October also saw the release of the fourth album by Van der Graaf Generator. The British group represented the more challenging end of the prog rock spectrum, and Pawn Hearts was their ultimate masterpiece. So masterful in fact, that it led to a four year hiatus for them. Their temporary breakup felt as if they had thrown in the towel in despair: how could we possibly ever improve on this achievement? Luckily, in 1975 they found the courage to continue trying. I have written about the B side filler A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers last year, when it ended up on the fifth place on the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces list. You can check that out right here.
On 11 October, Harry Nilsson astounded me with his new single release Without You. Previously, he was familiar to me from the song Everybody's Talkin' that appeared on Midnight Cowboy soundtrack a couple of years earlier. Now, I was impressed with the depth of feeling he displayed on this new single. Even though the whole performance was a bit pathetic, granted, I could still easily believe in the depth of feeling on display. And believability is enough. In November, Nilsson released his new album Nilsson Schmilsson, where Without You was also contained.
When Pink Floyd released Meddle on 30 October, it seemed that it would conclude an unbeatable month. Could someone ever have anticipated that November was going to be even more incredible? Hard to say afterwards. Since Ummagumma, Pink Floyd had done some more film soundtrack work and failed spectacularly with last year's Atom Heart Mother. Meddle, although a bit uneven, began their return to world class.
Everyone has heard the album's opening track, classic One of These Days. I have personally lauded the B side filler Echoes in Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces over here. There are three slightly blues oriented tracks on side A that aren't particularly good. This leaves us with the second track of the album, A Pillow of Winds, which has always felt like a forgotten, overlooked classic in the group's discography. Let's listen to it now.
Then, after this quite excellent October, came the unbelievable November 1971. We are talking about three heavyweight album releases of such caliber, that these days it seems virtually impossible to believe that there has been a time when they've come out in less than a month. In present day, you would need to wait for several years to just get one. But here they are, all three, released in the space of three weeks. Music audience was so enlightened back then compared to what they are now.
The first one out was the rock and roll legend Led Zeppelin, whose fourth album was self titled but which came to be called Led Zeppelin IV. Its release date was 8 November. From prog point of view there was not much to marvel, but looking at the album as a collection of pure rock songs, its creativity never fails to astound. Stairway to Heaven has been selected as the ultimate rock track by an endless array of different polls, and for good reason. Everyone has heard it before, but there's no reason not to hear it once more - particularly by kids of today, who have grown up listening to Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and their ilk. Hello children! Did you know that rock and roll can be a genuine art form?
But as great as Led Zeppelin IV was, it got beaten only four days later. On 12 November, Genesis responded to The Yes Album with their third LP and succeeded beyond any and all expectations. I immediately recognized that Nursery Cryme was the best album of the year, an accolade now won by the British group for a second year in a row. This made them now the clear frontrunners of the progressive rock movement.
On Trespass, artistic values had already been of the absolute highest order. That album had been lacking only in the precision of its execution. No more. Nursery Cryme was as flawlessly executed as it was artistically ambitious. You could hardly tell that between these two albums, there had been not one but two lineup changes. Drummer John Mayhew had been replaced with Phil Collins, and guitarist Anthony Phillips with Steve Hackett.
Yet, as perfect as Nursery Cryme sounded to me at the time, there was still one small problem with the album. It became only more evident upon repeats. While otherwise just about perfect, Genesis were already now, and would be in the future, slightly annoying when they tried to be humorous. On this album, this problem applied to the A side closing track The Return of the Giant Hogweed. It is the only track on an otherwise perfect album that is clearly below par.
Precisely two weeks after Nursery Cryme, on 26 November, Yes struck back with already their fourth album Fragile. And what a momentous strike that was. If The Yes Album had not yet convinced the prog audiences, this time there was no other option but start believing. Fragile is also a nearly flawless album, and the first undying classic on that group's career.
For Yes, there had also been one lineup change since the last album. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman, previously of Strawbs, had replaced organ player Tony Kaye who had been unwilling to extend his repertoire to other keyboards. This had already given the group' sound a more varying feel. And, like Genesis, Yes was at this point also in the height of their artistic creativity. The result was, like Nursery Cryme, a motherlode of endless invention.
At the time, it must have seemed like this incredible string of classic albums would continue on 3 December when King Crimson were due to release their fourth album. However, this was not to be: only November were to be magic this year. Islands turned out to be a huge disappointment and by far King Crimson's weakest album to date.
One of the main reasons for failure was Robert Fripp's decision to appoint a friend of his to sing and play bass guitar on the album, when the friend in question was not able, let alone skilled enough, to do either of the tasks. You can clearly hear this from the end result. In addition to this, Fripp was at the time courting with classical influences in a way that made the album sound distinctly uncool. The reason we are discussing this album at all is that it still contains one minor classic, an instrumental piece.
The album opens with a song called Formentera Lady, which isn't very interesting to begin with, and which the amateurish singer soon ruins completely. However, the song runs over 10 minutes and during the second half he keeps his mouth shut. This latter half actually sounds kind of interesting, and the skillful way it segues into track number two, Sailor's Tale, never fails to give me chills. And then we are into the magnificient Sailor's Tale, which is the classic I was referring to. After hearing it, you might as well stop playing the album. There is nothing more on offer worth your attention.
December also saw the debut of a new art rock outfit. Electric Light Orchestra rose out of the ashes of the British pop-rock band The Move. Their self titled debut album was quite an achievement, combining the talents of Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood for one final time before Wood quit the group to form a band of his own called Wizzard. There are not too many weak tracks on the album, but their true classics were made some years later after some further artistic development.
And finally, only one week before Christmas, on 17 December David Bowie released his new album Hunky Dory that contained one of the year's classic songs Life on Mars? By now, it was obvious even to me that Bowie was a talent to watch for, and who had permanently joined the art rock elite. And guess who is playing the piano? It is Rick Wakeman once again, of Strawbs and Yes fame.
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Genesis: Nursery Cryme
Gentle Giant: Acquiring the Taste
Yes: Fragile
UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Can: Mushroom
Can: Oh Yeah
David Bowie: Life on Mars?
Electric Light Orchestra: 10538 Overture
Genesis: The Musical Box
Genesis: The Fountain of Salmacis
King Crimson: Sailor's Tale
Pink Floyd: A Pillow of Winds
Pink Floyd: Echoes
Procol Harum: Broken Barricades
Van der Graaf Generator: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
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