"I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
And I will sing, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
Drifting into my solitude, over my head"
60. David Bowie | Low (1977)
1920.158 Points | 40 Votes
AM Rank:
101
2017 Rank: 48 (-12)
Under 40: 68
40 and Over: 42
Biggest Fans: Chris K. (#8), Krurze, Bang Jan (#10), spiderpig (#11), antonius (#21), cetamol, Rob (#23), schaefer.tk (#31), Fred (#41), Jackson, sonofsamiam (#43), Harold (#52), Akhenaten (#60), Moonbeam, BleuPanda (#72), jdizzle83 (#79), prosecutorgodot (#82)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Sound and Vision (#524), Warszawa (#1091)
"The big, dumb mistake I made in my review of "Heroes" (and, to be fair, it's a mistake a lot of people make when assessing this album) was confusing Low's understatement of emotion for a lack of emotion. Low is every bit as emotional as "Heroes", it's just that the emotions being expressed are so much more ambivalent. He sings "I'm in the mood for your love" the way one would sing about being in the mood for oatmeal, sounds genuinely delighted at the thought of locking himself in his room and sitting in the dark all day, and gives his most passionate performance when singing in a made-up nonsense language. There's a sense that his wounds are too fresh for him to fully articulate in words, so he keeps the lyrics at a bare minimum, lets the music pick up the slack, and trusts us to be smart enough to piece it together ourselves (if, in fact, he even has us in mind at all.)
And the music itself? It's as much a nonsense language as the one Bowie uses on Warszawa and Subterraneans: shrill, harsh guitar leads over shit-hot R&B rhythms, electronic treatments on everything, a pinch of modern classical, generous helpings of Krautrock, the occasional splash of barroom piano. Given that this is Bowie once again playing the thieving cultural magpie, its originality doesn't come from its component parts (besides the massive treated drum sound) so much as how these seemingly incompatible elements are forced to form an uneasy alliance with one another. One could read that tension between elements as a musical expression of alienation (as it was probably intended), but it moves with too quickly and with too strong a sense of purpose and determination to be that alone. So, let's add another word to the arsenal of adjectives thrown at Low: resilient.
-ChickenHat"
"Well I dreamed I saw the knights in armor comin'
Sayin' something about a queen
There were peasants singin' and drummers drummin'
And the archer split the tree
There was a fanfare blowin' to the sun
That was floating on the breeze"
59. Neil Young | After the Gold Rush (1970)
1925.859 Points | 44 Votes
AM Rank: 53
2017 Rank: 56 (-3)
Under 40: 71
40 and Over: 39
Biggest Fans: nicolas (#9), Fred (#12), Jirin (#13), acroamor (#15), Honorio (#22), Sweepstakes Ron (#33), M24 (#35), Holden (#57), cetamol (#70), DocBrown (#71), Nick (#75), jdizzle83 (#78), Harold (#80), carlos74 (#81), SJner (#82), CupOfDreams (#83), antonius (#91), Henry (#94), schaefer.tk (#97)
AMF Favorite Tracks: After the Gold Rush (#540), Southern Man (#748), Only Love Can Break Your Heart (#1832)
"After the Gold Rush was the first Neil Young album I learned to love, but once I got into my Neil Young phase, the tracks here began getting played less and less. I love Neil for his rawness and gritty guitar tone, for his nine-minute tracks, and this is an acoustic singer/songwriter album with an average track length of about three minutes. Eventually I debated whether it could really be a 5-star album, since its songs were the weakest part of my Neil Young playlist.
However, every time I return to this album as a full album, it totally works. From the opening guitar strum of "Tell Me Why" to the closing fade-out of "Cripple Creek Ferry," there's a constant mood and nice cohesiveness to this album that shows why it's stood the test of time. Every song is wistful, and concise, and just plain memorable. Crazy Horse's harmonies are better than ever. The hooks get stuck in your head and never leave, and after a few listens the album starts to feel like a collection of standards, with great but simple melodies.
But the star of the show is probably the production. The intimacy and closeness of Neil's voice and guitar/piano playing give this album a strong emotional layer, and make you really feel like these songs were written for you. The instrumentation is pretty sparse, but it fills the space nicely. The mood wouldn't exist without the songs, but the production definitely makes it more effective.
