Posts by Doug Collette

Released a half-century ago in the midst of mainstream dominance by so-called dinosaur rock acts, the Ramones’ eponymous debut (4/23/76) is the definition of a paradigm shift. With no guitar solos to speak of–the break on “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You” is one note repeated twice–and arrangements further lacking many tuneful vocal harmonies, […]

The Rolling Stones’ latter-day albums were frustratingly erratic long before the misconceived likes of 1997’s Bridges To Babylon. And the hit-and-miss designation applies even to those titles general consensus deems iconic: see 1968’s Beggars Banquet and Sticky Fingers three years later. But, in marked contrast to those records–as well as Let It Bleed released upon […]

Peter Case At McCabes – My Life To Live is not the usual career retrospective of a veteran artist. Granted, the former leader of the Plimsouls spans his canon here, but in doing so over the course of the seventy-one-plus duration of this twenty-two cut sequence, he plays, sings, and speaks with a tangible sense […]

Emblematic of the “Mercury Poisoning” Graham Parker sang about in 1979, the terribly amateurish front cover art of this inveterate iconoclast’s now half-century-old Howlin’ Wind (released April 2026) certainly belies the punchy professionalism of the music inside. As does the equally ill-advised image adorning Heat Treatment, the second of two equally excellent long players released in the […]

With the release of Great As Ever: Live In Philadelphia ’86, a theme is beginning to emerge in the chronological issues of this archival series. Notwithstanding how this package lives up to its title–it’s actually a reference to the loyalty of the audience from the leader of the band–Gregg Allman’s self-assurance and pride in his […]

Now forty-five years old, the Grateful Dead’s live album Reckoning (released 4/1/81) is a prime example of the newfound inspiration the band experienced with the recruitment of keyboardist/vocalist/songwriterBrent Mydland. Recorded in the fall of 1980, some eighteen months after the keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter joined, this acoustic collection and its electric companion piece, Dead Set, were as close as […]

At a quick glance, Led Zeppelin’s seventh studio album, Presence (released 3/31/76), has much in common with the rest of the monolithic band’s discography. There’s the cryptic symbology of the cover images, some de rigueur blues, references to mythology, and a preponderance of Jimmy Page guitaring that competes for attention with Robert Plant’s singing. But […]

Following so closely on the heels of the January 2026 concert piece One Moment in Time – Live In The USA, the re-release of Robin Trower’s 1975 Live! might seem a bit suspect. Instead, it serves as a template for such expansive archival projects (not just for this artist’s discography). Issued in an elaborate two-CD […]

Robben Ford’s 2021 solo album, Pure, is arguably the pinnacle of his storied career, a lucid, wholly instrumental distillation of the technique he’s used so effectively in his work with the Yellowjackets, Miles Davis, and the band he led backing Chicago blues icon, Charlie Musselwhite. The versatile guitar hero impresses mightily on Two Shades of Blue […]

With thirty-five years of hindsight, R.E.M.’s Out of Time (released 3/12/91) sounds like even more of a vast stylistic departure from its predecessors than at the time of its original issue. The quartet’s decision to eschew touring at this point was perhaps logical, at least to an extent, but it was no less courageous a […]

Time Out Take Five is a column comprised of pithy takes on recent jazz releases, spotlighting titles deserving attention that might otherwise go unnoticed. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Strasbourg 82 – The separation and presence of the audio over the course of these roughly ninety minutes resonates like the very name of this iconic […]

His first major studio album in six years, Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye III+, is the latest evolution of a concept he first introduced in 2021. The ongoing project is designed to focus on collaborations with younger musicians the contemporary jazz icon admires, allowing him to reimagine his past work and devote the collective talents to new […]

Dave’s Picks Volume 57 is one of the most compelling releases in this ongoing archival series devoted to the Grateful Dead. But just as Chelsea Housand’s eye-catching cover art demands close perusal to appreciate its intricacy, so too does it require careful listening to comprehend the overall beauty of the music on these three CDs. […]

In extended retrospect, it takes careful perusal of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s timeline to discern the significance of the band’s fourth studio album, the now fifty-year-old Gimme Back My Bullets (released 2/3/76).  After all, it was not as commercially successful as its predecessor, 1975’s Nuthin’ Fancy, or its successor two years later, Street Survivors. And not only is the latter […]

By the time Bad Company released its third album, Run With The Pack (released 1/30/76), a half-century ago, the group had already achieved the goals they set for themselves upon formation in 1973. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke sought more sustained success than they had experienced with Free (beginning with “All Right Now’), while guitarist Mick Ralphs was eager […]

One Moment In Time – Live In The USA is the logical extension of the process of refinement that Robin Trower has undertaken with his studio albums of recent years. Running roughly seventy-seven minutes in duration on compact disc and a double LP vinyl set, fourteen tracks taken from two shows on a 2025 American […]

Toad The Wet Sprocket has issued some intriguing anthologies over the years, including PS (A Toad Retrospective) and In Light Syrup, but it’s arguable that none are so fascinating as RINGS: The Acoustic Sessions. Anyone surprised by the appearance of this unorthodox album hasn’t been following the band closely over the years.  Originally emerging in […]

The consistent solidity of Mountain’s Nantucket Sleighride (released January 1971) should not come as any surprise.  Commonly perceived as the band’s sophomore album, it is, in fact, the third project on which guitarist/vocalist Leslie West collaborated with musician/producer Felix Pappalardi. Prior to those efforts, the latter produced the bulk of Cream’s studio work. With an […]

It’s hardly fair to say guitarist/composer Julian Lage saved his best work for Blue Note Records. After all, he released a handful of memorable albums, such as Arclight, prior to joining the iconic jazz label.  Still, there’s no doubt Lage has stretched himself since issuing Modern Lore and Love Hurts roughly a decade ago, and, for this fifth outing on […]

Mike Mattison & Trash Magic make it all sound easy on Turn A Midnight Corner.  A uniformly excellent explorative statement in contemporary blues, this Landslide Records effort is the flashpoint of experience and ambition at which the frontman only hinted by his efforts with his Scrapomatic band and his 2014 release Afterglow. The reputation Mike […]