That 70's Thread - Anteater's Reviews Of Cool **** You Should Already Have

[Anteater]

Ah the 1970's - disco, punk, krautrock, jazz fusion, prog, punk, the kitchen sink...a decade where bands would form just as quickly as they would fade into the darkness of the roadside, while others would put on shows in the long hours of the night that would put Cirque Du Soleil to shame.

Simply put, I want to use this thread as a place to entertain you with album reviews of both common classic canon and of the blackest of obscurities, extremes that characterized a very musically conscious decade where nothing was as it seemed and experimentation was rampant even when the music was radio savvy.

So sit back, light up, and PM me for links if you find any of descriptions scintillating. I have many summaries to spin and records to pull from cobwebbed shelves, all to spur your musical souls toward that ever-changing sky called Curiosity.

[Anteater]

Sindelfingen – Odgipig (1973)

"Aggressive Folk/Random Progginess With Extra Shenanigans."

1. Song For Dawn (0:55)
2. Three Ladies (8:23)
3. Today & Tomorrow (9:42)
4. Mark's Bach (1:06)
5. Perpetual Motion (12:39)
6. Odgipig (3:12)

This was an album I actually learned about on accident while fishing for other stuff after a particularly BS evening at Economics class back when I still unfortunately had to take classes like that. After picking it up based on the cool looking sketchy 'hog however, I soon realized that this was one of THOSE albums. You know, the kind that you don't think will be much but end up knocking your ass to the curb because of how awesome it is. Since that time, it has lodged itself deep into my bowels...and my heart.

Anyway, the story behind these guys is a typical one of the era; Sindelfingen was an amateur outfit started up by two brothers whose collections mostly consisted of a lot of Fairport Convention, Yes and Beggars' Opera vinyls. They learned to play good, started up a band, worked the club circuit, ended up getting popular & made enough pocket change to dish out a record pressing, and then finally disappeared off the face of the earth only to reappear as session musicians in random pop bands from the 80's to the present.

However typical the story though, this was one outfit that really should have stuck to their guns and pressed forward with their musical ambitions. Why? Because this silly bunch in the course of a SINGLE album cultivated one of the most dynamic sounds you've never heard of, and it certainly surprised the hell out of me when I first checked it out. I mean, who else was combining Hendrixian acoustic guitar freakouts coupled with a pounding Rickenbacker bass and random jazz interludes? NOBODY!!! The playing's got pizzazz, the vocals raw, the arrangements long but not full of pretentious farkin' biznatchery. AKA, a 70's one shot that should have been an opening kick to a series of skull bustin' onslaughts. The quieter moments, such as the brief opening section of "Today and Tomorrow", are done with more than expected finesse also.




So what do we really have here? Merely a diamond in the ruff for people who are up for some ballsy folk music that also appeals to cantankerous progheads on the longer numbers. Don't miss it!

[NumberNineDream]

Very interesting review thread!
I always underestimated the 70s because of all the disco hype in that decade, but now diving more into it, I actually have more 70s albums than any other decade's.

[Hoobie Joobie]

Originally Posted by NumberNineDream

Very interesting review thread!
I always underestimated the 70s because of all the disco hype in that decade, but now diving more into it, I actually have more 70s albums than any other decade's.

The thing for me is that the Bee Gees came out with Saturday Night Fever and I think that disco was kind of fading out at that time. When SNF took off, it changed everything - for the worse. While the Bee Gees themselves made some great disco records, a lot of disco from '78 onward really was light fare. Even downright annoying (Do I hear Village People, or Rick Dee And His Cast Of Idiot's "Disco Duck" anybody?) to the point of being utterly unbearable. Record companies, I've heard, wouldn't release a song unless it had 78 beats per minute by and large. Disco fever was a serious pain in the tush for a lot of people back then!

I find it funny that from the Bee Gees recordings - Main Course through Spirit's Having Flown - the Bee Gees were in top form. Heck, Barry Gibb even wrote songs for other artists that were big hits (Barbara Streisand, Dion Warwick, Andy Gibb, Frankie Valley) at the time. The Bee Gees were above reproach, IMHO. It's the disco movement that followed their unprecedented success that was inexcusable. Boy, people didn't really forgive them here in North America until around '89 when "One" was a smash hit.

Now they're considered legends, basically. And I think the title is well deserved. Now if Leo Sayer would only stop smirking, giggling and suffering meltdowns on talk shows and reality programs we could all just move on and be happy.

