The Bulldog 150

Bulldog · 03-22-2009, 01:09 PM

About time I updated this thing again...

26. The Byrds - Sweetheart Of the Rodeo (1968)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my favourite ever country album. Though not the first truly influential country rock album, this was nevertheless a very important landmark in popular music. This here is the first example of a major band diving headfirst into a country sound and yielding songs that don't sound at all condescending (Act Naturally, ahem), and naturally brought c&w to a much wider audience. A massively important factor in this shift in direction was the hiring of a certain Gram Parsons as lead guitarist, pianist and occasional vocalist, leading Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman as he did through the c&w sound he'd perfected with his then-band, the International Submarine Band (tellingly, the only original compositions on the album were written by Parsons). What results is a heartfelt and honest country album, uptempo and laid back at the same time, and is in places injected with the energy of the Byrds' earlier works. On top of that (evidently), it's a classic. Put simply, if you can't hack this album then country isn't for you.
The best bits: You Ain't Going Nowhere, Hickory Wind, Life In Prison

25. Baaba Maal - Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (2001)

One of Africa's finest musical exports presents, on his final album, his finest piece of work and one of the essential products of the African music industry. Having taken on a more commercial sound for his previous album, the decent enough Nomad Soul, here's where Maal decides to strip away the artifice of aiming for a large audience and goes back to his musical roots in traditional apala. At the end of it we have is an uncompromisingly African album which, as with the best of such works, takes your attention away from the language barrier in the lyrics and instead sees the soaring vocals serving as merely another colour alongside the textures of the beautiful acoustic guitar-work and the kora (an instrument which sounds like a cross between a harp and a lute), all set over fascinating Malian rhythmic patterns. As a result, the album seems a bit more like a painting of the West African deserts than a bundle of tunes with the singer in question's face stuck on the cover (and a bloody good one at that).
The best bits: Miyaabele, Jamma/Jenngi, Mamadi

24. Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers Of Romance (1981)

As opposed to the flashes of disco grooves and dub rhythms which made Metal Box the classic it is (which could just as easily have made this list to be honest), Flowers Of Romance has any hint of accessibility ripped out of it and replaced with a heavy emphasis of John Lydon's harrowing wail of a vocal style and, more importantly, Martin Atkins' dry and razor-sharp drumming. Jah Wobble, who'd laid down some of the best bass tracks of all time on Metal Box, was kicked out of PIL prior to recording, which no doubt had an influence on this record as well. Guitarist Keith Levene's on the other hand only actually uses his guitar on one track, the rest of his contributions being the punctuating of the rest of the album with synth. On the whole the album is focused around Lydon's vocals and Atkins' almost tribal percussive contributions, ending up with a pretty creepy finished product, and definitely one of the most experimental and blissfully original products of the 80s. While it lacks the grooves of Metal Box before it, to me Flowers Of Romance delves deeper into avante-garde territory, pushing back the boundaries of music even further than the album which preceded it, being the bizarre, percussion-oriented work it is. It's a tough call, as I love Metal Box as well (if I didn't think of joint entries as cheating I'd do one here), but for its hella-uncompromising nature and harrowing atmosphere, I'd probably go with this one.
The best bits: Four Enclosed Walls, Flowers Of Romance, Banging the Door

23. New Order - Technique (1989)

And here's the big daddy of synth-pop albums, if you could even call it that. As most of us probably know, by 1989 acid house was the elephant in the living room to a lot of the music-listening public (to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge - I was 1 at the time after all), and by the time the kings of synth-pop New Order cottoned on to this, a transformation of their sound ensued which conjured up their finest album. Having booked a hotel slap-bang in the centre of the house music craze (Ibiza), New Order went about injecting their own mix of electronica and rock music with the energy and dynamics of acid house. This is no more obvious than on the killer opener, Fine Time. The song presents a group simply unrecognizable from its origins (try listening to Fine Time and Blue Monday back to back), with synthetic textures and rhythms taking over where once the lads used bass and guitars (which, on this album, are mostly used only for the occasional bridge or solo). A lot of the album though does conjure some of the best alternative pop of the 80s, so this new house-influenced sound doesn't dominate the entire record. Despite this polarisation of sounds, the album functions brilliantly as a unit of synth-pop, acid house and alternative pop, boasting songs you can just lose yourself singing along to alongside tunes which would grace any dance floor even today with their presence. An absolute killer of an album this.
The best bits: Run, Mr. Disco, Vanishing Point

