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
Traveling Wilburys’ Debut: Just Your Basic Dylan-Petty-Harrison-Orbison-Lynne Supergroup
Their unexpected union was a landmark combining an array of distinctive voices into something no individual could create alone.
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Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood ‘Live from Madison Square Garden’: Return of the Supergroup
Following their early teamups, they kept in touch, waiting for the right moment to collaborate again.
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‘John Prine’: A Debut for the Ages for a Songwriter’s Songwriter
The album is a quiet masterpiece, a portrait of a young singer-songwriter already fully formed and crafting songs for the ages.
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The ‘Swinging’ Dire Straits Breakthrough Debut Album
“Sultans of Swing” was immediately distinctive in both sound and story. The album proved the band to be one of the most refreshingly creative of its day.
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Graham Parker & the Rumour’s ‘Heat Treatment’: When Pub-Rock Met New Wave
When the Village Voice unveiled its 1976 Pazz & Jop Poll winners, an unknown English musician commanded two of the top five entries from the influential poll’s panel of music critics.
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Electric Light Orchestra’s ‘Out of the Blue’: The Masterpiece from Munich
It’s full of treasures, a sweeping double-LP that Jeff Lynne dubbed “probably the hardest work I have ever done, but the most satisfying.”
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Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris’ ‘All the Roadrunning’: Two Unique Voices
The album took seven years to complete, due to the duo’s hectic schedules.
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Robert Palmer ‘Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley’—A Tale of 3 Cities
With help from players like Little Feat’s Lowell George and New Orleans’ Meters, the British singer’s solo career got off to a good start.
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Santana ‘Abraxas’: Post-Woodstock Latin Magic
When it came to recording their second album, the band wanted to expend more effort, and make a better-sounding record, than their somewhat rushed debut.
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