The hard-to-accept fact is simply that although Mott the Hoople had a number of good albums, they never really had any great ones.

You have to wonder why Manassas went under so many people’s radar, especially with the gap left by the breakup of Crosby Stills Nash and Young in 1970.

Returning to songs by the Beatles, Talking Heads, R.E.M. and others that – despite being pretty much incomprehensible – captured the public’s imagination.

ZZ Top’s underrated ‘Tejas’ is like a forgotten middle child, having had the back luck to follow not just one, but two classic albums.

As these songs by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and others show: Sometimes, having special guests provides just enough competition to make the main act work a little harder.

The Patti Smith Group’s ‘Radio Ethiopia’ is to ‘Horses’ what ‘White Light/White Heat’ is to ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico.’

The first time I heard the B-52’s, I laughed. The first time I heard the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue,” I laughed – but not for the same reasons.

No “best of” list here. Just a year-end housecleaning of random Odd Couples jabs, hooks and uppercuts – and not always above the belt.

A deeper dive actually finds more similarities than you might expect between Bad Company and Foreigner.

Grand Funk Railroad were at the top of their game at this point, and yet ‘E Pluribus Funk’ goes largely unnoticed today.