70's Classic Albums Discussion (now featuring: ZZ Top)

[TAC]

Pick K-Lox's side or Kev's side..... 

What a fucking nightmare choice that is...

Let's see, a needle in my eye or bamboo chutes up my fingernails.

Hey, TAC... shut up again! 

I'm actually closer to your side regarding Priest. There's just something about them that has never really grabbed me.

[KevShmev]

Only for you, sweetheart.

[Stadler]

Live albums that don't contain the whole show are always suspect to me.


That said, I always liked what I heard on Unleashed.

I think I know what you mean here.  I like Priest, I love some albums, but I always thought they were a tier below Maiden, Sabbath, and Motorhead, and some of the other metal bands they get lumped in with.   I always thought they were a little cartoon-y and a little more calculated than Maiden and Sabbath. 

[TAC]

I respect Judas Priest for the influence they had, but they were never a band that I was rabid for. To me, they were always just another band, never amongst my favorites.

[bl5150]

I respect Judas Priest for the influence they had, but they were never a band that I was rabid for. To me, they were always just another band, never amongst my favorites.

Maiden were like that for me.  Always respected them growing up and enjoyed them when I heard them but never felt compelled to buy an album until recent years.

[KevShmev]

Boston - Boston



This is pretty much the perfect 70's rock album. I have spoke before about what a life-changing event hearing Foreplay/Long Time was for me as a music fan, and I can never overstate it; I never knew music could be that good.  And then I got the cassette the next day and discovered the rest of the record was nothing but one amazing song after another. 8 songs, all gems, all played on the radio, all major classics.  This album is pretty much non-stop.

[Cool Chris]

Not much more I can add that. Not an album I ever owned, since I heard pretty much everything on it on my classic rock station with regularity.

[ProfessorPeart]

Yep, it doesn't get much closer to perfection than this disc. Tom really found magic in a bottle with this one. Beyond a classic record.

[pg1067]

I've always tried to appreciate Priest, but Halford's voice just makes it impossible. I know that's a hot take, but I just don't get it.

And yet you like GnR.... 

[TAC]

Boston is one of the best albums ever recorded.

[pg1067]

Boston - Boston

Side 1 is one of the best album sides of all time.  Side 2 is just good.

[Cool Chris]

Side 1 is one of the best album sides of all time.  Side 2 is just good.

Had to look at the track listing to remind myself the breakdown. Dang, that is not a stretch to make that argument.

[ReaperKK]

I only recently listened to this album in full and it truly is amazing. I never knew how well put together the album is until I saw the "what makes this song great" with Rick beato

https://youtu.be/ynFNt4tgBJ0

[Lowdz]

I’m probably alone in preferring the follow up, Don’t Look Back, but it was my first Boston album, and it miraculously appeared in the LP rack at home when I was a kid. My mum and dad both deny getting it, yet there it was in all its sci fi, gatefold sleeve glory.

[Stadler]

Boston - Boston



This is pretty much the perfect 70's rock album. I have spoke before about what a life-changing event hearing Foreplay/Long Time was for me as a music fan, and I can never overstate it; I never knew music could be that good.  And then I got the cassette the next day and discovered the rest of the record was nothing but one amazing song after another. 8 songs, all gems, all played on the radio, all major classics.  This album is pretty much non-stop.

Remembering that this was recorded in 1976, there's a moment in More Than A Feeling where Brad Delp hits this note, and you think the glasses on the table are going to break, or he's going to pass out from lack of oxygen, then at the very end he modulates up a step and it fades into the guitar line and... I been sold on Delp ever since.  One of my favorite vocalists of all time (and he delivered live, the one time I got to see him). 

EDIT:  He does it once at about 2:28, but the moment I'm talking about is when he does it AGAIN at about 3:45.  Just killer.

[TAC]

Rick Beato covers that in the vid that Reaper linked.

[Stadler]

Guess I better watch that, then...

BTW, who is Rick Beato?   Should I know him?

