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12 items by Billy Altman

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  Natural Wonder | ALBUM REVIEW

  It's a measure of Stevie Wonder's place in our collective unconscious that merely saying his name immediately conjures up images of Eddie Murphy's Saturday Night Live impression — the neck arched upward, the body swaying, the braids...

  January 25, 1996 12:00 AM ET
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  Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 | ALBUM REVIEW

  Since everything from psychedelia to disco has eventually come back to haunt us, it should come as no surprise that one of the more popular genres of the Seventies, Southern rock, seems to be rearing its boogieing...

  August 8, 1991 12:00 AM ET
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  Draw the Line | ALBUM REVIEW

  Since Aerosmith's name and logo don't even appear on the outer sleeve of Draw the Line, someone obviously feels rather secure about the band's position in the hard-rock sweepstakes. The group is famous now — that's the...

  March 9, 1978 12:00 AM ET
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  Lust For Life | ALBUM REVIEW

  Iggy Pop's second comeback album leaves one with ambivalent feelings: glad that Iggy is alive, apparently well, writing, singing and performing again, but upset because his new stance is so utterly unchallenging and cautious. Taken purely on...

  January 12, 1978 12:00 AM ET
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  Love You | ALBUM REVIEW

  Brian Wilson's appearance last fall on Saturday Night was just about the last straw in the sequence of events surrounding his public reemergence. For someone who cared, it was revolting to watch him sit at the piano...

  May 5, 1977 12:00 AM ET
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  Sleepwalker | ALBUM REVIEW

  Even as a staunch Kinks supporter, I was beginning to have my doubts. Although the band's following has grown steadily since they made it into the Seventies (by the skin of their teeth) with "Lola," they seemed...

  April 21, 1977 12:00 AM ET
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  High Voltage | ALBUM REVIEW

  Those concerned with the future of hard rock may take solace in knowing that with the release of the first U.S. album by these Australian gross-out champions, the genre has unquestionably hit its all-time low. Things can...

  December 16, 1976 12:00 AM ET
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  Sleepless Nights | ALBUM REVIEW

  Sleepless Nights has been collected from two sources. Nine of the tracks come from early 1970 sessions in which the Flying Burrito Brothers, led by Gram Parsons, sought to record a nononsense country album, covering such standard...

  June 17, 1976 12:00 AM ET
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  Head On | ALBUM REVIEW

  Head On focuses on no less than three apologies by leader Randy Bachman for his group's very existence. Even more oddly, Bachman's defense rests on moralistic rather than artistic grounds. According to "Average Man," "Stay Alive" and...

  March 11, 1976 12:00 AM ET
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  Crisis? What Crisis? | ALBUM REVIEW

  Supertramp, whose Crime of the Century was a surprise hit of 1975, are back with a neatly timed followup, Crisis? What Crisis? (with suitably heady cover — a man sunbathing amid rubbish while rain falls and smokestacks...

  January 29, 1976 12:00 AM ET
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  Blues For Allah | ALBUM REVIEW

  Blues for Allah contains quite a few surprises, some pleasant (Mickey Hart's reappearance; most of side one) and some embarrassing (most of side two), but at least the Grateful Dead have begun to awaken from the artistic...

  October 9, 1975 12:00 AM ET
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  Sabotage | ALBUM REVIEW

  Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever. Even with the usual themes of death, destruction and mental illness running throughout this album, the unleashed frenzy and raw energy...

  September 25, 1975 12:00 AM ET