Before The Flood (1974) is a live album that’s prototype for the rest of Dylan’s career. The songs are fixed, but the arrangements are up for renegotiation. The Band hits like a freight train and Dylan shows up like the guy who built the tracks. They prove the original is only the first draft.

On Massey Hall ‘71 (2007), Neil Young only needed a guitar, a hometown crowd, and a theatre that feels like a living room. Carnegie Hall gets the prestige, but Massey Hall gets the truth. The acoustics are so good the walls should’ve gotten royalties. #NeilYoung #MasseyHall #Archives1 #Vinyl

On A Cappella (1985/RSD 2025), Todd Rundgren doesn’t imitate instruments, he replaces them. Drums, bass, choirs, textures, all conjured from his own voice, but your ears will want to credit instruments that aren’t there. Proof #ToddRundgren doesn’t need a band, he just needs more Todds. #Vinyl

Badfinger’s Straight Up (1972) is an album where the hits “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue” pull you in, but the deep cuts keep you there. “Name Of The Game,” “Perfection,” “Suitcase” aren’t extras, they’re chapters. The radio songs shine but the album tracks breathe. #Badfinger #Vinyl

Matching Mole’s Little Red Record (1972) lives in the space between categories, too fluid for prog, too structured for free jazz. No big hooks, just textures that linger. Atmosphere over anthems. Like if Soft Machine decided to do a crossword instead of a marathon. #CanterburyScene #RobertWyatt

Graham Nash’s Songs For Beginners (1971) feels like the sound of idealism catching its breath after the ‘60’s ran into reality. A breakup and political album at the same time, as if personal and collective disillusionment were branches of the same tree. It’s protest music with an indoor voice.

If you want to understand Zappa the composer, satirist, and bandleader, One Size Fits All (1975) is where all three shake hands. The humour is the smoke, the band’s precision is the fire. An album that winks at you and challenges you in the same breath. Zappa fans know: Respect the sofa! #Zappa

Face The Music (1975) is where ELO stops auditioning as a ‘rock band with strings’ and start acting like the job is theirs. Proving rock and classical elements could coexist. Opening with “Fire On High” is a bold move, following it with tunes your aunt can dance to? That’s strategy. #ELO #Vinyl

Charles Mingus’ Ah Um (1959) is full of social commentary, humour, and tributes. The music doesn’t follow a path, it clears one. The bass doesn’t support the story, it is the story. Ensemble playing where everyone gets a voice, but no one mistakes who’s in charge. #Mingus #Jazz #Vinyl

Utopia (1974/RSD 2024) is prog made by someone who understands pop hooks. Todd Rundgren didn’t just dabble in prog, he detonated it. This album is like he dared himself to cram 3 albums worth of ideas into one, and it works. Just thinking in paragraphs, not sentences. #ToddRundgren #Utopia #Vinyl

The 50th Anniversary reissue of Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (2025/1975) is a reminder that Elton and Bernie Taupin didn’t just survive the ‘70’s, they defined them. It’s their origin story documenting their climb while still on the ladder. #EltonJohn #Vinyl

Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom (1974) is more dimly lit room than spotlight, drifting between lullaby and lighthouse. Fragile, intimate, and warm even at its strangest, it feels less performed than discovered, it feels like you are being trusted with a secret. #CanterburyScene #RobertWyatt #Vinyl

Live At The Fillmore East 1968 (2018) shows the Who were part of the British Invasion, but with heavier artillery. ‘Relax’ is an exploratory gem before ‘My Generation’ mutates from slogan into a 33 minute thesis on identity, ambition and nerve. #TheWho #Vinyl

John Lennon’s Power To The People (2025) is a version of the 1972 One to One concert that reveals clarity previously missing from earlier mixes. Mother, New York City, and Come Together now shine. Proof that his superpower wasn’t perfection, it was making imperfection feel intentional. #JohnLennon

When rock stars were becoming prophets, Frank Zappa showed up as a fact checker. Were Only In It For The Money (1968) is for anyone who questions a movement with a merch table. Zappa treats sacred cows like they are on the menu. Hippies, squares, cops, consumers are all skewered. #Mothers #Zappa

Live from the Rainbow from 1977 (RSD 2025) shows Elton John choosing depth over hits and storytelling over spectacle. Deep cuts can sometimes feel like detours, but here they are the destination. ‘Ticking’ and ‘Sweet Painted Lady’ define the night. #EltonJohn #Vinyl #RecordStoreDay

