My favorite albums of the 1970s

#30 - #26

#30: Sex Pistols / Never mind the bollocks 

Because it is so important (for the development of rock music). Because it was so important (for MY development). Even if I don't like it so much now as I liked it at that time. In retrospect the music is too much conventional rock, not daring, not bold. Unlike some later albums of the Punk/New Wave era (see the Top 10 of my list). In my view some 90 per cent of the album's quality and influence consist of the voice and the lyrics of Johnny Rotten (now John Lydon, named among the 100 Greatest Britons). The musicians are not more than good craftsmen.
Play the album on Spotify

#29: Tim Buckley / Starsailor 

It is very bold indeed, even today. It was important at some stage of my musical development. But nowadays I don't seem to enjoy the riffs in square time signatures anymore. And now I prefer Buckley's voice, folk era, to his extreme vocal adventures here. Still I love "Song to the siren" (which actually was written in Buckley's folk period).
Play the album on Spotify

#28: Manfred Krug / Ein Hauch von Frühling

Que surpresa - a German album! Not recorded in the big, capitalist brother "BRD", but in the smaller, eastern "DDR". Musically fully at the height of its time (you can hear the influence of Marvin Gaye) or even ahead of it (the West German band "Die Zimmermänner" did not sound too different some 9 years later ...). Unlike other musicians from the "DDR", who tried to copy uncool rockers such as Joe Cocker, Deep Purple or Santana, but also unlike some musicians from the "BRD" of the early 70s who were stuck in the hippie/psychedelia patterns of the late 60s. And Krug's lyrics are far from those platitudes which ruled German rock/pop at that time. I like the musical arrangements of songs such as "Wenn's draußen grün wird" with it's jazzy, even funky rhythmical breaks. And I love the soulful "Komm und spiel mit mir", one of my all-time favourite songs. Gaye's "What's going on" clearly had an impact on this one. The album is very melodic, too - compared again to other German albums of the 70s. The melodies are everywhere - in Krug's chanting, and in the instrumental lines in the "background". Krug's voice might be on the verge of being "thin" in the higher regions, but can be strong and profound in the right moments.

#27: The Jam / In the city

This English band was my favorite band for quite a long time (considering that favorite bands tend to change more often in the teen-ages). Their third album, "All Mod Cons", was my favorite 70s album at that same time. But when I assembled my 70s Top 30 albums now, to my surprise "All Mod Cons" did not even make it into the Top 30. It only has lost over time ...
Instead, the first album of The Jam has remained its impact. The music - a mixture of 60s beat in its most powerful shape and 1977 punk rock - still sounds incredibly fresh, young, energetic, and enjoyable simple .... The secret of the album might be that if there are only three instruments - one guitar, one bass guitar, one drum - plus vocals, and if these instruments are well-played, and if the musical arrangements leave space, then all of this together can produce enormous power, a tremendous kick!
Play the album on Spotify

#26: Joni Mitchell / Blue

Definitively the culmination of Mitchell's folk period, and one of the two albums consistently cited as her best ever ...
I love the lyrics, the piano playing and the strong melodies of "My old man" ("We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall keeping us tied and true..."), a song that still can let shivers run down my spine. I enjoy "All I want" and "California". I only need to randomly tip my finger on some lines of lyrics printed on the inside cover, and Mitchells poetic power surely will knock me off my feet: "Blue, songs are like tattoes" ... "I wish I had a river I could skate away on" ... And then there's the magic "This flight tonight" with it's open Ab guitar tuning which gives the song a mysterious yet spacious feeling (Hallo, Jochen D.). The cover version by Nazareth was one of my favorite songs around the time of my 10th birthday. There are some weaker songs on "Blue" though, that is why it is not higher on my list.
Play the album on Spotify

#25 - #21

 

