"I was 12 years old when I first heard , and it was terrifying. The band were adding a rock context to the techniques of avant-garde classical composers like [Karlheinz] Stockhausen and John Cage. As much as it scared me, got me into tape manipulation and using the studio as an instrument in its own right, which was an important lesson.
" "It’s an extraordinary whirlpool of cosmic sound, the definitive space-rock statement. I love the album’s repetitive, almost pagan feel. It dispensed with the idea of soloists, and has a real sense of ‘otherness’.
were the first band I saw live – on the tour [1980] – and just left me wondering how those amazing sounds had been created." "I could’ve picked any of Sabbath’s first six albums, but has the classics, and sleepers like and – not tracks people talk about a lot, but they’re great." "Not only a concept album, it’s also the height of ’s writing, with some of his best melodies.
It’s harder than people think to make a true concept album, and Townshend was the master at making records that work on several different levels. You can pull out these songs, and they all work in their own right." " ’s albums were sometimes patchy, but is so solid.
It was the last album they made before Robert Fripp went into retreat and they split for a few years, and it features one of their classic long pieces: starts off as a ballad and becomes this pummelling, atonal rock workout. The title track is also definitive Fripp." Sign up.