Winter Time albums

[hippypants]

Are there any winter albums (any genre) that you tend to play more during the cooler weather?

I tend to go more for synth oriented lps, stuff like:

Tomita's Snowflakes Are Dancing
Stomu Yamashta, Winwood, and Shrieve's Go
Tangerine Dream Poland
Richard Burmer's Mosiacs


or maybe something like:

Jethro Tull's Song's From the Woods
Leon Russell, Asylum Choir--I think maybe it was released around the cooler weather time, and I just equate it with cooler weather
George Winston's Autumn, and December lps
Genesis--Wind & Wuthering
Camel's The Snow Goose
Mark Isham's Film Music, I guess due to it's introspection, to me

[Digital_Man]

Neil Young - Harvest Moon (maybe because I first heard some of those songs in the winter)

I would agree with W&W also but not sure I ever played it in the winter.

I would say any album that has a sparse or gloomy sound would be good for the winter.

[llanwydd]

Almost as soon as I read the thread title and before I read the first two posts, I thought of Wind & Wuthering. I wonder if the band wanted it to sound that way. I have a vivid memory of watching the snow fall outside my window while I listened to this. I think I was fifteen or sixteen. That would be number one on my list. A close second is Under Wraps (Jethro Tull) which a lot of people hate but it kind of equates to a blizzard for me. Long story. Another is Spectral Mornings (Steve Hackett) which I understand was recorded in a very cold environment during a very cold February which is exactly the way I first heard it.

[JKL2000]

Not surprising, but Kate Bush's "50 Words for Snow" is a very wintery album.

[spellbound]

A lot of music works well in winter. Try watching it snow outside while listening to Yes. One kind of music that does not work in winter is bossa nova.

[pb2015]

Tull and Genesis both had a series of winter albums. Stormwatch and And Then There Were Three were other examples (both go too far into that mood for me to want to hear them often).

[hippypants]

Not surprising, but Kate Bush's "50 Words for Snow" is a very wintery album.

Yeah, I can see that, I probably play her, The Dreaming more in the cooler months as well.

Re: One kind of music that does not work in winter is bossa nova. Ha, yeah, I can see that. I have gone back to listening to some classical too. Right now listening to a program called Sunday Baroque a program on NPR. I've also started listening to Performance Today, and Guitar Alive.

Re: Stormwatch and And Then There Were Three were other examples

I've not heard Stormwatch, but have And Then There Were Three and enjoy it well enough throughout the year.

[Piskie]

Steeleye Span: All Around My Hat The single was a Xmas hit
Lindisfarne: Nicely Out Of Tune (for Winter Song)

[Digital_Man]

A lot of music works well in winter. Try watching it snow outside while listening to Yes. One kind of music that does not work in winter is bossa nova.

Or Moon Safari.

[Koreabruce]

To me, A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering are autumn albums, and ...And Then There Were Three is a winter album. I suppose it has a lot to do with when I first heard them.

[markwoll]

Going for the low hanging fruit:
Mannheim Steamroller - Various Christmas albums ( also ranks as one of the cringiest holiday concerts I have attended, even my wife agreed with that )
John Denver - Christmas In Concert
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Residents - Eskimo

[JKL2000]

Mannheim Steamroller - Various Christmas albums ( also ranks as one of the cringiest holiday concerts I have attended, even my wife agreed with that )

Can you give any details?

[Trane]

To me, A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering are autumn albums, and ...And Then There Were Three is a winter album. I suppose it has a lot to do with when I first heard them.

Since both ATTOT & W&W are from 76, ATOT is from spring (and doesn't feel like an autumn album at all - if only by the yellowish/summery toned artwork), while W&W is definitely one (released EoY of 76). I suppose ATTWT could be seen as a winter album, but I also see it as a autumn album.

Likewise for Tull, SFTW is definitely an autumn album, while SW (greatly influenced by the artwork perception) is a winter album.




but if we are to go solely on album artworks, then may I suggest Tramp's Even In The Quietest Moments...

Zep's Zoso album artwork is a very bleak mood as well

[markwoll]

Can you give any details?

I guess I was not ready for the level of fan adulation and the ( IMHO ) pretentious presentation. The aspects of 'Prog' that the critics warn us about.
Just not my thing. I had some of the Fresh Aire recordings and liked them.

[Digital_Man]

Sometimes we associate the music with the album cover so I would say pretty much any album that has a wintery (ie snow but not necessarily) cover would qualify.

[Koreabruce]

Since both ATTOT & W&W are from 76, ATOT is from spring (and doesn't feel like an autumn album at all - if only by the yellowish/summery toned artwork), while W&W is definitely one (released EoY of 76). I suppose ATTWT could be seen as a winter album, but I also see it as a autumn album.

