Diamond Dogs

Bowie. Diamond Dogs. Yes. Love that he plays guitar on this one. Not that I don't love Mick Ronson, but there is nothing more badass than Bowie playing a Gibson L-5 cranked to 11 at the top of "Rebel Rebel". The ballads on this record (Sweet Thing, We are the Dead) are masterpieces as well. This album is also the reunion of Bowie with Tony Visconti, one of the most fruitful partnerships in rock history. The artwork pictured above is the g-rated version, which had been airbrushed to remove genetalia from the "hybrids". So, anyone have one of the few originals they're dying to part with?

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
RCA - 1974

Odessey and Oracle

I feel like the first few dozen of my posts are going to be a bit on the obvious side, but I need to get them out of the way nonetheless. Odessey and Oracle is noteable for a bunch of reasons (the least of which is the misspelling of the title). First, it was the first album to be recorded at EMI's Abbey Road studios by a non-EMI/Capitol artist. The Beatles had just finished Sgt. Pepper prior to work commencing on this album. The band broke up before it was released in the U.S., and the U.S. release was in stereo, which required a lengthy remixing process. The original release on CBS in the UK had been mono. Does anyone have an original UK version, which has the uncropped album cover art?

I will say that the recent re-releases of this record on cd have been great, in that they include a ton of material that was left off the record, like "Walking in the Sun", and "She Loves the Way They Love Her"

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
CBS - 1968

Synchronicity

All right, this is a cry for help. Before I get into what is so great about this record, I know that there were 36 differend versions of the original artwork. I only have 2 (one being a signed copy bought from a former A&M executive). Does any crazy fan out there have ALL of them? I would love images of all the covers, and to know if there are any other differences, track sequence, bonuses, etc., that might not be widely known.

It's easy to say that all the Police albums are classics, but there's an intensity to this record, along with Hugh Padgham's fantastic production (recorded at AIR Montserrat!) that still sounds really modern. None of the awful reverbs I tend to associate with early 80's production. It's lean, and very open sounding, and in contrast to Ghost in the Machine, Sting's lead vocals aren't double-tracked on every song, which makes songs like "King of Pain" feel a bit more raw and intimate. Whatever, can't say anything bad about this record, with the exception of "Mother". As much as I revere Andy Summers, its hard to get through that one :)

The Police - Synchronicity
A&M 1983

Seven and the Ragged Tiger

Say what you want, this is a masterpiece. "New Moon on Monday", "The Reflex", and "Union of the Snake", huge hits, great sounds (reocrded at AIR Montserrat before it was destroyed). Production by Alex Sadkin, who made another of my favorites, the Thompson Twins "Into the Gap", though he sadly died not long after making this record. John Taylor's bass playing is also really present in the mix, compared to other DD albums, showing what a really great player he is.

Duran Duran - Seven and the Ragged Tiger
EMI/Capitol 1983

Relayer

I don't want to make it seem like I'm obsessed with late-70's prog rock or anything (hopefully the variety will become evident), but this one fires on all cylinders. Great artwork by Roger Dean, 3 songs spanning 2 sides (epic!!!), and once again, EDDY OFFORD. This was apparently recorded on a mobile recording rig that he made, set up at Chris Squire's (bass) home in Surrey. I love the idea of this intense music made in a pastoral country setting. Totally devoid of any songs under 9 minutes long, Atlantic released "Soon", an edit of the first track as a single. Nice try.

Yes - Relayer
Atlantic Records 1975

Tarkus

Another magnum opus, this ELP album has 3 things I love. Namely, brilliant painted gatefold art, both inside and out (top image is inner, bottom is outside), songs that essentially span an entire album side (in several movements), and lastly but mostly, EDDY OFFORD!!! What a brilliant engineer. His sonic choices still sound so fresh today. Check out "Stones of Years". More of Eddy's work to be featured for sure.

ELP - Tarkus
Cotillion Records 1971

Wings Over America

OK, so this is where is kinda starts for me. Although its a relatively late in the era of things I'm really into, how can you not love a 3-lp live album with a gatefold painting of the band?! I own 6 different copies of this, all found at garage sales. Everyone of them has some tracks that are more scratched than others, so I've assembled from them what I consider to be the best from each. I got the japanese import CD a few years back, but the mastering was pretty abysmal in comparison to the Parlophone original. Just listen to "Go Now" on the LP, you can hear so much more detail in the brass section. Oh yeah, also some of the best songs ever written :)

Wings - Wings Over America
Parlophone 1976

Welcome to my new (not yet improved) blog!

Stew Simons here. I'm hoping this will become a place for me and other fans of 60's-70's psychedelia/garage/prog/rock-in-general ON VINYL to share their finds, post wish-lists, trade facts, wax nostalgic (pun intended), and we'll see where it goes from there.