Category: Rock
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AC/DC ‘High Voltage’ (1976)
Effectively a compilation of their best songs from Australia-only releases High Voltage and T.N.T. which were released in 1975, AC/DC’s 1976 international version High Voltage was the album that introduced the world to the hard rock stylings of one of the best rock and roll bands to ever do it. Since this was obviously back…
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Motörhead ‘Ace of Spades’ (1980)
There are a few bands in the history of rock and roll that have cultivated a specific style, written that same style ad nauseam, perfected it over time, and yet still have the ability to knock my socks off every time an album of theirs comes on. Off the top of my head there are…
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience ‘Axis: Bold As Love’ (1967)
Jimi Hendrix’s contributions to the world of guitar players is unparalleled– as perhaps the most celebrated guitarist in the history of rock and roll, he pioneered the use of overdriven high-gain amplifiers, used guitar feedback as a tool (not an undesired element), and altered his tone with fuzz distortion, Uni-Vibe, and wah-wah pedals. These contributions…
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Bobby Day ‘Rockin’ with Robin’ (1959)
Bobby Day had a long career in R&B after moving to Los Angeles at the age of 15 years old. As a member of The Hollywood Flames in the late 40’s Day received a modicum of success with his first song “Young Girl”, and went on to record under several pseudonyms during his lifetime. He’s…
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Blondie ‘Parallel Lines’ (1978)
Blondie’s Parallel Lines is a study in evolution. Originally a punk rock band with their self-titled debut in 1976, Blondie managed to break out of the underground in the US and make the jump into the Top 40 with the release of Parallel Lines. Adopting elements of New Wave and dance pop, while still retaining…
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Mahavishnu Orchestra ‘Birds of Fire’ (1973)
Led by jazz fusion legend John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra was one of the pre-eminent jazz fusion groups operating in the early 70’s. Prior to the band’s formation McLaughlin had played in jazz icon Miles Davis’ band during the bulk of the 1960’s, and after going out on his own to form a solo career, formed…
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Boston ‘Boston’ (1976)
A landmark of classic rock radio, Boston’s self-titled 1976 debut has an incredible backstory that has been described as “one of the most complex corporate capers in the history of the music business.” The Boston sound started an unlikely marriage between head producer Tom Scholz and lead singer Brad Delp. Boston famously came together in…
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Duran Duran ‘Rio’ (1982)
Duran Duran’s second studio album Rio is somewhat of an amalgamation of what made the 80’s so insane. There is samples of crackling ice cubes, cigarettes being lit, background vocals of people yelling, saxophone solos, synthesizer leads, disco beats aplenty, and utterly bizarre lyrics– lead vocalist Simon Le Bon gushes over a woman who is…
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Wolves of Glendale ‘Wolves of Glendale’ (2024)
Yesterday we covered my love for musician/comedian Tom McGovern and we’re back again today for another round with his band Wolves of Glendale self-titled debut album. Unlike his short-form album Two Hour Tuesdays, Wolves of Glendale is a full-fledged effort clocking in at 45-minutes long and covering a wide array of sonic ground– smooth yacht…
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Tom McGovern ‘Two Hour Tuesday’ (2020)
For those unfamiliar with musician/comedian Tom McGovern, I feel sorry for you. He’s one of the best things on the internet right now, dropping 80’s ballads that question what the ground steam in New York City is actually comprised of (seriously wtf is happening here) to his recurring segment “Good Band Name, Bad Band Name”…
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Television ‘Marquee Moon’ (1977)
Television’s Marquee Moon was a landmark album in music history despite receiving little in the way of commercial popularity, similar in that sense to Beach Boys 1966 album Pet Sounds. Its influence on the musical direction that would follow in the 1980’s is vast and wide-ranging– the stripped-down production of the album that gave clear…
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Something Corporate ‘Leaving Through The Window’ (2002)
In the early aughts pop punk scene Something Corporate stood out for one distinct reason– lead singer and songwriter Andrew McMahon. His use of piano as both a composition tool and for lead hooks was unique in the genre and immediately set the band apart from their peers sonically in a way that was similar…
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Weezer ‘Blue Album’ (1994)
