# Favourite LP side's. N.B. Hipsters with tarted up vinyl banned from thread!



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

A post on another thread reminded me that in the days of old i.e. the LP era, you didn’t listen to whole albums you listened to a side of this and a side of that. Ok maybe when it was new you did, but you quickly started to favor one side over the other. A bit like an evening spent listening to 45rpm singles, the music was more intense and you heard more absolute favorites.

This is one thing that’s been lost with the advent of the 1 hour playing time CD. Rod Stewart famously used to have The Slow Side and the Fast side and track selection was such that you often had 2 distinct moods on one LP. Also each side tended to build to a crescendo that doesn’t always work on CD. Cassettes were worse. In order to make the sides run equal times the “Record” Companies sometimes arbitrarily changed the running order to fit! The downside of LP’s being that it was possible to wear out just the one side. 

So off the top of my head, some favorite sides.


Oh Henry
Maggie May
Mandolin Wind
(I Know) I’m loosing you.
Reason to Believe


Black Dog
Rock and Roll
The Battle of Evermore
Stairway to Heaven.



And It Stoned Me
Moondance
Crazy Love
Caravan
Into the Mystic




PPS I think I’ll ask the moderators to ban anyone under 35 (open to negotiation) from participating on this thread!

Please add more (my feeling is if you have to ask who the artists are you don’t know the side well enough to judge if its great).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The first side of the Roxy Music debut album is an absolute belter (although side two is also excellent):

1) Re-make/Re-model
2) Ladytron
3) If There is Something
4) 2H.B.

For US release and subsequent CD reissues the single Virginia Plain was inserted as track four but I think its inclusion upsets the balance.


Then blow me if they didn't do the same on their next album, For Your Pleasure:

1) Do the Strand
2) Beauty Queen
3) Strictly Confidential
4) Editions of You
5) In Every Dream Home a Heartache

Then there is side one of Hendrix's Electric Ladyland - an atmospheric special effects intro, a sweet soul cameo, a crunchy power-trio number and then an epic 'live in the studio' jam featuring Steve Winwood (and Jack Cassidy standing in for the absent Noel Redding):

1) ...And the Gods Made Love
2) Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
3) Crosstown Traffic
4) Voodoo Chile


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I always liked the fourth side to Blonde on Blonde, with Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands all by itself.

Side 2 of Physical Graffiti:

Houses of the Holy
Trampled Under Foot
Kashmir


One of my late LP purchases was R.E.M.'s Reckoning, side 1:

Harborcoat
7 Chinese Brothers
So. Central Rain
Pretty Persuasion
Time After Time


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> PPS I think I'll ask the moderators to ban anyone under 35 (open to negotiation) from participating on this thread!
> Please add more (my feeling is if you have to ask who the artists are you don't know the side well enough to judge if its great).


Great idea! But my feeling is that as someone who is both (ahem) over 35 and never paid much attention to song titles, I may struggle to participate by providing song titles. It'll be an achievment to remember or know the name of the album. 
...or artist....


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Good ole Wikipedia:

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Crosseyed and Painless
The Great Curve


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Starless and Bible Black
Fracture


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers



















(er, that's it)


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

Side 1 of Tubular Bells.

Side 1 of The Rotters' Club by Hatfield and the North.

That's it. 

It's all too long ago.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Huh, I thought of Hatfield too!


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

It's just occurred to me that I bought my first vinyl LP (NB 45s were purchased earlier) in 1971.

I bought my first CD in 1991 and my vinyl use tailed off over the next 5 years...

So I have been listening to CDs longer than I listened (exclusively at least) to vinyl.

Scary, eh?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Dr Johnson said:


> It's just occurred to me that I bought my first vinyl LP (NB 45s were purchased earlier) in 1971.
> 
> I bought my first CD in 1991 and my vinyl use tailed off over the next 5 years...
> 
> ...


Uh oh! Another one like me who remembers vinyl. Probably remembers Pickering tone arms too.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

hpowders said:


> Uh oh! Another one like me who remembers vinyl. Probably remembers Pickering tone arms too.


I don't remember the name. I do remember fiddling about with a counter-weight at the other end of the arm (and sometimes putting a coin on the stylus end). And faffing about with a dust bug.

Am I nostalgic about vinyl? No ******* way!


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Here's one:

21st Century Schizoid Man - Mirrors
I Talk to the Wind
Epitaph - March for No Reason - Tomorrow and Tomorrow


a second:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–V)
Welcome to the Machine


another:

(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Less Than Zero
Mystery Dance
Pay It Back
I'm Not Angry
Waiting for the End of the World


and finally:

Disorder
Day of the Lords
Candidate
Insight
New Dawn Fades


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Dr Johnson said:


> It's just occurred to me that I bought my first vinyl LP (NB 45s were purchased earlier) in 1971.
> 
> I bought my first CD in 1991 and my vinyl use tailed off over the next 5 years...
> 
> ...


Yeah, but it doesn't seem that long, because the last few years are a fuzzy blank.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Oh, too many to narrow down...