-Sandinistar"
"Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying"
58. Bob Dylan | Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
1947.015 Points | 44 Votes
AM Rank: 86
2017 Rank: 54 (-4)
Under 40: 54
40 and Over: 68
Biggest Fans:
Rob (#1), Listyguy (#5), cetamol (#13), SJner (#19), Rocky Raccoon (#22), Gillingham (#31), spiderpig (#39), Emerald (#47), M24 (#51), Sweepstakes Ron (#56), Brad (#61) PlasticRam (#66), acroamor (#81), Holden (#85), Nick (#89), votingbloc (#100)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Subterranean Homesick Blues (#233), It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (#574), Mr. Tambourine Man (#837), Love Minus Zero/No Limit (#1809)
"Bringing It All Back Home. What a kick in the pants, even all these years later. Shit, what a kick in the pants this bad boy must of been so many years ago upon its original release. Bringing It All Back Home is one of those albums so important and classic its hard to escape. One could make several prolific cases about this record. It could be argued that its the most important album of the 1960's, of folk music as a whole, and the most important album ever. All could be argued logically.one could claim this as the greatest album of all time. As the most influential. As the great Bob Dylans very first, truly classic album, it would be harder to argue against any of these than it would be to agree with them. Yes, Bringing It All Back Home is just that damn good, and all the more important. Its the electric revolution fire that was set to folk and all other forms of popular music all the way back in 1965. And ill tell something else, that fire still is a blazen.
'Subteranean Homesick Blues' 'Maggies Farm' 'Mr. Tambourine Man' and 'Its All Over Now, Baby Blue' would all go on to become hits for Dylan and music classics because of it. And for good reason. But its tracks like the acoustic epic 'Its Alright Ma' that proved that all the hype and hoopla surrounding this little beatnik was more than just a flash in the pan. 'Love Minus Zero' and the classic among classics 'Gates Of Eden' that brought something for everyone wrapped up nicely in a serious of brilliant lyrics and melodys.
Bringin It All Back Home is the sort of thing every musician and artist hopes and sets out to achieve. And as a true testament to the genius of Bob Dylan, this was just the first in a serious of about ten of the greatest albums ever made.
-smorton87"
"I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank, held a general's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank"
57. The Rolling Stones | Beggars Banquet (1968)
1960.646 Points | 42 Votes
AM Rank: 33
2017 Rank: 45 (-12)
Under 40: 73
40 and Over: 34
Biggest Fans: Rocky Raccoon (#9), hero (#20), Brad (#25), Gillingham (#28), Zombeels (#29), SJner (#40), acroamor (#42), andyd1010 (#43), M24 (#46), Fred (#53), whuntva (#58), Jirin (#63), Listyguy (#75), Harold, antonius (#76), Bruno (#78), CupOfDreams (#80), nicolas (#83), Nick (#87), mileswide (#98), Chris K. (#99)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Sympathy for the Devil (#11), Street Fighting Man (#320)
"Here it is, the greatest Rolling Stones record. I always did feel their bluesy sound was far more fitting to the band's aesthetic, not to mention obviously their greatest asset. Keith's guitar work on this album is absolutely fucking bonkers, and there's not a single lick or riff here that I find out of place or underwhelming at all. Especially on the quasi-folk rock doozy "Jigsaw Puzzle", one of my favorite Stones songs period, with that fantastic chord progression backing some great storytelling and an electric vocal performance behind them. Love the slide guitar here as well, and who could say a bad word about the samba folk rock displayed on "Sympathy for the Devil"? I mean from lyrics to the cowbell to the maracas to the backing oo's to the song's inherent catchiness, it's quite simply one of the greatest songs of the 60's. I'm also in love with the booming rock n roll of "Street Fighting Man" matched by the Appalachian folk of "Prodigal Song". Even the sing-along send-off "Salt of the Earth" brings a gospel-inspired chorus anybody can get on board with, whilst simultaneously ending the record on a tasteful high note.
My critiques of this album are so pedantic and minute that there's really no reason getting into it, but this is a fantastic album and in my opinion by a good length their best. It's energetic, playful, but also evocative and focused. Brilliant release.
-HotOpinions"
"And outside they're making all the stops
The kids out in the street collecting bottle-tops
Gone for cigarettes and matches in the shops
Happy taken Madame George
That's when you fall"
56. Van Morrison | Astral Weeks (1968)
1970.278 Points | 43 Votes
AM Rank: 15
2017 Rank: 44 (-12)
Under 40: 36
40 and Over: 92
Biggest Fans:
antonius (#1), acroamor (#3), mileswide (#9), M24, hero (#17), spiderpig (#29), Toni (#31), notbrianeno, Bang Jan (#33), SJner, nicolas (#46), Jackson (#47), PlasticRam (#55), Nick (#59), Chris K. (#76), carlos74 (#86), Jirin (#93)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Sweet Thing (#801), Madame George (#815), Astral Weeks (#1135), Cyprus Avenue (#1734)
"Astral Weeks isn't anything, yet everything at the same time. It's one of those few records which feel so effortlessly beautiful and genius that to understand it is to simply play it. There's no deep meaning, but there is complex detail and layers both emotionally and instrumentally. It's definitely an album for the heart rather than the brain.
This is a essentially an instrumental record, Morrison's wonderfully emotive voice wailing phrases over the top of intensely lush and beautiful instrumentation.
