Tag: Blues Rock
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Bob Dylan ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ (1965)
By 1965 Bob Dylan had already become one of the most important voices in American music. His poetic lyrics and sharp social commentary had elevated folk beyond simple protest songs, making it something more literary and deeply personal. In a decade filled with civil unrest and cultural change, Dylan’s words gave people a sense of…
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John Lee Hooker ‘House of the Blues’ (1959)
John Lee Hooker was a seminal figure in the development of modern blues, known for his raw hypnotic guitar style and deeply emotive vocal delivery that bridged the gap between Delta blues and electric urban blues that were starting to become en vogue by the end of the century. His distinctive approach to guitar– marked…
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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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The Record Company ‘Give It Back To You’ (2016)
I love a good album story as much as the next guy and The Record Company’s Give It Back To You has a pretty darn good one. The band wrote, recorded, and mixed their debut in the same living room where the band was formed, which is a pretty poetic way to go about things.…
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Alabama Shakes ‘Boys & Girls’ (2012)
Boys & Girls is steeped in the fuzz and feel of Southern soul, garage rock, and classic R&B. But what really sets the band apart is Brittany Howard’s spectacularly raw and emotive vocal performance.
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Joe Cocker ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ (1969)
Joe Cocker’s With a Little Help From My Friends is one of those rare debut albums that feels both familiar and totally fresh, built almost entirely on covers but delivered with so much soul and grit you forget these songs weren’t his to begin with. Released in 1969, it finds Cocker reimagining some of the…
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Cactus ‘Cactus’ (1970)
Along with having a pretty bad ass name for a classic rock band (seriously this is a great one) Cactus was known in the early 70’s for effectively being the American version of Led Zeppelin. Hard rock and blues, an all-time combination, and a raw sound filled with powerful guitar riffs and improvisational jams that…
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Aerosmith ‘Aerosmith’ (1973)
Aerosmith hadn’t yet reached their commercial and creative peak when they released their debut album 1973 (that would come in 1975 when they released the immaculate Toys in the Attic), but they did showcase a bit of what was to come with their muscular and stripped down version of blues rock. Their debut album is…
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The Rolling Stones ‘Beggars Banquet’ (1968)
Beggars Banquet marked a turning point for The Rolling Stones. The band returned to their roots with a raw mix of blues rock and country influences while at the same time introducing unique percussive elements like Latin percussion. These additions added a new rhythmic depth to their sound while still staying true to what made…
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The Fearless Flyers ‘IV’ (2024)
If you’re into funky, clean guitar work, locked-in grooves and serious musicianship without any pretension, The Fearless Flyers are the band for you. They’re essentially a spin-off of Vulfpeck, comprised of Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart, and Nate Smith, and take a stripped down no-frills approach to funk music. I would say they’re defined…
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Free ‘Fire and Water’ (1970)
Free’s Fire and Water is a perfect example of British blues rock at its rawest and most soulful. The album is built on gritty, stripped-down guitar riffs, steady grooves, and an undeniable sense of space that lets every note breathe. At the heart of it all is Paul Rodgers, whose smoky, powerful voice carries every…
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Led Zeppelin ‘Led Zeppelin II’ (1969)
1969 was a busy ass year for Led Zeppelin. They were proving out their status as rock’s rising titans with a world tour and the release of Led Zeppelin II, which came a mere ten months after their self-titled debut album. This sophomore effort, forged in a patchwork of studios across North America and the…
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Lynyrd Skynrd ‘Pronounced Leh-Nerd-Skin-Nerd’ (1973)
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s story is as quintessentially American as their music. Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964 by a group of high school friends—Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Larry Junstrom, and Bob Burns—the band began honing their craft in garages and local dives. By the time they released their self-titled debut album in 1973…
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Frank Zappa ‘Hot Rats’ (1969)
Frank Zappa was a groundbreaking composer, guitarist, and bandleader whose career spanned a metric ton of musical genres while he was active from the late 60’s to early 90’s. Drawing on influences from doo-wop to avant-garde classical music, he fused rock, jazz, and complex modern music with a satirical twist that often mocked popular culture…
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Arctic Monkeys ‘AM’ (2013)
Arctic Monkeys had somewhat of a second coming with their fifth studio album AM in that they did what has been nearly impossible for British rock bands over the last 40 years– completely take over American radio stations well over a decade into their career. The journey began years earlier when they harnessed the power…
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The Gun Club ‘Fire of Love’ (1981)
The Gun Club’s Fire of Love is raw and visceral, a unique blend of the ferocity of punk rock with a distinctive Southern gothic blues rock edge. Released in 1981 off the heels of the punk rock explosion in the UK, Fire of Love captures the chaotic spirit of the early 80s punk scene but…
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Stevie Ray Vaughan ‘Texas Flood’ (1983)
In the heart of Texas, under the blazing sun, there lived a man named Stevie Ray Vaughan. He may have walked and talked like a man, but by all accounts he was a sorcerer from another dimension, whose fingers danced upon his ridiculously heavy strings as if they were alive. Legends whispered that he was…
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The Yardbirds ‘For Your Love’ (1965)
