Posts in tag

Classic rock


Classic Album: Pink Floyd – The Wall

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Not Forgotten: Neil Young – Live Rust

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Not Forgotten: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Willie and The Poor Boys

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Has there ever been another album quite as unrelentingly miserable as The Wall? It first entered my life back in 1998, when I was suffering from a bout of not inconsiderable self-doubt and struggling to connect with anything or anyone. Knowing that I was a Pink Floyd fan, my Uncle loaned me his old vinyl …

One of the things that strikes you when you look at Neil Young’s extensive discography is just how many live albums he has put out over the years. No matter how much his muse has waxed and waned over the last thirty years, Young has always remained a brilliant live performer and his live albums …

For years I unfairly dismissed Willie and the Poor Boys as one of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s weakest albums. I can’t explain why this was the case, as it came smack bang in the middle of the band’s red-hot streak through 1969 to 1971. Perhaps it was the slightly rootsier rocking which I reacted against, as if CCR decided …

Led Zeppelin’s debut album was proof of concept for Jimmy Page, taking what Cream did with super-charged blues-rock, and just making it more slick and dynamic and marketing it directly at the North American market. With a Golden God frontman, a powerhouse drummer and a fourth band mate who could pretty much play whatever the …

Chronologically the final album that The Beatles recorded together, the general public’s appreciation for Abbey Road seems to increase each year, despite it being very much an album of two halves.  Side one of Abbey Road is patchy and is unique in the fact that George Harrison’s contributions make for the two strongest tracks here, finally allowing the quiet one …

As the 80s drew to a close it was difficult to escape the conclusion that Bob Dylan‘s muse had been largely AWOL since 1976’s Desire. Since that album’s release there had certainly been allusions to greatness but it was usually by way of songs that Dylan chose to omit from shoddy albums. As a result, despite …

The mid 80s were a fascinating and fractious time for what would become known as classic rock. The two giant super bands of the 70s were no longer with us, with Pink Floyd having imploded in acrimony around Roger Waters’ ever more despotic tendencies, and Led Zeppelin coming to an end following the sad death …

In Through the Out Door was no disaster, but you can’t help escape the feeling that it was just the start of something new for the band.

The early 70s were a weird time. Elton John had some natural hair, David Bowie was a genderless alien and Britain’s best pop band were four Brummies with an in-built spelling disorder. Most strange to modern ears though is the fact that, back then, Rod Stewart was actually listenable. His solo albums were ballad-heavy, but still comparatively listenable, …

It was with Buffalo Springfield where the embryonic talents of Neil Young were first displayed, then his self-titled debut album revealed Neil Young the solo artist, while it was Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere that introduced Neil Young the guitar icon. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is primarily remembered for being the first album that …