It’s time again to take a look back at what his happening in music this month, many years ago. We’ve chosen November 1975 as our destination in the past, which means the wonderful albums that we’ve chosen to highlight are all turning 50 years old.
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The good thing is that none of these five records sounds the least bit dated. And, if you’re checking them out for the first time, they’ll be brand new to you.
‘A Night At The Opera’ by Queen
Queen leaned into their love of various types of music and the outstanding songwriting talent they had at their disposal. All four members deliver something special on A Night At The Opera. Brian May delivered the folky reminiscence “39”. John Deacon came through with the gleaming pop gem “You’re My Best Friend”. And Roger Taylor yielded the glam-rock blast “I’m In Love With My Car”. That leaves Freddie Mercury, who, with “Bohemian Rhapsody”, managed to wrap all those disparate genres into one bombastic package.
‘Northern Lights – Southern Cross’ by The Band
The hullabaloo around The Last Waltz has somewhat overshadowed the brilliance of this release, which arrived a year earlier. After a four-year hiatus from an album of new, original material, The Band returned with several songs that stand among their most resonant. Character sketches from brassy (“Ophelia)” to bittersweet (“Hobo Jungle”) dot the record. Rick Danko delivers his finest vocal performance on the towering “It Makes No Difference”. And Robbie Robertson brings us one more historical saga in the gloriously-realized “Acadian Driftwood”.
‘Pressure Drop’ by Robert Palmer
If all you know of Robert Palmer is his 80s maximalist pop era, a la The Power Station and “Addicted To Love”, you really need to go check out his 70s output. Here is an album where he’s often backed by the instrumentalists in Little Feat, leading to funky, relentless workouts like “Work To Make It Work” and “Here With You Tonight”. Palmer also drapes his vocal chops over lush soul soundscapes on tracks like “Give Me An Inch” and “Which Of Us Is The Fool”. To top it off, he tackles the title track and proves that reggae is well within his range, too.
‘Zuma’ by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Reunited with Crazy Horse and reeling from a breakup, Neil Young combined personal lyrics with chunky, funky rock on this underrated set. Seek through the lyrics and you’ll find some of his most tortured, vulnerable laments. (“Pardon My Heart” cuts particularly deep.) But the music mostly keeps a brave face about the scenario on songs like “Don’t Cry No Tears” and “Lookin’ For A Love”. Just to cater to fans craving one of his epics, he drops “Cortez The Killer”. The elongated mindbender might just keep you up at night after you groove to it in the day.
‘The Hissing Of Summer Lawns’ by Joni Mitchell
This album represents the point where Mitchell demanded that her listeners truly pay attention to get the full effect of her songs. Because if you’re listening casually, the jazzy textures and unorthodox melodic twists might steer you away from the heart of the matter. Few songs, the thundering “The Jungle Line” being an exception, grab you by the lapels. But patience is rewarded when you hone in on the music’s drifting wavelengths and unearth the ennui and heartbreak within songs like the title track and “Harry’s House”.
Photo by Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
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