1975 a
little bit better than ’74, although still not as good as the preceding
years. Really, it’s kind of a year of
people starting to grope around for new (or in some cases old) sounds, but not
finding anything too much yet. Glam, for
instance, is completely gone by ’74, with all of the still-active acts moving
on to some other kind of sound.
Overall, this is a year with a few signs of things to come (disco, punk,
and new wave), but also more of genres stagnating or fading.
Being neither a 50 year-old club
rat or an obscure-disco hipster, I can’t tell you much about what’s happening in
disco proper in 1975. I can say, though,
that disco started to percolate into mainstream rock acts earlier than I
realized. The Bee-Gees are probably the
most prominent rockers to go disco, so much so that their earlier folk-pop has
been almost forgotten, but I didn’t realize they went disco so early. Also going disco are the Electric Light
Orchestra, with a song that you could swear was
a Bee-Gees song (“Evil Woman”) and Roxy Music.
Disco seems to be a good fit for glam refugees, who have always grounded
their artier impulses with a fairly simple backbeat. Substituting the
mechanized beat of disco isn’t so different, at least for a band like
Roxy. I’m pretty grateful that Mott
broke up rather than gracing us with a disco record, though. Of course, they probably would have ended up
sounding more like Bad Company anyway.
I’d always thought of disco as
coming out of funk, but it’s actually pretty remarkably different. Disco’s steady pulse actually puts me more in
the mood of its later, even more mechanized, techno successors, or, if you’re
looking for a forbearer, the motorik sound of Neu! and Kraftwerk (not that the
Krautrockers are even remotely danceable).
Funk, on the other hand, is considerably looser and more anarchic. George Clinton especially thrives on an
anything-can-happen vibe, the kind of looseness that requires a really tight
band. So I’m also fairly pleased that
Bowie is still playing in the realm of soul & funk rather than disco,
although he puts out two singles and an otherwise pretty-dire album. Still, “Fame” is remarkably credible funk for
someone who was doing psychedelic folk-rock 8 years prior. And “Young Americans” does a much better job
of going soul than the rather dire attempts on last years’s David Live. That awful Sanborn sax sound has, though,
started to infect other parts of the music world, most notably the
Beatles. Both Harrison and McCartney
take slight songs (“You” & “Listen To What The Man Says”) and slather a
heavy coat of smooth mediocre sax on top, just to make sure they’re not only
mediocre but dated. This, for me at
least, more than anything reminds me of being in the grocery store as a little
kid in the 80s. That's not a compliment.
Also interestingly starting to move
into the realm of funk are Led Zeppelin.
Their double-lp this year, Physical
Graffiti, was a hard one for me to contextualize, since Zep heretofore had
always sounded much more in touch with what was going on around them, and now
sounded much more backward-looking. So
upon further research, it explained a lot that the album was about half
outtakes from III, IV, and Houses of the Holy. A lot of the rest, meanwhile, sounds much
more influenced by James Brown than anyone else. This is especially the case for songs like
“Custard Pie” and “Trampled Under Foot” (although the later also leans fairly
heavily on the “Superstition” riff). I
seem to be comparing James Brown much more to rock artists than other funk
artists. But Zep, like Brown, are
basically relying on the band hammering out a series of riffs for the lead
singer to play off of in a much less structured way than, say, the increasingly
prog-influenced and structured sounds of Sabbath or Deep Purple. It makes me want to hear some live Zeppelin
from this period of their career, instead of the earlier stuff that makes up
all of their official releases to date.
Not that it sounds anything like
Zeppelin, but since he was also a Yardbirds guitarist, it’s probably as good a
place as anywhere to talk about Jeff Beck’s Blow
By Blow, in which Beck trades in his forgettable heavy blues rock sound for
some pretty fantastic (and all vocal-free) jazz fusion. It sounds very much of its time, of course,
somewhere between Billy Cobham and Stevie Wonder. In its own weird way, between the Zep/Bowie
funk moves and Beck’s fusion sound, the worlds of rock and R&B sound more
in dialogue with each other in 1975 than at any year since 1966.
If the glam artists have moved
toward dancier sounds and away from 50s/60s rock & roll as their point of
reference, other artists seem to have moved more into that space. Both Lennon and Springsteen are doing their
best to chase the Phil Spector sound, although Lennon cheats a little by
actually hiring Spector to produce his rock & roll covers album. Like virtually all covers albums, it’s pretty
unnecessary, although Lennon does still have a good voice for this kind of
material. Springsteen unambiguously does
better, though, with one of the best albums of his career. It’s often described (including by the Boss
himself) as a Dylan-meets-Spector sound, but for me Van Morrison still sounds
like much more of a touchstone than Dylan.
