Over the years we've had some great music threads,so I'm hoping we'll get some serious entries and analysis.Not really looking for your favorite album-I've probably got at least 50 and can't imagine narrowing it down to a single choice.Rather,I am interested in what you regard as a singularly important album and why.An album you regard as complete-something that made a statement,lived up to the hype and (most importantly) has withstood the test of time.

I deliberately use the word album,because (in my opinion)it has to have been released as an album to qualify as withstanding time.I'd also say it needs to be at least half your age,because I'm looking for choices that have had an impact on your life-not the latest flavor.At least that's the way I'd define the elements that comprise a
"milestone"-but that's just my opinion.

This thread is a result of this year being the 30th anniversary of my personal choice,and the fact that I appreciate it even more today than I did when I first heard it as a 20 yr old college junior 30 years ago.The album was released in August 1975 amidst unbelievable hype-in fact I was initially so turned off by the publicity and praise that I purposely avoided listening to it like the plague.It wasn't till Nov or Dec when one of my friends went out and bought it that I finally took the time to sit down and listen to Born To Run.

Even before the dual covers of Time and Newsweek,
Springsteen's marathon-length live shows had elevated him to mythical status on the East coast.I hadn't heard either of his first 2 albums,and without an internet those of us in the midwest weren't real connected to the scene on either coast.So I wasn't really sure what to expect,and the music and lyrics combined were like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

It's an overworked phrase,but to me BTR is simply a masterpiece.Even today it is difficult to comprehend a 25 yr old producing a work of such depth and brilliance.I'm not sure I'd even characterize it as my "favorite" Springsteen album,but it is THE album that epitomizes what defines a Springsteen album.I don't think it's possible to be a Springsteen fan and not love BTR.There isn't any filler-every song stands on it's own merit and at least 5 of them are among my personal top 20 choices.

Side 1 opens with Thunder Road,which still blows me away every time I hear it.Bruce has described it as "an invitation"-not just the narrator urging Mary to join him in the front seat,but in the wider scope Bruce inviting all of us to take a chance on life,on love,on him...

"Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free..."


And then a final declaration

"It's a town full of losers,we're pulling out of here to win."

Backstreets closes side 1 with its tale of sexual ambiguity and friendship (love?) betrayed.The "soft infested summer" when the narrator became friends with Terry ends in bitter rebuke...

"Blame it on the lies that killed us,on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me,Terry
It don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight
There was nothing left to say
But I hated him
And I hated you,when you went away"

The second side opens with the title cut,a song that explodes the themes of rebellion and escape that were introduced in Thunder Road.

"Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap,it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us,baby we were born to run"

But inevitably life is a struggle,and sometimes it isn't possible to escape your destiny.Some people fall victim to their dreams and aspirations-no matter how hard they try they can't clear the hurdles life puts in their path.

The narrator of Meeting Across The River is such a flawed hero.He wants to do good,but he can't help stumbling and he's running out of time. Combine the desperation of the lyrics with the achingly melancholy sax infusion and I can't help but envision a down on his luck gambler hopelessly in hock to a bookie or wiseguy...

"Hey Eddie,can you lend me a few bucks
And tonight can you get us a ride?
Gotta make it thru the tunnel
Got a meeting with a man on the other side

Hey Eddie this guy he's the real thing
So if you want to come along
You gotta promise you won't say anything
'Cause this guy don't dance
And the word's been passed this is our last chance..."

From the despair of Meeting,to the segue into the
initial hope and promise of Jungleland.We meet the Rangers,and we're enthralled by the romance of the Magic Rat and the barefoot girl.It's West Side Story updated to reflect the realities of '70s America-they have succeeded in escaping from the trap that life held for them.They are together and they are safe-they've defied the odds and can live together happily ever after.At least until reality intrudes...

"Beneath the city two hearts beat
Soul engines running thru a night so tender
In a bedroom locked
In whispers of soft refusal
And then surrender..."

However,ultimately, Jungleland is Jungleland,and despite our initial optimism and hope there is no happy ending here.The Rat and the barefoot girl took a chance on romance,and came up snake eyes.Trust leads to betrayal,and we get a possible answer to an intriguing question Bruce was to pose 5 yrs later on The River "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true,or is it something worse?..."


Jungleland is about desperation and the cruel irony of dreams smashed by reality.Sometimes escape isn't possible-sometimes it's an exercise in futility.Some people will fight to win and end up losing-it's not an ideal scenario,it's just a harsh truth.The people who inhabit Jungleland are trapped and the cruel irony is that those with Dreams end up paying a heavy price.

"In the tunnels uptown
The Rat's own dream guns him down
As shots echo down them hallways in the night
No one watches as the ambulance pulls away
Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light

Outside the street's on fire
In a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of a knife
They reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded
And not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland"

For any other BTR fans out there,a special commemorative reissue is scheduled to be released on Nov 15.Besides the first ever remix of a Springsteen original,it will include a dvd on the making of BTR,and a second dvd of the legendary Hammersmith Odeon concert from 1975.