Likewise for Tull, SFTW is definitely an autumn album, while SW (greatly influenced by the artwork perception) is a winter album.




but if we are to go solely on album artwork, then may I suggest Tramp's Even In The Quietest Moments...

Zep's Zoso album artwork is a very bleak mood as well

Keep in mind that I did say to me. I'm well aware of those three Genesis albums' release dates. The point is that I bought and listened to them endlessly from October of '79 and onward, mostly in the car, and it was during that initial period that they made their deepest, most lasting impression on me. I hadn't actually experienced any of those albums from start to finish before that time and had only heard the odd track on the radio: Squonk, A Trick of the Tail, Robbery, Assault, and Battery, Your Own Special Way, Follow You, Follow Me.

I do agree with you on Even In The Quietest Moments and Led Zeppelin IV, though. Wintry, indeed!

[Fracktured]

Sometimes we associate the music with the album cover so I would say pretty much any album that has a wintery (ie snow but not necessarily) cover would qualify.

Santana - Welcome

This album came out near the end of 1973 and the day I purchased it it was snowing. Obviously the cover reminds me of snow. So for me it’s a winter album.

Anton Bruckner Symphony No 3 conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The day I purchased it they were calling for snow. Right when I got home it started snowing and I was listening to it and watching the snow fall. Adding to that the cover looks like a wing in snow which all of the Bruckner Karajan series had the same cover. A Bruckner music reminds me of the Austrian alps. Very majestic.

Genesis - W&W. Already mentioned


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[pb2015]

If we're talking about albums with a winter recording location, I'll mention albums recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado in the mid 70's. Hideaway by the band America was one example (reflected in the cover photos as well as some of the songs).

I also remember one of Sting's albums started out with a song called "The Hounds of Winter" or something like that. Not much enthusiasm in the crowd for that song when he opened with it the time I saw him on a summer tour.

[Halmyre]

Are there any winter albums (any genre) that you tend to play more during the cooler weather?

I tend to go more for synth oriented lps, stuff like:

Tomita's Snowflakes Are Dancing
Stomu Yamashta, Winwood, and Shrieve's Go
Tangerine Dream Poland
Richard Burmer's Mosiacs


or maybe something like:

Jethro Tull's Song's From the Woods
Leon Russell, Asylum Choir--I think maybe it was released around the cooler weather time, and I just equate it with cooler weather
George Winston's Autumn, and December lps
Genesis--Wind & Wuthering
Camel's The Snow Goose
Mark Isham's Film Music, I guess due to it's introspection, to me

No, Songs From The Wood is springtime.
Heavy Horses is autumnal.
Stormwatch is the wintry one.

[llanwydd]

^^ Totally agree. Stormwatch is the wintery one. That and Under Wraps.

I remembered another winter album. In the Land of Grey and Pink by Caravan. I think the reasons I have always equated it with winter are the combined factors of having first heard it in the winter and the song from the album called Winter Wine.

[Dave (in MA)]

Anthony Phillips:Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars, if you play only the synth pieces and omit the acoustic guitar work, it's a very wintry-sounding release.

[Dave (in MA)]

No, Songs From The Wood is springtime.
Heavy Horses is autumnal.
Stormwatch is the wintry one.

Songs from the Wood has a Christmas song on it, and the cover art looks autumn-ish.

I always associated all 3 with the Fall because that's when I saw each tour.

[BravadoNJ]

Even In The Quietest Moments- Supertramp

the cover captures winter, but the music also has a cold tone.

[hippypants]

Some good suggestions. Bear in mind it's all subjective. I thought about Zepplin IV or Stairway. I remember having that on 8-track tape and my parents giving my brother and I a spiffy indoor portable plastic 8-track tape player for Christmas, and that's one of the selections I played over and over on it. The player actually sounded pretty good, also having a radio tuner in it. Being an 8-track player, however, it didn't last much past a couple of years, if that.

Santana Welcome is a good choice. It seems that and Caravanseria came out around that timeframe, both great albums.

I thought about including The Resident's Eskimo. I guess I have sort of a bias against that band in that I don't find them very good for repeated listening. Sort of fun to explore, but I hardly ever am in the mood to hear them again.

Mannheim Steamroller - Various Christmas albums ( also ranks as one of the cringiest holiday concerts I have attended, even my wife agreed with that )

I wondered about them. They played here some years back and I thought about attending. I probabaly would have been good enough for what it was, though I could see it entering the cringe territory. I assume they still play from time to time. I had seen them play on PBS too.

I should check out the America albums, I generally enjoy them.

[pb2015]

ECM also has many winter albums. Eberhard Weber's The Following Morning is one leading example.