Weezer’s debut album Weezer (more commonly known as the Blue Album) took nerd rock into the mainstream and kicked off what has since been a massively successful career. The album was produced by the great Ric Ocasek of The Cars fame, and his power pop influence can be heard extensively throughout the record in all…
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor ‘Lift Your Skinny Fists’ (2000)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor has built a pretty hardcore cult following over the past two decades for their blissfully meandering chamber rock. We’ve discussed previously how some music is felt not necessarily heard (see Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago for a sterling example) and Lift Your Skinny Fists To The Sky Like Antennas to…
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The Alan Parsons Project ‘Eye In The Sky’ (1982)
For those unfamiliar with The Alan Parsons Project you’ll immediately recognize the first song off Eye In The Sky entitled “Sirius”. It’s ubiquitous with American sporting events, first becoming popular during the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990’s and later as any introduction during an entrance to any big sporting event, and it…
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Carmen ‘Fandangos In Space’ (1973)
When you think of flamenco and prog-rock it’s usually not in the same sentence. And yet here we are. And you’ll be happy you came. Carmen’s decidedly out there (and utterly excellent) 1973 album Fandangos In Space is something only the wild early 70’s prog-rock explosion could produce, and the world is absolutely better off…
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Journey ‘Frontiers’ (1983)
Not to be a contrarian, but Journey’s best song isn’t “Don’t Stop Believin’”. It’s a total banger and an iconic late night closing down the bar song, but the distinct honor of best Journey song undoubtedly goes to “Separate Ways (Worlds Away)” which kicks off their 1983 album Frontiers. It features all the best Journey…
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Guns N’ Roses ‘Appetite For Destruction’ (1987)
No album for me better represents all the glorious excess of the hard rock in the 1980’s combined with a heavy dose of top-tier musicianship than Guns N’ Roses 1987 magnum opus Appetite For Destruction. Slash and Axl Rose have become somewhat of a minor punch line in recent years due to a variety of…
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Don Henley ‘The End of The Innocence’ (1989)
When I was young Don Henley’s song “The End of The Innocence” played a pivotal role in establishing my love for music. The thematic subject matter about getting older and losing the carefree life of being at home with your parents spoke to me in a visceral way, serving as sort of a reminder that…
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The Wallflowers ‘Bringing Down The Horse’ (1996)
Any time your father is one of the greatest American songwriters of all-time, expectations are gonna be a little high. It’s an almost impossible scenario to carve your own niche under the looming backdrop of all-time albums like Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks, and yet Wallflowers lead singer Jakob Dylan (who if…
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Peter Frampton ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ (1976)
Frampton Comes Alive! was the album which put Peter Frampton on the map, similar in that way to The Allman Brothers Band’s 1971 live album At Fillmore East which jumpstarted the commercial appeal of a band by capturing the raw, infectious energy of their live show. To this day it remains one of the best-selling…
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The Doors ‘The Doors’ (1967)
Long considered one of the best debut albums of all-time, The Doors self-titled 1967 debut had a nearly immediate impact on the formation of psychedelic music that was beginning to dominate in the late 60’s. The Doors had it all in the grab bag of eclectic rock– drummer John Densmore’s feverish jazz-influenced syncopated rhythms that…
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Warren Zevon ‘Excitable Boy’ (1978)
Warren Zevon was the king of sardonic sharp wit, one of those rare artists who was able to cover the obscene and macabre and yet leave you bobbing along with a smile on your face. The title track from Excitable Boy is a sterling example of this splendid artistry– the song details a young misanthrope…
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Cheap Trick ‘At Budokan’ (1978)
Cheap Trick’s At Budokan served role similar to The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East and Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison in that it was a live album which served as a jumping off point in their career. The album received heavy airplay following its release in 1978, transforming Cheap Trick from a marginally successful…
