With the onset of spring comes a slow new release period. So, this month we will be featuring a few classic artists, and the masterpieces they delivered.
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
After kicking heroin in 1957, and establishing himself as a bandleader in 1959, John Coltrane embarked on a spiritual, and musical, quest that lasted for the remainder of his life. Recorded at the end of 1964, Coltrane made this offering to God, and the world, in a four-part suite that stands as one of the greatest works in the history of recorded music. It aches, it yearns, it prays, and it swings, with ‘Trane baring his soul though his fiery tenor playing. Bandmates McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones add the perfect accompaniment to his artistic vision. Following this release, Coltrane continued his journey, delving into the avant-garde, before his death in 1967. This, however, is his career apex and is a cornerstone of any jazz collection.
The Beatles: Abbey Road
In 1969, The Beatles were near the end of their rope. They had already spent seven years as the defining blueprint for any aspiring rock band, pushing the boundaries of music as far as they could take it, through groundbreaking albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper. Early in 1969, the band made an unsuccessful attempt at recording a new album, in front of a camera crew. Relations between the members, already strained, broke down. The project was shelved (later released as Let It Be), and the band decided to hit the studio, sans cameras, and make one last album, the old fashioned way. While tensions were still high, they set their differences aside and created this masterpiece of an album, one that redefined the word "compromise", and also one that contained some of the band's most accomplished writing and playing, reinventing rock & roll one last time.
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland
All too often, an established artist will venture into double-album territory, and all too often such ventures fall short. Every so often, however, a masterpiece, such as this, slips through the cracks. After taking the world by storm in 1967, Jimi Hendrix created his third, and last fully-realized, album. Known for revolutionizing other artists' material, this album features his take on Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower", considered by many to be the definitive version. Elsewhere, Hendrix delves into psychedelic soul on the title track, flexes his guitar muscles on the fifteen-minute "Voodoo Chile", delivers a concise blues-based classic in "Crosstown Traffic" and the gorgeous pop of "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", unleashes the side-long “1983” suite, and closes with the timeless "Voodoo Child (slight return)". His next album was to be even loftier, but this album is perfect.
Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run
In 1975, Bruce Springsteen was not yet a household name. His first two albums brought him critical acclaim, but low sales. Both he and his label knew that the third album was a make-or-break affair, and Springsteen went into the studio with that in mind, cutting this album that yearned for change and escape, every song a timeless classic, from the meticulously-recorded title track (a song that, if he had never recorded another note, he would still be known for today), to the classics, “Thunder Road”, “Backstreets”, “She’s The One”, the hard-driving “Night”, and the dynamic “Jungleland”, this album is perfect in every single way, from beginning to end. In the 33 years since this album’s release, Springsteen has reinvented himself several times, and has seen an enormous amount of success, but this is where it all came together….a masterpiece!
