The eighty-ninth album: #89 Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

With more psychedelic rock/proto punk, we can an early Pink Floyd album. I certainly know them from their later songs, but here I feel I hear elements of those performances already (Syd Barrett is still a part of the group here, doing most of the writing, but I guess a lot of it still carries over). There's something dark in them, a bass riff driving songs like Lucifer Sam relentlessly forward. While a lot of the lyrics and musinc steers into the fantastic, there is a dark undertone driving it all that really set up the layers for me.

This bcomes more apparent in the instrumental pieces, which seem to emphasize the dark undertones and weird sounds, making them unnerving and at times barely songs. It's creepy, it's weird and unsettling, and the idea that these were made from LSD trips is clearer than ever - even if most of the time, that wasn't true. By Interstellar Overdrive, I felt some of these were upsetting, but they also stayed compelling - I suppose it's a credit to the band that they pulled this off so well. Of course, then you get The Gnome, a standard sweeter rocky ballad. Lovely, but quite a change from what came before. It's a bizarre album, experimenting with some different styles, but mostly succesful at what it tries to do.

The twenty-ninth classical recording: #14 Thomas Tallis - Lamentations of Jeremiah

Going back in time once more, we get a collection of choral numbers - bible texts set to music. Their contents are reverent, set in a time where reformation changed churches, and as the book says - they sound best with one voice per line, creating something intimate and enforcing the loneliness in the lamentations. The emotion comes across well, as the music suits the mood more than other choral pieces of the time felt like they do to me.

The eighty-eighth album: #88 Cream - Disraeli Gears

Our next album stays in psychedelic rock - the big thing at the time - now coming in from a blues angle. Both sounds are in there for sure - the blues guitar with the audio experiments that we get from other psychedelic albums. What's nice is how the blues doesn't get overshadowed - it feels dominant, with the psychedelic elements added where appropriate to make it sound better. The core dominates, which really makes it feel better.

Tales of Brave Ulysses is a good showcase as well. The lyrics are more interesting than most and are easy to follow. There's apparently one of the earliest uses of a wah wah pedal in here - something that doesn't stand out until you pay attention to it, but it does make the song sound more modern. It's modern, but the blues influence stays throughout. It works so well, and that goes for the entire album.

The fourty-second comic: #744 Nana

Romance mangas (they have a special name, but I don't remember what it was and don't care enough to look it up) aren't necessarily my thing. Rose of Versailles was fine, but didn't leave me with amazing memories for it. Nana is more modern, and has that as an advantage for me (historical settings are good, but the filter doesn't always work in these circumstances) but it started to drag as these stories don't get resolved and don't feel like they go anywhere. It's good as an investigation of this life, but while rock Nana was interesting, we didn't get much from her that really felt like it kept going for me. Other Nana was frustrating in her behaviour and I would have prepared someone a bit more grown up. I know it's probably partially real, and the series was fine for the half of its run that I read, but I couldn't quite keep it up.

The three hundred and twenty-ninth song: Imagine - John Lennon

Imagine can feel a bit like an overplayed anthem - the message is worn on its sleeve and continues to apply as it feels the world doesn't get better. There's a lot of hope here in a Phil Spector produced track, obviously aimed at a larger audience, and enhanced by Lennon's myth after his death. Does it work? It feels a bit too much sometimes, a bit too big, but it does connect with me enough to work.

The three hundred and thirtieth song: Laughing - David Crosby

Maybe it's because I'm tired as I'm sitting hiere, feeling more sensitive, but for some reason the steel guitar really grated on me - it overwhelmed in an unpleasant way. I'm not getting the message or the mood of the song, and it just didn't do anything but make me feel unpleasant. On a less tired relisten, there's a gentle song and meldoy here with a sweet sound, but a guitar that still won't quite go away.

The three hundred and thirty-first song: When The Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin

It's good to see that despite rock progressing, blues covers can still take place. When The Levee Breaks starts with a long intro that uses a lot of this, while the subsequent song takes a lot of this, Robert Plant initially sticking to a standard blues sound despite the music surrounding him while adding flourishes later. The song itself focuses more on the music anyway, using the original to support longer riffs. Downside is that it becomes fairly repetitive towards the end - a seven minute song needs to live up to that, and here it doesn't pull that off.

The three hundred and thirty-second song: Surf’s Up - The Beach Boys

With the Beach Boys having long abandoned their surf image, it feels like here we get a belated response, the title indicating the end of their trend while creating a bigger sound that shows what they became famous for and fills the room here far more. It's complex, varied, with strong, central vocals and a lot build around them. It's wistful enough that I can read this element in it, but it stands on its own, without needing a history, to create a gentle, pleasant song.

The three hundred and thirty-third song: Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes

Film soundtracks are obviously rare on this list, with few title tracks like this making it (and I don't count Tommy, that was the wrong way around). Here it's shown off by having a long intro that undoubtably works even better with its visuals, while two minutes in the description of Shaft actually starts. The vocals weren't really needed anyway, the sound of the track is enough to carry you through and get you in the mood.

The three hundred and thirty-fourth song: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron

Here's a spoken word album - some funk, getting the stage ready for rap to come on. It's better than some of these that we've had before - no "When the revolution comes". Here it's clearly political, anarchistic and ready for a fight. It's expertly done, following a very set beat and underlying percussion that really focuses the message, underscored where needed by the flute playing through.

