Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 1974

[Saturated Fats]

1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Led Zeppelin - IV
1972: Neil Young - Harvest
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
1976: Eagles - Hotel California
1977: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1979: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1980: AC/DC - Back in Black
1981: Rush - Moving Pictures
1982: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1984: Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985: Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
1987: Guns 'n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
1988: Metallica - ...And Justice for All
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
1992: Alice in Chains - Dirt
1995: Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
1996: (TIE) Soundgarden - Down on the Upside // Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
1998: (TIE) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill // System of a Down - System of a Down
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: The Strokes - Is This It
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2004: (TIE) Madvillain - Madvillainy // The Killers - Hot Fuss // Green Day - American Idiot
2005: Coldplay - X & Y
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows
2010: The National - High Violet
2011: No definitive winner
2012: (TIE) Kendrick Lamar - good kidd, M.A.A.D. city // Deftones - koi no yokan
2014: Behemoth - The Satanist

2006: Tool - 10,000 Days (8 votes)

2nd Place (TIE): My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade (4 votes)
2nd Place (TIE): Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
2nd Place (TIE): TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
2nd Place (TIE): Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain

Tool is fine. I've got no problems with Tool, even if I don't love what they do. I appreciate what they aim for. But I gotta say... the fact that a trash-tier RHCP album got more votes than some of the other stuff on this poll is giving me the feelings.

1974 is a strange year. Despite being in the early-half of the 70's, generally considered a prolific and bountiful time for popular music, it's clearly not as rich as the two absolutely outstanding years that bookend it. Still, there is some absolutely stellar stuff here, including an album that is in my top-10 of all time. This is an absolutely monster year for prog-rock.

10/28: 1997
10/30: 2009
11/1: 1986

Click to read more...

 

[Teemu]

Gram Parsons – Grevious Angel
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
Robin Trower – Bridge of Sighs
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard

Bit of a ho hum year for me except for the greatest country music album of all time

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Three masterpieces this year imo:
1, 2 and 3 Neil Young: On the Beach and Supertramp: Crime of the Century and Other: Van Morrison: Veedun Fleece
4. Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark
5. Aerosmith: Get Your Wings
6. Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic
7. Bad Company
8. Bowie: Diamond Dogs
9. Other: Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky
10. Other: Linda Ronstadt: Heart Like a Wheel

 

[Chili]

Crime of the Century, a classic
It's Still Rock N' Roll
Diamond Dogs

Added:

Gordon Lightfoot-Sundown

I thought Genesis-Live was '74 but it was '73 missed adding it there.

 

[kook10]

Other:
The Meters - Rejuvenation
Average White Band - AWB
Barry White - Can't Get Enough
Gene Clark - No Other
Waylon Jennings - The Ramblin Man

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Top-2 is amazing, then you have a pretty good gap. Not a particularly good year for me. And nothing very honorable in my HMs, just good albums.

1. Dreamies – Auralgraphic Entertainment (some places have it as a 1973 album, but I found a Bill Holt interview confirming this masterpiece got out in 74 – if you haven't heard this, you owe it to yourself)
2. Residents – Meet the Residents
-
3. Harry Nilsson – p***y Cats (so much stories surrounding this album, produced by John Lennon, with Nilsson damaging his voice possibly beyond repair... the Many Rivers to Cross cover is basically a better Lennon song than anything from Walls And Bridges)
4. Faust – Faust IV
5. Henry Cow – Unrest
6. John Martyn – Inside Out
7. The Art Ensemble of Chicago – Fanfare for the Warriors
8. Sand – Golem
9. Plume Latraverse – Plume pou digne
10. Leonard Cohen – New Skin for the Old Ceremony
11. Slapp Happy – Slapp Happy
12. John Coltrane – Interstellar Space
13. J.J. Cale – Okie
14. L'Infonie – Vol. 3333
15. Ya Ho Wha 13 – Penetration, An Aquarian Symphony / Ya Ho Wa 13 – Ya Ho Wa 13 / Yahowha 13 – I'm Gonna Take You Home / Ya Ho Wa 13 – Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa / Ya Ho Wha 13 – To the Principles, For the Children (EP) (Ya Ho What, Ya Ho Wa, Yahowha, it never seems to be the same, even written two different ways on the same album – this f***ep up hippie shit is as crazy as it looks like)
+ Father Yod And The Spirit Of '76 – Expansion / Father Yod And The Spirit Of '76 – Contraction / Father Yod And The Spirit Of '76 – All Or Nothing At All (I put this here because it's the same bunch of hippie lunatics – Father Yod and Yahowha are the same person/cult leader)

