10 Albums: The Joshua Tree

 I have a confession to make--it took me too long to discover (yes, I said "discover") U2 and, specifically, this album. 

The Joshua Tree (released March 1987) was the album that moved U2 from being a band to being rock superstars. The album was critically acclaimed and became the fastest-selling album in British history. Three singles were released from the album; "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" became the group's only number one singles in the U.S.

I was lucky to see the band perform the album, in its entirety, on their Joshua Tree tour of 2017 in Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO. While the sound was muddy that evening, the craftsmanship of this iconic album was on full display. 

The Joshua Tree. The best album by the best band of the past 35 years.

10 Albums: Rumors

In February 1977, Fleetwood Mac released Rumours--arguably the best album ever to deal with love, loss, strife and relationships gone awry. The album would go on to reach #1 on both the U.S. and U.K. album charts and win a Grammy for Album of the Year. It remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Mac's lineup for Rumours was Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. Four cuts from the album were released as singles and all made their way into the top 10 of the song charts.

The album followed Fleetwood Mac, released in 1975, with "Rhiannon" providing the band with major radio exposure in the mid-70's. Between the release of Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, the band endured:

- The divorce of the McVies.

- The on again/off again relationship of Buckingham and Nicks

- Fleetwood's discovery that his wife, Jenny, had an affair with his best friend

In all cases, the five only seemed able to co-exist when writing, producing and performing music together.

The songs "Dreams," "Don't Stop," "You Make Loving Fun" and "Go Your Own Way" were the singles but the best song appeared on the 2004 re-release of Rumours, that being "Silver Springs." ("Springs" was not part of the original release given tension in the band, which is understandable if you watch Nicks sing this song on the band's video concert release, The Dance. It's an amazing performance of an amazing song.)

Rumours--the album that produced songs saturating AM-FM radio in competition with The Eagles' Hotel California in the mid-to-late 70's.

10 Albums: Hotel California

"You can check out any time you like. But you can never leave."

So goes the lyrics to the title tune of Hotel California the lead in to perhaps the best dueling guitar back-and-forth of any rock song ever, featuring Don Felder and Joe Walsh of The Eagles. Hotel California is the band's magnum opus.

Hotel California was released in December 1976, just months before Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Cuts from those two albums would saturate the AM-FM radio airwaves for 1977 and beyond, setting the stage for the back-and-forth commercial competition in the late '70s between these two groups.

I saw The Eagles at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO in November 1976 when they were touring to promote the upcoming release of the album. I then saw them in summer of 1978--the tour where they played stadiums and headlined a show with Dan Fogelberg and Linda Ronstadt. That shift in concert venue and size indicated the impact of the album on the band's success.

Hotel California is, undoubtedly, The Eagles' best work. It was the first album to feature Walsh and soared to number on on the Billboard album charts. It lost the Grammy for Best Album to Rumours but won for Best Record with "New Kid In Town." Two other singles from the album, "Life In the Fast Lane" and "Hotel California," made the Billboard top 100.

The album is associated with southern California but Don Henley stated, in an interview about Hotel California, that the LP is a "concept album...but it's not set in the old West. It's more urban this time..." and used California as the the microcosm for the United States, opining in the lyrics about themes of innocence, the perils of fame, of excess, idealism and the American Dream.

Randy Meisner, bassist, left the group during the making of Hotel California and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. This iteration of the group--Henley, Glenn Frey, Walsh, Felder and Schmit--would be the band's most successful fivesome and would release The Long Run in 1979. In 1980, the group disbanded before reuniting for Hell Freezes Over - the album and tour - in 1994.

Hotel California--truly an amazing piece of musical work.

Albums that didn't make the cut

Hey, readers, we're six albums in on my 10 most influential albums. Let's take a look at the ones who came close but didn't make the cut into the top 10.

Crosby Stills & Nash: One of the first supergroups, CSN included former members of The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is a tremendous opening track.

Led Zeppelin IV: IV may be a better album, front-to-back, then Led Zeppelin II but II was the album that helped form my taste in rock music. "When the Levee Breaks" is the underrated song on this LP.

White Album: The Beatles ninth studio album is sadly remembered for "Helter Skelter," the song that cult leader Charles Manson used as a message predicting interracial war in the U.S.

Tommy: The Who's rock opera. And, one of the great movie scenes ever is when William (in Almost Famous) looks under his bed and finds albums left for him by his sister, Anita. He opens Tommy and sees a note, which reads "Listen to 'Tommy' with a candle burning and you'll see your entire future." He puts it on the turntable and "Sparks" comes to life. A great moment...

