Pet Sounds
Artist: The Beach Boys
Community Score: 8.25

The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells,... Read More

Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers
Artist: The Walker Brothers

The track listing for the Walkers' first British album is similar to the one for their debut American LP (Introducing the Walker Brothers), except that it's missing their first single ("Pretty Girls Everywhere"/"Doin' the Jerk") and "My Ship Is Coming In," and adds three cuts not on the U.S. release. As it happens, these three tracks are worth... Read More

Soul & Inspiration - VERVE
Artist: The Righteous Brothers
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) - BONUS TRACKS
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 7.78
Something Else by the Kinks
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 8.03

Face to Face was a remarkable record, but its follow-up, Something Else, expands its accomplishments, offering 13 classic British pop songs. As Ray Davies' songwriting becomes more refined, he becomes more nostalgic and sentimental, retreating from the psychedelic and mod posturings that had dominated the rock world. Indeed, Something Else... Read More

Kind of a Drag
Artist: The Buckinghams

Given its source, Kind of a Drag was one of the most extraordinary albums of the 1960s. One expected great, diverse LPs out of the likes of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, among others; by contrast, even the better albums by top garage-punk outfits such as the 13th Floor Elevators generally had a one-note feel to them, or were conspicuously... Read More

From the Beginning
Artist: The Small Faces
Community Score: 9.25

Another remastering of a classic piece of mid-'60s British rock & soul, and as important and enjoyable a record as, say, the Beatles' Rubber Soul or the Stones' Aftermath, even if the album itself was slapped together by Decca in an effort to undercut the band's first new release for rival Immediate Records in 1967. Steve Marriott's honest,... Read More

Brave New World
Artist: Steve Miller Band

Blasting out of stereo speakers in the summer of 1969, Brave New World was more fully realized, and rocked harder, than the Steve Miller Band's first two albums. From the opening storm of the uplifting title track to the final scorcher, "My Dark Hour," featuring Paul McCartney (credited as "Paul Ramon"), this recording was the strongest project... Read More

The Village Green Preservation Society
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 8.28

Ray Davies' sentimental, nostalgic streak emerged on Something Else, but it developed into a manifesto on The Village Green Preservation Society, a concept album lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions. As the opening title song says, the Kinks -- meaning Ray himself, in this case -- were for preserving "draft beer and... Read More

Face to Face
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 7.75

The Kink Kontroversy was a considerable leap forward in terms of quality, but it pales next to Face to Face, one of the finest collections of pop songs released during the '60s. Conceived as a loose concept album, Face to Face sees Ray Davies' fascination with English class and social structures flourish, as he creates a number of vivid... Read More

Permanent Damage
Artist: The G.T.O.'s

This 17-track aural document is arguably more sociological than musical in nature. Frank Zappa's insatiable curiosity into human behavior -- especially with regard to all manner of sexual deviance and the so-called "lunatic fringe" -- became the subject of several releases on his ironically titled Straight Records vanity label. However,... Read More

Where Were You When I Needed You - VARESE SARABANDE BONUS TRACKS
Artist: The Grass Roots

Before the Grass Roots reached the peak of their pop/rock popularity, they were a much more folk-rock-oriented outfit. Indeed, this debut album is a matter of much confusion; apparently the original Grass Roots were pretty much a front for the songwriting team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who ended up performing on much of the album... Read More

Miracle Mirror
Artist: Golden Earring
Community Score: 8.50
All I Really Want to Do
Artist: Cher
Community Score: 10.00

After Sonny & Cher hit big with "I Got You Babe," Sonny Bono decided that he would strike while they were hot and got Cher a solo deal with Liberty Records. The angle they took for the 1965 album All I Really Want to Do was folk-rock with a tiny bit of girl group pop thrown in. Choosing from the songbooks of writers like Dylan (the title track,... Read More

Rubber Soul - UK
Artist: The Beatles
Community Score: 7.34

While the Beatles still largely stuck to love songs on Rubber Soul, the lyrics represented a quantum leap in terms of thoughtfulness, maturity, and complex ambiguities. Musically, too, it was a substantial leap forward, with intricate folk-rock arrangements that reflected the increasing influence of Dylan and the Byrds. The group and George... Read More

Help! - UK
Artist: The Beatles
Community Score: 7.88

Considering that Help! functions as the Beatles' fifth album and as the soundtrack to their second film -- while filming, they continued to release non-LP singles on a regular basis -- it's not entirely surprising that it still has some of the weariness of Beatles for Sale. Again, they pad the album with covers, but the Bakersfield bounce of... Read More