He could have been saying anything at the time, could have been giving us a recipe for lentil soup, his ideas on god, or just gibberish. Instead we get vague stories of pastoral visions, peaceful townships in the country, and idealistic views on the world.
With the blurry cloudy visuals and the music which is a cross of classical, folk and jazz, the product is a hazy glistening water colour picture, it's vague, intentionally obscured in its own colours. But its incredibly serene and everyone can pick something out of it to focus on, whatever people want to get out of it, they can.
It feels timeless, effortless, and just incredible to listen to front to back.
-TheTelepathicKid"
"How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year
Running over the same old ground, what have we found?
The same old fears, wish you were here"
55. Pink Floyd | Wish You Were Here (1975)
1977.351 Points | 37 Votes
AM Rank:
189
2017 Rank: 49 (-6)
Under 40: 43
40 and Over: 70
Biggest Fans: M24 (#2), Listyguy (#3), SJner (#4), styrofoamboots (#8), Edre Peraza, prosecutorgodot (#14), Rob (#19), Gillingham (#33), acroamor (#38), DaveC (#39), Schüttelbirne (#40), Frank Lotion (#45), Michel (#47), cetamol, SL3 (#48), andyd1010 (#61), Holden (#62), Honorio (#64), whuntva (#90), LunarPiper (#100)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Wish You Were Here (#67), Shine On You Crazy Diamond (#168)
"The album, as a tribute to Syd Barrett, is impressive, heartfelt, and nigh transcendental. Understanding the history of the band and Syd's downward spiral into the depths of his own mind, once brilliant, then slipping slowly into an eventual soft insanity -- the shining light of a crazy diamond, as it flickered, and extinguished itself -- builds an instant emotional bond between the listener and the longing of the remainder of Pink Floyd for their long lost friend and muse. The dissonance and tension build, crescendo, and fall back into a tinkering pianissimo of melancholic confusion repeatedly, drawing you in to their expression of Syd. The serendipitous arrival of Syd at the recording studio while Pink Floyd was recording "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" gives greater context for the critic or fan to appreciate the grief of the band over the loss of one whose creativity overwhelmed his very self. A beautiful tribute, a wonderful album from one of my favorite bands.
-serendipity121"
"It's the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try with pleasured hands"
54. The Zombies | Odessey and Oracle (1968)
1979.847 Points | 38 Votes
AM Rank:
278
2017 Rank: 50 (-4)
Under 40: 74
40 and Over: 40
Biggest Fans:
Zombeels (#1), PlasticRam (#2), Bang Jan (#5), BryanBehar (#8), Jackson (#11), Emerald (#14), Dan (#21), hero (#27), DavC (#43), andyd1010 (#48), Harold, sonofsamiam (#51), BleuPanda (#52), cetamol (#55), acroamor (#57), VanillaFire1000 (#64), Toni (#73), Live in Phoenix (#75), Honorio (#78), Brad (#81), LunarPiper (#85), Romain (#87)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Time of the Season (#206), This Will Be Our Year (#423), Hung Up on a Dream (#525), A Rose for Emily (#1046), Care of Cell 44 (#1168), Brief Candles (#1532)
"When I was a child(an infant, that is) I always heard the adults around me and on the telly talk about a specific record. It made them happy, it made them sad, it made them dance, it was the record to have, they would say. It seemed this record was an answer to all of life's problems. Ever since then I think I, even if mostly subconsciously, have been trying to fulfill that promise of the record in all the music I listen to. I always knew it would come one day.
Well, ladies and gentleman and those who lie between, I have found that record and it's The Zombie's 1968 opus Odessey and Oracle. Every second of this record seems to burst with the life of a thousand lifetimes. It's so primally human on every level. It's depressing, it's scary, it's unabashedly optimistic, it's so incredibly life affirming. It represents the human experience in a way that no other album does, in a way I can't describe. This is the record, the one that to me, is the end of it all. I can only pray I never get tired of it.
-TheBoiBaz"
"And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
Be running up that building
Say, if I only could, oh..."
