HER PICKS	HIS PICKS
R.L. Burnside A Ass Pocket of Whisky 1996 A friend had recommended R.L. Burnside years back and then I really got into him through my interest in the North Mississippi Allstars.	Jimi Hendrix Axis Bold As love 1967 I just couldn’t resist picking this one.
Ultimate Spinach Self-Titled 1968 Gotta have your greens. Green is good.	Black Sabbath Masters Of Reality 1971 Masterpiece in reality. This one is another obvious pick for me.
Billy Preston Organ Transplant 1970 I love organ music and the Frankenstein album cover is great.	The Electric Flag A Long Time Comin’ 1968 I grew up with the kid of one of the band members so I thought it would be fun to explore this one in more depth.
Ten Years After Undead 1968 I love a live record and the jazz club setting was enticing. The Undead/Live play on words is a nice touch.	Bobby Bland Dreamer 1974 Awhile back I brought home a Bobby Bland album from 1980 and threw it on. Both Gabby and I were underwhelmed with the record as a whole. I thought that I would pick this classic to try and redeem Bobby in her eyes.
The Electric Prunes Mass In F Minor 1968 A curiosity…not sure if the concept will resonate with me but we shall see…	The Youngbloods Earth Music 1967 This is some great 60’s rock. An album remembered for too few songs.

Not Chosen Yet (Back to the Stacks)

Sunblind Lion-Above & Beyond 1978
Herbie Hancock-Thrust 1974
Little Feat-The Last Record Album 1975
Rolling Stones-Let It Bleed
David Gilmour-Self Titled 1978
Ten Years After-Watt 1970
Pink Floyd-Relics 1971
Bob Dylan-The Freewheelin’ 19
Jefferson Airplane-Surrealistic Pillow 1967
Bob Marley & The Wailers-Survival 1979

For Your Listening Pleasure

Visit our YouTube Channel and listen to our Round Two Top Picks Playlist as you read our thoughts below. (Note: For the “If 6 Was 9” video, Tori Amos is standing in for Jimi Hendrix.)

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R.L. Burnside-A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey 1996

Her Album Score: 9/10 His Album Score: 8.5/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

I love heavy blues and how it finds its way into my body deep and low. It makes me feel really grounded in my core but still saucy and free-flowing, like magma being stirred. I feel that through and through with this album. Burnside, 70 years old when this came out, captivates me with his deeply rich, genuine, experienced, and unabashed delivery. I feel it most on “Boogie Chillen”, “Snake Drive”, and “SHAKE EM ON DOWN”. This is my top pick in part because I really appreciate the grungy harmonica.

“SNAKE DRIVE” is a song covered by the North Mississippi Allstars. Gabby and I have seen the Allstars live 5 or 6 times now so this song has a pleasant familiarity. Burnside rocks the blues harder than almost anyone else I can think of.

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Jimi Hendrix-Axis Bold As love 1967

Her Album Score: 9.5/10 His Album Score: 9/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

Jimi’s music dovetails so seamlessly with my heart and soul, a nearly universal sentiment I’m sure.  “Little Wing” and “One Rainy Wish” both have a dreamy warmth and ethereal vibrancy to them. Despite how in love I am with that fantasy feeling, “IF 6 WAS 9” really takes me on a ride with its earthy sizzle, heavy bass, and jungle bird recessional. His lyrical depth and world-reflective messaging come through loud and clear on this one.

“WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW” may not be the most memorable or hard hitting song on this record but it has always stood out to me. Compositionally it seems to cover nearly every genre relevant in the mid 60’s. I had an old best of Hendrix CD as a teenager and on an album with “Foxy Lady” and “Voodoo Child” I still always went back to this. Maybe it’s because I’m a drummer and the drums get a lot of space on this one.

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Ultimate Spinach-Self-Titled 1968

Her Album Score: 7/10 His Album Score: 7.5/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

I’ll probably end up sounding like a broken record with my propensity to go for a song that features standout keys, but staying true to how I feel is the name of the game. For this reason, “PLASTIC RAINCOATS/HUNG UP MINDS” wins out on this one. It’s a fun high to come from going into the spooky lows of the following track “(Ballad of the) Hip Death Goddess”, which I was tempted to pick for the hypnotic female vocal. I’m glad Stephen picked that one.

“(BALLAD OF THE) HIP DEATH GODDESS”. Dark, wicked and long yet somehow comforting. It’s slow and loose, speeding up slightly as the song goes on. Not sure if this was intentional or the result of the drummer trying to hold a beat for 8+ minutes straight. Well done.

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Black Sabbath-Masters Of Reality 1971

Her Album Score: 9.5/10 His Album Score: 9/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

“CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE” thematically brings to mind Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, about two children suffering the burning horrors of the WWII U.S. atomic bombings in Japan. The heaviness is consuming in both the film and this song, apparently a qualifier for favoritism in my book. In the same vein, the final track “Into the Void” almost won out with an intensity that builds from the entire album.

“CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE”. Layers of awesome. The drum in the background clatters and clacks away reminding me of some dark skeleton dance party. This song only beat out the infamous stoner anthem “Sweet Leaf” by virtue of not being a hit.

