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One last note on the doors, I think Soft Parade is fucking awful.

Not a huge Deep Purple fan, but as for MC5, you gotta start with their live record, Kick out the Jams. There's a reason it gets all the hype.

King Crimson's a bit tougher, because there's so much ground to cover and there's massive differences between, say, In the wake of Poseidon and Thrak. I recommend In The Court of the Crimson King and Red to initiate yourself into the "classic" era of the band, and if you like that era of KC you might well dig the later stuff, though you very well might not.

Deep Purple Made in Japan. That was the first DP album I got into (my pops gave me the album, they're his 2nd fave group).

It's seriously awesome.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZARUZy2RQJ8[/youtube]

for Deep Purple, the records to go to are Fireball, Machine Head, and Made in Japan. Machine Head has the major hits from the Gillam/Blackmore lineup; Fireball arguably has better playing. I always found MIJ to have a lot of overplaying, but as a one-stop shop it's hard to beat.

there's a whole thread on Crimson which will help. for the early band, and as a pivotal piece of "progressive rock," In The Court Of The Crimson King is absolutely essential. every home should have one. for the seventies John Wetton/Bill Bruford lineups i think Red is best, its tilt towards serrated riffing appealing more to the ILF sensibility than Starless and Bible Black's stentorian ballads. for the post-1981 stuff you'll have to take recommendations from someone who likes that stuff. note that for pretty much any era of Crimson you like there are blistering live tapes of varying sound quality available as official lossless/MP3 paid downloads from Fripp's website.

IIRC the members of the MC5 were decidedly unhappy with the studio records they did under Jon Landau. though those records have a devoted critical following, the folks whose opinion i respect prefer Kick Out The Jams, which has a certain proto-punk charm and retains the political and communitarian aspects of the Five that were largely pushed out of their studio work.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6nasmkg7A[/youtube]

And In the Court of the Crimson King is an awesome King Crimson album.

nothing wrong with this sound

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbVdrnRm4R4[/youtube]

But the thing about the MC5, like dubbs mentioned, is that they were fifty percent music and fifty percent manifesto, and the studio records don't really reflect that.

Yeah, I know the history of mc5 with the white panther party etc etc but everything I have ever heard just sounds like bad weak guitar playing with shitty piano on top. After watching the king crimson vid above, I still dont get it. That shit blows. I'll download some of the albums you guys were talking about and give them a chance at least.

just because i recommend something for historical perspective doesn't mean thai i enjoy it for recreational listening.

I need to listen to more Zappa. Any recs? I have Tinseltown Rebellion and I like most of that, what's his other best stuff? Looking more for good music than comedy songs.

Original Mothers stuff, Freak out 'til Weasels, is his era I dig the most. Dadist Protest Rock. Out of that era, We're Only in it For The Money is probably the best, but you need to check out Absolutely Free, too (if only for the epic Brown Shoes Don't Make It).

As for later stuff, Joe's Garage is solid. And for his individual mastery of guitar, there's Shut Up and Play Your Guitar.

Never listened to the Black Keys, don't know where to start.

D.o.S. wrote:Original Mothers stuff, Freak out 'til Weasels, is his era I dig the most. Dadist Protest Rock. Out of that era, We're Only in it For The Money is probably the best, but you need to check out Absolutely Free, too (if only for the epic Brown Shoes Don't Make It).

As for later stuff, Joe's Garage is solid. And for his individual mastery of guitar, there's Shut Up and Play Your Guitar.

I listened to We're Only in it For the Money just now and freaking HATED IT. I really don't like very short songs for one thing, the production is bad and I just dislike the music. Joe's Garage seems pretty solid so far though. Definitely prefer the later stuff I think.

dubkitty wrote:for the Doors, i've always thought that the first album and Strange Days were the best albums in that they're the most consistent. the other albums have brilliant tracks but IMO don't really hold together, and have some real bowsers as well. the first two are great straight through. what used to be LP Side 1 of Morrison Hotel is perhaps their best LP side ever, though.

Very much agreed. Try to pick up the new remaster of The Doors self titled album.

I like LA Woman the best, been fucking ages since I've listened to em.

monkeydancer wrote:I need to listen to more Zappa. Any recs? I have Tinseltown Rebellion and I like most of that, what's his other best stuff? Looking more for good music than comedy songs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7VAOuIePVo[/youtube]