Okay, reviewing these is a no-brainer. Any guitarist of my generation knows these well. The 1968 and ’69 releases helped establish Beck, and essentially paved the way for Led Zeppelin. Beck is a hero to a generation of players, and cuts like “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “Beck’s Bolero,” and the acoustic “Greensleeves” from Truth, and the funky rock of “All Shook Up” and the boogie of “Rice Pudding” from Beck-ola helped cement his rep. The vocalist for these albums was Rod Stewart, who sings incredibly well throughout. And the production, marked by a really cool “flat” sound you don’t hear much anymore, contributes to the heavy feel of this music.

These new digitally-remastered CDs help bring back the feel of hearing these albums. It’s not hard to see why they were such a strong influence on everyone from blues/rockers to metalheads.