Article published October 08, 2006
The 5 must-have albums
By CHRISTOPHER BORRELLI
Blade Staff Writer
Rock is dead, deceased, done.
We can agree, right? Good.
The day of the guitar hero, of 20-minute drum solos on 200-piece kits, of righteously believing when Roger Daltry cried ěLong live rock!î ó Grandmaster Flash hammered the first nail, Nirvana dragged the rotting corpse, and, well, the culture itself dug a deep, dark gravesite.
Which means itís time to get nostalgic about nostalgia. Itís time to recreate the experience of classic classic rock radio ó before it played U2 and R.E.M. and dabbled in System of a Down.
What follows are five albums you need to buy right now if you hope to think you know what the classic rock experience was about. Forget the lava lamps, the tie-dye, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Springsteen, Hendrix ó even The Who. Classic rock radio was not proud, and it wasnít encumbered by quality or genuine classics ó though all of the above acts are staples of classic rock radio.
Wayne's World got it right: it was about guys in old cars with questionable taste and so much repetition, one might actually start to believe ELO was as important as the Stones.
For the sake of young listeners who think thereís no í70s in their own CD collection, Iíve included a contemporary alternative to ease them into those high times:
wBoston ó ěBostonî (1976). Pop-inflected fueled by Toledo-native Tom Scholzís bright guitar licks, the ěThrillerî of classic rock, with every song in rotation. Also, so plastic it sounds conceived by robots and music industry executives. The epitome of arena rock (though the band rarely toured). A 2006 alternative: Built to Spillís arena-perfect ěPerfect From Now On.î
Cheap Trick ó ěAt Budokanî (1979). A subset of the classic-rock era was the live-album era. Kissí Alive II might be more representative of the excess of the genre, but ěBudokanî captures the grandstanding thrill of a big show at a hockey rink, the Are-You-Ready-to-Rock of it all. A 2006 alternative: Hold Steadyís rollicking Separation Sunday.
Led Zeppelin ó ěLed Zeppelin IIî (1969). The quintessential classic rock album: indulgent, varied, packed with air-guitar riffs (ěWhole Lotta Loveî), over-the-top sexuality, and a hint of the blues. A 2006 alternative: Sleater-Kinneyís riff-heavy, start- and-stop chugging ěOne Beat.î
The Allman Brothers ó ěEat a Peachî (1972). A grab bag of pastoral acoustic tunes, never-ending jams, with a roadhouse stomp for suburban kids who dreamed of their own shotgun shack. A 2006 alternative: Wilcoís double-live ěKicking Television: Live in Chicago.î
Pink Floyd ó ěThe Wallî (1979). What would classic rock be without a concept album, easily pulled apart into massive, emotional, operatic tunes, with a dose of the experimental? Not the best Floyd, but the band at its paranoid best. A 2006 alternative: Radioheadís angsty ěKid A.î
Contact Christopher Borrelli at: cborrelli@theblade.comor 419-724-6117.
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