The Yardbirds’ claim to fame is a damn good one– the band launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, three of the most respected blues rock guitar players of all-time. Their debut studio album For Your Love features the playing of Clapton and Beck respectively. Clapton, who was a founding member…
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Bad Company ‘Bad Company’ (1974)
If you love yourself a good old fashioned English rock supergroup from the 70’s you’ve come to the right place. Bad Company was comprised of vocalist Paul Rodgers, drummer Simon Kirke (both ex-Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex-Mott The Hoople), and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson) all had come together at a unique time in their…
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Led Zeppelin ‘Led Zeppelin’ (1969)
The term “most influential band” gets thrown around a lot to describe various acts throughout the years, but no band in history changed the trajectory of pure rock and roll more than Led Zeppelin. Since the release of their eponymous debut album in 1969, Led Zeppelin has been a fixture on the radio and pop…
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Chicago ‘Chicago Transit Authority’ (1969)
Self-described as “a rock band with horns”, the venerable Chicago is one of the best-selling rock and roll bands of all-time with over 40 million records sold. Their unique approach to consistent corporate branding, their remarkably consistent studio album output (one album released per year from 1969 to 1980), and focus on delivering a simply…
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Dennis Wilson ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ (1977)
Out of all the albums I’ve listened to over the last year in a half (529 plus in a row, and counting) the one that has come out of the woodwork and struck me completely by surprise is this one. I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan by any stretch of the imagination, and outside…
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Brooks & Dunn ‘Reboot’ (2019)
The concept of Reboot is beautiful in its simplicity– take one of the most successful country music recording acts in music history (39 Top 10 songs since 1991, 20 of them hitting #1), rearrange 12 of their most classic songs two decades after they were released, and pair them up with the most popular contemporary…
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Dorothy ‘ROCKISDEAD’ (2016)
I’ve always had a soft spot for high-octane rock and roll female lead singers that totally kick ass. Dorothy’s ROCKISDEAD checks that box. Lead singer Dorothy Martin raises hell for 35 straight minutes on the band’s debut album, and while the whole affair is a pretty meat and potatoes version of dirty southern rock that…
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The London Souls ‘Here Come the Girls’ (2015)
The London Souls’ 2015 album Here Come the Girls puts a unique spin on the traditional classic rock and roll formula, updating it in bits and pieces along the way to form a cohesive experience that sounds like an echo of the past reverberating in a modern room. Taking elements of 60’s jangly psychedelic rock…
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Slash ‘Orgy of the Damned’ (2024)
Slash just dropped his newest album entitled Orgy of the Damned this past Friday and I simply had to check it out. As dutiful readers will remember I had the opportunity to see Slash in-person at Power Trip Live last year and it was an incredible experience: I was lucky enough to catch them live…
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Alberta Cross ‘Broken Side of Time’ (2009)
Alberta Cross was a mainstay for me during college, and still stands to this day as one of my favorite alternative rock albums. Their blend of darkly sinister guitar riffs that sounded as if the apocalypse was around the corner, clear respect for the traditions of the blues, absolutely thumping rhythm sections, and the haunting…
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Free ‘Tons of Sobs’ (1969)
Born in the late 60’s British blues rock scene that would dominate the music scene in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Free was composed of Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser (bass, piano) and Simon Kirke (drums). They are primarily known today for their mega-smash hit “All Right Now” off their 1970…
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Mountain ‘Climbing!’ (1970)
Climbing! is the debut album from American hard rock band Mountain and features one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time on “Mississippi Queen”. The combination of a cowbell count-in paired with the iconic slithering guitar riff sounds like cigarettes and a steak dinner– simply 70’s classic rock perfection. And alongside Leslie West’s pitch…
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Creedence Clearwater Revival ‘Willy And The Poor Boys’ (1969)
As I said when writing about CCR’s album Green River, one of the hallmarks of an enduring band is their signature sound. Creedence Clearwater Revival has become synonymous with so many components of traditional Americana (especially the Vietnam war) due to their tried and true approach towards traditional blue rock and their earnest adoption of…
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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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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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ZZ Top ‘Eliminator’ (1983)
ZZ Top’s brand of Texas blues generated a ton of smash hits during their heyday during the mid to late 70’s, and in 1983’s Eliminator they introduced synthesizers and drum machines to create a more pop-oriented and commercially viable version of the boogie rock that made them famous. If you’re looking for the album that…
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The Black Keys ‘El Camino’ (2011)
Garage rock is one of my purest loves, and The Black Keys were one of the bands that encompassed the garage rock movement of the early 2000’s. Initially the band was just a two-piece drummer/guitarist blues rock combo a la The White Stripes, and while they experienced some underground success during the decade alongside their…
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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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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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