1974 COUNTDOWN | #49

1974 COUNTDOWN | #49 — #45

#49

JETHRO TULL — WARCHILD

After Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, some Jethro Tull fans were no doubt relieved that the band had moved back to standard song lengths and un-concept albums. Some of the songs do seem a little pedestrian, but the hits are irrefutable evidence that Ian Anderson and the lads could knock out a spiffing tune, often with brilliant lyrics.

The rivers are full of crocodile nasties

And He who made kittens put snakes in the grass, He’s

A lover of life but a player of pawns, yes

The king on his sunset lies waiting for dawn
To light up his jungle as play is resumed.

The monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune, Well let’s…

Sadly, my vinyl copy has been misfiled, meaning that it may never be found again.

#48

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA — ELDORADO

It is my suspicion that the writer of this list included the sometimes cheesy, often overblown Eldorado entirely due to the utterly irresistible “Can’t get it out of my head.” You simply can’t get it out of your head.
Two years later ELO conquered the world, breaking records both new and old.

#47

BILLY COBHAM — TOTAL ECLIPSE

This LP and the next two demonstrate what a rich and varied sub-genre jazz-rock really is. Drummer Billy Cobham’s second LP for 1974 has punchy brass-driven tunes, funk workouts and quieter moments punctuated by percussive thunderstorms. With John Abercrombie on guitar and the Brecker brothers on saxes (Michael) and trumpet/flugelhorn (Randy) you have a stellar band giving their all to Cobham’s compositions.

#46

ISOTOPE — ILLUSION

Gary Boyle could have thrown in the towel when jazz-rock outfit Isotope collapsed after their fine debut album. But instead he pulled together what is almost a supergroup. Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine), Poli Palmer (Family) and Laurence Scott (a practicing Dentist) gelled remarkably quickly and recorded an excitingLP. Boyle’s fiery guitar dominates, evoking hints of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the pieces are exemplary jazz-rock workouts. Hopper’s compositions are particularly interesting. Like fusion? Try this, it’s great.

#45

HERBIE HANCOCK — THRUST

Herbie Hancock’s follow up to the brilliant and highly popular Headhunters album was 1974’s Thrust. It is just as good. Bernie Maupin is adventurous but never perplexing on reeds and the rhythm section cooks both jazzily and funkily. If you love Stevie Wonder’s keyboard adventures during this mid-70s period, give Thrust a try. It won’t push you away.

The next instalment of the 1974 COUNTDOWN has no albums in either the jazz-rock or progressive rock categories.

It does, however, feature several handy guitarists.