[ October 18, 2005, 03:59 AM: Message edited by: Tim ]

I think, being a gay man,that the "Age of Consent"
album by "Bronski Beat" was a breakthrough album.
"Smalltown Boy" still strikes a nerve when I listen to it because sometimes it just feels like you are moments away from being a victim of a hate crime.Then there's the song "Why" which addresses all the contempt that so many of us have to face when we dare express our feelings in public.It seems to me that this was the first group of songs that were seriously "non-apologetic" about being gay.I loved the quality of the music,the brazen style of lyrics and the overall "In Your Face" attitude.Jimmy Somerville is definitely one of a kind and deserves much more accolades than he has received.

Milestone?

Can the Circle be Unbroken – The Carter Family

The Original Album was released in 1935 from 17 tracks laid down in 3 days for ARC; The digitally re mastered re release (2000) includes three extra tracks from 1940 as a bonus. None of them were previously recorded for Victor, but Legacy's sound far surpasses Rounder's catalog of their Victor output.

The history of American roots music lies with southwestern Virginia's Carter Family's hymns, white blues, transplanted British folk ballads and sentimental 19th-century parlor songs. Playing melody on her bass strings, Maybelle helped to bring the guitar to the forefront of pop instrumentation.

Seminal music always seems to come at intersections -- the vertices where separate forces meet and create something original. Sometimes the beauty and essential correctness of the collision creates a revolution. Like Louis Armstrong or Elvis. A little of both was in the air when New York based A&R man Ralph Peer and Founder A.P. Carter scoured the hills of Southern Virginia throughout the 20's and 30's, collecting mostly old songs from AP’s neighbors, and copyrighting them with his arrangements, in the physically remote area of the mountainous mid-South known as Appalachia. The Carter family was Peers most important find.

Even before they were discovered, the group was already a fusion of sorts, combining church singing with front porch picking and a new droning harmony sound. But beyond their regional innovations, they had a commercial appeal they couldn't possibly have imagined.

From 1927 until 1943, the Carter Family was a national sensation. Roughly concurrent with the rise of jazz, they brought a new awareness of regional music to an America obsessed with radio. Before nationalized entertainment their fame would have been unimaginable. As it was, they became an important cultural reference point to the still embattled South. And when the group broke up they continued on anyway, with Maybelle Carter and her daughters Helen, Anita, and June (the future Mrs. Johnny Cash) keeping the group's name and, to a lesser extent, songs, alive and well.

Can the Circle Be Unbroken is not from Ralph Peer's original recording session, but from eight years later when the group was an accomplished act, flush with radio success and professional confidence. The 17 songs they recorded (three more songs from a 1940 session are tacked onto the re-issue) are all classics that were taken almost entirely from the public domain and credited to group leader A.P. Carter, as was traditional at the time.

When you listen to the Carter Family you'll hear guitar, autoharp, and singing. That's about it. But it's the way they sing and play the guitar that's important. Sara Carter's lead vocal is plain, simple and beautiful in an old-fashioned way. Maybelle Addington (later Carter when she married A.P. Carter's brother, Ezra) played the guitar with the instrumental equivalent of Sara's singing: with clarity, subtlety and cocksure time. A.P., as the group's musical director, was responsible for the song selection and arrangements, which were as much a part of the group's success as anything else. Sometimes he threw in a low harmony to fine effect, but mostly he dealt with songs. And judging by the 20 gems on Can the Circle Be Unbroken, he rarely faltered.

This is the Album W Guthrie said was the most "influential" he had ever heard and about which B Sprinstein once said "it's where it all started".

If you care about roots music, how can you not have a Carter disc on the shelves? The original writers have mostly been lost to history, but the songs remain. Many of these can be found with different verses on recordings by other artists: "Worried Man Blues" eventually became "It Takes a Worried Man" for the Kingston Trio in the late 1950's. Woody Guthrie put some of his best lyrics to tunes found or written by the Carter Family, such as "Wildwood Flower" which was used for "Ballad of the Reuben James." Woody's song "Hesitating Beauty" on Billy Bragg's "Mermaid Avenue" collection, carries the tune of the Carters' "Lulu Walls".

The term is overused, but the Carter Family is truly essential listening for anyone interested in American music. It's virtually impossible to imagine how Country would have gone without their influence. In Country, Folk, and Rock Music - Everything else came after.

Rob

I would have to say that I agree with you 100% eddiecat. Without a doubt, Bronski Beat-"Age of Consent". The music, but more importantly, the words. The music still stands up today. Hard to believe its been around since the 80's. A one of a kind album from a one of a kind voice.

[ October 18, 2005, 06:25 AM: Message edited by: ITJock ]

I'll stick with the "personal milestone" album, since that'll probably get a more surprising group of answers.



Gary Numan
The Pleasure Principle

I don't expect to ever see this album on anyone's list of "Landmark Albums", or even "Best Albums". But it most certainly marks a milestone in my life.

