Having recently rediscovered some of the music I haven’t listened to in ages, I thought I’d just share a short list of the music that’s been dominating my playlist recently…
- Blind Faith: These guys only made one album, but it was fantastic. It’s also relatively unknown. Although you may not have heard of the band, chances are you’ll immediately recognize the members: Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood & Rick Grech. Yep, all of the above. Clapton and Baker were fresh out of Cream, and I guess Winwood was just taking a hiatus from Traffic do something a little different. This is a great album, and you will not be sorry if you check it out.
- The Who: Okay, everybody knows the Who. They especially know a few extremely popular tunes, but maybe not much else. Do yourself the favor of picking up some actual albums. The Who are completely amazing; I would even say they were ahead of their time. I maintain that the only way one could not like the Who is to simply not like rock and roll.
- Traffic: I mentioned these guys in a recent post, but the recommendation bears repeating. I notice that my personal “top ten” lists of bands/albums is in constant flux, depending how I’m feeling and what I’m listening to, but I still think that John Barleycorn Must Die is one of my favorite records by anyone, ever.
- Rush: Another one that everyone knows… at least, they know a few songs that they heard on the radio. Just put off buying that Coldplay album and pick up an old Rush album instead. My personal favorites include Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings, and Hemispheres.
- Black Sabbath: They’re a lot more than just the canonical First Heavy Metal band; when you actually go beyond their eponymous song, beyond Iron Man, beyond the other few songs that they’re mostly remembered for, there’s a surprising depth to their work. I’m referring exclusively to the Ozzy years; in my considerably biased opinion you can overlook everything Black Sabbath did after Ozzy left. If you’re a Dio fan you may disagree, but that’s my view. Sabotage is a good album, a good example of the depth of musical style and lyrics that Sabbath really had.
Yes, I know there is good music from today; but that’s not what this particular post is about.
Also, if you’re a Christian you may object that these bands are all, well… not. You might especially balk at my recommendation of Black Sabbath. It is true that Sabbath has songs that most Christians would probably object to: NIB, War Pigs, Snowblind, among others. They also have a few that would pass in the dark for Christian rock: After Forever, Lord of This World, and probably some others. I don’t want to actually launch into a Black Sabbath apologetic, as I certainly have better things to do; I’ll just suffice to say that they made a lot of great music, and if some of the songs bother you, just don’t listen to those ones.
