Iggy Pop – Lust for Life (1977)
I’m really not trying to keep picking albums from 1977, that’s just how good of a year that was. Back in May, Colin wrote about the legendary Raw Power, the last album by The Stooges until last year. That’s all well and good, but I thought I’d give you a taste of Iggy Pop’s solo career.

Now Iggy released three albums in ’77. There was Kill City, which was a collaboration with Stooges guitarist James Williamson, and The Idiot and Lust for Life, both of which he worked on with David Bowie. I’ve decided to focus on Lust for Life because it has less of a David Bowie feel to it, and it has proved to be Iggy Pop’s most successful album yet.

The album kicks off with one of Iggy’s most popular tracks, the titular “Lust for Life.” You might recognize this song from Trainspotting, or those cruise line commercials. Or maybe it just sounds a little familiar to you, which might be because the song’s bass line was used by Jet in “Are You Gonna be My Girl” and Good Charlotte in “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Rolling Stone even named it the 147th best song ever, on that controversial list. Yeah, this song rocks. Just listen to those drums!

But we’re talking about a whole album here, not a single song. And it does not disappoint. Iggy follows up with a series of awesome tracks, “Sixteen,” “Some Weird Sin” and “The Passenger.” “The Passenger” is a really dark song, but damn if it isn’t good. Next comes “Tonight,” a song that just screams David Bowie, so it makes sense that Bowie would later perform it on 1984’s Tonight. The same goes for “Neighborhood Threat.” “Success,” is a catchy little tune, and the only single from the album. There are two six-plus minute tracks, “Turn Blue” and “Fall in Love with Me,” and I’m not really about them. They’re fine though.

The David Bowie influence is very apparent here, I mean you can hear the guy singing backup on a few tracks. Under Bowie’s guidance, Iggy Pop’s music does lose some of that tenacity that worked so well with The Stooges. This is not a “street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm.” Some critics hold that against the album, but not I. Just look at that cover art. The man’s having a good time, damnit! Why should we take that away from him?

Honestly, if you only own one Iggy Pop album, this is probably it. Lust for Life is full of enjoyable tracks and has had a lasting influence on plenty of musicians. Plus, don’t you want to hear all those dirty lyrics that aren’t in the cruise line commercials?

Favorite Tracks: “Lust for Life,” “Some Weird Sin,” “The Passenger”

Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape

I guess I’ll do this because of the angry fan base howling for the return of my beloved CAT’s even though I just setting record over in the Icy Tower’s department.

The first album from the Foo Fighters as a collective group of musicians, Dave Grohl’s vision had finally come true. This album rocks. It has the perfect blend of soft and loud, fast and slow, and gentle singing and throat bursting screaming.

When I was taking drum lessons with the legendary Frank Heye, I asked to learn basically every song on the album. It took me weeks to master Monkey Wrench, months for Everlong, and I’ve never really got My Hero down. Dave Grohl’s drumming is some of his finest work on this album. He once said a normal person usually takes about a week to lay down drum tracks. His take about a month. He is maticulous and it really shows in his work.

Not to just make this post a Grohl orgy-lovefest, but this guy is a genius. If only he wasn’t so lazy these days and actually made a rockin’ album again. But until then we still have The Colour and the Shape.

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
For some reason this album reminds me of winter, so I usually end up listening to it once or twice this time of year.  It must be the combination of the fact that Bob Dylan is shown walking through the snow on the cover and a lot of the imagery contained in the lyrics, as well as the fact that I can remember buying the album a couple of weeks before Christmas a few years ago. Anyways, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was the first Dylan album I ever heard and it’s still one of my favorites of his, as well as probably the best album of his early folk period.

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
Since it is becoming increasingly probable that Nancy will never write a CAT again, here’s another quick one from me.

Proving my theory that anything that came out in 1977 is awesome is Fleetwood Mac’s opus Rumours. In the great tradition of the Beatles, this album probably made the word “rumors” one of the most frequently misspelled by young music lovers.

Apparently this album is the product of all the turmoil from the romantic relationships within the band. John McVie and Christine McVie divorced, Lindsey Buckingham (a man) and Stevie Nicks (a woman) split, and Stevie hooked up with Mick Fleetwood. It’s like, what were they thinking? This is some Friends bullshit! You don’t have to date the people you work with, there are literally billions of other fish in the sea. Anyway, it was probably worth it since this album shot Fleetwood Mac to superstardom and created some of their most famous tracks.

