Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
Without wanting to sound pretentious, a pertinent song with 'soul' (can't think of another way of expressing it) would Shirley be oblivious to technological advances.
[Music] These albums are 50 years old in 2022
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Without wanting to sound pretentious, a pertinent song with 'soul' (can't think of another way of expressing it) would Shirley be oblivious to technological advances.
Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
A prime example is the best song from 1972, from a memory base of course!
studio150
Well-known member
19 but no mention of
Argus
Some Time In New York City
All Directions
What A Bunch Of Sweeties
Free At Last
.........
Argus
Some Time In New York City
All Directions
What A Bunch Of Sweeties
Free At Last
.........
Fair points.
Which other years have had bursts of creativity, and which bands/movements/genres, in your opinion?
jakarta
Well-known member
Black Sabbath Volume 4 is utterly wonderful if that is your genre, the mighty 'Hogs were mighty, Matching Mole were the Softs in another guise, never a huge fan of the Beach Boys and have to say Gentle Giant passed me by- will have to have a listen to them...
Ooh it’s a corner
Well-known member
I have five of those listed I think but Ziggy, Harvest and Talking Book were bought a few years later. Only the debut albums there from Steely Dan and the Eagles were bought within about 12 months of their release. I was 14 at the start of ‘72 and mainly bought a few singles(financial reasons!). I mostly remember recording lots of stuff on a cassette player with mic in front of my transistor!!!
Blues Guitarist
Well-known member
He played the whole of Seconds Out at Dresden a few weeks ago. Magical.
Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
I think this era more than any other in pop music history shows how fine the tightrope is between innovative, creative art and pretentious, self-indulgent bollocks.
Superphil
Dismember
Too young to have been buying music in ‘72 but I have bought a few of them over the years, still have them in either LP or CD format;
Bowie - Ziggy
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Lou Reed - Transformer
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Alice Cooper - Schools Out
Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
Uriah Heep - Magicians Birthday
Beefheart - Clear Spot (download)
Sabbath - Vol 4
Ziggy being one of my top 10 LPs of all time, so far.
Bowie - Ziggy
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Lou Reed - Transformer
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Alice Cooper - Schools Out
Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
Uriah Heep - Magicians Birthday
Beefheart - Clear Spot (download)
Sabbath - Vol 4
Ziggy being one of my top 10 LPs of all time, so far.
Machiavelli
Well-known member
You never sound pretentious, although I do sometimes
Agree with that, and that kind of indefinable 'soul' is doing precisely a lot of work. The technological advances I was referring to don't necessarily improve the music (although they can do or, more accurately, enable music to be taken in new directions -- Kraftwerk would be a prime example). It's more that they have facilitated both the production of more music and, probably more importantly, opened up numerous channels to receive it. It means there's more out there, and a wider range.
Machiavelli
Well-known member
Yes, those 2 would definitely be in my list too, and I'm not in a position to decree whether much of that list is pony but, for me, I suspect you'd be right. I have limited knowledge of albums' year of release, but would add that Music of My Mind was also released in 72, and I suspect it doesn't feature because only one album per artist is allowed.
Yes and no. Where the technology comes in, is enabling more people with a vision to be able to produce their vision. In the past you would have needed studio time and financial means to create something.....which only the (literally) chosen few had access to. Via advances with technology you can now have an 'orchestra' in your bedroom. Sault is a good example of this. His/their 5 albums cover all manner of genres and influences......and I am pretty confident little of this, if any, was actually recorded live. There is no way he could have made these records 10/20 years ago.
On the topic of Sault, [MENTION=28490]Machiavelli[/MENTION] , have you heard the latest album?
Machiavelli
Well-known member
Ha, I was thinking that when I typed it, and the answer really does get at the heart of the quality versus subjectivity debate with music. As with most binaries, I think you have to work a way through them, rather than attach yourself to one or the other. So, in terms of music, it's obvious that certain music has staying power: I'll mention The Beatles especially for [MENTION=22849]Stato[/MENTION], Kraftwerk for you, and Radiohead who I've come to the view are my greatest band ever now.* But saying that introduces the subjectivity, and it's here that things get much trickier.
And that's because, in no small part, much is a result of our time and place within the world. There might be equally good bands from, for instance, Mali or Latin America that I'm just not aware of.
To try to answer your question more directly, the reason why I'm so attached to 68-74 but also want to claim that it was a period of a burst of creativity and quality, especially because of the multiple different forms of music released then: quirky British pop (Beatles, Bowie), sleazier variants (Stones), rockier forms (Zep), English folk (Nick Drake) and, from the States, titans of jazz (Nina, Miles), soul (multiples from Motown), funk (if this is where to categorise Wonder), emerging disco, Californian (Beach Boys), country-tinged stuff (Gram Parsons, however to describe Big Star), stunning long-lasting singer-songwriters (Young, Waits), and countless others that I've probably forgotten. Krautrock was also on the rise then (Neu, Kraftwerk, Can), and some brilliant reggae, ska and even emergence of dub (though that's probably a bit later). That's pretty compelling to me.
In terms of other periods, I just don't think you get that range. I think pre-68 (but unsure how far to go back) was pretty good too. But then it's far more fragmented: rise of post-punk in UK and NY in late 70s/early 80s, Bristol sound 90s, drum-and-bass/jungle, grunge/lo-fi (Pixies, Nirvana, Elliott Smith) contemporary London (and probably Chicago) jazz, neo-classical (Frahm, Arnaulds, Richter), contemporary female singer-songwriters.
And that list does exclude more 'world' music, which I just don't know enough about, which upsets me. I do recognise this list illustrates subjectivity and my journey through time/space, but I suspect that much of it will have staying power.
*Someone really into classical music would invoke Bach, Beethoven, etc
Machiavelli
Well-known member
I have, but only a few times. I'm completely unsure about it, but will buy it when it comes out on CD anyway. Your thoughts/experience with it?
Edit: although now having read through to the end of your post, I just can't get beyond the quality of what Stevie Wonder produced in a short time around 72/73.
Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
Try these https://ethiopiquesseries.bandcamp.com/, my favourite box sets I possess aside from the Stax / Volt complete.
Machiavelli
Well-known member
Thanks. I think there's a few there, are there a few that you'd recommend to start with?
I had not read a single review so it took me completely by surprise and the initial listen was just one of shock. I have gone back to it though, and now understand it better and very much like it. In one sense it sits perfectly in his Sault CV, but in another it doesnt. It's cinematic, almost an open letter asking for a soundtrack commission. The OST will most certainly come.
I'll definitely buy it when it comes out in physical form.
Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
Should give you an oversight...it's a bit of a wormhole.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3WkDWD8ycVO7kHfQPXWDSJ
https://open.spotify.com/album/64BIQfXdqgzg6mh1UJxzEY
Well I like it.