[Anteater]

Smokey Robinson – A Quiet Storm (1975)

"Soft and warm, a power source of tender force...."

1. Quiet Storm (7:48)
2. The Agony and the Ecstasy (4:50)
3. Baby That's Backatcha (3:49)
4. Wedding Song (3:36)
5. Happy (7:13)
6. Love Letters (4:12)
7. Coincidentally (4:35)

It is sometimes during one of those random conversations you have with your friends at a movie or driving down the freeway somewhere that you learn some very sad truths. In my case, once such sad truth made itself apparant about two weeks ago: I learned from a guitarist buddy that nobody in Dallas, or anyone in the state of Texas for that matter, bought tickets to see Smokey Robinson back in June when he was poised for a tour. When I asked why nobody bought tickets, he simply told me that Smokey apparently had canceled his tour dates in the Lone Star State due to an apparent "lack of interest" from the people in my area. The tickets wouldn't have been expensive either.

In all honesty, I was pissed off about it for awhile after he told me, and it made me consider the possibilities. Perhaps Smokey appears washed up to many people today, particularly those in my age group. Maybe he can't hit those notes like he used to. Maybe people just don't give a flying fuck when it comes to old school Motown unless you live in New York or Chicago. It could be any of those reasons. It could be none of these reasons also, and ultimately its all just speculation.

But you know, I'd like to say to some of these stupid kids that once upon a time, Smokey Robinson was on top of the world, and none of Motown's biggest stars, including Marvin G. and Curtis and Hayes, etc. would have found their careers if Smokey and the Miracles hadn't made Motown huge back in the 60's. People tend to forget things quickly though. Kind of like how the U.S. is already forgetting the oil spill over in China. xD

Anyway, despite Smokey's overwhelming competence and reputation back then, both live and with his peeps in studio, some people didn't keep track with ol' Smokey after his tenure with the Miracles...which is a real shame: his solo material is quite monstrous in a very good way, and particularly fearsome on 1975's A Quiet Storm, his third release.

It's quite a whopper of a release too: the strength of its approach is such that its mere existence spawned an entire radio format (Quiet Storm) which lasted a good twenty some years in the U.S. and other countries, a format reserved for slow-burning jazz tinged balladry and thumping heaps of bass and string and crooners in the dead of night.

And to an extent, most of the acclaim is rather understandable: Smokey's voice is in top silky form here in all seven of the compositions that make up A Quiet Storm, shimmying up and down ethereal octaves without pretense or the usual vibes of insincerity I seem to pick up from so many of those stagemen who inevitably build entire empires on the sound of their voice and ignorance of a musically deprived audience. Rather, Smokey handles his voice like a professional sharpshooter would maintain a sniper rifle: its precise, clean, but never lacking punch or range when necessary.

None of this would mean much, however, if the songs themselves weren't as competent as the man belting them out through a mic, and they indeed they do Smokey's voice grand justice. The opening title track, one of two length 7-minuters on the record, is in itself a marvel and a shoe-in for MVS here: memorable arrangement, fantastic buildup, and one hell of a soulful hook from the opening theremin-esque synth lines to the kick of the drum fills at each crossing of the bridge. Needless to say, if your mind doesn't perk up at the thunderous two-punch of Smokey's cry of "quiettttt storrrrrrmmm..!", you most likely require medical attention. Plus, who doesn't love the flute?



From that cracking title track onwards, you'll probably notice that there's some great flow between each piece: this is because the synth theme from the title track reappears over the course of the other songs, linking them together in a musical sense rather than a conceptual or lyrical one. Even more upbeat funk-influenced numbers such as 'Baby That's Backatcha' or the jazzy swingin' sensibilities of 'Coincidentally' work in favor of this flow through creating fun contrasts between the songs instead of setting listeners into that ever pervasive and distracting trap known as inconsistency. And with a combined playing time of only 35 minutes, nothing ever feels too long. It just flowzzz like a riverrrrrr.



A day will probably come when even more open-minded music enthusiasts will wonder why anyone ever listened to 70's funk and soul, what with the "lame" production values and wind instruments and the noticeable lack of Autotune. But as long as there are kids younger than my little brother who can pick up something by Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye or Terry Callier, smile with their giant headphones on as their nerves let go and lament where all the good music went, I'd say we're on a good track.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Anteater

Smokey Robinson – A Quiet Storm (1975)

"Soft and warm, a power source of tender force...."