#25: Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina / Elis & Tom

Antonio Carlos Jobim was one of the major composers of the last century. He was an excellent piano player. But he was only an ersatz singer, most of his solo work therefore lacks one of the important elements in pop music. The two big exceptions in his oeuvre are the first album that he recorded with Frank Sinatra and this collaboration with Elis Regina, one of the greatest Brazilian singers.
"Elis & Tom" has the most beautiful renditions of three significant Jobim songs: "Por Toda A Minha Vida", one of the definite declarations of love written in a pop song, "Chovendo Na Roseira" and, last but not least, "Inútil Paisagem", an incredible mid-sixties composition with heavenly chord progressions, almost beyond all description.
"Águas De Março", which was still quite a new song at the time of "Elis & Tom", having been recorded by Jobim himself and by João Gilberto in the previous year, is almost on a par with the earlier recordings.
All of the remaining 10 songs on the album are Jobim classics, which automatically results in a good album,
                                             but otherwise might be a small flaw: most of the material on "Elis & Tom" is from the fifties and sixties.
                                                        Play the album on Spotify

#24: Chico Buarque / Meus caros amigos

The album starts sparkling: "O Que Será? (A Flor da Terra)" belongs to the illustrious list of my 20 favorite songs by Chico, and boasts of another one of these fascinating, endless Chico melodies, which never lose their shine.
The complete first side of the LP is plain excellent. "Olhos nos Olhos" is a Chico classic, "Mulheres de Atenas" and the two uptempo tracks "Você Vai Me Seguir" and "Vai Trabalhar, Vagabundo" are convincing 70s Chico.
In comparison, the second side declines somewhat. This is the reason why "Meus Caros Amigos" is only the second best Chico album of the seventies ...
Listen to the album on YouTube 

 

 

 

#23: Paul McCartney & Wings / Band on the run

Amazing melodies. The album has a peculiar, yet fascinating atmosphere - perhaps a result of it's adventurous genesis ("Band on the run" was recorded in Nigeria). Generally recognized as McCartney's best post-Beatles work.
Play the album on Spotify

#22: The Clash / London calling

This is a great album, its wealth of variety foreshadows much of rock music of the 1980s. It is a very lively, playful album, too, played by tremendous musicians who already had a musical experience that included more than their punk years.
But in my point of view, it also is a somewhat overrated album. There are many outright weak songs on "London calling", making up more than one third of the 19 tracks on it...
I like in particular the brass arrangements on "Rudie can't fail" and "Revolution rock", they add perfectly to the songs' vitality and dynamic spirit. The title track and "Clampdown" are classic rock songs that stand the test of time. "Train in vain" and "Lost in the supermarket" are danceable tracks which anticipate the hit songs of the following two Clash albums. And "The Guns of Brixton" continues to be a masterpiece.
What is remarkable, too, about "London calling" is that it then was a provocative statement by a renowned punk band towards the punk world. Punk rejected most music before Punk. Punks rejected hippie music, 70s rock, MOR,

                                             "BOF" music. But "London calling" showed many people that there was a rich rock and pop music history                                              indeed, worthy to be discovered ...
                                                        Play the album on Spotify

#21: The Specials / Specials

1979 was my year of terrific dance records. First there was "Play loud" by the B-52's (and the first of some boisterous parties in the pigsty of my best friend's parents). Then there was "One step beyond" by Madness, to which I danced in countless afternoons in my child's room. And finally there was this debut album by The Specials, a band which continued to record still better and even more beautiful and still more important and more political music during the few years of its existence.
The biggest drawback of "Specials" is that many of its best tracks are cover versions. That would change with the second Specials album ...
The outstanding original compositions here are "Doesn't Make It Alright", an instant classic, "Gangsters" and "Too Much Too Young" - the latter two albeit based on older Jamaican songs.
"Specials" is a very powerful album, combining 60s ska with a punk feel.
Play the album on Spotify

#20 - #16

 

#20: Steely Dan / Pretzel logic

Probably the group's most melodic work, that's why I like it (even though I never could establish an emotional connection to Steely Dan's music). Plenty of rich, jazzy harmonies, too - take "Night by night" and "Through with Buzz".
"Rikki don't lose that number" is one of Steely Dan's catchiest songs ... and biggest hits.
If you can obtain the piano score for "Charlie freak" - play it. You will discover neat polyphony.
The pretzel seller on the album cover always reminded me of Charles Bukowski ....
Play the album on Spotify

