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
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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Van Morrison Grooves With the Street Choir
Morrison’s third official solo album in 1970 is largely about the spirit of soul/R&B, the feel and his singing. It features his biggest U.S. hit (no, not that one).
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Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ ‘Going to a Go-Go’: Life of the Party
Their 1965 release was their only studio album to make the Billboard top 10 during the ’60s.
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Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’: Poetry In Motion
She said, “Of course I wanted to work in the rock ’n’ roll tradition. I didn’t know any other tradition existed.”
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Rockpile’s ‘Seconds of Pleasure’: One And Done
By any measure they were a great rock ‘n’ roll band, but their sole album under the group’s name didn’t always show why.
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‘Ringo’: His 1973 Solo Breakthrough, With a Little Help From You Know Who
Although he’d had a couple of solo hits post-Beatles, the albums just weren’t happening. Then he reached into his phone book and made a few calls.
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Stevie Wonder’s ‘Talking Book’: Passion, Pain & Love
Said the Motown great of the groundbreaking 1972 album, “I wanted to express various things that I felt…the passions, emotion and love.”
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‘The Who By Numbers’: Back to Basics
After an eight-year odyssey of releasing concept albums, the original quartet put together a set of unrelated songs that found favor with their fans.
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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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Pure Prairie League: ‘Bustin’ Out’—Persistence Pays Off
Left for dead by their record label, and with musicians using the group as a revolving door, the band nearly packed it in. Then they got lucky.
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