Posts From Sam Sutherland
Squeeze’s ‘East Side Story’: A Wily New Wave Classic
The album’s success underscores how Squeeze’s elan as a lively, kinetic pop-rock outfit was elevated by Difford and Tilbrook’s artistry as storytellers.
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Steely Dan’s ‘Royal Scam’: Rock on a Grand Scale
The 1976 LP proved divisive, augmenting the leaner ensemble core of prior albums with more aggressive ensemble arrangements
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Warren Zevon’s Hard-Boiled Asylum Debut: Rock Noir
With production by Jackson Browne and great songs like “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” and “Hasten Down the Wind,” the 1976 LP is an unsung classic.
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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
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‘Pearl’–Janis Joplin’s Last Hurrah
‘Pearl’ remains Janis Joplin’s most fully realized record, fronting the best band she would ever lead on her strongest set of material.
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Steely Dan’s ‘Gaucho’: Perfection and Chaos
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s quest for the perfect groove proved a key denominator across the 1980 album.
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Bob Marley and the Wailers’ ‘Live!’ Album: Reggae Rocks Babylon
The London concert providedvalidation that Marley and his band, the Wailers, had breached the rock market with their potent strain of reggae.
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‘All Things Must Pass’–George Harrison’s Crowning Solo Set
Released in 1970 as the Beatles officially split and all four dropped solo albums, Harrison’s mammoth boxed set was a dark horse.
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‘Buffalo Springfield Again’: An Embattled Creation
A volatile mix of talent and dysfunction percolates beneath the surface of the California band’s second and best album, cobbled together amidst rivalries
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Debut: Of Rivers and Cowgirls
The 1969 album’s streamlined band sound offered a direct connection to Young’s emerging power as a live musician, and launched a career-long partnership
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