This is most obvious on tracks that may as well be Morrison songs like “10th Avenue Freeze-Out”, but
it’s more just that Springsteen, like Morrison, is much more of a soul-style
belter than a Dylanesque (or, for that matter Lennon-esque) sneerer.
You also hear pre-67 echoes among
artists that will eventually be called punk, although I don’t think you’d
describe either Joe Strummer or Patti Smith as “punk” if you heard them at the
time. Strummer’s pre-Clash band, the
101ers, basically sound like a bar band (or pub-rock band, if you want to use
the nomenclature) who, like all good bar bands, really wanted to be the Rolling
Stones circa 1965. They’re sloppy &
fun, but if Strummer hadn’t gone on to do bigger & better things, there’s
absolutely zero chance than anyone would be listening to the 101ers 37 years
later. Patti Smith, on the other hand,
with her connections in the NYC art & music world, and the fact that she
made a pretty excellent album, would still be listened to. We’ve already encountered Smith before,
insofar as she was a lyricist/songwriter for Blue Öyster Cult, and what’s
interesting listening to Horses in
this context is that it makes sense. I’d
always heard Smith’s early stuff as early punk-rock, but it really does sound
pretty close to what BOC were doing on albums like Secret Treaties, if somewhat artier.
If we’re starting to hear from punk
rockers, we’re also starting to hear things that sound like New Wave. The Talking Heads haven’t got a record out,
but do have some demos, which sound a lot like the pre-disco Roxy Music,
without the production and with a more nervy, less crooner-ish vocalist. Also presaging New Wave is about half of
Neu!’s last record. With Neu! 75, they finally manage to make an
overall solid album, instead of the mix of genius and barely-listenable tracks
on their first two records. Of course,
it’s really more like 2 eps, one from each of the two creative forces of a band about to break
up. Side One is a pretty solid continued
exploration of the motorik sound. Side
Two is much more conventionally rockish, by Neu! standards at least: vocals and
a backbeat, but with a synthetic sound that inevitably points more toward New
Wave.
Kraftwerk, meanwhile, also manage
to put out a cohesive album, and while I like Neu! better both for coming first
and hitting higher highs, I have to grant that Kraftwerk make better
albums. Radio Activity is unjustly overshadowed by Autobahn and Trans-Europe
Express, and doesn’t have a breakout single, but it might be my favorite of
the three. Autobahn got bogged down in less-than-thrilling side-2 experiments,
but Radio Activity is made up of
clever short pieces throughout. Much
like Eno, Kraftwerk have started packing their ideas into shorter packages,
making a kind of prog that isn’t consumed with side-long suites but is no less
ambitious.
Eno, meanwhile, is also starting to
recall Neu! this year, but the more ambient Neu! He hasn’t gone all the way ambient, as there
are still real songs among the soundscapes.
By the joys of shuffling songs, I’ve also learned that “Another Green
World” makes an odd but appropriate coda for Springsteen’s “Meeting Across The
River”, but it’s overall much more languid and instrumentally-based. And not too different from Pink Floyd,
kinda. Floyd are much more conventional
in their soncis than Eno or Neu! (Gilmore never sounds more like Eric Clapton
than on “Shine On”), but they’re similarly focused on languid and melancholy
instrumental pieces.
Not nearly so strong a year for
more conventional prog. Crimson is gone,
and Yes have decided to release a series of solo albums in lieu of a new Yes
record. I’ve heard the Steve Howe album
(it’s alright, but not especially Yes-like) and I’ve heard good things about
Jon Anderson’s, but even I’m not a big enough Yesfan to track down out of print
albums by Patrick Moraz and Alan White.
I can say that Chris Squire’s lone solo album is well worth the time of
any Yesfan, though, and sounds more like classic Yes than anything after Going For The One. This isn’t too surprising, as most of the
various Yesmen guest on it in various spots.
Also, Squire’s voice is thinner than Anderson’s but not too dissimilar. His harmonies lean more toward the Beach Boys
than CSN, though.
