Dez's Favorite 100 Rock/Pop Albums, #'s 60-56

I am becoming more convinced that vinyl is the true music fan’s medium. It continues to sadden me as I watch the de-evolution of music's presentation (vinyl to CD to MP3). There are several arguments in vinyl’s favorite, but I’ll leave you with a seemingly superficial one. In the days of vinyl, the cover and inside artwork was an essential part of the whole package. It got reduced with the CD, and now with downloads and MP3’s it is all but meaningless. That is a real shame, because the excitement and complete world created by a great record used to start with the visuals, even before you got the wrapper off. For example, with this week’s selections, the iconic gatefold photo on #58 was as much a part of that album’s mystique and power as anything; while the artist at #57 took great care in creating interesting cover art for his early records.

60. Whiskeytown – Stranger’s Almanac, 1997
Although the much beloved alt-hero Ryan Adams releases a new album every five minutes to seemingly more and more orgasmic praise from fans and critics alike, I think he perfected his alt-country style with his early band Whiskeytown. Most of his material since has been variations on the same themes explored here. His albums are still good, don’t get me wrong, but none of them have really improved on #60. He delivers his usual blend of solid country-tinged rockers (“Yesterday’s News”, “16 Days”) and stark, gorgeous weepers (“Inn Town”, “Avenues”, “Houses on the Hill”). The exhibits on #60 are the best of both of his signature styles. And the fact that here he is still a part of a band and merely the first among equals means that Adams’ musical excesses are kept in check.

59. The Kinks – The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, 1968
Peter Townshend and The Who may get more credit for mastering the ‘rock concept album,’ but my money is on Ray Davies as the true genius of the form. This lovely pastoral masterpiece was overlooked when it was released, but in recent years critics and fans alike now look back on it as a milestone; as a truly great record from its era, but very much outside of its era. Ray himself cheekily refers to it as “the most successful flop of all time.” Townshend raved “For me, Village Green Preservation Society is Ray’s masterwork. It’s his Sgt. Pepper, it’s what makes him the definitive pop poet laureate.” Part of why it was not big at the time and yet sounds fresher today than many of its more famous contemporaries is that Ray Davies was not interested in hippie flower power BS or protest music. Or to be more precise, Davies’ music was a very different type of “protest music.” Davies’ best songs often are drenched in nostalgia for simpler and more prosperous days of yore in an England currently in economic decline; it is a theme he returns to again and again throughout his career. So this largely pastoral acoustic record looks back to an idealized Britain that probably never really existed. And I must stress: Britain. The Kinks are the most English of the British Invasion bands. Part of this was a matter of circumstance. Around this time, The Kinks were banned from touring the United States due to a nasty dispute between Davies and the musician’s union in the States. Davies commented, “The American ban had a profound effect on me, driving me to write something particularly English, in a way that made me look at my own roots rather than my American inspirations.” It is infused with warm nostalgia and sharp humor, such as the tongue-in-cheek cultural manifesto of the title track, where Ray makes his stand. The catchy “Picture Book” has gotten play in recent years in TV commercials, I love the line: “Picture book, of people with each other / To prove they loved each other, a long time ago.” This is one of those albums that you’ve probably overlooked. You shouldn’t. God save The Kinks.

58. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run, 1975
The ultimate street opera record from The Boss. This was also an essential hit for him, because Columbia Records was about ready to drop him if he didn’t deliver a smash record on his third try. Boy, did he come through in the clutch. This was the last record where he created multi-part, complex compositions. After #58, he would streamline his sound for a more direct approach that was more effective in some ways, but also lost some of the early grandeur of life on E Street. “Thunder Road” and the title track are his two greatest anthems, and the former really captures his famous car/relationship/escapist imagery:

“All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow, hey, what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night’s busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven’s waiting down on the track…”

“Backstreets” is an epic tune about friendship. One of my favorite tunes is “Meeting Across the River,” a devastating story-song about the long shot, desperate hopes of one of the Jersey shore losers he captured so well in his early writing. Finally, “Jungleland” is Springsteen at his most operatic and grandiose, clocking in at almost 10 minutes, it realizes all of the promise that Bruce showed in his early days as the "rock and roll savior" (to quote a particularly famous review from the time). It also closes the door on the first era of Springsteen's music, he would never write something quite as musically ambitious as "Jungleland" again.


Above: Born to Run (complete gatefold shot shown) is rightfully honored in the rock pantheon as one of the all time greats.

57. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (aka 'III', aka ‘melt’), 1980
Many critics view Gabriel’s third solo effort as his best record, and that is hard to argue against (although I prefer some others, as you will see). This is where he really begins to indulge his love of world music (years before Paul Simon’s Graceland, by the way). Gabriel also instituted some other innovations that gave #57 its unique sonic textures, such as forbidding his drummers from using any cymbals during recording. But what it always boils down to with a great record is that this is a hell of a set of tunes. “No Self Control” and “Intruder” are effectively brooding, “I Don’t Remember” and “And Through the Wires” rock (at least by Gabriel standards), single “Games Without Frontiers” is a quirky classic, “Family Snapshot” is very interesting lyrically, while the majestic and skeletal “Biko” brings together everything he was trying to accomplish with this record in stunning fashion. Gabriel has always displayed a theatrical quality in his writing and performance, in that he tells interesting stories and enjoys taking unusual perspectives in many of his songs, such as “Intruder," where he sings creepily in whispers from the perspective of a burglar with a strong voyeuristic fetish. And then the dynamic “Family Snapshot” is sung from the perspective of Lee Harvey Oswald awaiting Pres. Kennedy’s motorcade. #57 is sonically groundbreaking, but the songs are also some of the most interesting lyrically of Gabriel's career.


Above: A typically striking album cover from Peter Gabriel. Gabriel did not title his first four records, preferring to just have his name and an image on the covers. He once said that he viewed them as “different issues of the same magazine.” The record company understandably wanted actual titles to promote, so Gabriel eventually gave in (sort of), naming later albums with short, one word titles (So, Passion, Us, Up, and so forth.)

56. James McMurtry – Where’d You Hide the Body, 1995
He definitely has the genes to be a great songwriter, McMurtry is the son of an English professor and writer Larry McMurtry. True to his heritage, McMurtry is a fantastic Texas storyteller, delivering his tunes in a deadpan talk/sung voice reminiscent of Lou Reed (but slightly more tuneful) and usually backed with an earthy band. “Iolanthe” is a southern gothic piece, while “Down Across the Delaware” is a devastating look at a relationship that has lost all fire and connection (“we communicate through post-it notes on the refrigerator”). The title track is an angry yet empathetic attempt to reach out to an emotionally distant lover. But the highlight among many is the moody “Rachel’s Song”, a tune about regrets, mistakes and bad habits handed down through the generations. If you’re a fan of Texas songwriters, McMurtry is one of the best, and #56 is his best effort.