TURN THIS MUTHA OUT! It's the Alternate 1970s Albums Poll on ILX — Results Thread

There's much in common with the 101-200 in the previous poll. But there's some new things popping it to keep it interesting. Glad to see Harmonia make it. Here's something I wrote about them:

Frustrated with trying to assemble a live band for Neu! shows, Michael Rother visited Cluster's Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius at their bucolic, woodlands studio home in Forst, Weserbergland in 1973 to ask them to join. He clicked with them so well creatively that he decided to put Neu! on hiatus and stayed. The result was two incredible albums in which they eschewed repetition for a variety of short burts of experimental sounds, including torturing a long-suffering drum machine by putting it through effects and chopping up the rhythms. Brian Eno played keen attention to Music Von Harmonia (1974) before recording Another Green World (1975). Bowie was also a big fan, which was reflected on side two of Low (1977). On Deluxe they let the drum machine alone, recruiting Guru Guru's Mani Neumeier for a more powerful sound. Eno joined them and made some demos that were released 20 years later as Harmonia 76, Tracks And Traces. While it was fascinating stuff, it wasn't nearly great as the two official releases. Live 1974, issued by Water in 2007, offers a rare peak of a live performance of mostly different material, with more of the improvised space rock feel of earlier Cluster. It also, however, lacks the magic of the studio albums.

Those just getting into it can find more via my kosmische/krautrock and reggae lists.

So far there's been nothing from my top 25.

26. Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
29. Patti Smith – Horses
31. Van Morrison – Moondance
40. Harmonia - Music Von Harmonia

My ballot was about 75% rock/pop/folk and 25% jazz/blues/Afrobeat/funk/world/country.

I suspect the 40-place ballot may have actually skewed these results toward the familiar instead of the "alternate," because most of the albums that have placed in the 100 had many middle to low ballot votes and then one or two high ballot votes. If we'd used a 30 or 20 album ballot, though, people would have had to leave even more of their favorites out and would be complaining now that they wish they had more choices when voting. I think smaller ballots could've led to more diverse results, because voters would've felt compelled to champion the more obscure side of their own tastes, but that wasn't the case. Everyone wanted bigger ballots.

This is just my hypothesis about why the list is the way it is, though. I could be totally wrong.

(Tie) 44. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Zuma (1975) [116 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

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Zuma's where we get our first real glimpse of what "Neil Young" guitar playing would be. Not that he hadn't played plenty of lead guitar beforehand, but Zuma's got those big wind-blown solos that would become his trademark.

― tylerw, Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:41 AM (3 weeks ago)

Is it me or do aspects of Zuma sound as if Neil dusted off his old Beatles records? The La La La's in "Stupid Girl" are an obvious example. But the rest of record, even the longer tunes, is fairly focused and poppy as well. I def think this could be a fave for folks in Dinosaur Jr. and Teenage Fanclub.

― QuantumNoise, Friday, July 4, 2008 3:31 PM (1 year ago)

The best *Crazy Horse* record bar none, even though it'd be tighter if the acoustic outtake cuts weren't mixed in. Some of his other records from the era I feel are better all-around, but this is the one where he fully blends into the backing band and they seem on the verge of world domination every subsequent verse. It really doesn't get any better than "Cortez the Killer," "Danger Bird," and "Barstool Blues." Some of Neil's best singing and guitar playing is on this record.

― Keith C (kcraw916), Saturday, May 28, 2005 8:16 PM (4 years ago)

There's been plenty of good albums in this list but I think there were a lot more surprises in the 80's list which is odd considering the original idea of this list.

Every time another big name artist (such as Neil Young) features in the list I fear that there's no hope left for most of my more obscure favourites. I can't see Black Devil's Disco Club album being in now, I'm not giving up on Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band though.

I think if the ballot had been smaller people really would have just voted for the big canon favourites. A larger ballot means obscurer stuff can go in high and canon stuff you dont wanna leave out goes in but at the lower end.

(Tie) 44. James Brown - The Payback (1973) [116 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

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James Brown's 'The Payback' - minimalist hypnotic grooves that are also aggressive about it, a rare thing.