HMs (pretty big drop):
Ann Peebles – I Can't Stand the Rain (that's hanging on one single amazing song, the rest of the album is ok)
Moolah – Woe, Ye Demons Possessed
The Kinks – Preservation Act 2
Cockney Rebel – The Psychomodo
UFO - Phenomenon
Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night
Miles Davis – Get Up With It
The Who – Odds & Sods (I'm not necessarily the biggest The Who fan – probably in good parts because I didn't put much time on their work – but this cutting floor material album is very good)
Bob Seger – Seven
Frank Zappa – Apostrophe (')
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Second Helping
Can – Soon Over Babaluma
Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band – Bluejeans & Moonbeams / Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band – Unconditionally Guaranteed
Ten Years Later – Positive Vibrations
Randy Newman – Good Old Boys
Bob Dylan – Planet Waves
Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom
Brigitte Fontaine – L'incendie
Funkadelic – Standing on the Verge of Getting It On

Curiosities:
Flora Purim – Butterfly Dreams
Billy Cobham – Total Eclipse
Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets / Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Weather Report – Mysterious Traveller
Dzyan – Electric Silence
Roxy Music – Country Life
Kraftwerk – Autobahn
Nico – The End...
Sparks – Propaganda / Sparks – Kimono My House
Georges Dor – Amour
King Crimson – Starless and Bible Black / King Crimson – Red
Gong – You
Queen – Queen II / Queen – Sheer Heart Attack
Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Africa 70 – Confusion

 

[Hockey Outsider]

King Crimson - "Red". There's stiff competition for best album of 1974, but this is my pick. Some people don't like King Crimson because their music, at times, seems sterile and impersonal. That's not the case here. This is perhaps the darkest, most emotional prog rock album created; it also would have been one of the heaviest as of 1974. (For what it's worth, Kurt Cobain cited this album as one of his influences). The title track is a remarkably tight, focused hard rock instrumental; "Fallen Angel" is a poignant ballad about the death of one's brother (accompanied by cornet, oboe and cello); "One More Red Nightmare" is a song about fear of flying, which morphs into a lengthy instrumental; and "Providence" is a live jam. The album's centrepiece is "Starless", the 12-minute ballad about nihilism and hopelessness. The instrumental section progresses slowly, almost frustratingly so, as it builds the tension before exploding into a stunning, fast-paced jazz-rock section. "Starless" is, in my mind, the greatest progressive rock song of all-time.

Yes - "Relayer". This is the most underrated album in Yes's catalogue. It begins with a 22 minute epic about warfare (starting quietly, building the tension, transforming into chaos, and eventually returning to an uneasy peace). That description hardly does it justice, but that song ("Gates of Delirium") is one of the most ambitious and powerful rock songs ever written. The album then features two nine-minute songs on the second half. One is an abrasive mix of hard rock and jazz fusion, and the other is gorgeous ballad. This is a hard album to get into, but very rewarding once you wrap your head around it.

Camel - "Mirage". Another underrated prog rock album. Like the much more well-known Jethro Tull, Camel makes extensive usage of flute throughout "Mirage". The opening "Freefall" is a good example of Camel's sound - it remains quite listenable despite being complex and unconventional. The next three songs are largely instrumental. But the highlight is the 13 minute "Lady Fantasy" suite, which features some of the most beautiful, melodic passages in all of prog rock, in addition to some heavier segments.

Renaissance - "Turn of the Cards". Renaissance is often categorized as progressive rock, presumably due to their lengthy songs, but musically they have much more in common with folk rock. The haunting "Mother Russia" is one of the best rock ballads of the seventies.

Wishbone Ash - "There's The Rub". An inconsistent album. The first half is solid, but not great. The second half is excellent - featuring a lengthy live instrumental ("F.U.B.B") and a haunting song, full of great riffs, about adultery and suicide ("Lady Jay").

Focus - "Hamburger Concerto". Focus is a Dutch prog rock band that released seven albums in the seventies (and reunited in the 21st century). Although they're best known for the zany, upbeat "Hocus Pocus" (which features a mixture of yodeling and hard rock riffing), this is their best album. The centrepiece is the 20+ instrumental piece on the second half of the album (featuring a beautiful mix of flutes, harpsichords, and more conventional rock instruments).