#19: T. Rex / Electric warrior

Does anybody here remember T. Rex? That was a hugely successful British band, enjoying teenie star status - for 2 years, then the euphoria was over. They came from a strictly hippie background and blended folk with the typical glam rock of the early 70s. The lyrics of T. Rex, however, retained the odd, airy-fairy, cranky elements of hippiedom, talking about cosmic dancers, planet queens and mambo suns ("I was dancing when I was eight / Is it strange to dance so late / I danced myself into the tomb / Is it strange to dance so soon").
"Electric warrior" is definitively the high point of T. Rex's work, containing the chart hits "Get it on" and "Jeepster", plus classic songs like "Life's a gas" and "Rip off".
I feel attracted to the simple, almost innocent ballads with their wacky lyrics and basic chords. And I like the sexy vocals of singer Marc Bolan.
Play the album on Spotify

#18: Carole King / Fantasy

In my opinion this is Carole King's 2nd best album, "Directions", "Haywood" and "You Light Up My Life" being my favorite tracks on it.
It is probably King's most soulful album. I can hear the influence of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going on", which was released two years earlier. Not only that all songs segue directly into one another (as on Gaye's masterpiece), but also the floating harmonies, the "open" sound on many of these songs. And Carole King's music was always more or less soulful anyway...
The quality of the compositions on "Fantasy" is very high. The only thing that bothers me occasionally is just that direct interlocking of the songs. Sometimes it does not seem to fit, sometimes it seems to be enforced.
Play the album on Spotify

#17: Curtis Mayfield / Curtis

Curtis Mayfield's music is simple, but - because of its simplicity, and most of all because of Curtis' angelic falsetto voice - exceptionally beautiful. Songs like "People get ready" are justifiably considered classics - only a few chords, but those chords really have weight ...
This is Curtis' first solo album, after having already released an outstanding artistic work with The Impressions. Over the years, "Curtis" only adds to its attraction. "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" and "Move on up" are more square and funky than anything Curtis had recorded before. "Move on up" is extremely energetic, positive, danceable. "The Makings of You" is as soft and soulful as the most enchanting Impressions songs. "Give it up" is the uplifting finale of a magnificent album.
Play the album on Spotify

#16: John Cale / Paris 1919

Most of the songs on "Paris 1919" are very lyrical and poetic. Cale's shaky voice and the partly orchestral accompaniment add up to an unique atmosphere of sublime beauty. Cale has never been as melodious as on "Paris 1919".
This is a rather short album. 2 or 3 tracks - the "rocking" ones - are comparatively weak.
Play the album on Spotify

#15 - #11

 

#15: Elvis Costello / This year's model

Elvis Costello was one of my heroes for many years, but somehow I have lost a little of my appetite for his music. "This year's model" was the first album that Costello recorded with his long-time band The Attractions. And what an album it is, what a band! If you can listen to any live recording of Elvis Costello and The Attractions between 1978 and 1980, you surely will hear phenomenal, dynamic, ass-kicking power pop played by four marvelous musicians.
The energy of the early Attractions is clearly evident in this studio recording. Even if the songs are played somewhat slower than in their live versions, this is still totally wild, agitated, frantic, speedy new wave pop. The fast pace of many of these tracks is managed by this experienced rhythm section with absolute ease.
"This year's model" contains only two weaker songs, the majority is great Costello songwriting. And the lines "They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie, I don't want to go to Chelsea" remain among my favorite lines of all time ...
Play the album on Spotify

#14: Van Morrison / Moondance

The first half of "Moondance", the first side of the original vinyl album, is a miracle.
Van's voice, singing "And it stoned me to my soul, stoned me just like Jelly Roll, and it stoned me, and it stoned me to my soul, stoned me just like goin' home" - it seems to me that all the emotions that a human being may have are being pressed out with absolutely determined urgency off Van's mouth. The title track has a tapeworm-like melody and perfectly places a singer that grew up with blues, rock and soul into a jazzy setting. "Crazy love" with Van's falsetto is pure erotic soul. "Caravan" evokes The Band in their finest. I adore the surprising interludes of the acoustic guitar, Van's vocal improvisations, and the soprano saxophone. The chorus has the quality of the best chants in football stadiums around the world. "Into the mystic" offers magical strings and fine acoustic guitar (again).
The second half of the albums maintains a very high, albeit less miraculous musical quality.
Play the album on Spotify

#13: Stephanie Mills / For the first time

I was surprised how high this album came off in my 70s album charts.
It was the second Mills album, definitively the best Bacharach work of that decade, and the last time that the seminal songwriting collaboration of Burt Bacharach and Hal David would create together - until almost 2 decades later..
8 of the 10 tracks were new compositions at that time. And many of the songs on "For the first time" deserve to find a place among the most catchy of the hundreds of catchy Bacharach melodies.
"I Took My Strength from You" and "If You Can Learn How to Cry" are my favorites. Mills' voice is strong, soulful - and finds the necessary drama at the right time ...

