GNMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1974

[challenge_everything]

1. Camel - Mirage
2. King Crimson - Red
3. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
4. Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
5. Hawkwind - Hall of the Mountain Grill
6. Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
7. Strawbs - Hero and Heroine
8. Nico - The End
9. Leonard Cohen - New Skin for the Old Ceremony
10. Focus - The Hamburger Concerto

HM: Tom Waits, Tangerine Dream, Magma, Comus, King Crimson (Starless and Bible Black), Van Morrison.

The top 2 albums are all-time top 10 for me. And contain my two favourite prog songs ever, 'Lady Fantasy' and 'Starless'.
Then there's career peaks from Queen, BOC and Hawkwind. Awesome year.

 

[CiG]

I've extended the due date, which may yet be extended further.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

1. King Crimson- Red
2. Genesis- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
3. Yes- Relayer
4. King Crimson- Starless and Bible Black
5. Camel- Mirage
6. Bob Marley and the Wailers- Natty Dread
7. Millie Jackson- Caught Up
8. Neil Young- On the Beach
9. Funkadelic- Standing on the Verge of Getting it On
10. Joni Mitchell- Court and Spark

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

1. Residents - Meet the Residents
2. Magma - Köhntarkösz
3. Nico - The End
4. Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Le Rat débile et l'homme des champs
5. Antonius Rex - Neque Semper Arcum Tendit Rex
6. Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
7. Gryphon - Red Queen to Gryphon Three
8. Areski Belkacem & Brigitte Fontaine - L'Incendie
9. King Crimson - Red
10. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

 

[CiG]

Fantastic top 3. Will you be wrapping this up soon by chance?

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Yes I do believe it will be forthcoming.

 

[CiG]

Yes I do believe it will be forthcoming.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#10 Nico - The End...
(22 Points)

Genre(s):
Avant-Folk
Drone, Dark Ambient, Neoclassical Darkwave​

Those who voted:
@CiG #2
@Oblivious Maximus #9
@challenge_everything #8
@Serjeant Grumbles #3

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#9 Hawkwind - Hall of the Mountain Grill
(25 Points)

Genre(s):
Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Hard Rock, Progressive Rock​

If you don't like early 70's progrock or space rock, then you won't like Hawkwind. If you are searching for some more mellower sounding tunes than the rawness of Motorhead the group, then check em out. Hawkwind are not the best of the early 70's progrockers, but they are good. I prefer Camel and King Crimson, then Uriah Heep and Hawkwind, then there are the more commercial groups like Yes, ELP, Mody Blues.

They have some cool tunes. Very psychedelic space rock. I don't own any albums so I can't say which is their best. Michael Moorcock actually wrote some of their lyrics too, which some might find interesting.

Hawkwind are awesome. They're like Pink Floyd but without all the lethargic depressiness.
Disclaimer: they're a very jam-oriented band, so if you're not into that they'll either require a little patience from you or they may just not be for you.

And if you would delve in to the smoke hazy 70´s I recommend the godfathers of stoner rock Hawkwind. All the albums between 1970 and 1975 (when they were dropped from United Artists) are solid gold. I recommend you begin with the live album "Space Ritual" and "Hall of the mountain grill".

Those who voted:
@Slammed #10
@zabu of nΩd #7
@Krow #4
@CiG #4
@challenge_everything #5

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#8 Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night
(26 Points)

Genre(s):
Singer/Songwriter, Piano Blues
Jazz, Beat Poetry, Blues​

Rain Dogs is the record when he started getting really weird. If you want more traditional, folky sounding stuff, check out his older records (i.e. Closing Time, The Heart of Saturday Night, etc.)

Those who voted:
@Einherjar86 #2
@CiG #3
@Oblivious Maximus #2

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#7 Residents - Meet the Residents
(28 Points)

Genre(s):
Experimental
Tape Music, Musical Parody, Zolo, Musique concrète​

It's hard to recommend where to start, they're uniquely all over the place in terms of sound. Really best just to dive in head first and see if you emerge with anything you like.
View attachment 3795

The Residents look retarded. Portal looks godly though.

The Residents are a vastly more talented band, and it is not retarded to not look uncompromisingly gr1m you shallow tit-wit.

Portal is okay...
but the few residents songs I listened to on youtube werent very good, and given they have 24653743857 albums, I'm not even going to bother.

Well, given I'm a diehard Residents and Captain Beefheart fan, I may have a far less conventional standard for "normal" than most...

Actually,the greatest odd band of all time,The Residents.

Those who voted:
@CiG #6
@Oblivious Maximus #8
@Bloopy #1
@Serjeant Grumbles #1

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#6 Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
(29 Points)

Genre(s):
Progressive Rock, Rock Opera
Symphonic Prog​

Overrated imo. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the only album I ever liked

I seriously need to listen to more classic Genesis. I love The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

Pretty much all Genesis (except The Lamb Lies Down..) sucks IMO. I never liked any of it.

Early Genesis lyrics up to and including "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" are excellent in every way. Peter Gabriel was brilliant in writing pieces that reflected multiple levels of society, class-ism and the absurd.

Those who voted:
@Einherjar86 #1
@Oblivious #1
@crimsonfloyd #2

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#5 Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
(29 Points)

Genre(s):
Hard Rock, Glam Rock
Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal​

"
My top Queen albums:
1. Queen II
2. Sheer Heart Attack
3. A Night at the Opera
4. Queen
5. News of the World
I'm a big fan of most of their music, but they became a lot less ambitious after the 1970s because they kinda got bogged down in the synth pop of the 1980s.

