Time Out of Mind was the first Bob Dylan album I was able to buy on its release day—I was a freshman in college, and too young to fully relate to the themes of the record, but I loved the sound of it. Loved Dylan’s “older voice,” it sounded otherworldly, something from another time.

I was not a sophisticated listener who could tell you anything about music production, or what a great job someone like Lanois had done or not. Today I understand the role a producer plays ... read more

The playful abandon of children locked in a room full of instruments. From their earlier records to now, I continue to marvel at just how much fun and theatricality they squeeze into their songs. I just love it!

Beautiful. Angry. Funny. Heartbreaking. Inspired.
Can’t stop listening to this!

I get how upon release, this would have sounded really out of place in the man's catalogue. That behind the scenes, it was total chaos working with Spector, and that Cohen wasn't happy with the results. But when I came to this album, fully ignorant of any of that history, and was just reacting to the songs, it was pure, unadulterated love. The songs are amazing.

Sure, Spector's production is a bit heavy handed, but hasn't it always? What matters is that Cohen was a genius, and that quality ... read more

I’m sorry, if you ever meet anyone who says they don’t like Johnny Cash, just walk in the opposite direction.

Has there ever been a greater second act in popular music? Or one more welcomed? The. Man. In. Black!

Punk Rock Cash. Glorious.

Favorite Neil Young. Perfection.

I had a lot of friends in college who were Deadheads from birth, it was just something that was baked into their DNA. It wasn't just the music the band made, it was the whole culture behind them. It was, frankly, just a bit too much. The history was too long, and a lot of the jam records, or bootlegs they played were not for me. This studio record was one of the exceptions. It is just so warm and easygoing. It has long been an album I go to when I just need to relax after a long day. A more ... read more

Raw Stripes.
All the ingredients were in place from the get go. The two-piece dynamic, with Meg White’s rudimentary, but essential drumming keeping Jack’s wails in check, and their matching color code. I don’t have even have to describe their colors, you are picturing them in your head right now. They weren’t just a great band, they were a great brand, packaged around a simple concept of less is more. Fundamental blues sounds sprinkled with confectioner sugar, and sugar ... read more

"But it’s like I’m stuck inside a painting
That’s hanging in the Louvre
My throat starts to tickle and my nose itches
But I know that I can’t move"

This has always been one of my favorite Dylan albums to listen to, 80s production be damned!
For all talk of a washed up Dylan in the 80s, the songs were still there, the man just was not releasing them. If we judged this release by what was available and recorded, this would be a top shelf release, every reviewer ... read more

“I’ve got my Bob Dylan mask on …
I’m masquerading.”

The streaming versions on Apple Music and Spotify inexplicably cut the between song banter, robbing the listener from the full spectacle of a giggling Dylan, stoned out of his mind, bantering silliness with his audience. It is an essential part of the concert, criminally stripped from the record. It’s like introducing someone to Van Gogh or Matisse, but omitting the color. Unforgivable.

The (unedited) ... read more

Favorite Petty album.

Once upon a time, I paid good money for this at a bootleg record shop on Bleecker St. This was THE mythic “going electric” performance (so, yeah, I let them take all my money). The bootleg went by “Guitars Kissing And The Contemporary Fix“, and it was glooooorrriiious... with its terrible sound quality and all.

Columbia would finally get around to officially releasing it, in all its raging glory, as the second installment of The Bootleg Series. The first half of the ... read more

100 for the “real” Basement recordings, mainly the Dylan songs. The Band contributions aren’t really from the period, so a bit of a cheat there.

Not the popular opinion, but this is my favorite Wilco album — by a lot.

This is everything I want from an artist. Catchy, engaging melodies with playful, stream of consciousness wordplay. Just perfection.

What were you doing at age 22?
Bob was channeling the troubadours of the past and writing the soundtrack to the most turbulent times in America. Relevant then, sadly still relevant today.

Haaaaaave you ever beeeeen?
Have you ever been?
to Electric Ladyland?
The magic carpet waits
for you
So don’t you be laaate!
Ohhh, I waaannna show you!

Every Experience record is basically a greatest hits collection. This one just happens to hold my favorite Hendrix tracks, ‘Bold As Love’, ‘One Rainy Wish’, ‘Castles Made Of Sand’ and ‘Little Wing’.

And in an era that produced iconic covers that have decorated many a wall, this one is among the greatest.