#581: More Good Stuff (Part 2)

Continuing The Good Stuff, again in more-or-less descending order.
Coming Next: The Best! -- summa my all-time Strange Music faves.
& later, a list of all the stuff I really havta listen 2 some more B4 trying 2 rate. THAT should B Mbarrassing....
As always, let me know what you think. & thanx 4 reading here....

+ Nektar: THRU THE EARS best-of (1978) -- The shorter songs R forgotten prog classics. "Fidgety Queen," "King of Twilight," "Do You Believe in Magic?," "It's All Over," "Astral Man."
+ Yes: YESSTORY best-of (1991) -- Might do 'til I can get their YESYEARS box. "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed," "Every Little Thing," "Something's Coming."
+ King Crimson: DISCIPLINE (1981) -- "Frame by Frame" is freaking brilliant, "Indiscipline" & "Elephant Talk" just 1 step down from that. I start 2 drift 1/2way thru Side 2....
+ King Crimson: STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK (1974) -- The good stuff's amazing: "Great Deceiver," "Fracture," "Night Watch." Actually, the whole 1st side's pretty great. Powerful.
+ Jethro Tull: MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY (1975) -- 2nd side's perfect. 1st side's ignorable. "Baker Street Muse," "One White Duck/Nothing at All."
+ King Crimson: RED (1974) -- Xcept 4 "Providence," pretty great. & the long, dramatic coda 2 "Starless" is probly their greatest moment ever.
+ Pete Townshend: ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE CHINESE EYES (1982) -- Isn't this Strange enuf? & how bout that VOCABULARY? "Slit Skirts," "North Country Girl," "Somebody Saved Me," "Uniforms," "Face Dances Part 2," "Prelude."
+ Beach Boys: SURF'S UP (1971) -- Mostly gorgeous. 2nd side's great, 1st side's iffy. Title song, "'Til I Die," "Feel Flows," "Long Promised Road."
+ Jefferson Starship: FREEDOM AT POINT ZERO (1979) -- I'm a sucker 4 Paul Kantner's science-fiction chorales. Title song, "Fading Lady Light," "Lightning Rose," "Just the Same," "Awakening,"  "Things to Come."
+ Strawbs: STORY IN MUSIC (1980) -- Italian best-of. Lotsa great stuff. "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?," "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus (live)," "Part of the Union," "Hero and Heroine," "I'll Carry on Beside You."
+ Can: ANTHOLOGY best-of -- Wow. 2 discs of mind-scrambling early-'70s German prog. The best of it's amazing, with a drum groove like no1 else. "Father Cannot Yell," "Outside My Door," "You Doo Right," "Uphill."
+ Brian Wilson presents SMiLE (2004) -- Pretty good reconstruction. The songs we haven't actually heard B4 R pretty great. But Brian's voice is shot. "On a Holiday," "In Blue Hawaii."
+ Caravan: BEST OF single-LP (1979) -- Good starter sampler. "Memory Lain/Hugh/Headloss," the great "For Richard (live)," "Aristocracy."
+ Rush: MOVING PICTURES (1980) -- Possibly their best? "Camera Eye," "Red Barchetta."
+ Utopia: ADVENTURES IN UTOPIA (1980) -- Todd Rundgren & friends with catchy high-tech pop. "The Very Last Time," "You Make Me Crazy," "Set Me Free," "Road to Utopia," "Second Nature."
+ Weather Report: 8:30/LIVE (1979) -- They finally come alive onstage. "Bahia/Boogie Woogie Waltz" is stunning.
+ Gong: SHAMAL (1975) -- "Wingful of Eyes" is classic, + "Chandra," "Bambooji," title song.
+ Be-Bop Deluxe: SUNBURST FINISH (1976) -- 1st side's great, with lotsa Bill Nelson's flashy guitar. "Sleep That Burns," "Crying to the Sky," "Heavenly Homes," "Blazing Apostles."
+ Van Morrison: MOONDANCE (1970) -- Visionary R&B. "Into the Mystic," "Caravan."
+ Genesis: THREE SIDES LIVE (1982) -- "Paperlate," "You Might Recall," the angry "In the Cage (live)."
+ King Crimson: IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING (1969) -- Heavy Moody Blues, + the great opening blowout "21st Century Schizoid Man." & a lot of wasted space.