The three hundred and thirty-fifth song: It’s Too Late - Carole King

After that, any other song is probably going to feel a bit out of touch, but Carole King's love ballad sounds good. It takes from doo wop and pop from earlier eras, but manages to make it sound more modern, with vocals that feels sharper and sadder. It's the end of a relationship, with an intense set of feelings and clear explanation, ready to end it. The music drives it, moving forward and having some optimism in the sadness of the song. It's sung precisely and powerfully, which really makes an impact here.

The three hundred and thirty-sixth song: Dum Maro Dum - Asha Bhosle

After what I just said about film tracks, here we get another Bollywood song - the second of the year even, and from Lata Mangeshkar's sister. The basis is an Indian song, but with the Western influences the movie requires - synthesizers aren't normally common. It stays true to its roots, but amps it up and it's clear why it would have been beloved. The refrain is also incredibly catchy and the song a delight to follow.

The seventy-fourth TV show: #39 Zorro

While older adventure shows like this can be good fun - especially as they appeal to the young boy in me - in the end their story telling and world is often limited enough that they struggle to hold our interest. There's some interesting struggles here set in Spanish California, but they do tend to lead up to the obligatory fight scene as well as some cleverness as everyone runs around trying to see who Zorro is and needing his help while not wanting to ask for it. There's something satisfying about that, but on the whole it didn't appeal to us to really make it feel that fun.

The seventy-third TV show: #58 Coronation Street

So here we go. The second soap opera, and the first that feels traditional, a near daily show that runs continously without real breaks. There's a big cast, some of whom seem to show up in a scene or two each week while they don't have an ongoing storyline, I guess also to divide the work. I've not been bothered to get deep into the backstory - after all, we're looking at over 50 years of TV here - but it's set on the titular Coronation street in England's north west (with the show being filmed in Manchester - I've seen a corner of the set before). The Barlow familiy has a bit of a focus that - as these shows go - everything emanates from.

It seems to follow the standard soap stories - I'm sure that there are some specific bits, but a lot of the character beats will be familiar. Love stories, betrayals, break ups, everything that's needed to keep things going. What makes it stand out a bit from other soaps I've watched is the sense of place. Sure, you always get specific sets that return, but here it feels like it's connected and people appear in the background or pop up in a scene because they're meant to be there as part of their character, not because they have a bigger role in the scene. Sure, a lot of it is still because of the story, but more than most other things you feel you're coming into this world, and it being familiar to regular viewers would be a big draw that I can see people getting into. I just can't believe it quite as much.

The eighty-seventh album: #87 Love - Forever Changes

Forever Changes starts with Alone Again Or, a well produced larger song that I enjoyed the first time I listened as part of the songs list. And although the mariachi elements disappear slightly, the sound stays more consistent than I was expecting. There's a definite baroque sound to the entire album, making for a pleasant listening experience that feels like it crosses genres and styles enough to also stay interesting.

The fourty-seventh book: #1004 Chaireas and Kallirhoe - Chariton

This ancient love story is possibly the first real novel - according to some of the introduction I read almost their Harlequin style novel. And it starts with the married couple splitting because they think of each other that they're dead, with Callirhoe mostly being followed on her life, as she's so beautiful every man wants her. It's a lot of adventures, near misses and desires, going partially the way you expect, but going for some grander than most of these stories do. It feels different, especially as it's more about reunification, creating a story that has a more interesting plot than most of these.

The eighty-sixth album: Tim Buckley - Goodbye and Hello

We're getting another folk rock album today., leading into psychedelic rock as well as the folk voice is overlaid with electronic sounds that add to an ethereal feel in a lot of the album. The lyrics, in the mean time, are dreamlike in places, supporting the music where it is so, but I also don't feel they often feel quite as evocative as they could be.

Compared to other, possibly more pure folk musicians, some of the songs feature more energy, with a faster, louder guitar and a 'rockier' sound, going a bit harder, which helps keep interest, but I don't find myself getting too much out of the album.

The eighty-fifth album: #85 The Monkees - Headquarters

We'll be watching the Monkees TV show at some point in the future. Today we get their first real album - the third to be published from the band, but the first they played on and wrote themselves. Of course, from my perspective, I'm now comparing that with the Beatles' album released a week later, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And while that may not be perfection, this feels like it harkens back so much more to old Beatles material (which I think the Monkees were meant to at least somewhat invoke). It's not until Shades of Gray that it went beyond that, a soft, wistful ballad that sounds a lot more unique - the folk direction working for Jones' and Tork's voices.

The second side of the album works better for that reason. Abandoning the love songs, we get more interesting songs, relying on Dolensz as another strong vocalist who gets more focus and more of a mix of styles. They feel like they show more skill and interest, which is a major help. Sunny Girlfriend sounds like a love song, but is played with a hint of sarcasm that really makes it sound that bit better. And then you get Zilch. A spoken track that overlays the four vocalists each repeating a key phrase, creating its own kind of music that feels unique on its own and may well be my standout track of the album, if only because of the statement it makes of the Monkees as artists and writers. And it explains why I know of Mister Bob Dobalina. Another question answered.