Tull are left therefore as
more-or-less the standard bearers for classic prog, then, and they do pretty
well with the first of what I think of as the “title-track” albums, a run where
the title track is pretty unambiguously the best track on the record. Minstrel
in the Gallery moves back to a more classic Tull sound than last year’s
glam experiments, with both more folk elements and more hard rock parts. I can easily overstate the brief Tull-Sabbath
connection, but I’ve always thought that the electric guitar parts on “Minstrel
in the Gallery” are among the more Sabbath-sounding in the Tull catalogue. Sabbath, meanwhile, have moved away from
their classic sound, to something that’s harder and less heavy, sounding closer
to, say, Deep Purple. Deep Purple break
up this year, and their most prominent successor group (Rainbow) put out their
first album with future Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio.
The biggest news in prog/hard rock
as far as I’m concerned, however, is that Rush are starting to take off. Last year they were around but unremarkable
in their Sabbath-Zeppelin sound, but now are starting to get worth noticing
(not least because Neil Peart is involved).
I didn’t realize how late Rush were to the prog scene, and at this point
they mostly sound like an ambitious hard-rock band rather than a prog band, but
they do have a pair of 12+ minute epics that recall the early
reach-exceeding-grasp work of Pink Floyd (although actually borrow more heavily
from the Velvet Underground). Also they
release “Bastille Day,” a song I feel compelled to listen to every July 14.
The biggest news in rock generally,
however, is undoubtedly the first really great Dylan album since 1967’s John Wesley Harding. Blood
On The Tracks sounds classic even out of context, but I gain a newfound
appreciation for how great it must have sounded after almost a decade of genre
experiments, deliberately half-assed records, soundtracks, and middling
songcraft. Even more to Dylan’s credit
is that it’s not just a return to his classic sound. If anything, it most closely resembles Neil
Young in his acoustic-confessional mode (like the softer moments of After The Gold Rush or Harvest). Unlike Young, however, Dylan’s moved beyond
adolescent (if eloquent) self-pity to much more adult emotional content. Really, the only other rock lyricist being
similarly lyrically mature is Pete Townshend.
Realizing this gives me a newfound appreciation of The Who By Numbers, which I’d otherwise considered their weakest
since their 2nd. But goofy
novelty song aside (and worth it for the scene in Freaks & Geeks), The Who
By Numbers sees Townshend really writing some respectable lyrics. I generally cringe at confessional-style
songwriting, but I give Pete credit for not doing the adolescent self-pity
thing, but really exploring more adult issues.
If I didn’t know how the Who’s story ended, it would make me extremely
optimistic for them going forward.
Speaking of Neil Young, I should
point out that Neil’s not guilty of any kind of adolescent self-pity thia year,
although on at least one of his two albums this year, he’s by no means a happy
man. I understand why people respect Tonight’s The Night, but it’s such a
wake of an album that it’s hardly much fun to listen to, nor does it have the energy
of Time Fades Away. Much better, in my mind, is Zuma, which is as close to an archetypal
Neil Young album as you’ll find, with long rumbling guitar solos, cryptic
lyrics, and a loping, grungy sound. It
also includes what, as far as I know, is the only “secret” CSNY reunion buried
on any of the respective members’ albums.
“Secret” CSN reunions, where the other two appear on one’s solo album,
seem pretty common - there’s one on Still’s solo record this year – and Young
will appear on Crosby albums, or Nash on Stills albums or whatever, but as far
as I know this is the only appearance of all four outside of a formal CSNY
record. The rest of CSNY, by the way,
are looking much less impressive than Young.
Crosby & Nash have another duo record, and they’re definitely moving
more toward the soft-rock side of things than the folk-rock end. Stills is a little better on his solo record,
and sounds good, but (apart from a Neil Young cover) the songs aren’t really
there.
Too bad for CSNY, as they’re seeing
a major challenger to their soft rock/folk rock crown in the form of a
revitalized Fleetwood Mac, with all the harmony singing and interpersonal drama
of CSNY, even if their sound is a little more upbeat. I’d say more produced too, but that’s not
really the case when compared to the slick records from C&N and Stills this
year. Catchier songs, though.
Finally, no Stones record this year
except for the odds & sods cash-in Metamorphosis,
the first time since 1963, but there are a plethora of bands that want to be
the Stones. Lynyrd Skynrd obviously have
been around for a while before this, but by ’75 they’ve moved to sounding much
more like the Stones than anyone else, at least on rockers like the
mixed-message pair of anti-gun “Saturday Night Special” and pro-bullets “Gimme
Back My Bullets.” It suits them well,
especially since they sound dreadful on more straight-country fare (and they
certainly sound nothing like the Allmans anymore). Moving up the East Coast, Aerosmith have
their big breakthrough record, which is called Zeppelin-like as often as it is
Stonesy, but since Aerosmith can more credibly swing than Zeppelin, I’ve always
heard them as Stonesy. I don’t quite
know what it says that a pair of America’s most prominent 70s rock bands tried
so hard to sound like a British band that more than anything wanted to sound
like Chicago blues acts, but there you go.
