Posts From Thomas Kintner

Steely Dan: ‘Aja’—A Dazzling Listen

Previously a collective yet to realize its most effective means of transforming ideas into finished art, Becker and Fagen coalesced on this 1977 classic

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Pink Floyd Shine on ‘Wish You Were Here’

Despite tense recording sessions, the band’s followup to ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ became a landmark of art-rock on its own right

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Kiss’ ‘Destroyer’: Where the Music Finally Equaled the Image

Everyone knew the makeup, the blood and that tongue, but their records weren’t selling. Then came ‘Destroyer’ and a single that almost didn’t make the cut.

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Doobie Brothers—’What Were Once Vices…’: The End of an Era

The LP took the Doobies to heights previously unreached, even as no one could know how close the band was to the end of its first era.

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The Van Halen Debut Album: A Turning Point for Rock

It didn’t sound at first listen like something to change the course of rock music, but they opened doors for any number of rock acts.

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Review—James Taylor’s ‘Sweet Baby James’: Fire and Rain

It ushered in the singer-songwriter era and has endured as a beacon to listeners and like-minded musicians for half a century.

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Warren Zevon ‘Excitable Boy’ LP: Werewolves and Lawyers, Oh My

With songs like “Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money” and the title track, it was not only his greatest work but a singer-songwriter classic

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Joni Mitchell ‘Court and Spark’: A Significant Pivot

Her 1974 best-seller was adorned by a sophisticated sonic sensibility that would define her career from that moment forward.

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When Johnny Cash Did Time ‘At Folsom Prison’

Performing for prison inmates was nothing new for the legendary singer, but his record label was nervous about making an album at one. Good thing they did.

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Queen ‘A Night at the Opera’: A Fancy Blockbuster

Their fourth album was “a showy spectacle that revels in its bombastic production” and gave us “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It’s also an indisputable classic.

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