Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin

Continuing the alphabet of albums, P is for pickin' on Zep.

Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin, 1975, 1:23

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

One of two LZ albums I haven't heard all the way through, the other being Coda.  I see a lot of people citing this as Zep's masterwork, but to me it's a fairly lightweight entry in their catalogue.  Yes, it's got some nice diversions like the rollicking "Boogie with Stu" and the quintessential Zep stomper "Kashmir," but I fell like it doesn't rock as hard as the name albums.  It's a melodic, less crunchy set of songs.  That's not bad — it's super fun to hear Led Zeppelin Unplugged like on "Black Country Woman" — but I'm not sure this is their masterpiece.  Favorite "Houses of the Holy," "Night Flight," "Down by the Seaside."

Diamonds and Rust, Joan Baez

Continuing the alphabet of albums, D is for Dylan's orbit.

Diamonds and Rust, Joan Baez, 1975, :41

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

An album with several references to Baez's relationship with Bob Dylan, plus some covers. The references to his blue eyes, bluntness ("my poetry was lousy you said"), songwriting, ("thank you for writing the best songs / thank you for righting a few wrongs"), and vagueness in his personal life paint a picture of a man who didn't so much as break her heart as puzzle it. Her weird Dylan imitation in the middle of his own "Simple Twist of Fate," between verses sung in her natural voice, I found off-putting. I like the John Prine cover "Hello In There," about the loneliness of the elderly, but I found 'Children And All That Jazz," a jazzy little number about the wonder of kids, out of place on the album. Favorite tracks: "Diamonds and Rust," "Winds of the Old Days," the Allman Brothers cover "Blue Sky."

Chocolate City, Parliament

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1975.

Chocolate City, Parliament, 1975, :37

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"Uh, what's happening CC? / They still call it the White House / But that's a temporary condition."  And only 33 years later, George's prediction came true!  "God bless CC and its vanilla suburbs."  CC is Chocolate City, a term for a major black-inhabited city.  This album features the classic P-Funk lineup with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell, who cowrote most of the songs.  This disc is highly groovy, crammed with uptempo funk, showing considerable jazz, gospel (like in "I Misjudged You"), blues, and doo-wop influences.  A highly booty-shakeable album.  Favorite tracks: "If It Don't Fit (Don't Force It)" and "Ride On," two of the funkiest!