Ragged Trouser

After two albums with his jam band Honeytribe and co-founding the blues rock supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon Allman issued a fine solo album in 2013 with Turquoise. While that record focused on his skills as a songwriter as much as it did his considerable ability as a guitarist, Ragged & Dirty changes up the game again by heading north to the wellspring of electric blues: Chicago. Produced by noted drummer, songwriter, and arranger Tom Hambridge – who has worked with everyone from Joe Louis Walker and Susan Tedeschi to George Thorogood and Johnny Winter – this is not a set of hard boogie blooooooz numbers, but a skilled, nuanced, yet kinetic reflection on the murky terrain where Chicago's signature electric style meets vintage R&B and rock.

Ragged Soul was the first album in five years from the Lazy Cowgirls, and from the first blast of D.D. Weekday's guitar on "I Can't Be Satisfied" it's obvious that this band was ready to make up for lost time. Against all odds, Ragged Soul sounds like the band's best album ever; the twin-guitar punch of Weekday and Michael Leigh offers plenty of kick with no clutter, the rhythm section (Leonard Keringer on bass and Ed Huerta on drums) drives the songs forward without crowding anyone in the process, and Pat Todd proves he's one of the greatest unsung frontmen in rock, pouring out fire and passion on every cut…

Duran Duran's eponymous debut artfully coalesced the sonic and stylistic elements of the burgeoning new romantic movement they were soon to spearhead: pumping synths, glossy production, and seemingly impossible haircuts. Ultra-smart singles like "Girls on Film" and "Planet Earth" became instant smash hits both in the U.K. and America, and other fine pop gems such as "Anyone Out There" and "Careless Memories" rounded out the album's stellar first side…

Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was released on 21 November 1983 by EMI. It was the band's first and only number-one album on the UK Albums Chart, and would prove to be the last studio album for the band's most famous line-up until 2004's Astronaut. Vocalist Simon Le Bon said the album "is an adventure story about a little commando team. 'The Seven' is for us—the five band members and the two managers—and 'the Ragged Tiger' is success. Seven people running after success. It's ambition. That's what it's about."