#12: Bee Gees / Spirits having flown

At the time "Spirits having flown" was released, Bee Gees songs were ubiquitous on the radio, but they belonged to my embarrassing favorites. I was punk, and punk said "Disco is dead".
Some 35 years later I discovered that this album is a masterpiece. It summarizes the entire disco era again and gets to the heart of it. Plus, it also bows to one of the precursors of disco, Philly Soul. "Spirits having flown" has many facets. It is danceable, soulful, uplifting, romantic, tuneful ... and most of all: it has these incredible jubilant falsetto voices. Especially the first half of the album is outstanding.
Play the album on Spotify

#11: Wire / Chairs missing

It gets more emotional now. I love this album since many decades, and it never loses its magnetism on me. I'm still freaking out over "Mercy" or "Practice makes perfect", like I did when I was 17 ...
What is the most phenomenal about "Chairs missing"?
I know many great albums that were far ahead of their time. But the development of music caught up with all of them eventually, and there was something similar. However, there are some sounds, some moments on "Chairs missing" that still sound unprecedented today - "Used to" and "I am the fly" sound as exciting now as they did then.
36 years after the release of the album there still hasn't been such music again - despite some bands, like Elastica or Blur, that more or less openly emulated Wire in the meantime.
"Chairs" is immensely varied, the spectrum ranges from punk to new wave, plain pop songs to hints of psychedelic and electronic music. Each of the instruments has exceptional passages, such as the interplay of the guitars on "I am the fly" or when the drum is reduced to the hi-hat. Very important for the soundscapes on "Chairs missing" are the

                                             contributions of producer Mike Thorne on synthesizer and keyboard.

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#10 - #6

#10: Nick Drake / Pink moon

If you don't know Nick Drake's music yet, you might need some time to get accustomed to "Pink moon". Drake's last album is rather stark, his voice and his acoustic guitar being the sole instruments on it (with one brief exception). The overall mood here may be melancholic, but this is perhaps the most magnificent, shining, exquisite melancholia ever captured in modern music. Admittedly: the tragic story of Nick Drake's life and death is inseparably connected with the perception of his music.
It is incredible that "Pink moon" was recorded in only two late night sessions, especially if you consider the excellent guitar playing. The frugal instrumentation opens a window on Drake's superb guitar picking technique and the unusual moods created by his extravagant guitar tuning, as in "Parasite" ("Take a look you may see me on the ground, For I am the parasite of this town") or "From the morning".
This music has an enormous emotional strength and depth.
Play the album on Spotify

#9: Carole King / Tapestry

"Tapestry" is a collection of top-class pop songs, with subtle but exquisite instrumentation and world-class melodies.
It includes the unbeatable standards "You've Got a Friend" , "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", plus gems as "It's Too Late" or "So Far Away".
The album always was among my favorite albums of all time. Only when I assembled my Top 30 favorite albums of the 1970s and listened to all of these over and over again, I discovered that the bond between "Tapestry" and my heart and soul is not so solid anymore. I have no explanation for that, but "Tapestry" does not seem to touch me like it did before. 
Play the album on Spotify

#8: The Knack / Get the Knack

A controversial album. But I adore it.
These songs combine the outstanding melodies of The Beatles with the power and speed of the best of the punk/new wave era. All four musicians play excellent, especially the drummer, Bruce Gary, who has an enormous "drive" and invents many unconventional and intelligent uses of the parts of his drums, and the lead guitarist, Berton Averre, who knows both how to play fast and how to avoid clichés. I often find myself simultaneously singing along and playing drums with my hands on my thighs, this might best explain the "kick" that "Get the Knack" gives me.
There isn't any weak song on "Get the Knack", on the other hand it is difficult to name the highlights on an album that has so many highlights. The hit "My Sharona" is an obvious one.
Critics said that "The Knack" would be an artificial product, but weren't "The Monkees", "Take That" and so many others "artificial" too? I flatly don't care, if a band is "artificial" or not, as long as their music is good.

