psych-25: Introduction

I’ve noticed before that defining “psychedelic” is something like the story of the six blind men and the elephant. Take some drugs, put on a blindfold, and reach forth. You can sit down now, Mr. “This being is like a thick snake.” You may or may not feel psychedelic music involves drugs—you’d be amazed how many folks going psychedelic with their nehru shirts and hypnotic visuals in the classic 1966-1970 period proudly swear they never took a hallucinogen once. Maybe you think long dark album-side jams are the ticket, or possibly whimsical, sprightly verse-chorus-versus tone poems about Emily, white bicycles, witch seasons, and such. Maybe only a sitar will do. Maybe you think Their Satanic Majesties Request counts. People are guaranteed to disagree about these things. Is psychedelic music an irrelevant fad well past its use-by date? Did it never go away? Do you need to take drugs to appreciate it? Do you need a colorful spiraling visualizer to accompany it? Will it damage your chromosomes?

Et cetera, because I don’t know the answers to any of these questions (except I think your chromosomes are safe). If I have to be pinned down to a definition it is this: “experienced as mind-manifesting.” That’s as far as I’m willing to go. This quest started because my friend Jack over at Swellsville asked me one day on a walk what I thought were the best psychedelic albums. We kicked it around a while. My first thoughts ranged well beyond the ‘60s and 1970. Next I had a notion to do a list of 10, to satisfy my own curiosities about what I would find there. Jack and I kicked it around some more and he signed on for a while. Then I read a couple of books— High Weirdness by Erik Davis and Turn On Your Mind by Jim DeRogatis—that opened up the field for me quite a bit, especially, on a practical level, the DeRogatis survey which covers 1966 to practically the publication date in 2003. At that point finalizing a list became a minor obsession over the second half of the past year.

Here is where I stop tinkering and commit to a countdown of my 25 favorite psychedelic albums as of approximately 2024, publishing biweekly in the year ahead. Some notes: quite a few albums made it by way of one or two songs that are undeniable godhead even if the rest of the album is often silly at best. These situations are noted by calling out the specific songs. I don’t really think you should track down a full copy of, say, Incense and Peppermints by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. The title song makes it, although the opening eight-minute “The World’s on Fire” does have its points. Don’t forget the Strawberry Alarm Clock is where Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd got his start.

I leave you with the bottom 25 of my top 50 to give you some idea of where this countdown exercise might be headed. I also include a list of honorable mentions—they are albums I had never heard properly as albums until the past six months (the gaps, oh, the gaps). I’ve got a big list of things to listen to I’m still working on. Personally, I need to hear an album a few times before I can judge. Thus the honorable mentions are albums that impressed a lot on first listen (wow factor = 5 of 5). I still want to hear more of them and in some cases have. But it’s all in medias res around here and I may well have further notes, comments, and posts as I proceed over the year. Jack and I are still kicking it around. In fact, he may show up for a countervailing top 10 about the time I get to mine. We’ll see.

So go take some drugs responsibly—or not, as you see fit, and I mean that sincerely—and let’s dig in, maaan.

Note: Arbitrary limit of two albums per artist in the top 50.

26. Eric Burdon & the Animals, The Twain Shall Meet (1968) – “Monterey,” “Sky Pilot”
27. Avalanches, Since I Left You (2000)
28. Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now (1982)
29. Yes, Close to the Edge (1972)
30. King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
31. Diamanda Galas, Diamanda Galas (1984)
32. Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
33. Small Faces, There Are But Four Small Faces (1967) – “Itchycoo Park”
34. Strawberry Alarm Clock, Incense and Peppermints (1967) – “Incense and Peppermints”
35. Millennium, Begin (1968)
36. Tomorrow, Tomorrow (1968)
37. Zombies, Odessey and Oracle (1968)
38. Pharoah Sanders, Karma (1969)
39. Sleep, Dopesmoker (1995)
40. Utopia, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (1974)
41. Massive Attack, Mezzanine (1998)
42. Wire, 154 (1979)
43. Neu!, Neu! 2 (1973)
44. Bongwater, Too Much Sleep (1989)
45. Jesus and Mary Chain, Psychocandy (1985)
46. Beach Boys, Smiley Smile (1967) – “Heroes and Villains,” “Good Vibrations”
47. Donna Summer, I Remember Yesterday (1977) – “I Feel Love”
48. Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
49. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Sexplosion! (1991)
50. Mothers of Invention, We’re Only in It for the Money (1968)

Honorable mentions
Amon Düül, Phallus Dei (1969)
Ash Ra Tempel, Schwingungen (1972)
Kevin Ayers, Joy of a Toy (1969)
Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Bevis Frond, The Auntie Winnie Album (1988)
Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
Cardinal, Cardinal (1994)
Creation, Our Music Is Red—With Purple Flashes (1998)
Gong, You (1974)
Lee “Scratch” Perry & Friends, Open the Gate (1989)
Plastic People of the Universe, Egon Bondy’s Happy Hearts Club Banned (1978)
Radiohead, Kid A (2000)
Mary Timony, The Golden Dove (2002)
Ween, The Mollusk (1997)