The Classic Vinyl Record

I have always been a moderate fan of Rush. I say moderate, because regular Rush fans (usually drummers) tend to be extremely passionate about them.

Rush is one of those bands that dabbled in progressive music, but never fully became progressive, especially in their later years. This album, though, is considered to be an essential masterpiece of progressive music by ProgArchives.com.

Moving Pictures was one of Rush’s biggest successes, because (in my opinion) they started to drift from prog to more commercial and radio friendly music. In spite of this, Moving Pictures is still a great album. The album went quadruple platinum in January of 1995. It also went to #3 on the Billboard Pop Album charts.

Rush – Moving Pictures Track Listing

Side  One:

1. Tom Sawyer
2. Red Barchetta
3. YYZ
4. Limelight

Side Two:

1. The Camera Eye
2. Witch Hunt
3. Vital Signs

I know it may be cliche, but here is Tom Sawyer for your listening pleasure (you need Flash for this):

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If you want to own Moving Pictures by Rush on vinyl, check out Musicstack. You can also find it at Amazon.

In 1986, Graceland by Paul Simon was one of the biggest albums released. It hit #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the UK charts. It also got a Grammy for Album of the year, and one for Graceland as song of the year.

After not having much success, Paul Simon came out with Graceland, which he had recorded in South Africa using Black South African musicians (during apartheid). Because of this, there is a lot of local influence in the record, especially since Ladysmith Black Mambazo was a featured group on a few of the songs.

Also on the album were Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, Los Lobos (who later sued Simon for taking credit for the song “All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints” which they claim they wrote) and Ghanaian drummer Okyerema Asante.

I think this album is so good because it’s not just one style, Simon took artists of different styles and blended them together that you have to love. It might sound strange when you look at some of the other music I’ve talked about on here, but I do like Simon and Garfunkel, and I love this album.

One of my favorite songs is “You Can Call Me Al”, the music is great, but the video with Chevy Chase is even better.

Graceland Track Listing

Side 1

1. The Boy in the Bubble
2. Graceland
3. I Know What I Know
4. Gumboots
5. Diamonds of the Soles of Her Shoes

Side 2

1. You Can Call Me Al
2. Under African Skies
3. Homeless
4. Crazy Love Vol. II
5. That Was Your Mother
6. All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

Bonus on the CD reissue

1. Homeless (Demo)
2. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (Alternate Version)
3. All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints (Early Version)

Here is a sample of the album with Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo (you need Flash to play it).

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You can buy Paul Simon – Graceland at Musicstack or at Vinyl on Amazon, or on CD, DVD or MP3 on Amazon.

Merry Christmas from the Classic Vinyl Record.

This Christmas tree was made from old vinyl records and is located at Galen Hall Corp. in South Heidelberg Township, Reading PA.

It’s time to pull out all of the old Christmas vinyl, such as this Johnny Mathis Christmas album, and give it a listen.

Here is a staple of classic rock radio. Billy Squier’s ‘The Stroke’ has been played and played so much, it is almost one of those songs you start to tune out. However, this doesn’t change the fact that it is a good song, and a great album.
The Stroke went to #3 on the Mainstream Rock charts, and helped the ablum reach #5 on the Billboard album charts and stay on the charts for 111 weeks.

Don’t Say No also went triple platinum, because in addition to The Stroke, there were also great songs like In the Dark, My Kinda Lover, and Lonely is the Night.

If you have Flash installed, you can listen to the MP3 of Lonely is the night.

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This was Squier’s (you think it would be spelled Squire, but it isn’t) second album, and one of his most popular. The biggest reason for it’s success is the song The Stroke. It really isn’t what you think it is about. It’s about the recording industry, where record execs want another “stroke”, or hit song. They don’t really care about artists, just hit songs and money. The song is, however, an innuendo. You are supposed to see the parallel between what you think it’s about, and record companies.

You can buy this album on vinyl at Musicstack. You can also buy the CD or download it at Amazon.