― tarden, Saturday, July 14, 2001 8:00 PM (8 years ago)

James Brown's individual LPs are often a total mess (tho there are some fantastic front-to-back ones, like The Payback).

― Jesus, the Czar of Czars (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:53 AM (2 months ago)

James Brown's The Payback is essential listening for anyone even remotely interested in hardcore rap. it's kinda like late-'80s hip-hop--as conceived some dozen years earlier--in sound (and mood).

― a single man owns you (Ioannis), Sunday, October 4, 2009 4:41 PM (3 months ago)

there we go

Again, i voted for a different JB

Geir will be pleased!

43. Grateful Dead - American Beauty (1970) [119 points, 9 votes]

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But more than anything I just think [American Beauty] has a few more instances of what Marcello likes to call punctum; those perfect moments in a song that elevate its cognitive/emotional impact. The mandolin line that David Grisman plays behind the chorus on "Ripple" is one such instance. That descending guitar line that emerges on the last chorus of "Sugar Magnolia", right before the "Sunshine dayream" coda. And nothing can top that watery, sighing steel guitar solo that Garcia plays on "Candyman". I mean, that's what master musicians do - conjure moments of beauty like that.

American Beauty just feels fuller, it has more songs, it's easier to melt into.

― Broheems (diamond), Friday, April 16, 2004 8:12 PM (5 years ago)

I love the Grateful Dead, especially their Americana period, where they didn't jam at all. American Beauty is one of my favorite records, it really is a great pop album.

― Otis Wheeler, Sunday, July 22, 2001 8:00 PM (8 years ago)

I've heard 10 seconds of American Beauty and about a minute of Workingman's Dead and I can can safely say that they will not be troubling my ears again, unless by accident.

― Dr. C, Monday, July 22, 2002 8:00 PM (7 years ago)

Freaks and Geeks makes me wish I loved this album.

Yeah, I just watched that series for the first time recently, made me feel bad that I'm not a "Dead Head"

That's the reason I gave it another chance. (Still didn't vote for it here, though.) xp

i forgot to vote for american beauty but i'm glad it made it!

42. Amon Düül II - Yeti (1970) [120 points, 12 votes]

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While I would hardly call it "sucky", Amon Duul II's Yeti is blisteringly solid for the first two thirds, then becomes really unfocused and meandering during the last third -- namely the improv tracks "Yeti", "Yeti Talks To Yogi", and "Sandoz In The Rain". That said, that last third of the album is still better than most albums combined, but relative to what preceded it, it almost borders on "sucky" to me, mainly as an album sequencing decision, rather than "sucky" music.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, May 11, 2004 3:50 PM (5 years ago)

Parts of Amon Duul II's brilliant sophomore effort "Yeti" can certainly qualify as wank. But you won't hear anybody using that term to describe it. You'll hear "Hypnotic", "freak out", "wild", etc. instead. But John Zorn, for example, seems to be a much easier target for that term.

― Brian MacDonald, Saturday, December 8, 2001 8:00 PM (8 years ago)

Amon Düül II's Yeti was hopefully the last album I bought based on rave reviews. That is the kind of krautrock which anticipated most of the prog-rock shite of the seventies.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, October 18, 2002 3:21 AM (7 years ago)

why did u pick those posts?

Believe it or not, there hasn't been much positive talk about Yeti over the years other than people voting for it by name in a Tago Mago vs. Yeti poll.

Well, the comments are kind of right - there is a little too much guitar wankery in places. However, there are some great moments in there too, and I'm glad it made the cut.

A nice surprise...... didn't think it would have rated higher that Cluster or Harmonia though.

Grown like fungus from a harry, hippie commune, the first incarnation managed one decent album in Paradieswärts Düül. However, it’s the offshoot that produced the most awe-inspiring music, starting with Phallus Dei (1969), translating to “God’s Cock.” Yeti is even better, both heavier (lurching psychedelic guitar freakouts) and prettier (“Sandoz in the Rain”). Dance Of The Lemmings (1971) is more fragmented and contentious. Some think it’s their best, Cope thinks it’s a “pile of pedestrian shit.” I’d say it’s their fifth best and leave it at that. Carnival In Babylon and Wolf City (1972) are much different, with acoustic guitars and slightly more structured songwriting. Some swear by these as their best. Repertoire reissued the first three, remastered with bonus tracks, and Revisited did later albums in similarly lush digipacks.