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Billy Preston-Organ Transplant 1970

Her Album Score: 8/10 His Album Score: 6/10

HER THOUGHTS

HER THOUGHTS

“HARD DAYS NIGHT” well represents the musical transplantation and interpretive layers that the organ takes on at the hands of Billy Preston on this album. Initially I thought his relationship with the Beatles and experience playing with them came prior to this record and may have enriched his inspiration for the track. As it turns out this is an early reissue of recordings Preston had done before collaborating with the Beatles.

“MIDNIGHT HOUR”. Nice vocals on a catchy track. It’s the best cover on an album full of well executed, mostly instrumental versions of some classic rockers and R&B.

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The Electric Flag-A Long Time Comin’ 1968

Her Album Score: 8/10 His Album Score: 6.5/10

HER THOUGHTS	HIS THOUGHTS
“KILLING FLOOR”, the Howlin’ Wolf cover and  introductory track for this album packs the most excitement for me. It gets the booty bias vote. However, honorable mention also goes to “Another Country”. With alluring dynamics creating a compelling journey across the eight minute penultimate track, I find myself listening more intently to the music.	“KILLING FLOOR” is rock solid. Perhaps I’m being too hard on this album. I might be overcompensating for my personal connection to one of the main creative contributors. I think I’m also jaded to blues in general by the likes of Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes & R.L. Burnside. I find myself waiting for it to get just a little harder than it ever does.

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Ten Years After-Undead 1968

Her Album Score: 8.5/10 His Album Score: 7.5/10

HER THOUGHTS	HIS THOUGHTS
This is a powerful live album of jazz club jams. Amidst a lineup of contenders, “SUMMERTIME/ SHANTUNG CABBAGE” stands out for me because of how the recording so prominently features the drums. I love the space that the instruments get to shine on these jammy live tracks. My mom also used to sing Summertime to me as a child so that melody is part of my emotional fabric.	“I’M GOING HOME”. This might be the jazziest Ten Years After album. It’s good but I prefer their hard blues stuff from their first few records. Underrated band.

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Bobby Bland-Dreamer 1974 

Her Album Score: 7.5/10 His Album Score: 6.5/10

HER THOUGHTS	HIS THOUGHTS
“AIN’T NO LOVE IN THE HEART OF THE CITY” is a hit because of the catchy hook that gets me right along with the masses that have endorsed its fame. His voice is so satiating, it makes me want to make-out. “Yolanda” is another goody, along with the owly “Who’s Fooling Who”.	“DREAMER” has an appropriate floaty vibe. It’s almost 90’s alternative. I had never heard this song until I bought the album.  “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” might seem like the obvious choice but something about “DREAMER” sticks with me.

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The Electric Prunes-Mass In F Minor 1968

Her Album Score: 7/10 His Album Score: 7/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

The concept of this album doesn’t captivate me. What I do enjoy are the long instrumental explorations between the vocals. The one that I find to give the instruments the most space to shine is “GLORIA”. I appreciate it from the start with the organ opening and strong bass throughout. I sang a version of the Gloria hymn in choir class as a child so the familiarity may have won me over as well.

This is an art, psych, concept album if I’ve ever heard one. The whole thing gets weirder when you find out that The Electric Prunes had almost nothing to do with the composition or performance on the record. Despite this red flag, the concept does produce some interesting results. Some of the rhythms are refreshingly different and it all has an epic timeless feel without ever fully breaking the 60’s fuzz/psych mold.  “CREDO” is all over the place and gets nice and unholy at points.

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The Youngbloods-Earth Music 1967

Her Album Score: 7.5/10 His Album Score: 6.5/10

HER THOUGHTS

HIS THOUGHTS

I feel like I tend to gravitate to the first song on an album. It’s probably a combination of the song being well chosen for its opening slot and me being so revved up to dive in that I associate my initial excitement with the first song I hear. The Youngbloods cover of Holy Modal Rounders’ “EUPHORIA” is a good example of this, captivating me from the start with its quirky lyrical bounce, playful keys, and animated horns. The truth is though that I could just as easily pick either “Long and Tall” or “Fool Me”, which both perked me up with their heavier rock inclinations and sustained my excitement about the album.

“FOOL ME”. Good album all around. I like the 60’s folk vibe with better than average rhythm and pop hooks.

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Round Two Score Chart

On a scale of 1-10, here’s how the albums stacked up this round. For a running look at how the albums stack up from round to round, check out our NMG Charts page.

BLUE=HIS PINK=HERS GREEN=SHARED *ASTERIX=BEST OF SCORE

Vinyl Reflections

It has become clear that picking the “best of score” one the score chart is going to become very difficult, very quickly. This round a coin had to be flipped between Black Sabbath & Jimi Hendrix. Jimi cleared it with a heads. What’s next (gulp)?…..

Extra Extra!

Also featured on our YouTube Channel is our Round Two Extras Playlist featuring songs that got honorable mention as well as some alternate and live recordings. (Skerik kills it on the Garage a Trois video of “If 6 was 9”!! We may not have found a good video of the real deal but, between Tori and GAT, we couldn’t be happier with what we did find.)