394. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
1977

Tracks
1. Holidays In The Sun
2. Bodies
3. No Feelings
4. Liar
5. God Save The Queen
6. Problems
7. Seventeen
8. Anarchy In The UK
9. Submission
10. Pretty Vacant
11. New York
12. EMI

I expected this to be the best of the best.  If I was going to have to listen to punk music, this should be the album I listen to.  The Sex Pistols have such name recognition that this has to be fantastic, right?  I was shocked by how mediocre this album actually turned out to be.  

There are plenty of albums on this List that are absolutely revered by a group of followers who generally like leaving nasty comments on this blog.  Even when I can't enjoy them myself, I see something in them that might cause the ecstasy and subsequent pretentious of my fellow listeners.  You know, I kid.  Or perhaps I am brooding.  In any case, the quality of this album simply wasn't that good, and I don't think anyone can defend that.  The vocals  were terrible and the lyrics were merely there for shock value.  I felt like they were trying to distract us from the lack of quality by making a lot of noise.

Perhaps I came into this with too high of expectations and should have just enjoyed it for what it was, without looking for deeper meanings.  Of course, that is what I try to do most of the time and I get yelled at in the comments.  Wow, I am salty today.

RATING: 3/5

393. New Boots and Panties!!

New Boots and Panties!!
Ian Dury
1977

Tracks
1. Wake Up And Make Love With Me
2. Sweet Gene Vincent
3. I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra
4. My Old Man
5. Billericay Dickie
6. Clever Trevor
7. If I Was With A Woman
8. Blockheads
9. Plaistow Patricia
10. Blackmail Man

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have relocated to London.  I am so pleased that this album came along when it did, because this might be the most British-y albums on the List.  Maybe I will mention it on my next pub venture.  It is always fun creating new ways to turn people off.

This album starts with a really creepy song titled "Wake Up and Make Love With Me."  In this song, we learn exactly what it would be like to have sex with Ian Dury.  That is certainly a stone I could have left unturned.  We also learn what he would be like outside of the bedroom with "If I Was With A Woman."  This was possibly even more appalling.

Easily the most obnoxious track was "Clever Trevor."  It sounded like the drunken ramblings of an idiot trying to hit on you at a bar.  However, I still am not going to completely destroy this album.  It truly was atmospheric.  Whether I want to revisit it again is another question.

RATING: 2/5

392. Lust for Life

Lust for Life
Iggy Pop
1977

Tracks
1. Lust For Life
2. Sixteen 
3. Some Weird Sin
4. Passenger 
5. Tonight 
6. Success 
7. Turn Blue 
8. Neighbourhood Threat 
9. Fall In Love With Me

Greetings!  I am writing to all from my new flat in London, where I will be staying for a couple months.  Not only does this mean I might brag more, but it also means I might be learning more about the 1970s music scene during this time.  I plan on visiting Camden this Friday.  So will I have more to say about the albums then "um...the lyrics were okay?"  Stay tuned to find out!

So the lyrics were okay on this album.  Actually, in all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Like Iggy Pop's previous album, The Idiot, it was produced by David Bowie.  However, it is generally acknowledged that unlike the previous album, it sounds a lot more like Iggy than Starman.  This actually made me enjoy it ten times more than The Idiot.  I am not saying I am a Bowie hater.  In fact, I would never say that on this blog, mostly because of fear for my personal safety.  But the experimental songs just work better with Bowie behind them; they don't fit Iggy's personality as well.

"Passenger" is definitely the most stellar song in the album, but the other tracks don't disappoint.  Sad to see Iggy go.


RATING: 4/5

391. My Aim Is True

My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
1977

Tracks
1. Welcome to the Working Week 
2. Miracle Man 
3. No Dancing 
4. Blame It on Cain 
5. Alison 
6. Sneaky Feelings
7. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 
8. Less Than Zero 
9. Mystery Dance 
10. Pay It Back 
11. I'm Not Angry 
12. Waiting for the End of the World

If this is what punk is, I have been seriously misguided before.  This was one of the best albums I have ever listened to.  This is embarrassing, but at one point I had to just get up and dance.  I stopped rather quickly.  For one thing, I am a terrible dancer.  For another, it felt like I was trying to prove to myself that I was a free spirit.  The point is, every album on the List should make me embarrass myself like that.

