A few albums blended artistry and professionalism quite successfully; Carly Simon’s Hotcakes and Joni Mitchell’s Miles of Aisles are two that come to mind. These records displayed high regard for technical competency, but showed a depth of feeling that is missing in so much seventies rock.

What we come to is a desire for 1975 to be a year of greater innovation, greater energy. The enthusiastic, creative musicians of the sixties have, in many cases, turned into the muzak makers of the seventies. A lot of them simply made too much money to keep their interest in doing something new. They figured if they could make five million dollars a year doing the same stuff over and over, well, let’s keep doing it.

Audiences are going to be demanding more for their money; the rockers have had it too soft in the last couple of years. So maybe we’ll get a new wave of creative groups, or a resurgence of talented artists who’ve let their gifts sit unchanged. No one is foolish enough to say “let’s have the good old rock again” and really expect 1967 to repeat itself. But any of us can hope that 1975 brings a larger proportion of albums that make us want to run to the record player, instead of putting on a new album for lack of something better to do.

Critic’s Choice—1974 (Note: What follows is a listing, in no particular order, of a few of the year’s better pop albums in various musical categories; we certainly did not listen to all pop releases, and these, of course, reflect what cross-section of music we were exposed to!)

Miles of Aisles — Joni Mitchell (Asylum) Urubamba — Urubamba (Columbia) Gracias a la Vida (Here’s to Life) — Joan Baez (A&M) Sundown — Gordon Lightfoot (Reprise) Waitress in a Doughnut Shop — Maria Muldaur (Warners) Walls and Bridges — John Lennon (Apple) Too Late for the Sky — Jackson Browne (Asylum) Dreams and All That Stuff — Leo Kottke (Capitol) Good For You, Too — Toni Brown (MCA) Starting Over — Rasperberries (Capitol) Hotcakes — Carly Simon (Elektra)

BEST OF THE YEAR SINGLE: “Whatever You Want” Jackson Five FEMALE VOCALIST: Joan Baez, for Gracias a la Vida MALE VOCALIST: Harry Nilsson SONGWRITER: Jackson Browne, Carly Simon ALBUM TRACK: “DiDa” Joan Baez, from Gracias . . .

GUITAR: Carlos Santana, Leo Kottke BASS: Jack Casady, Paul McCartney PIANO: Ramsey Lewis SAX: Gato Barbieri DRUMS: Keith Moon IN CONCERT: Elton John SHOWPERSON: Pete Townshend SESSIONS: Tom Scott MARRIAGE: Kristofferson and Coolidge

Kris and Rita . . . a good sounding marriage.