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Five Great Rock Albums from the 70s
Post By: Alan
Rock and Roll has suffered many criticisms throughout the years. Some depict it as loud, violent and misogynistic. And let’s face it, Guns ‘n Roses’s “Sex, Drugs n’ Rock and Roll” certainly did no favor to the critic’s perception of the genre, either, with lyrics like “I got really high and things got really slow.”
But even though Rock has taken some fairly stringent remarks throughout the years, the industry has survived. In fact, many fans would claim that twenty years after the genre’s inception, is the era that Rock and Roll took its stand as a form of artistic expression.
With activism and politically driven events dominating the news, Rock music of the 1970’s became the voice of the youth; expressing their distaste with the way their country was being run. It also became the time period of some of the greatest Rock albums the world has ever heard.
1. Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
The rare trait of Dark Side of the Moon as a rock album is that it employs the use of many more instruments than the standard guitar, drum set and bass. Trumpets and other horns help to provide a rich, full sound that is largely absent in much of rock music.
The commercial success of the album prompted it to be remastered and rereleased numerous times since its debut in 1979.
2. Exile on the Street by The Rolling Stones
The beginning of the evolution of new rock. The dirty sound of this record is like no other, drawing upon blues, gospel and soul to create a musical template that many artists would try to recreate for years to come.
Although the album was largely a success, lead singer Mick Jagger would stray even further from his Rock roots in later releases.
3. Hotel California by The Eagles
I’m a younger guy that wasn’t even born when The Eagles were big. But back in 2002 I took a trip to Los Angeles with my dad and heard the title track from this album for the first time.
Both haunting and inviting, the song gave me a perception of a roaming lifestyle that I could easily imagine a rock and roll star living. The remainder of the album keeps that theme with storytelling songs like “Life in the Fast Lane” (a story of the consequences of living dangerously) and “Victim of Love” (a description of what can happen when you fall in love with the wrong person).
4. Fragile by Yes
With Fragile, the British group Yes created a soundscape that bridged the gap between progressive rock and folk music. Many critics have said that the album sounds jumbled with no coherence amongst songs, but I tend to think of the simple acoustic interludes as a time for sobering mind meditation between the hectic and complex rounds of “Tell the moon don’t tell the marcher.”
The steady ride of “South Side of the Sky” and “Heart of the Sunrise” are some of the coolest moments on this album.
5. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
If truth, honesty, and passion were money, Born to Run would have paid for itself. But as it were, in producing the album, Springsteen went into massive amounts of debt trying to recreate in the studio the sound and feeling of a live concert.
Fast-forward fourty years later, and Born to Run has paid off the debt, even managing to provide larger than expected dividends in critical acclaim.
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