Category: Rock
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Bruce Hornsby and The Range ‘Scenes From The Southside’ (1988)
Unlike many folks who identify New Years Eve as the beginning of the year, for me that process starts during Thanksgiving. It’s a day of identifying the things you’re thankful for certainly, but it’s also a moment for reflecting on the journey you took over the past year and a reminder that another year awaits…
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The Hives ‘The Hives Forever Forever The Hives’ (2025)
The Hives have always been one of those bands that never quite got the full credit they deserved. Back in high school I absolutely devoured Veni Vidi Vicious—it was loud, brash, and somehow sharper than most of what came out of that early 2000s garage rock revival. The Hives were one of the main reasons…
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The Edgar Winter Group ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ (1972)
The Edgar Winter Group’s debut album is a solid slice of classic rock that shows off just how much muscle and melody the band had right from the start. With tracks like “Free Ride” and the instrumental powerhouse “Frankenstein,” they blended big riffs, tight grooves, and a sense of fun into their vintage 70’s sound.…
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Roy Orbison ‘In Dreams’ (1963)
One thing I’ve always loved about Roy Orbison is how he completely cut against the grain for traditional country-pop music of the 1960’s. The man didn’t have a publicist nor did he have the traditional arrangements that defined the era. While his peers leaned on swagger and raw energy, Orbison carved out a space defined…
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The Runaways ‘The Runaways’ (1976)
The Runaways’ 1976 self-titled debut was loud, raw, and about as unapologetic as a record could get at the time. Formed by a group of teenage girls who barely had their driver’s licenses, the band—featuring future rock icons like Joan Jett and Lita Ford—was put together under the guidance of manager Kim Fowley who saw…
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Echo & the Bunnymen ‘Ocean Rain’ (1984)
Like any good cultural steward of teens who came of age in the mid-aughts I watched Donnie Darko on Halloween evening this past Friday after taking the kids trick or treating. It’s a fantastic film with a world-class soundtrack that adds so much depth to the film. At any rate, the movie opens up with…
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The Academy Is… ‘Almost Here’ (2005)
The Academy Is… hit their stride in the mid-2000s with Almost Here, an album that perfectly captured the stylish energy of that era’s pop-punk boom. They were one of the hottest names around when I was a junior in high school and mixed polished hooks with a flair for drama that clearly drew from the…
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Eddie Cochran ‘Singin’ To My Baby’ (1957)
Eddie Cochran’s Singin’ To My Baby captures the restless creativity of one of early rock and roll’s true pioneers. More than just a singer, Cochran was a studio innovator who experimented with multitrack recording, distortion, and overdubbing at a time when those techniques were still new. He played nearly everything himself—guitar, piano, bass, and drums—giving…
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Bob Seger ‘Stranger In Town’ (1978)
Bob Seger’s Stranger In Town is one of those records that just feels like America on vinyl. You’ve got the highway dust, heartbreak, and pure heartland grit all in spades. Everyone of course knows “Old Time Rock and Roll” and its piano riff that whose iconic scene with Tom Cruise in Risky Business cemented its…
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Velvet Revolver ‘Contraband’ (2004)
The early 2000’s were an incredible time for hard rock supergroups. You had Audioslave, which combined the musical talents of Rage Against the Machine and the vocal prowess of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) who is easily my favorite rock vocalist of all-time and it’s not even close. So it was probably no coincidence that their debut…
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MC5 ‘Kick Out The Jams’ (1969)
Released in 1969 Kick Out the Jams by MC5 is one of the most controversial debut albums in rock history, and one of the rare cases where a band introduced itself to the world with a debut album that was also a live record. Captured at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom the album distills the chaos, energy,…
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Thee Oh Sees ‘Floating Coffin’ (2013)
Thee Oh Sees play a really fun brand of psychadelic garage rock and they have a mystique about them that fits their eclectic style. They might be one of the only bands I’ve ever seen that have gone through multiple name changes for the sole purpose of pissing people off. The band has been known…