41. New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon (1974) [121 points, 4 votes, 2 first place votes]

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First album is pretty much their '72 live show in the studio, second album is the most awesome sound-effects record this side of Van Halen's debut. Among their many accomplishments, the Dolls invented 80s hairspray metal (yes, this was a good thing) and made it cool to be less-than-killer musicians, leading directly to the Ramones (merged with Hamburg-era Beatles) and the Sex Pistols (the Malcolm connection).

― Chris Clark (Chris Clark), Friday, June 13, 2003 6:47 AM (6 years ago)

My LP copy of the New York Dolls' Too Much Too Soon has a sticker the original owner stuck on the front. It says 'Hard Rock Is My Candy' in a yummy 70s font. No way would I peel that off!

― Sean (Sean), Sunday, February 1, 2004 5:40 PM (5 years ago)

The debut rocks like everybody's business. But In Too Much Too Soon is even more inclusive than that, popping and rocking with equal amounts of glee. It's the greatest album of the 1970s.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, April 15, 2008 11:53 PM (1 year ago)

xp i'm not sure if this makes me more or less interested in finally giving Amon Düül a try

^ our first album with 2 first place votes (and only two others). This album benefited more than any other from ranked balloting. xp

the first incarnation managed one decent album in Paradieswärts Düül. However, it’s the offshoot that produced the most awe-inspiring music

RONG. paradieswarts duul >>> anything amon duul ii ever recorded imo

I've only heard Paradieswärts Düül and Yeti, and I definitely prefer the former.

i had never really listened to anything by the grateful dead until the freaks and geeks finale, myself. i still don't like a whole lot of their stuff, but i really think american beauty is wonderful.

it just needs a small cabal of challops and bam hello top 50 :P

I just can't tolerate jammy Dead at all, but I really do like the American Beauty/Workingman's Dead twofer. xp

the fact that Freaks & Geeks made at least 4 people on this board want to get into the Grateful Dead is kinda bizarre imo

It was a good scene.

(I'd kind of semi-liked it before, but the show urged me to go back and appreciate it with fresh ears.)

I voted for Europe 72 instead, which won't make the poll; if you love the song-y side of the Dead, Europe 72 is a great gateway into the jammier stuff (as are 1972 shows in general).

i was about to extoll the virtues of aoxomoxoa and anthem of the sun but then i realized they came out in the 60s

Out of all the records I've not yet heard from the list, that Dolls album has the most persuasive blurbs.

tbh i don't think the freaks and geeks connection is that weird. jammy dead gives people a pretty negative feeling about them, so a lot of people aren't likely to hear anything else without some easy entry point like a semi-popular tv show.

40. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs (1970) [121 points, 9 votes]

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I was in a serious relationship with a girl who I found out couldn't bear Syd Barrett. My friend and I were getting high listening to The Madcap Laughs and she kept whining until we put something else on. Things got less serious after that.

― Hubert Jarrod, Friday, January 14, 2005 12:43 PM (4 years ago)

Okay well I played Syd Barrett's "The Madcap Laughs" some weeks ago and there is that song "Late Night" and I recognized it immediately and it took me forever to figure out who covered that but I realize now it's on This Mortal Coil's Blood isn't it??? Which means I'm going to have to go through the chore of digging through my giant box of cassettes for This Mortal Coil's Blood album. ARRGh.

― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Saturday, May 13, 2006 3:54 AM (3 years ago)

The Madcap Laughs hands down is one of the greatest things there ever could be. The only Syd Floyd songs that approach it are "Lucifer Sam" and "Bike." The casualness, the wit, the drop dead three song sequence from "Here I Go" through "Golden Hair," and the perfect closer "Late Night" (plus sundry other delights too particular to share) make it, for what it's worth, my all time favorite psych album.

― otto, Tuesday, December 2, 2003 11:45 AM (6 years ago)

glad to see Amon Duul II get in woohoo
Love the Syd album and the NY Dolls but they got culled to make 40.

