Led Zeppelin: IV
"Encompassing heavy metal, folk, pure rock & roll, and blues, Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album is a monolithic record, defining not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of '70s hard rock. Expanding on the breakthroughs of III, Zeppelin fuse their majestic hard rock with a mystical, rural English folk that gives the record an epic scope. Even at its most basic -- the muscular, traditionalist "Rock and Roll" -- the album has a grand sense of drama…"

~Allmusic

The Clash: London Calling
"London Calling always signified unity to me; an idea that among different people and lifestyles, points of view, experiences and tastes, we were all in it together…. It’s all there in a big, loud, beautiful collection of hurt, anger, restless thought, and above all, hope; one that if released tomorrow would still seem relevant and vibrant."

~Pop Matters

SDRE: Diary
"Ultimately, it would be Sunny Day Real Estate who would have the greater impact, not just on emo itself…but on some of the major rock bands of the era, including the Foo Fighters which would at one point have two members of SDRE in their ranks. Even in the general arena of indie rock, SDRE’s impact is tremendous and infallible."

~The Cacophony Cafe

Radiohead: OK Computer
"Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular… "

~Allmusic

Strung Out: An American Paradox
"The band can take a simple chord progression and turn it into a work of art. Simply put the guitars in this album are awesome. "

~Sputnikmusic

Tom Waits: Mule Variations
"Construction sounds, for example. I started taping a lot of stuff, but how that'll integrate itself into what I'm doing I'm not certain. I started taping the sounds of machinery a lot and I play it back at night, 'cause you miss it when it gets quiet."

~Tom Waits

Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
"I never thought that the music called "jazz" was ever meant to reach just a small group of people, or become a museum thing locked under glass like all other dead things that were once considered artistic."

~Miles Davis

Jeff Buckley: Grace
"Buckley’s bold, majestic articulations swoon with a magnetic and mesmerizing forcefulness. Indeed, it was his profound ability for delivering his expressions so eloquently that lent the material — from the intoxicating swirl of Mojo Pin to the sad resignation of Lover, You Should’ve Come Over to the ominous ambience of Dream Brother — a magical resonance."

~Musicbox

Ozzy Osbourne: The Blizzard of Oz
"I admire anyone who can play the guitar with a style that is easily identifiable, and that's what he was able to do. Everyone says there’s nothing new that can be done with a guitar, but when people like Randy come along, they realize they're wrong."

~Angus Young, AC/DC

SRV: Texas flood
"Like my brother Jimmie says, I play like I'm breaking out of jail."

~Stevie Ray Vaughan

Bob Dylan: Best Of Bob Dylan
"When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it -- don't back down and don't give up -- then you're going to mystify a lot of folks."

~Bob Dylan

Metallica: Master Of Puppets
"Some critics have called Master of Puppets the best heavy metal album ever recorded; if it isn't, it certainly comes close."

~Allmusic

The Budos Band: II
"The musicians [Budos Band] claim the secret to their enormous sound is a selfless approach to rhythm: each man finding his own place and purpose in the greater landscape of the measure. However, any observant listener can hear that it is something far more simple and rare that elevates their sound beyond the sphere of cognitive reason and into that far greater realm of pure feeling: The Budos Band have Soul, on the inside. And it's strong."

~Allaboutjazz.com

Bill Frisell: Nashville
"The electric guitar sound of the decade -- oozing, cloudy enveloping -- belongs to jazz renegade Bill Frisell….Like the best artists in any field, Frisell is not a slave to his tools; he's the creator who gives them new validity...His guitar sound is unmistakable - billowing, breath-like, multi-hued, immense at times, almost palpable. Frisell's music is accessible and avant-garde, a lyrical victory of man over machine, of personality over mechanics, of message over mathematics."

~Minneapolis Star Tribune

Mogwai: Mr. Beast
"They sit upon high slinging thunder and lightning down at us, with a sound so engrossing and powerful that it can lead listeners -- those in the proper mindset -- to that rare decapitation of consciousness through music that few acts can deliver."

~Prefix Magazine

James Brown: 20 All-Time Greatest Hits
"This much is certain: what became known as soul music in the Sixties, funk music in the Seventies and rap music in the Eighties is directly attributable to James Brown."

~Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

The Derek Trucks Band: Songlines
"Songlines is the finest moment in the Derek Trucks Band's recording career. It's a fully mature, deeply reckoned studio album that bears repeated listening to reveal all its subtlety and the beauty of its creation."

~Allmusic