Up until then, there was two types of music. There was the stuff my parents listened to (classical, mainly) and there was the stuff on the radio I listened to. The second group could be chopped into smaller categories - there was rock and soul and disco and what not. But it was mainly pleasant somewhat poppy stuff that sounded good coming out of the small speaker on the top of my clock radio. I had gotten several 7" singles and a couple LPs, and enjoyed playing them, but didn't think much past that. My brother got this album as a Christmas present, I think. And he liked it OK, but I was stunned by it.

Everything about it seemed like it was from a different world than the one I inhabited. Yeah, the guy on the cover was rather bland, wearing a brown suit...but he had eye shadow on! And he wore this weird boiler suit on in the inside pictures. And why was he staring at this glowing pyramid? (Numan: "Some guy at Beggar's Banquet had it on his his desk, and I thought it looked neat.") Having not seen the original Magritte picture, I obviously had no frame of reference, but even this rather pedestrian takeoff looked bizarre.

If the picture confused me, imagine what the music did. Sure, it was a pop album, but it was unlike anything I'd heard. Even the hit single "Cars" didn't sound like anything around it. All keyboards, with some bizarre blatantly-synthesized percussion, mixed with a live drummer and tambourine. And the structure was all wrong: two quick verses, no chorus, and the last two minutes are all instrumental. Kind of a leap from "Bad Girls".

The rest of the album was, well, more so. There wasn't a guitar anywhere on the album. The keyboards had a similar tone throughout, but a bit of piano and violin (?!) here and there shook things up, and the drumming is excellent. And through it all, Gary intones in his somewhat-robotic/somewhat-passionate voice about...well, not about love, anyway. I think I figured out "Metal" pretty quickly (a robot who wants to be human), but it took me a long time to figure out that "M.E." was also about a robot, the last "living" creature on Earth sitting around waiting to die. These sci-fi lyrics fit in perfectly with all the books I had been getting out of the library - mainly 50s and 60s pulp books for teens about robots who run away and cause havoc (but never destruction). All set to some good melodies that I still find myself humming now and again.

I've never picked this as my favorite album of all time (except maybe in 1980), and I don't even listen to it as much as many other ones. But it's certainly a milestone album. Every time I hear it, I'm suddenly transported back on my bed, staring at the cover, wondering what it all means. And from that point on, music wasn't the same for me again.

LXN

“Everyday I wake up alone, because I’m not like all the other boys…”



My personal milestone album is 1999’s The Man Who by Travis. It’s hard for me to put into words what this album shared with me during times when I didn’t think I had anything else.

The very first song “Writing to Reach You” hit me hard. Not only is the lead singer Fran Healy singing a song about exactly how I’m feeling at the time, but he also just happens to mention that he wrote it to reach me. And it does. All the way from Scotland, to a one bedroom apartment in West Hollywood.

Songs like “Fear” and “As You Are” touch on a subtle sadness of being alone but also some optimism that it can be okay. Not WILL be okay but CAN be okay.

The 4th song “Driftwood” calls me out. I didn’t know it but Franny somehow knows that I’ve been drifting. I don’t know how but he does:

“You're driftwood floating underwater, Breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces,
Just driftwood, hollow and of no use, Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you,
And you really didn't think it would happen, But it really is the end of the line,
So I'm sorry that you've turned to driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time.”

It’s an unapologetic slam on my life. “Here’s what’s up”, Franny says. What are you going to do about it?

Two songs later comes “Turn” a song about wanting to be part of something and that anything is possible if we’re willing to change. And just in case you start whining again that change is good for others but I can’t do it because the world’s against me, Franny does it for you with the sarcastic “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?”

To me this entire album puts a sweet melancholy face on depression and in doing so gives it a substance that makes it easier to deal with. You’re not alone however sitting around whining about it isn’t gonna make it better.

And then in the last song “Slide Show” (not including the hidden track) Franny tells us that these are only songs;

“There is no Design for Life. There’s no Devil’s Haircut in your mind. There is not a Wonderwall to climb or step around. But there is a slide show and it’s so slow, flashing through your mind…”

These are just songs and the meaning isn’t in the lyrics or the songs but between them and around them.

To me this album is put together so well that it’s difficult for me to start it and not finish it. Or just pick and choose a song. It’s like a very personal movie that I want to watch from beginning to end.

[ October 18, 2005, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: Maddog ]

I don't know about album but The Smiths "How Soon is Now" set me on the path to self discovery. It was 1984 and I just started my freshman year of college in Pittsburgh. I knew I was gay but hadn't acted on it and some freinds were going to a club in Oakland called "The Upstage" and were always trying to get me to go. I resisted like crazy but one day finally broke down and waited in the lobby till they went up and found someone with an ID I'd resemble. While I was waiting I saw my first drag guy, and I say drag guy cause he wasn't a queen at all just very new wave and cool. I was floored and by the time my freinds came down to pass me the ID I was hooked. I went into the club, heard Morrisey, saw the guy who would be my first boyfriend and pretty much lost my mind for about 7 years. The drag guy was the first person I knew to die of AIDS so many years ago, jeez. The first boyfriend lives in Boston now, hopefully happily ever after and I am very happy finally, too. That song was so appropriate for everything that ensued after realizing I was gay, losing my straight friends, losing family, running away from home, all the rest.