I had only ever heard "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes" before.  This is a great track, but I actually have completely fallen in love with the ballad "Alison."  Of course, there are some political messages for even the most pretentious music lover.

One of the best albums out there and worthy of repeated listens.

RATING: 5/5

390. Bat Out Of Hell

Bat Out Of Hell
Meatloaf
1977

Tracks
1. Bat Out Of Hell
2. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. All Revved Up With No Place To Go
5. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
6. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
7. For Crying Out Loud

I certainly wouldn't have recognized this album for the joke that it is if I hadn't been following The List chronologically.  "You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth" really does sound like one of the pretentious prog rock songs that we have forced to listen to.  Luckily, once you realize it is a joke, it is actually pretty funny.  It is a joke, right?

I had only heard "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" before.  It's a damn good song, although watching Meat Loaf perform it was kind of disturbing.  Who gave Peter Pettigrew a microphone?

So novelty albums usually make me cringe, but this was actually a fun break from the hard core "masterpieces."

RATING: 4/5

389. Marquee Moon

Marquee Moon
Television
1977

Tracks
1. See No Evil 
2. Venus 
3. Friction 
4. Marquee Moon 
5. Elevation 
6. Guiding Light 
7. Prove It 
8. Torn Curtain

This seems to be one of those albums that very few people have heard of.  If you have heard of it, you are a music aficionado and you probably praise it like it is the last voicemail a deceased loved one left you.  As for me, it didn't leave much of an impression, proving once again that I am more out of place here than a sober person at Woodstock.  I wanted to cover my ignorance here first so the insults in the comments section could branch out a bit.  I try to be considerate of my readers.

I was surprised to see that this was considered punk.  It certainly didn't sound as intense as I am used to in that genre.  I did enjoy this, but can we stop with the ten minute songs?  Let's wrap it up here fellas.  I appreciate stamina as much as the next woman, but this is verging on ridiculous.

So another album that I feel rather stupid for not enjoying very much.  But take heart, fellow List followers.  An Elvis Costello album is coming up.

RATING: 4/5

388. Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
1977

Tracks
1. Moribund The Burgermeister 
2. Solsbury Hill
3. Modern Love 
4. Excuse Me 
5. Humdrum 
6. Slowburn 
7. Waiting For The Big One 
8. Down At The Dolce Vita 
9. Here Comes The Flood

My only experience with Peter Gabriel before this was the slightly cliched song "In Your Eyes."  I guess after that I was expecting extreme mushiness with this album.  Instead, I only got mild mushiness with a hint of every genre ever.

This album was completely all over the place.  I had to look up what genre this even falls under.  "Art rock," which is apparently a thing.  Is that the most obnoxious sounding genre title or what?  Get over yourself.  I am not sure who that is addressed to but someone needs to get over themselves.

Anyway, "Excuse Me" was a damn good song.  "Moribund The Burgermeister" was a little too progressive for me, but hey, I am trying.

RATING: 3/5

387. The Idiot

The Idiot
Iggy Pop
1977

Tracks
1. Sister Midnight
2. Nightclubbing
3. Fun Time
4. Baby
5. China Girl
6. Dum Dum Boys 
7. Tiny Girls 
8. Mass Production 

After the horror that was the last album, I think I would consider an album made up solely of commercial jingles a masterpiece.  To my desperate mind, this album was quite good.  Maybe I will revisit it later and be horrified.

This album was produced by David Bowie.  Although there are no more Bowie albums on the List, he continues watch over us like a slightly punkish god.

I don't know if the title of the album is a nod to Dostoyevsky or not, although that would make the album seem a lot more pretentious than it is.  It was actually really catchy, "Sister Midnight" in particular.  A welcome reprieve. 

RATING: 3/5

386. Suicide

Suicide
Suicide
1977

Tracks
1. Ghost Rider 
2. Rocket USA 
3. Cheree
4. Johnny 
5. Girl 
6. Frankie Teardrop 
7. Che

Ah, Suicide.  Aptly named, since anyone who listens to this album probably thought fondly of their own mortality about half way through "Frankie Teardrop".  I can't be the first one to make that joke.  Actually, come to think of it, maybe I am, since everyone seems to adore this album.  Which is absurd.  Sometimes I feel like I am being pranked with this List.

