Posts From Mark Leviton
Gregg Allman’s Solo Debut ‘Laid Back’: Trauma and Survival
The LP was intended to go in a different direction than the ABB: softer, more contemplative, acoustic-based, a statement of gratitude in the face of loss.
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The ‘Truth’ According to Jeff Beck: A Genre-Busting Masterpiece
The former Yardbirds guitarist’s 1968 solo debut signaled a half-dozen highways for the future of rock. Every track on ‘Truth’ is astonishing.
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Eric Clapton’s Solo Debut LP: A Long Way From Home
With help from a some of rock’s greatest songwriters and musicians, the former Cream/Blind Faith guitarist launched his solo career with a gem of an LP.
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The Kinks’ ‘Sleepwalker’: The Comeback
The album kept selling to teenagers who barely remembered the Kinks of the previous decade, or thought they were a new band.
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Todd Rundgren’s ‘A Wizard, A True Star’: Brilliant & Baffling
Was Todd’s against-the-grain psychedelic album a masterpiece or a slab of unintelligible self-indulgence? We look back at a ’70s classic.
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Santana’s ‘Abraxas’: Post-Woodstock Latin Magic
When it came to recording their second album, the band wanted to expend more effort, and make a better-sounding record, than their somewhat rushed debut.
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Bad Company’s 1974 Debut: When Rock Fans Couldn’t Get Enough
Arising from the ashes of Free, Bad Company pursued a more stripped-down hard-rock vision. By the end of 1974, they had a #1 LP and were headlining arenas.
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Vanilla Fudge’s 1967 Debut: Maximum Psychedelia
It was rock music pushed to its limits, with a radical use of soft-loud-soft dynamics and the emotional drama of rhythm and blues and soul.
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Al Stewart’s ‘Year of the Cat’: Musical Cinema
Stewart liked the title track, but didn’t consider it suitable as a single, until producer Alan Parsons and the record company convinced him of its destiny.
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Genesis’ ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’: Peter Gabriel’s Theatrical Exit
For their 1974 prog opus, Gabriel and the band came up with a complicated and somewhat opaque ‘urban odyssey’ tale set in New York City.
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