Day 0249 - Made in Japan

Deep Purple "Made in Japan" (1972)

I'm not a huge fan of live albums and apparently Ian Gillan is not a fan of this one as he was having throat troubles.  Mind you, you'd be hard-pushed to tell.  Other than a few raspy notes here and there, he still has a formidable wail so was probably being a bit hard on himself.

Their tight taught rock songs are stretched out into flashy, showy extended jam sessions (that 1970s excess showing its face again) with the 77 minute long run time spread out over only 7 tracks!   I would say though, I actually don't mind the excess.  The drumming on this album is off the charts!
 

Day 0248 - Slayed?

Slade "Slayed?" (1972)

Big, loud, dumb rock with a glammy kind of flavour but with a more straight ahead rock core to it.  Kind of like Twisted Sister or some of Alice Cooper's stuff, or the rockier moments from Meatloaf. They really take the stupidity a bit far though; their terrible spelling of track titles like "mama weer all crazee heer now" drove me crazy!

The album finishes well enough.  "Let the good times roll/Feel so fine"  is pumping, grinding slice of party rock.

Day 0247 - Superfly

Curtis Mayfield "Superfly" (1972)

 
That is some silky smooth, solid funk magic right there! Laced with soul, backed with lush strings and nicely punctuated in places by horn sections.  In some places though, Mayfield strips the grooves right back to just some funky bass and percussion when it suits the song. 

One of the few soundtracks to feature in this list so far. haven't seen the film, but love the music.

It's kind of sad though.  Read that Mayfield was paralysed from the neck down when a lighting rig fell on him. He died in his late 50s. 😢

Day 0246 - Harvest

Neil Young "Harvest" (1972)

This is seen by some as Young's creative pinnacle.  It certainly does a comprehensive job of fading out the optimistic 60s, while starting to tune into a cold, cynical new reality. 

The album ushers in the soft country rock of the 70s, and features one of Young's biggest hits in 'Heart of Gold'.  That he himself went on to despise the song, despite/because of all the fame it brought him is beside the point.

It turns out I quite like Neil Young, this album has some great tracks on it.  According to the book, Young went on to act out against the sound of his hit song and this album; delving into blues, punk and rock.

Day 0245 - Can't Buy a Thrill

Steely Dan "Can't Buy a Thrill" (1972)

Another stonking debut... and by 'stonking' I mean really laid back, melodic, catchy west coast rock. There are some great little jazzy instrumental breaks and some thick vocal harmonies.

This album is such well constructed, clean pop; it almost feels like it should seem soulless.  Like I should be getting sick of it, but on the third listen, it's still good.

Day 0244 - Black Sabbath Vol 4

Black Sabbath "Black Sabbath Vol 4" (1972)

 
Apparently recorded during one of their most hedonistic and drug fuelled periods. 

There are no big 'hits' on the album but it just lays down track after track of solid sludgey stoner rock with occasional detours into weird noise and... a string laden ballad?!  Who ARE you, and what have you done with the REAL Sabbath?!

Great record. I've heard the band's output starts to get a bit patchy after this album.

Day 0243 - #1 Record

Big Star "#1 Record" (1972)

Not necessarily an appropriate title, as this album did not fare well commercially.  The band became more of a 'cult' hit.

At first listening to this I was feeling like "just a hangover of the 60s pop-rock sound.  Okay but nothing special" but it grew on me as I listened, so I ran it through a couple more times and I love it.

It does sound fairly 1960s but the songwriting elevates the music above 'just some slightly behind the times pop band'.  This has interesting vocal arrangements and a great meshing of loud guitars and pop melody, including the song that would later become the theme tune to 'That 70s Show'