King Crimson - "Starless and Bible Black". King Crimson released two albums in 1974. This was the first one chronologically, but it's much weaker than "Red". Most of the songs are live recordings from their recent tour (sometimes edited in the studio). The album is notable for "The Great Deceiver" (the hard-hitting opener) and "Fracture" (an 11 minute live recording that takes time to coalesce, but eventually morphs into a powerful hard rock instrumental).

Rush - "Rush". The band's debut features John Rutsey instead of Neil Peart on the drum (leaving Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson to write the lyrics). The band hadn't defined it sound yet, so it sounds surprisingly generic for a Rush album. The six songs in the middle are unspectacular, but the opener ("Finding My Way") is great. The album ends with "Working Man" which features a lengthy instrumental jam and one of the band's greatest riffs. Rush released 19 albums and, in my opinion, never topped this song.

Judas Priest - "Rocka Rolla". Another debut from a hard-rocking band. I just re-listened to this album in its entirety and it's not as bad as I remembered. The title track is fairly catchy (even with its dumb lyrics), but the highlight is the lengthy, bluesy ballad "Run of the Mill". The band hadn't found its way yet, but a lot of potential is evident. Overall that translates into a frustrating (but still interesting) record.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Africa 70 – Confusion

This is a very good album, but I'm fairly sure it was released in 1975.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

This is a very good album, but I'm fairly sure it was released in 1975.

That's very possible. I try to use discogs as confirmation, they might have messed with me!

 

[plank]

1. So What - Joe Walsh
2. 461 Ocean Boulevard - Eric Clapton
3. A New Life - The Marshall Tucker Band
4. Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd
5. What Were Once Vices are now Habits - The Doobie Brothers
6. Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley - Robert Palmer
7. Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt
8. Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
9. Veedon Fleece - Van Morrison
10. No Other - Gene Clark
11. Natural Boogie - Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers

Odds & Sods is one of my favorite WHO albums but I've been trying to stay away from listing compilation albums.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Odds & Sods is one of my favorite WHO albums but I've been trying to stay away from listing compilation albums.

Same for me, but I understood it as a compilation of mostly stuff that wasn't already out. I don't know enough about their whole work to really know though.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

1. So What - Joe Walsh
2. 461 Ocean Boulevard - Eric Clapton
3. A New Life - The Marshall Tucker Band
4. Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd
5. What Were Once Vices are now Habits - The Doobie Brothers
6. Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley - Robert Palmer
7. Heart Like a Wheel - Linda Ronstadt
8. Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
9. Veedon Fleece - Van Morrison
10. No Other - Gene Clark
11. Natural Boogie - Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers

Odds & Sods is one of my favorite WHO albums but I've been trying to stay away from listing compilation albums.

Oh and plank... we're pretty much at opposite ends of music spectrums, so I always look up your lists with interest. This time I think, I THINK you might enjoy something from mine. Give a try to J.J. Cale's Okie if you don't know it and tell me what you think. It's just smooth and cool, stuff I don't necessarily enjoy normally, but there's just something with this one.

 

[plank]

Same for me, but I understood it as a compilation of mostly stuff that wasn't already out. I don't know enough about their whole work to really know though.

The Who has been my favorite band for a LONG time yet I'm still no expert. Most of Odds & Sods is leftovers from Townshend's "Lifehouse" project that became Who's Next. I have no problem counting this as a proper album because like you say most of these songs were previously unreleased.

 

[plank]

Oh and plank... we're pretty much at opposite ends of music spectrums, so I always look up your lists with interest. This time I think, I THINK you might enjoy something from mine. Give a try to J.J. Cale's Okie if you don't know it and tell me what you think. It's just smooth and cool, stuff I don't necessarily enjoy normally, but there's just something with this one.

I'll definitely check out Okie. I have Naturally, To Tulsa and Back and the Definitive Collection from J.J. so there's a pretty good chance I'll like it!

 

[Sleemans]

Supertramp - Crime of the Century

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

 

[Mescaleroman]

Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Gentle Giant - The Power and the Glory
Sparks - Kimono My House / Propaganda
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
the Strawbs - Hero and Heroine
Roxy Music - Country Life
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
John Cale - Fear

 

[Saturated Fats]

As I said in the OP, I'm not wild about this year - but there is one album that towers above the rest. If I set aside Pink Floyd's catalogue, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the greatest progressive rock album of all-time. Unsurprising, considering it was the last that still featured the original lineup of Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Phil Collins (alongside Rutherford and Banks). Having that much ingenuous pop musicianship and production quality in the studio at one times was always going to be tumultuous, but they gave a brilliant trio of albums in this one, Selling England by the Pound, and Foxtrot. I know they're sometimes looked upon as being a bit garish and pretentious... And my response to that is: 'so?'. Joni Mitchell's third-best album is the only thing from this year that really comes close for me.

1. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

2. Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

3. Leonard Cohen - New Skin for the Old Ceremony
4. Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
5. Sparks - Kimono My House
6. Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
7. King Crimson - Red
8. Neil Young - On the Beach
9. Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
10. Randy Newman - Good Old Boys

I'm curious what my dude @Hockey Outsider thinks about The Lamb..., and about Genesis in general. I know you're a big prog-rock guy.

 

[kihei]

Neil Young: On the Beach
Leonard Cohen: New Skin for the Old Ceremony
Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Natty Dread
King Crimson: Red
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Supertramp: The Crime of the Century
Kraftwerk: Autobahn
Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic
Robert Palmer: Sneakin' Sally through the Alley

 

[plank]

Oh and plank... we're pretty much at opposite ends of music spectrums, so I always look up your lists with interest. This time I think, I THINK you might enjoy something from mine. Give a try to J.J. Cale's Okie if you don't know it and tell me what you think. It's just smooth and cool, stuff I don't necessarily enjoy normally, but there's just something with this one.

As expected, I do indeed like Okie. Thanks to someone selling a "lot" of his CD's on EBAY, my Cale collection went from 3 albums to 8 overnight. Picked up Really, Okie, Troubadour, 5 and Grasshopper for 35 bucks.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

As expected, I do indeed like Okie. Thanks to someone selling a "lot" of his CD's on EBAY, my Cale collection went from 3 albums to 8 overnight. Picked up Really, Okie, Troubadour, 5 and Grasshopper for 35 bucks.

Nice! I wish I was still buying the physical thing, but I stopped years ago and I have no space at all. Started to sell my books, and I guess the DVDs will be next to go.

 

[plank]

Nice! I wish I was still buying the physical thing, but I stopped years ago and I have no space at all. Started to sell my books, and I guess the DVDs will be next to go.

Damn internet makes it to easy!

Check out the Robert Palmer album from this year if you aren't already familiar with it, a lot different from his MTV years.

and an album from this year, Summerlong by Rose City Band. Has a bit of a J.J. Cale vibe to it.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Damn internet makes it to easy!

Check out the Robert Palmer album from this year if you aren't already familiar with it, a lot different from his MTV years.

and an album from this year, Summerlong by Rose City Band. Has a bit of a J.J. Cale vibe to it.

Haven't checked the Palmer album yet, but I listened to this Rose City Band song and nah... too smooth for my ears. I need a little bite. As I said, the Cale album just has something that's so cool and laid back. Very rare.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

That's very possible. I try to use discogs as confirmation, they might have messed with me!

I double checked and it looks like the album was recorded in 1974, but released in 1975.

I'm not an expert on Fela Kuti's sprawling catalogue (he's released 30+ albums, many of which are hard to find in North America) but this is the one of the best that I've heard.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I'm curious what my dude @Hockey Outsider thinks about The Lamb..., and about Genesis in general. I know you're a big prog-rock guy.

I'm not a huge fan of Genesis, which may be surprising considering I like a lot of the classic 70's prog rock. Based on your comment, I re-listened to "Lamb..." today, probably for the first time in ten years. It's better than I remember. It's consistently pleasant, but it doesn't grab me the same way that Yes, King Crimson or Pink Floyd (among others) do - which is how I feel about most of Genesis's catalogue.

I think the biggest issue I have with classic Genesis is I'm not a big fan of Tony Banks. His keyboard playing is ambitious (perhaps too ambitious relative to his talent), and it's too prominent in their music. (You can criticize Yes for having prominent keyboards too, but Wakeman was much more talented than Banks, and their albums were really nicely balanced between him, Squire, Howe and Bruford. In the case of ELP, I recently commented that I like them more when they give Emerson - also much more talented than Banks - some constraints). A secondary issue is I tend to prefer a bassist who's a bit more active than Rutherford (ie Squire, Lake, Wetton, Lee, etc).

Of course, none of that's intended to criticize your choice - if you like Genesis, that's great. Just trying to articulate why I've struggled to get into their music when it otherwise looks consistent with my other favourites.

 

[Saturated Fats]

Looks like... Supertramp is gonna take this one? With Eno making a charge?

Not what I expected, but a pretty worthy call.