jackhammer · 03-23-2009, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

23. New Order - Technique (1989)

And here's the big daddy of synth-pop albums, if you could even call it that. As most of us probably know, by 1989 acid house was the elephant in the living room to a lot of the music-listening public (to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge - I was 1 at the time after all), and by the time the kings of synth-pop New Order cottoned on to this, a transformation of their sound ensued which conjured up their finest album. Having booked a hotel slap-bang in the centre of the house music craze (Ibiza), New Order went about injecting their own mix of electronica and rock music with the energy and dynamics of acid house. This is no more obvious than on the killer opener, Fine Time. The song presents a group simply unrecognizable from its origins (try listening to Fine Time and Blue Monday back to back), with synthetic textures and rhythms taking over where once the lads used bass and guitars (which, on this album, are mostly used only for the occasional bridge or solo). A lot of the album though does conjure some of the best alternative pop of the 80s, so this new house-influenced sound doesn't dominate the entire record. Despite this polarisation of sounds, the album functions brilliantly as a unit of synth-pop, acid house and alternative pop, boasting songs you can just lose yourself singing along to alongside tunes which would grace any dance floor even today with their presence. An absolute killer of an album this.
The best bits: Run, Mr. Disco, Vanishing Point

Not my favourite New Order album (Low Life gets my vote) but Fine Time and Vanishing Point are big, brash dance tunes that don't sound dated in the slightest. Nice to see another NO fan on the boards.

Bulldog · 03-23-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schizotypic

I hate country so much. I just find it so hard to find what the appeal is!

If it's not your thing it's not your thing I suppose. The trouble is though that you're viewing it as one genre. Country music's probably been kicking about as long as rock 'n' roll, if not longer. Like jazz and blues there are so many fusions and sub-genres which have popped up in the many decades it's been around - there's much much more to it than line-dancing to Achey Breaky Heart and Dolly Parton bemoaning lost love, and that's how it appeals to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojopinuk

Well as I said country music isnt exactly my thing. The closest I probably got looking through my music collection would be Johnny Cash. My dad likes country music and whatever I have heard I never liked, but im sure theres country music out there I DO like, its just a case of finding it.

I'll check the Byrds album out

Good man

I can hook you up with a link if you have any trouble finding it (should be easy though - it's a very popular album).

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

Not my favourite New Order album (Low Life gets my vote) but Fine Time and Vanishing Point are big, brash dance tunes that don't sound dated in the slightest. Nice to see another NO fan on the boards.

Low Life is a fantastic album, as are Power Corruption and Lies and Republic. I'm a big fan of Get Ready too. Great band, even if their last album was full of shite - shame they don't seem to get much attention around here.

**Janszoon** · 03-23-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

If it's not your thing it's not your thing I suppose. The trouble is though that you're viewing it as one genre. Country music's probably been kicking about as long as rock 'n' roll, if not longer. Like jazz and blues there are so many fusions and sub-genres which have popped up in the many decades it's been around - there's much much more to it than line-dancing to Achey Breaky Heart and Dolly Parton bemoaning lost love, and that's how it appeals to me.

Yeah, it's been around much longer than rock n roll. I think it dates back at least to the 1930s and its roots stretch back much, much further into the 1800s.

Bulldog · 03-23-2009, 02:19 PM

22. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (1988)

The album that got me into the delights of Leonard Cohen's discography, and evidently the one I listen to the most. Like with Faith No More, I'm probably in a minority of Cohen fans that prefers his later work to his earlier work. While Songs From a Room and the aptly titled Songs Of Leonard Cohen are both fantastic acoustic folk albums, this here's the album which struck an instant chord with me. On the face of it, the thought of Leonard Cohen aiming at a larger audience by adopting commercial production techniques into his sound is pretty cringey - look no further than Never Let Me Down by David Bowie or Goodbye Cruel World by Elvis Costello for an example of how disastrous such a strategy can prove to be. By sheer contrast to the efforts of his 70s singer/songwriter contemporaries though, this approach has an opposite effect, producing an absolute gem of an album and, in my opinion, the guy's masterpiece. One of the reasons for this would be reining in the electronic studio effects nicely (only in a handful of places does the record sound at all dated, and nowhere near badly enough to drag the songs into mediocrity). Another is that Cohen is quite possibly my favourite ever lyricist, and that this is arguably the finest set of lyrics ever committed to an album. Thirdly, the songwriting is sublime, providing one of the best B-sides of any record (which, in the shape of I Can't Forget and Tower Of Song some of the most beautifully tender songs ever). It's folk-rock taken into the 80s, and benefiting from doing so massively. If it weren't for the fact that Ain't No Cure For Love is a bit of a turkey, this'd be top 10 stuff.
The best bits: Take This Waltz, I Can't Forget, Tower Of Song

21. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (1974)

I'll admit that the very roots of electronica are another area of music I'm yet to have a good dig around in but f*ck it, I'm still allowed favourites! One of the most important albums in the evolution of electronic music, Phaedra is the sound of Tangerine Dream showing off what's possible with the use of synthetic music, treading a fine line between electronica and classical music. This is no more obvious than on the carefully-arranged title track; an 18 minute barrage of strangely melodic keyboards and eerie moog and mellotron effects, making for an at times harrowing series of musical passages. As with the finest neo-classical music, it could be an album in itself. That the entire album is composed of such masterpieces which push the boundaries of music in such a way is a credit to enviable talents of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann - Mysterious Semblance At the Strand Of Nightmares has is equally as complex and effective as the title track, while Movements Of a Visionary takes things a step further, using heavily-treated voices to add more colour to the piece. Sequent C, clocking at a mere two minutes in length, is comparably accessible, and is an absolutely gorgeous piece on top of that. At times harrowing, at others beautiful, Phaedra is a rollercoaster of mood and texture and a masterclass of composition.
The best bits: only four tracks, so take your pick

20. Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

By the time Steely Dan came 'round to recording Aja, Walter Becker and Donald ***en, the spine of the group, found their attention to detail in their songwriting reaching a new height here. Here they leave the soft rock of their earlier works behind and truly branch out musically, leaving rock behind somewhat and opting for a sound which effortlessly fuses jazz, blues, r'n'b and pop. Even pop songs like Peg and Josie are carefully textured and fine-tuned to perfection, incorporating a richly-layered production style. Throughout the album, most obviously on the title track, are jazzy vocal harmonies and extended instrumental jams, while Deacon Blues is pure r'n'b bliss. It's a gloriously complex and layered album, delivered brilliantly and easily on the ear, and one of the best jazz-rock albums of all time.
The best bits: Deacon Blues, I Got the News, Josie

19. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

We've covered the Beatles, now it's the Stones' turn. For such a drug-addled album it's amazing that it doesn't fade away half-way through, but somehow it keeps itself above water. Anyway, while Exile On Main Street never ceases to amaze me, the title track off Let It Bleed is one of the best songs ever ever ever and Beggar's Banquet flows majestically, I'm gonna go for the ramshackle masterpiece that is Sticky Fingers. Although the punchy opener Brown Sugar, the studio workout of Can't You Hear Me Knocking and the razor-backed Bitch are the exceptions, the album is mainly a laid back affair, combining the elements of blues, acoustic folk and the odd dash of country rock seamlessly. What results is an album of fantastic instrumentation (which allows new lead guitarist Mick Taylor to do his stuff majestically), heartstring-yanking masterpieces and thigh-slapping rockers. A weary, decadent classic of a drug album this, and one which benefits massively from repeated listens.
The best bits: Wild Horses, Bitch, Sister Morphine

And here's the new mixtape;

30-21.rar
1. The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere
2. The Beatles - Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey
3. Human League - Open Your Heart
4. Love - Andmoreagain
5. Supergrass - Roxy
6. Tangerine Dream - Sequent C
7. Baaba Maal - Jamma/Jenngi
8. Public Image Ltd. - Banging the Door
9. Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song
10. New Order - Vanishing Point

**Janszoon** · 03-23-2009, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

22. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (1988)

