Pick one album from the year 1974!

the only one i can think of off the top of my head.

Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain
John Cale - Fear
Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale
Roxy Music - Country Life
Funkadelic - Standing On the Verge
Todd Rundgren - Todd

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scaruffi - best albums of 1974
http://www.scaruffi.com/ratings/1970.html#1974

9/10
Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (Virgin)
8/10
Residents: Meet The Residents (Ralph)
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy (Island)
Yahowa 13: Penetration - An Aquarian Symphony (Higher Key)
Henry Cow: Unrest (Virgin)
7/10
Taj-Mahal Travelers: August 1974
John Cale: Fear (Island)
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra (Ohr)
Kraftwerk: Autobahn (Vertigo)
Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (Reprise)
Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece (WB)
Magma: Kohnstarkosz (Vertigo)
Richard Thompson: I Want To See The Bright Lights (Island)
Jackson Browne: Late For The Sky (Asylum)
King Crimson: Red (Atlantic)
Randy Newman: Good Old Boys (Reprise)
Popol Vuh: Einsjaeger & Siebenjaeger (Kosmische Musik)
Cluster: Zuckerzeit (Brain)
Hatfield And The North: self-titled (Virgin)
Joni Mitchell: Court And Spark (Asylum)
Ry Cooder: Paradise And Lunch (Reprise)
Harmonia (Brain)
Muleskinner: self-titled (Ridgerunner)
Can: Soon Over Babaluma (Spoon)
Todd Rundgren: Todd (Bearsville)
Ivor Cutler: Dandruff (Virgin)
Genesis: Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Atlantic)
Klaus Schulze: Blackdance (Brain)
Nico: The End (Island)
Bad Company: self-titled (Island)
Robert Calvert: Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Supertramp: Crime of the century (Island)
Vivian Stanshall: Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead (WB)
Commander Cody: Live From Deep In The Heart of Texas (Paramount)
Big Star: Radio City (Ardent)
Blue Oyster Cult: Secret Treaties (CBS)
Clearlight: Clearlight Symphony (Virgin)
Frank Zappa: Roxy And Elsewhere (Discreet)
Roy Harper: Valentine (Harvest)
Norman Blake: Fields of November (Flying Fish)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping (MCA)
Little Feat: Feats Don't Fail Me Now (WB)
Ash Ra: Inventions For Electric Guitar (Kosmische Musik)
Cosmic Jokers: self-titled (Metronome)
Comus: To Keep From Crying (Virgin)
Millie Jackson: Caught Up (Spring)
Phoebe Snow: self-titled (Shelter)
Kevin Ayers: The Confessions Of Dr. Dream (Island)
Heldon: Electronique Guerilla (Urus)
John Martyn: Sunday's Child (Island)
Neil Young: On The Beach (Reprise)
Kiss: self-titled (Casablanca)
Willie Nelson: Phases And Stages (Atlantic)
Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge (Virgin)
Pink Fairies: Kings Of Oblivion
Utopia: self-titled (Bearsville)
Sparks: Kimono My House (Island)
Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic (ABC)
Robin Trower: Bridge Of Sighs (Chrysalis)

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well I had forgotten abt taj mahal travellers 'August 1974'. That's even more obv (but DJ martian beat me to it) if they weren't so damn obscure.

'Rock Bottom' is the best suggestion so far, and for me it's a tie between that and Neil Young's 'On the beach'.

Some favourites after that would be:
Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
Van Morrison - It's too late to stop now
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
Can - Future Days
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Richard & Linda Thompson - I want to see the bright lights tonight
Roxy Music - Country Life
Al Green - Explores your mind
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Natty Dread
Big Star - Radio City

But there's bound to be loads I've missed.

And there was plenty of great soul being made, too: didn't "I Can't Stand The Rain" (Ann Peebles) come out in '74? And "Al Green Explores Your Mind" as noted by J. Ball.

These are off the top of my head, I'm *certain* there's loads more where that came from. No Art Garfunkel LP that year, though, so I can understand why people think it's a bit of a weak year.

They were a psych outfit from japan. Takesh Kosugi (a composer who worked with Cunningham's dance company) was the violin player and main leader. But its a lot of ppl working hard at making quiet music so in that sense they remind me of early improv units like MEV.

August 1974 is a dbl Cd release and expensive. I did a thread on this group on ILM. got abt 5 replies.