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Eddie Money ‘Eddie Money’ (1977)
Eddie Money’s career was defined by his working-class spirit and his relentless pursuit of rock stardom, a goal that carried him from his early days as a New York City cop-in-training to becoming one of the most recognizable voices of late ’70s commercial rock radio. What set him apart wasn’t just his knack for writing…
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Three Dog Night ‘Harmony’ (1971)
Three Dog Night rose to prominence in the late 1960s and dominated the charts throughout the early ’70s with a string of polished radio-friendly hits. The band’s had a pretty unique identity in that they had a three-lead-singer format which gave their sound a versatility few groups outside of the Eagles could match. At their…
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Ram Jam ‘Ram Jam’ (1977)
Ram Jam were only a band for two years but in that time they notched themself into history by creating their enduring cover of the 20th Century African American work song “Black Betty”. From the iconic guitar to the shuffle drum beat on the hi-hat, Ram Jam nailed their version and locked themselves into rock…
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The Cure ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ (1979)
Three Imaginary Boys sounds basically nothing like the sweeping, sorrowful goth epics The Cure would later be known for (see their magnum opus Disintegration for the reaaal good stuff) which makes it a pretty interesting start to their discography. The record is wiry and stripped to the bone sonically, with jangly guitars and sharp drums,…
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REO Speedwagon ‘Hi Infidelity’ (1980)
REO Speedwagon has always seemed a little cheesy to me and that didn’t change much after listening to Hi Infidelity. If you like idea of bringing a doo wop band into the context of 80’s rock balladry then they’re gonna be right up your alley. It’s just a part of town I frequent that much.…
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Town Portal ‘The Occident’ (2015)
I got into Town Portal via Thrice drummer Riley Breckenridge’s running playlist and I gotta say, it’s a vibe. These dudes are from Copenhagen and have long thrived on the fringes of instrumental rock, building a sound that pits Meshuggah-level polymeters against jazz-like playfulness and the noisy melodicism of ’90s post-hardcore. The Occident is a…
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Nazz ‘Nazz’ (1968)
We’ve talked about Todd Rundgren’s solo career before but his musical journey began with Nazz, a Philadelphia-based band he co-founded in 1967. Nazz was sort of a band in name-only based off what I’ve seen. Put another way, it was essentially a showcase for a young Rundgren to wield full creative control as songwriter, arranger,…
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Nova Charisma ‘Metropolitan’ (2024)
Nova Charisma began in 2019 as a creative outlet for vocalist Donovan Melero (of Hail The Sun fame) and guitarist Sergio Medina, both known for their work in the progressive post-hardcore scene. While their main bands emphasized complex, layered arrangements, Nova Charisma aimed to explore a more accessible and direct songwriting approach. Between 2019 and…
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Black Oak Arkansas ‘Black Oak Arkansas’ (1971)
As I mentioned a few weeks back I’ve been reading Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography over the past few weeks during my down time. It’s a great little trip through his early life and career. Every once in awhile he’ll recall a story from one of his early shows, and one that stuck out was a show…
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Sha Na Na ‘The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (1973)
I’ve been reading Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography Born to Run over the past week or so (it’s excellent) and in detailing his early career growing up in Freehold, New Jersey The Boss makes a ton of references to the Doo Wop group Sha Na Na and how they influenced his life. Beside being a foundational band…
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Mammoth ‘Mammoth WVH’ (2021)
If you’ve played guitar somewhat regularly at any point in your life you’ve 100% got Eddie Van Halen’s solo from “Eruption” saved somewhere on a guitar inspiration playlist somewhere. So when I remembered that his song Wolfgang had a band of his own it dawned on me I hadn’t given his debut album a full…
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Fuzz ‘Fuzz’ (2013)
Fuzz is a heavy, garage-inflected alternative rock band that channels the raw power of early Black Sabbath, the scuzzy lo-fi energy of Ty Segall’s solo work (unsurprising, since he drums and sings for the band), the sludgy psych tendencies and weirdness of Primus, and ultimately sounds like a dirtier and more unhinged cousin of Wolfmother…
