Eight More Favorite Albums

So I thought I'd post something rather more positive after that lash at commercial radio below. Enjoy!

July - July

I can't believe I forgot about this one in the first "Favorite Albums" installment. This is one of the cornerstones of classic British psychedelia.

"Mothers say, stay away far as you can, friendly man."

Boston - Boston

So after my post about commercial "classic rock" radio, I go and endorse the album with More Than a Feeling on it. What the hey? Well, I happen to think that More Than a Feeling retains its freshness and just outruns the blurred line of overplayedness. Indeed, I think that the whole album retains a crisp, fresh and unique sound. Well, maybe Rock & Roll Band is just a bit stale.

"Now you're climbin' to the top of the company ladder / Hope it doesn't take too long / Can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter / Come a day when you'll be gone."

Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar

Ravi's nephew released this marriage of East and West in 1970. I actually haven't spun this in a while; I need to again.

"He belongs equally to us all."

Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage

Zappa takes an utterly horrifying three-LP look at this society's views on music, taken to their logical extremes, as only the supernaturally intelligent Zappa can.

"I've got it — I'll be sullen and withdrawn. I'll dwindle off into the twilight realm of my own secret thoughts...."

Rainbow Ffolly - Sallies Fforth

Something lighter-hearted to follow up the insanity of Joe's Garage: an unfinished, playful pop-psych record from the UK in '68. Excellent pop songwriting, randomish non-sequitur segues....such qualities don't often show up on albums.

"Come on Noah! Eat up your curried unicorn!"

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle

Les Paul's eager student flaunts his psychedelic side in 1976 with the finest in outer-space production, but not without acknowledging his roots. Just a captivating listening experience.

"We're lost in space, and the time is our own."

Anonymous - Inside the Shadow

That's just the band's name; they're not actually anonymous. What they are is a thoroughly excellent sort of hybrid of the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and maybe a touch of the kind of "power pop" that had established itself by 1976, when this came out. Wonderful, other-worldly sounds from Indianapolis.

"Will you ride?"

Sopwith Camel - The Miraculous Hump Returns From the Moon

From 1972. Think "Vaudeville in space". The album has some nice jazzy touches as well.

"Who's gonna go on all those trips in outer space?"