Monkey Island
Artist: Geils
Community Score: 8.33

One of the great lost albums, Monkey Island is where the Geils Band make the blues their own. It's an elaborately produced, adventurous set that analyzes their commerical failure and looks for answers to hard-to-ask questions. Unlike their 1972 live album Full House, Monkey Island refuses to pander to blues conservists or boogie-rock... Read More

Havin' a Party With Southside Johnny
Artist: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
Spitballs
Artist: Spitballs

There was certainly a precedent for label mates to sing on each others records at Beserkley; for instance, Jonathan Richman sang on Greg Kihn's "All the Right Reasons." Still, the idea of the entire label roster combining under one "band name" to make this record is kind of unique and part of what makes this record fun. Consisting of mostly... Read More

Set Free
Artist: Patti Smith

Arista U.K. 197 was the single "Privilege (Set Me Free)" (a cover of the theme song from the theme from the 1967 British rock film originally sung by Paul Jones) by the Patti Smith Group, drawn from the Easter album, which spent a week in the British charts. 12197 was a 12-inch, four-track version of the single, dubbed "Set Free" and containing,... Read More

Hearts of Stone
Artist: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes

Hearts of Stone was the last record Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes cut for Epic. It was produced by Steven Van Zandt -- who also wrote six of the set's nine tunes, sang backup, and played rhythm guitar (except on the title track.) E Street drummer Max Weinberg was also on hand for this set. This is easily the best of the band's three... Read More

This Time It's for Real
Artist: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
Community Score: 8.00

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' second album suffers a bit in comparison to their debut, I Don't Want to Go Home; while the first album boasted a number of songs that would become staples of the band's killer live show for years to come (such as "The Fever," "Broke Down Piece of Man," and "I Don't Want to Go Home"), This Time It's for... Read More

I Don't Want to Go Home
Artist: Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
Community Score: 10.00

The Jukes' debut is an R&B revivalist's delight, capped by splendid duets with Lee Dorsey ("How Come You Treat Me So Bad?") and Ronnie Spector ("You Mean So Much to Me"). ~ Kit Kiefer, All Music Guide Read More

Stranger in Town
Artist: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Community Score: 7.33

Night Moves was in the pipeline when Live Bullet hit, and wound up eclipsing the double live set anyway, so Stranger in Town is really the record where Bob Seger started grasping the changes that happened when he became a star. It happened when he was old enough to have already formed his character. Even as celebrity creeps in, as on "Hollywood... Read More

Heat Treatment
Artist: Graham Parker & the Rumour
Community Score: 10.00

Essentially Howlin Wind -- Vol. 2, as Parker and the Rumour demonstrate that their initial burst of high-quality songs can extend to a second album, in the same year as their debut. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

20 Golden Greats
Artist: Buddy Holly

While not flush with the digital sheen of recent CD packages, this early Buddy Holly hits collection will please vinyl fans in search of the bespeckled one's late-'50s hits. Including perennials like "That'll Be the Day," "Oh Boy," "It's So Easy," and "Peggy Sue," the album also features fine covers of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "Bo Diddley,"... Read More

I Never Talked to Bob Dylan
Artist: Patti Smith

This Swedish bootleg preserves an October 3, 1976, performance by Patti Smith at the Concerthouse in Stockholm, Sweden. The glossy color cover and accurate annotations suggest the quality of what's inside: legitimate-release-quality sound doubtless coming from the soundboard, possibly as a radio broadcast. Smith was on tour promoting her second... Read More