It is basically screaming.  Well, that's not completely true.  Sometimes there are sex sounds set to music.  But "Frankie Teardrop"?  That's just screaming.

It seems like this is what the inside of an extremely troubled teenage boy's head would sound like.  Perhaps this is for them.  Still, I can't see anyone getting enjoyment out of hearing this.

Remember when we were listening to the Beatles and Joni Mitchell?  I can't either.

RATING: 1/5

385. Pacific Ocean Blue

Pacific Ocean Blue
Dennis Wilson
1977

Tracks
1. River Song
2. What's Wrong
3. Moonshine
4. Friday Night
5. Dreamer
6. Thoughts of You
7. Time
8. You and I
9. Pacific Ocean Blues
10. Farewell My Friend
11. Rainbows
12. End of the Show

I didn't exactly want to fall in love with this album, since Wilson was a Masonite (before it was cool!).  Certainly my sister hated it when I played it while she cooked and I wrote.  If she couldn't handle this, though, I don't know how she would survive the Butthole Surfers.  Faint heart never completed fair list.

We all know Dennis Wilson as the drummer for the Beach Boys.  This kind of sounded like a Beach Boys album, without the relentless optimism.  And honestly, I haven't exactly been in the cheerful mood lately, so this sat well with me.

I wasn't blown away by the lyrical composition of the album and I certainly wouldn't call it a masterpiece.  Still, it was...pleasant and perhaps worth a listen.

RATING: 4/5

384. Heroes

Heroes
David Bowie
1977

Tracks
1. Beauty And The Beast
2. Joe The Lion
3. Heroes
4. Sons Of The Silent Age
5. Black Out
6. V2 Schneider
7. Sense Of Doubt
8. Moss Garden
9. Neukoln
10. Secret Life Of Arabia

This is the last David Bowie album on the List, although he does produce a few in years to come.  I feel like we are dealing with a completely different person every time Bowie comes out with something, so I don't really feel like I am saying goodbye to anyone in particular.  Goodbye weird Andy Warhol-esque, cone-headed Space Man.  Apparently, you start to kind of suck after this.

Everyone has probably heard the song "Heroes".  I was unaware, however, that it was the story of two lovers who come together near the Berlin Wall. It has been played over and over again in advertisements, but somehow people don't seem to consider Bowie to be as much as a sell out as say, Fleetwood Mac?  Anyway, it is a great song and it is featured in one of my favorite musicals, Moulin Rouge.

The rest of the album is mostly made up of instrumental tracks.  They were enjoyable, but as we all know and hate about me at this point, I am a lyric person myself.  Still, a solid farewell to the Human Chameleon.

RATING: 3/5

383. Rumours

Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
1977

Tracks
1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Songbird
7. Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun
9. I Don't Want To Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman

I skipped my senior prom to go to a Fleetwood Mac concert with a friend.  Zero hearts were broken with that decision since no one asked me in the first place and I had no desire to hang out with the numbskulls in my high school.  And let me tell you, Stevie Nicks' voice is not what it used to be.  It is fantastic here, though, so I guess that is what counts.

A lot of people say that this album is completely overplayed.  I think that is a weak argument to begin with; why does that detract from quality?  But even still, there are plenty of more obscure songs on this album, like "Chain" or "Gold Dust Woman".

Okay, so "Don't Stop" is a bit cheesy.  But the other songs are great and the fact that they detail the band members' various break ups just makes it juicy. 

If I could, baby I'd give you my world; how can I, when you won't take it from me?  Those are damn good lyrics, I don't care what anyone says.


RATING: 4/5

382. Talking Heads: 77

Talking Heads: 77

Talking Heads

1977

Tracks

1. Uh Oh Love Comes To Town
2. New Feeling 
3. Tentative Decisions 
4. Happy Day 
5. Who Is It 
6. No Compassion
7. Book I Read 
8. Don't Worry About The Government
9. First Week/Last Week... Carefree 
10. Psycho Killer
11. Pulled Up

I couldn't resist going ahead and listening to the album after this one, Rumours, so I had to double back and get through this one.  How much does that make the music connoisseurs cringe?  Be sure to yell at me in the comments and let me know!