39. Funkadelic - Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) [124 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

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I got this Funkadelic album, "Free Your Mind," and let me tell you, that is one fucked up album. Seriously one of the more psychedelic things I've heard.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, February 8, 2006 8:59 PM (3 years ago)

"Free Your Mind..." was the first Funkadelic album I ever heard, and since it was a taped copy I assumed all the fucked-up sound was a result of low-quality dubbing. Only after I got the CD did I realize how brain-meltingly great the whole thing was, I couldn't imagine anyone deliberately making a record so jarring and sprawling. As such, I rank it really highly, it definitely opened up my head a bit.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, March 30, 2005 5:38 PM (4 years ago)

Re Funkadelic as black prog - absolutely. The early records in particular are as avant garde as popular music gets. The sound collages and tape manipulation of Free Your Mind spring to mind. And they have badass grooves too - something that can't be said of ELP or Yes. Funkadelic still sounds like they're beamed from a funky, sexy future, most prog, even the decent stuff, sounds dated.

― stew, Saturday, November 13, 2004 2:06 PM (5 years ago)

Nice run building here....... we'll probably get Queen next or something.

Yay for Funkadelic, but it's beginning to look like they'll be the only funk band that made this list (besides James Brown). I'm still hoping that by some miracle The Meters are in the top 40.

actually would have voted for the Meters had I thought about it/noticed it as I quickly went through the nominations list an hour before deadline.

Sadly, the Meters will probably will suffer from split votes.

All other things held constant, Too Much Too Soon still would have made the top half of this poll without my vote.

I like "The Madcap Laughs" but I vote for "Barrett" because it is so quiet and sad.

38. Miles Davis - Get Up With It (1974) [124 points, 12 votes]

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It's Miles at his bleakest and most prog, with three of the greatest unsung guitarists in jazz/rock history and some flute solos not to be believed. Incredibly funky, incredibly sad, freaky beyond belief. Lester Bangs, among others, thought this was scarier than Metal Machine Music--I disagree though. It's just great.

― Matt C., Saturday, December 14, 2002 3:55 PM (7 years ago)

I've always found the idea that Miles electric music represents a sell-out to a rock audience absurd. Particularly stuff like Dark Magus and Get Up With It, which is just insane (and utter genius of course). It's like that bit in the Dylan documentary where some folkie leaving an incredible gig whines about Bob making pop music and some young hep cat cuts in saying, 'Not much pop music that sounds like *that*'.

― Stew, Wednesday, October 7, 2009 3:34 PM (3 months ago)

Is there any 'story' behind the title of 'He Loved Him Madly' by Miles Davis? It's an astonishing piece of music, but I was wondering if there is any kind of narrative association with the title - who loved whom madly?

― M Carty (mj_c), Friday, January 23, 2004 6:34 AM (5 years ago)

The title (according to one of the Miles books cluttering my house) comes from a Christmas card Davis got from Duke in the summer. It was signed "Love you madly." Ellington was sending out Christmas cards to friends in the summer because he wasn't expecting to see Christmas. So when he did die, Miles gave the piece that title.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Friday, January 23, 2004 9:52 AM (5 years ago)

Yay for Funkadelic, but it's beginning to look like they'll be the only funk band that made this list (besides James Brown). I'm still hoping that by some miracle The Meters are in the top 40.

― Tuomas, Thursday, January 7, 2010 8:00 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

Rejuvination was pretty low down in my list I'm afraid, I don't suppose you voted for any of the Commodores albums?

At least we know that Curtis will have a good shot at winning this poll.

Rejuvenation was pretty low on my list too, I did put Fire on the Bayou higher though. I love how inclusive and varied that album sounds, but I assume most funk purists prefer the preceding albums over FotB. I love "Machine Gun" (the song), but other than that my knowledge of The Commodores is sadly limited.

Oh man, if Curtis would win the poll, that would be sweet, but it sounds too good to be true. I'll be happy if it makes the top 20.

yay Get Up With It, good job! my #6 vote. on certain days you need nothing else though

i voted 4 crutis 2