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
Yes’ ‘The Yes Album’: Brilliance Under Pressure
Their record label was looking for commercial progress in order to justify keeping them under contract. This 1971 classic put the band on the prog map.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreDolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris’ ‘Trio’: Soaring Sisterhood
Their partnership is among the purest, boasting a celestial vocal blend, rooted in mutual admiration and the sheer joy of making music.
Read MoreDelaney and Bonnie’s ‘Accept No Substitute’: White Soul Born in Turmoil
A beautiful album, close to perfection in the playing and singing, it was helmed by a married couple whose own relationship was falling apart at the seams.
Read MoreElvis Costello and the Attractions’ ‘Imperial Bedroom’: Multi-Colored Delights
The 1982 album is generally considered one of Costello’s best, with 15 exceptional songs and some of the best work by the Attractions.
Read MoreSteely Dan’s Aja: A Digestible, Dazzling Listen
Previously a collective yet to realize its most effective means of transforming ideas into finished art, Becker and Fagen coalesced on this 1977 classic
Read MoreThe Band’s Pioneering ‘Music From Big Pink’
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.
Read More‘Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1’: 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.
Read MorePaul McCartney’s Solo Debut: Declaration of Independence
The 1970 album, his first outside of the Beatles, is a picture of Paul in transition, a historical document of quiet beauty.
Read MoreFree’s ‘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 Free’s ferocious-yet-controlled ethic.
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