53. Kate Bush | Hounds of Love (1985)
1985.046 Points | 43 Votes
AM Rank:
157
2017 Rank: 96
(+43)
Under 40: 40
40 and Over: 99
Biggest Fans:
BleuPanda, DocBrown (#1), luvulongTIM (#4), prosecutorgodot (#22), SL3 (#23), notbrianeno (#26), cetamol (#29), Jackson (#30), Emerald (#32), panam (#34), Schüttelbirne, Listyguy (#59), jdizzle83 (#60), Chris K. (#63), Sweepstakes Ron, sonofsamiam (#66), acroamor (#68), hero (#74), Zombeels (#99), bonnielaurel (#100)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Running Up That Hill (#105), Hounds of Love (#474), Cloudbusting (#675)
"Why can't Americans be this good at music? Perhaps it's all the cocaine, I always thought America was like the rest of the world, but with their economy and lack of gun control, it for me equals a drug addict unable to cope with real problems but only head towards some unknown end, barely getting it together when the time comes, when the money's due. I am an American, I just see that Americans always have to do it over the edge, to the very end of everything, like James Brown, just losing it onstage with all the excitement and sweat. What Kate does is to the very end, but somehow with artistic integrity and emotional control. The eighties sound so cool on this record, it's surprising that this was really the peak of what one could do with a studio for thirty years. Sure, people add more stuff these days, heck Animal Collective really sounds varied and integrated amongst all those different resources of theirs, but Kate has control. She somehow knows what she's doing yet makes her music sound louder and crazier than anyone else's. Have we really gone downhill since the 80's, music-wise, spirit-wise? I wonder.
The best way to hear this record is all the way up on the volume knob, therefore you get to hear all the little subtleties that make this a masterpiece. I wouldn't have thought that this was as good as it was without turning it up first. Music like this is meant to be heard loud, unlike the krudd that most kids these days listen to, going deaf and all while through the listening.
I guess people aren't inspired like this anymore, or else all the inspiration's been used up. Maybe digital music is the root cause, compared to analog? It sounds like this album is full of hope, I wish I could get some more of that from today's artists.
-catalogueatolic"
"The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre"
52. The Doors | The Doors (1967)
1988.495 Points | 42 Votes
AM Rank: 30
2017 Rank: 42 (-10)
Under 40: 63
40 and Over: 38
Biggest Fans: carlos74 (#2), SJner (#17), Michel, panam (#20), Listyguy (#29), Nick, Romain (#35), Bruno (#39), hero (#44), whutnva (#45), cetamol (#46), M24 (#49), spiderpig (#56), Fred (#66), Rocky Raccoon (#69), spiritualized (#70), nicolas (#75), jdizzle83 (#84), Harold (#90), luvulongTIM (#91)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Light My Fire (#75), Break On Through (To the Other Side) (#318), The End (#679), The Crystal Ship (#1209)
"Add one stoned charismatic poet to some brilliant psychedelic classic rock, then add some of the most recognized and wonderful songs ever written and you will find this album. The fact that something in this style even appealed to most what with one extremely epic song ("The End"), one with a pronounced keyboard solo ("Light My Fire"), and the somewhat controversial "Back Door Man" speaks volumes about their abilities to write great songs. The entire thing reads like a greatest hits album for Pete's sake..."Soul Kitchen" has been covered by quite a few and is instantly recognizable, "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" has to be one of the biggest hits on here, "The Crystal Ship" is another that nearly anyone knows the melody to. They really blew nearly everyone away with this, and hell most musicians would be damn lucky if their entire output came anywhere near the level of skill, dynamics and sheer talent expressed on this one album. It never seems to grow old, it never really seems dated and heck I'll bet I'll still be listening to this well into my resthome years should I live that long. Recently I've become aware of a movement of Doors hatred, in fact I don't think it's "cool" anymore to say you like the band and maybe it hasn't been "cool" for some time, but who cares. I'm in it for the music, and it's really hard to argue with that when it all comes down. A classic album in all aspects, and if you haven't heard it yet of course I think you should.
-Goregirl"
"Backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before, but you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now"
51. Oasis | (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
1996.550 Points | 37 Votes
AM Rank:
77
2017 Rank: 57 (+6)
Under 40: 33
40 and Over: 110
Biggest Fans: Arsalan (#6), andyd1010 (#7), BryanBehar (#11), jdizzle83 (#13), whuntva (#14), Nick (#15), Renan (#19), luvulongTIM (#24), votingbloc (#26), Rob (#27), Edre Peraza (#30), Chris K. (#33), Akhenaten (#45), whuntva (#51), M24 (#55), hero (#57), Listyguy (#60), LunarPiper (#65), carlos74 (#73), DaveC (#75), Emerald (#84), Henry (#100)
AMF Favorite Tracks: Wonderwall (#78), Don't Look Back in Anger (#147), Champagne Supernova (#323), Some Might Say (#1365)
"This is perhaps the album The Beatles always wanted to record, from the band they always wanted to be! Oasis's mid 90's (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is still as brilliant and enjoyable as it was a decade ago, and its message is still very much applicable to this day.
Following on from their debut, the follow up record makes an up front Brit rock style statement with anthems, arrogance and controversy in abundance. Wonderwall is a true classic anthem of the times whilst Don't Look Back in Anger epitomizes what many were feeling at the time.
As well as these two, Some Might Say and Champagne Supernova are both feel good anthems with the classic Oasis swagger and Cast No Shodow ticks the last box providing an almost acoustic ballad which completes a truly British experience, and whats more the stereotypical rock n' roll life style.
-Dogs_Body"