Outside of America, too, the Stones’ sound to my ears is a big influence
on AC/DC, whose Australian debut is this year.
Of course, given their heavier beat, they also sound more like glam,
which really wanted to sound like the Stones anyway. But they’ve got a heavier version of Stones
riffs and they can swing in their own way, so it all adds up to probably the
most exciting debut of the year.
Song of the
Year: In almost any other artist’s
hands, it wouldn’t work, but “Thunder Road” is Springsteen’s greatest single,
so gets the nod. Epic in all the right
ways.
Album of the Year: Blood
on the Tracks isn’t my favorite Dylan album (it’s not quite as good as the Bringing It All Back Home – John Wesley
Harding run), but I’d be lying if I didn’t’ say it has long been an album
I’ve loved a great deal. Honorable
mention, though, to Jeff Beck’s Blow By
Blow, which was pretty much the soundtrack to me doing math homework in
college. Despite that, I still love that
one too…
Artist Most
Benefiting from Reevaluation: I know
they just got marked down last year, but this year it’s Kraftwerk, who have
moved beyond the motorik sound already and succeed where Neu! failed in making
a cohesive album.
Artist Most
Diminished in Reevaluation: Stephen
Stills. Based on his earlier records, I
always kind of assumed I’d find it worthwhile to get more Still solo
records. It seems I was mistaken. Not bad, but not really memorable
either. Still, better than the hippie
self-parody Crosby & Nash have drifted into.
Album List
ABBA - Gold
AC/DC - AC/DC
Aerosmith - Aerosmith's Greatest Hits
Aerosmith – Toys In The Attic
Al Green - The Absolute Best
Black Sabbath - Past Lives
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks
Bob Dylan - Live 1961-2000: Thirty-Nine Years of Great
Concert Performances
Bob Dylan - Vol. 3: Rare And Unreleased, 1974-1991
Bob Dylan - Vol. 5: Live 1975 - The Rolling Thunder Revue
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Live!
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen - Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 [Live]
Bruce Springsteen - The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Chris Squire – Fish Out Of Water
Clifton Chenier - Bogalusa Boogie
Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young) - Carry On
David Bowie - Best Of Bowie
David Bowie - Changesbowie
Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic: The Best Of
Electric Light Orchestra
Elton John - Greatest Hits 1970-2002
Fela Kuti - The Best Best Of Fela Kuti
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac
George Harrison - The Best Of George Harrison
Goblin - Goblin
J.J. Cale - Very Best Of
James Brown - The Big Payback: 1971-1975
Jeff Beck – Blow By Blow
Jethro Tull – Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull - Original Masters
Joe Strummer - Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited (The
101'ers)
John Lennon - Imagine Soundtrack
John Lennon – Rock ‘n’ Roll
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - The Beserkley
Years: The Best Of Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers
Kraftwerk – Radio Activity
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Leonard Cohen - The Best Of
Lynyrd Skynyrd - All-Time Greatest Hits
Neil Young - Decade
Neil Young - Tonight's The Night
Neil Young - Zuma
NEU! - NEU! 75
Parliament - Tear The Roof Off 1974-1980
Patti Smith - Outside Society
Paul McCartney - Wingspan: History
Paul McCartney - Wingspan: Hits
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Queen - Classic Queen
Queen - Greatest Hits
Richard & Linda Thompson - Hokey Pokey [Bonus Tracks]
Richard & Linda Thompson - Pour Down Like Silver
Rod Stewart & The Faces - The Best Of Faces: Good Boys
When They're Asleep
Roxy Music - The Best Of Roxy Music
Rush - Chronicles
Sly & The Family Stone - The Essential Sly & The
Family Stone
Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan
Steely Dan – Katy Lied
Stephen Stills – Stills
Talking Heads - Sand In The Vaseline
The Ethiopians - Everything Crash: The Best of The
Ethiopians
The Kinks - Celluloid Heroes
The Rolling Stones – Metamorphosis
The Staple Singers - The Very Best Of The Staple Singers
The Who - The Ultimate Collection
The Who – The Who By Numbers
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Playback V: Through The
Cracks
V/A - Back In The Day Jamz
V/A - Pure Funk
V/A - Samba Soul 70!
V/A - Saturday Night Fever
V/A - Trojan Dub Massive Chapter I
Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger
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