MC5 - Back In The USA (Rock)

1. Tutti-Frutti 

2. Tonight 

3. Teenage Lust 

4. Let Me Try 

5. Looking At You 

6. High School 

7. Call Me Animal 

8. The American Ruse 

9. Shakin' Street 

10. The Human Being Lawnmower 

11. Back In The USA 

 OK kids, it's rockin' time! Detroit's MC5 kicked off the '70s with a bang on Back in the USA, released January 15, 1970. A roadmap for punk's class of '77, the album condensed the epic, throbbing sprawl of Kick Out the Jams into the pure essence of rock & roll: machine gun blasts of pure energy and hooks, with nods to the founding fathers (Chuck Berry and Little Richard) and freshly-minted teen anthems for the ages ("Shakin' Street," "High School," "Tonight," "Teenage Lust," etc., etc.).

Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground & Nico (Rock)

1. Sunday Morning

 2. I'm Waiting For The Man

 3. Femme Fatale

 4. Venus In Furs

 5. Run Run Run

 6. All Tomorrow's Parties

 7. Heroin

 8. There She Goes Again

 9. I'll Be Your Mirror

 10. Black Angel's Death Song

 11. European Son 

 The Velvet Underground only put out 4 albums (5 if you include the Doug Yule only Squeeze album, which most of us Velvet fans don't), but everyone was a masterpiece, and the journey commenced right here. This is my favorite VU album. It is adventurous, eclectic, tuneful, scary, moving, and assaulting, a true work of art. There isn't one throwaway track (in fact, the Velvets never wasted a track on any album). Sunday Morning begins the album beautifully. I love the drug songs Waiting for the Man and Heroin. Venus in Furs is sad and powerful, and All Tomorrow's Parties is scary and hypnotic (with Nico's best vocal). The Black Angel's Death Song is pure, avant garde Cale, and European Son predates the sonic assault we were going to get on White Light/White Heat. You think that the Velvet Underground would have choked after making such a fine debut album, but they followed it up with 3 masterpieces. How many bands only made a handful of albums and yet have had such a lasting impact? The MC5 is the only other band that comes to mind. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I listen to it once a week. Lou, John, Mo, Sterling, and Nico rule.