Juliette and the Licks "Four on the Floor" (2006)

Juliette and the Licks

Four on the Floor (2006)

"Purgatory Blues"

Red House Painters "Down Colorful Hill" (1992)

Down Colorful Hill [debut]
release date: Sep. 14, 1992
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: non-produced (Red House Painters recordings)
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "24" - 2. "Medicine Bottle" - 3. "Down Colorful Hill" (4 / 5) - 4. "Japanese to English" - 5. "Lord Kill the Pain" - 6. "Michael"

Studio album debut by American quartet Red House Painters consisting of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek, guitarist Gordon Mack, bassist Jerry Vessel and drummer Anthony Koutsos released on the British label 4AD Records.
This is a 6-track album / ep without actual production credits. Fact is, it's practically only the demo-recordings by Red House Painters, which has been mixed by 4AD supervisors, Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer. All tracks are credited Mark Kozelek, and like its successor from 1993, it's characterized by a shoegaze or dream pop sound familiar to many other releases on 4AD Records.
This is a more introvert and dark album compared to most other albums by the band, and it also contains styles that may seem a bit confusing. The tracks "Lord Kill the Pain" and partly "Michael" sounds like copies of some tracks by The Smiths, which is far from the rest. Having said that, this is a great debut and also a recommended listen.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Simple Minds "Empires and Dance" (1980)

Empires and Dance
release date: Sep. 12, 1980
format: vinyl (1982 reissue - VG 50033) / cd (1982 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: John Leckie
label: Virgin Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Travel" - 5. "Capital City" - 8. "Thirty Frames a Second"

3rd studio album by Scottish band Simple Minds originally released on Zoom Records succeeding Real to Real Cacophony (Nov. '79) marks a big change of style with emphasis on bolder use of bass and keyboard to draw a more simplistic output. Also, Jim Kerr's vocal performance has changed drastically. He no longer sounds like a Howard Devoto copycat, and he exhibits a clearly darker vocal. The kraut-rock style of the first two albums has been turned much more down and it has been replaced by a distinct synthpop with rhythm at its core, and here and there resembles the initial music by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, which is both a good thing and also a negative one, as they still appear a bit unoriginal.
It's not a great album but it points in a much more original direction, and where Real to Real could easily have been the last by the band this one seems much more like a new beginning. It may not be great, as it simply lacks more fine compositions, but it has a nice tone of melancholy and what appears as delicate darkness.

XTC "Black Sea" (1980)

Black Sea
release date: Sep. 12, 1980
format: vinyl (V 2173) / cd (1987 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Respectable Street" - 2. "Generals and Majors" - 3. "Living Through Another Cuba" ( live) - 4. "Love at First Sight" - 5. "Rocket From a Bottle" - 7. "Towers of London" - 11. "Travels in Nihilon"

4th studio album by XTC is produced by Steve Lillywhite just like the predecessor. Although, the music is still art pop and new wave like the previous Drums & Wires (1979), this is also very classic pop / rock. On this, Andy Partridge seems to take a stronger role as the band's leading figure. On the '79 album Moulding and Partridge almost shared writing credits but here Moulding has only contributed with two songs (tracks #2 & #4) and Partridge has written the remaining nine compositions.
With Black Sea the band was compared to The Beatles by the English music press, and the writing duo, Partridge / Moulding was like Strummer / Jones of The Clash put on line with Lennon / McCartney, although they never wrote their songs together. It was either Partridge or Moulding who came to the studio recordings with new songs, but I have always thought of this as the band's "Sct. Pepper" album.
Black Sea was my favourite XTC album in the early 1980s. I had it on cassette and played it a lot, although, they were never my favourite band back then. Their music was simply too extravagant and demanding for a young teenager's mind, I guess. In the mid 80s, I simply couldn't listen to the album anymore - I was fed up with it, and thought of it as mostly annoying. Today however, I understand my fascination as well as my later contempt because of its strict, almost narrow form. From a contemporary perspective the production may seem poor but by standards of the time it's really a high-end spacious production. Most new wave and early post-punk albums were truly no masterpieces in that respect but the Lillywhite production takes sound into a new era. The album is one of XTC's most coherent albums and naturally highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

Wish You Were Here
release date: Sep. 12, 1975
format: vinyl (reissue) / cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Pink Floyd
label: Harvest - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part One) (1-5)" - 2. "Welcome to the Machine" - 3. "Have a Cigar" - 4. "Wish You Were Here" - 5. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part Two) (6-9)"

