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.
Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Alternate Collection’: Fascinating Variations on 6 Best-Selling Albums
Some of the recordings (especially many of the concert tracks) are as good as—or arguably even better than—the familiar ones.
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Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Only the Strong Survive’: A Soulful Side Trip
The new album—more a heartfelt tribute to the music Springsteen grew up with than an attempt to reinvent it—is a home run.
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience Heats Up the L.A. Forum: Review
Throughout the well-recorded album, which draws from their first three albums, the guitar pyrotechnics range from excellent to astonishing.
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Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Use Your Illusion’ (Super Deluxe): A Big Statement Gets Bigger
In his best moments, Axl Rose sings up a storm and is a compelling stage presence. And the rest of the band is on fire.
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Billy Joel ‘Live at Yankee Stadium’ Hits Some Homers
Performing in the city of his birth to more than 50,000 admirers, Joel exudes a sense of triumph and validation—and understandably so.
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The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ Box Set: Was It Their Most Ambitious Adventure?
The music sounds noticeably brighter and sharper than before, and the vocals and instruments can be distinguished more clearly.
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Mark Knopfler’s ‘Studio Albums 2009–2018’: Review
The subject matter and musical approaches are all over the place, but the albums feel cohesive and the performances are first-rate.
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Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’ Deluxe Edition: Review
The LP feels almost like a Waters solo project, but owes a debt to Gilmour’s dynamic guitar work, and to Wright and Mason.
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Joni Mitchell Moves Beyond Folk on ‘The Asylum Albums’
This anthology is loaded with classic material that proves Mitchell is not content to deliver variations on past successes.
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An Expansive Look at Two Classic Early-’70s Kinks LPs
The band’s first two albums for RCA Records deliver more pleasures than their initial sales and reviews would suggest.
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