Kiss’ ‘Sonic Boom,’ released on Oct. 6, 2009, was packed with hooks, anthemic choruses, and a lifetime supply of innuendo. What’s not to like?

In the period immediately after New Orleans’ levees failed under Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught beginning on Aug. 29, 2005, musicians began trying to make sense of things.

Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run,’ released on Aug. 25, 1975, is dotted with career-making, warhorse tracks. But what of its lesser-heard songs?

Over the years since Lou Reed released ‘Metal Machine Music’ in July 1975, many others have followed him into noise, distortion and atonality.

There were technical things that made Ornette Coleman’s work great. But stressing that gives away the one thing that really mattered: Its freedom.

“Pachuco Cadaver,” which arrived this week in 1969 as part of Captain Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica,’ is some pretty bizarre stuff. But I love it.

‘Living with War,’ released on May 8, 2006, once more found Neil Young sandblasting away at the problems he saw with America.

Mark Saleski returns to a handful of resonant moments from Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Devils and Dust,’ released on April 26, 2005.

As Steven Tyler — born on March 26, 1948 — celebrates another trip around the sun, we decided to travel deep into our Aerosmith collections.

With ‘Working On a Dream,’ Bruce Springsteen continued an intriguing journey back to the music of his formative years.