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
Paul Simon ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’: A Solo Triumph
His only #1 LP, and an Album of the Year Grammy winner, this 1975 release offered definitive proof that he was not going back to the past.
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Al Stewart and ‘Year of the Cat’: Musical Cinema
He liked the title track, but didn’t consider it suitable as a single, until producer Alan Parsons and the record company convinced him of its destiny.
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When Carlene Carter Created ‘Musical Shapes’ (With Rockpile)
Desperate to find a simpatico partner for her third LP, she turned to her husband, Rockpile bassist Nick Lowe.
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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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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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Warren Zevon Copes with Mortality in ‘Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School’
Newly sober after years of alcohol abuse and subsequent bad behavior, the singer and songwriter was forthcoming about his new outlook.
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Electric Light Orchestra: ‘Eldorado’—A Mighty Spark
For their fourth LP, ELO moved past the uncertainties of their early years and took listeners on a journey into the future
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Buddy Guy: ‘Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues’—A Joyous Noise
The album earned him the first of many Grammy Awards and sold way better than any of his previous recordings.
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