Genesis - side 4 - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
YES - side 1 - Close to the Edge
PFM - side 1 - Storia di un minuto (the entire album is simply beautiful)
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - side 1 - Io Sono Nato Libero 
Il Balleto di Bronzo - Side 1 - YS (what can I say, I have a thing for Italian prog)
National Health - side 1 - Of Queues and Cures
Return to Forever - side 2 - Romantic Warrior
Mahavishnu Orchestra - side 1 - The Inner Mounting Flame
King Crimson - side 2 - Starless and Bible Black 


So many others I'm missing by Magma, Van Der Graff Generator, Oregon, Coltrane, hell.... I could go on for pages.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Dr Johnson said:


> I don't remember the name. I do remember fiddling about with a counter-weight at the other end of the arm (and sometimes putting a coin on the stylus end). And faffing about with a dust bug.
> 
> Am I nostalgic about vinyl? No ******* way!


Nor me. All very primitive.

Trio KD-1033B. Ortofon cartridge.

I'll say no more.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

dogen said:


> Nor me. All very primitive.
> 
> Trio KD-1033B. Ortofon cartridge.
> 
> I'll say no more.


Snap! Kef Coda II . Can't remember the amp.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

Horizons
Supper's Ready


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2015)

MacLeod said:


> Snap! Kef Coda II . Can't remember the amp.


Rotel amp, Goodman speakers (before they went into ICE).


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I think I gave up on LP's in the 80's? I doubt anyone under 35 really has strong recollection of what a Record Collection meant or how you carried them around NOT in bags.

Sold them all to pay a Barclaycard bill the year after our child arrived - early 90's. Still have pangs of regret but not as much as when I reach for a CD then realise it was one of the sackful missing since we saw the thieveing b+++++++ run off with them from the house about '98.

Hard to be too nostalgic about dust busters; snap, crackle and pop and trying to play an LP that had warped sitting on the back seat of the car. The gatefold sleeves were lovely though.

Back to subject, it's much harder to get that cohesion and intensity over a full album, compared to say.




Tell Me Why
After the Gold Rush" 
Only Love Can Break Your Heart" 
Southern Man" 
Till the Morning Comes" 



Or





The Boy in the Bubble
Graceland
I Know What I Know
Gumboots
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" 


Or




Rocks Off
Rip This Joint
Shake Your Hips
Casino Boogie
Tumbling Dice


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

All I Want
My Old Man
Little Green
Carey
Blue


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

dogen said:


> Nor me. All very primitive.


I still have and spin a fair amount of vinyl.

Unfortunately, some of the mid-century classical that I love, is only available on vintage vinyl. The entire Nonesuch 'Spectrum New Music' series, with recordings by Druckman, Wolpe, Rochberg, Schwantner, have never been released on any other medium.

Also, many of the CD reissues of some of the more obscure prog recordings are vinyl transfers (so many masters were lost). I do not want to listen to incredible music on CD's, taken from questionable condition vinyl, on unknown (and probably mediocre) tables, tonearms, and cartridges, with questionable amounts of noise reduction. I'd rather listen to my own, very quiet vinyl.

Not to mention, that of all the things that digital does better then vinyl, the one thing it does not do as good, is creating a 3d image and soundstage. The only other format that is as good or better, is Native DSD.

Sometimes I am willing to give up the silence, the slightly better dynamic range, and the better bass, in exchange for the 3d image.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Belowpar's choices are unimpeachable, so I'll have to be most selective so as not to sully the thread.

I'm pretty happy with my first pick from 1971. Amazingly atmospheric production by Phil Spector.

I'd Have You Anytime 2:50
My Sweet Lord 4:39
Wah-Wah 5:35
Isn't It a Pity (Version 1) 7:10


In daily use for my wall of vinyl: Technics SL-1700 (various cartridges), NAD 3020, Monitor Audio speakers.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

The drug-induced manic creativity is thrilling. a psychedelic masterpiece (1967)

The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil 4:30
A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly 1:42
Young Girl Sunday Blues 3:29
Martha 3:21
Wild Tyme (H) 3:05
The Last Wall of the Castle 2:46
Rejoyce 4:00


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

One could argue against much of their output but this is a great artistic achievement...(1972)

Close to the Edge 18:12


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

And finally, from 1973, the soundtrack to my late night van journeys.

Too High 4:37
Visions 5:17
Living for the City 7:26
Golden Lady 5:00

I like the way the album takes its time to gather speed. It would have been so easy to put the 3rd track as the opener, but he resists, making it all the more special when it arrives.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Don Fatale said:


> One could argue against much of their output . . .


Not convincingly.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Album sides?

Nah. I always turned the album over when side 1 finished. It was always entire albums for me.