Let It Bleed: Second best Stones' album ever. Underrated cut: "Monkey Man."

Desperado: This is the one that'll be a head scratcher for many. But, I love this Eagles album, which features the title cut plus "Tequila Sunrise." Henry Diltz's album photography is great too.

Born To Run: Springsteen didn't crack the top 10 but this album came close. "Thunder Road," "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," "Jungleland" and the title cut. Man...great music from The Boss.

Damn the Torpedoes: RIP Tom Petty. His and the Heartbreakers' masterpiece.

Sports: The best in '80s pop has to be this classic from Huey Lewis & the News. Listening to this album just makes me smile.

10 Albums: Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers. The name alone conjures up sexual overtones and then - the cover. Andy Warhol's cover photo/art shows tightly clad jeans with an obvious male bulge. The original album cover featured working zipper and underwear but that design was later scrapped given retailer warnings about damage to the vinyl record.

The model used for the cover photograph was never identified. While many assumed that the photo was of Mick Jagger, he was not photographed by Warhol for the album.

Cover photo intrigue aside, I think that Sticky Fingers is the best rock album of all time. Not only is this the best Rolling Stones album of their four album quartet of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street (name another band with four albums back-to-back of that caliber) but it shines as the best album by "the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world" (opening to Get Your Ya Yas Out), thus cementing status as best rock LP ever.

The album starts with "Brown Sugar," the Stones' best single ever, and then moves right into "Sway," "Wild Horses," and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." Side two features "Bitch," "Sister Morphine," and the underrated "Moonlight Mile."

Sticky Fingers is the Stones' at their raunchy best. Released in 1971, the album preceded a U.S. tour in 1972 that validated the band's status as the greatest live rock act, at the time, in the world.

Sticky Fingers--my favorite rock album ever and my pick for greatest rock album of all time.

10 Albums: Abbey Road

"Paul is dead."

One can't talk about The Beatles 11th studio album without acknowledging the furor surrounding the release given rumors of Paul McCartney's death. One of the reasons for the fan hubbub about McCartney was the album's cover photo, which is perhaps the most famous album cover shot in history. In the photo, McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the others.

The rumors about McCartney begin in 1967 but hit their peak in 1969, when Abbey Road was released. The oddities of the album's cover photo were a primary cause for the ongoing debate about McCartney, who many believe had been replaced by a double.

Abbey Road is, I believe, The Beatles best album. And, while the White Album was on heavy rotation on my turntable, it was Abbey Road that I played over-and-over, especially side two, which is one long piece made up of several song fragments.

The album also contains the two best songs written by George Harrison--"Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." Those two songs rank among the band's best and deserve their place among the classics penned by McCartney and John Lennon.

Abbey Road was released in September 1969 and achieved immediate commercial success. Critical success was harder to come by as many critics cited the album's artificial sound. It wasn't until years later that Abbey Road achieved its place, critically, as the best album released by a band that is still the standard for pop music success.

Abbey Road--the best album from the most successful band in music history.

10 Albums: Poco

Say the words, "country rock," and most immediately think of The Eagles. (And, there will be an Eagles entry in this blog soon.) Yet, the group who first fused country and rock sounds with upbeat harmonies was Poco, a group closely linked with The Eagles given band members who started with the former and ended with the latter.

I played the heck out of the band's second album, Poco. It was so unique and, in some ways, polarizing (among my contemporaries), when it was released in May 1970. It was too country for rock fans; it was too rock for country fans.

Richie Furay, guitarist and vocalist, founded Poco along with Jim Messina, who would late go on to team with Kenny Loggins in Loggins & Messina. Furay previously helped form Buffalo Springfield, the group which birthed Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

Unlike Springfield and CSNY, Poco's notoriety and commercial success was uneven, at best. "You Better Think Twice" was the most successful cut off of Poco. And, while a bit harsh, noted music reviewer Robert Christgau (The Village Voice) perhaps said it best about Poco in explaining why they did not achieve the heights of bands they birthed or influenced. "The most overrated underrated group in America. All of CSNY's preciosity with none of the inspiration; all of bluegrass's ramifications with none of its roots. In short, the perfect commentary on the vacuity of competence," wrote Christgau.

I loved this album because it was so different for its time. And, it moved me as a listener away from rock, at least temporarily, to a fusion of country, rock and sweet harmonies. (A side note--those harmonies on Poco featured Timothy B. Schmit--the group's bassist who took over for Randy Meisner. Meisner quit Poco shortly after their first album was released in order to join The Eagles. Schmit would replace Meisner in The Eagles lineup in 1977, joining them for their Hotel California tour.)

Poco--the album that broadened my music consumption and tastes.