1. Marquee Moon (For the second half)
2. See No Evil
3. Elevation (2.54 one of the best guitar solos of all time.)
4. Friction
5. Guiding Light
6. Venus
7. Prove It
8. Torn Curtain
One of my favourite ever albums.
1. Marquee Moon (my favourite ever guitar solo)
2. See No Evil
3. Venus
4. Torn Curtain
5. Guiding Light
6. Friction
7. Elevation
8. Prove It
Why the relative lack of love for "Guiding Light"? Andyd1010 and myself are the only users to put that song in the top half of our rankings. I think it's such a beautiful track.
If someone came up to me and said that this was the perfect album, I may not agree, but I'd understand. For the tastes of popular music fans of the past half-century, this (rock) album seems remarkably pure. It has impenetrable lyrics that could be interpreted differently for every listener, and yet has a musicality so strong that the recorded sounds would compel any listener to feel something. Finally, I sense no put-on (besides the baseline acting of any entertainer), no veneer besides the desire to make art.
The crown jewel of the album is the guitar. When listening, it sounds as if the musicians are strumming the strings of your heart. And not only is the guitar-playing technically superb, but as I mentioned earlier, emotionally resonant as well. A lot of versatility in emotion too. You have downtrodden tracks like "Torn Curtain," joyous rompers like "See No Evil" and "Venus," rock-your-socks-off moments like "Friction", and gentle soothers like "Guiding Light." Romance and nostalgia at every corner.
I would like to see myself as a historian of contemporay popular music. And music historians have to rave about this album. Released in 1977, it laid the groundwork for guitar-music of the 80s and 90s. The sound of "Elevation" is the moody rock of the late 80s to early 90s. The sound of "Guiding Light" is the soft-rock of the 80s. For all of these reasons, this album is a classic.
03 | Friction
05 | Elevation
02 | Venus
08 | Torn Curtain
01 | See No Evil
04 | Marquee Moon
07 | Prove It
06 | Guiding Light