The album that got me into the delights of Leonard Cohen's discography, and evidently the one I listen to the most. Like with Faith No More, I'm probably in a minority of Cohen fans that prefers his later work to his earlier work. While Songs From a Room and the aptly titled Songs Of Leonard Cohen are both fantastic acoustic folk albums, this here's the album which struck an instant chord with me. On the face of it, the thought of Leonard Cohen aiming at a larger audience by adopting commercial production techniques into his sound is pretty cringey - look no further than Never Let Me Down by David Bowie or Goodbye Cruel World by Elvis Costello for an example of how disastrous such a strategy can prove to be. By sheer contrast to the efforts of his 70s singer/songwriter contemporaries though, this approach has an opposite effect, producing an absolute gem of an album and, in my opinion, the guy's masterpiece. One of the reasons for this would be reining in the electronic studio effects nicely (only in a handful of places does the record sound at all dated, and nowhere near badly enough to drag the songs into mediocrity). Another is that Cohen is quite possibly my favourite ever lyricist, and that this is arguably the finest set of lyrics ever committed to an album. Thirdly, the songwriting is sublime, providing one of the best B-sides of any record (which, in the shape of I Can't Forget and Tower Of Song some of the most beautifully tender songs ever). It's folk-rock taken into the 80s, and benefiting from doing so massively. If it weren't for the fact that Ain't No Cure For Love is a bit of a turkey, this'd be top 10 stuff.
The best bits: Take This Waltz, I Can't Forget, Tower Of Song

This album was my introduction to Leonard Cohen too. I got into it when it was only a couple years old so the very 80s-sounding production wasn't noticeable to me then like it is now. These days I have to admit it somewhat negatively affects my enjoyment of the album. Like most of his albums it's bit hit-or-miss. As you mentioned, "Ain't No Cure for Love" is pretty bad and I'm also not a fan of the song "I'm Your Man", but for me "First We Take Manhattan", "Everybody Knows" and "Take This Waltz" more than make up for it.

Bulldog · 03-23-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

This album was my introduction to Leonard Cohen too. I got into it when it was only a couple years old so the very 80s-sounding production wasn't noticeable to me then like it is now. These days I have to admit it somewhat negatively affects my enjoyment of the album. Like most of his albums it's bit hit-or-miss. As you mentioned, "Ain't No Cure for Love" is pretty bad and I'm also not a fan of the song "I'm Your Man", but for me "First We Take Manhattan", "Everybody Knows" and "Take This Waltz" more than make up for it.

I agree with you about none of his albums being consistent and seamless brilliance in the way a lot of the other albums in this part of the list are, but this is as close as he gets for me. The title track is a little weak but as you say, the stronger moments more than make up for it (the last four tracks make for a sublime sequence of songs). As for the 80s effects, except for on the said tracks I've never really found them intrusive on the songs. Then again, I put the Human League's Dare in this list, so I like me a bit of 80s-style production then

**Janszoon** · 03-23-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

I agree with you about none of his albums being consistent and seamless brilliance in the way a lot of the other albums in this part of the list are, but this is as close as he gets for me. The title track is a little weak but as you say, the stronger moments more than make up for it (the last four tracks make for a sublime sequence of songs). As for the 80s effects, except for on the said tracks I've never really found them intrusive on the songs. Then again, I put the Human League's Dare in this list, so I like me a bit of 80s-style production then

Oh don't get me wrong, I love 80s style production a lot of the time, it's just I'm not sure it was the best fit for Leonard Cohen. And my comment about all his albums being hit-or-miss isn't meant to disparage him. He's one of my favorites, but for whatever reason his albums usually have a clunker or two on them. Song of Love and Hate is probably my favorite of his albums but I'm Your Man is definitely up there too.

