Classic Rock FM Years: Discoveries

Since the term “Classic Rock” is so often applied to music made by those who rejected labels and stretched the rules of rock to suit their own ideas, it's only right to make that reach ourselves. It is perfectly rational—encouraged even—to play “Purple Haze” as many times as your constitution will allow, but there is so much more boundary-leaping rock just waiting to be heard. So heed the wise words of NoCal's Moby Grape on their pop-rock convergence “Omaha,” and “listen my friends”—to mind-expanding live tracks (like Hawkwind's blues-in-space track “Silver Machine”), legit hits that were left on the sidelines (like Spirit's folk-soaked “Nature's Way”), or should-be standards (like Fleetwood Mac's stunning instrumental “Albatross.”)