Neil Young’s first live album Time Fades Away hearkens back to 1973; it’s a wildly loose effort that is in sharp contradiction to its wildly successful and highly commercial predecessor ‘Harvest’.

Nowhere were the twists and turns of Warren’ Zevon’s career better displayed side by side than on The Wind, his final album. A stellar group of friends joined Warren in an outing that is a fitting closer for one of the finest songwriters ever.

More than just one of the most enduring records from that era, the Breeders’ Last Splash would become part of the college rock canon, and the soundtrack to my and so many others’ early life; enriching and intensifying with great breadth and brio.

Talking Heads’ second album was set to an irresistible dance groove that made their reputation. But here’s the main thing: no one before or since the appearance of David Byrne came closer to flying straight off the earth while not moving at all.

25 years on and the following stanza from Public Enemy still has considerable bite:

“The minute they see me, fear me
I’m the epitome – a public enemy
Used, abused without clues
I refused to blow a fuse
They even had it on the news
Don’t believe the hype…”

This month, Rock of Ages looks at Public Enemy’s sophomore release, “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back”.

Bob Dylan‘s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, was released fifty years ago this week, on May 27, 1963. It was a remarkable achievement that calls for continued appreciation.