I've just been looking up several different artists, and it seems loads of people made quite good records in 1974, but better ones in the surrounding years. So 'Hell' by James Brown, 'Desitively Bonnaroo' by Dr John, 'Fulfillingness First Finale' by Stevie Wonder etc are all worth getting but you couldn't really say they were essential.

It seems to me that only Neil Young, Robert Wyatt and Richard Thompson made the best albums of their careers that year.

Once upon a time I was living in the North of England. One Saturday in three I would set off from home very early in order to see some football. I din't allow this to curtail my Friday nights out with my friends, and that meant I endured lots of very hung-over train journeys. The cassette I had with "Phases And Stages" on one side became a real favourite for those sorry rides, and it had another 24 carat classic from '74 on the other side: "No Other" by Gene Clark.

Jan

"Open Our Eyes," Earth, Wind & Fire, a great one.

Also "Get Up With It," Miles, for the amazing "Calypso Frelimo" alone.

10cc, "Sheet Music," a pretty good McCartney album, better than "Band on the Run."

Raspberries, "Starting Over," not as good as "Radio City" but quite enjoyable.

Steely fucking Dan. Get a piece of Mr. Parker's band and all that.

King goddamned Crimson--"Red" is the only tolerable thing they ever did, right.

My picks would be the three mentioned in first 'graf.

That's surprising to hear, though, because most people go for Shoot out The Lights, or Pour Down Like Silver.

nods to Pretzel Logic and Court & Spark too.

I've obviously changed the threadintent to "Pick four albums"

Surely.

Anyway, I'll take Pink Fairies Kings of Oblivion. Or about ten other absolutely great records.

I think I need to get this. I've been getting into Pronounced over the past month or so, and any album that opens with "Sweet Home Alabama" must be doing something right.

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans

An album with parentheses in the title! How can I NOT like it?

(...some other night, might be Queen's 'Sheer Heart Attack')

I just realized that what little I have from 1974 (that Al Green album, the roxy music album, that first bryan ferry album, Radio City), I'm not particular excited about raving over - even though they're all good.

Damn, I can't believe I put Shoot Out The Lights on this. Whatta maroon.

I guess 1974 sucked, I dunno. I need to hear Pretzel Logic.

um, its not 'tolerable' but actually a very great album.

I don't think their intention was ever to play jazz but to do something quite diff to that.

and also life=swing is v v dodgy.

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drc800/c847/c847636l0gb.jpg

Life=swing is "dodgy." Hmm. Like I say, chief, it's a matter of taste.

Anyway, I love the idea of Crimson moving from this early fantasy-damaged bombast to the streamlined muso-prog of Red; most of the other bands just got more bloated. Accompanied of course by cover art moving from drawings of ghoulish screaming mouths to silhouettes of the trio. Addition of Bruford was the key element.

Yeah, I always liked Wetton better in Uriah Heep. Although that Gary Thain dude could play his ass off too.

Except that Mingus and Monk have no relationship to Beethoven, whereas King Crimson has quite a bit to do with Mingus and Monk.

And what is this Mingus Monk no relationship to Western art music? So you're saying those guys never thought/studied harmony and counterpoint? get real.

Mind you, I'm sure Robert Fripp would say good things about Charles Mingus or jazz in general (I know Bruford would). I jsut don't see the basis for the comparison, especially given that Fripp has record zero jazz dates in his career.

edit: and Mr Diamond beat me on some questions!

Mr. Frank P. Jones, I don't know you. Maybe you're a very nice person, maybe you have many friends and supporters and loved ones. I hope so. But the above sentence is the biggest specimen of condescending horseshit I have ever read here...and I think you were actually trying to defend them or something.

Charles Mingus was a serious student of all sorts of music, including "classical" music. Monk, while no academe, was certainly no untutored "natchul" musical savant. Both had quite a relationship to Beethoven and Haydn and Bach and anyone else you can think of. To suggest otherwise is uninformed at best.

So maybe I missed some crucial point of your argument. Care to inform me what it was?

https://open.substack.com/pub/bradluen/p/ten-favorite-african-albums-of-1974?r=2ck8a&utm_medium=ios

Brad Luen’s favorite African albums from 1974

Finally found a copy of Veedon Fleece in the wild this weekend, on cassette no less. Would still love to find it on CD.