25 NICK DRAKE — PINK MOON
A short album of brief songs—some barely more than sketches—somehow Pink Moon has all the depth of a midnight lake. Famous for bringing posthumous fame to the songwriter after it was skilfully deployed in an American TV ad, the title song exemplifies the sparse beauty of Drake’s final album. Themes of alienation and lunar half-light abound; one can almost see the singer alone on a stool in a dimly lit studio, hunched over an acoustic guitar. “When I was young, younger than before; I never saw the truth hanging from the door” (“Place To Be”). It could almost be a lost couplet from Lennon’s “Help!”. Sometimes I can lean into the intimate, almost skeletal beauty of this LP, other times the misery and utter loneliness just below the surface is too much. It may be that #25 is the average of the different positions each of those experiences brings. [Released 25 February 1972]
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25 URIAH HEEP — DEMONS AND WIZARDS
Wizards! Demons! Spells! Magic! Polyhedral dice! Swords! Sorcery! Roger Dean cover! Mysticism! Marriage! Time travel! Riffing! Synthesisers! The perfect album for socially awkward young men and arguably the pick of Uriah Heep’s extensive catalogue. Demons and Wizards features the ‘classic’ line-up of David Byron (vocals), Mick Box (guitar), Ken Hensley (keyboards) plus the new ’72 rhythm section of Gary Thain (bass) and Lee Kerslake (drums). The core compositions were by Hensley, but it’s a true group effort. Interestingly, many of the tracks are quite short, giving lie to the idea that heavy prog (which this record exemplifies) was all about meandering organ solos. It is about magic, maidens and muscular riffing, however. Highlights: “Easy living”; “Rainbow demon”. [Released 19 May 1972]
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23 MATCHING MOLE — MATCHING MOLE
When Robert Wyatt departed Soft Machine it was largely due to a need for more space for his own musical ideas. This he found with his next band, Matching Mole (a play on the French words for Soft Machine). Something of a who’s who of the Canterbury music scene—David Sinclair and Dave McRae (keyboards), guitarist Phil Miller and bass player Phil MacCormick—the band produced two studio albums that are highly regarded in progressive rock circles. The music is complex yet spacious, melodic but unpredictable. And there’s Wyatt’s voice, too: fragile, evocative, earthy. And of course there’s the wonderful album art work (by Alan Cracknell), a strong contender for my favourite cover of all time. Guess some of us never outgrew The Wind In The Willows. [Released 8 April 1972]
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22 FLEETWOOD MAC — BARE TREES
The predecessor to this album, Future Games, was ranked at #15 in last year’s 71 FROM ’71 series. This album has a similar feel and boasts five songs by guitarist Danny Kirwan in his last appearance on a Fleetwood Mac album. Christine McVie and Bob Welsh contribute two each. There is a polished flow to the music and a consistently high quality to the song-writing, making it one of the highlights in their extensive catalogue. So it is important to note that the lower ranking in the 1972 list says more about the quality of the albums of this year than anything negative about Bare Trees. It’s an excellent Mac record in every respect. Highlights include “Bare Trees” (D. Kirwan), “The Ghost” (Bob Welsh), and Christine McVie’s “Spare me a little of your love”, one of her strongest songs. [Released March 1972]
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21 WENDY CARLOS — SONIC SEASONINGS
Wendy Carlos is a pioneer of electronic music; a composer, an innovator, a successful film composer. Working closely with Bob Moog, Carlos played a key role in the development of the Moog synthesiser, the instrument she demonstrated in virtuoso fashion on the hugely popular LP Switched On Bach (1968).
In 1972 Carlos released Sonic Seasonings, her first album not interpreting classical compositions. It consists of four long pieces (one per side) painting portraits of the seasons using electronic sound and field recordings. Years before Eno’s ambient explorations, Carlos was there, melding electronics and nature to produce a truly captivating record. It’s a mystery to me that this intriguing and hugely enjoyable work isn’t better known, especially for those interested in ambient music and early electronica. Check it out. It’s unique. [Release date unknown]
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Which brings us to the Top 20.
But not quite yet.