Wish You Were Here is probably my favorite Pink Floyd Album. I love Dark Side of the Moon, but Wish You Were Here just edges it out with Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

WYWH is the 7th album by Pink Floyd. Recorded in 1975, much of the subject matter is about Syd Barrett. His drug use and mental problems forced him to leave the band.

I have an original pressing of this album, and which is cool since the supply didn’t keep up with the demand.

The album also has a lot to do with the music industry and the feeling of the band towards each other.

WYWH went to #1 on both the UK album chart and the Billboard Pop album chart, and #2 on both the Austrian and Norwegian album charts. It went 6 times platinum in 1997.

It can be misleading to those who have never heard the album before because it only has 5 tracks.

Wish You Were Here track listing;

Side One

1. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V)

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2. Welcome to the Machine

Side Two

1. Have a Cigar
2. Wish You Were Here
3. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI – IX)

Buy Wish You Were Here on vinyl at Musicstack. Just click on Wish You Were Here in the description on the page and you will find many sellers of this album. It is worth every penny.

WYWH is also at #209 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

I am a big fan of progressive rock, and no prog-rock collection is complete without Yes. I have already reviewed Relayer by Yes.

Yessongs is a 3 disc (vinyl record discs) collection of live concert recordings. It was recorded during the Close To The Edge tour, and was released in 1973.

Yessongs features extended solos by most of the band, except for Jon Anderson and the (at the time) new drummer, Alan White. Because it is 3 discs, it has a lot more album art as you open it up. Of course, this art is done by Roger Dean, the legendary Yes album artist.

On the charts, Yessongs hit #7 in the UK, and #12 in the US. It also went Platinum in April of 1998.

Yessongs Track Listing

Side One

1. Opening (excerpt from ‘Firebird Suite’)
2. Siberian Khatru

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3. Heart of the Sunrise

Side Two

1. Perpetual Change
2. And You and I

Side Three

1. Mood for a Day
2. Excerpts from ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’
3. Roundabout

Side Four

1. I’ve Seen All Good People
2. Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Præmaturus)

Side Five

1. Close to the Edge

Side Six

1. Yours Is No Disgrace
2. Starship Trooper

Yes was one of those bands, along with Genesis, that were responsible for bringing prog rock to the masses. Without them, our music would be bland today (of course, I think most of the pop music today is bland). If you are into Yes, but don’t have Yessongs, you need to buy it at MusicStack. They play these songs a bit differently live than they do in a studio, and it is a great album.

With the passing of Michael Jackson, an musical legend and era has ended. You didn’t have to really like Michael Jackson or his music, but you had to respect what he accomplished in his musical career.

My brothers and I all remember where we were when we first saw the Thriller video. It was in the basement at a friend of our parents house. They had cable and MTV (which my parents didn’t get until a few years ago).

Many people are buying albums by Michael Jackson, but some of you may want vinyl records. You can buy Michael Jackson vinyl records at Musicstack.

Led Zeppelin is one of those bands that I just don’t listen to very often. I haven’t played this record in probably over 2 or 3 years. Don’t get me wrong, I like Zeppelin, but they are a band that has a few songs that get massively overplayed by classic rock radio stations.

Led Zeppelin’s first, self-titled album (also known as 1) is a great album. It has songs on it that have lasted over these last 40 years. “Good Times Bad Times”, “Communication Breakdown” and of course “Dazed and Confused”. You can buy Led Zeppelin – 1 at Musicstack.

But Zeppelin is more than just the 10 songs or so that you hear on the radio. They were a rock band on the verge of metal (for the time) and were heavily influenced by blues. They also had the musical abilities to pull off just about any style they wanted. Jimmy Page actually learned how to play the 10 string steel guitar just for a song on this album, “Your Time is Gonna Come”. That is amazing.

It originally received some bad reviews when it was released in 1969, however, it’s obvious that no one listened to the reviews. The album went to #6 in the UK and #10 in the US. It has also gone 8X multi-platinum in the US. Rolling Stone named it #29 on it’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Wikipedia says;

Led Zeppelin’s [album] cover, which was chosen by Page, features a black-and-white image of the burning Hindenburg airship. The image refers to the origin of the band’s name itself: when Page, Jeff Beck and The Who’s Keith Moon and John Entwistle were discussing the idea of forming a group, Moon joked, “It would probably go over like a lead balloon”, and Entwistle allegedly replied, “…a Lead Zeppelin!”

