#20

It’s weird that they have records which are really about technical ability, and they put those right next to records that are really ‘fuck technical ability.’ Also, influence or influence-by-extension doesn’t seem to be very important in this list. It’s as if their measure of a good album is just what flows nicely from end to end. Never mind that some records are meant not to flow nicely. Never mind that music is mainly about songs and not really about albums. I think, actually, that saying it’s anything more than just a list of what is in style to like, maybe dignifies it too much.

#21

Yeah, I do wonder why the Shaggs are in the list. It’s an amusing curiosity but to call it one of the BEST albums of the '60s is going way too far.

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#22

well, there’s a lot of albums, a lot of which are good. there’s plenty of stuff I like that isn’t included (or maybe I didn’t notice them) but nothing about it seems controversial to me

#23

shame @grockle isn’t here to rip this apart

#26

A real lack of Wimple Winch.

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#27

They did an album?!

#28

Or a mint glimpse into an alternate reality 1960s free-jazz scene with no goddamn Ornette Coleman at the top.

#29

No idea. I just remember they were one of @grockle’s example of 60s bands who were much better than the beatles. See here for example:

#30

Did I miss it or is the Electric Prunes’ self-titled debut album missing from the list?

#31

Well, they had a couple of songs that were as good as anything the Beatles ever did. But to say they were much better than the Beatles would be a huge exaggeration, in terms of both number of songs and inventiveness.

#32

Im really happy they included White Noise - An Electric Storm, an insane album. Really incapacitates the experimentation of the era. Really have to give it a listen there is nothing quite like it.

Silver Apples is another extraordinary experimental album which im glad to see included.

Ennio Morricone is a lovely inclusion. An amazing artist possibly the best in the last 60 years in italian music.

Mulatu Astatke is another excellent inclusion so influential. Unfortunatly due to the pirate nature of music in Ethiopia at the time the recordings are ridiculously poor quality. Often recorded on tape recorder.

The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile is way too high up. Its basically a bunch of half recorded B sides. The fact that its is several places before that Soft Machine album and Piper as well as some important jazz albums is just bizarre. Whats even stranger is that they miss a lot of the beach boys other output. Wild Honey is a rough cut white boy soul album and in my opinion is better. Friends or the Beach Boys Today are also missing. Smiley Smile has been reevaluated as a good album by many people but I really dont get it.

The Supremes - Were did our love go, is also far too high up. The Supremes were largely a singles band and although this is the closest they got to a cohesive album it is basically a few amazing singles with a lot of filler. They included it to add diversity and also to recognises one of the best acts of the era. But they were never about the albums and to be this high up the list is a bad call for me.

Things that are missing:

The Seeds - S/T

The Pretty Things are missing

There are almost no examples of the scrappy uk folk scene. Fair Port Convention, Incredible String Band, Bert Jansch, that early John Martyn album. Even the American folk scene is a bit bare. Joan Baez anyone?

Why is Tim Buckley being erased from history. His late 60s output was some of the most creative stuff about. Woozy jazz infused folk psychedelia. Would think it was right up pitchforks ally.

Only one Donavon album and right at the start of the list. Only one Scott Walker album when 1-3 (3 in particular) are basically just as good. It was an incredible run. On that note why no Jacques Brel? Sure maybe his 50s output was marginally better but a nod would have been nice. Also One Zappa album my god! Hot Rats and We’re Only In It For The Money have been completely shafted.

Also no dutch psychedelia The Outsiders especially. Blue Cheer? Basically invented the sound that would become heavy metal. Pre peak Jimmy Cliff and Toots but no The Ethiopians? Engine 54 is one of the best Jamaican albums of all time and was one of the first to sell in the UK.

They Shafted Tommy. Great call lads! (This isnt ironic actually a really good call). No love for The Crystals (shame) and you could have shoved a few more Nina Simone albums in there.B.B. Kings live album and blues in general is missing. In all honesty the 60s were such a rich decade that there are always going to be things missing. Its a decent mix that tries to include lesser know works among famous names. Its okay.

4 Likes
#33

While I’d agree no to the Crystals, I think the Shangri Las album should be in there.

#34

And it was at 49. Thats an excellent album as well. All tunes!

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#35

The trouble, I think, though, with a lot of albums up to around 1966 to '67 is that a band would have a hit single. They would then have to come up with an album. Playing live, if a band wasn’t famous, they were expected to cover hits of the period for the kids to dance to. So the resulting album, rushed out to cash in on the single, would have three or four good originals, a couple of average originals, maybe a few pretty poor originals, and four or five versions of current hits. And that doesn’t make for a truly great album. It was only really when albums could actually be planned as albums that they could be coherent and actually be considered for the list.

#36

D’oh. I tried looking for it but having work to do and important music related reading on the internet to do at the same time doesn’t always work for me.

#37

Someone on reddit posted it as a list saving you clicks and allowing you to quickly ctrl+f to see if the artists are included.

2 Likes
#39

Yeah particularly due to the enormous influence it had on Led Zeppelin. They recorded the first one as a live take because thats what Bert Jansch does. It also led to folk themes becoming a staple of metal. Sure influence does not equal quality but it is erasing a very important musical movement in the 60s and I think part of the point of these lists is to give people a way of accessing that eras music. So its important to offer a wide variety of stuff that was going on a the time. Which in general this list does pretty well.

#41

Fair play to PF. Given up on them for day to day use and don’t take much stock of their end of year list but their retrospective lists are pretty excellent- the Shoegaze and 90s lists were very good and this seems to be very well put together. A healthy cross section of genres and a fair few things on a jazz, soul and folk bent for me to explore. I would personally have placed Simon & Garfunkel stuff higher but a minor complaint

#42

Yeah…just noted the omission of Bert Jansch …a mis-step on a strong list…imagine many of those compiling are stateside…maybe a factor though I thought the brit-folk has always had an audience over there

#43

Kinks aside (which is possibly the most represented artist on this list) they do underplay British acts. Actually find it refreshing that the top half of this list isn’t just packed with British Invasion acts which is what many 60s lists become. But they also miss out the diversity of acts in the uk.

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