There is so much wonderful music from 1972 that some diversions are a necessary indulgence before we return to the thrilling final instalments of the countdown.
vinylconnection.com.au 
Good selections here, I am not familiar with that Wendy Carlos album, will check it out soon
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Cool, Rick. Thanks for visiting. Sonic Seasonings isn’t quite like anything else in the ambient/New Age zone. Definitely worth investigating if you have some affinity with those styles.
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Advice for the older reader
there are discs to hear
get your priorities right
bother spring cleaning
(Mere mention of Wind in the Willows sets some of us off).
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Super, DD. Metrically spruce and spiritually on point.
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I only actually know a couple of these. Pink Moon is mostly amazing, although I’ve never really warmed to ‘Know’ or ‘Horn’. Matching Mole is a hole in my knowledge considering I like the first few Soft Machine records and Robert Wyatt solo.
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If you like Wyatt’s Rock Bottom, definitely check out Matching Mole!
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‘Demons & Wizards’ still one of my favourites. And that classic line-up certainly rivals mid-Seventies Rory Gallagher line up in my opinion. (Almost!) 😉
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Fantastic. Always a toss up for me between D&W and Look At Yourself.
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Yes, love how you captured the kind of mixed relationship you (and I too) have with Nick Drake. For me it’s a necessary indulgence, seasonally too (coming soon!) but I have to take care…feels good at first and then I realize it’s too much. You say it better, love the analogies and similes you used there too. Similes and smiles from here to there brother.
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Thanks for that Bill. I was thinking about our conversations on Pink Moon as I wrote.
Try the Wendy Carlos sometime. It’s an interesting ambient journey.
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Hey thanks for the tip on the Wendy Carlos, will have some of that tonight for my bedtime musik.
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‘Demons & Wizards’ is a keeper. And I just got a bunch of Mac records from the in-between years. Haven’t listened to them all yet but really enjoy ‘Bare Trees’ and ‘Kiln House’ is great too. I predict this 1972 list will be topped by Steeleye Span’s ‘Below The Salt’. An excellent choice, well done!
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Thanks, HMO. A bold prediction the accuracy of which is still a little while away. In the meantime, keep working through those Mac albums. Future Games is a corker too.
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Just remembered. ‘Below The Salt’ has already appeared…
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A wee bit lower than I predicted but still, a good inclusion!
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No argument; it’s a corker of an album Scott. Sometimes I split sub-genres off as the diversity of good music makes the (artificial) ranking a nightmare!
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Makes sense. I don’t envy you the task of these rankings, especially when your taste is so wide ranging.
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Well this orange is definitely juicier than that banana.
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I’ve listened to Future Games a hundred times but somehow missed Bare Trees, need to find that. Pink Moon I reserve for post-midnight drives, carries you away.
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Future Games and Bare Trees are very much companion albums, Robert. So probably plenty to enjoy there. And yes, there is something post-midnight about Pink Moon, for sure.
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Waiting to see where Exile places, lol.
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Hint: It’s in the top twenty.
🤣
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I should hope so!
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I really admire your endurance to do this countdown. Based on familiarity, my picks would be the Uriah Heep and Fleetwood Mac albums.
With David Byron’s vocals that could be near-irritatingly high, Heep were a somewhat weird group, yet at the same time, their songs were pretty catchy. I still own vinyl copies of their 1973 live album and their 1971 studio record “Salisbury” and continue to reasonably enjoy both.
“Bare Trees” falls into Fleetwood Mac’s interesting and sometimes overlooked transitional period after they were a traditional blues rock band and before becoming one of the biggest pop rock outfits of the ‘70s with “Rumours”.
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Cheers Christian. It’s the third year of these Countdowns, so there’s been some practice. Not sure how long they will continue!
This era of Heep is strong, that’s for sure. I recommend ‘Look At Yourself’ if you come across it at the right price.
What you say about the Kirwan/Welch era of Fleetwood Mac is accurate. Interestingly, a feature I wrote a while back on this period is one that has continued to attract visits, which is nice.
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Pink Moon is a longtime favorite, and was the topic of one of my earliest posts back in 2013. Also love Bare Trees. I was initially puzzled by your references to Wendy Carlos when the album cover refers to Walter Carlos, but then the light bulb came on! She’s a new artist for me (are are so many artists on VC!)…
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[…] Some striking album covers in this lot. (View here) […]
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