                                             Some found a misogynist attitude in the lyrics. To be honest, I never paid attention to the lyrics, because the music

                                             is just overwhelming ...

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#7: Novos Baianos / Acabou chorare

Although I already had been addicted to Música Popular Brasileira for 20 years, the band Novos Baianos had never never come across me - until two years ago, when I discovered "Acabou chorare" through coincidence - and kept on listening and kept on humming and kept on flipping and kept on dancing to it ever since ...
"Acabou chorare" is one of the most animated, vivid, high-spirited albums that I know, the musicians seem to have no boundaries, they even can play the seemingly unplayable ...
Besides the instrumental "Um Bilhete pra Didi", there are no weak tracks on "Acabou chorare". It was the aim of the band to convey zest for life with this album ... and they succeed in the most spectacular way possible!
Play the album on Spotify

#6: Big Star / Sister lovers (3rd)

Big Stars 3rd is almost an Alex Chilton solo album. Apart from some contributions by drummer Jody Stephens and others, the main input came from Chilton, who wrote the majority of the songs and was responsible for the overall atmosphere on "Sister lovers“.
Chilton was going through a difficult period in his life at the time of the recording of "Sister lovers“, and this is clearly reflected in these songs about evaporating relationships, depression and bitterness. The production of Jim Dickinson played a big part in Chiltons painting of scenarios of alienation and isolation. A spacious, open sound, echo, long-lasting tones of the slide-guitar and a string section encounter shredded drums (Stephens' style of playing is rather bumpy here), distorted guitars and Chiltons seemingly messed up vocal performance.
Chilton transforms agony and pain into sublimity and beauty. Sometimes the songs are rough and harsh, sometimes catchy and haunting. In whatever way - they are always impassioned. Many of them are considered semi-classics now: "Nighttime“, "Kanga Roo“, "Holocaust“ …

                                             "Sister lovers“ was way ahead of its time. Consequently, it was not successful at that time. It took many, many years

                                             until something comparable was done (Giant Sand tried it some 15 years later).

                                             Chilton remained erratic in the 20 years that followed "Sister lovers“, then more extreme, as if he would deconstruct

                                             or even destroy his own music. But never has he been more thrilling and more shattering than on Big Stars 3rd.

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#5 - #1

#5: Siouxsie and the Banshees / The scream

"The scream" has become my favorite album of the Punk/New Wave era, because it is the most enduring, because it still sounds exciting after more than 35 years and because it is the most innovative and pathbreaking of the many innovative albums of that era.

"The Scream“ did sound very different from everything then: a sawing, biting guitar, pulsating drum beats, Siouxsie's dark and sinister "oh“s (possibly inspired by Nico). In this regard I would like to state that in my opinion the innovations of guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris are still being underestimated.

Although he sometimes played typical punk rock guitar riffs, McKay's cutting chords and his areal sounds elsewhere mark the beginnings of post-punk and gothic rock. Maybe McKay also was the first guitar player in punk who used the technique of striking an empty string and at the same time playing a melody run at the neighbouring string(s), a technique which became quite popular in post-punk.

Kenny Morris prefered to employ the floor tom instead of cymbals. Morris' continuously pounding floor connected punk

                                             with the Glitter Band and The Velvet Underground and set a role model for the deep drum sounds of the following

                                             years.

                                             Siouxsie Sioux is perfect in singing atonal, off pitch very precisely. To exactly hit the “wrong” tone. The polyphonic

                                             vocal parts reveal that all of this was carefully planned, and implemented meticulously. Her clipped staccatos might be

                                             punky, everything else in her rendition is invention.

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#4: David Bowie / The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Though deeply rooted in the glam rock sound of the early seventies, "Ziggy Stardust" seems to be ageless, its music lasting and enthralling, still durable after more than forty years.

One reason for this might be David Bowie's vocals. His voice can sound calm and frail, voluminous, strong, soulful, brittle, snotty, broken, tired, neutral, androgynous, masculine, mocking, parodic - depending on the respective textual context. Bowie's intonation is impressivly nuanced, like an actor he slips from one part, from one mood, into the other.

In the course of this he melodramatically tells about human emotions behind the mask and contrasts fame and glamour with phoniness and fragility.

