Get Your Wings – Aerosmith (1974)

****1/2 Aerosmith has always been my favorite band and their debut album has always been in my top three favorites from them (topped, naturally, by Toys in the Attic and Rocks). As such, I’ve always been annoyed that it often gets passed over in favor of its follow-up Get Your Wings, which I never considered…

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

***** There have been many so-called “revolutionaries” across music history, but none, I would argue, more prolific than Bob Dylan. His early Folk albums were classics, no doubt, but when he plugged in and alienated his musically conservative fans, he opened the door to a new world of influence. Highway 61 Revisited, the first of Bob Dylan’s…

Gary Clark Jr. – Live (2014)

Note: I originally wrote this review to be published in The East Texan on October 2, 2014. It won third place in the Division III Critical Review competition at the 2015 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention. ****1/2 Gary Clark Jr. doesn’t like playing live. He’s too shy, he says, to really interact with the audience…