There is a bit of an age bias to this thread--I'm not old enough to own many "albums", in the strict sense of the word, so I have to include CDs in this. And some really good music has come out in the last 10 years, as well as crap, but I think the recent good stuff should be considered. With that disclaimer, my choice is Bjork's third solo album Homogenic.



This album sounds nothing like anything that came before it. Sure, it came out in 1997, so some here may dismiss it as not being a milestone album. Sure, parts of it have some technology-driven beat that some may find too of-the-moment to be classic. But I really feel this was the first mainstream album to use technology with music in an organic way that resulted in warmth, not cold rhythms. She sings about love, loss, anger, faith...I hear something new and unexpected each time I listen, which to me is the mark of a great album.

For some strange reason, a lot of young gay folks love Bjork. Myself, I remember to exact moment that I came to terms with being gay--sitting on a high speed train between Paris and London, tearing up, and listening to the last album track All is Full of Love:

you'll be given love
you'll be taken care of
you'll be given love
you have to trust it

maybe not from the sources
you have poured yours

maybe not from the directions
you are staring at

trust your head around
it's all around you
all is full of love
all around you

all is full of love : you just ain't receiving
all is full of love : your phone is off the hook
all is full of love : your doors are all shut

all is full of love


Bjork was way ahead of her time with this album. A disparate range of contemporary artists, ranging from Madonna to PJ Harvey to Missy Elliot have tried to crib from Bjork's playbook (with varying success). Homogenic sounds as fresh today as it did when I first heard it eight years ago during freshmen year of college.

(I almost picked Michael Jackson's Thriller and Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.)

[ October 18, 2005, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: Neptune ]

I loved Gary Numan. That had to be the defining moment for new wave when that album came out. I bought it and played it to death, so much so, that it cause me a severe case of "Numanitis", as I had to go out and get evry album the man put out since. I saw him in Seattle in 1980 on his first American tour. It was a really cool concert. I still love Numan to this day. I think he has put many albums out since the late 80's, and early to mid 90's now. I have lost track.

ITJock,
You are not serious about "The Carter Family"?! eek! eek! eek!

He asked for Milestone albums...

Now as for personal Milestones...

CSNY : Déjà Vu

My parents were strict conservatives in the sixties and seventies; they were products of the 40’s and 50’s: Rock was EVIL. This was the first serious album I bought for myself - and it drove my parents’ NUTS. It was the occasion of the first real fight between my parents and me (you do the math - I was not even a teenager at the time).

The following summer was the first summer I got away from home, the first time I went to a Rock Concert (CSNY at SPAC - we snuck into my cousins trunk for the ride, and slipped through the fence near the vale), the first time I got high, and the first time I went skinny dipping by moonlight on Lake George... This album was sort of a precursor - by a decade – to my really declaring my independence and individuality. It was my start at thinking of myself as different.

This album, along with their debut, is commonly referred to as the voice of a generation. This album sweeps me off into the peaceful, innocent, electric tranquility of the era. This was easily one of the most anticipated sophomore efforts in history; and it completely lives up to the hype. It took over 800 hours to record this album; and the band was hardly a "band" during the entire recording process. In fact, each member recorded most of their material separately, and was later engineered and edited. That just seems strange, given the beauty and unity this record holds. The addition of Neil Young gave the band fluency, and added a new set of vocal ranges to the group. Young and Stills were at the top of their game, rising to new levels of complexity in their guitar work. Which gave "Déjà Vu" a much thicker sound than it's predecessor.

The album holds a lot of variety due to the separate recording sessions. But we do catch the band as a whole on two tracks - "Carry On" and "Woodstock". The latter being a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock". "Carry On" opens the album up with some of the most inventive work on the album. The lush vocal melodies fit perfectly with the acoustic and electric settings. It's very apparent that you are hearing a supergroup; a band epitomizing a wave of album rock to come. Still's guitar work is scathing, Dallas Taylor's drumming is visceral, and Greg Reeves bass work is inventive. It was a show favorite and concert staple among both CS&N and CSN&Y.

