Posts From Sam Sutherland
The Band and Their Pioneering ‘Music From Big Pink’: Review
The album offered quiet songs of experience bathed in a rustic glow, with no hints of the futurism and none of the kilowatt drama then prevalent elsewhere in rock.
Read More
The Byrds’ ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ LP—A Folk Rock Manifesto
With worthwhile covers, solid originals and no filler, the LP sustained a level of quality that invited favorable comparison with their heroes, the Beatles.
Read More
Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms’: Mark Knopfler Completes the Transition to Stadium-Friendly Band
One of the first all-digital albums recorded with the compact disc in mind, it vaulted the British band into the rock stratosphere.
Read More
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Deja Vu’: A Volatile Chemistry
By any standard, it was an enormous success. But when CSN added a new member for their second album, it was an alliance that would both define and bedevil them.
Read More
Squeeze ‘East Side Story’: A Wily New Wave Classic
The album’s success underscores how the lively, kinetic pop-rock outfit was elevated by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook’s artistry as storytellers.
Read More
Manassas: Stephen Stills’ Finest (Solo) Hour
Stills’ third full-length as leader showcased a collaborative ensemble flexible enough to cover a broad stylistic palette.
Read More
‘Katy Lied’ @ 50—Steely Dan Retreats to the Studio
Stepping off the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium stage on July 5, 1974, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen closed the books on Steely Dan as a live band. An earlier tour had left both exhausted and Fagen’s voice shredded, prompting an
Read More
When Classic Rockers Rocked the Classics
Classical themes have found their way into rock since the earliest days of the music. We look at some of the best, from ELO to ELP and beyond.
Read More
The Byrds’ ‘Younger Than Yesterday’—An Ambitious Studio Flight
Expanding beyond their trademark jingle-jangle folk-rock, the band created their most diverse, experimental recording to date.
Read More
Elvis Costello & The Attractions ‘Trust’: A Dark Masterwork
The album, Costello’s fifth overall, captures the quartet at a potent but troubled peak, its title a loaded, ironic signifier
Read More