“Second Hand News” is the first track you’ll hear, and it’s a damn fine one. It’s hard to resist singing along or at least engaging in some proper toe-tapping. I’d say that’s true about Linsey Buckingham’s other two tracks as well, “Never Going Back Again” and “Go Your Own Way.” These songs are the immortal hits of the band, and while certainly highlights for me, that is not to say the rest of the tracks aren’t good. Really they are. You’ve probably heard them before. Go listen to “Dreams,” the second track on the disc. Yeah, you’ve heard that. And it’s good. I could go on, but I don’t want to.

Most people could probably say they’ve heard this album without even knowing its name, because I hear a lot of these songs on the radio all the time. And I don’t even listen to the radio very often. But that just demonstrates how freakin’ good Rumours is. If you’re someone like Kevin, you should definitely give this album a listen just so you can identify those songs you hear all the time.

Favorite Tracks: “Second Hand News,” “Never Going Back Again,” “Go Your Own Way”

The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed (1967)
Birthed out of Birmingham in the early 60s, The Moody Blues were originally just another R&B cover band. Breaking out in the U.K. with the 1964 single “Go Now”, The Moody Blues had obtained some moderate success but didn’t really standout from any of the other British Blues based bands of the time. Juggling through several management firms, even leading to the departure of the band’s original bassist Clint Warwick and lead singer/guitarist Denny Laine, (Who would later join Wings) The Moodies signed guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge finally forming the lineup for a classic rock group.

The band had decided upon a vastly new psychedelic approach along with a hint of classical stylings to create one of the most unusual and if I will say “Epic” albums of it’s time. Working off of the concept of “An average man’s day from dawn to night,” The Moodies put together some trippy pop tracks, but it felt somewhat lacking. So who better to fill that void than the London Festival Orchestra? Who would provide backing instrumentation and to fill the gaps between every song.

The overall effect of this at the time risky move, proved to be simply stunning. With lush ballads accompanied by a booming orchestra, it sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a 60s sword and sandal epic… Aside from the references to modern London life. These songs are all perfectly suited for the smorgasbord of strings and brass that’s been piled on and it really like a rock symphony.

Every member contributes singing and song-writing duties to this album and all prove to be talented contributors. Mellotronist Mike Pinder pens some of the album’s more melancholy numbers such as “Dawn is a Feeling” while flutist Ray Thomas generates a much more positive up beat style on songs like “Another Morning”. Bassist John Lodge includes a more pop/rock styling while guitarist Justin Hayward proves to be the group’s strongest contributor with the radio friendly hits “Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)” and the band’s future defining hit “Nights in White Satin”. The band’s drummer Graeme Edge doesn’t write any songs, but creates an element that would later become a staple of The Moodies’ sound with a introspective poem following the album’s overture and finale. The members make for a fairly unique and cohesive group of collaborators and the overall sound makes for some out of this world pop.

Listening to this whimsical record you can’t ignore the flawless producing of the Tony Clarke, considered as “The Sixth Moody” he would go on to produce all of the band’s albums. The album took awhile to find a following, but come round 1972 The Moody Blues took the U.S. by storm with the re-release of their single “Nights in White Satin” the rest is history.

This album’s definitely had a significant impact on me as I’ve probably used the whole album as background music in some of Cat Fancy’s video productions. I often find I like listening to it before I go to sleep, to whisk me off into the land of dreams and sand… Hey maybe I’m a poet but just don’t know it, Moody Blues cover band anyone? Of course I keed but yeah this is a unique piece of music that definitely deserves some more recognition.

Favorite Tracks: “Dawn is a Feeling”, “Nights in White Satin”, “Peak Hour”

Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)

In honor of Halloween I’ll be reviewing an album whose title track and it’s video is somewhat of a favorite this time of year, Michael Jackson’s 1982 mega-hit album Thriller.  This is the album that transformed Michael Jackson into the biggest artist of the decade, and brought him the title of the King of Pop.  There are few albums that have as much of an influence on popular music as Thriller and none that have reached it’s level of success.  It’s still the all-time best-selling album worldwide and it’s sales continue to grow as people keep coming back to it for it’s undeniable charm.