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Elvis Presley ‘Elvis Presley’ (1956)
Elvis Presley certainly wasn’t the inventor of rock and roll, and his relationship with the Black musicians he copied during the 1950’s was a complicated one that ran the gamut of personal opinion at the time, but he was undoubtedly America’s first rock and roll star, a landmark in pop culture and one of the…
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Prince ‘Purple Rain’ (1984)
No artist impacted the sound of the pop music in the 80’s more than Prince. His unique blend of virtuoso musicianship (his guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in 2004 is an absolute masterclass), unrivaled instinct for unique harmonic elements, and prolific writing capabilities that saw him release forty studio albums during his…
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The Who ‘Who’s Next’ (1971)
Born from the rubble of the ambitious Lifehouse project that The Who eventually abandoned (probably because it was so insane– seriously), Who’s Next is the magnum opus of the British rock band known for their over the top stage show and prolific musical output. This was the album that defined rock and roll for a…
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The Rolling Stones ‘Let It Bleed’ (1969)
Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band once famously said that The Rolling Stones output from 1968-1972 comprised the “greatest run of studio albums in music history”. Let It Bleed was the Stones’ second album in that quartet of releases, and featured a distinct return to the dirty blues rock that has defined the…
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Sam Fender ‘Seventeen Going Under’ (2021)
The very first time I heard “Seventeen Going Under” I cried like a baby. There was something about Sam Fender’s voice and the musical arrangement accompanying him that moved me in that moment, a gravitas that held a meaning I didn’t quite understand but was committed to figure out. It’s the languished longing of his…
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Ninja Sex Party ‘Cool Patrol’ (2018)
Ninja Sex Party’s Cool Patrol is a rollicking ride through 80’s synth pop and over the top glam metal. Their brand of juvenile comedy is fun as hell, with lead singer and narrator Dan Avidan channeling his inner Ryan Reynolds through his voice inflection and general love for obscene jokes to drive home his point.…
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Santana ‘Abraxas’ (1970)
Carlos Santana is one of history’s most respected guitar players, known for his psychadelic take on Latin music that he effortlessly transposed into the explosion of psychedelic rock that swept across Great Britain and the United States in the late 60’s/early 70’s. The band which bears his last name first played at Woodstock in 1969…
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Terje Rypdal & The Chasers ‘Blue’ (1987)
Known affectionately as “the tone poet of the Fender Stratocaster”, Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal has had a prolific 50-year career that has blended jazz, rock, and classical music into his own unique take on what music can be. His 1987 album Blue is a fusionist’s dream, filled with eclectic sounds that bend and warp over…
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The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)
When you think of iconic album covers, Abbey Road is the one that certainly tops the list. The only others I can think of that even come close are The Clash’s London Calling and The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground & Nico. In London thousands of fans re-create this album every single day outside of…
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Bobby Pickett & The Crypt Kickers ‘The Original Monster Mash’ (1962)
“Monster Mash” is probably the most iconic American Halloween song of all-time and therefore it only made sense for us to spin the album that made it famous on All Hallow’s Eve. This song and album actually came together by happenstance– lead singer Bobby Pickett was an aspiring actor in Los Angeles who moonlit as…
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Jethro Tull ‘Aqualung’ (1971)
If you’ve ever listened to a man play a flute and say “goddamn that would sound dope as hell in a rock and roll band” then boy do I have an album for you. Jethro Tull’s 1971 prog-rock classic Aqualung is notable for many things– its reflection on spirituality and the sometimes fraught relationship it…
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Joe Satriani ‘Surfing With The Alien’ (1987)
There’s not many guitarists that can absolutely rip like Joe Satriani and 1987’s Surfing With The Alien is a love letter to all the guitar-heads out there who just want to hear some good ol’ fashioned shredding for the sake of it. It’s bombastic, over the top, and just plain fun as hell. The album…
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