Some of the highlights of “Ziggy Stardust”:

The incredibly intelligent mix of “Five years”. The song starts extremely quiet and then continues to slowly, gradually and steadily rise in loudness ... until the “Maximum Volume” that the instruction on the rear cover demands. This is probably happening inevitably, because Bowie's enormous vocal range called for an adjustment of levels of the music.

                                             The arrangements for the string section and the background choir, plus the floating rhythm (a groove that would

                                             become a trademark of glam rock) make “Moonage daydream” more transparent, areal, mystical. And then that

                                             legendary, ingenious solo guitar by Mick Ronson comes in. It consists of only a few long suspended tones

                                             … enraptured, heavenly.

                                             The catchy melodies of „Soul love“ and „Starman“, Bowie's singing in „Lady Stardust“, the title track and „Rock'n'Roll

                                             suicide“, and many more details add up to an album which deserves to be considered one of the best of the decade.

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#3: Joni Mitchell / Hejira

This is the most unique rock/pop/folk/whatsoever album that I have ever heard (I have heard thousands) ... thus it is probably the most courageous ...

The instrumentation on "Hejira" is slimmed down to vocals plus one or two guitars on most of the tracks. But what an otherworldly sounding guitar that is! It sounds like an electric guitar, only slightly amplified (or is it rather a modestly amplified acoustic guitar or a semi-acoustic?).
Mitchell doubled the guitar, she played it twice, but not absolutely synchronous, it's more like a shadow play, which yields a kind of chorus effect, sounding mysterious and gloomy.
She used even more unusual tunings than on previous albums. This adds up to a highly original, hypnotic (sometimes dark) and radical sound scape.
The instrumental arrangements are minimalist, but they never bore, they shine! The additional guitar and bass guitar mainly play jazzy or bluesy insertions, the percussion and drums are absent or barely audible. In "Coyote" and "Black

                                             Crow" Mitchell's extremely rhythmic guitar interweaves perfectly with the fretless bass of Jaco Pastorius.

                                             Joni's voice here is to some extent deeper than in her first ten years as a professional singer, and it is clearly more

                                             mature. Especially on "Song For Sharon" - which her fans consider as her best song ever - the vocals are very varied,

                                             they carry this 9-minute magnum opus.

                                             Ah, I almost forgot to comment on the lyrics ... they are proven Mitchell quality - great and inspiring.

                                             ... thus it also is one of the most timeless ...

                                             Play the album on Spotify

#2: Chico Buarque / Construção

The first half of "Construção" brings some changes to the past sound of Chico Buarque: In comparison to his first four albums, the percussion here is exposed considerably more. The orchestral sounds are not always sweet, but can be mysterious or even ominous. The choir might sing deliberately dissonant. Chico does not sing softly anymore, but rather sounds disillusioned. Starting with "Construção" the bossa nova influence lost weight in Chico's work, and the samba influence was becoming more audible. Written mostly during his exile in Italy, Chico here describes in parables the stresses of everyday life under the military dictatorship in Brazil. The first half of "Construção" contains more – skillfully veiled - criticism and is accordingly musically dark and serious.

In the opening track “Deus lhe pague” the percussion sounds like a ticking clock, suggesting that the time of the regime is running out. The following two songs are my favorites: “Cotidiano” with its percussion that instantly makes you dance, and powerful, uplifting sounds from the string orchestra, “Desalento” with one of those typical Chico tapeworm melodies. The title track (listed by Rolling Stone Brasil as greatest Brazilian song of all time) falls back on

                                             "Deus lhe pague" in its last third - which reinforces the impression of a concept album.

                                             The second half of "Construção" isn't quite as organic and coherent as the first, neither as grave. Musically it is more

                                             delicate, lighter, more commercial than the first half – more like the Chico of his first four albums. Lyrically, personal

                                             topics are addressed to a greater extent.

                                             In “Valsinha” one believes to hear the musical influence of the Italian exile. “Minha historia”, the big hit of the album,

                                             is an Italian song. “Samba de Orly” deals with the experience of the exile. “Acalanto” is a tender lullaby for Chico's

                                             daughter.

                                             For me, “Construção" is one of the three best Brazilian albums of all time. For many people it is simply the best.
                                             Listen to the album on YouTube 

#1: Marvin Gaye / What's going on

Divine music. Angelic music. Sublime. Majestic. Unique.

