Blood, Sweat and Tears-Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 (1970)

Almost two years after their historic and acclaimed second album, the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears recorded their next album, generically titled "Blood, Sweat & Tears 3". While considered one of their best albums, it didn't reach the commercial heights of its predecessor, despite reaching number one on the American and Canadian charts. If the band had previously showcased a solid jazz-rock sound with elements of soul, blues, and classical music, this third release features a style slightly more influenced by rhythm and blues, always under the umbrella of jazz and rock. As before, here too they flood their repertoire with covers adapted to their brass rock style, showcasing Clayton-Thomas's original and powerful voice, Steve Katz's effective guitar work, and the punchy horn section comprised of Dick Halligan, Fred Lipsius, Lew Soloff, Jerry Hyman, and Chuck Winfield, all anchored by the vigorous rhythm section of Bobby Colomby and Jim Fielder. This album contains anthems like "Hi De Ho", a Carole King cover featuring Clayton-Thomas delivering one of his finest performances; the improvised jam "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones; and the dynamic "40,000 Headmen" by Traffic. These, along with their own compositions, "The Battle" and "Lucretia MacEvil", and the magnificent "He's a Runner" (another cover, this time of Laura Nyro), are the highlights of this superb work.

Bob Dylan-Dylan (2007)

“Dylan” is the title of a triple compilation album by the legendary Bob Dylan, containing 51 of his tracks that summarize his music from 1962 to 2006. This box set includes 3 CDs that review the history of one of the greatest musicians in history, from his first album, generically titled “Bob Dylan” and released in 1962, to his last, “Modern Times”, released in 2006, passing through such emblematic albums as “Freewheelin’…”, “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Blonde on Blonde”, “Blood on the Tracks”, “Desire”, “Street Legal”, and “Basement Tapes”... and so on, up to 45 albums in 45 years of his career (including live recordings, rarities, compilations, and bootlegs), with more than 500 songs, all summarized in this anthology, edited with great care and in chronological order, and in which the musician's fans participated. He actively contributed to the selection of this impressive greatest hits collection. A selection of tracks encompassing all stages of his career, from the acoustic sound of his early days, through his electrification with folk rock, his time with The Band, his forays into country, his songs related to religion and spirituality, his bluesy period, and so on. Classics such as "Blowin' in the Wind", "Like a Rolling Stone", "Hurricane", "Changing the Guards", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and "Subterranean Homesick Blues", among many others, make up this majestic compilation, which is undoubtedly a true anthology.

Journey-Arrival (2001)

Following the release of Journey's reunion album "Trial By Fire" in 1996, lead singer Steve Perry refused to participate in the subsequent promotional tour, citing a supposed hip injury. The remaining members couldn't tolerate this further uncertainty from the singer and decided to replace him, ensuring his replacement sounded as similar to Perry as possible. Finally, two years later and after numerous auditions, they hired Steve Augeri as their new vocalist. Another member who left the band was drummer Steve Smith, who didn't want to continue without Perry. He was replaced by Deen Castronovo, who had previously worked with Nel Schon and Jonathan Cain in Bad English. Along with the fifth member (Ross Valory), they recorded and released the album "Arrival" in 2001, which also featured Jack Blades, who co-wrote some of the songs. In this new release, Augeri's voice stands out, strikingly similar to Perry's, though without quite capturing his charismatic emotional depth. "Arrival", like all Journey albums, follows the classic musical pattern of great soft rock, AOR, and melodic hard rock melodies, showcasing Neal Schon's superb guitar work, Cain's brilliant keyboard passages, and the irresistible, deeply emotive high-pitched vocals of whoever is behind the microphone. With a well-balanced repertoire, the album ranges from classic hard rock tracks like "Higher Place", "Signs of Life", and "To Be Alive Again", to irresistible melodic mid-tempo numbers like "Live and Breathe", "Loved By You", and "Kiss Me Softly", and more complex pieces such as the bluesy rock of "Livin' To Do" and the epic "World Gone Wild".

Led Zeppelin-Coda (1982)

Once Led Zeppelin officially disbanded following John Bonham's death, Atlantic Records demanded that the remaining members deliver a new album to fulfill their contract with the label. Therefore, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones opted to revisit various tracks that had been rejected and left off their official albums. To begin, Page chose three songs that had been left off their last album, "In Through the Out Door", ironically considered the weakest work in their entire discography. These tracks were the powerful "Ozone Baby", the dynamic "Darlene", and the frenetic "Wearing and Tearing", which are certainly every bit as good as the ones included on the original album. In fact, many fans wondered why none of these superb songs ended up on that album, as some of them are far superior to the officially released versions. There's also room for some outtakes from their first and seminal album, such as the intense cover of Otis Rush's "I Can't Quit You Baby", while "Bonzo's Montreux" is a nod to the late drummer, a showcase of John's devastating instrumental prowess with the drumsticks. The folky "Poor Tom", recorded during the "Led Zeppelin III" sessions, strikes us as the weakest and most predictable track on the entire album. The energetic "Walter's Walk", originally rejected from "Houses of the Holy", along with another cover, this time of the legendary Ben E. King's "We're Gonna Groove", are two of the highlights of an album that, for many, was simply a formality, a kind of epitaph to appease the record label's desires, more interested in new material than in an album full of scraps that, in the hands of any other band, could have amounted to a minor masterpiece.

Eagles-Long Road Out Of Eden (2007)

In 2007, almost thirty years after their last album, "The Long Run" (1979), The Eagles returned with a double album titled "Long Road Out of Eden". With a collection of brilliant new songs, they successfully attempted to recapture the glory of their mid-seventies era. Featuring virtually the same lineup as that album three decades earlier, with the exception of the departed Don Felder, the band included the ever-present Joe Walsh, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Timothy B. Schmit. For this seventh album, they enlisted the help of a large group of session musicians, including guitarist Stuart Smith, percussionists Lenny Castro and Luis Conti, keyboardists Richard Davis and Michael Thompson, and drummer Scott Crago, as well as a substantial horn section. “Long Road Out Of Eden” presents a brilliant collection of country rock fused with soft rock, featuring standout tracks like the country-rock anthem “How Long”, which evokes the band’s unmistakable style, the shimmering “Busy Being Fabulous” and “Guilty Of The Crime”, the lucid and rhythmic “Somebody”, the borderland-tinged “Center Of The Universe”, the vintage “Last Good Time In Town”, and the funky rock anthem “Frail Grasp On The Big Picture”. The subsequent reception was as triumphant as it was astonishing, released at a time when illegal internet downloads were commonplace in the music world. However, this didn’t prevent the album from achieving sales exceeding ten million copies worldwide and twenty platinum records.

Atlanta Rhythm Section-Dog Days (1975)

In 1975, the southern rock band Atlanta Rhythm Section released their fourth album, their second under the Polydor label after their relationship with Decca's American subsidiary. Recorded at Studios One in Georgia, this release featured a lineup of Ronnie Hammond (vocals), J.R. Cobb (guitar), Barry Bailey (guitar), Dean Daughtry (keyboards), Paul Goddard (bass), Robert Nix (drums), and Buddy Buie (vocals and production). The album contains several energetic southern rock tracks such as "Crazy" and "It Just Ain't Your Moon", while the boogie-blues "Boogie Smoogie" and the melodic "Dog Days" and "All Night Rain" showcase the album's exceptional quality. However, despite their increasingly consistent and effective style, with a pleasant and melodic sound, and songs of a high level of sophistication and refinement, they failed to gain much popularity, so in their next release they opted to harden their sound with a greater prominence of the more forceful guitars closer to hard rock.