Dez's 100 Favorite Rock/Pop Records, #85-81

To catch up on what's happened so far, check out #100-96 and intro, #95-91, and #90-86. Some quick stats: 77 different artists fill out the 100 slots. Out of those 77 artists, 33 are currently members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are 7 artists who max out with the three allowed selections. So far (including today) you have seen 2 of those 7 maxed-out artists once already.

85. The Grateful Dead – American Beauty, 1970
The Dead’s reputation as a stoner live band and the accompanying lifestyle prevent some listeners who would otherwise be naturally disposed towards them from actually checking out some of their better studio material. That is a real shame, because #85 is a gorgeous record of Americana, every bit as good as the best of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Uncle Tupelo or Ryan Adams. The Dead moved from the psychedelic noodling of their previous efforts to acoustic, folk-based, tight songwriting on #85 and its immediate predecessor and companion piece, Workingman’s Dead. This is their best batch of songs. Opening with the luminous “Box of Rain” (probably my favorite Dead tune), they progress through a survey of American folk, blues, country and rock musical textures, punctuated throughout by Jerry Garcia’s tasty guitar licks (but very few solos here). Also featured is the oft covered “Friend of the Devil”, perennial Deadhead favorite “Sugar Magnolias”, the acoustic beauty “Ripple”, and their biggest radio hit (before the freak success of “Touch of Grey”), the autobiographical “Truckin’”, which features their most famous lyric: “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” Sometimes a record is indelibly linked to a memory. Back in my high school days, my buddy Eric and I took a road trip from Texas to Colorado. Eric brought along a cassette copy of American Beauty, and to this day when I listen to this music I can still vividly recall crossing the Colorado state line to the opening chords of “Box of Rain”, cruising down the highway with the mountains in the background, the windows down and that Rocky Mountain air blowing through the car. Good music, good friends, the open road…it doesn’t get much better than that.


Above: The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty is one of those perfect road trip albums

84. Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969
Some days I prefer their more disparate follow-up with Neil Young, Deja Vu, but I generally give the edge to the debut because it is the most pure distillation of their strengths and cohesion. Never have the harmonies been tighter. #84 is essentially a showcase for Stephen Stills, who played all the instruments (except some drums), mixed the whole thing, and wrote the majority and best songs. Nash’s three tunes here are negligible and are uniformly the weakest parts of the record, he would contribute more substantive material on future releases. Crosby’s arresting “Guinevere” has some unique and rich harmonic tones, while “Long Time Gone” is the hardest rocking song on the record. But it is Stills who consistently delivers the goods: the classic and complex “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, the groovy “49 Bye Byes”, and the acoustic gems “You Don’t Have To Cry” and “Helplessly Hoping”. Also, “Wooden Ships” (co-written by Stills and Crosby with Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner) serves as one of the great hippie anthems. There is a sonic purity to their chemistry here that would never be recaptured.

83. Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, 1978
Devo’s debut remains one of the most unique and tightest records of the New Wave era. To these ears, it outdoes anything by the more celebrated Talking Heads. Full of herky jerky rhythms and paranoid lyrics, they espouse their de-evolution theories to the hilt; best on “Mongoloid” and manifesto “Jocko Homo”. Opener “Uncontrollable Urge” explodes from the speakers and is catchy as hell, as is the crescendo of “Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)”. Ironically, the most Devo-like song here is their deconstruction of The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, where they turn it into a tense, robotic piece of paranoia and frustrated brilliance. This is punk music for freaks and geeks, with its focus on odd philosophies of “de-evolution”, sci-fi cheese, cynical views of society, and an overall frustration bathed in wit and humor. Unfortunately, they would never come close to matching their debut.


Above: Devo’s debut is punk music for freaks and geeks

And speaking of the Stones…

82. The Rolling Stones – Beggar’s Banquet, 1968
The Stones dive head first into their most decadent phase with this fan favorite. We all know the sinister samba of “Sympathy For the Devil” and the ambiguous call to arms of “Street Fighting Man”, but the rest is just as great. “Stray Cat Blues” is one of their most sleazy tunes, laid down on a nasty groove:

“I can see that you’re fifteen years old
No, I don’t want your I.D….
You say you got a friend, she’s wilder than you
Well, why don’t you bring her upstairs”

They also mastered the acoustic side of things, mixing elements of country and blues brilliantly in their ragged brew with the melancholy “No Expectations” and the gritty acoustic stomp of “Parachute Woman”. #82 was the beginning of a hitting streak of albums that is still unmatched in rock.

81. Dave Matthews Band – Under the Table and Dreaming, 1994
DMB has the most annoying fans (yes, more irritating concert experiences). I admire their dedication, but I am irritated by their lack of context. DMB fans go on and on about how the band is the greatest jam band in history, the most gifted improvisers in all of rock. That is just not the case. Ever listened to The Allman Brothers Band, people? Bela Fleck & the Flecktones? Also, Matthews is an embarrassing lyricist, but fortunately he sings in such an incoherent manner that you usually can just ignore what he is trying to say. Finally, Leroi Moore (sax) and Boyd Tinsley (violin) are mediocre soloists. So, why the hell do I have their record on my list? Matthews is a gifted and intricate guitar player, and the band as a whole creates dynamic sounds and locks into killer grooves. Carter Beauford is the best drummer playing today this side of Stewart Copeland. In fact, his intricate and tasteful playing reminds me quite a bit of Copeland. “Ants Marching”, “The Best of What’s Around” and “Satellite” were all over the radio in the mid-90’s and really stood apart from everything else at the time. “Warehouse”, “Lover Lay Down” and the trippy “Dancing Nancies” are also very distinctive tunes.