 |
Classic Album Review: The Top Ten Glam Rock Albums Of The Classic Era (1971-1976)
It’s been said that the “Glam Rock” era began when Marc Bolan of T.Rex performed Hot Love on the BBC in the early 70s. He wore a glittery satin outfit that gave him a decadent androgynous look, a combination of fashion and rock later taken to the limit by David Bowie, Roxy Music, Slade, Mott The Hoople, and many others. That combination of glitz and sexual ambiguity also influenced mainstream stars like Rod Stewart and Elton John.
The examples also show that it encompassed a diverse range of musical styles. There wasn't a single definitive sound. It was really about the show.
If you look it up on the Internet, the most common reason for Glam Rock was a reaction to 60s Psychedelic and other genres that began to develop what was called the "denim look." That might be true. The basic fashion aesthetic had been around for quite a while; the legendary Little Richard shocked audiences with his dazzling costumes, and in Pop, the glittery Liberace was as androgynous as a pianist could get until Elton John. Actually, come to think of it, all three were pianists. Mere coincidence?
The other thing about Glam was that despite massive music media coverage, only David Bowie would cross over as a major star in the United States. T.Rex had the immortal hit single, "Bang A Gong," and Mott had FM hits with "All The Young Dudes" and 'All The Way From Memphis," but the occasional hit was about all that arose from what was a very English phenomenon.
This means that if you're a true music fan in the States, it's an area to explore and discover new sounds and deep cuts that influenced even the grimly anti-fashion Punks (who made their own fashion statement).
In the olden days, music writers had to describe album cuts in detail to not only give the reader an idea of what the music was about, but unless it was played on the radio for free, reviews had to help the industry sell records. These days, descriptions of any album or song can be shorter as the music is easily accessible on YouTube or streaming services like Spotify. That also frees listeners from reading lengthy reviews that could read like a bad Beat novel or feature long, turgid passages that often reveal more about the critic's mindset than the music.
So, here are the top ten Glam Rock albums of all time, in no particular order, and I'll focus on context and personal observations with the knowledge that any of my statements can be immediately checked, the music listened to, thus helping the reader form a quick judgment as my competence and level of intelligence.
All I ask is you count to ten before hastily condemning my level of taste and ignorance.
One important note, I listed albums purchased and listened to as a teen, not ones pulled off an existing list on the Internet. The comments and impressions come from my memories of that era. How these discs are viewed now isn't a part of this essay.
TOP TEN LIST
Roxy Music (Self-Titled Debut):
My introduction to Glam Rock was at Winterland in the early 70s. I was there to see Steve Miller, Mike Bloomfield, and Roxy Music. Like most of the crowd, I had no idea of what I was seeing. The lead singer was in a 50s leather outfit, but two sizes too small, so his wrists and ankles showed. A guy, who I mistook for a woman with the Lauren Bacall silk pants suit thing going on, was playing what looked like a pinball machine, and a guitarist with insect sunglasses.
I noticed that the crowd looked bewildered, and some were openly contemptuous; for a high school record geek, that was the sign that this group might be worth checking into.
I usually stopped by a record store on the way home from school and chose the one owned by a hippie guy who always seemed to know the latest sounds. He also stayed up to date on the bands coming through the SF Bay Area and made sure their records were in stock. Sure enough, he had the first Roxy Music, and I went home with that and a few other discs that he helpfully suggested needed to be a part of any serious music collection.
I recognized two songs in the live set, "Virginia Plain" and "Remake/Remodel." I'm sure the other cuts had been played, but the song structures were so different that the music made more sense on the disc. Their fashion statement didn't affect me one way or the other. Their album was probably the first glimpse of a much wider musical world than I had seen up until then. It's so experimental that it might not be the best first album to explore Roxy, but for that reason, it's the most classic in my mind.
Mott The Hoople (Live):
Mott the Hoople is one of my favorite Glam bands. There's more of their music on my iPod and playlists than any others in that genre (Except T.Rex). They started in the early 70s as a well-regarded cult band that, as one critic called it, played Bob Dylan "Blond On Blond" style music. They had already begun the transition to a hard rock group through the "Brain Capers" album when David Bowie produced their next album, "All The Young Dudes." They followed that up with two excellent albums before this live set.
By "Live," their guitarist Mick Ralphs had already left to form Bad Company and was replaced by the wild, undisciplined Ariel Bender. That extra energy (and volume) helped Mott record a classic loud party album that ran through every English Rock cliche and made it kinda sorta maybe new, and it sounded better as the volume knob was turned up. If you want to hear archetype English Rock, this is good as any. In fact, the first time the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" played over the radio, I mistook it for Mott The Hoople.
That's how good they were...
Slade (Alive):
I've always considered them the first AC/DC type band. A hard-rocking band fronted by a vocalist who sang louder than an air raid siren. They also had pop hits, so it was a band that did more than three-chord boogie. The live album was a great way to hear a wide selection of the band's catalog; all played with the amps set to 11.
Sweet (Desolation Boulevard):
The Sweet started as a hard-rocking Bubblegum band with hits like "Willy Wonka" and "Wig Bam Bam." Pretty good stuff, but then came "Desolation Boulevard" with the one-two punch of "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox On The Run" that melted a few radio speakers in the Summer of '74.
