Seminal rock albums of the 60s &70s

Humble pie @ the fillmore live

 

Beatles-Revolver(Sgt. Pepper will be the usual knee-jerk response, but this is the real tipping point in their career and artistry...there hadn’t been anything like “TNK” before)

Beach Boys-Pet Sounds(breathtaking depth of orchestration and introspection, what more can you say?)

Bob Dylan-Highway 61(the full commitment to electricity, and the the full transition to lyrical abstraction)

Velvet Underground and Nico(not only sketching out what would eventually come 10 years later, it also was a wake-up call that the world was a complicated, sometimes less-than-pretty place. Practically each song served as a template for multiple bands and subgenres)

Jimi Hendrix Experience-Are You Experienced?(There was a before and after in terms of rock guitar playing. This is the line of demarcation)

David Bowie-The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust(the 70’s start here)

 

Pre-1976:

 

Never much on them myself, but MC5 would also have to qualify as pre-76 influential.

 

CCR - Green River
Black Sabbath's self titled
Deep Purple - Fireball

 

Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
James Gang - Rides Again

 

Deep Purple-Machine Head
Pink Floyd-Dark Side of The Moon
Grand Funk- Red Album
The Who-Tommy and Quadrophenia
Santana-Abraxus
Led Zeppelin 1 and 2.

 

Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet -Rolling Stones, Tommy - The Who, Layla - Derek and The Dominoes, Led Zeppelin II, Truth - Jeff Beck, Sgt. Pepper's - Beatles, Fresh Cream - Cream.

 

"The Guess Who" Live at the Paramount is one of many that come to mind.

 

Way too many to list, but a couple of the big ones:

Are you Experienced - Hendrix
Sgt. Pepper's - the Beatles
Fragile - Yes
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin

I think it's hard to understand unless you were around at the time. From the mid-60's to the early 70's, it seemed like every time you turned around you were smacked with some new, great music. Today, you turn on the radio and it just seems like you're ears are being smacked, but not in a good way.

 

Had to look it up:

sem·i·nal
/ˈsemənl/
adjective

1. 1.
   (of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments.
   "his seminal work on chaos theory"
   synonyms: influential, formative, groundbreaking, pioneering, original, innovative; More
   
   
2. 2.
   relating to or denoting semen.

Now I'm even more confused. If #1, I go with "Aqualung". If #2, anything by Cream or 10cc.

Riis

 

Jeff Beck, Truth

The Band

Led Zepplin

 

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison. There’s nothing else like it.