Posts From Mark Leviton
The Kinks’ ‘One for the Road’: That’s Entertainment!
Ray Davies had found a new, commercial groove that appealed to American audiences that barely remembered the Kinks of the ’60s.
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Faces ‘A Nod Is As Good As a Wink…’ Album: Party Time
“It was an air of merriment. Under all the camaraderie and joviality, we took the music extremely seriously,” said Rod Stewart.
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‘Sheer Heart Attack’: Queen Breaks Through
Wildly theatrical, straddling the worlds of hard rock, pop, prog and Broadway, the album was an eclectic triumph. Now, Queen sounded like a true band.
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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken’: Closing the Gaps
As the 1972 triple album broke all the rules it revitalized the country-rock scene and made some very old music cool again
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‘A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector’: When Holiday Classics Met the Wall of Sound
Sixty years ago, an album redefined the Christmas song. Few heard it at the time, but today it is considered a true holiday classic.
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Quincy Jones’ ‘Back on the Block’: A Movie for the Ears
Recognized as one of the most unusual and kaleidoscopic albums ever produced, the 7x Grammy-winner featured an all-star cast.
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Steely Dan ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’: All Systems Go
Their debut is tuneful and literate, and the musicianship can be exuberantly loose or scarily precise, perched midway between jazz, rock, and rhythm and blues.
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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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Carly Simon ‘No Secrets’: Sexy and Smart
When she reached the top of the charts with the smash “You’re So Vain,” she became not only a pop phenomenon, but a gender role model.
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s ‘Live Rust’: Not Fading Away
From tender acoustic music to blistering hard rock, Young and the Horse did it all on this late ’70s live album.
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