the bear's lost albums of the rock era (Page 2)

OK - I am going to go with the Boomtown Rats for a pick.  It will not be The Fine Art of Surfacing - because I believe that it is the most well known of the Rats works - and also the most commercially produced. 

I think that many people know the 6 musicians that made up the Rats, but they know them for their name in ways other than this group.  Geldof, Johnny Fingers and Simon Crowe especially. 

The album I pick is Tonic For The Troops (The UK version).  Part of the reason I like it is that Geldof is all over the song writing board on this one.  He is flat out weird and twisted.  Their is no band identity to this album - much like most of the Rats stuff, but it has a theme, and it seems to be - let's see how weird our subject matter can get.

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I have to go with George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", released after the breakup of the Beatles and his attempt to prove that the band was more than Lennon/McCartney.

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Evidently "lost" is a relative term. Gien the popularity and influence of the Beatles, I certainly wouldn't consider their most influential album (Sgt. Pepper) , or the best solo Beatle album (All Things...) as "lost." But, to each his own.

This week I'll move away from the 60s, for anyone who thinks nothing good came out of the 80s.

Love me some punk/pop, loves me some jangling guitar. Loves me a band that takes the Velvet Underground into a new decade.

Gots all that on the Feelies' debut, Crazy Rhythms:

The band has a unique guitar sound said to be achieved by plugging the instrument directly into the mixing board.

High points include "The Boy of Perpetual Nervousness" and "Fa Cé-La"; I like the cover of The Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide..." The CD release also includes a later cover of "Paint it Black."

Love that album!

marmadaddy - 2009-04-21 4:51 PM This one came up in the playlist today and I was struck by how well it's aged:



They were the American poster children for new wave with their silly haircuts and oh so trendy clothes, but the music was there to give substance to the style (or what passed for it at the time). The single "Voices Carry" is what brought them to everyone's attention, but the rest of the album had depth that belied the image. Jangly, echo laden guitars not unlike another new guitar player of the period with the funny name of "the Edge", Aimee Mann's emotive vocals and some very solid pop grooves all supported what were, and are, some great songs. "Love In a Vacuum", "Winning the War" and particularly "Don't Watch Me Bleed" are about as good as breakup songs get.

It wasn't a landmark, but a really good record that's stood up very well and shows that 80's pop wasn't the total wasteland it's usually considered to be.

Aimee was just HAWT - what more needs to be explained?

Hey, bear!  Was this thread done?

Television was a short-lived band that came out of the CBGB scene in NYC, though they had little in common with the other well-known CGBG acts (Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads). Capably and innovatively led by Tom Verlaine, and it's his guitar interplay with fellow band member Richard Lloyd that makes this and astonishing and revolutionary guitar rock album.

I'm a big fan of Bob Boilen, host of commie radio NPR's All Songs Considered, and it's from him that I get this week's entry.

British folk rock isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but Farport Convention had the components and personnel to rise above the genre to claim a place among rock's better and more influential bands. Unhalfbricking, released in 1969, is their third album and arguably their best.

The album features the exceptional guitar work of Richard Thompson and the "powerful and penetrating alto voice" of Sandy Denny, and includes songs written by both as well as updated versions of traditional British folk songs. The high point of the album is Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," which Boilen featured this week on his "Songs that Give You Chills" episode of ASC.

Fairport's next album, Liege and Lief, is equally good, and different versions of the band continued recording into the late 70s. Thompson perhaps achieved greater success with his then-wife Linda, particularly on the two great albums I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Shoot Out the Lights. Denny went on to do some solo work and collaborations (including guest vocals on Zeppelin's "The Battle of Nevermore"), rejoined Fairport in the mid-70s, then died tragically in 1978 from injuries sustained from a fall down a flight of stairs.

Led by Alex Chilton (perhaps better known as the lead singer of the Boxtops 60s hit "The Letter" ), this quintessential power pop band recorded these two albums at Ardent Studios in Memphis. The band and the albums were then poorly promoted and distributed, and lost to the masses.

As a band Big Star was short-lived but was extremely influential; one can cite REM, the Replacements, the Posies and Primal Scream among their progeny. The Replacements included a homage song, "Alex Chilton," on Pleased to Meet Me.
Probably best known are the songs "September Gurls," "Back of a Car," and "In the Street," which was used as the theme song for That '70s Show.

The Third album, also called Sister Lover, is mostly a Chilton solo project that is essential listening. Chilton and original drummer Jody Stephens reformed the band with two members of the Posies and released a new album in 2005, In Space, to favorable reviews.

I was wondering if you'd do Shoot out the Lights.  Big Richard Thompson fan here.  Thanks for the Fairport Convention reminder.