Recordings

Best Classic Bands offers smart, informed and unbiased assessments of the latest rock album releases and reissues to offer readers guidance on what sounds they might enjoy.

The Willie Nelson Star-Studded 90th Birthday Concert: CD/Blu-ray Review

Now, here’s a guy who knows how to throw a party! And what a guest list: Keith Richards, Neil Young, Tom Jones & more.

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The Essential ‘Memphis Blues Box’: Review

This exhaustive 20-CD set took 13 years to compile and comes with a 360-page hardcover book. Definitive is an understatement!

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A New Edition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Atom Heart Mother’: Review

Their fifth album wasn’t nearly as successful as later effort like ‘Dark Side of the Moon,’ but there’s much here worth considering.

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Bob Marley & the Wailers’ ‘Catch a Fire’ Revisited: Review

With classic tracks like “Stir It Up” and “Slave Driver,” this 50th anniversary release is an essential component of any reggae collection.

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‘Looking for the Magic’ Anthology Collects Power Pop from the 1970s: Review

A 3-disc collection offers choice cuts from within the loosely defined genre, by Raspberries, Cheap Trick, Dwight Twilley & more.

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A 50th-Anniversary Edition of Frank Zappa ‘Over-nite Sensation’: Review

Zappa’s first gold record now packs in 47 bonus tracks, including live material, and a Blu-ray featuring several new mixes.

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The Feelies Cover the Velvet Underground: Review

The Velvets’ original recordings are definitive, but this CD manages to be the next best thing: a new live album from the original band.

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Bob Dylan ‘The Complete Budokan 1978’ Expands on a Controversial Release: Review

Missteps notwithstanding, there’s more than enough good stuff in this box to suggest that it belongs in any Dylan fan’s collection.

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Jimi Hendrix Rocks the Hollywood Bowl in 1967: Review

As the opening act for the Mamas and the Papas, he was still virtually unknown when he took the stage. Not for long though.

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The Cranberries’ ‘To the Faithful Departed’ Anniversary Edition: Review

Critics may have dismissed it, but there’s a lot to like on the CD, and even more to appreciate on a new 25th anniversary edition.

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