#11: Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Release Year: 1969

Neil Young's second album, and first with Crazy Horse, is a true masterpiece.  Crazy Horse was one of the loudest bands of the time, and provided a perfect vehicle for Neil's songwriting ability.

It's really difficult to beat an album with both "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl In The Sand," two of the best rock songs written by anybody, ever.  Neil has written several lengthy rock songs ("Words," "Last Dance," "Cortez the Killer," "Like A Hurricane," "Shots," at least four songs from Ragged Glory, "Change Your Mind," "Scenery," "Ordinary People," and "No Hidden Path," just to name a few), but the two on this album are his very best.

This is the album that turned me into a Neil Young fan.  The first Neil records I had heard were Harvest, Harvest Moon, and After the Gold Rush, two of which are Young's most successful albums, but it is this one that converted me.

#35: The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

Release Year: 1969

In the 1960s, The Rolling Stones were a great band.  When you think of the 60s, that are really two bands that come to mind: The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones.  In my mind, the Stones were the greatest band of the decade, not the Beatles.  Despite that, the best stretch of Stones albums came from 1968 through 1973, starting with Beggar's Banquet.  Let It Bleed is the following album, and a very solid album indeed.

This album has it all: a classic opening song in Gimme Shelter, 60s punk like Live With Me, the monumental closer You Can't Always Get What You Want, and even a little honky tonk in Country Honk.  This album is still decidedly 60s, but you can hear the 70s creeping in.

 It's difficult to explain what is so good about the Stones; the songs are simple.  Compared to the burgeoning progressive rock movement, there really wasn't very much to it.  Really, it's just rock and roll.

Standout tracks:

• You Can't Always Get What You Want
• Midnight Rambler
• Let It Bleed
• Monkey Man