45 Years Ago ‘An Evening with Diana Ross’ Proved to Be Her Defining Album
Diana Ross’ seminal live LP, An Evening with Diana Ross, captures nearly every side of her expansive talents, diverse gifts, and lofty career goals.
Pop Past
30 Years Ago Green Day’s ‘Kerplunk!’ Showed Where They Were Headed
Thirty years on Green Day’s Kerplunk! stands shoulder to shoulder with anything else the band created in the future and showed where they were headed.
The Soundtrack to Hüsker Dü’s Implosion: ‘Warehouse: Songs and Stories’ Turns 35
It’s been 35 years since college rock harbingers Hüsker Dü culminated in a storm of malaise. Warehouse: Songs and Stories was their parting gift.
The Legacy of George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ Half a Century Later
Fifty years ago, a plea for assistance from Ravi Shankar to George Harrison gave birth to The Concert for Bangladesh, an event whose impact on the culture of pop and classic rock still resonates.
‘Oh, You Pretty Thing’: David Bowie’s Glam Masterpiece ‘Hunky Dory’ Turns 50
David Bowie’s Hunky Dory is self-conscious about artifice and image. It maintains a resounding undercurrent of human longing for connection and recognition.
45 Years Later ‘Blondie’ Remains a Powerful Debut
Blondie’s first LP absorbed a wide range of influences and synthesized multiple genres, including surf pop, ’60s girl groups, mod rock, and even disco.
25 Years Ago Whitney Houston Released the Album She Was Destined to Make with ‘The Preacher’s Wife’
The Preacher’s Wife is the ideal Whitney Houston album, ticking off many sides of the diva’s talents while marrying her commercial side with her sacred roots
Subversive AIDS Film ‘Parting Glances’ Was Quite Unlike Its Contemporaries
In a brave and subversive move that appealed to mainstream audiences yet was undeniably queer, “AIDS film” Parting Glances used barbed comedy to convey tragedy.
21st Century Men: The Kinks’ Muswell Hillbillies at 50
The Kinks’ landmark album Muswell Hillbillies turns 50 and endures as a prophetic masterpiece that anticipates our messy political moment.
Joni Mitchell’s Jazzy ‘Hejira’ Captured the Pitfalls of Life Untethered 45 Years Ago
On her last truly great album Hejira, Joni Mitchell designed a travelogue, awash with lush textures, and explored the implications of her lifelong itineracy.
Kate Bush Created a Winter Wonderland on ’50 Words For Snow’ 10 Years Ago
Kate Bush’s 50 Words For Snow is a jazzy wonderland of mystical creatures and fleeting romance with nuanced themes of impermanence and ephemeral love.