Showing 9 rock/pop reviews
Bonnie Tyler - Faster Than the Speed of Night
Released: 1983
She saw Meat Loaf sing 'Bat Out of Hell' on TV and demanded his songwriter. Jim Steinman answered with 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' — and made a Swansea club singer No. 1 in America.
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Released: 1977
The McVies’ marriage was ending, Buckingham and Nicks were at war, and every song was about someone in the room. Fleetwood Mac conducted their breakups in four-part harmony.
Prince - Purple Rain
Released: 1984
For one stretch of 1984, Prince had the No. 1 album, single, and film in America simultaneously — and the album held the top spot for 24 straight weeks.
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Released: 1973
Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics in a Kingston hotel room; the music had to wait for a French château. Elton John’s derailed sessions grew into a 17-track double album.
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Released: 1984
How Bruce Springsteen created the most misunderstood protest album in rock history—a complex critique wrapped in stadium-sized anthems.
Phil Collins - Face Value
Released: 1981
Written in the wreckage of his marriage, Phil Collins’s solo debut turned private fury into “In the Air Tonight” — and a Genesis drummer into a star in his own right.
Billy Joel - The Stranger
Released: 1977
After Turnstiles stalled, Billy Joel gambled on producer Phil Ramone — and the partnership turned a struggling songwriter into America’s great musical storyteller.
Toto - Toto IV
Released: 1982
Released April 8, 1982, this six-time Grammy winner transformed session musicians into superstars with "Africa," "Rosanna," and a production so immaculate it redefined what an album could be.
Peter Gabriel - So
Released: 1986
A converted cow shed, a producer who nailed the door shut, and a stop-motion video: Peter Gabriel's So knocked Genesis off No. 1 and ended his years as a cult artist.
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