I only have "Sheer heart attack", but that's also a great record!!! And Freddie was one hell of a singer IMO! It clearly shows on "Killer Queen"!!
I don't really like "Bohemian rapsody". Maybe it got overplayed for me around the time of "Wayne's world".
I don't like their 80's stuff at all though. Like almost any other band/artist that made good music in the 70's, their music turned to shit in the 80's!! I like "The show must go on" from '91 though! Cool song!

The atmosphere everything till Sheer Heart Attack has is fantastic, that's my favorite era of Queen, I listen to those three albums all the time, Queen, Queen II and Queen at the BBC.

Queen released "Stone Cold Crazy" in 1974, usually considered as the first thrash song.

Those who voted:
@Slammed #5
@HamburgerBoy #5
@Krow #5
@Bloopy #9
@challenge_everything #3
@Serjeant Grumbles #10

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#4 Scorpions - Fly to the Rainbow
(29.5 Points)

Genre(s):
Hard Rock
Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock​

That would have to be Scorpions - 'Fly To The Rainbow'. I've listened to this CD quite a bit lately. Way ahead of it's time.

Yes they are...or were. Basically I think that from "Fly To The Rainbow" to "Taken By Force" they ARE a highly underrated, unappreciated band. From "Lovedrive" to "Animal Magnetism" they are unappreciated. And after that I ceased to care about them , although they got good songs afterwards

I really don't care for 80s Scorpions. They're like traditional heavy metal taken to its logical extreme of hollow, polished boredom. But 70s Scorpions is beginning to interest me. Dipped my toe into Fly to the Rainbow, In Trance, Lovedrive, and now Taken by Force is legitimately kicking my ass. "The Sails of Charon" is possibly one of the best 70s metal songs I've ever heard.

Those who voted:
@HamburgerBoy #3
@no country for old wainds N/A
@Slayed Necros #3
@Bloopy #3

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#3 Blue Öyster Cult - Secret Treaties
(34.5 Points)

Genre(s):
Hard Rock
Psychedelic Rock​

Not as much metal as it is old - Still it was one of best albums ever made.
Blue Öyster Cult\Secret Treaties

I'm a BOC fan but I'm not interested in "Imaginos" which was really an Albert Bouchard solo album that went with the moniker uinder label pressure, much like Tony Iommi and "Seventh Star". To me the best BOC album still is "Secret Treaties".

Those who voted:
@zabu of nΩd #3
@no country for old wainds N/A
@Bloopy #2
@challenge_everything #4
@Serjeant Grumbles #6

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#2 Camel - Mirage
(39.5 Points)

Genre(s):
Symphonic Prog, Progressive Rock
Canterbury Scene​

I would like to recommend CAMEL to those who haven't heard 'em yet, specifically the "Mirage" CD. It's quite clear from this album why Mikael Åkerfeldt in OPETH calls Camel an important source of inspiration. Also look out for a Bal-Sagoth melody on this Camel album

Camel is awesome, but not because they influenced Opeth.

Camel is essential 70's prog.

After discovering this band, indirectly through Opeth, I have grown from initially considered them a Pink Floyd ripoff to now realizing their true progressive excellence. Id like to heard UM's opinion of this band

Camel actually ran parallel with Pink Floyd in the time line. If theres any influence I hear it would be Allman Brothers in spots but then alot shows aspects of the music of those times. Still they are pretty much their own thing from what I've heard which is MoonMadness and some of Mirage. I wish I had some Camel when I was a young, I had only heard of them. I would have been right into that band if I had a record then.

Those who voted:
@Einherjar86 #9
@zabu of nΩd #5
@no country for old wainds N/A
@Krow #1
@challenge_everything #1
@crimsonfloyd #5

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

#1 King Crimson - Red
(69.5 Points)

Genre(s):
Progressive Rock, Art Rock
Jazz-Rock, Hard Rock, Free Improvisation​

Anybody here into this super eclectic, before-its-time prog band?
I've had their ebut for a few years and recently rediscovered it. It's heavy, doom-laden, jazzy, "weird and wonderful" early prog record that's almost 'scary'.
I've since ventured out and picked up "In the Wake Of Poseidon", "Red" and "Lark's Tongue In Apsic". Each of these records is a classic to my ears. I can't recall any other bands that are even vaguely similar. Their approach of creating "controlled chaos", melody coupled with angst all wrapped up in a progressive package is quite unique.

I do like King Crimson a lot. I think most of the albums are relatively uneven, though. "Red" is probably best in terms of all tracks being very good, but I get a little more excited about "Starless" and "Discipline."

King Crimson is easily the best major prog act, and they are my all-time favorite band, although Miles Davis is growing on me since I bought Agharta. My favorite KC release is Red, although LTIA comes close.

Those who voted:
@Einherjar86 #5
@HamburgerBoy #2
@zabu of nΩd #2
@no country for old wainds N/A
@Krow #2
@Sirjack #5
@CiG #7
@challenge_everything #2
@crimsonfloyd #1
@Serjeant Grumbles #9

 

[CiG]

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

I've updated the Master Thread, and since we just completed the *4 years, here are some free chips as reward:

 

[Wyvern]

#2 Camel - Mirage
(39.5 Points)
View attachment 23043
Genre(s):
Symphonic Prog, Progressive Rock
Canterbury Scene​

Those who voted:
@Einherjar86 #9
@zabu of nΩd #5
@no country for old wainds N/A
@Krow #1
@challenge_everything #1
@crimsonfloyd #5

A masterpiece, my most beloved Camel album, containing their best song ever 'Lady Fantasy'. Camel to me is a highly underrated band, that should been bigger, and "Mirage" is essential in a collection.