[TAC]

Guess I better watch that, then...

BTW, who is Rick Beato?   Should I know him?

Nope.

His Boston video is pretty good. I spent a bit of the last couple nights going through his channel. There's a ton of content, but the more I watched, the more aggravated I got. He completely ignores metal. He has lists of different things, 20 Best Drum Intros, 20 Best Rock Singers, and it's more like Rolling Stone made these lists for him.

[Dublagent66]

Boston - Boston



This is pretty much the perfect 70's rock album. I have spoke before about what a life-changing event hearing Foreplay/Long Time was for me as a music fan, and I can never overstate it; I never knew music could be that good.  And then I got the cassette the next day and discovered the rest of the record was nothing but one amazing song after another. 8 songs, all gems, all played on the radio, all major classics.  This album is pretty much non-stop.

Can't argue with any of this.

[Stadler]

I'm watching this video now, and I'm amazed he was able to get the individual tracks for the song; it's so cool hearing the isolated vocals and the isolated bass (I'm not sure I could hum you even one bass line on that entire album, and I've listened to it 100's of times and played Peace of Mind in bands for years.

Though he threw me for a loop when at the 7:13 mark, he miraculously changed his 12-string guitar into a bass with the flick of a wrist!

[ReaperKK]

Rick beato is a pretty successful music producer. He did a ton of work with Sevendust. His music theory knowledge is next level.

Guess I better watch that, then...

BTW, who is Rick Beato?   Should I know him?

Nope.

His Boston video is pretty good. I spent a bit of the last couple nights going through his channel. There's a ton of content, but the more I watched, the more aggravated I got. He completely ignores metal. He has lists of different things, 20 Best Drum Intros, 20 Best Rock Singers, and it's more like Rolling Stone made these lists for him.

It's his personal list the reflect his personal tastes. He has done some what makes this song great on a few metal bands, megadeth being one of them.

[TAC]

I haven't been through all of them. I did see the Symphony Of Destruction one, but that song sucks.

He did cop to say his band opened for Megadeth in the late 90's.

He's also done the great song thing with Metallica. But his lists definitely ignore metal.

He loves himself some early 90's Seattle music though.

[pg1067]

The Beato video is cool, but it illustrates why the song could never really be performed live on anything approaching the same level as the album.

[hefdaddy42]

His Boston video is pretty good. I spent a bit of the last couple nights going through his channel. There's a ton of content, but the more I watched, the more aggravated I got. He completely ignores metal. He has lists of different things, 20 Best Drum Intros, 20 Best Rock Singers, and it's more like Rolling Stone made these lists for him.

You're aggravated that someone else has different sensibilities than you?

Boston is god-level.  And Rick Beato is awesome.  I don't love everything he loves, but he is on top of his stuff.  He also just recently celebrated 1 million followers on YouTube.  His "What Makes This Song Great?" series is fantastic.

[mikeyd23]

His Boston video is pretty good. I spent a bit of the last couple nights going through his channel. There's a ton of content, but the more I watched, the more aggravated I got. He completely ignores metal. He has lists of different things, 20 Best Drum Intros, 20 Best Rock Singers, and it's more like Rolling Stone made these lists for him.

You're aggravated that someone else has different sensibilities than you?

Boston is god-level.  And Rick Beato is awesome.  I don't love everything he loves, but he is on top of his stuff.  He also just recently celebrated 1 million followers on YouTube.  His "What Makes This Song Great?" series is fantastic.

Yeah, exactly what Hef said. Beato's channel is full of great music (usually rock) related content from theory, to gear, to production, and more.

[TAC]

His Boston video is pretty good. I spent a bit of the last couple nights going through his channel. There's a ton of content, but the more I watched, the more aggravated I got. He completely ignores metal. He has lists of different things, 20 Best Drum Intros, 20 Best Rock Singers, and it's more like Rolling Stone made these lists for him.

You're aggravated that someone else has different sensibilities than you?

