Montag, April 25, 2005

my personal best music lps (part 2)

JETHRO TULL - AQUALUNG (1971)
the first one of ian anderson's great works. an absolute classic.

RARE BIRD - EPIC FOREST (1972)
a constantly high melodic level. those guys knew how to build an atmosphere.

BUDGIE - NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A FRIEND (1973)
my long-time favourite band from wales with a beautiful roger dean's blood-red budgerigar logo. i pondered heavily which of their records to praise and i made up my mind for this one, their third work. maybe because it was the first one i've ever listened to, who knows? (but no, the first song i got to know was the 'nude disintegrating parachutist woman' from their first record). anyway, the song titles are equally strong here and some young musicians thought decades later it would have been a good idea to cover some stuff from here ('breadfan' by metallica). a very impressive music on this lp, my all-time evergreen. try 'in the grip of the tyrefitter's hands' or 'you're the biggest thing since powdered milk' and of course 'parents'.

WISHBONE ASH - ARGUS (1973)
one of the double-lead-guitars bands, but the first one, where the dialogs between those two instruments really worked (no offense for bachman-turner-overdrive nor ufo). this one is the catching concept of the knights-tales music, their third record. the band was my one-time favourite back in the 80s.

PILOT - MORIN HEIGHTS (1976)
i could have named their next work ('two's a crowd', after drummer stuart tosh parted) also, but this one seems to be more fresh and joyous. 'running water' and 'too many hopes' make it worth trying. after pilot disbanded, they all played with alan parsons project and with kate bush on her first records.

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND - THE ROARING SILENCE (1976)
the emotional decision has fallen for this one. 'singing the dolphin through' and 'questions' were the music i grew up with.

GENTLE GIANT - THE MISSING PIECE (1977)
very unique sound of shulman bros and co. i mean they've created many good records, but this one seems to have the highest constant level for me. i like 'for nobody' the best.

SUPERTRAMP - EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS... (1977)
i like this one, beside the 'crime of the century', the best. the title song and the terrific 'fool's overture' stand for highlights here. another one is a minimalistic 'downstream' song, the vocals accompanied only by a piano.

METRO - METRO (1977)
an obscure band, featuring duncan browne and peter godwin on their only cooperative piece. a melodically beautiful, mysterious, smoky world of crime and passion. it's unbelievable how it went into oblivion so completely.

FISCHER-Z - RED SKIES OVER PARADISE (1981)
their absolutely best record with great melodic harmonies. john watts at his best. this guy has such an ease of creating catchy melodies like, say, bono vox or david byrne. almost each song is a jewel.

XTC - ENGLISH SETTLEMENT (1982)
their most powerful work. a pleasure to listen to. andy partridge's voice makes up this unique touch.

POLICE - SYNCHRONICITY (1983)
i guess it's my favourite police album, although slightly slick one a bit, maybe (like 'every breath you take'). but the opening 'synchronicity 1' is still powerful enough.

MARILLION - FUGAZI (1984)
could be 'script for a jester's tear' or 'misplaced childhood', too, but 'punch and judy' alone won the race for this lp (one of the greatest lyrics in the rock history). and the music and fish's vocals don't need any recommendation.

FUTURE BIBLE HEROES - MEMORIES OF LOVE (1997)
although the next oeuvre by fbh ('eternal youth') may be equally beautiful, but the very roots of their music lie here. 80s revival at it's best. this trio is a win for the contemporary music.

SODASTREAM - THE HILL FOR COMPANY (2001)
this work is simply beautiful music. those guys have melancholy and melody in their blood. 'mood in the bunker', 'devil on my shoulder', 'another trail', to name only a few. it reminded me of cowboy junkies records.

RIVERSIDE - OUT OF MYSELF (2003)
this is a polish band with a ripe and contemplative sound and a rocky touch (it bears a certain far similarity to archive and marillion, and the vocals is english). those guys know how to make good music. my favourite piece is 'curtain falls'. a sound for long lonely winter evenings.

BLACKFIELD - BLACKFIELD (2005)
well, two guys with highly developed melodical senses, coming from different worlds. wilson and geffen created a mysterious oeuvre of ravishing beauty. and it's not so easy to make an outstanding record nowadays, when so much new stuff appears every day.