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
Little Feat ‘Waiting for Columbus’: The End of the Beginning
How they pulled off one of the best live albums of all time is a heartening story of persistence and a sad, cautionary tale.
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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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Stray Cats’ Debut Album & the Rockabilly Revival
The Long Island trio had to go to England to find success playing American rockabilly. By the time they returned home, they were stars.
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Van Morrison: His Finest Live Album @ 50
The enhanced original ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’ and the added three discs and DVD are a treasure trove of live in-concert gems
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Jefferson Airplane ‘Surrealistic Pillow’: The LP That Fed Your Head
The Summer of Love landmark sounds like a sonic experiment, drenched in echo and reverb, with poetic lyrics that often flirt with the totally irrational.
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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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Steppenwolf, The Debut Album: Heavy Metal Thunder
If the album had given us nothing more than “Born to Be Wild,” it would still be a classic. But there was a lot more to the mostly Canadian band’s first LP.
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Jackson Browne: The 1st Album, An L.A. Troubadour’s Debut
Several of his songs, written when he was still in his teens, had already been recorded by others by the time Browne entered the studio to cut his debut
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Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’: An Epic, Massive Swan Song
By the time ‘Bridge’ swept the 1971 Grammy Awards, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had effectively parted ways professionally.
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