Happy Leap Day! It's kind of peculiar to think this year will be the last round of Anniversary Articles, as I will have done one for every year since 1970. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, as we have a solid year of rock music to discuss here. 1974 is a bit of a curious year, as we see the end of prog rock and the beginnings of arena rock. Let's check out what was going on for 1974!
Right off, we get a handful of great hits, with "Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers and Grand Funk Railroad's cover of "Loco-motion." The Eagles give "The Best of My Love" and "Already Gone," while Rush's debut makes waves in Cleveland with "Working Man." We also see the debut of Kiss, though still a few years off of their success, but their first record provides live staples like "Strutter" and "Deuce."Things heat up as the year goes on, with Aerosmith's "Same Old Song and Dance," Bad Company's debut album with "Can't Get Enough," and Lynyrd Skynyrd giving us a Second Helping down in their "Sweet Home Alabama." This is followed by Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Not Fragile, including hits like "Roll On Down the Highway" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."
While progressive rock was looking a little long in the tooth by now, it was still a standout year with some big, experimental albums. King Crimson started things off with Starless and Bible Black, along with Camel's Mirage. Rick Wakeman took listeners on a Journey to the Center of the Earth, Emerson Lake & Palmer said Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends with an epic live album, Supertramp committed The Crime of the Century, Genesis ended their Gabriel era with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Yes would get quite technical with Relayer. King Crimson then came back with the much celebrated Red. However, after this year, prog rock would really drop off, as tastes and trends were shifting away from extended songwriting and musical experimentation.
Still, the year ends strong with some solid rock. Kiss comes back Hotter Than Hell, Sweet has the "Fox on the Run," Grand Funk Railraod returns with "Some Kind of Wonderful," and Queen teases their upcoming stadium rock prowess with "Stone Cold Crazy" and "Killer Queen" on Sheer Heart Attack. It was certainly a busy year for some of these bands. Even Deep Purple put out Burn and Stormbringer this year, before Ritchie Blackmore had had enough and left to start his Rainbow.
As you can see, this was another great year for rock music, even as styles and line-ups were changing. Be sure to check out my playlist below for more classics, and if you think I've missed something, let me know in the comments below. Until then, rock on! \m/
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