There’s something to be said for having a philosophical identity crisis and turning it into everyone else’s singalong. The Who’s Who Are You box set (2025) captures introspection on the original album and communal catharsis onstage in a 1979 show. #TheWho #Vinyl

Billy Cobham’s Spectrum (1973) is a fusion album disguised as a drummer’s solo project disguised as a rock record disguised as a jazz session. You don’t have to be a drummer to appreciate Spectrum, but hearing it might make you wish you were on. #BillyCobham #Vinyl #Spectrum

Harvest (1972) feels cozy, but it’s like a blanket that keeps slipping off; soothing music from someone suspicious of being soothed. It’s the centre of gravity in Neil Young’s catalogue. Everything before moves towards it, and everything after pushes against its success. #NeilYoung #VinylCommunity

If you’re judging The Doobie Brothers’ What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974) by ‘Black Water,’ that’s like judging a restaurant by the bread basket. The main course is in the deeper cuts. ‘Daughters of the Sea’ alone justifies the spin. #DoobieBrothers #Vinyl

There are albums you listen to, and then there’s Brilliant Corners (1957), where you marvel that anyone could even play it. This album shows why Monk was considered a genius. He didn’t think outside the box, he built a new one. #TheloniousMonk #Jazz #Vinyl

The title track from The Horace Silver Quintet’s Song For My Father (1965) is one of those jazz tunes that crosses genres an is instantly recognizable. If you like ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’, meet its father. Steely Dan didn’t steal, they saluted. #Jazz #Vinyl #HoraceSilver

A great reissue makes you lean forward instead of sit back. Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here 50th does just that. The extras don’t dilute the album, they deepen it. The two albums of rarities aren’t bonus material, they are canon expansion. #PinkFloyd #Vinyl

Listening to Bill Evans’ Explorations (1961) is like watching someone fold a napkin with absurd precision, you don’t know why it’s so impressive, but it is. The album doesn’t fill a room, it occupies it. Calm but not boring, beautiful but not sugary, it’s jazz that is sophisticated but approachable.

Thrillington (1977) isn’t anyone’s desert island McCartney pick, but as a light orchestra detour through Ram, it’s surprisingly pleasant. like bumping into an old friend who’s wearing a tuxedo. If Ram is the main course, this is the mint that comes with the bill, and that’s why it works. #McCartney

Love’s Forever Changes was released at the height of the Summer of Love but contradicted almost everything it claimed to be about. The dream was still intact, but the cracks were visible and Arthur Lee wrote songs that lived inside those cracks. It’s psychedelic music with its eyes wide open. #Vinyl

Milestones (1958) is a transitional album that doesn’t sound transitional. It whispers it’s revolution, a recalibration of what jazz would be, the moment before the breakthrough. It’s the sound of Miles shifting from participant to architect, it is the blueprint before the cathedral. #MilesDavis

Dismissing The Early Beatles (1965) because it isn’t Sgt. Pepper is like skipping the first half of a boxing match because the knockout came later. This highlights tight arrangements, shared vocals, and instincts sharpened in clubs. Beatlemania wasn’t just magic, it was discipline. #Beatles

Live at Leeds is precision and fury. Live at the Oval 1971 (2025) is scale and swagger. Together they show the Who weren’t just a great live band, they were a force of nature. A reminder that The Who never played to a crowd, they played at it. By the end, I was sweating! #TheWho #vinyl

The genius of Thriller (1982) is in the construction and the sequencing that’s like a live show. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ erupts, Human Nature whispers, Thriller is cinematic, and Billie Jean distills it all with a single bassline and vocals that are part of the rhythm section. #MichaelJackson

John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme (1965) isn’t just an album, it’s a declaration. Some records say “listen closely.” This one says “sit up straight.” You don’t put it on, you consent to it. It is a unified statement, proving thematic narrative and repetition could elevate jazz into a true concept album

If joy had a soundtrack, it could be Off The Wall (1979). Put it on and suddenly you’re dancing and thinking your life needs more sequins. Even the deep cuts feel like hit singles. It’s the bridge between the end disco and the first spark of MTV and Michael Jackson fused them seamlessly. #Vinyl #MJ

The genius of Zappa In NewYork (1978) isn’t in one track, it’s the journey. Every moment is a reminder of how far a concert can stretch. Complex, theatrical, mischievous - peak Zappa. ‘The Purple Lagoon’ shows how ridiculously talented this band is. Virtuosity and irreverence in perfect balance.

