I went through a kick not too long ago where I was listening to David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album a lot,... with the idea that I was transporting my mind back to Jr High and could remember what I was feeling and thinking. It's amazing how that's possible. And it's amazing how the basic person is there... i just didn't know as much. I now know how the chords work and the arrangements work etc. Before I just knew they were "soo cool man". Rock n Roll Suicide and 5 Years and Soul Love... I could feel all of those desperate, borderline suicidal, but simultaneously lofty romantic feelings all over again... like being in a movie or something (which the lyrics even talk about).
There are a few songs that I feel are profound over and over and over again (chills, transcendence etc). They are:
Awaken by Yes (that is the standout magic composition to my ears - chills and tears at the end every time).
Nevermore by UK (the ending guitar melody, and how it changes with the chords the second time it's quoted and drifts off. I swear I think I can hear the profound sadness and grief behind Allan Holdsworth's alcoholism in that playing (or perhaps my own).
Night Meets Light by the Dixie Dregs (amazing undefinable masterpiece of a composition).
A Song for All Seasons by Renaissance (I always get this out in the Fall,... still blows my mind and brings tears at the end)
Mad Man Moon by Genesis (If for nothing else than the lyrical insights... I'd "welcome a horse's kick" indeed)
Cinderella Ballet (Suite) by Prokofiev (this music speaks to me as if I were hearing a speech that was reciting hidden truths and revelations every other sentence. Prokofiev works in a language that is like you always had known it intimately, but had never heard it uttered before. I overheard this music on a tv in the next room many years ago and was immediately blown away).
Honorable mention: To Our Children's Children's Children by the Moody Blues and In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson.
Bookmarks