Posts From Sam Sutherland

Stephen Stills’ A-List Solo Debut Revisited

A balance of DIY proficiency and top-tier talent gave the 1970 release an early head start in the race for most popular solo album by a member of CSN&Y.

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‘Desperado’—Eagles’ Sagebrush Country-Rock Opera

With its sophomore effort, the band tethered its polished country-rock to a concept album driven by a Wild West narrative.

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‘Disraeli Gears’: When Cream Rose to the Top

On their second album, the trio honed their virtuosic interplay to a sharper edge and added a more modern sensibility spiked with psychedelia.

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‘Wildflowers’: Tom Petty’s Heartbroken Solo Masterpiece

Petty called it his favorite album. Its generous song list only hinted at the virtual torrent of material he was creating during this period.

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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ ‘Damn the Torpedoes’: Full Speed Ahead

The LP was the band’s long-awaited breakthrough, with them now matching the caliber of their front man’s writing with their focused musicianship

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When Donald Fagen Lightened Up With ‘The Nightfly’

On his debut solo album, cut during Steely Dan’s ’80s hiatus, Fagen trades cynicism for nostalgia in a song cycle.

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Flying Burrito Bros.’ Seminal Country-Rock Debut, ‘Gilded Palace’

Gram Parsons had envisioned the Burritos as “his” band, but ‘The Gilded Palace of Sin’ underscores the partnership between Parsons and Chris Hillman

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‘Late for the Sky’—The Jackson Browne Confessional Masterpiece

Browne achieved a poetic force with the eight songs comprising the album, their lyrics demanding a closer listen.

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The Byrds’ ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’: Cornerstone of Country-Rock

Their most consequential stylistic stroke since their pioneering folk-rock debut three years earlier, it ushered in country-rock and Americana

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Warren Zevon’s Recovery Through ‘Sentimental Hygiene’

The 1987 album signaled more than a bid for a career reset. Now sober and focused, and with help from R.E.M., he was clearly back on track.

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