If Led Zeppelin had been a band with a sense of humor, they'd have come up with a number like "Ballroom Blitz."
Alice Cooper (Killer):
This 1971 album took me by surprise. I'd missed his last couple of albums because they played Frank Zappa-influenced rock appearance in the movie "Medicine Ball Caravan," which made me curious enough to buy their first album, "Pretties For You" from a cutout rack. I heard "Be My Lover" on the radio and couldn't believe it was Alive Cooper, but I quickly got caught up. I think his best album was "School's Out," but Killer is the one that made me a fan.
T.Rex (Electric Warrior)
Depending on my mood, my favorite T.Rex album is "The Slider" or "Unicorn." This disc featured his biggest American hit, "Bang A Gong," and it's undoubtedly one of Marc Bolan's most essential songs. The single was so good that even people who didn't like Glam liked it.
One of the things that made Bolan's voice so unique was that he often went with a laid-back vocal over a rocking track. It gave the listener the feeling that a cool persona was singing. Also, T.Rex used high-low harmonies without a nid-range, so it seemed like a person was screeching over the lead, like 70s-era Kinks. It sounds weird on paper, but musically it works.
His posthumous output rivals Hendrix, but unlike the latter, no session men backing tracks have been added. The number is so high that there are albums in my collection that haven't been heard yet. Yet, being a true fan, I keep collecting the Word from the Master.
Silverhead (16 And Savaged):
This band, led by Michael Des Barres, was the bluesiest of the pack. The rockers in this set wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Humble Pie "Rock On" album with some electric lead guitar work a la Foghat. Des Barres did sound a bit like Steve Marriot, but with a younger, more reckless attitude.
Silverhead's best album is their live set, recorded at the Rainbow, which is looser and louder. However, 16 And Savaged was the one that got me into the band. It's been reissued as an expanded version with live cuts, and that's the best of both worlds.
Sparks (Kimono My House):
I first saw them on Don Kirchner's Rock Concert when it was a late-night TV show. Talk about an odd couple. Russell Mael looked like a dandy, and Ron came off like a dour bank clerk. Their sound was based on Russell's warbling vocal style, which Ron enhanced with clear, simple piano parts anchored with an amazingly hard-hitting guitar and rhythm section. There were many tempo changes, almost like a progressive rock cut, but there was no mistaking it for Yes.
Songs like "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us," "Falling In Love With Myself Again," and "Talent Is An Asset" were all wildly imaginative, and I've honestly never heard an album like it since.
The Faces (A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse)
Rod Stewart And The Faces never put out a definitive album unless one compiles the Faces cuts on Rod's solo albums, but this one was close. I recall reading a review by one critic who thought the opening cut, "Miss Judy's Farm," was a great opening riff followed by blunt hacking and said "Stay With Me" was a bad remake of Rod's version of "It's All Over Now" off his second solo album. Fifty years later, the review is forgotten, but the album is considered a classic.
Judging from YouTube videos, this band sounded best live, but they captured a bit of that excitement on this disc. I heard this one first and then worked backward.
Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection)
The first time I saw him was on TV; I believe it was on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He hadn't gone Glam yet, and came off as a sensitive singer-songwriter type performing "Your Song." There was a live album that I don't see on his discography, but I remember the reviews on it noted that his live act has become more flamboyant. This album predates his showier phase, but his songs "Where To St. Peter?," "Country Comfort," and "Burn Down The Mission" are among the best of a strong catalog.
Queen (Sheer Heart Attack)
I got their first album after a record store manager recommended it. Their second and this one soon followed.
I saw them at Winterland in their first Bay Area appearance to support this album. It was a strange show as the music was spectacular, but Freddie Mercury's camp stage presence did something to the audience because they just sat there. After trying to get the crowd going, Mercury noticed and gave up and said, "It's your show, do what you like." This is still my favorite Queen album. It's got a great set of songs, and they were as good a rock band as any. If Mercury hadn't passed away, they'd still be having hit songs; they were that good and willing to keep evolving their sound.
They never did another album like this, though, with a mix that combined pop, camp, metal, and a sense of mystery, making it seem like a single mood.
David Bowie (Hunky Dory)
It looks like number twelve here, but we'll roll with it. Bowie was probably the definitive Glam Rock star, and his Ziggy Stardust was the breakthrough persona. However, the first Bowie I heard and still like the best was this superb mix of great songs and offbeat lyrics. The most famous cut is "Changes," the coolest was "Kooks," and my favorite is "Queen Bitch," where the Velvet Underground met English Rock featuring the great guitarist Mick Ronson.
David Bowie still had a lot of great music left to go, but this is the album where his songwriting really took off. This and "Station To Station" are the ones I keep coming back to.
Note: I didn't include artists who were considered "Glitter," like Lou Reed or Gary Glitter. Maybe we'll cover that in a future list.
I also apologize to fans of BeBop Deluxe, Bay City Rollers, ABBA, Alex Harvey, Alvin Stardust, Japan, and a host of others for leaving those out.
Al Handa
Feb. 2023
 |
 |
 |
 |