S. Murray Solida
1.
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway…by Genesis
I
still listen to this album almost on a weekly basis, twenty years after I first
heard it. The
anxiety in Peter Gabriel’s voice, the tense, taught playing by the band, it
all adds up to a stunning document of a breakdown of reality.
Little did anyone know it was because the band was tearing itself apart
from within.
2.
Close To The Edge…by Yes
If
you are chuckling, you have an inflated opinion of yourself.
A masterwork by the band who virtually defined “Progressive” Rock
music. There
were so many brilliant ideas being brought forth by the band members, who, as
usual, couldn’t agree on which to use, that producer Eddie Offord cut and
spliced all the different passages into the shifting, undulating tracks.
This resulted in an album (like most early Yes albums) that can be
revisited time and again.
3.
Rubicon…by Tangerine Dream
This
is the German synthesizer album!
The percolating sequences, the spooky Mellotron sounds, the sweeping
synth-strings; it
comes together in one massive improvisational audio voyage.
Yeah, I know, “Phaedra” was the album that invented the sequencer
genre, one that has been copied by countless artists since (myself among them),
but TD perfected it on this one.
A flawless audio representation of frontman Edgar Froese’s ex-mentor
Salvador Dali did with painting.
4.
Eyes, China Doll…by Edward Ka-spel
It
was difficult to put this one on the list.
Not because it doesn’t belong (it does), but because I don’t want to
minimize the effect his band, The Legendary Pink Dots has had on me.
I very nearly put their “Asylum” album on, but the fact is, this is
the album that made me return to synthesizers after a prolonged absence.
It’s one of those very special rarities; an album that sounds nothing
like any other, before or since, even those by the same artist.
5.
The
Correct Use Of Soap…by Magazine
Howard
DeVoto is, hands down, my favorite lyricist of all time.
He writes with an unabashed honesty and ragged self-image, and produces
the kind of lyrics I always wished I had written.
The opening line in “A Song From Under The Floorboards” reads:
“I am angry, I am ill, I’m as ugly as sin, But my irritability keeps
me alive and kicking.”
Yeah, me too, Howard, me too.
6.
Electronic Guerrilla…by Heldon
Frontman
Richard Pinhas is one of the great unsung guitar heroes of the seventies.
And he’s no mere hack at the synthesizers, either.
Every single Heldon album is a gem, but this one has it all:
The burbling synth textures, the “frippertronic” guitars (Pinhas was
doing it a couple of years before Fripp really defined it.
Didn’t stop him from dedicating the second Heldon album to Fripp and
Eno), it’s all here.
Cuneiform has reissued it as a double CD with the third double album,
“It’s Always Rock And Roll.”
7.
For Your Pleasure…by Roxy Music
It’s
virtually impossible to pick a favorite Roxy Music album, but this one had the
quirky “doo-wop-from-outer-space” sound of their debut, with the more
sophisticated romanticism of their later (post Eno) stuff.
Eno is, of course, on board, turning knobs just to see what happens; Phil
Manzanera is, as always absolutely brilliant, reaffirming his standing as my
all-time favorite guitarist.
This layered, atmosheric album say in forty minutes what the shallow
“Goth” movement couldn’t say in over two decades.
8.
Heroes…by David Bowie
Another
artist who makes it impossible to pick a favorite!
Seriously, I had to choose at random (well, almost).
This makes two records on the list on which Eno’s commanding presence
is felt. The
title track is probably the single best song Bowie ever wrote.
9.
The Final Cut…by Pink Floyd
Yeah,
I know, everybody hates this album, even the band!
In all fairness, it simply could not escape the shadow of “The Wall”.
“Possible Pasts” still causes tears to well up after so many years.
One of my favorite vocal performances of all time.
10.
A
Clockwork Orange…by Wendy Carlos
What
needs to be said of this record?
Probably the best synthesizer album ever recorded (if not, it only comes
in second to Carlos’ “Beauty In The Beast”).
Don’t confuse it with the soundtrack album.
This version has ALL of the material Carlos wrote for the soundtrack,
used and unused.
The version of “Timesteps” here takes up almost all of side one.
It has recently, mercifully, been rereleased.
Well,
folks, that’s it.
It’s by no means complete, and a list of my “top twenty” would
include LPs by The Legendary Pink Dots, Eno, Gong, Virgin Prunes, Klaus Schulze,
Gary Numan, Tuxedomoon, Magma, Marillion (no kidding!), and of course, The
Beatles!
1.
Fish (from Marillion)
2.
Jon Anderson (from Yes)
3.
Paul Wrigthson (from Arena)
4.
Geddy Lee (from Rush)
5.
David Bowie
1. Keith Emerson
(You gotta ask? The guy made
it okay to be a keyboard player)
2.
Clive Nolan…(from Arena)
3.
Tomas Bodin (from The Flower Kings)
4.
Ian Boddy
5.
Martin Orford (from IQ)