If only all great ideas were that easy.

The track listing is as follows;

Side One:

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
3. You Shook Me (MP3 available with Flash)

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4. Dazed and Confused

Side Two:

1. Your Time is Gonna Come
2. Black Mountain Side
3. Communication Breakdown
4. I Can’t Quit You Baby
5. How Many More Times

“You Shook Me’ and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” are perfect examples of the blues influence on Led Zeppelin. Both were written by Willie Dixon. “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” was written by Anne Bredon.

I love Blind Guardian. They are one of my favorite bands. I was so excited when I picked this album up on vinyl. A Night at the Opera by Blind Guardian is a two disc set, and is a nod to Queen’s A Night at the Opera in style as well as name. There are a lot of layered and overdubbed vocals like Queen.

I am a big fan of power metal and progressive metal. And Blind Guardian fits right in there in those categories. This album was actually named the Best Metal Album of 2002 by Metal-Rules.com. Some people might call this intelligent metal, as it is not just guys playing three chords over and over. There are arrangements, styles, choirs and more to make this more than just a metal garage band. Plus, their lyrics are almost all based on much more than death or hate or anything like that.

Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera Track Listing:

Side A

1. Precious Jerusalem – About the final days of Jesus
2. Battlefield - Based on the Song of Hildebrandt
3. Under the Ice – About Cassandra in the Iliad

Side AA

1. Sadly Sings Destiny – About the Messiah in the Old Testament and the Crucifixion

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2. The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight – From Tristan und Isolde, a Wagner opera
3. Wait for an Answer – a Story by Hansi Kürsch, the lead singer

Side B

1. The Soulforged – From a Dragonlance fantasy novel
2. Age of False Innocence – About Galileo Galilei
3. Punishment Divine – About Nietzsche’s insanity

Side BB

1. And Then There Was Silence – Based on Homer’s Iliad

You can see that the subject matter is so much more than your average metal band sings about. Hansi Kürsch sings with so much passion too, that it makes everything just sound awesome.

Buy Blind Guardian – A Night at the Opera at Musicstack.

Yes! You gotta love Uncle Ted. I love his music, and crazy enough, agree almost totally with his political views.

But this blog isn’t about politics, it’s about music, and I don’t think anybody loves playing music as much as Ted Nugent. From playing with The Amboy Dukes, solo, Damn Yankees, and then solo again, he has done nothing but put out great Rock & Roll.

This is one of the greatest rock artists of all time. He doesn’t need drugs or alcohol to have a good time or to write great music. He writes what he knows.

Cat Scratch Fever was released in 1977, hit #17, and went platinum in September 1977. Although there are many people out there who do not like The Nuge, due to the sexual nature of his lyrics, or his political views, or his feelings about our 2nd amendment rights, or the fact that he kills and eats animals (“venison is the perfect food”), there are still enough out there to buy his albums and make him a successful musician for the last fifty years.

I picked up Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent over at Musicstack (of course). This is pure American Rock. Play it loud, play it fast, and have fun. (I am not supporting the no morals lifestyle, just talking about it.)

Cat Scratch Fever Track Listing:

Side One:

1. Cat Scratch Fever (MP3)

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2. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
3. Death by Misadventure
4. Live It Up
5. Home Bound

Side Two:

1. Workin’ Hard, Playin’ Hard
2. Sweet Sally
3. A Thousand Knives
4. Fist Fightin’ Son of a Gun
5. Out of Control

The title song ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ has been covered by a lot of people; Nitro, Motörhead, Pantera and even Homer Simpson. It is also the 32nd best hard rock song of all time according to VH1.

Ted Nugent is also a writer, from hunting (Blood Trails I and II), to cooking (Kill It and Grill It), to gun control (God, Guns & Rock and Roll), to politics (Ted, White, and Blue).

‘Ted Nugent for President – 2012′