The second cut, "Teach Your Children" stands in stark contrast to the opener. Graham Nash created the typical example of the country-rock trend to come. Most notable, is the steel guitar twang brought forth by Jerry Garcia. The song is bittersweet in delivery. Nash sings about his personal experiences here. The lyric - "Teach your children well / Their father's hell will slowly go by" was likely in reference to Nash's father being sent to prison for possession of a stolen camera. The lyric is cleverly reversed at the end - "Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by." "Almost Cut My Hair" was immediately one of my favorites. David Crosby boasted a sense of rebellion and freedom with this electric paranoid hippie anthem. This was one of their more exciting live songs that they played. Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young play three-way solos as if the guitars were talking to each other. It also popularized the phrase - "Let my freak flag fly". My favorite cut would have to be Young's "Helpless". Many of the tunes here present the artists personal statements, and "Helpless" is no exception. Here we see Young reminiscing of his childhood, with a slow and soothing country melody. The song is so infectious and sweet that it's nearly enough to make one cry. Graham Nash strikes gold again with "Our House". The cut recounts a time when he and Joni Mitchell shared a cottage in Laurel Canyon. The melody is catchy, simple, and instantly memorable. And like "Teach Your Children", it strikes a personal chord with the audience. "Country Girl" was an especially cryptic cut for the album's mood, fronted by Neil Young. Although it's considerably toned down for this album; compared to Young's solo work, it's not all that unusual. It fits nicely on the album in the record's winding down motions. Those may be my favorites, but I cannot dismiss the title track, "4 + 20" or "Everybody I Love You", as they all add heavily to the album's 36 minutes of pure musical genius.

No wonder this album is referred to as the voice of a generation. After actually putting all that down in black and white, it's easy to understand how affecting these songwriters can be, as the draw stories from their own personal experiences. All these musicians were at the top of their game on "Déjà Vu". It's amazing it even happened at all, considering each individual's given ego. But like most classics, this album will bridge generational gaps for decades to come.

Rob

[ October 18, 2005, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: ITJock ]

Okay,that one I can accept!

Love "Teach Your Children Well". Thanks for the reminder. Just put it on now to hear again.

I'm fascinated at how long some of these threads are! Is everyone preparing to become an author?!

Is there a Pulitzer for webpostings?

Nah - I'm just bored as hell - Ian doesn't arrive until Tmrw night - and well - what the hell else is there to do in DC on a Tuesday evening...

R

Oh Boo-Hoo! I'm from Detroit,remember?! So what does this Ian look like,anyway?

>>>I'm fascinated at how long some of these threads are! Is everyone preparing to become an author?!

I already am. My first piece will be published tomorrow. So there - nyah.

LXN

Congrats Lexington! Wow, to be published, what an accomplishment. You ought to 'fess up and tell us all about it.

Ok, back to the theme of the thread....

As ITJock suggests there are really two types of Milestone Albums, the Milestone for the general population and a Milestone for you personally. For the former I have to nominate not one but 3 albums, produced within 1 1/2 years of each other but which changed, really reinvented, rock music, created the genre as we know it today. They also created the "album", which before was just a collection of songs but became one, a whole that we are gradually losing because of the internet and iTunes and other downloads. The albums to which I refer are....

Rubber Soul (Dec. '65), Revolver (August '66) and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (June '67).

If you have to ask who you don't deserve to be in the category. I remember listening to Sgt. Peppers on earphones in 1974 or so and being just blown away, in "A Day in the Life" the sound would go from one ear through my head to the other ear. The music was so good, so creative and so inventive that it seemed cutting edge 10 years later. The Beatles went from being a pop band, probably we would call them today a boy band, to the leading rock band of the day, or of any day. I cannot imagine the creative genius that was unleashed for these 18 months by Lennon and McCartney. I hear the Beatles of the mid sixties in Coldplay, in U2, in Green Day and even the Black Eyed Peas and certain rap. These three albums are the lodestone of modern rock.

[ October 18, 2005, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: bballrob ]

If I had to choose, I'd choose this one as well. But honestly, I started buying albums and cassettes after I got my first job (1979), and my collection contains 782 CDs I started buying in the mid-80s (first CD ever purchased: Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You"), and I just love my music. It's part of me. It's part of my life. I don't have any long psychological or sociological discourses about the importance of certain albums or songs. I just play the music and revel in it, in how it makes me feel. Sometimes it makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me cry.

f**king Perfect (go read my BLOG), and if you think I am going to post a pic of him on the web for you guys to drool all over, then you need to invest in some... therapy.

:cool: R :cool:

Could not agree more, BBallRob. What a fantastic trilogy of records that changed Rock(with a tip of the hat to Pet Sounds, of course.) My pick for a milestone LP is the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Whatever one's opinion of disco, this LP was not only the zenith of a world-wide phenomenon, but ushered in (for better or worse) the platinum soundtrack (there had been others prior to this record's release, but IMO, Fever represents the best example of cross-media hype: fantastic musicians making international hits, which all were featured (and were an integral part) of a box-office blockbuster, and at the same time were huge club and dance-floor hits. I still listen to the record and still love it.

Bravo! That's wonderful!! Congrats!

Now listen here,Rob.It's bad enough that you don't have a picture of yourself on your own blog(or do you???)Anyway why do I need therapy just because I want to lick...err...see Ian?! I didn't see anything on your blog about Ian.Talk about writing a book! wink Oy vay!! There's enough to read in that blog to get me through the entire cold Michigan winter!