This music is at the same time symphonic-orchestral and tremendously danceable. It has everything: Spaced out harmonic progressions made of descending half steps and color-changing mediants, ethereal choirs, jazzy, improvised contributions from flute, saxophones etc., hot percussion (güiro, bongos, cowbell ...), the funkiest rhythm section possible (especially the bass guitar!), fundamental string sounds, and a multi-layered Marvin Gaye, who is performing duets and trios with himself, scintillating with falsetto and scat singing, drawing on religious rituals, gospel music, call and response ...

“What's going on” kicks off with the title song. Two different tracks of lead vocals are being put in layers on each other, blending, interacting, creating a warm, soulful impression with the listener. The bass lines are plain supple. You could listen to the complete album and focus only on the bass guitar – you would be greatly delighted just with that. The song was so unusual at that time that Motown boss Gordy refused to release it - Gaye and friends at the label published it without Gordy's knowledge.

When I listen to “What's going on”, the sheer beauty of the music can make me want to cry.

The next track, “What's happening brother”, features the aforementioned celestial sounding choir, set into a spacious production with incredible string harmonies, consisting of mediants. Gaye is

                                                                     singing syncopated, off-beat, extremely funky.

                                                                     "Flyin' high” shines with a once again ear-catching bass guitar. The very imaginative bass plays
                                                                     off-beat, too, for long periods of the song. Gaye is singing duets with himself, in falsetto, employing
                                                                     the call and response technique, repeating phrases, reinforcing his message.
                                                                     Direct segue into “Save the children”. The bass guitar stays dominant. Gaye's first phrases are
                                                                     spoken, the responses are sung – reminding of a gospel service. The drum starts with cymbals only,
                                                                     accompanied by subdued percussion. At the end of the song it has changed into a full, jazzy
                                                                     rhythm. By means of a harmonic shift and a piano glissando we then get another uplifting
                                                                     experience: “God is love”. The “ooh ooh, ooh”s of the choir are pushing us forward. A passionate
                                                                     Marvin. Fast. Unbelievably soulful and danceable.
                                                                     In “Mercy, mercy me” (and some other tracks of the album) Gaye doubles the beats of the snare
                                                                     drum with copiously resounding beats of a conga – now a classic drum effect. Like everything else
                                                                     on “What's going on”, “Mercy, mercy me” abounds in ample musical details (the saxophone solo,
                                                                     Gaye's “huh”s and “whoa”s, the choir): All these tracks seem to last one minute only, but in fact
                                                                     they are three or four times as long – such exciting is this music.
                                                                     "Right on” presses forward and forward and forward, pushing, surging ahead. Hypnotic like the best
                                                                     of psychedelic music, boasting lots of percussion, “Right on” offers the surprising revelation that a
                                                                     bass line which consists of only two tones and is stubbornly maintained over a long time, can be
                                                                     very, very funky indeed. Marvin climaxes over and over again, this time with highly inspired scat
                                                                     singing.
                                                                     After all of that ecstatic groove, “Right on” calms down a bit and evolves into a dreamlike section
                                                                     with strings, improvised saxophone and Glockenspiel. Following a short resumption of speed, “Wholy
                                                                     holy” continues in a peaceful mode, carried by strings, flutes, saxophone, Glockenspiel, a solitary
                                                                     drum cymbal, bass guitar and religious lyrics.
                                                                     The album concludes with “Inner city blues”, groovy as hell. A four-to-the-floor bass drum which
                                                                     already heralds the start of the disco era, an unforgettable, blues-shaped bass guitar riff, bongos,
                                                                     funky guitar, piano and cowbell are the ingredients. Gaye delivers several intertwined vocal parts.
                                                                     Suddenly one last harmonic shift and a reprise of “What's going on”. Finally the album fades out with
                                                                     the percussion of “Inner city blues” ...
                                                                     The artistical breakthrough of “What's going on” only advanced the musical coming of age of Stevie
                                                                     Wonder and others. Like a monument, “What's going on” towers miles above all of my Top 30 albums
                                                                     presented here.
                                                                     “What's going on” is not only the greatest album of the 1970s ... it is one of the most beautiful and

                                                                     most important musical creations in the history of mankind.

                                                                     Play the album on Spotify