That’s The Way Of The World (1975) isn’t just an album, it’s a meditation on living. Joy, sorrow, romance and spiritual uplift all orbit the same groove. Earth, Wind & Fire turning rhythm into revelation and funk into philosophy - one listen and the blueprint of their’70’d brilliance unfolds. #EWF

Rock of Ages. Many prefer the sound and the quality of the performances of this LP over The Band's legendary The Last Waltz. And I can understand that. There's a looser feel here and the horn arrangements add a new, interesting flavour to the tunes. Great musicianship. Excellent live recording.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s ambitious album – Brain Salad Surgery – was released today in 1973. It’s full-on ELP – with plenty of bombastic virtuosity. It’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Keith Emerson, Greg Lake & Carl Palmer throwing themselves into something akin to “Karn Evil 9”

Queen II (1974) wasn’t a commercial juggernaut, but it was a creative one. Overdubs, vocal choirs, fantasy themes-it’s where Queen found their voice. If you think Queen II is too much, you’ve understood it perfectly. Prog, glam, metal, theatre all colliding. Heaviness with theatrical precision.

The Beach Boys' Today! It came out just a few months after Beatles for Sale and the Stones' 12 X 5. People always talk about Pet Sounds but the Boys made good stuff before that. This is where the band (and esp. Brian Wilson) became more mature. Good batch of tunes. A few covers but mostly originals.

Recorded in 2008, released for the first 2025 Record Store Day: Todd Rundgren’s Arena Tour Live features inspired lyrics, stellar guitar work, and a reminder that beneath the riffs Todd is writing about identity, conviction, and cultural fatigue with precision. #ToddRundgren #vinyl #RSD2025

Welcome To The Blackout (Live In London ‘78) (2018) is the missing link between Bowie’s Berlin trilogy and his stadium shows of the ‘80’s. It feels raw and immediate, like he’s rearranging his own puzzle pieces in real time. It’s Bowie’s laboratory on stage. You get the artistry and the thrill.

Boz Scaggs reached his commercial (& professional) peak w/ his now-classic 1976 LP, Silk Degrees. Recently rediscovered it and it stood the test of time rather well. Top-notch studio musicians (starting w/ the late great Jeff Porcaro). Smooth, soulful, filled w/ humour. Blue-eyed soul at its finest.

Traffic always stretched musical boundaries. Their album Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (released today in 1971 on Island) was Traffic at their most adventurous – and agitated. The album’s famous swirling, near-mystical title track is something of a protest song against the music industry.

Tupelo Honey (1971) feels like Van Morrison traded his scowl for overalls and a sun hat. It’s his “I bought a farmhouse and now I ‘talk about the land a lot’ album. It’s a good Sunday morning album. Not essential, but essential to understanding Van Morrison. #Vinyl #VanMorrison

Dressed To Kill (1975) May sound tinny, but it’s the blueprint: short songs, sharp riffs, big melodies, and the prelude to Alive! when the bottom end finally matched their ambition. Proof that impact isn’t about fidelity, it’s about connection. Tin today, thunder tomorrow. #KISSArmy #Vinyl

Joni Mitchell’s Hejira Demos (2024) aren’t replacements, they’re revelations. The album is the polished novel; these demos are proof that even her rough drafts are masterpieces. Every chord a choice, every line a confession - together they complete the journey. #JoniMitchell #RSD

Todd Rundgren’s collaborations on White Knight (2017) aren’t gimmicks, they’re reminders he’s made a career out of defying categorization- the musical equivalent of a Rubik’s Cube. Uneven, brilliant, baffling, unmistakably Todd. Cohesion is for cowards; chaos is for artists. #ToddRundgren #Vinyl

A poet & performance artist by night, an employee of a small bookstore by day, Patti Smith’s life changed on this date in 1975 when her debut album Horses was released on Arista. One of the most influential albums of the decade, “Redondo Beach” & “Birdland” are two of the many key tracks on Horses.

The Kinks’ Lola vs Powerman (1970): It isn’t a rock opera, it’s a rock autopsy of the music biz. Ray Davies harmonized his grievances. Each track a chapter in disillusionment that slices through fame with melody as its weapon. A Trojan horse of catchy tunes and industry takedown. #TheKinks #Vinyl

The title Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1959) wasn’t marketing, it was prophesy. Some albums age, this one marinates. It’s a masterclass in restraint and resonance. The kind of album that makes you lean in, not turn up. It doesn’t demand attention, it earns it. #Jazz #BillEvans #Vinyl

Something Else By The Kinks (1967) -the hinge between distortion and concept albums. A bookshelf in disguise, full of Ray Davies’ character studies of domestic melancholy. You can hear the kettle boiling between verses. It’s like showing up to a psychedelic party in a tweed jacket. #Kinks #vinyl