9th studio album by Pink Floyd following 2½ years after The Dark Side of the Moon (Mar. 1973), which had been an enormous commercial and artistic success, and as a result the band then found it difficult to work on new material.
Wish You Were Here is far from its predecessor but nevertheless it's still another great achievement by a highly innovative band. Stylistically, this it signals a move away from the experimental and psychedelic universe, and it's more like the band's first combo of progressive rock and art rock album, a style the band would later continue on The Wall (1979) and later successive albums.
Wish You Were Here is one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums and like their '73 album this is enlisted in countless lists with the best albums of all time, and thus (deservedly) included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Again, the iconic cover art is made by (George Hardie at) Hipgnosis.

My vinyl issue is a Swedish print purchased around 1982-84.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, The Daily Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

1975 Favourite releases: 1. Bruce Springsteen Born to Run - 2. Patti Smith Horses - 3. Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here

R.E.M. "Fables of the / Reconstruction of the" (1985)

vinyl cover

Fables of the / Reconstruction of the
release date: Jun. 10, 1985
format: vinyl (1987? reissue) / cd (1992 - The I.R.S. Years Vintage 1985)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Joe Boyd
label: I.R.S. Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Feeling Gravitys Pull" - 2. "Maps and Legends" - 3. "Driver 8" (4 / 5) - 4. "Life and How to Live It" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "Old Man Kensey" - 6. "Can't Get There From Here" (4 / 5) - 7. "Green Grow The Rushes" (4 / 5) - 8. "Kohoutek" - 9. "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" - 10. "Good Advices" - 11. "Wendell Gee" (4 / 5)
Bonus tracks on 1992 extended edition: 12. "Crazy" (single B-side) - 13. "Burning Hell" (single B-side) - 14. "Bandwagon" (single B-side) - 15. "Driver 8" (live) (single B-side) - 16. "Maps and Legends" (live) (single B-side)

3rd studio album by R.E.M. is released on I.R.S. and produced by Joe Boyd. It's an interesting and complex album. The title in itself is strange. The front cover of the vinyl album has the words 'Fables of the', and the back cover reads 'Reconstruction of the'. And when you look at the vinyl A-side, it's titled 'Fables of the Reconstruction', and B-side 'Reconstruction of the Fables', which is to say the title is either meant to be repeated indefinitely; or it refers to the two titles given on the vinyl sides. So there's that, and that's it! Already, quite peculiar at first look. So much for the wrapping, but same thing goes for the music, the tracks and the style. Everything is somewhat disguised and wrapped up, like... riddles. The tracks are not as much straight forward indie rock-sounding as on Reckoning (1984) but this one comes with a stronger folk rock sound, though, it's still jangle pop.
I always liked the album but at the same time also felt that there was something unfinished about it, bringing about a sensation that it generally lacks more great songs like "Driver 8", "Green Grow the Rushes", and "Wendell Gee".
The 1992 expanded cd reissue contains 5 bonus tracks all of which have previously been released on various singles as B-sides. The album was also reissued for a 2-disc '25th Anniversary Edition' with the original album as disc 1, and 14 extra tracks on disc 2 labelled 'The Athens Demos'.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

1992 bonus
tracks reissue

St. Vincent "Strange Mercy" (2011)

Strange Mercy
release date: Sep. 13, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: John Congleton
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Chloe in the Afternoon" - 2. "Cruel" (4 / 5) - 3. "Cheerleader" - 4. "Surgeon" - 11. "Year of the Tiger"

3rd studio album by St. Vincent is like the predecessor produced by John Congleton and released through (British label) 4AD Records.
Stylistically, Annie Clark has moved away from the predominantly chamber pop heard on her two previous full length albums and made a more bold art pop and indie pop album, which incorporates elements from noise pop and progressive rock.
The album reached number #19 on the Billboard 200 in the US - surpassing the 2009 album with some 70 spots on that list, and popular magazines as Q Magazine, NME, and Uncut all ranked the album high on their best of 2011 year-end lists.
I easily find it her so far best album starting off very strongly with four fine compositions, after which it fades somewhat.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5, NME, Spin 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

"Jeg sidder fast" - Mikael Simpson

Mikael Simpson
"Stille & uroligt" (2006)

Van Morrison "It's Too Late to Stop Now" (1974) (live)

