Retro Albums of the Year 2010's: 2020

[SoundscapeMN]

1967:

A Summary I wrote a few years ago

So, 1967 many say is the year Prog came, or the year the album became the focus over the single. Or the year Psych rock dominated, or rather started to dominate. And all those more or less were true.

Compared to '65 and '66, there is a lot more depth among my favorites, but at the same time, there's still many records on this list that I know the radio hits or I know for their reputation and influence more than most of the music themselves.

1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
3. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
4. Cream - Disreali Gears
5. Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
6. The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
7. The Monkees - Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD
8. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
9. Procol Harum - Procol Harum
10. The Monkees - Headquarters
11. The Who - The Who Sell Out
12. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
13. The Doors - The Doors
14. The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
15. The Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons
16. The Monkees - More of The Monkees

[Cool Chris]

I said this earlier about The Monkees while we were in 1966, but I love HQ and PAC&J. Solid stuff.

The Who Sell Out has some great gems too that can get overlooked.

The Doors debut is on my (gasp!) Mt Rushmore of debut albums. That is a masterpiece.

[Dedalus]

1967:

01. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)

[Puppies_On_Acid]

1967 was a fantastic year for music. The first 7 albums here I'd consider essential listening, the rest are still pretty good.

1. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
3. Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Smiles
4. Cream - Disraeli Gears
5. The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
6. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
7. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
8. Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
9. Scott Walker - Scott
10. The Doors - The Doors

[ariich]

For sure this was the year that album-focused proggy rock became more of a thing, and as a result there's definitely more music that I like from it than previous years. However, nothing in that vein really stands out to me and so my favourite from that year was still a jazz one.

1. The Buddy Rich Big Band - Big Swing Face
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
6. Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
7. Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

[ProfessorPeart]

Top 5 (+2) would probably be something like this:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
The Doors - The Doors
3 Monkees albums
The Buddy Rich Big Band - Big Swing Face

Few others I have don't rate as highly:

Procol Harum - Procol Harum
The Doors - Strange Days
Pink Floyd - Piper

[ThatOneGuy2112]

.

[hefdaddy42]

No order:

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love
Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Miles Davis - Sorcerer
John Coltrane - Expression
Stan Getz - Sweet Rain
Wayne Shorter - Schizophrenia

[Zoom E]

Love - Forever Changes (This one is a real gem. UFO recorded a faithful cover of the first song, Alone Again Or, on their Lights Out album)
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

[Stadler]

This is the reason I rate The Beatles so highly, and while I hadn't thought of this before today, this is how I'm going to answer "why were the Beatles so great?" from this point forward.

This was the year everything changed, but except for the Beatles, it was all first, baby steps.  Every band listed so far turned a corner this year, but except for the Beatles (Sgt. Pepper) ALL of them took a year or two to get their shit together, girl, and really incorporate the changes.   The next year and the year after will likely be the hardest years to narrow down to "just five".


My list:
1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
5. The Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons

[elefantStone]

1. The Beatles-Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience-Are you Experienced?
3. The Doors-The Doors
4. The Moody Blues-Days of Future Passed
5. 13th Floor Elevators-Easter Everywhere

[SoundscapeMN]

1968, seems to be as much about the modest debut album as anything else.

Electric Ladyland, Head and The White Album are as experimental as anything that was made in the late 60's.

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
2. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
3. The Beatles - The Beatles [The White Album]
4. The Monkees - Head
5. The Zombies - Odyssey & Oracle
6. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
7. Ravi Shankar - Live at Monterrey Pop Festival
8. Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends
9. The Monkees - The Bird, The Bees and The Monkees
10. Cream - Wheels of Fire
11. The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord

Giles, Giles and Fripp - The Cheerful Insanity of Giles Giles and Fripp
The Soft Machine - The Soft Machine
Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Nice - The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
Tomorrow - Tomorrow
Deep Purple - Shades
Jethro Tull - This Was
Caravan - Caravan

[ReaperKK]

Alright 1968, I'll try to rank it from favorite:

1. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
3. Cream - Wheels of Fire

Pretty light year for me

[hefdaddy42]

1968 favorite albums (no particular order)

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladlyland
The Beatles - The White Album
Cream - Wheels of Fire
Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs

[Dedalus]

01. The Beatles (The Beatles)

[pg1067]

Speaking of 1968, enjoy this clip of Ritchie Blackmore teaching Hugh Hefner a few tricks on Playboy After Dark (along with a performance of "Hush") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrUR54HKwA .

Deep Purple also apparently made an appearance on the game show The Dating Game (although I couldn't find a clip of that), a show perhaps better known for (unknowingly) featuring an active serial killer as a contestant.

[ariich]

Just two albums for me from 1968:

1. The Beatles - The Beatles [White Album]
2. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets

Weird that I've heard so little from that year. From 1969 onwards I think I'm going to consistently have much fuller lists.

[Dave_Manchester]

Missed the last one, so:

1967 -

1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper
2. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
3. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen
4. Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
5. The Doors - The Doors
6. The Who - The Who Sell Out
7. Cream - Disraeli Gears
8. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
9. The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
10. The Doors - Strange Days

1968 -

1. The Beatles - The Beatles ('white album')
2. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
3. The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
4. The Doors - Waiting for the Sun
5. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
6. Cream - Wheels of Fire
7. Creedance Clearwater Revival - Creedance Clearwater Revival
8. Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf

[elefantStone]

1. Van Morrison-Astral weeks
2. The Beatles-White Album
3. The Velvet Underground-White Light/White Heat
4. Quicksilver messenger Service-Quicksilver messenger Service
5. Mothers of invention-We're only in it for the money

[ThatOneGuy2112]

.

