Aqualung (Jethro Tull)

Aqualung
Jethro Tull (1971)

Top Tracks: “Aqualung”, “Cross-Eyed Mary”, “Locomotive Breath”

One of the most interesting and unique bands on this list, Jethro Tull can be deeply cerebral and oddly prurient, with bizarre lyrical themes that paint uncomfortable pictures. This was a band that I definitely got into on my own as part of my youthful exploration of progressive rock. As improbably as this sounds, I remember that MTV actually aired an hour-long prog rock special that featured bands like ELP, King Crimson, Genesis, and Tull, and I taped it on VHS and rewatched it many, many times (May 2020).

Blue (Joni Mitchell)

Blue
Joni Mitchell (1971)

Top Tracks: “A Case of You”, “All I Want”, “Blue”

This is one of the best albums of all time, says the guy who thinks Joni Mitchell may be the greatest songwriter of all time. Three of her albums — this one, Court and Spark, and Hejira — could possibly be in my Top 10 list of all time, if such a thing existed. Blue’s beauty is in its sparseness. It’s basically Joni alone in a room with her instrument of choice — usually a piano or Appalachian dulcimer — and just the songs, the songs, the songs. Side note: Blue is the highest-ranked album by a woman on Rolling Stone’s “Top 500 Album” list, and as recently as 2017 was ranked by NPR as the #1 greatest album made by a woman ever (May 2020).

Bringing It All Back Home (Bob Dylan)

Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan (1965)

Top Tracks: “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”

Again, indisputably one of the greatest and most important and influential albums in history here. Think of it this way: before this album came out in 1965, the Beatles were doing songs like “Can't Buy Me Love”, and immediately afterwards it was “Girl”. You don’t take that kind of turn without something pulling you sharply in a new direction, and that something was Dylan. If you want to hear something funny, note that through my entire teen years, I did not get Dylan at all. I didn’t understand his appeal or his voice or anything about him. But I was so much older then... (June 2020).