Criteria for a great rock album: Songs you never get tired of. Genius songwriting, both with words and music. Virtuoso musicianship with multiple instruments. Gripping vocal performances. Each band member contributing at the very height of their power. Who’s Next...
I’m sorry, but these two albums from the seventies were so good, it was impossible for me to choose one over the other. Rumors was recorded despite the turmoil of the band members’ dissolving personal relationships. John and Christine McVie were divorcing, Lindsey...
I warned you there would be ties. Choosing five beloved albums for a former FM jock is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. The two records in third place couldn’t be more different yet both are especially relevant this year for different reasons. Of...
Although most critics consider Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the Fab Four’s zenith, I maintain that song for song, Rubber Soul has it beat. It is less ambitious — it’s not a concept album and the band does not take on an alternate persona. There are...
Joni Mitchell Blue To use a sports term, Joni Mitchell left it all on the field when she recorded Blue. She laid out all her cards, left nothing to the imagination. Her friends cautioned her about being so honest with her life and loves, but during this depressed...
