Dean's favourite albums #2 - A Night at the Opera - Queen

Now I know and now I know that “A Night at the Opera” is number two on my list. An amazing album named after the Marx brothers film, it really has a bit of everything. Of course to most the highlight of this album would be the amazing “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but there is heaps more diverse moments beyond this. There are the rockers, like the menacing opening track “Death on Two Legs”,  and “Sweet Lady” as well as the epic “The Prophet’s Song.” Those of you that know me are aware that I am not averse to a novelty song, and you get two whimsical tracks on this album – “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” and “Seaside Rendezvous”. You also get the completely over the top rock of  “I’m in Love with My Car”, which you could categorise into rock or novelty (indeed when Brian May heard the demo of this Roger Taylor track, he thought it was a joke.) Then there is the acoustic and nostalgic sounding “’39” and “Good Company”, and the ballad “Love of My Life”. “You’re My Best Friend”, today’s link, in my opinion is the perfect pop song, so catchy and if it weren’t for “Bohemian Rhapsody” would probably be the highlight of the album. And I haven’t even mentioned the closing track, an electric guitar led version of “God Save the Queen” that would rival Jimi Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” rendition at Woodstock. Some of the albums on my list are personal favourites, not necessarily widely regarded but this one is undoubtedly a classic album.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2JSUXaY-tw

 

 

So there you have it, after counting down 24 fine albums we reach the number one spot. We have covered indie rock, swamp rock, folk, rock, country, 80’s pop, 90’s rock , punk, and a host of other genres. I hope you have enjoyed reading the list as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. Although a difficult task, I really enjoyed re-listening to albums, not just the ones on the list, but also the ones that were in contention but didn’t quite make the cut.

 

Normally I have given you a bit of a hint as to the next album on the list, but not this time…you will have to just wait and see what the number one track is…but feel free to speculate in the lead up….

Dean’s favourite albums #3- Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1 – Traveling Wilburys

The term supergroup is thrown around a bit, but in the case of the Traveling Wilburys, when you get music legends Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, ex Beatle George Harrison, Tom Petty and the driving force behind ELO, Jeff Lynne together, I think the term is absolutely appropriate. Recorded in 1988, sadly just before Orbison’s death, the project essentially started as a bit of a jam session between mates, and the finished product ended up becoming a hugely successful album. It is probably fair to say they don’t make them like this any more!

Like several of the selections in my top 25 list, it may not be the most musically challenging album (not sure what this says about me) but it’s a great listen from start through to finish. The radio friendly hits like “Handle with Care” and “End of the Line” (today’s link) are well known and great tracks, but the album has far more depth than just these songs. Like those hits, it works well when they all sing together, but similarly when one of them takes the lead vocals, it is equally as great. For example,  “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” is classic Dylan, on “Not Alone Anymore” Orbison showcases his amazing vocals, Petty goes reggae-lite on the incredibly catchy “Last Night”, Lynne goes all early rock and roll on “Rattled” and Harrison provides the light and breezy “Heading for the Light”.  Add to these the slowest song on the album,  the extremely cynical “Congratulations” and you really have a great album. Probably the best song though to give you a sense that it was just a few mates having a bit of fun is “Dirty World” where like silly schoolkids they picked phrases out of auto magazines and turned them into an innuendo laden song. Great fun.  

The follow up to this album “Traveling Wilburys Vol 3” (there wasn’t a volume 2) although containing some good moments, was always going to struggle to live up to this one, especially without Orbison in the lineup.

One other thing to mention about the album is the  production, which was done so well by Lynne and Harrison and really adds to make it a gem of an album.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqhdRs4jyA

 

Coming up at #2 – we go back to the seventies for a rock masterpiece

Dean's favourite albums #4 - Imagine - John Lennon

So you are a member of the biggest band in the world. It breaks up, you release a debut solo album that is critically received. What then to do with the next year. Release another great album of course!

 

Imagine, the song, is very well known, and yeah, it’s a good song, but there are lots of other tracks that I really enjoy. “Jealous Guy” (today’s link) in my opinion is a stunning piece of songwriting and the highlight on the album. I love the country rock of “Crippled Inside” , it just provides such a toe-tapping feel to it. I have never really been a fan of Yoko Ono, but gee John wrote some great songs about her, and “Oh Yoko” is a wonderful example, lovely light pop.  The protest song “Gimme Some Truth” is amazing as well. Perhaps the  most intriguing moment on the album is “How Do you Sleep?”, a vitriolic criticism of Paul McCartney, which feels at odds with the sentiments that John sung about in the title track. Despite this, it’s a fine song. When John’s relationship with Paul later improved he sort of stepped away from the song and gave an unconvincing explanation that it was more about himself than Paul – I don’t believe that for a moment, but I guess that’s the thing with writing a song, you convey your feelings at a point in time and then could potentially spend the rest of your life singing that song over and over.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giN6m-sfzng

 

Coming up at #3 – a supergroup!