Okay, so I've scrapped my last thread (the one where I tried to do my top 55 records ever). My selections change a lot, and I find it easier to go year-by-year. So I intend to finish this new project pretty soon - I'll get a good deal of it done today. Hope someone enjoys it.
1965:
1.
The Sonics -
Here Are The Sonics!!!
Don't get me wrong, I think Rubber Soul is a nice little record. But in the same year, the Sonics were putting out songs like 'The Witch,' 'Boss Hoss,' 'Psycho', and of course, 'Strychnine', with lyrics like "
some folks like water, some folks like wine / but I like the taste of straight strychnine". You can't beat that in 1965... even if they do make you hear some covers of the usual standards.
2.
John Coltrane -
A Love Supreme
3.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk -
Rip, Rig and Panic
4.
The Beatles -
Rubber Soul
5.
Bob Dylan -
Highway 61 Revisited
1966:
1.
The Beach Boys -
Pet Sounds
I never knew I liked the Beach Boys until I heard this album. I like the Beach Boys. This is definitely one of the most beautiful albums of the 1960s and that also makes it one of the best. You can tell which decade it comes from, but that doesn't make it any less timeless. We'll be listening to this for many years to come, and it'll always make us want to sing along.
2.
The Beatles -
Revolver
3.
Monks -
Black Monk Time
4.
Cecil Taylor -
Unit Structures
5.
The Seeds -
A Web of Sound
1967:
1.
The Velvet Underground -
The Velvet Underground & Nico
What more can be said? This record completely reshaped modern music when it was released in 1967 and still holds up to this day. Even in 2010, the menacing sounds of songs like 'Venus in Furs' and 'Run Run Run' are able to send chills through your spine. A masterpiece, and a contender for the best album of the 1960s for sure.
2.
Captain Beefheart -
Safe as Milk
3.
Leonard Cohen -
Songs of Leonard Cohen
4.
Pink Floyd -
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
5.
Jefferson Airplane -
Surrealistic Pillow
More later...