novabrkr said:

Technically you're probably right regarding studio recordings.
However, based on all his cutting edge music over the prior decades, he's entitled to one small period that didn't totally work.

At least he was trying till the end.
And live, he was still kicking much a$$.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Music of my Mind - Talking Book - Innervisions - Fulfillingness' First Finale - Songs in the Key of Life ( i would give hotter then july credit as well)

and off the wall , thriller bad , dangerous ( HIStory)

janet...control, rn1814, janet., velvet rope

mary j. blige..whats the 411, my life, share my world

michael jackson...off the wall, thriller, bad, dangerous

aretha 1967-1968

# 1967 I never loved a man the way I love you
# 1967 Aretha arrives
# 1968 Lady soul
# 1968 Aretha now

DarlingDiana said:

Good choices, they all run into each other and each is album is only a year apart.

motownlover said:

I still don't see the need to leave out Where I'm Coming From. It's a great album.

MikeMatronik said:

theAudience said:

Oh yes, this is true. And the very last one, Doo-bop, was a rather enjoyable piece on its own to me.
.

On the Beatles discussion. The reason I like pre-White Album albums better is because starting from The White Album you could definitely sense the tension in the band and nearly every song was like a solo John song or a solo Paul song or a solo George song or even a solo Ringo song. There wasn't a sense of the band anymore. You can definitely sense the band is coming to an end. Everything before that, even going all the way back to Please Please Me, was just fun, tight, cohesive, consistently good albums made by John, Paul, George and Ringo together as a band. They were all into it. They all loved doing it. There was no tension and no conflicting interests. It was just four very talented mates making great music together. And I love that.

DarlingDiana said:

You're definitely right. Was it George Martin who said the white album was the first album by four solo artists who happened to be in the same band? In any case I like the white album and abbey road in spite of, in fact maybe partially BECAUSE of, the fragmentation of the group. That's part of the reason why I think the Beatles are so great; more so than most if not all other groups, you have 3 nearly equally great yet distinct songwriters in the same band whereas most bands may have a collective group songwriting identity or have one dominant primary songwriter. As far as I'm concerned, their music remained great even as they diverged further and the level of collaboration (and conviviality) diminished.

When it comes to the debate of whether or not the Beatles were truly the greatest band of all time, I just say that they're one of my favorite groups but I think they are certainly part of a rare class because of the fact that they had multiple great songwriters instead of just one great songwriter who dominated, or the ability to collectively write great songs, like most other groups.