Thirds by James Gang

Thirds, the James Gang's third album, came out on ABC in 1971, and it's the last time the Cleveland power trio went into a studio with Joe Walsh. Bill Szymczyk produced it at the Record Plant, with Dale Peters on bass and Jim Fox on drums, and the band sounds loose, cocky and a little restless, like a trio already feeling the walls close in.

"Walk Away" is the one that stuck: a strutting, sawtoothed riff that ends in a pile-up of multitracked lead guitars smashing into each other on the fade, which Walsh owned up to on the sleeve by crediting himself with "train wreck" next to guitar and vocals. It became the band's best-placed single, and the album went gold in July 1972. By then Walsh was gone, off to a solo career and eventually the Eagles, and the live album that followed closed his chapter in the band.

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