1. Quiet Storm (7:48)
2. The Agony and the Ecstasy (4:50)
3. Baby That's Backatcha (3:49)
4. Wedding Song (3:36)
5. Happy (7:13)
6. Love Letters (4:12)
7. Coincidentally (4:35)

Previews sound pretty nice. Will have to add some Smokey to my list.

[Schizotypic]

D/ling this album atm. Great write-up, been looking to get more into prog lately maybe this will be the first album I really "get". Love the songs posted, a lot of changing around but pretty awesome. I can't believe you just found this album. Cheers on starting another great and informative thread btw.

Edit: I'm actually going to need a d/l of this. I could only find on d/l; it's in two parts and I don't trust it. =(

[NumberNineDream]

Those are a couple of truly mind blowing tracks!
Great album to start with... just got more excited to see the rest of the list.

[Anteater]

^ Glad you guys like it so far!

Rainbow – Rising (1976)

"Walls to the Balls Heavy Hittin' Proto-Metal w/ Keyboardz."

1. Tarot Woman (6.08)
2. Run with the Wolf (3:47)
3. Starstruck (4:04)
4. Do You Close Your Eyes (2:58)
5. Stargazer (8:27)
6. A Light in the Black (8:11)

Once upon a time, there was a burly English mofo guitarist named Ritchie Blackmore, and he was really pissed off. The driving force behind much of what made Deep Purple the hard rock gods that they were from the late 60's through the mid 70's, by the release of their 1974 release Stormbringer he had become fed up with the other band members and their disregard of his concerns about their change toward a more funky/soul influenced kind of rock. After breaking a bunch of stuff, he promptly left before the year was out.

In 1975, he teamed up with the then-vocalist of Elf, Ronnie James Dio, an extraordinary singer who shared with Blackmore a love of harrrrd rock and classical music. And thus, after recruiting a bassist and drummer, the dynamic duo formed a rock band whose name would echo down the years as a household statement, a wonderful collaboration of showmanship and edgy classicism that would prove to be very awesome for awhile: Rainbow.

But although their 1975 debut was quite decent, even spawning a less-than-commercial single that charted, it was on 1976's Rising where everything, from the riffs to the keyboards to the epic delivery, came together without the slightest of hitches and every track was perfect. And amidst all the stuff they've done since that time, they've never outdone the 33 minutes of work recorded here. Not even once.

The party begins with 'Tarot Woman', opening over the course of a minute or so with psychedelic keyboards that seem to float around in distant spiraled space before the main riff comes in around 1:30 to bring you back to reality. What ensues is a good ol' fashioned headbanging back by galloping two-kick drum n' bass. All things considered, you couldn't ask for a better start to one of the best rock albums ever made.




But its not just the opener that hits home. 'Run With The Wolf' and 'Starstruck' are both nice slices of blues based proto-metal with solos that are nice and gritty without the usual cheese you associate with hard rock.



Side 2, however, is where we see just how epic a level Rainbow are willing to...rise to, when given the opportunity to perform longer tracks. 'Stargazer', with its vaguely-Eastern sounding keyboard, knotty guitar and Dio bellowing about sword n' sorcery and whatnot, is sure to be on anyone's dragon slaying playlist and is one of the tracks that laid the foundations for the power and progressive metal genres that would arise in the mid to late 80's, along with the 8-minute closer "Light in the Black", which ends the album on a high note and makes use of all the elements seen in previous tracks into one fantastic whole.



In conclusion, Rainbow, along with Uriah Heep, is just to me one of those bands that truly defined the harder edge of the 70's. More straightforward than Zeppelin, but at times a lot more fun too! Although they would decline down the AOR route once the 80's hit, Rising still stands as this band's distinctive stamp in music history, borne in an era where others may have been weirder, but not nearly as catchy for all their experimental tendencies. For as many of us well know, sometimes simpler is better: for people looking for some blazing hot rock without the excess cock, this here is the peak.

[almauro]

Cool review. Some consider this the first Power Metal record, spear-headed by Dio's incredible range, lyrics and Blackmore's classic guitar style. "Rising" ventures into prog territory at times, but never lets up in energy. As you noted, the band became more of a straight forward hard rock band on their next album, but "Long Live Rock n Roll' is still another mighty fine release.