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Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
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October 18, 2026
STORY · Pop
How Did Ashlee Simpson Survive Her Second Album I Am Me?
Ashlee Simpson's I Am Me hit No. 1 in America and sold a million copies, yet critics treated the October 18, 2005 album like a failure.
3 min read
Cover of “I Am Me” by Ashlee Simpson. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
How Iron Maiden Sent Their Oldest Songs to Hell
Iron Maiden's A Real Dead One, released on 18 October 1993 through EMI, sent the band's oldest songs back to 1975. The live album turned that history into a charting present.
3 min read
Cover of “A Real Dead One” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Other
How Insane Clown Posse Built a Carnival from Chaos
Insane Clown Posse's 1992 debut Carnival of Carnage sold just 17 copies on release day. It still launched the Dark Carnival mythology that defines the Detroit duo.
4 min read
Cover of “Carnival of Carnage” by Insane Clown Posse. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
The Doors Release Other Voices Without Morrison
The Doors released Other Voices on 18 October 1971, their first album after Jim Morrison's death. Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger split the vocal duties.
4 min read
Cover of “Other Voices” by The Doors. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
The Rolling Stones and the Album That Lost a Guitarist
The Rolling Stones released 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll' on 18 October 1974. It was the last album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor before his departure reshaped the band.
3 min read
Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How The Beatles Turned a Day Off Into 'Kansas City'
On 18 October 1964, The Beatles used a day off from their British tour to record 'Kansas City' at EMI's London studio, nailing the song in one take.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
October 17, 2026
STORY · Rock
How Dire Straits Rebuilt Making Movies Mid-Session
Dire Straits released Making Movies on 17 October 1980. The album was recorded at New York's Power Station with co-producer Jimmy Iovine after David Knopfler left the band mid-session.
4 min read
Cover of “Making Movies” by Dire Straits. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Bruce Springsteen's The River Became His First No. 1
Bruce Springsteen's The River arrived on 17 October 1980 as a double album with 20 tracks. He had shelved an earlier single record called The Ties That Bind.
4 min read
Cover of “The River” by Bruce Springsteen. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Mylène Farmer Reinvent Herself with Anamorphosée?
Mylène Farmer left Paris for Los Angeles and returned with Anamorphosée, a rock-driven album that followed the failure of her film Giorgino.
3 min read
Cover of “Anamorphosée” by Mylène Farmer. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Billy Joel Fire His Band for Storm Front?
Billy Joel fired most of his longtime backing group before Storm Front, the 1989 album he made with Foreigner's Mick Jones co-producing.
4 min read
Cover of “Storm Front” by Billy Joel. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How Cradle of Filth Fought a Cover Ban on Thornography
Cradle of Filth had to alter the Thornography artwork after Roadrunner Records rejected a nude figure. The album arrived on 17 October 2006 with a more guitar-led sound.
3 min read
Cover of “Thornography” by Cradle of Filth. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Selena's Debut Album Became a Family Gamble
Selena's self-titled debut arrived on October 17, 1989. Capitol/EMI Latin had rejected an English crossover project and called the cover the worst it had ever received.
3 min read
Cover of “Selena” by Selena y Los Dinos. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
How Slipknot’s .5: The Gray Chapter Turned Grief Into a Number One
Slipknot released .5: The Gray Chapter on 17 October 2014, the band's first album without bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
4 min read
Rezter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
How Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Took Off Without Oasis
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds debut album arrived on 17 October 2011 and sold 122,530 copies in its first week, entering the UK chart at number one.
4 min read
Drew de F Fawkes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Did 12 X 5 Turn Five Songs Into an Album?
In October 1964, London Records stretched The Rolling Stones' five-song British EP Five by Five into the twelve-track American album 12 X 5.
4 min read
Cover of “12 X 5” by The Rolling Stones. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Little Feat's The Last Record Album Turns 51
Little Feat's fifth studio album, The Last Record Album, arrived on October 17, 1975, with a Neon Park cover that turned Hollywood Boulevard into a desert.
3 min read
Cover of “The Last Record Album” by Little Feat. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Electronic
Why Boards of Canada Picked Up Guitars for The Campfire Headphase
For two years, the Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada had been circling a dangerous idea: what if the machines stepped back and guitars took the lead? The…
3 min read
Cover of “The Campfire Headphase” by Boards of Canada. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Tony Iommi's Iommi: The Album That Tried Everything
Tony Iommi's first solo album Iommi arrived on 17 October 2000, four years after sessions began, with a different vocalist on each of its ten tracks.
3 min read
Cover of “Iommi” by Tony Iommi. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Hip-Hop
Ludacris Back for the First Time at 26
Ludacris released Back for the First Time on 17 October 2000. The album sold 133,000 copies in its first week, landing at number 4 on the Billboard 200.
4 min read
Cover of “Back for the First Time” by Ludacris. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Johnny Cash Answered Illness on American III: Solitary Man
Johnny Cash released American III: Solitary Man on October 17, 2000, after pneumonia and illness forced him to scale back touring.
3 min read
Benjamin White, Pexels License, via Pexels
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Handle with Care: The Throwaway That Built Traveling Wilburys
George Harrison turned a box label reading 'Handle with Care' into a song on April 5, 1988, and Warner Bros. Records turned that song into the debut single of Traveling Wilburys.
3 min read
Cover of “Handle with Care” by Traveling Wilburys. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Rock
How Lynyrd Skynyrd's Street Survivors Became a Farewell
Lynyrd Skynyrd released Street Survivors on 17 October 1977, and three days later a plane crash in Mississippi killed Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines.
3 min read
Cover of “Street Survivors” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Electronic
How Dave Gahan Finally Wrote for Depeche Mode
Playing the Angel, released by Depeche Mode on 17 October 2005, was the first album where singer Dave Gahan was credited as a lyricist.
4 min read
Cover of “Playing the Angel” by Depeche Mode. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
October 16, 2026
STORY · Rock
Why Did Creedence Clearwater Revival Implode After Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras sold well and charted, yet Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up within months of its April 1972 release. The album that ended the band was not a commercial failure.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
How Did Mac DeMarco's 2 Turn a Montreal Flat Into a Classic?
Mac DeMarco recorded his debut studio album 2 in a Montreal apartment wearing only his underwear, and the record came out on 16 October 2012.
3 min read
AI-generated illustration
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
How John Mayer Bet Everything on His Own Pop Sound
John Mayer left Atlanta duo LoFi Masters after a split over pop music, then built a solo career that led to Columbia Records and a first Grammy in 2003.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Why Toše Proeski’s Death Stopped the Balkans
Toše Proeski, the Macedonian pop singer known across the former Yugoslavia, died in a car crash near Nova Gradiška, Croatia, on 16 October 2007. He was 26 years old.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Jimi Hendrix Took Control on Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland, the third and final Jimi Hendrix Experience album, arrived on Reprise Records in October 1968. It became the only Hendrix album to top the Billboard chart.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Did Thin Lizzy's Johnny the Fox Almost Fall Apart?
Thin Lizzy abandoned their Munich sessions in August 1976 and rebuilt Johnny the Fox in London, with Phil Lynott writing much of it from a hospital bed.
4 min read
Cover of “Johnny the Fox” by Thin Lizzy. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Did Nico End Up Singing for The Velvet Underground?
Nico, born Christa Päffgen, joined The Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s after Andy Warhol pushed for her. She sang lead on just three songs of the band's debut album.
3 min read
GanMed64, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read