[Puppies_On_Acid]

1968 - What a great year for music. Lots of classics here!

1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
2. The Beatles - The White Album
3. Scott Walker - Scott 2
4. Cream - Wheels of Fire
5. Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
6. Miles Davis - Nefertiti
7. The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord
8. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
9. Family - Music in a Doll's House
10. Blue Cheer - Outsideinside
11. The Soft Machine - The Soft Machine

Can't believe no one else mentioned Blue Cheer yet. They had two really good albums this year.

[ProfessorPeart]

Almost everything I have from '68 here:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
The Buddy Rich Big Band - Mercy, Mercy - Live At Caesars Palace 1968
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Procol Harum - Shine On Brightly
The Doors - Waiting For The Sun

The Buddy Rich show has a 12:30 version of the Channel 1 Suite. Such an epic track, that one.

[HOF]

All I've got for 1968 is Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends, which is a wonderful recording.

[Zoom E]

The only album I have from 1968 is Hendrix's Electric Ladyland.

I'm just realizing how few 1960's releases I own.

[Stadler]

Speaking of 1968, enjoy this clip of Ritchie Blackmore teaching Hugh Hefner a few tricks on Playboy After Dark (along with a performance of "Hush") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrUR54HKwA .

Deep Purple also apparently made an appearance on the game show The Dating Game (although I couldn't find a clip of that), a show perhaps better known for (unknowingly) featuring an active serial killer as a contestant.

Tom Selleck too!

I'm biased, but Blackmore is even cool with a green shiny shirt and a big ol' Gibson ES-335.   (By the way, I think this is interesting:   The story goes that Blackmore's ex-wife Barbel Hardie stole it from him back in the 70s and later on sold it on an auction in 2004 to a guy named Laurence Wexer for $28,000. Laurence then sold it a few years later to a Blackmore fan from Connecticut named Ilsan Akbil. The guitar is currently in Akbil's possession.

[SoundscapeMN]

1969

I suspect if we do a cumulative Top 5-10 for 1969, Crimson will win, but it will be interesting to see people rank it compared to Abbey Road and the Zeppelin records especially.

My Summary from a few years ago:

1969 was quite the year for music. Of course you had Woodstock that Summer. But also it seemed a ton of debut albums that varied from nice impressions, to some of the most unusual, experimental music that had ever been made, to even some of those artists finest works.

Among the years in the 60's, I'm not sure if '69 isn't my favorite given it's depth. Zeppelin and The Beatles both released albums this year. Zeppelin 2 actually. And the Crimson debut which stands out of course.

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road
2. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
4. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
5. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
6. The Who - Tommy
7. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
8. Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash
9. Pink Floyd - More
10. Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief
11. Blind Faith - Blind Faith
12. Chicago - The Chicago Transit Authority
13. Renaissance - Renaissance
14. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
15. Yes - Yes
16. Jethro Tull - Stand Up
17. Soft Machine - Volume Two
18. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Repica
19. Genesis - From Genesis to Revelation

[ReaperKK]

Oh man some great albums this year, here is how they rank for me:

1969:

1. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
2. Leo Kottke - 6 & 12 String Guitar
3. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
4. Pink Floyd - More

[hefdaddy42]

No particular order:

The Beatles - Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
The Chicago Transit Authority - The Chicago Transit Authority
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
The Tony Williams Lifetime - Emergency!

[ariich]

Now we're talking!

1. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King    
2. The Beatles - Abbey Road
3. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash    
4. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma    
5. The Who - Tommy
6. Pink Floyd - Soundtrack From the Film "More"   
7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
8. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine   
9. Yes - Yes

[HOF]

The only thing I have for this year is King Crimson - ITCOTCK, which might be my least favorite KC album. It's ok, just a little slow.

[Dedalus]

1969:

01. Tommy (The Who)

[KevShmev]

I will jump in now...

My top of 1969:

1 The Beatles - Abbey Road
2 Led Zeppelin - II
3 The Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children
4 The Who - Tommy
5 Led Zeppelin - I

Hot Rats just missed the cut.  Top 6 was easy.  There would be a big drop between 6 and whatever album I put at 7.

[Dave_Manchester]

1. Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Transit Authority
2. The Beatles - Abbey Road
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
4. The Who - Tommy
5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
6. Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
7. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
8. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
9. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
10. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
11. Genesis - From Genesis to Revelation
12. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
13. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys
14. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
15 - Pink Floyd - More


(remember the halcyon days when classic groups released 2 or 3 albums a year?)

[Puppies_On_Acid]

1969 was a great year for music!

1969:
1. The Beatles - Abbey Road
2. Led Zeppelin - II
3. Scott Walker - Scott 4
4. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
5. Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Transit Authority
6. Scott Walker - Scott 3
7. The Who - Tommy
8. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
9. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
10. The Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children
11. Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro
12. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
13. David Bowie - Space Oddity
14. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
15. The Moody Blues - On the Threshold of a Dream

[ariich]

The only thing I have for this year is King Crimson - ITCOTCK, which might be my least favorite KC album. It's ok, just a little slow.

:O