Showing 11 rock reviews
The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
Released: 1981
Jagger and Richards weren't getting on, a 1981 tour was booked, and the 'new' album was a decade of rejected tapes. Tattoo You spent nine weeks at No. 1 — the Stones' last American chart-topper.
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
Released: 1986
Bon Jovi demoed 30 songs for New Jersey teenagers, hired hitmaker Desmond Child, and hoped to sell 500,000 copies. Slippery When Wet spent eight weeks at No. 1 and went Diamond.
The Who - Who's Next
Released: 1971
Pete Townshend’s sci-fi opera Lifehouse collapsed and nearly took him with it. The Who salvaged eight songs, a Lowrey organ loop, and their only UK No. 1 from the wreckage.
The Beatles - Revolver
Released: 1966
John Lennon asked to sound like the Dalai Lama on a mountaintop; a 20-year-old engineer ran his voice through a spinning organ speaker. Eleven weeks later, pop had been remade.
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Released: 1969
The Beatles knew the end was near, so they composed one: a 16-minute medley stitched from eight fragments that closes their career on their own terms.
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Released: 1975
It cost more to make than most 1975 films, and its lead single was nearly six minutes of mock opera. Queen’s great gamble became rock’s most audacious triumph.
Journey - Escape
Released: 1981
A new keyboardist, a father’s advice, and four hit singles made Escape Journey’s only No. 1 album — and gave the world “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Boston - Boston
Released: 1976
Tom Scholz recorded platinum guitar tracks alone in his Watertown basement while working full-time at Polaroid, then let Epic tell the world it was cut in a real studio — and it became rock's fastest-selling debut.
John Lennon - Imagine
Released: 1971
Recorded in a home studio on his own 72-acre estate, Lennon's 'imagine no possessions' became the most argued-over line in a peace anthem that outsold everything else he made alone.
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I & II
Released: 1991
Axl Rose remembered double albums getting stuck behind the Tower Records cash register, so Guns N' Roses released two nearly full-length albums on the same midnight in September 1991 instead of one.
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Night Moves
Released: 1976
Seger and his manager never sent the title track to Capitol — they thought it was a failure. The producer submitted it behind their backs, and the label made it the album's name and lead single.
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