[ October 19, 2005, 04:39 PM: Message edited by: eddiecat ]

Ok - After having bravely stayed up and watched the game with me (he fell asleep in the bottom of the 6th) Ian is now asleep, and I can respond to emails etc...

1 - Actually I do have a couple pics of me on the blog - they are just kind of distant and difficult to see (I am that surfer...). No, I admit it, I have removed all the major face pics I could find on the internet. I just got annoyed than more than a dozen people had pirated my image for some stupid reason.

As for Ian's pics - not on your life; besides he has been serving in the middle east, and will probably go back there. I do not intend to EVER publish his pic in any format. Sorry.

2 - "Naxos is a state of mind" is mostly about Ian and our vacation in Naxos, Greece during August.

3 - Eddiecat - did you ever check out the original postings here on the OS BB under the thread "Around the world in..."???; That is where the Blog Idea started...

Enjoy the reading on a cold night...

Rob

Thanks for the kudos. Like most "first publications", it's really small and the pay is negligible. But since my b/f's out of town, I'm going out and buying myself the best dinner $25 can buy.

LXN

I cant pick one for myself personally, but Nirvana Nevermind definetely changed music for 90's on, destroyed all that garbage from the 80's and crossed lines of different genres. Led Zeppelin 4 has to be one of the most timeless and most played if it isnt, albums ever. Wouldnt say my favorites but music that speaks to me personally Linkin Park, Meteora and Hybrid Theory.

My vote goes to “Pet Sounds”.

Though the record was presented as a Beach Boys album, I think it would be more accurate to call it Brian Wilson’s first solo album. While the other Beach Boys were on tour, Brian was at home writing the songs and recording the instrumental tracks with high-quality studio musicians. When they returned from touring, the Beach Boys contributed the one quality where they excelled: singing harmony.

The songs feature melodies that soar, going far beyond the two- or three-note vocals that typified pop music. With this album, the surf-band ensemble of mediocre drums, guitars and bass was replaced with an astonishing array of instruments: accordion, mandolin, theremin, flutes, strings, brass, bicycle bell, Hawaiian guitar, harpsichord, banjo, glockenspiel, bass harmonica and unusual percussion. The electric guitars sound like harps and the bass lines are innovative.

On “Pet Sounds”, Brian’s falsetto never sounded better, and the Boys sang their best harmonies -- perfectly executing the intricate contrapuntal accompaniments. Tony Asher’s lyrics, while not wonderful poetry, were a step above the usual Beach Boys cars-and-beaches fare.

The album was recorded on a four-track machine, and – while I couldn’t describe just what was done – Wilson’s use of limited possibilities is often described as ground-breaking and legendary. Somehow I missed the fact that a re-mastered stereo version was created in recent years; I only heard it several months ago. It reveals the individual voices and instruments far beyond the original monophonic recording so long in circulation.

Some members of the band – Mike Love particularly – didn’t want to do so artful an album. They wanted to stay with the tried-and-true Beach Boys formula, as exemplified by their previous album: “Beach Boys Party” (“Ba- Ba- Ba-, Ba- Ba’bra Ann…”). We’re lucky Brian was able to convince them otherwise.

I'm showing my age again, but as an 18 year old in 1969, when Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel came out, it spoke to me like nothing ever had and now that I think about it, has never since. Growing up in northern Michigan in the 1950s & 60s, all we had was bad local radio, but when I discovered that album, I just "knew" they were a couple, even though there was no way I could really know that. I still know every word of that album and sing along whenever I pop it in the CD player (yes, had to upgrade). So that's my vote. It is a classic album, with The Boxer being my favorite song on the album. It always gives me goosebumps.

My Milestone recording would be "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye. This is a recording that Motown did not want to release. They felt (especially Mr. Gordy) that it was not commerical enough. I am so glad that somebody just went ahead and shared this piece of music with the world. In my opinion the record inspired other R&B musicians, (Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and others) to find their own voices.

Marvin produced and co-wrote all of the songs on the recording. It was definetly not from the Motown production mill. There was a looseness,a gritter jazzier feel to the music. Although it has a great groove it was not about partying. I have a spiritual, celeberal connection to this music. It was one of the influences that made me want to become a social worker. The songs had point of view and a message not only for African-Americans, but for all Americans. For me it is an essential recording, now I am biased as I love Motown music and R&B. I also love all kinds of music, and recognize that Metallica, Johnny Cash, the Beach Boys, Bob Marley, Patsy Cline are all amazing talents.

"What's Going On?"...to me the best album of all time. Marvin had everything together on that. He hit the times, and he also showed the way musically and artistically for so many who followed. Crossed races, classes, and agendas, even though it was political, because it had the groove.

Inner City Blues:
"...Panic,
is spreading,
God knows where,
we're heading,

Ohhhh, make me wanna holler..."

Those words come back to me many times, when it's out of control.

Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew". It at once created the electronic jazz/fusion genre and still stands as the greatest example of the potential of that combination. Brilliant keyboards, guitar by McLaughlin and of course Davis' eerie horn blasts. Forever a classic. Nothing ever matched this album and its concept.

1982-ish I was a 9th grader at an urban public high school spending my lunch hour in the gym playing basketball. The school was a major scholastic power, and the varsity regularly had Div. 1 scholarship players. Somebody put on "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaatta & the Soul Sonic Force on the boom box (remember those?) as loud as possible. I was blown away. Only later did I learn that the beats are sampled from Kraftwerk. Merging funk, hip hop, soul, r&b,techno, and new wave all at once. Today's so called urban contemporary music owes it all to this gem of a 12-inch single (remember those too!?)

Gotta rock it, don't stop it, aznbutch.

LXN

Tim, you made this thread tough because you advised us to not necessarily list our all time favorite albums in lieu of an actual "milestone" album (this throws out really personally influential albums for me like The Style Council Internationalists or Paul McCartney Tug of War). However, I thought of an album that I was able to implement as a "milestone" and still be in my top five favorite albums of all-time.

The Police Synchronicity!
This album taught us: new philosophies ("Synchronicity I"), paranoia ("Every Breath You Take", "Mother", "Walking in Your Footsteps"), social and environmental awareness ("Synchronicity II", "Murder By Numbers", "King of Pain"), questioning one's faith ("O My God") and ,simply, just beautful music: ("Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Tea In The Sahara"). Some of the music made me want to turn up the stereo and jam ("Synchroncity II", "King of Pain"). Some of the music made me just wanted to sit back and groove ("Miss Gradenko", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). Of course it had the hits, too... "Every Breath You Take"--8 weeks at #1, "King of Pain"--#3, "Wrapped Around Your Finger"--#8, "Synchronicity II"--#16. The album itself briefly knocked Michael Jackson's brilliant Thriller from the #1 spot. Synchronicity just had it all--and then The Police called it quits at the top.

I thought "Every Breath You Take" was about a stalker?
Also "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" about a guy too shy and nervous who never could talk to a girl he was crazy for.
Both songs come off sounding a lot different than what the mood of what they are about actually is. Love Song actually a Stalker Song, Happy Song is actually a Depressing Song.
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Every Breath You Take

[ October 21, 2005, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: PacCoast ]

You mean all that garbage from the 80's like Killing Joke? The band that sued Nirvana for lifting their guitar riffs from their song "Eighties".

You should not be slamming the 80's when they were actually slam dancing :cool:

[ October 21, 2005, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: Erik G ]

I was kind of putting "Every Breath You Take" in the paranoia category because sometimes this has to do with our own fears which are being preyed upon that makes us think we are being stalked. But, you are definitely correct, the song is clearly about being stalked and has been misinterpreted in so many ways that it drives Sting crazy (as he has mentioned in interviews).

I didn't mention "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" because it is actually off The Police's excellent, but not "milestone" prior album, Ghost in the Machine.

There are certainly some well thought-out and interesting posts here. I could especially relate to comments made by IT Jock about Déjà Vu and by Cattledog to Synchronicity, both excellent albums, in my opinion, and whose contents have stood the test of time for me. "Our House" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger", being especially memorable songs.

I know Tim asked for just ONE milestone album, but I gave up trying to narrow it down, so here are five. All of them are from the 1970s, my coming-of-age decade. I realize I haven't given an in-depth analysis as to my reasons for each, but suffice to say they all struck a chord with me during a challenging period of my life and I still enjoy the music from all of these albums.

Please note that despite the fact that my coming out period roughly coincided with The Village People's debut album, I have not included them on my list.

1. Crime of the Century, Supertramp
2. The Stranger, Billy Joel
3. Aja, Steely Dan
4. Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell
5. Close to You, The Carpenters (I know there may be a few snickers over that one, but Karen had a beautiful voice)

I would like to have included Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears, but it doesn't quite meet the criterion of being at least half my age. wink

Karen Carpenter did have a lovely voice and some of my all time favorite songs are by her.I'm glad you mentioned her Marc!

I'd say Ziggy Stardust. It wasn't so much the music, although I like it a lot, as Bowie's gender bending which helped speed up the acceptance of alternative sexualities and my personal acceptance of myself. I agree with what was said about What's Going On and think that Blue by Joni Mitchell might be considered one,too. Her lyrical, conversational observations on life captured a multitude of moods well.

There are some really thoughtful choices here guys-I hope people keep contributing.I really enjoy your analysis of Deja Vu IT-in fact I'd say anything by CSN,CSNY,or the Springfield up until at least '85 would qualify in my mind.I was always a big Stills fan especially,and I think classics like Bluebird and Suite:Judy are works of genius.

