• 1. The Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” is one of those albums that feels like you’ve heard it a million times, even if it’s only your first time. Phil Lesh’s coming-out party as a lead vocalist, “Box of Rain,” is the album’s honest, emotive high point.
  2. The Beach Boys hit creative peaks long after Brian Wilson hit his personal creative peak, especially on the less-Beach-more-Boys classic “Sunflower.” The album was a truly collective work, and songs like “Add Some Music to Your Day” earned accolades, if not chart success.
  3. When critics call Wilco “dad rock,” it’s because they think Wilco sounds like America. We’d prefer to leave that comparison alone and just appreciate the fact that “Sister Golden Hair” is a worthy guilty pleasure.
  4. Neil Young is one of those guys who records music by the bucketful but is very picky about how it’s released. It took nearly 30 years for “On The Beach,” one of his best albums, to reach the CD format. Screw “Heart of Gold” – the dim, bluesy “For the Turnstiles” is how Neil Young should be remembered.
  5. Did someone say AM Gold? Because you don’t get more golden than The Hollies‘ “The Air That I Breathe,” perhaps the best cheesy pop song to come out of the 1970s. Fun fact: Albert Hammond co-wrote this; his son, Albert Hammond, Jr., is The Strokes’ guitarist. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • Permalink