Classic Rock

Directed by Martin R. Smith, this memorable celebration of pure talent and collaboration comes highly recommended. It is also available on Blu-ray.

Here is a band in full control of their talent and musicianship that had four studio albums that time would ultimately call one of the most amazing beginnings of any band ever, comparable only to the thunderous Black Sabbath’s first four albums.

After countless listens, I feel as if I both know Fela Kuti more than I ever knew any other African artist before, and also how little I appreciated the struggles and injustices that take place across the world in other people’s hometowns or communities. It takes a strong light to shine down on some of the darkest days in the shadow. Thank god Fela Kuti burned as bright as he did for our awareness.

On the surface, you might think that limiting the songs of a band that thrived on the interplay between various parts – most importantly the lead and rhythm guitars of Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir – wouldn't work, but you’d be mistaken. There is power and subtlety in these reinterpretations that I think Garcia would have admired, as his own personal tastes seemed to range to the more subdued and authentic soul of acoustic performances.

From the sonic exuberance of “Dancin’ Fool” and “Tell Me You Love Me” to the funky dissonance of “You Are What You Is” and “Joe’s Garage” to the bathroom-humor excellence of “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” and “Titties and Beer,” this album will give you just as much of a “taste” for Frank Zappa’s music as his son’s "Zappa Plays Zappa" did for me some eight years ago.

For a less musically talented band, being able to reconceive the sounds within the songs physically and rhythmically could have turned this kind of release been a box set of cheap sonic “tricks” designed to fool the listener into thinking the extra money it costs to buy the “enhanced” version of an album was well worth it. For Chicago? It allowed them to see just what was possible with the sound.

'Any Way You Love, We Know How You Feel' is a dream of an album. Continuing much of the spacey jam-rock of the band’s previous three albums, it also breaks rank from those other releases and manages to forge along in a new and seemingly less restrained path.

Newly released in standalone DVD and digital formats, the band's final show with founding keyboardist Jon Lord includes classic hits – "Woman from Tokyo," "Highway Star," "Hush," "Space Truckin'," and of course "Smoke on the Water."

Steve Conte's 'International Cover Up' is a sheer listening pleasure.

The Blu-ray of Neil Young and Crazy Horse's 'Rust Never Sleeps' concert movie is a chance to see the band at its peak and a concert film which manages to stand the test of time.