It's Too Late to Stop Now (live)
release date: Jan. 1974
format: 2 cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Van Morrison, Ted Templeman
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: Disc 1: 1. "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" - 2. "Warm Love" - 4. "These Dreams of You" - 9. "Domino" - 10. "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
Disc 2: 2. "Saint Dominic's Preview" - 4. "Listen to the Lion" - 5. "Here Comes the Night" - 6. "Gloria" - 7. "Caravan" - 8. "Cypress Avenue"

1st live album by Van Morrison originally released by Warner Bros. as a double vinyl album with a playing time above 90 mins. The album is not taken from one specific concert but is a compilation of 4 live recordings from May to Jul. 1973 held at three different locations: The Troubadour, LA., California (May 23rd); Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, SM., California (May 29th); and Rainbow Theatre, London, England (Jul. 23rd & 24th). The title comes from the 10:20 mins long version of "Cypress Hill", a fan shouts "Turn it on!", Van positively replies "It's already turned on," and seconds later shouts: "It's Too Late to Stop Now!"
The album is said to have been recorded at the time of Morison's peak and it's one of the most acclaimed live albums of popular music and it's featured on many best of lists. It's the third Van Morrison album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
I only came across this album in recent years and up until then only knew his fine 2-disc live album A Night in San Francisco from 1994, which is truly great, but this is really not an album to miss out on. I understand the critics point to the sensation that he was at the heights of his performance strengths in the early 70s, although, with Van the Man it seems he just didn't dive after that. I saw him at a concert in Denmark back on Sep. 9, 2000 where he completely blew everyone away, and from listening to his albums after the new millennium it's only amazing how he has been able to keep such standards to his ever-expanding repertoire.
I can't really tell which album I prefer of the two great live albums 'cause they both document his skills in different ways. This one serves to document his singing strengths and it showcases one great song after the other  - and so does his '94 album, only that one is with emphasis on his later material.
This album is a must. Buy it, get it, put it on and put it on repeat!
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine, Record Collector, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Jethro Tull "Minstrel in the Gallery" (1975)

2002 Remaster

Minstrel in the Gallery
release date: Sep. 5, 1975
format: digital (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Ian Anderson
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Minstrel in the Gallery" 3 / 5) - 2. "Cold Wind to Valhalla" (3 / 5) - 4. "Requiem" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Grace" (3,5 /5 )

8th studio album by Jethro Tull. After Thick as a Brick (1972) Jethro Tull released another conceptual album A Passion Play (1973) consisting of only one track, which received mixed to negative reviews, except from in the US where the band sold better than in the UK - both the '72 and the '73 album ended up on top of the charts in the US album but 'only' reaching number #5 and #13 respectively in the UK. After that, the band released War Child (1974), which apparently is more ordinarily composed with 10 tracks.

Minstrel in the Gallery is yet again an album of Jethro Tull blend of progressive rock and hard rock with influences from folk and classical. I don't find it as great as their '71 or '72 album nor as fine as the '77 and '78 albums. I think, it's like a more closed and narrow album for the enlightened few.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Sputnik Music 4,5 / 5 stars ]

org. vinyl cover

Sterling "Estadio Camp-Let" (EP) (2005)

Sterling
"Estadio Camp-Let" (EP) (2005)

"Ubesvaret opkald"

Tom Waits "Closing Time" (1973)

Closing Time [debut]
release date: Mar. 1973
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,85]
producer: Jerry Yester
label: Asylum Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Ol' '55" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" (5 / 5) - 4. "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" - 6. "Martha" - 7. "Rosie" (4 / 5) - 9. "Ice Cream Man" - 12. "Closing Time" (instr.)

Studio album debut by Tom Waits (aka Thomas Alan Waits, born Dec. 7, 1949 in Paloma, CA, USA) released on Asylum and the only Waits album to be produced by Jerry Yester.

Although the album has near-mythic status, well, I didn't hear the album until sometime in the 90s at a time when Waits' music was becoming interesting. The album is obviously a must for Tom Waits' fans, but probably also for fans of modern vocal jazz.

The first two tracks are... pure enjoyment and show Waits at his best.

Already here he has established his persona - a man in his 40s who has lived his life in pubs, who has strolled around with several broken relationships behind him and who has strong ties to the beat generation of the 50s and especially to Jack Kerouac. Look at the cover - it's a 23-year-old Tom Waits!

