Album Rewinds
Given the test of time and the wisdom of hindsight, how do significant albums from the past sound and play today? Our critics take a second look from a fresh perspective
The Black Sabbath Debut LP: Where Metal Began
Every defining characteristic of the British band’s self-titled debut would become a hallmark of the oft-maligned heavy metal genre.
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Talking Heads—‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’: Artful Music
“We don’t fit into anyone else’s category, so we’re going to have to create our own,” said David Byrne about the band’s second album.
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Yes’ ‘Relayer’: Life After Rick Wakeman Began Here
With a new keyboardist, Patrick Moraz, the prog rock titans kept their momentum going in 1974 with their seventh studio album.
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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.
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Bonnie Raitt Gives It One More Try with ‘Green Light’: Review
Her time at Warner Bros. Records had been exhilarating, frustrating and highly creative, and her legacy there is still well worth exploring.
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Free: ‘Fire and Water’—More Than Just All Right
The album featured one of rock’s all-time classics in “All Right Now,” but there was much more to the band’s ferocious-yet-controlled ethic.
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1974’s Bad Company Debut Album: When Rock Fans Couldn’t Get Enough
Arising from the ashes of Free, the band pursued a more stripped-down hard-rock vision. By the end of 1974, they had a #1 LP and were headlining arenas.
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The Rascals’ ‘Time Peace’: A Greatest Hits LP That Foretold the Future
While the collection could be considered a document detailing the end of an era, it also marked a makeover: Time was marching on for the band.
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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.
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The Go-Go’s’ ‘Beauty and the Beat’: A Scene of Their Own
No matter the level of personal and professional drama, the musical legacy remains, with their first LP as an early peak.
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