Also in July, I found an unexpected favorite from Eric Clapton. Obviously, I knew who he was and had heard Layla too many times on the radio already some years earlier. But still, the new album 461 Ocean Boulevard came as a small surprise. Let it Grow was another July favorite. I had to make do with these two until late August, at which point school had already started. I started my eight years in Kesämäki then, a bigger school where it was a bit easier to disappear, thus escaping the attention of the bullies. Fifth grade. Still lots of free time to stay home and discover new music.
On 28 August, the second full length album by Mike Oldfield was released, and oh yes, it was quite an album. Following the example of the successful debut Tubular Bells, the new masterpiece Hergest Ridge also contained one continuous instrumental composition that was divided in two parts only because of the limitations dictated by the vinyl disc. But this time the composer's inspiration carried all the way through both parts. Even Part 2 had no weak moments.
Unfortunately, like Mike Oldfield's Single that we discussed in the previous blog entry, Hergest Ridge has also been tampered with by the artist himself later on, so you need to be aware which version you are listening to. The version embedded above is the correct one: the original 1974 mix. Since then, Oldfield decided that there were too many instruments on it, so he removed many of them and then released this neutered version on CD. For a long time, there was no acceptable version of the album available at all!
Luckily, in 2010, a CD version was released that contained both mixes, and that's the one you have to get if CD is your preferred format. I have already discussed this at length previously over here and that is where you can find the long story, so let's not get into it now in any further depth. Suffice to say that this is the best album of the year, easily, just like Mike Oldfield's Single was the best single release. 1974 was Oldfield's year. He was head and shoulders above everyone else.
On 6 September, it was time for the space rock group Hawkwind to amaze me. Their new album Hall of the Mountain Grill contained some really decent tunes, like the title track embedded above. You would never have guessed that it could be their recording, had someone been able to play it back for you earlier the same year. Another favorite of mine is the rocking opening track The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke). Now there's a cool song title as well!
September also saw the eagerly awaited release of Eldorado by Electric Light Orchestra, although only in the US. In their home country, the UK, their fans had to wait until November. The group's fourth album was a "symphony". The Who had already made two "rock operas". Do I detect a pattern? Can't Get it Out of My Head met its match in the immensely lovely title track, but otherwise the songwriting was, perhaps surprisingly, only OK. Even though production values were now very good, the music itself didn't quite match On the Third Day, with the obvious exception of the two great songs already mentioned. They represented the very best that ELO had so far offered.
On 20 September, it was time for Gentle Giant to release already their sixth studio album in only five years. The Power and the Glory boasted a really cool album cover - one of my favorites at the time - and the music was now better than it was on the previous record In a Glass House, but we weren't still anywhere near the level of Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends or Octopus.
The album's cynical storyline about the corruption of individuals by their powerful positions was far from uplifting and the group backed it up with an exceptionally clinical, lifeless soundscape. Some of the songs seemed almost pointless in their lack of melody or genuine atmosphere. And still, there were some terrific moments as well. The repeating electric guitar chords in Playing the Game give sudden life to the proceedings; although cold, Aspirations is also quite beautiful; and no "Best of Gentle Giant" collection would be complete without the opening track Proclamation.
One more September release before the next break. When discussing Mind Games (1973) by John Lennon, I already mentioned that the following year he would go on to record something even more amazing than that song. He did, and on 26 September, the end result was made public. On that date, Lennon's new solo album Walls and Bridges was released in the US. The British audiences had to wait until 4 October.
The B side of Walls and Bridges opens, in my opinion, with the greatest achievement of Lennon's entire career - even taking the Beatles output into account. #9 Dream is one of those songs that still leave me equally stunned as they did back when they were brand new. One of the most unmissable tracks of the year, and even the full decade. And considering that this is overall the best decade in rock history, that is no small achievement.
Somebody has even designed a nice amateur video for this masterpiece. Someone else in YouTube calls it, in the headline of his or her own link to it, "most beautiful song ever written".
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