03-22-2009, 01:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	About time I updated this thing again... 26. The Byrds - Sweetheart Of the Rodeo (1968) Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my favourite ever country album. Though not the first truly influential country rock album, this was nevertheless a very important landmark in popular music. This here is the first example of a major band diving headfirst into a country sound and yielding songs that don't sound at all condescending (Act Naturally, ahem), and naturally brought c&w to a much wider audience. A massively important factor in this shift in direction was the hiring of a certain Gram Parsons as lead guitarist, pianist and occasional vocalist, leading Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman as he did through the c&w sound he'd perfected with his then-band, the International Submarine Band (tellingly, the only original compositions on the album were written by Parsons). What results is a heartfelt and honest country album, uptempo and laid back at the same time, and is in places injected with the energy of the Byrds' earlier works. On top of that (evidently), it's a classic. Put simply, if you can't hack this album then country isn't for you. The best bits: You Ain't Going Nowhere, Hickory Wind, Life In Prison 25. Baaba Maal - Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (2001) One of Africa's finest musical exports presents, on his final album, his finest piece of work and one of the essential products of the African music industry. Having taken on a more commercial sound for his previous album, the decent enough Nomad Soul, here's where Maal decides to strip away the artifice of aiming for a large audience and goes back to his musical roots in traditional apala. At the end of it we have is an uncompromisingly African album which, as with the best of such works, takes your attention away from the language barrier in the lyrics and instead sees the soaring vocals serving as merely another colour alongside the textures of the beautiful acoustic guitar-work and the kora (an instrument which sounds like a cross between a harp and a lute), all set over fascinating Malian rhythmic patterns. As a result, the album seems a bit more like a painting of the West African deserts than a bundle of tunes with the singer in question's face stuck on the cover (and a bloody good one at that). The best bits: Miyaabele, Jamma/Jenngi, Mamadi 24. Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers Of Romance (1981) As opposed to the flashes of disco grooves and dub rhythms which made Metal Box the classic it is (which could just as easily have made this list to be honest), Flowers Of Romance has any hint of accessibility ripped out of it and replaced with a heavy emphasis of John Lydon's harrowing wail of a vocal style and, more importantly, Martin Atkins' dry and razor-sharp drumming. Jah Wobble, who'd laid down some of the best bass tracks of all time on Metal Box, was kicked out of PIL prior to recording, which no doubt had an influence on this record as well. Guitarist Keith Levene's on the other hand only actually uses his guitar on one track, the rest of his contributions being the punctuating of the rest of the album with synth. On the whole the album is focused around Lydon's vocals and Atkins' almost tribal percussive contributions, ending up with a pretty creepy finished product, and definitely one of the most experimental and blissfully original products of the 80s. While it lacks the grooves of Metal Box before it, to me Flowers Of Romance delves deeper into avante-garde territory, pushing back the boundaries of music even further than the album which preceded it, being the bizarre, percussion-oriented work it is. It's a tough call, as I love Metal Box as well (if I didn't think of joint entries as cheating I'd do one here), but for its hella-uncompromising nature and harrowing atmosphere, I'd probably go with this one. The best bits: Four Enclosed Walls, Flowers Of Romance, Banging the Door 23. New Order - Technique (1989) And here's the big daddy of synth-pop albums, if you could even call it that. As most of us probably know, by 1989 acid house was the elephant in the living room to a lot of the music-listening public (to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge - I was 1 at the time after all), and by the time the kings of synth-pop New Order cottoned on to this, a transformation of their sound ensued which conjured up their finest album. Having booked a hotel slap-bang in the centre of the house music craze (Ibiza), New Order went about injecting their own mix of electronica and rock music with the energy and dynamics of acid house. This is no more obvious than on the killer opener, Fine Time. The song presents a group simply unrecognizable from its origins (try listening to Fine Time and Blue Monday back to back), with synthetic textures and rhythms taking over where once the lads used bass and guitars (which, on this album, are mostly used only for the occasional bridge or solo). A lot of the album though does conjure some of the best alternative pop of the 80s, so this new house-influenced sound doesn't dominate the entire record. Despite this polarisation of sounds, the album functions brilliantly as a unit of synth-pop, acid house and alternative pop, boasting songs you can just lose yourself singing along to alongside tunes which would grace any dance floor even today with their presence. An absolute killer of an album this. The best bits: Run, Mr. Disco, Vanishing Point Last edited by Bulldog; 03-22-2009 at 03:47 PM.

