#802 - Scarecrow - John Mellencamp

"A loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America, Scarecrow says as much with its tough rock and gentle folk-rock as it does with its lyrics, which remain a weak point for Mellencamp. Nevertheless, his writing has never been more powerful: "Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Small Town" capture the hopes and fears of Middle America, while "Lonely Ol' Night" and "Rumbleseat" effortlessly convey the desperate loneliness of being stuck in a dead-end life." (allmusic guide)

#801 - Trout Mask Replica, Captain Beefheart

"Trout Mask Replica is Captain Beefheart's masterpiece, a fascinating, stunningly imaginative work that still sounds like little else in the rock & roll canon. Given total creative control by producer and friend Frank Zappa, Beefheart and his Magic Band rehearsed the material for this 28-song double album for over a year, wedding minimalistic R&B, blues, and garage rock to free jazz and avant-garde experimentalism." (allmusic guide)

#800 - Neil Young, Neil Young

"Although he was jamming with Rick James prior to recording this album, there is no sign of the Super Freak on Neil Young's 1969 solo debut. Not to worry: saturating string arrangements, gossamer gospel singers, pastoral pedal steel notes, and Young's God-given gift for writing the perfect love song will freak your inner redneck. Play that country music, white boy." (real music guide)

#799 - Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison

"Hands down, this epochal concert at New York's Madison Square Garden -- first issued on three LPs in a handsome orange-colored box -- was the crowning event of George Harrison's public life, a gesture of great goodwill that captured the moment in history and, not incidentally, produced some rousing music as a permanent legacy." (allmusic guide)

#798 - A New Day At Midnight, David Gray

"Gray's 2002 album is another offering of super-melodic songs designed to make you cry, or think anyway, with synthesizers providing background color and electro-beats keeping the kids interested. Gray's unshakeable and distinctive songwriting talents are as strong as ever, it's just too bad everything has to sound like Coldplay all the time." (real music guide)

#797 - Bridge Of Sighs, Robin Trower

"Robin Trower pushed the often limited boundaries of the power trio concept into refreshing new waters. The concept gels best in the first track, "Day of the Eagle," where the opening riff rocking morphs into the dreamy washes of gooey guitar chords that characterize the album's distinctive title track that follows." (allmusic guide)