For each of these artists this album was the end of the road – but did the journey finish in triumph or travesty?
SAMTIMONIOUS.com examines the evidence……….
LET IT BE – The Beatles (1970): The last album released under the group name while they were still together, ‘Let It Be‘ is the most lacklustre album in the Fabs’ canon.
The title cut is a powerful piece, but too many other songs lack trademark Beatle spirit and originality. Recorded then set aside, ‘Abbey Road‘ (the last material chronologically they cut together) is a much more fitting swansong, the majesty missing on ‘Let It Be’ returning to the fore. (B)
HEARTBREAKER – Free (1973): For a group who always displayed plenty of heart, ‘Heartbreaker‘ sounds a touch heartless. Free soon stood out among the overplaying hard rock competition and while this set is not exactly heart-breaking, only ‘Wishing Well‘ bears comparison to former glories. (B-)
OOH LA LA – Faces (1973): Described on release by the lead singer as ‘a mess‘ and ‘a bloody disgrace,’ ‘Ooh La La‘ is in fact neither.
Not a masterpiece by any means, but enough of it holds water to counter Rod’s claims, even if the damage to its reputation had already been done – the two Ron-Ron title track by Messer’s Wood and Lane is an everlasting joy. (B)
BYRDS – The Byrds (1973): Back in their 65-68 heydays, put folk, jazz, raga or country in front of ‘rock‘ and chances are The Byrds were there first. Alas, all this reunion of the five original members invented was schlock-rock.
Described by chief Byrd Roger McGuinn as a ‘party‘ rather than recording sessions, the pooping lies in some atrocious material, from which only Gene Clark emerges with dignity intact. (D)
MARDI GRAS – Creedence Clearwater Revival (1972): Lasting proof that rock bands rarely function well as a democracy. After five years of taking responsibility for the outstanding, politically-charged pop of CCR, John Fogerty bows to group pressure and shares song-writing duties.
Hence, fiasco ensues – and although Fogerty was vindicated by his three excellent songs, he called time on Creedence shortly afterwards. (C+)
TROUBLE IN PARADISE – The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band (1975): Rarely has David Geffen backed a loser, but witness here the flogging of a dead horse.
Taking the combined talents of songwriter to the stars JD Souther (Linda Ronstadt, Eagles), ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and Poco main man Richie Furay, what looked promising in 1974 was all washed up twelve months later – this abysmal second album a nadir for all concerned. (C-)
ISLANDS – The Band (1977): While not the best place to start exploring their magnificent career (‘Islands‘ was necessary to complete contractual obligations to Capitol after the group had decided to split), there are enough gems to make it shine – ‘Right As Rain‘ and Livin’ in a Dream‘ sufficiently serene for any stage of their story. (A-)
DOWN THE ROAD – Stephen Stills/Manassas (1973): From the highs of the 1972 ‘Manassas‘ double album extravaganza, Stills and his superstar aggregation (Al Perkins, Joe Lala, Chris Hillman – him again), crash and burn with a follow-up as insipid as its predecessor was inspired.
Forty years later Stills cleared his ‘Manassas‘ vault with ‘Pieces‘ a collection of out-takes and unused songs that revealed how good ‘Down The Road‘ might have been – had anyone been focused enough to care. (C)
THROUGH THE MORNING, THROUGH THE NIGHT – Dillard & Clark (1969): With their previous offering Doug Dillard (ex The Dillards) and Gene Clark (former Byrd) made an essential contribution to the development of country-rock and although this sequel is less assured, the Gene-genius writes and sings with his customary excellence – ‘Polly‘ and the title-track resurrected by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant for their memorable ‘Raising Sand‘ collaboration many years later. (B+)
PHOBIA – The Kinks (1993): Ok, this is an assumption based on disregarding reunion rumours and twenty seven years without a new Kinks LP. But reining since 1993 as the last time the Brothers Grimm of rock were heard on record together, it surely warrants inclusion.
The best kept secret of their career, ‘Phobia‘ came and went with barely a word, but ‘Still Searching,’ ‘Somebody Stole My Car‘ and ‘Scattered‘ resonate like Rays of sunshine so to speak. (A-)
THE HOOPLE – Mott the Hoople (1974): The most inventive and influential rock band to emerge in the 70s (certainly in Britain), the formative careers of groups as diverse as Queen and The Clash were shaped by what they took from Mott the Hoople.
By the spring of 1974 if not running out of steam, there was the departure of guitarist Mick Ralphs to overcome – yet despite the upheaval, principal songwriter, the outrageously talented Ian Hunter, produced more stunning material (a wonderful hybrid of glam and Dylan) that ultimately brought this exhilarating ride to a close.
As Hunter himself wrote and sang: ‘Don’t wanna be hip, but thanks for a great trip.’ (A-)
IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR – Led Zeppelin (1979): There is no difficulty finding an opinion on what proved the final Zep studio album (drummer John Bonham died the following year), the difficult thing is finding two that concur. Suffice to say this curious collection reflects a group in flux.
Part long in the tooth prog, part early-in-the-event grunge, with its eclectic rhythms ‘Fool in the Rain‘ offers some pointers on where Zeppelin might have gone had they advanced into the 80s.
But for the most part it sounds a holding action, the band as yet unsure what path to take from a decade they had more or less dominated. (B)
OGDENS NUT GONE FLAKE – The Small Faces (1968): The foremost example of a group bowing out at the peak of their artistic form.
Guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire Steve Marriott departed in the wake of not only their crowning achievement, but a defining album of the era.