The lead singer, David Byrne, sounded completely crazed to me.  I looked him up to try to count how many drugs he might have been on when he was singing this album.  However, he seemed relatively normal, compared to other people I have dealt with on this List.

The standard of normality

I decided to categorize this as "art punk", which is a genre that I didn't even know existed until I listened to this album.  I can't say I was altogether too impressed.  I judge music most harshly on lyrical quality.  And lyrics like "so many people...have their problems/I'm not interested...in their problems....my interest level's dropping, my interest level is dropping" don't really impress me.  But maybe that is just because I am 99% wrote those lyrics about me.

I gave it a shot but ultimately, didn't fall in love with it.

RATING: 3/5

381. One World

One World
John Martyn
1977

Tracks
1. Dealer
2. One World
3. Smiling Stranger
4. Big Muff
5. Couldn't Love You Anymore
6. Certain Surprise
7. Dancing
8. Small Hours

After having to endure the noisiest album on The List so far, we get to enjoy a soothing, folk rock experience.  While the end of this album was a bit of a disappointment, it is definitely worth the listen.

As soon as the album started, I felt calm.  I have been doing work all day, so it was certainly a welcome effect.  Then the vocals started.  Was anybody else expecting a gentle, calm voice?  Instead, Martyn sounded very rough and gravelly.  I think this was absolutely great, since it stopped the album from simply being "easy listening."

The lyrics?  Not so impressive.  Maybe I have become too spoiled from this List and expect to always find pure poetry.  But the lyrics to songs like "Small Hours" (Keep on loving while your love is strong, keep on loving until your love has gone away) aren't exactly outstanding.  Speaking of "Small Hours", did anyone else feel like he was building to something fantastic the entire album, then felt a bit let down?

Also, apparently parts of the album were recorded outside.  How...revolutionary?  Was there a demand for more outdoorsy albums?

RATING: 4/5

380. Pink Flag

Pink Flag
Wire
1977

Tracks
1. Reuters
2. Field Day For The Sundays
3. Three Girl Rhumba
4. Ex Lion Tamer
5. Lowdown
6. Start To Move
7. Brazil
8. It's So Obvious
9. Surgeon's Girl
10. Pink Flag
11. Commercial
12. Straight Line
13. 106 Beats That
14. Mr Suit
15. Strange
16. Fragile
17. Mannequin
18. Different To Me
19. Champs
20. Feeling Called Love
21. 12XU

I knew we would hit a snag eventually in this string of great albums.  This album legitimately gave me a headache.  There was absolutely no talent behind the vocals and the music was incredibly loud and obnoxious.

I don't have too much to say about this album, except that after such a great patch, this was extremely disappointing.  The songs were sometimes only thirty seconds long, but I could have had sworn it was just one long, drawn out track.  I seriously considered taking a break since my head was pounding so much.  I stuck it out, though, and was counting down the seconds.

A sucky suck fest that essentially broke my brain.  Hence the term, sucky suck fest.

RATING: 1/5

379. Aja

Aja
Steely Dan
1977

Tracks
1. Black Cow
2. Aja
3. Deacon Blues
4. Peg
5. Home At Last
6. I Got The News
7. Josie

I returned to this project again today but I am afraid that I might be gone for about a week, since I have roughly a zillion movie posts to write.  I am actually a bit annoyed about that since we are going through such a great string of albums right now.  Self-imposed rules are the worst.

Anyway, I remember enjoying Steely Dan in the past, but I couldn't really recall any particular song that really stuck with me.  But I really don't think that will be the case here.   I absolutely adored "Black Cow" and "Home at Last".  I didn't really have a lot of faith that a jazz rock album would have great lyrics, but I was proven wrong here.  It was also refreshing; we have to deal with a lot of pretentiousness on this List but it didn't seem like Steely Dan was putting on airs here.  They were simply making great, accessible music.

So another great album.  Keep it up, please.

RATING: 4/5

378. Low

Low
David Bowie
1977

Tracks
1. Speed of Life
2. Breaking Glass 
3. What in the World 
4. Sound and Vision 
5. Always Crashing in the Same Car 
6. Be My Wife 
7. New Career in a New Town 
8. Warszawa 
9. Art Decade
10. Weeping Wall 
11. Subterraneans

I apologize for not posting in awhile, but I have been feeling quite Low.  I also apologize for saying that.  Without this blog, I haven't had an outlet for my terrible puns.  I had surgery in early February which the doctor said would have a weekend recovery time.  Translation: huge fucking nightmare and never-ending pain.  It is my fault for not being fluent in doctor-speak.  You would think I would have a lot of time to listen to albums and write but I have been too busy complaining and taking medication.  

