The central theme of “What’s Going On” and the album of the same name came from Marvin Gaye’s own life. When his brother Frankie returned from Vietnam, Gaye noticed that his outlook had changed. He put himself in his brother’s shoes and wrote a song that stands among the most tuneful works of consciousness-raising in…

Having achieved great success with their 1969 album Stand! and performance at Woodstock, Sly & the Family Stone were due to have submitted an album of new recordings to Epic Records by 1970. However, Sly Stone missed several recording deadlines, worrying CBS executive Clive Davis, and a Greatest Hits album was released in an eighteen-month…

one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Youngin the wake of their chart-topping Déjà Vu album. There is a subtle beauty but also a lackadaisical approach.

Jethro Tull were a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock, folk melodies, blues licks, surreal, impossibly dense lyrics, and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn’t dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums. At the same time, critics rarely took them seriously, and they were…

In the second half of 1967 and through to early 1968, when still part of Pink Floyd, Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable. Many report having seen him on stage with the group during this period, strumming on one chord through an entire concert or not playing at all. We discussion why is this…

An excellent record, Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec’s worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Wonderful cover and yes , he later became famous for smooth.

McCartney has an endearingly ragged, homemade quality that makes even its filler and there is a lot of filler and ideas but maybe not complete songs.

When people use the term “singer/songwriter” (often modified by the word “sensitive”) in praise or in criticism, they’re thinking of James Taylor.  Although this singer songwriter is one of the best selling and most influence, we find some faults in the album and it’s scattered approach that don’t always seem to play to Taylor’s strengths.

Producer Don Gallucci (of the Kingsmen) took the approach that the Stooges were a powerhouse live band, and their best bet was to recreate the band’s live set with as little fuss as possible. That was the best idea as the Stooges never sounded more wild and raw!  We made it to Episode 200! Thank…

John Barleycorn Must Die moved beyond the jamming that had characterized some of Traffic’s earlier work to approach the emerging field of jazz-rock. And that helped the band to achieve its commercial potential; this became Traffic’s first gold album but we aren’t quite sure why.

After a long recover from Tuberculosis in 1968 Cat Stevens gives us Tea for the Tillerman. The story of a young man’s search for spiritual meaning in a soulless class society he found abhorrent. He hadn’t yet reached his destination, but he was confident he was going in the right direction, traveling at his own,…

MP3 Audio [34 MB]DownloadShow URL One of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and arguable the best album Simon an Garfunkel ever produced as a duo. The production and arrangements are stunning.

Drawing on his backlog of unused compositions from the late Beatles era, Harrison crafted material that managed the rare feat of conveying spiritual mysticism without sacrificing his gifts for melody and grand, sweeping arrangements. Enhanced by Phil Spector’s lush orchestral production and Harrison’s own superb slide guitar, nearly every song is excellent.  We discuss if…

known for its loose and scrappy approach Rod Stewart’s band members break out acoustic guitars and mandolins to play music that was never going to sound overly pretty because of the grit and gruff of Rod.  This is great first attempt for Rod but we all know the album that is going to really shine.

Soft Machine plunged deeper into jazz and contemporary electronic music on this pivotal release, which incited The Village Voice to call it a milestone achievement when it was released. We are surprised by how out there it gets while remaining somewhat accessible.  However Robert Wyatt vocals on “Moon in June” are terrible.

The prove that just because they can make an important artistic statement like Tommy that they are still one of the most uproariously exciting live band.  This was a crucial album to hold over the Mod rocking Who crowd till Who’s Next arrives. If you want to know how to put on a good maximum…

Shankar envisioned a musical form that blended Indian classical music with Western rock and electronic styles. Shankar’s first album was one of the first to successfully explore the crossover of psychedelic rock with Indian music including simplified sitar covers of jumpin jack flash and light my fire . What sounds like a parody to use…

Another Nick Drake album and more great tunes.

American Beauty eventually spawned the band’s highest charting single — “Truckin’,” the greasy blues-rock tribute to nomadic counterculture — but it also contained some of their most spiritual and open-hearted sentiments ever. While the Dead eventually amassed a following so devoted that following the band from city to city became the center of many people’s…

Moondance found Morrison abandoning the abstract folk jazz compositions of Astral Weeks in favor of more formally composed songs, which he wrote and produced entirely himself. Its lively rhythm and blues/rock music was the style he would become most known for in his career. Van the man!

Deep Purple entering their classic Mark 2 lineup has decided to go full on Rock in this fun album.

On their first two albums, Led Zeppelin unleashed a relentless barrage of heavy blues and rockabilly riffs, but Led Zeppelin III provided the band with the necessary room to grow musically.

Neil Young continues his gold era as he pursues the country ballads of love lorned heartbreak in After the gold rush.

Paranoid was not only Black Sabbath’s most popular record, it also stands as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. This makes us rethink recording a second album so close to the first because this album rules!