They are HIS lists, so that's fine. I can change the channel. But I was aggravated because I'd never heard of the guy before Reaper linked the Boston video, and I got all excited about this.

Yeah, exactly what Hef said. Beato's channel is full of great music (usually rock) related content from theory, to gear, to production, and more.

I'll be exploring the channel for sure. I just find his lack of metal in his lists irking. How can you have a great drum into list and not have Run To The Hills?

Yes, it irks me that he has completely ignored metal on his lists. How he can have Kurt Cobain on his all time 20 rock singers and ignore Halford, Dio, Dickinson, Ozzy, Geoff Tate. I realize 20 means 20, but like I said, it's a Rolling Stone style listings that I can't take seriously.

Boston is god-level.  And Rick Beato is awesome.  I don't love everything he loves, but he is on top of his stuff.  He also just recently celebrated 1 million followers on YouTube.  His "What Makes This Song Great?" series is fantastic.

Boston IS God Level. I've never heard of Rick Beato, and that's great, he has 1 mil followers.

I look forward to his breakdowns on a lot of the songs.

[mikeyd23]

TAC, I'd recommend skimming through the list of his videos in the "What Makes This Song Great" series and watching ones by artists you enjoy. He does a great job breaking stuff down. Sounds like you should probably steer away from his top 20 lists videos.

Also - as a side note - Rick might argue none of the vocalists you listed made his list because it was a "rock singers" list. If he was to do a "metal singers" list, some of those names would probably be on it.

[Stadler]

I wouldn't put Kurt Cobain on my "Top 20 Singers For Nirvana That Married Courtney Love" list, but that's neither here, nor there.

I love his enthusiasm.  When he played the high solo for "More Than A Feeling" and gave that little fist pump, as if he even surprised himself, that was endearing.    I really got a lot out of that; that song has a lot more substance than I ever imagined.

[TAC]

TAC, I'd recommend skimming through the list of his videos in the "What Makes This Song Great" series and watching ones by artists you enjoy. He does a great job breaking stuff down.

Oh, I plan on it. The Boston one was awesome. Like I said, I just found this channel the other night.


I did watch his interviews with JP and JR. They were a couple of years old. Once they got past the geeky gear talk, the one with JP was great.

I love his enthusiasm. 

One of the user comments in the Boston vid was 50% ability 50% enthusiasm.

[hefdaddy42]

Yes, it irks me that he has completely ignored metal on his lists. How he can have Kurt Cobain on his all time 20 rock singers and ignore Halford, Dio, Dickinson, Ozzy, Geoff Tate. I realize 20 means 20, but like I said, it's a Rolling Stone style listings that I can't take seriously.

I would have ignored them too, and I don't give a fuck about Rolling Stone.

[TAC]

OK...I'm going to watch the Toto-Roseanna one.

[pg1067]

I wouldn't put Kurt Cobain on my "Top 20 Singers For Nirvana That Married Courtney Love" list, but that's neither here, nor there.

Well said.


I watched Beato's video for Roundabout.  It's just as good as the Boston video (even though I knew most of the stuff he mentioned, it's really cool to hear it isolated and in context).

[KevShmev]

Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage



Really good album, and one that seems to follow the pattern of many other concept albums, in that it starts off really strong, get a bit tedious a little halfway through, and then picks up steam again near the end before a good finish.  That said, I can't think of anything from this I do not like, but it's just tough to get through in one listen, and with the exception of Watermelon in Easter Hay, most of my favorites are from the first half of the record.  Zappa almost seems like his own genre at times, and this album is a good example of that genre; it is very Frank Zappa, if you catch my drift.

[TAC]

 

[Cool Chris]

I feel like I know a lot about Frank the man, and so little about his musical output. I remember hearing the Live Scenes DVD commentary the first time where they talked about the "Zappa section" in Beyond This Life. As that is one of the most "wtf is this nonsense?!" moments in DT's discography, my initial thought was "Man, this Zappa dude's music must be awful."