Bauhaus "Ziggy Stardust (1982) (single)

Ziggy Stardust, 7'' single
release date: Sep. 1982
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: A) "Ziggy Stardust" (4,5 / 5) - - B) "Third Uncle"

A single release by Bauhaus. The title track is a cover of a track by David Bowie (originally released on his great glam rock album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, from 1972). The original track is great but this is likewise a great cover and a much more electrified version. The B-side track is also a cover originally by Brian Eno (from his art rock album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), from 1974). I actually prefer the Bauhaus-version to the fine original.

The Cure "A Forest" (1980) (single)

FICS 10

A Forest, 7'' single
release date: Apr. 5, 1980
format: vinyl (FICS 10)
[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Mike Hedges, Robert Smith
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "A Forest" (5 / 5) - - B) "Another Journey by Train"

7'' single by The Cure from the forthcoming album Seventeen Seconds (Apr. 1980). The A-side is one of the band's most famous tracks. The B-side is an instrumental that was not included on the original studio album but may be found on the 2005 Deluxe Edition (Bonus Disc).
Unfortunately, my purchased item is without cover and was sold with a white paper sleeve.

U2 "Boy" (1980)

Boy [debut]
release date: Oct. 20, 1980
format: vinyl (ILPS 9646) / cd (reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,15]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Will Follow" (5 / 5) - 2. "An Cat Dubh" - 5. "Out of Control" (4 / 5) - - B) 3. "A Day Without Me" - 5. "The Electric Co." (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Irish quartet U2 consisting of vocalist Bono (aka Paul Hewson aka Bono Vox), guitarist & backing vocalist The Edge (aka David Evans), bassist Adam Clayton, and with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. (aka Lawrence Joseph Mullen Jr.).
It's a mighty fine and promising release that immediately caught everyone's attention and really signalled something other than many new acts playing new wave, gothic rock post-punk, or art rock. The album was the first of three consecutive albums to be produced by Steve Lillywhite. Although, I heard and listened to the album it wasn't my first acquisition by the band but I acquired the album around '83 just after purchasing first War (1983), and then October (1981).
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Blur "The Great Escape" (1995)

The Great Escape
release date: Sep. 11, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stereotypes" - 2. "Country House" - 4. "Charmless Man" - 7. "The Universal" (4 / 5) - 10. "It Could Be You" - 12. "Globe Alone" - 15. "Yuko and Hiro"

4th studio album by Blur originally released on Food Records and produced by Stephen Street is much of the continued journey from Parklife (1995) with a lighter version of britpop, although, they keep to their stylistic output from Modern Life.. with elements of punk rock bits here and there, and in this it's found on "Globe Alone". I don't find the album as consistently good as Parklife, but it's more than just Okay with a few great tracks and some fillers.
Like its predecessor it entered the UK albums chart list as number #1, and it launched the band's first number #1 single hit with the song "Country House".
[ allmusic.com, NME 4,5 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

The Cure "Boys Don't Cry" (1980)

PVC 7916

Boys Don't Cry (compilation)
release date: Feb. 1980
format: vinyl (PVC7916) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Chris Parry
label: PVC Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Boys Don't Cry" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Plastic Passion" - 3. "10:15 Saturday Night" (4 / 5) - 4. "Accuracy" - 5. "So What?" - 6. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" (4 / 5) - 7. "Subway Song" - 8. "Killing an Arab" (4 / 5) - 9. "Fire in Cairo" - 10. "Another Day" - 11. "Grinding Halt" (4 / 5) - 12. "Three Imaginary Boys"

Alternate studio debut album by The Cure, which is a bit hard to determine as some simply regard it a compilation album. When one has the original debut album, it's hard to see this as just a different version despite the fact that they share eight tracks in common but this one has an additional four tracks included whilst five are omitted from the original debut, and the added tracks have all been released as singles. It also seems awkward to release a 'new' studio album only three months before the release of the band's sophomore studio album, but fact is, the original studio debut had not been released on the American or Australian market, so they decided to put together an alternate version with the inclusion of some single releases with fine reviews that had not been included on the debut. AND because of this considerable change in the tracklist, they also provided the album with a new title and cover. Anyway, the vinyl version that I bought is an American import released on the American label PVC Records under license of Polydor Records (owner of Fiction), but the album was entirely released by Fiction Records for the European market on a later occasion. I always liked this release more than the band's debut because of the immediate fast hit singles on this. The track "Killing an Arab" led to some controversy as critics had the band associated with the far right, and for racial discrimination, however, Robert Smith silenced the media and critics by revealing the song's reference to the Albert Camus novel "The Stranger".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item - from ~ €50,- ]

