My First Decade Pt. 2 [1973-1977]

Here we find ourselves trapped. Stuck in a place where you can still almost smell the last vestiges of the 60s. Stuck in a place where if you squint hard enough you can see the musical revolution to come. Stuck between stoned self-importance and twitchy nihilism. Stuck with some amazing music. Even though the mantra during the end of the 70s and on into the 80s was that the "70s Suck!" the truth was that the 70s were the most fertile, mind-blowing, ass-kicking period in music since after the Big One, and every one of the albums below is no small reason why.

A recap:
You have to pick one album for every year that you've been alive using the following rules:

• No more than one appearance for any artist.
• No compilation albums would be included.
• It has to be the best album of the year.

1973: Innervisions - Stevie Wonder

There's a pretty funny scene in High Fidelity (a film I loved the first time I saw it, but have since come to despise more each time I see it again) where some guy comes into a coolio record store looking for a copy of Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" for his daughter. Actually, it'll save a lot of time if you just go to the end of this post and watch the youtube vidja. So, yeah, between the Eddie Murphy caricature and the massively crappy music he's been releasing for over thirty years, it's easy to forget that Stevie Wonder was fuckin' genius, man. At least from '72 thru '76. This is the best of that run. There's only one questionable track on the album (and no, it's not the one the Red Hot's covered and forever tainted) and it's the album ender, so you can just ignore that shit. If you haven't listened to this album in a while, you are doing yourself a disservice.

RUNNERS-UP Todos Os Olhos - Tom Ze, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd - Lynyrd Skynyrd.

1974: Radio City - Big Star

To continue with the "middle" metaphor, Radio City is a middle-ground between the raw Anglophilia power pop of Big Star's debut and the wounded bitter excess of their third, and final album 3rd/Sister Lovers. Big Star was a union between Memphis boys Chris Bell and Alex Chilton that disintegrated when their first album tanked. With Chris Bell out of the picture (although rumors abound that some of the best songs found on this album were actually written by Bell) Alex Chilton made one more stab at commercial success. The album's weirdness doomed that from the get. Fuck the money. Sometimes shit's just too good for the People. An oasis in the desert that was the year in music circa 1974, too bad nobody heard it.

RUNNERS-UP Here Comes The Warm Jets - Brian Eno, Inspiration Information - Shuggie Otis.

1975: Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan

When my punk rock snottiness had run its course, and I was finally ready to listen to Bob Dylan, this was the album my Dylan-ite friend gave me to turn me on to the man. I listened to this album every night before falling asleep for a week straight. By the end of that week I was sold. While there are other Dylan albums that I truly love, this is still the one for me. Hell, "Buckets Of Rain" was our wedding song. Big ups!

RUNNERS-UP Horses - Patti Smith, Estudando Do Samba - Tom Ze.

1976: High Voltage - AC/DC

The US version of High Voltage is actually a culling of the best songs from the band's first two albums--Australian releases TNT and High Voltage (Aus). It is a great record. You would think that there would be a high probability that any album that makes my "best of the year" would approach greatness. That it would be understood, or that it would go without saying, that the album was of a high quality. You'd be right, but there are a lot of people who give this band absolutely no respect. I'm talking zero. I really don't get it. If I had just one album to use to define what Rock 'N' Roll is, this would probably be it. Sometimes I have no choice but to sigh and shake my head. Anyway, five completely useless reasons why AC/DC rules:

The band's name is pronounced Akay-Dakay Down Under.

Angus Young's school-boy look. Still rocks even though the dude is like 60.

"Whole Lotta Rosie." The best roadtrip song ever.

The cover of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

Their unabashed use of juvenile and sophomoric sexual metaphors.

RUNNERS-UP Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers, Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy.

1977: Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Yeah, you probably have an aversion to Marley thanks to all the trustifarians out there. Or, maybe you just sick of looking at his mug on the t-shirts of stiff, rhythmically challenged yuppies. Or, maybe, you are just sick of being told how good the guy was. I feel you. And, while my introduction to the greatness of reggae was delayed many years for all of the reasons above, I still had mad love for Bob Marley. I still have mad love for Marley. He's brilliant and a once-in-a-generation type artist. He deserves every accolade thrown his way. Oh, yeah, before I forget: Exodus is his best album. There's not a weak track on this stunner. Hell man, this album is so effin' good that it beat out the Clash's debut, the Talking Head's debut, Elvis Costello's debut and my favorite Ramones album. 'Nuff Said.

RUNNERS-UP Rocket To Russia - Ramones, The Clash (UK) - Clash.

Damn, I almost forgot the High Fidelity clip:

Ah, hell, I can't embed it. I can, however link to it, so here you go:

High Fidelity - Stevie Wonder

enjoy.