03-23-2009, 02:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	22. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (1988) The album that got me into the delights of Leonard Cohen's discography, and evidently the one I listen to the most. Like with Faith No More, I'm probably in a minority of Cohen fans that prefers his later work to his earlier work. While Songs From a Room and the aptly titled Songs Of Leonard Cohen are both fantastic acoustic folk albums, this here's the album which struck an instant chord with me. On the face of it, the thought of Leonard Cohen aiming at a larger audience by adopting commercial production techniques into his sound is pretty cringey - look no further than Never Let Me Down by David Bowie or Goodbye Cruel World by Elvis Costello for an example of how disastrous such a strategy can prove to be. By sheer contrast to the efforts of his 70s singer/songwriter contemporaries though, this approach has an opposite effect, producing an absolute gem of an album and, in my opinion, the guy's masterpiece. One of the reasons for this would be reining in the electronic studio effects nicely (only in a handful of places does the record sound at all dated, and nowhere near badly enough to drag the songs into mediocrity). Another is that Cohen is quite possibly my favourite ever lyricist, and that this is arguably the finest set of lyrics ever committed to an album. Thirdly, the songwriting is sublime, providing one of the best B-sides of any record (which, in the shape of I Can't Forget and Tower Of Song some of the most beautifully tender songs ever). It's folk-rock taken into the 80s, and benefiting from doing so massively. If it weren't for the fact that Ain't No Cure For Love is a bit of a turkey, this'd be top 10 stuff. The best bits: Take This Waltz, I Can't Forget, Tower Of Song 21. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (1974) I'll admit that the very roots of electronica are another area of music I'm yet to have a good dig around in but fck it, I'm still allowed favourites! One of the most important albums in the evolution of electronic music, Phaedra* is the sound of Tangerine Dream showing off what's possible with the use of synthetic music, treading a fine line between electronica and classical music. This is no more obvious than on the carefully-arranged title track; an 18 minute barrage of strangely melodic keyboards and eerie moog and mellotron effects, making for an at times harrowing series of musical passages. As with the finest neo-classical music, it could be an album in itself. That the entire album is composed of such masterpieces which push the boundaries of music in such a way is a credit to enviable talents of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann - Mysterious Semblance At the Strand Of Nightmares has is equally as complex and effective as the title track, while Movements Of a Visionary takes things a step further, using heavily-treated voices to add more colour to the piece. Sequent C, clocking at a mere two minutes in length, is comparably accessible, and is an absolutely gorgeous piece on top of that. At times harrowing, at others beautiful, Phaedra is a rollercoaster of mood and texture and a masterclass of composition. The best bits: only four tracks, so take your pick 20. Steely Dan - Aja (1977) By the time Steely Dan came 'round to recording Aja, Walter Becker and Donald **en, the spine of the group, found their attention to detail in their songwriting reaching a new height here. Here they leave the soft rock of their earlier works behind and truly branch out musically, leaving rock behind somewhat and opting for a sound which effortlessly fuses jazz, blues, r'n'b and pop. Even pop songs like Peg* and Josie are carefully textured and fine-tuned to perfection, incorporating a richly-layered production style. Throughout the album, most obviously on the title track, are jazzy vocal harmonies and extended instrumental jams, while Deacon Blues is pure r'n'b bliss. It's a gloriously complex and layered album, delivered brilliantly and easily on the ear, and one of the best jazz-rock albums of all time. The best bits: Deacon Blues, I Got the News, Josie 19. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971) We've covered the Beatles, now it's the Stones' turn. For such a drug-addled album it's amazing that it doesn't fade away half-way through, but somehow it keeps itself above water. Anyway, while Exile On Main Street never ceases to amaze me, the title track off Let It Bleed is one of the best songs ever ever ever and Beggar's Banquet flows majestically, I'm gonna go for the ramshackle masterpiece that is Sticky Fingers. Although the punchy opener Brown Sugar, the studio workout of Can't You Hear Me Knocking and the razor-backed Bitch are the exceptions, the album is mainly a laid back affair, combining the elements of blues, acoustic folk and the odd dash of country rock seamlessly. What results is an album of fantastic instrumentation (which allows new lead guitarist Mick Taylor to do his stuff majestically), heartstring-yanking masterpieces and thigh-slapping rockers. A weary, decadent classic of a drug album this, and one which benefits massively from repeated listens. The best bits: Wild Horses, Bitch, Sister Morphine And here's the new mixtape; 30-21.rar 1. The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere 2. The Beatles - Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey 3. Human League - Open Your Heart 4. Love - Andmoreagain 5. Supergrass - Roxy 6. Tangerine Dream - Sequent C 7. Baaba Maal - Jamma/Jenngi 8. Public Image Ltd. - Banging the Door 9. Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song 10. New Order - Vanishing Point