St. Vincent "Actor" (2009)

Actor
release date: May 5, 2009
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: John Congleton, Annie Clark
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Strangers" - 2. "Save Me From What I Want" - 4. "Actor Out Of Work" - 6. "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood" - 7. "Marrow"

2nd studio album by St. Vincent released on the mother-label of Beggars Banquet, 4AD Records. As on her debut Clark plays many instruments herself with the contribution of brass and string players as well as various drummers.
The style is not all that different from her debut. It's still very chamber pop-styled, although, I think that the biggest difference here is that this was recorded using classic instrumentation instead of synths and drum programming, despite the resulting effect is hard to determine.
This may likely be more of a whole, looking at the overall style and sound with tracks reflecting much of the same starting point, but I do like the debut and some of her later works better simply by being less confined in their expressions. It's not that it's entirely bad but when confronted with St. Vincent I just expect that extra spice that doesn't just read laid-back attitude and with the exception of "Actor Out of Work" and "Marrow" is exactly what I find all over this one.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, NME 3 / 5 stars ]

Best of 1963:The Beatles "Please Please Me" (1963)

Please Please Me [debut]
release date: Mar. 22, 1963
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Saw Her Standing There" - 5. "Boys" - 6. "Ask Me Why" - 7. "Please Please Me" - - B) 1. "Love Me Do" - 2. "P.S. I Love You" - 4. "Do You Want to Know a Secret" - 6. "There's a Place" - 7. "Twist and Shout"

Studio album debut by The Beatles released on Parlophone Records and produced by George Martin. This was where the legend took off, and in my mind, the Beatles were best in the early years. The orginal album contains 14 tracks of which Lennon / McCartney wrote 8. Some point to the fact that The Fab Four was nothing but a copy or covers band as many of their hits were written by others. Well, that was much more common back then, as most major pop standards and rock & roll artists did the exact same thing. The only cover song on the album, which most people connect with The Beatles is "Twist and Shout". Besides that it is their own songs that really positions the album at the top of that years list.
I believe, I first listened to this album around 1975-76, when a classmate played his parents' copy of the album. I already knew most of the songs from the radio and from other albums, but I really understood their strength via this very album.

1963 Favourite releases: 1. The Beatles Please Please Me - 2. Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - 3. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Heat Wave

Not this particular album as such, but The Beatles play a big part of my earliest music memories that wasn't purely children's songs.

👉 Another one from that earliest stage.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Best of 1973:Pink Floyd "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973)

The Dark Side of the Moon
release date: Mar. 24, 1973
format: cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5]
producer: Pink Floyd
label: EMI - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Speak to Me" - 2. "Breathe" - 3. "On the Run" - 4. "Time" - 5. "The Great Gig in the Sky" - 6. "Money" - 7. "Us and Them" - 8. "Any Colour You Like" - 9. "Brain Damage" - 10. "Eclipse"

8th studio album by Pink Floyd originally released by Harvest. The album was already under its way in the early 70s after recording Meddle (1971) and the soundtrack album Obscured by Clouds (1972), and apparently it was initiated with the ideas for an early version of "Eclipse", which closes the album, a song the band had been playing at live concerts. The album is different. Actually, it's just that, 'cause it sounds like nothing else, and that's also its biggest strength. It's a concept album in the way that it has a founding idea behind it, which is to deal with things in life that bothered the band members at the time when things became difficult while working with Syd Barrett. These things were identified as 'time, money, madness, death'. The album contains great tracks like "Breathe", "On the Run", "Time" and "Money", but the greatest thing about the album is the album itself. I remember listening to pieces of it as a kid in the mid and late 70s, and I also recall how out-of-this-world the album felt like. It fascinated and interested like no other album. It has been reissued, remastered, reproduced, and repackaged a zillion times or more, and it's one of the best selling albums ever made (in the US it's the second best selling album, and #8 in the UK). Naturally, it's in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Today I find that the album still has an appeal, which is quite outstanding. The cover art was made by (George Hardie) at Hipgnosis.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Album Guide, Sputnikmusic, The Daily Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

1973 Favourite releases: 1. Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon - 2. Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - 3. John Cale Paris 1919