I remember a mid-90s Jethro Tull concert wherein Anderson quipped, "Here's a song from side one of our - new -- CD . . . [puzzled look]"


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Lumpy Gravy -side one particularly Oh No

Mothers Day - side one 
Fountain of Love
Brown Shoes don't Make It
Concentration Moon
Nasal retentive Caliope Music
Let's Make The Water Turn Black
Stuff Up The Cracks
(listening to it now)

Or side one - Where Only In It For The Money

Skyhooks -living in the 70's 
Side one
Living in the 70's
Whatever Happened To The Revolution
Balwyn Calling
Horror Movie
You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> One could argue against much of their output but this is a great artistic achievement...(1972)
> 
> Close to the Edge 18:12


Nah...I only ever listened to the Overture


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

dogen said:


> Rotel amp, Goodman speakers (before they went into ICE).


Pioneer turntable and amp. Can't remember the brand of the speakers.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2015)

Ah! I remember. Teleton GA202.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2015)

Dr Johnson said:


> Pioneer turntable


I'm getting the words "PL12"....


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Sides with any weakness at all should not be tolerated in this thread.

So my tastes are generally more esoteric than the posts I'm making, but this is a classic side of vinyl from 1973. The other 3 sides were patchy by comparison. And his name and a certain song didn't have the baggage it has now.


Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding 11:08
Candle in the Wind 3:50
Bennie and the Jets 5:23


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Tell me this doesn't deserve to be here, I dare ya!

At their creative peak in 1977...

Black Cow 5:07
Aja 7:56
Deacon Blues 7:26


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Tell me this doesn't deserve to be here, I dare ya!
> 
> At their creative peak in 1977...
> 
> ...


Ooooo magical. I can never choose between this album and Countdown. Twin peaks, methinks.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

I think all the Dan albums from Can't Buy A Thrill to Gaucho are essential.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2015)

Dr Johnson said:


> I think all the Dan albums from Can't Buy A Thrill to Gaucho are essential.


That's true that.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

One of my 1st buys, still have it after 30 odd years, a bit crackly now

Black Sabbath
The Wizard
Behind the Wall of Sleep
N.I.B

and another from the same era

Assault and Battery part 1
The Golden Void part 2
The Wizard blew his Horn
Opa - Loka
TheDemented Man


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2015)

801 Live side 1
Tom Waits Closing Time side 1
ELP Trilogy side 1


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

dogen said:


> I'm getting the words "PL12"....


Rereading this thread a very embarrassing thought struck me. I didn't have a Pioneer turntable and amp. I had a Trio t/table and amp. It was a friend who had the Pioneer stuff (they looked identical).

Oh dear. Senility is not merely at the gates but has come in and is eating its packed lunch.


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2015)

Dr Johnson said:


> Rereading this thread a very embarrassing thought struck me. I didn't have a Pioneer turntable and amp. I had a Trio t/table and amp. It was a friend who had the Pioneer stuff (they looked identical).
> 
> Oh dear. Senility is not merely at the gates but has come in and is eating its packed lunch.


On the upside of senility, you can play the same album over and over and you'll keep thinking "What a great new album I've got!"

Works for me.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

dogen said:


> On the upside of senility, *you can play the same album over and over and you'll keep thinking "What a great new album I've got!"*
> 
> Works for me.


Absit omen! 

(Sorry, who are you again?)


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2015)

You keep making me learn Latin.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: Side One

1. Prelude--Nightmare
2. Fanfare--Fire Poem, Fire
3. Come & Buy, Time, Confusion

"I am the God of Hell-Fire and I bring you----FIRE!"


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

^
^

That album is one of the great statements of psychedelic dysfunction - part profundity and part gibberish.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

IMO one of the truly great "concept" attempts of its time. My wife listened to the Fire side of Brown's album while smoking an oddly aromatic cigarette, and still now, almost 50 years later, cannot hear it without getting the shudders.


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

Can - Tago Mago - sides 1&2
Popol Vuh - In den Garten Pharaos - side 2
Soft Machine - Third - side 3


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans, side 2
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn, side 1
Genesis - Foxtrot, side 2 (obviously)


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Hot Tuna- Hot Tuna, Side 1


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

sometimes 'nostalgia' can leave one a little bereft and yet this thread has been consistently uplifting...one of the only threads where I could have happily 'liked' the whole lot!

1.Steely Dan-Side 1/Pretzel Logic-the sequence is so.so significant that it is impossible to imagine in any other order-not their greatest album I know but......

2.Steely Dan-Side 1/Royal Scam.....'Kid' through to 'Fez'

3.The Clash-Side 1/The Clash.......a manifesto, back when it was still possible to imagine that music could change the world!

4.Keith Jarrett-Side 1/Koln Concert......


.....problem is I could just keep banging on but thanks for a great read!


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

jim prideaux said:


> sometimes 'nostalgia' can leave one a little bereft and yet this thread has been consistently uplifting...one of the only threads where I could have happily 'liked' the whole lot!
> 
> 1.Steely Dan-Side 1/Pretzel Logic-the sequence is so.so significant that it is impossible to imagine in any other order-not their greatest album I know but......
> 
> ...


So could we all!


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