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ‘Self-Titled’ (1976)
I’ve talked about Tom Petty a fair amount over the years on here so it probably makes sense to start off with what I shared about his career and sound during my write-up of his magnum opus Damn The Torpedoes when I wrote about that album in May of 2023: For my money Tom Petty…
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Carnivores ‘Let’s Get Metaphysical’ (2014)
Carnivores’ were a pretty unknown band from Glasgow (74 monthly listeners) that I stumbled on a few weeks ago via a random Spotify playlist. I popped them on and was incredibly impressed in a short matter of time– it’s like garage rock meets post-hardcore in a very fun and frenetic way. Basically if you’re looking…
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Big Brother & the Holding Company ‘Self-Titled’ (1967)
Big Brother & the Holding Company’s self-titled debut album is best known as Janis Joplin’s first band before she went solo and blew up as “The Queen of Rock” before her untimely passing at the age of 27 years old. The whole thing was recorded in a mere three days following an appearance at the…
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Fountains of Wayne ‘Welcome Interstate Managers’ (2003)
Fountains of Wayne was best known for their 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom” which was basically everywhere (and I mean everywhere) when I was first starting high school. The band was fronted by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger and basically was more of a creative side project than a career-defining pursuit for its members, which is…
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The Libertines ‘The Libertines’ (2004)
The Libertines are one of those bands that basically were a live reality show that could have aired on Bravo during the mid-2000’s. Dual frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, whose intense and often volatile creative partnership was the heart of the band, gave us some great garage rock songwriting which has stood the test…
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George Harrison ‘All Things Must Pass’ (1970)
Forever known as “The Quiet Beatle” George Harrison’s contributions to rock music over the years are stunning in their thoughtfulness. Less gregarious than Ringo Starr, less prolific than Paul McCartney, less iconic than John Lennon, Harrison is oft-forgotten from a commercial perspective. But I’ve always found his solo work post-Beatles to be the best of…
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Wolfmother ‘Wolfmother’ (2005)
Doing the whole “turn back the clock to 1973 and sound like Led Zeppelin” thing was very much in vogue during the mid-2000’s, but few bands did it better and with more chutzpah than Wolfmother. Their debut album was an absolute banger that not only put them on the map but also solidified vintage classic…
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Them Crooked Vultures ‘Them Crooked Vultures’ (2009)
Them Crooked Vultures is the holiest of holy rock alliances, bringing together some of rock and roll’s most legendary figures over the five decades. Any time you have Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) in the same room together playing some good old fashioned…
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Nickelback ‘All The Right Reasons’ (2005)
Nickelback is often tied to “butt rock”, a perjorative slang for the subgenre of post-grunge and hard rock that is known for it’s mainstream success while lacking artistic merit. Critics slammed them for being formulaic and the name itself became shorthand for rock that plays on stations with “nothing but rock.” Alongside bands like Creed…
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Foo Fighters ‘Foo Fighters’ (1995)
Dave Grohl was at a personal and career crossroads when he went into record Foo Fighters debut album all by himself. Six days later, the foundation for one of rock’s most enduring bands was born.
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KISS ‘Kiss’ (1974)
KISS’ career has seen its fair share of twists and turns, from the bizarre pop metal and grunge era in the 80’s and 90’s respectively, and the band has never really gotten the respect for hardcore music fans that they deserved. But whether you’ve seen them as a Halloween-esque caricature or one of the early…
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Elvis Costello ‘My Aim Is True’ (1977)
Juggling a day job as a data clerk at Elizabeth Arden, Elvis Costello squeezed recording sessions for My Aim Is True into six four-hour sessions, tracked on a shoestring budget with little time for polish. The urgency bleeds through in every note. Backed by the American country-rock band Clover—who were blissfully unaware of the sardonic…
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