My #8 album of 1971 is Don McLean’s American Pie, the singer-songwriter’s sophomore effort, which hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and featured two hits in the iconic title track and ‘Vincent,’ McLean’s ode to Vincent Van Gogh.
This album could earn a spot on this list for those two songs alone, but the rest of its lineup features one achingly gentle acoustic gem after another.
I’ve featured only one Who song on this blog over the past ten years — ‘The Kids are Alright,’ a song I truly love. But as I noted way back then (Song of the Day #81, if you can believe it!), I’m not much of a Who fan in general.
I also mentioned in that post that I am a fan of the band’s fifth studio album, 1971’s Who’s Next. Enough to put it at #9 on my list of best albums from that year.
It’s time for the latest installment of my Decades series, wherein I highlight the albums of a specific year in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. I last wrapped up the ‘zeroes’ by hitting 1970, 1980, 1990 and (earlier this year) 2000. Before that I did the ‘twos,’ starting with my birth year — 1972 — and jumping ahead from there.
Now I turn to the ‘ones’ and kick things off with 1971. As usual, I will count down my own favorite albums from that year before spending a week on widely acclaimed albums of the year with which I am unfamiliar.
I’ve featured nine critically-acclaimed albums from the year 2000, with decidedly mixed results, so I figured I’d throw a bone to the most commercially successful album of that year, NSYNC’s No Strings Attached.
This was not just the best-selling album of 2000, but a record-holder for best first week’s sales (2.4 million) for 15 years, until Adele’s 25 obliterated that mark by nearly a million copies.
D’Angelo, 44, is one of the most celebrated R&B artists of his generation, despite having released only three albums over two decades.
The Richmond-born singer-songwriter released his debut album, Brown Sugar, in 1995 at the age of 21. After a five-year hiatus, he dropped Voodoo, one of 2000’s most acclaimed albums. He didn’t surface again until 2014, when Black Messiah made a huge comeback splash.
Meet Me In Montauk 