+ The Move: MESSAGE FROM THE COUNTRY (1972) -- The heavily-produced stuff's great, the fake-rockabilly stuff's cute. "Do Ya?," title song, "Tonight."
+ Gryphon: RAINDANCE (1975) -- 2nd side's perfect. 1st side's hit&miss. "Wallbanger," "(Ein Klein) Heldenleben," "Don't Say Go."
+ Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays: AS FALLS WICHITA, SO FALLS WICHITA FALLS (1980) -- Full-side title track is gorgeous washy mood music with an actual theme, & closes with aliens landing on a kids' playground. 2nd side peaks with the opening "Ozark," then gets quiet.
+ Roxy Music: GREATEST HITS (1976) -- My fave is the screaming "Thrill of it All." + "Love is the Drug." 2nd side's pretty strong.
+ Caravan: THE WORLD IS YOURS box-set best-of -- Pretty solid, a few suprises including a raucous, squalling cover of Soft Machine's early "Feelin' Reelin' Squealin.'" + you get almost all of their 1st 3 albums....
+ Camel: RAINBOW'S END box-set best-of -- Lotsa stuff from their jam-band early days. Pretty solid sampler. Later trax almost make me like STATIONARY TRAVELER....
+ Clannad: PASTPRESENT (1996?) -- Good sampler. You get about 1/2 of the great MACALLA (tho not "The Wild Cry"), + other standouts like "Second Nature," "Harry's Game," & that mournful thing with the long Gaelic title....
+ King Crimson: LARKS TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973) -- Trebly production, or is it just my stereo...? "Book Of Saturday," the bump&grind "Easy Money," & the lyrical "Exiles" R all mature rock songs, confident & creative. "Larks I&II" & "The Talking Drum" all sound better on the GREAT DECEIVER box....
+ Beach Boys: SUNFLOWER (1970) -- 1st side's pretty strong. "This Whole World," "It's About Time," "Slip on Through," "Add Some Music to Your Day."
+ Bruce Cockburn: DANCING IN THE DRAGON'S JAWS (1979) -- Visionary but mellow Canadian singer-songwriter. Nice jazzy moods, sometimes-cosmic lyrics. "Incandescent Blue," "Badlands Flashback," "After the Rain."
+ Roxy Music: ATLANTIC YEARS best-of (1989) -- Focuses mainly on later, smoother stuff: "Over You," "Oh Yeah (On the Radio)," "Same Old Scene," "Love is the Drug."
+ Tubes: REMOTE CONTROL (1979) -- Concept album about TV addiction. 1st side's great, funny & cutting. "I Want it All Now," "Prime Time," "Love's a Mystery (I Don't Understand)."
+ Clannad: ANAM (1993?) -- Smooth, flowing Irish folk-rock. "In Fortune's Hand."
+ Florence + the Machine: CEREMONIALS (2011) -- "Shake it Out" is the best song of the 2000's so far....
+ It's a Beautiful Day: (1st) (1969) -- Hippie mysticism, lotsa mood, a few strong songs. "White Bird," "Hot Summer Day."
+ New Muzik: STRAIGHT LINES EP (1980) -- 4 Xcellent, memorable, catchy minimalist-electronic New Wave songs. But their album was disappointing. "On Islands," "Sad Film."
+ Led Zeppelin: IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR (1979) -- Hey, "Carouselambra"'s art rock! & it's great! & I love the drum&bugle-corps middle-break on "Fool in the Rain." & how bout "Hot Dog"?!
+ Roxy Music: AVALON (1980) -- Smooth! "Take a Chance With Me," "More Than This," title song.
+ Miles Davis: IN A SILENT WAY (1969) -- Title track's gorgeous. The other 3 R nice, rather leisurely sleepy-time jazz blowing.
+ Miles Davis/Bill Laswell: PANTHALASSA (1998) -- The remixes of "In a Silent Way" & "He Loved Him Madly" R pretty great. The rest sorta drifts....
+ Rick Wakeman: WHITE ROCK (1976) -- 2nd side's about perfect. "Lax'x," "Ice Run," "After the Ball," "Montezuma's Revenge," title track.
+ Lyle Mays: (1st) (1982?) -- Nice tuneful jazzy keyboard instrumentals. "Ascent" is a blowout.
