>Funny you mention 10cc....I remember being about 13 years old when their hit "The Things We Do for Love" came out. That was a pretty good tune.
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>Obviously a few people took my concept of "Top 10" a bit too seriously. Clearly any big music fan could have dozens of "top 10" lists. I took Friday off as a "pre-vacation" wind-down vacation day before I started my actual Christmas vacation today (Saturday). So I just threw those 10 video links up there for the heck of it.
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>I had Alan Parsons in my top 10. I might have mentioned this before. I saw them in concert in 1995. I wondered how good they could possibly be, given the heavy producing for their studio albums. Well, they blew me away. Something happened in their concert that was just amazing - they were trying to wind down an extended version of "The Raven", and the fans were cheering them on so hard to keep the ending going that the members in the band just could not stop. This went on for like five additional minutes...you could actually tell they wanted/needed to stop, but the fans just refused to allow them to stop. I've been to many concerts and I've never seen anything like that. It's one of those "you had to be there" experiences.
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>Someone mentioned ELP...I've said before that Rush and Yes and ELP are my 3 favorite rock groups. I have everything they've ever released. My favorite ELP songs/albums are Endless Enigma (often overlooked classic), Karn Evil 9, Tarkus, Trilogy, and Pictures at an Exhibition. Also loved their live version of Pirates at the Montreal Forum in 1977. Awesome material.
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>And as for Yes, their albums in the 70's (Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Going for the One and Tormato) are all awesome. Every time I listen to "Yours is No Disgrace" I gain new appreciation for how talented Steve Howe was. During that period of albums they had a level of creativity I don't think any group will ever be able to match.
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>Mike, your knowledge of the Stones is obviously 100 times greater than mine. I need to listen to more of them.
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>Someone mentioned Jethro Tull. My favorites have always been Thick as a Brick, Aqualung, Cross Eyed Mary, and Locomotive Breath (pretty much everyone's favorites) . I've often thought that Pearl Jam reminds me a bit of Jethro Tull. Obviously, very different groups, but there is something about Pearl Jam that reminds me of Jethro Tull.
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>And I'll have people throwing rocks at me, but I've never been a fan of the Beatles. Maybe it's because I was born right after the Baby Boomers and didn't experience the Beatles the way others did. I don't have anything negative to say about them, I've just never found them all that interesting. There are only 2 Beatles songs I will stop and listen to...Paperback Writer and Day Tripper. OK, let the nasty comments begin :)
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>One other group I didn't mention - Green Day. When they're not performing they are about as obnoxious as it gets - but they are damn good musicians. Their combo with U2 in the Superdome after Katrina was amazing.
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>Obviously, I'm partial to Rush, for a million reasons. They have unbelievable skills. They act like regular guys (and in their personal lives away from work, I feel they're my long lost brothers, they are total beer-drinking goofballs who love sports). They've incorporated some of Ayn Rand into their lyrics/stories. They have been together since 1975 and keep producing great studio albums. They came back after Neil Peart lost his daughter and his wife. And for anyone who thinks they're just progressive head-bangers, watch this gem.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb1UaRu0JVA>
>So much great music out there....
Sorry for responding so strongly. "Ah know .... it's only rock and roll .... but ah like it." Mick again. It fires up its fans, as it was intended to.
No nasty comments about the Beatles. FWIW I don't think at this point it matters whether you were listening to music when theirs was released. We weren't listening when Beethoven or Charlie Parker were released, either. If you want to start with one album (as they were quaintly called back then), start with Sgt. Pepper. It's filled with great songs and will appeal to the puzzle solver in you. Starting with the cover itself and extending to the songs inside. There are references forward and backward, the "Paul is dead" hysteria prominent among them. That was a good one. The iconic cover of "Abbey Road" was part of it. I would bet anything they came up with the idea one night over a pint, John's impish sense of humor leading the way.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205310/Pictured-The-Beatles-album-cover-started-decades-long-conspiracy-theory.html