Part soul, part rock, part fairy tale, as a psychedelic concept it’s up there with ‘Sgt. Pepper‘. Astonishing. (A)
BACK TO THE EGG – Wings (1979): Half concept album, half soundtrack to a television special, but almost entirely terrible, Paul received a critical mauling for this the seventh (and thankfully final) outing from Wings. Being McCartney it is not short of hooks, even if the melodies sound reheated from years back – quality control also absent in the most banal lyrics of his career. (C)
LAST TIME AROUND – Buffalo Springfield (1968): The seminal LA folk-rockers existed in name only by the time of their final outing – Neil Young gone, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay soon off to respective pastures new with CSN and Poco. Despite the sense of finality, Young (‘On the Way Home‘), Furay (‘Kind Woman‘) and Stills (‘Pretty Girl Why‘) do no harm to their growing reputations. (B+)
CUT THE CRAP – The Clash (1985): Anyone familiar with this blog will know how revered The Clash are on these pages – but with this ‘the only band that matters‘ become ‘a once great band in tatters.’ The whole notion is nonsense from the start, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon keeping the group going with three deluded souls (not bad musicians by any stretch but that is beside the point), who probably couldn’t believe they were in The Clash.
Strummer distanced himself from the ‘product’ (meant to be as disparaging as it sounds) before release, but it was still his name all over the song-writing credits – songs full of mid-80s studio gimmickry but lyrics with precious little of the potency Strummer was renowned for.
Although ‘This Is England‘ was acceptable, if a bit shop-worn, the rest is mainly a mix of under-whelming or at best under-developed. The only people to emerge from this mess with enhanced reputations are Mick Jones and ‘Topper’ Headon, simply because they were out of the picture, departing the scene for various reasons two years before.
‘Cut the Crap‘ is not just the worst record on their roster – it stands as an insult to what went before. (C-)
GOODBYE – Cream (1969): Whether you consider Cream stylistic or bombastic, likelihood is you will find it on here. Split between three live and three studio performances, for the non-aficionado the studio cuts represent the best value – particularly ‘Badge‘ an impressive Eric Clapton/George Harrison co-write.
As a trio, Ginger Baker (drums), Jack Bruce (bass) and Clapton (guitar) were a formidable unit, but the indulgent ‘live’ tracks make this a very long goodbye. (B)
INNUENDO – Queen (1991): If Queen were about style over substance then ‘Innuendo‘ could not have been a more fitting finale. Being among the unconverted it was always hard to engage with Queen albums, but made against the backdrop of Freddie Mercury moving through his dying days, the record confronts mortality without being too mawkish, ‘These Are the Days of our Lives,’ polished but also poignant.
Elsewhere it’s the usual mix of lightweight rock and heavy pomp. (B-)
THE GIFT – The Jam (1982): For their parting shot, Paul Weller takes The Jam from Kinks country to Springsteen-ville; bigger sound, bigger statements, but no let-up in his faith in the working class.
Intense, strident, heart in the right place, not much to dislike.
There – a Jam review without mentioning Weller’s fascination with Pete Townshend. (A-)
ELECTRIC LADYLAND – The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968): The final studio album of the ‘Experience’ and last released in his lifetime, ‘Electric Ladyland‘ is a sprawling, scintillating……….supertanker of a double album that stands as the last word in 60s sonic innovation.
Even for non-devotees of free-form guitar virtuosity, the playing is extraordinary and most of the songs top-notch – any serious discussion of blues-rock begins here. (A)
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
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It’s an interesting article. Logically the vast majority of “final” albums are going to be at a point where either a. band members have fallen out with each other, b. bands have fallen out with their record companies, legal status or recording obligations c. run out of ideas, d run out of decent songs e. band members all pulling in different musical directions or f a combination of these
Given all that most final albums are at best going to be pretty grim with maybe the odd gem or two amongst them
For all of that is it better to go out when you know the games up, the inspiration fading, the inability to capture any greats like a band might once have done or to just keep churning out at best average albums to keep the show on the road
Financially it no doubt is more lucrative to keep going, musically maybe not so much. Few artists can capture the magic of their early hits, most that do have taken leave of the band and struck out on their own. The likes of Knopfler, Van, Ray Davies, Bob Seger come to mind as artists who can still turn out something magic but for many the quality of the albums they still churn out is at best on a level to so many of the “final” albums, seemingly for a number the party should be over but they are determined to drag it out till the last beer is gone
Hello Barry – hope you are well;
I wouldn’t disagree with any of what you say, although in some cases what turns out to be the ‘last’ album doesn’t always begin that way – mitigating circumstances accepted in the case of Led Zeppelin.
In the case of the Small Faces, the final album became so due partly to the fact that it was not commercially successful despite being a work of sublime quality, Steve Marriott sensing the group had gone as far as it could when an album as good as ‘Ogdens’ failed to sell in any great quantities.
Which would have been akin to The Kinks breaking up after the commercial failure of ‘Village Green’ although in this case Ray and Dave Davies decided to carry on regardless.
Perhaps another example of this is an album I kicked myself afterwards for not including – namely ‘LA Woman’ by The Doors, the death of Jim Morrison, ending the recognised version of the band, this a clear case of a band going out on a high (rather than sigh).
Indeed, future recording sessions had been planned but of course never took place due to Morrison passing away.
Stay safe and well.
Regards
Neil
Where is Warren Zevon’s final The Wind??? Jx
Hi Janet – long time no speak, hope you are well.
I thought about including ‘The Wind’ and ‘Grevious Angel’ by Gram Parsons but in the end confined it to groups.
Wish I had included them now – considering some of the poor stuff I listened to last week!!
Regards
Neil