Oh let the sun beat down upon my face

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti - 1975

And what a better way to start a new year than with my favourite Zeppelin album!
I wonder if this album would have ever existed in the way it does if it wasn't due to the limitations of the vinyl format. The band had written and recorded 8 new tracks, but they were too long to fit into a record. So they decided to make a double album by adding some outtakes from the previous ones. The result is this monolith of an album, a sort of sprawling creature that spawns their whole career and manages to keep you in awe for 80 minutes. The 1974 songs are all great, but I think that the older songs are part of what makes this one so special, since they add a variety that I don't think any of the previous albums had.
The phrase that comes to mind when I think about this album is "larger than life". It's a huge album, not only because it's a long double album, but because there's so much music, and so much intensity to that music, that it can be an exhausting experience. Not in the sense of tiresome, definitely not in the sense of boring, but in the sense of exertion.
For me, this album and I have had a long lasting relationship. I had it on vinyl, with that awesome die cut sleeve, and i would spend a lot of time fascinated both with the music and the cover, trying to figure out who those people were. I also had it on cassette, and that poor thing endured a lot of walkmen (remember those?) and I would even take it with me on holidays. And, of course, I also had it on CD. I never really stopped listening to it and it always somehow manages to amaze me every time I listen to it again.
So here is the perfect album by the band who always knew what they wanted and who always did whatever they felt like doing musically and that, in this one, seem to be telling all of us that they were right all along.
It's a fundamental album. If you never listened to it, do it now.

• This was the first album they would release under their Swan Song label. Which is a bit of irony since, unless i remember incorrectly, it is the last good album they would ever release. 
• Some of the people featured in the inner covers are: Pope Leo XIII, Buzz Aldrin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and W.C.Fields. 
• The album was released on February 24th, 1975. As I'm typing this, it's June 30th, 2018, which is my birthday. This makes me very happy (if you don't understand, you're not meant to). 
• The song "Boogie with Stu" is credited to Mrs. Valens. They had heavily borrowed on the lyrics of "Ooh My Head", by Richie Valens, and they had heard she never got any royalties over her son's music. Of course, they were sued over copyright infringement (they had a lot of that, didn't they?)
• Picking one song from this album is exceedingly difficult. I'm going to pick a couple, which isn't easy either. I decided not to put "Kashmir", because it's way too well known. I'm gonna go with the opening track, "Custard Pie", and "The Wanton Song". Ask me tomorrow, and I would pick other two (or every single song, to be honest).

I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't shed a tear

John Lennon - Rock'n'Roll - 1975

The first thing I have to say is that I'm a bit surprised (and maybe a bit embarrassed too) about how little I have by John Lennon. I don't know why, but I thought it was worth mentioning, since this is the first album of his I'm writing about.
The album was created and released due to legal issues, actually. Lennon was being sued over copyright infringement because he had borrowed a little too heavily on Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" for The Beatles' song "Come together". Part of the settlement was that he would include 3 songs owned by producer Morris Levy. So Lennon decided to do an album with covers of 1950s rock songs.
And they are all such great songs!  "Stand by Me", "Bonnie Moronie", Be-Bop-A-Lula", "Ain't that a Shame", all brilliant classics, so we can be glad that he got sued (he deserved it, I think).
I can't remember how old I was when I first heard this one, probably 13 or 14. And I loved it right away. I guess at the time this was my only source of classic rock'n'roll (other than the soundtrack of Grease, probably) and, while many of the songs I probably knew already, because they're sort of ubiquitous, I realise now how much Lennon's versions got imprinted in my head.
I hadn't heard this album in ages. I still think that his rendition of these classics is really cool, and his unique voice makes them even better. It's a great album for when you want to enjoy some good old 50s music.

• To listen to "You Can't Catch me" is a bit spooky. I mean, other than the chorus, "Come Together" is almost like a carbon copy. It's like listening to the different Metallica's "Unforgiven" songs. 
• I was very tempted to actually put "You Can't Catch me" because of the whole copyright issue. You can look it up on YouTube, and I recommend you do. I'm putting "Ain't that a Shame", which is one of my favourites here.

Bonus track

• I mentioned "Stand by Me", and John did a really good version of it too, but the classic version by Ben E. King is, well, a classic. It's also the song from one of my most loved movies of all times, which has the same name. If you never watched it, you should. It will make you laugh, cry, fear and smile, occasionally all at the same time.