The Royal Scam – Steely Dan

Reading a biography on Steely Dan by Brian Sweet was inspirational enough for this writer to enter the world of Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals) and Walter Becker (guitar, bass), the members behind Steely Dan, and review the band’s 1976 album, ‘The Royal Scam’, consisting of nine, expectedly disparate tracks. As per the band’s wont, the duo are supported on this album by a sterling set of back-up musicians.

A Night At The Opera – Queen

The new year celebrates 50 years of the release of Queen’s iconic fourth album, ‘A Night At The Opera’ (named after the Marx Brothers' film of the same name), revisited at a vinyl listening session organised by Mumbai-based Adagio on 19th December 2024. Truly well-deserved as the album, quite like wine, has aged gracefully and, with it, still sounds better with every play.

Hooker N’ Heat: Recorded live at the Fox Venice Theatre – John Lee Hooker & Canned Heat.

How often do you receive an opportunity of listening to two albums with the same name? ‘Hooker N’ Heat’ is one rarity where the original collaboration between John Lee “Hooker” and Canned “Heat” worked so well in 1971 that they recorded another album with the same name in 1978 (until Peter Gabriel released a self-titled debut in 1977, and followed it with three more albums with the same name).

Here and There – Elton John

‘Here and There’, released in 1976, is a live album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, his 14th official album release. The title refers to the two concerts represented on the album. So you have "Here" a concert recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London during the summer of 1974 on 18th May that had a 2700 capacity occupancy and which was in the presence of Princess Margaret and was a fundraiser for invalid children.

Giant Steps – John Coltrane

It is with such a sense of pride and nostalgia writing a review on jazz great, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps’, being one of the first jazz albums released during this writer’s tenure with music label Magnasound – the then exclusive license for Warner Music – in 1989.

Live At The Regal – B.B. King

A younger audience would probably be familiar with the guitar virtues of B.B. King on account of two collaborations from contemporary artists such as U2 ( with When Love Comes To Town from U2’s1988 album, ‘Rattle And Hum’), and Eric Clapton (on the 2000 album, ‘Riding With The King’), but there’s a lot more to B.B. King’s legend than that…

Red Octopus – Jefferson Starship

A string of events resulted in the formation of Jefferson Starship with rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner and vocalist Grace Slick first collaborating with former Quicksilver Messenger Service member and multi-instrumentalist David Freiberg on 1970's ‘Blows Against The Empire’.

By Numbers – The Who

This writer’s first introduction to the album was by default, listening to a single track from it, Squeeze Box, at a two-hour concert titled ‘The Evolution of Mr. Rock’ featuring Madhukar Dhas at Mumbai’s Sophia Bhabha Auditorium in 1976.

One Of These Nights – Eagles

In deciding to review the Eagles’ fourth album, it became an incredible coincidence that “Reagan”, the biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th U.S. president, entered the weekly U.S. box office chart during the weekend ending 1st September, 2024, as the lyrics of one of the songs from the ‘One Of These Nights’ album, called I Wish You Peace, was written by none other than Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, who was then dating Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon.

Timepieces - Eric Clapton - The Best of Eric Clapton

Time Pieces is a good single-disc collection of Eric Clapton's solo hits and includes most of his hits like I Shot the Sheriff, After Midnight, Wonderful Tonight, his collaboration with Derek and the Dominos on Layla, and Cocaine (Live). The compilation provides a good introduction for neophyte Clapton fans, especially those who just want copies of his '70s hits.