Hidden Treasures - Filling in the Gaps

[Scott]

You know, for all the cool music that gets posted around here there are some really surprising albums that haven’t made an appearance on here yet. So that’s my focus this week, filling in some gaps as I see it. And you know, it was kind of cool to go through and pick through some of these. Some are surprising to me as they are classic, others were not.  I found enough to make a few posts, but lets see how this goes and then we'll see about another round or two of these or not.


I did my best to double check this but maybe, just maybe, I made a mistake because there is sooooo much to go through on here, but I'm sure "someone" will call me out if thats true. Two rules though, 1) a track from the album must have been posted at some point in this web sites life, so it's not a question of wether we've discussed these albums or not. And 2) I omitted the videos posted in the Groups category since thats not really the point of this...


What other Classic Rock albums are missing? Listen and let’s fill in some gaps!


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a13sv0eq

	Montrose Paper Money 1974 1 - Underground Already disenchanted with what he perceived to be the one dimensionality and commercially-waning popularity of his band's hard rock/proto-metal sound, Ronnie Montrose insisted on changing the formula for the group's sophomore release by broadening the stylistic, compositional, rhythmic, and sonic range of the band, and generally toning down the high-energy intensity and metallic crunch that defined the group's 1973 debut. Musical diversity is the driving force behind Paper Money, which opens with the pop-flavored and radio-friendly "Underground", an unlikely cover of a song released the previous year by eccentric Warner Bros. labelmates Chunky, Novi & Ernie. Featuring an organ-like guitar sound created by using a Leslie speaker cabinet instead of a conventional guitar amplifier and given a major musical makeover that obscures the song's dark, death-obsessed lyrics ("Take me now or let me die... change me into a maggot pie"), "Underground" sets the tone for an album that is unpredictable at every turn and covers a broad musical spectrum which includes an acoustic ballad cover - the piano-laced "Connection" by the Rolling Stones) - and an upbeat 1960s-influenced instrumental, "Starliner". Ronnie Montrose heightens and expands his own presence by contributing lead vocals on the sparse and pensive ballad "We're Going Home", which features mellotron provided by guest keyboardist Nick DeCaro who would later join Ronnie Montrose's post-Montrose 'Open Fire' band.
	The Police Synchronicity 1983 2 - O My God Simultaneously more pop-oriented and experimental than either Ghost in the Machine or Zenyatta Mondatta, Synchronicity made the Police superstars, generating no less than five hit singles. With the exception of "Synchronicity II," which sounds disarmingly like a crappy Billy Idol song, every one of those singles is a classic. "Every Breath You Take" has a seductive, rolling beat masking its maliciousness, "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" are devilishly infectious new wave singles, and "Tea in the Sahara" is hypnotic in its measured, melancholy choruses.
	Cheap Trick All Shook Up 1980 3 - Stop This Game Cheap Trick's first genuinely disappointing album (1979's Dream Police wasn't bad, it just wasn't up to the level of the first four), 1980's All Shook Up is pretty much a complete botch. Much of the blame belongs to producer George Martin, who, for all his brilliance, was simply a wrongheaded choice for these brash power poppers; his production style simply doesn't translate. Unfortunately, primary songwriter Rick Nielsen has to shoulder his portion of the blame as well: the band's sixth album in under four years shows that the guitarist is starting to run out of both hooks and interesting lyrics. Too many songs are based around half-baked braggadocio like "High Priest of Rhythmic Noise" and "World's Greatest Lover," without the snarky wit that elevated their earlier albums, and the tunes themselves are substandard boogie deficient in both head-bobbing riffs and singalong choruses. "Baby Loves to Rock" is a glad-handing rocker with a certain resemblance to T. Rex's classic string of hits, but it's not enough to save the album.
	Santana Abraxas 1970 4 - Hope You're Feeling Better The San Francisco Bay Area rock scene of the late '60s was one that encouraged radical experimentation and discouraged the type of mindless conformity that's often plagued corporate rock. When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, Abraxas is an excellent place to start.

[Jon]

What other classic rock albums are missing? Ha.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Tee hee. HA!

I'm guessing that was a funny question because it's funny.

There's MAYBE one of these albums I MIGHT have posted, MAYBE as part of another series, but probably not. 

Maybe just me (as usual), but I find that Montrose track to be a bit weak. Yeah, I read the blurby blurb, but expected it to rock out a bit more. 

That Police album is one I visit infrequently. Heard enough of it soooooooooooooooo many times that it's another one of those albums I'm tired of. GITM is totally different though, no matter how many times I listen to it, I never get tired of it. Why is that? 

That Cheap Trick album is one of those that kinda grows on you after awhile. There is a bunch of weirdness on the album, but I still like it. And how was DP "disappointing"?

I think everyone owns that Santana album. A few months ago I picked up a set of Santana albums because I noticed that my collection was missing a few, but this wasn't one of 'em. I believe this is the first Santana album I bought on vinyl way, way back then, it could also be the first Santana album I bought on CD.

Wait....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm still laughing at that question.

HA!

Still am.

[Scott]

Actually its a very serious question deserving of some serious research and thoughtful responses.  I took several hours of my time to look through every single post ever made on this site to come up with a factual and well thought out list of albums we've yet to post tracks from, and so this is the result.  I think its deserving of responses that are at least half as well thought out as the posting was...

My Two Cents...

PS:  KIDDING - hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa

[Jon]

Or you could have just went to the a-z listing of the albums posted.

But your way, while stoopid, would work too.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Scott]

Maybe I do have an A-Z listing!!

[Scott]

Paper Money has great moments IMO (I Got The Fire, Spaceage Sacrifice, and yes Underground) but agree with you it generally lacks the punch of the debut.

Also agree with you regarding Synchronicity, its weaksauce is in all the non radio tracks, they drained it dry and then moved on...

[Niels (Mod)]

I'll listen later on, but WHAT??!! ASU wasn't a bad album!! Well, maybe side 2 was, but side 1 was classic Cheap Trick. all the songs on side 1 are great, especially Stop This Game and The Worlds Greatest Lover.

I admit, that it wasn't as great as the first 3 studio-albums, but very few albums are.

I liked the production and thought it was a step in the right direction. So was One On One.

It went wrong with NPP, and they never really recovered from that "step back" IMHO.

[Scott]

No bad albums posted here (IMO), just albums we've yet to post and discuss properly...

[Niels (Mod)]

MONTROSE - I've heard the debut-album once or twice. That's my "Montrose-history". I never knew this album exsisted, and listening to this track, I'm not missing out on something good. Very american radio-friendly 70's AOR. 

THE POLICE - Never really was a fan, even though, I've tried a few times. Nearly bought a box-set 10 years or so ago. I'll always remember the first time I heard the band, though. In the fall of 1979, I heard "Message In A Bottle" and it's still my favorite. My sister bought one or two albums back then. I bought a Sting-album in 1990, but that's it. It's extremely boooooring 

CT - I've said my piece. This song is a pure 10/10, and defintely on my top 10 over CT-songs. NOW I've said my piece.

SANTANA - Well, I know we agree on some music, Scott, but considering what you think of my VOTW's lately, and what I think of 3 of these 4 choices, we certainly disagree too. Santana to me are three MAJOR 's.

[Scott]

hahahaha...  Fair is fair!

[Niels (Mod)]

Album's, that need to be explored more around her (I'm too lazy to check, if they haven't been just a bit, already):

[Niels (Mod)]

[Niels (Mod)]

Yeah, no kidding, their best album.