably would've been a great producer had he lived longer. Other highlights are "Stupid Girl", "Flight 505", "Under My Thumb", and "I Am Waiting". It's also got the 11-minute closer "Going Home", which is awesome.
71. Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
Please don't call me a candyass because I like Simon & Garfunkel. I simply can't understand how one wouldn't appreciate a song like "Homeward Bound". Ok, "Scarborough Fair" is kind of a beating, I'll give you that. And I'm still not sure about Garfunkel's role aside from singing harmony. But Paul Simon was not only a great songwriter, but a terrific guitarist. He doesn't get to show that off on the hits, but you hear it in the deep tracks. In fact, in the deep tracks is where a lot of the fun is. They have a Bob Dylan parody in there that's right on target, and then they close the album by singing Silent Night over a newscast. Weird, yeah, but I like it.
More coming...
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