*** 1970's Album Draft - Commentary Thread ***

[johnnya24]

Patti Smith - never listened to her..read about how great this album is..and....it's ok....i would listen to it again..but i don't really see how it's one of the best albums of the decade...another one of those albums where what it meant at the time seems to be the reason it's so transcendent, rather than the quality of the songs.

I first got into that record by reading interviews from artists I really liked (that was the biggest source of new music before the interwebs). Patti Smith kept getting name dropped, and that record in particular: REM, Pearl Jam, Throwing Muses and not PJ Harvey ... not as in, PJ Harvey kept having to deny she was influenced by her You can't blame them, Patti Smith's voice sounds like the perfect middle ground between PJ Harvey and Kirsten Hersh, though Tom Verlaine is a more relevant comparison, which is why I wanted to match up Marquee Moon and Horses.

[johnnya24]

2 solo females drafted, both on team Johnny. We won't be making any rap style videos.

[swampdragon]

The Police ... never got into the Police. Sting annoyed me when I was younger. He was always in the UK press about stupid crap like tantric sex, and his solo work was diner party music. All you ever heard about The Police was how Sting and the drummer didn't get along (the fucking drummer?), and that one song that was bled to death. No doubt there is something of value there ... but I dunno.

Ah youth

The Police had great energy - Sting has a vibe. They were a solid trio check out early concert footage

Here is an equivalent - I say Derek and The Dominoes and many people think this

[ManCalledFoot]

I was as big a fan of The Police's first two LPs as anyone. Regatta de Blanc was great, but I don't think I've heard anything played from it except "Message In a Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon" for the last 30 years. The lesser cuts were all winners, but you never hear them. All their hits are incredibly played out.

I always had a problem with The Police letting their songs go on too long. They would always repeat a final line over and over... Sting must sing "sending out an S.O.S." 427 times.

[Erik]

All you ever heard about The Police was how Sting and the drummer didn't get along (the fucking drummer?)

Stewart Copeland is an incredible drummer and a creative force in his own right -- he wrote quite a few songs for The Police. So yes, it did matter that he and Sting didn't get along. No Copeland = no Police.

[Stephen]

It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, but Off the Wall was definitely on my list. I just figured if Thriller and Bad fell for ages in the 80s/90s draft then Off the Wall would fall in the 70s draft.

[johnnya24]

Stewart Copeland is an incredible drummer and a creative force in his own right -- he wrote quite a few songs for The Police. So yes, it did matter that he and Sting didn't get along. No Copeland = no Police.

His solo work can't be any worse than Stings

[johnnya24]

I was listening to Low a lot after the Bowie draft ... great pick.

[Erik]

The Cry of Love -- Some amazing, underrated stuff there, "Freedom" and "Ezy Rider" especially. Oh, what could have been.

Excitable Boy -- I only know the songs that made the radio. Never felt like investigating further, mostly because of his voice.

One Step Beyond -- The title track was in rotation in the early days of MTV. Fun stuff.

Horses -- Patti Smith is another artist where I appreciate her influence and like her material when performed by other artists, but her own recordings, I'm not that into.

Plastic Ono Band -- The primal scream stuff is overdone, but there is some amazing songcraft here, "Hold On" and "Working Class Hero" especially.

Let's Stay Together -- I took the title track in the soul/funk/R&B draft. All I own by Green is a greatest hits album, so I'm not up on which songs come from which albums.

Regatta de Blanc -- The odds of Swampy taking a Police album in this draft were 100% after he asked me to trade him Zenyatta Mondatta in the 80s-90s draft and had to resort to drafting a Sting solo album. I think Zenyatta and Ghost in the Machine are their best, but Regatta has a unique charm about it; it's much looser than their other records. This is mainly because they were short on songs and had to come up with some others very quickly (a lot of those were provided by Stewart Copeland).

Low -- I love Side 1, which is some of his very best work. I'm ambivalent about Side 2.

[Erik]

It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, but Off the Wall was definitely on my list. I just figured if Thriller and Bad fell for ages in the 80s/90s draft then Off the Wall would fall in the 70s draft.

I actually took it now in case ElD was considering it. ElD took MJ in the festival draft and Thriller in the 80s-90s draft.

Also, it's made every "100 best albums of the '70s" list ever created, so it deserves to be in the top 100 here.

[Erik]

Surprised to see no Marley picks until now, but like Neil Young, he has so many possibilities from the '70s that I guess people are just waiting.

[DMT]

Surprised to see no Marley picks until now, but like Neil Young, he has so many possibilities from the '70s that I guess people are just waiting.

Exactly...I think Uprising was my 3rd pick in the 80s/90s draft.

[DMT]

If anyone knows how to contact Pogues, please do so lest we stall for another 4 hours.

[Grinch]

Had to take Hemispheres, I became a Rush fan after a friend turned me on to them. I was 19, didn't like much of the music that was being produced--never into AC/DC, KISS etc, so I was mostly listening to older stuff and busy being a 19 y/o, hated disco, but went to clubs and worked for a disco lighting company (as I said earlier, build the floor for SNF). Rush was so strong, moved backward through their library and they became my staple. I've seen them live I believe 8 times, actually sat side-stage on their equipment boxes (the disco lighting company I worked for had a connection into the concert lighting world, thus--backstage passes).

[Grinch]

If anyone knows how to contact Pogues, please do so lest we stall for another 4 hours.

I PM'd him FWIW