Anyway, I finally listened to this album yesterday and it certainly reignited my interest in this project.  I am not exactly sure how many albums in The Book that Brian Eno has been involved in, but it has to be at least a hundred; his name is always cropping up everywhere. Apparently, the first half of this album is very "Bowie" while the second half has "Eno" written all over it.

In my typical plebeian fashion, I really preferred Bowie's side.  The song "What in the World" really struck a chord with me (more music humor; well, calling it humor might be a stretch).  I probably felt connected to the song since I am stuck in bed all the time and Bowie is describing someone who never leaves their room.  A little on the nose.  Anyway, the second side was a bit more...avant-garde and dare I say, offensive?  One of the tracks sounded like they were trying to do something tribal, which was a little uncomfortable.  Did anyone else feel that way?

Anyway, this album definitely deserves all of the attention it gets.  Bowie continues to impress.

RATING: 4/5

377. The Clash

The Clash
The Clash
1977

Tracks
1. Janie Jones 
2. Remote Control
3. I'm So Bored With The USA 
4. White Riot
5. Hate And War
6. What's My Name 
7. Deny 
8. London's Burning 
9. Career Opportunities 
10. Cheat 
11. Protex Blue 
12. Police And Thieves 
13. 48 Hours
14. Garage Land

I expected a lot of these songs to sound familiar, since The Clash is such a well known band.  However, I only recognized "White Riot".  It was an exciting moment, since for the first time I could actually understand what they said: white riot!  I wanna riot.  White riot! Something...something...you get the point.

I have really been enjoying our punk kick lately.  It is always fun to have punk music blaring while you do manual labor (which for me means taking out the trash).  Still, this album was a bit more special to me than the usual punk music.  Maybe it is because this album actually thoughtful content and was more than just catchy screaming.  I would recommend listening to "Police and Thieves" if you want to listen to a song with meaning.  Definitely worth its place on The List.

RATING: 4/5

376. Rattus Norvegicus

Rattus Norvegicus
The Stranglers
1977

Tracks
1. Sometimes
2. Goodbye Toulouse 
3. London Lady 
4. Princess Of The Streets 
5. Hangin' Around
6. Peaches 
7. Get A Grip (On Yourself) 
8. Ugly 
9. Down In The Sewer

The first line of this album is "someday I am going to smack your face" and actually succeeded in making me do one of those overdone sitcom surprised faces.  The album only got better from there which leads me to believe that this is one of the most underrated bands of all time.

Pre album blog Amanda believed that punk bands were just a bunch of screaming idiots with make up (now I know that those are actually just middle school girls).  However, this album was pretty brilliant.  "Peaches" was one of the catchiest songs I have heard in awhile.  I mean, how can you not like a song that has the lyrics "I can think of a lot worse places to be, like down in the streets, or down in a sewer, or even on the end of a skewer"? Actually, don't answer that.  That sounds pretty easy to hate.

Overall, one of the best punk albums I have ever heard and it definitely deserves its place on The List.

RATING: 4/5

375. Hard Again

Hard Again
Muddy Waters
1977

Tracks
1. Mannish Boy 
2. Bus Driver 
3. I Want to Be Loved 
4. Jealous Hearted Man 
5. I Can't Be Satisfied 
6. Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock & Roll 
7. Deep Down in Florida 
8. Crosseyed Cat 
9. Little Girl

Once again, we come across the original cliche.  All right, maybe I don't have the musical history knowledge to make this claim, but this album is a pretty early example of the whole "nah nah nah nah nah" craze.  Is it not clear what I am talking about?  How about an example from television:

That's the best example I could find since I don't want to torture anyone with a Full House reference.  Haven't we suffered enough on this blog (see BeeGees and bongo bands)?

The problem with revisiting early music is that by the time you listen to it, you have heard it done so many times that it can just be extremely dull to sit through.  However, I was pleasantly surprised with this album.  It wasn't particularly exciting, but it was pure gritty blues and a fun listen.

RATING: 4/5