Let It Be
Artist: The Beatles
Community Score: 7.60

The only Beatles album to occasion negative, even hostile reviews, there are few other rock records as controversial as Let It Be. First off, several facts need to be explained: although released in May 1970, this was not their final album, but largely recorded in early 1969, way before Abbey Road. Phil Spector was enlisted in early 1970... Read More

Link Wray
Artist: Link Wray

Link Wray was one of rock & roll's first bone fide guitar heroes, and his speaker-shredding buzzy chords were as distinctive a sound as anyone conjured up in rock's early years. So Link's old fans were thrown for a loop when, in 1971, the man made a comeback after several years along the margins with a self-titled album that set aside his big... Read More

Follow Your Heart
Artist: The Sons of Champlin

The Sons, who had once called themselves the Sons of Champlin and would again, broke up in March 1970 but re-formed in the fall of the year when Capitol Records reminded them they owed another album on their contract and they decided they could use the advance to pay their back taxes. Saxophonist Tim Caine could not be persuaded to return, which... Read More

The Great Lost Kinks Album
Artist: The Kinks
Community Score: 8.00

An aptly titled collection; out of print for many years, there are even some Kinks cultists who have never been able to hear this ragtag but worthy collection of late-'60s and early-'70s outtakes and rarities. Most of these were recorded around the same time as the 1968 LP Village Green Preservation Society; these low-key, wry, bouncy tunes... Read More

The Tin Man Was a Dreamer
Artist: Nicky Hopkins

Nicky Hopkins' finest solo album, the memorably titled The Tin Man Was A Dreamer is a solid piece of engagingly edgy pop-rock -- picture Elton John's early '70s work with more variety, a few rough edges, and a bit less ego. As one would expect, Hopkins' piano playing (augmented by the organ in spots) dominates most of the songs, but there's... Read More

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
Artist: The Who
Community Score: 8.68

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy has the distinction of being the first in a long line of Who compilations. It also has the distinction of being the best. Part of the reason why it is so successful is that it has an actual purpose. Meaty was designed as a collection of the group's singles, many of which never appeared on albums. The Who recorded their... Read More

Desolation Boulevard
Artist: Sweet
Community Score: 6.72

Sweet hit the peak of their powers on Desolation Boulevard, a wonderfully lightweight collection of fizzy melodies and big, dumb hooks. Essentially, the album consists of three dynamic singles buoyed by a bunch of filler, but those singles -- "Ballroom Blitz," "The 6-Teens," and "Fox on the Run" -- are addictive slices of bubblegum glam rock.... Read More

Never a Dull Moment
Artist: Rod Stewart
Community Score: 5.50

Essentially a harder-rocking reprise of Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment never quite reaches the heights of its predecessor, but it's a wonderful, multi-faceted record in its own right. Opening with the touching, autobiographical rocker "True Blue," which finds Rod Stewart trying to come to grips with his newfound stardom but... Read More

Gasoline Alley
Artist: Rod Stewart
Community Score: 8.33

Gasoline Alley follows the same formula of Rod Stewart's first album, intercutting contemporary covers with slightly older rock & roll and folk classics and originals written in the same vein. The difference is in execution. Stewart sounds more confident, claiming Elton John's "Country Comfort," the Small Faces' "My Way of Giving," and the... Read More

Seven
Artist: Bob Seger
Community Score: 7.65

With his seventh album, appropriately titled Seven, Bob Seger delivered one of his strongest, hardest-hitting rock records -- the toughest since the days of the Bob Seger System. Not to say that he ever abandoned rock & roll, since Back in '72 was filled with fantastic rockers, but it was tempered with reflective singer/songwriter material. Not... Read More

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Community Score: 8.30

Recorded during their American tour in late 1969, and centered around live versions of material from the Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed era. Often acclaimed as one of the top live rock albums of all time, its appeal has dimmed a little today. The live versions are reasonably different from the studio ones, but ultimately not as good, a notable... Read More

Elvis in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Artist: Elvis Presley
Community Score: 8.00

When Elvis and the Colonel decided it was time to start appearing live again, they assembled a crackerjack band (featuring James Burton) and took on Vegas full-bore. Easily the King's best live album, In Person at the International Hotel featured a slew of hits, including "Johnny B. Goode," "My Babe," the "Mystery Train/Tiger Man" medley, and... Read More

The Kink Kronikles
Artist: The Kinks

Strictly speaking, the double-album compilation The Kink Kronikles isn't a greatest-hits collection. Covering the years 1966 through 1970, The Kink Kronikles may not be packed with hits -- out of the album's 28 tracks, only nine were hits in the U.K. or the U.S. -- yet it's a definitive overview of this era, which was one of Ray Davies' most... Read More

Gypsy - BONUS TRACK
Artist: Gypsy

Though nothing else on Gypsy's debut album came quite up to the standard of the opening number, the whole album is enjoyable for connoisseurs of jazzy progressive rock. That opening number, "Gypsy Queen," was the band's musical and commercial highlight, an organ-driven and harmony-laden blast of great progressive pop. Elsewhere on this album,... Read More

1962-1966
Artist: The Beatles
Community Score: 8.34

Assembling a compilation of the Beatles is a difficult task, not only because they had an enormous number of hits, but also because singles didn't tell the full story; many of their album tracks were as important as the singles, if not more so. The double-album 1962-1966, commonly called The Red Album, does the job surprisingly well, hitting... Read More

The Essential Ride '63-'67
Artist: Paul Revere & the Raiders

A much more sensible buy than the double-CD Legend of Paul Revere, this 20-track compilation focuses on their toughest (and therefore best) early material. Has all the big early hits, and about half the songs weren't on Legend, most notably their fine pre-Monkees version of "Steppin' Stone." Note that the version of "Hungry" here is an alternate... Read More