album reviews
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bayou Country Fantasy
Creedence Clearwater Revival's new LP suffers from one major fault — inconsistency. The good cuts are very good; but the bad ones just don't make it. The group's sound is very reminiscent of that of the early Stones — hard rock, based in blues. John Fogerty carries the group with his good lead guitar, in addition to his good vocal and harp work. He also wrote all of Creedence's original songs, and arranged and produced the album. He probably swept out the stud... | More »
Gram Parsons
GP Reprise
Gram Parsons is an artist with a vision as unique and personal as those of Jagger-Richard, Ray Davies, or any of the other celebrated figures. Parsons may not have gone to the gate as often as the others, but when he has he's been strikingly consistent and good. I can't think of a performance on record any more moving than Gram's on his "Hot Burrito No. 1," and the first album of his old band, the Flying Burrito Bros.' Gilded Palace of Sin, is a milestone. The record broug... | More »
Gram Parsons
Grievous Angel Reprise
Gram Parsons is an artist with a vision as unique and personal as those of Jagger-Richard, Ray Davies, or any of the other celebrated figures. Parsons may not have gone to the gate as often as the others, but when he has he's been strikingly consistent and good. I can't think of a performance on record any more moving than Gram's on his "Hot Burrito No. 1," and the first album of his old band, the Flying Burrito Bros.' Gilded Palace of Sin, is a milestone. The record broug... | More »
The Beach Boys
Holland Brother/Reprise
From the nasal raunch of "Surfin' Safari" to the convoluted elegance of "Surf's Up," through more than ten years of recording and performing, the Beach Boys have sustained a strong musical identity, even though their original guiding light, Brian Wilson, has increasingly become merely a shadow presence. About the time of Today, other Beach Boys besides Brian and Mike Love began singing lead; by Friends, other members of the group besides Brian were contributing songs. Through it all... | More »
Neil Young
Journey Through the Past
Neil Young has been involved in a lot of memorable rock music over the last seven years. He was one of the most interesting songwriters in Buffalo Springfield, and his own solo work with Crazy Horse still sounds fresh today. At his best, Young transformed his thin voice into a distinctive vehicle for a haunting, frail style, while his lead guitar bristled with a concise energy. His most satisfying work, especially the superb Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, captured an intimate presence that ... | More »
Marvin Gaye
Trouble Man/M.P.G.
Even when a movie soundtrack isn't so awful you'd just as soon throw it down the stairs, it very rarely achieves anything beyond a sort of banal, predictable mood music: a little suspense, a little drama, an ooze of romance, maybe a brisk driving-in-the-car-to-possible danger track counterpointed with a lighter, romantic-leads-take-a-walk sequence — all compressed, like a week's worth of garbage, for one tight, bright under-the-credits Main Theme. Altogether, it's ab... | More »
Rick Nelson
Garden Party
On the front cover, which is stunning, there are several things of note. Rick photographs better here than he ever has in 32 1/2 unnaturally handsome years, resplendent in a jacket of rock & roll (embroidered) velvet. He's gripping his Les Paul Gibson with both hands, and with the same tenacity that's kept him going through the dubious success of his recent career. Right above his elegantly coifed head, in thin but emphatic lettering, is the name of the first bona fide smasheroo... | More »
James Brown
Get On The Good Foot Polydor
There was a time when James Brown really was Soul Brother Number One. Though it was only six, seven, eight years ago, it seems like a lot longer. Back in the early and mid-Sixties, Brown's shows had the same mythical stature for soul audiences that the Stones now have for the rock audiences. His influence on the developing soul artists of the time — Wilson Pickett, Otis, later Aretha — was immeasurable. It was not only the emphasis on hard rhythms over melody, but the concept... | More »
Big Star
No. 1 Record/Radio City
#1 Record In the late Sixties, a Memphis teenager named Alex Chilton won moderate fame and fortune as the lead singer for a sometimes inspired, sometimes insipid recording unit known as the Box Tops. The group was a vehicle for the ideas of producer-writer Dan Penn, and Chilton's raspy, young punk voice was the focal point. After several erratic albums and a couple of downright classic singles, "The Letter" and "Cry like a Baby," Alex tired of being just a mouthpiece. The final Box Tops... | More »
Jimi Hendrix
War Heroes Reprise
Days after Hendrix's death, Eddie Kramer, head engineer at Electric Ladyland Studios, was quoted as saying that there were two albums worth of studio cuts and a live Albert Hall gig that would be released soon. However, "associates" were quoted as saying that there were lots more Hendrix tapes that nobody would hear – "It wouldn't be fair to his memory to release them" was the way the rap went. Nevertheless, this is the fourth posthumous album to be released by Hendrix's... | More »
Music Reviews
-
star ratingModern Vampires of the City -
star ratingRandom Access Memories -
star ratingLSXX: Last Splash: 20th Anniversary Edition
-
star ratingThe Great Gatsby: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film -
star ratingMother -
star ratingTime
Photos & Videos
We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.
