Once again, we pulled the time machine out of the closet, dusted it off, and flipped the switches to send us hurtling back to a specific era in music. In this case, we’re focusing on 55 years ago this month. What albums arrived in October 1970 that still are on our minds and in our hearts all these years later? Check out these five oldies but goodies.

‘Led Zeppelin III’ by Led Zeppelin

It starts off with the thunder of “Immigrant Song”, the three instrumentalists locked in a ruthless groove and Robert Plant wailing his way to Valhalla. But that’s when Led Zeppelin III takes its first turn to the softer side with the acoustic psychedelia of “Friends”. Jimmy Page didn’t plug in that much on the record, allowing the band to show that they could enthrall without pummeling you. Highlights include the melancholy folk of “That’s The Way”, the poppy “Tangerine”, and the back-porch reeling of “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”.

‘Tumbleweed Connection’ by Elton John

His second album contained the big hit single “Your Song”. John could easily have cashed in and gone in a pure pop direction with the follow-up LP. Instead, he and co-writer Bernie Taupin had legacy and durability in mind when they concocted Tumbleweed Connection. In love with American music, especially The Band, the pair did their best homage on this record. But instead of coming off as mere imitation, songs like “Country Comfort”, “Amoreena”, and “Burn Down The Mission” find John carving out his own piano-driven roots music niche.

‘New Morning’ by Bob Dylan

Dylan always denied that this record was rushed out just four months after the critically derided Self Portrait. Regardless of the motivation behind it, New Morning represented a tentative step back into the singer-songwriter spotlight after several years of different genre exercises. The pleasures here are simpler and less challenging than the mid-60s triumphs. But Dylan sounds more at peace on songs like the title track and “The Man In Me” than at any time in his career. And “Sign On The Window” delivers a glimpse of the tortured heartbreak songs that became his go-to in the middle of the decade.

‘Atom Heart Mother’ by Pink Floyd

Floyd was definitely still finding their way in the post-Syd Barrett era. Their attempt to marry classical textures to their trippy jamming doesn’t really connect on the title track, which takes up the entire first side of the record. And “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”, which gobbles up 13 minutes of Side Two, is a slog. But the three normal-sized songs, one each from David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Rick Wright, all hint at future triumphs. As a matter of fact, Wright’s surging “Summer ‘68” stands as one of the best unheralded tracks in their catalog.

‘Share The Land’ by The Guess Who

Randy Bachman took a heaping helping of songwriting savvy and electric guitar heft when he left this band because of their hard-partying ways. But they didn’t suffer at all commercially for it on the first album without him. Burton Cummings’ wailing vocals were still in place, and he also wrote the smash single “Share The Land”. Meanwhile, new guitarist Kurt Winter made his presence felt as both a player and a writer, penning the enduring “Hand Me Down World”. Several album tracks are winners as well, including the Beatlesque “Bus Rider” and soulful ballad “Do You Miss Me Darling?”

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