+ Procol Harum: LIVE WITH THE EDMONTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (1972) -- The last 1/2 of "In Held T'was in I" is pretty freakin' great, & "A Salty Dog" is almost perfect. The horns R the best thing about "Conquistador." & the last 2 songs on Side 1 R forgettable....
+ Fifth Dimension: THE MAGIC GARDEN (1968) -- Nice lite-psychedelic pop songs. "Carpet Man," "Requiem: 820 Latham."
+ Sandy Denny: SANDY (1972) -- The best songs R so good it hurts. "Listen, Listen," "The Simple Joys of Brotherhood."
+ Bruce Cockburn: RESUME best-of (1980) -- Good sampler from 4 RCA-distributed albums. "Silver Wheels," "Dialogue with the Devil," "Outside a Broken Phone Booth...."
+ Mott the Hoople: MOTT (1973) -- Good tuneful early-'70s hard rock with an eccentric touch. "All the Way from Memphis," "Honaloochie Boogie," "Violence."
+ King Crimson: THE POWER TO BELIEVE (2002) -- Impressive & super-efficient. But not stunning. & I wanted 2 B run over.... "Level Five," "Happy With What You Have to be Happy With."
+ King Crimson: LADIES OF THE ROAD/LIVE 1972 -- WAY more lively versions of songs 1st released on ISLANDS -- + a bonus disc full of "live" "Schizoid Man" performances.
+ Barclay James Harvest: BEST OF VOLUME I -- Pretty good sampler from their 1st 4 albums 4 Harvest.
+ Barclay James Harvest: BEST OF VOLUME II -- The uncharacteristic no-frills rocker "Taking Some Time On" is the standout here -- they shoulda done more stuff like this....
+ Emerson, Lake & Palmer: THE ATLANTIC YEARS best-of (1991) -- After the hits, this actually drags. But all the essentials R here, & the 1st 1/2 of "Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression)" is freaking great! "Tarkus" didn't impress me, & there's only the badly-edited single version of "Fanfare for the Common Man" -- but "Great Gates of Kiev" is great noise! "Still, You Turn Me On," "From the Beginning," "Lucky Man," "I Believe in Father Christmas."
+ Keith Jarrett: EYES OF THE HEART (1980) -- Tense & dramatic. Listen 2 the sound of Jarrett's quartet falling apart. The 4th side's blank.
+ Hatfield and the North: THE ROTTERS CLUB (1975) -- Richard Sinclair's funny lyrics & vocals, + their magnum opus "Mumps." Lighter, more enjoyable, less frantic & busy-busy than their 1st.
+ Rick Wakeman: CRIMINAL RECORD (1978) -- Dramatic, funny -- good tunes, not overbearing. "Breathalyzer," "Judas Iscariot."
+ Doobie Brothers: STAMPEDE (1975) -- There's some rather self-consciously arty stuff hidden away here. "Neal's Fandango" is great tho rushed. Coulda done without the choirboy vocals & soundtracky strings&horns ending of "I Cheat the Hangman," but it's definitely Something Different....
+ Steve Tibbetts: THE FALL OF US ALL -- Indian/Oriental-sounding guitar instrumentals. Sometimes loud, not much in the way of memorable tunes.
+ Journey: DREAM AFTER DREAM soundtrack (1980) -- Brief soundtrack 4 Japanese film. Nice washy moods, Xcellent playing. Opener "Destiny" is probly best, with some forceful Neil Schon guitar.
+ Van der Graaf Generator: PAWN HEARTS (1971) -- Fairly scary, & some moments of real majesty in "Man-Erg" & "Lemmings." The full-side "Lighthouse Keepers" is endless, but the ending is almost worth the trip.
+ Laurie Anderson: BIG SCIENCE (1981) -- Anderson does more with the tone of her voice than any1 I've heard in a long time. Stark, funny, playful. Side 1's fascinating. On Side 2 it starts wearing off....
+ Philip Glass: KOYAANISQATSI soundtrack (1981) -- Ghostly, scary, otherworldly, trancelike, icy. Voices of disembodied horror.
+ Steve Tibbetts: EXPLODED VIEW (1980) -- Jazz-guitar instrumentals, moody but not enuf tunes....