Tokyo Tapes

A fitting sendoff for founding guitarist Uli John Roth, this 85-minute beast caps the German hard rockers’ first, pre-hurricane-rocked era in style. Bluesier than their later work but no less urgent, some of their finest tunes live in those first six albums. This provides a guided tour through an oft-overlooked period of their career via performances by a band at the top of their game. Roth shouldn’t sing, but when his guitar does the speaking (especially on “We’ll Burn the Sky” and “Fly to the Rainbow”), it’s love at last sting.