Dez's Favorite Rock/Pop Records, #20-16

20. U2 – The Unforgettable Fire, 1984
Rightfully regarded as a transitional record and wrongfully often forgotten in the shuffle, #20 is U2’s most atmospheric record, where producers Daniel Lenois and Brian Eno became de facto members of the band. Pieces like “Promenade,” “4th of July” and “Elvis Presley in America” are little more than ethereal ambience. “Pride (In the Name of Love)” is the big hit here, and is one of their great anthems. But the rest is much less easily grasped. I love the sound textures of “Sort of Homecoming” and the brooding title track. U2’s greatest song is also here, the gorgeous “Bad,” a harrowing look at heroin addiction, but it is also a song infused with hope. Edge’s echo-drenched guitar lines, Bono’s emotional delivery, Mullen’s haunting rhythm…it is the perfect U2 song that was even made better subsequently on the live EP Wide Awake In America. It is also worth noting that Bono was never in finer voice, he had finally matured as a vocalist and had not yet lost some of his power or range due to the ravages of the road or age. It closes perfectly with the hymn “MLK.” This is the closest U2 ever got to ambient music, and it was a crucial step from their more straightforward rock period to their more experimental material.

19. The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers, 1971
The weariest damn record I know. They were almost to the point where their decadence had finally caught up with them, and they knew it. Sure, they still rock. Check out “Brown Sugar” (a hit single about a horny slaveowner sneaking out at night for some action with the slave women), the misogynistic rocker “Bitch”, and the killer jam of “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (a rare instance where they jam on an extended groove, it makes you wish that they did this much more often than they did). But the weary songs are the ones that really stick, like the mid-tempo “Sway,” the haunting “Wild Horses,” the dead-on country of “Dead Flowers,” the harrowing “Sister Morphine” and the transcendent “Moonlight Mile,” which is both desolate and beautiful at the same time. It is interesting to note that second guitarist Mick Taylor would soon leave the Stones due to a conflict over songwriting credit here. The Jagger/Richards team continued to take credit for all original Stones material, but evidently Taylor had a lot to do with these songs (as well as the songs on the previous few records.) I think that the contributions of Taylor are often overlooked, he was not only a kick ass guitarist, but he also contributed more than he was given credit for during the Stones’ greatest period.


ABOVE: I'm the proud owner of the vinyl version of Sticky Fingers with the working zipper.

18. Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland, 1968
This sprawling double album masterpiece has something for every rock fan. Blues? The fifteen minute “Voodoo Chile.” Tight pop/rock tunes? “Crosstown Traffic,” “Come On,” “Gypsy Eyes.” Psychedelic experimentation? “1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be).” Cosmic soul? ”Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)?” “Rainy Day, Dream Away,” “Still Raining, Still Dreaming.” Political/social commentary? The blistering “House Burning Down.” Groundbreaking guitar work? How about the unmatched wah-fest of “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” “Still Raining, Still Dreaming” and the otherworldly “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”? The most famous cover in rock history? How about how Hendrix recasts Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” so definitively with cascading guitar lines that even Dylan performed it Hendrix’s way from then on. It’s all here. Each of these avenues would be noteworthy career peaks for most artists. The fact that he threw it all on one release? Astounding.

17. The Cure – Disintegration, 1987
Robert Smith at his most dramatic, melancholy and most languid. A phenomenal mood record, it was the holy scripture for millions of pasty goth kids everywhere. What is here is a grey soundscape ripped by dark crevices of sound for miles and miles. The opening line of the first song is “I think it’s dark and it looks like rain”…and it is all downhill from there. Smith has always been the most melodic of guitar players, and here he can go on for almost 7 minutes on variations of the same riff and keep it interesting (“Pictures of You”). A song like “Same Deep Water As You” takes you to the edge of despair, but it is not all doom and gloom. “Lovesong” is indeed lovely, and “Fascination Street” and the title track actually rock pretty hard. “Pictures of You” and the delightfully creepy “Lullaby” may be the quintessential Cure songs. Feeling bad never sounded so good.

16. Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night, 1975
Speaking of feeling bad, this is perhaps the most depressing record ever made, and it is also one of the sloppiest. Neil and band are clearly wasted, the band is out of tune, and the weariness permeates every moment. Why is this record so beloved? Because it is so raw and honest. Neil had just lost Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry to heroin overdoses, and here he is at the end of his rope with despair, and he lays it all out there on the record grooves. This was so raw and unpolished that the record label refused to release it for over a year after he presented it to them. Tunes like “Albuquerque,” “Tired Eyes,” “Roll Another Number,” the title track…they are all brilliant depictions of the lows of drug culture in Southern California in the early 70’s. A highlight is a blazing live cut with Crazy Horse, “Come On Baby, Let’s Go Downtown” featuring Danny Whitten on lead vocals, the perfect tribute to his departed friend. For me, the essence here can really be captured with “Borrowed Tune,” a desolate piano ballad where Neil steals the melody from The Rolling Stones’ “Lady Jane.” Neil admits:

“I’m singin’ this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones
Alone in this empty room, too wasted to write my own
I’m climbin’ this ladder, my head’s in the clouds…I hope that it matters”

This was Neil’s darkest night, he would never travel this desolate road of the soul again, but it is also one of his several career peaks. This album is for those interested in honest expression from a talented artist who has boldly explored many musical avenues over the years; one who is much more interested in capturing the honest musical moment vs. putting together a pretty product for mass consumption.


ABOVE: Neil's Tonight's the Night is a strung out masterpiece of sloppy, weary grooves and brilliant songwriting