Similarly,I'd say anything in Joni's repertoire at least up thru Mingus represents true brilliance.Ladies of the Canyon is basically her accompniament to the various CSNY songs about her
ie Our House,Lady of the Island,Sugar Mountain... Others have mentioned Court and Blue-I'd have to add For The Roses,which is largely based on her transition from loving Graham Nash to doing James Taylor (pre Carly)

That whole Laurel Canyon/Whiskey family of artists has had an incalcuable influence on me personally,and (in my opinion)on my whole generation.I've always been a huge Poco fan and when you add Henley,Frey and Jackson Browne to the mix-it's just amazing to go back and trace the incredible legacy of a group like Buffalo Springfield.And if you're talking "milestone" albums,I can't ignore Tapestry,Sweet Baby James or practically any Jackson Browne album.

I'd also concur with Ziggy,although Bowie is another artist I have difficulty reducing to 1 album.Hunky Dory is brilliant,and All the Young Dudes is essentially an anthem.It would be hard for me to narrow my Stones choices to a single record,and I could easily argue for Tommy, Quadrophenia or Who's Next.I guess it's a generational thing,but I feel exceptionally fortunate to have lived thru what I consider 25 of the most prolific years in the history of rock-roughly '65-'90.

[ October 22, 2005, 08:17 PM: Message edited by: Tim ]

5. Close to You, The Carpenters (I know there may be a few snickers over that one, but Karen had a beautiful voice)

I hope no one snickers.

I hate this, my milestone pick would be the very one that Tim used to introduce this topic and of which he so beautifully spoke. Well I guess that just spares you all the horror of having me go on and on poetically about "Born to Run."

Let me just say, it was my first great album and to this day, is the one I still love the most. When I'm happy, when I'm sad, I still listen.
(Not when I'm drunk...then it's the Doors, not a milestone, but Lord I will go on about them some other time).

Thanks Tim, (to quote Meatloaf) "you took the words right out of my mouth."

Thanks for the kind words bc.I hope you see this before Monday,because Amazon is previewing both of the dvds thru Monday in conjunction with a presale offering the collection at 25% off.They have BTR live from Hammersmith free to anyone,as well as excerpts from the "making BTR" dvd which they are including with each order.

http://www.amazon.com/springsteen Born To Run (live)

[ October 22, 2005, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Tim ]

Not feeling particularly defensive right now, but I will suggest a few milestones for considering:
Stones; Beggars Banquet AND Exile on Main Street
U2: Joshua Tree and/or Rattle and Hum
Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Lou Reed: Wild Child

And I completely agree with ITJ: Will the Circle Be Unbroken was/is major league.

[ October 23, 2005, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: jockpop ]

OK, so I guess I lied when I said that you would all be spared of my going on and on about Born to Run. But just two quick things to defend my "milestone."

When I was in Junior High, my sister came to my room and told me it was time for me to stop listening to crap (if you're curious what she defined as crap, at the time I was heavy into the Grease soundtrack, still can't believe it) and she put BTR on my turntable and by the time Mary's dress waved, I was hooked. I still tell my sister on a regular basis that I appreciate her help (she also introduced me to Lou Reed and Neil Young).

At face value, that's why it's my milestone, it was my entrance into honest to goodness music.

Now, fastforward to my post college summer and I find myself living alone in the farthest reaches of the prairie in western South Dakota. I'm living in a falling down trailer and living on TV dinners and gin (dang I miss those days), and I would take long walks through the Badlands of South Dakota. One day I feel a snap on my leg and then two things occur simultaneously, I see a grasshopper and hear a rattlesnake rattle.

At this point, all I know for sure is that I either got hit very hard by a grasshopper (boney little monsters) or I've been bit by a rattlesnake. I also know that the nearest anti-venom is 50 miles away. So I walk the couple of miles to my trailer and figured out what to do.

I poured myself a gin and tonic, put on Born To Run and drank it down. Then, to that music, I laid down for a nap, I figured if I woke up I would know it was a grasshopper.

I woke up two hours later.

The point being, I wanted this to be the last music I would hear.

OK, done, someday...the DOORS

That's a great story baseball-Thanks for sharing.
It's a different context,but it reminds me of all the stories about 9-11 victims who were Bruce fans and had Springsteen songs (especially Thunder Road)played at their memorials.In fact, Bruce has talked about reading numerous tributes in The NY Times that described people as life long fans and being moved to the point of calling survivors personally.

There is a book scheduled to be released next year that is a compilation of contributions from Springsteen fans.The authors have a website,and they are asking people to send them stories,pics etc...for consideration and possible inclusion.If you want to check into possibly contributing your story here is the link:

http://www.foryoubruce.com

[ October 23, 2005, 11:05 PM: Message edited by: Tim ]

A lot of good choices but I have to vote for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (yes I'm dating myself). A lot of things that are now standard were done for the first time, or at least the first time by a major (really really major) band:
The concept album, where it is one unified whole instead of just a collection of unrelated songs
The cover art (although we also saw that on Revolver), not just band photo
Lyrics printed on the back cover. That is so ordinary now that we forget that it had not been done before.
And oh yes, the music was good.