Rock
This section gathers album stories, birthdays, and anniversaries tied to the artists and bands who shaped rock, along with notes on new vinyl reissues as they surface. Rock grew up alongside the LP: gatefold sleeves and a running order built around two sides of a record were part of how the genre presented itself from the start, and a large share of its catalog keeps coming back through official reissue programs. Expect the human side of the records here: the sessions, the lineup changes, the decisions that turned into landmark albums, and why particular pressings matter to collectors.
521 STORIES
How Did Marianne Faithfull Face Death on Negative Capability?
Marianne Faithfull's twentieth studio album, Negative Capability, arrived on November 2, 2018. The rock and folk record is about old age, loss and living without easy answers.
· 4 min read
Why Did Cream Record Disraeli Gears in Three and a Half Days?
Cream released Disraeli Gears on November 2, 1967, an album cut in a three-and-a-half-day sprint at Atlantic Records before the trio's US visas expired.
· 4 min read
How Did Therapy? Sneak Nurse Into the UK Charts?
Therapy? released Nurse on A&M Records in November 1992, a major-label debut built from farmhouse demos, a cello and LSD-warning samples that still reached number 38 in the UK.
· 4 min read
Why Did George Harrison Open His 1974 Tour With an Instrumental?
George Harrison opened his 1974 North American tour with the instrumental "Hari's on Tour (Express)" as laryngitis left his voice badly damaged.
· 4 min read
Why Did Foo Fighters Record Their Grammy Winner in a Basement?
Dave Grohl recorded There Is Nothing Left to Lose in his own Alexandria basement with Taylor Hawkins and Nate Mendel. The album won Foo Fighters their first Grammy.
· 4 min read
Why Did Mississippi John Hurt Vanish for Decades?
Mississippi John Hurt recorded for Okeh in the 1920s, then returned to sharecropping in Avalon. A stranger sent to confirm his identity found him decades later.
· 4 min read
Why Did HIM's "Join Me in Death" Cause Such a Storm?
The song started as a dare disguised as a love letter. On July 11, 1998, at the Ilosaarirock festival in Finland, HIM singer Ville Valo tried out a new ballad t…
· 4 min read
The Voice That Refused to Be Forgotten
Eva Callahan, a little-known Washington club singer, died of melanoma on November 2, 1996 — and within four years her voice was topping the UK chart.
· 4 min read
How Jamiroquai Hid 25 Songs From Their Seventh Album
Jamiroquai finished forty songs for Rock Dust Light Star but released only twelve when the album reached British shops on November 1, 2010.
· 4 min read
Why Did Tom Petty Cut Wildflowers Down to 15 Songs?
Tom Petty wanted Wildflowers to be a 25-song double album on Warner Bros., but the label cut it to 15 tracks. The outtakes later surfaced on a 2020 reissue.
· 4 min read
Why Did Billy Joel Throw His Debut Album Like a Frisbee?
Billy Joel threw his 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor across a room after a mastering error sped up his voice. The album was released by Family Productions on November 1, 1971.
· 4 min read
Kate Bush: How The Red Shoes Turned Loss Into Her Boldest Album
Kate Bush released The Red Shoes on November 1, 1993. The twelve-track album was written and produced over three years in which she lost her mother and her guitarist.
· 4 min read
How Manic Street Preachers Broke Their Own Sound on Lifeblood
Manic Street Preachers released Lifeblood on November 1, 2004, a quieter, more synthetic album. Nicky Wire called the record 'elegiac pop' and later an 'album of detachment.'
· 3 min read
Why Did Nirvana's MTV Unplugged Refuse to Be Unplugged?
Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York was taped on November 18, 1993, with Kurt Cobain running his acoustic guitar through an amplifier and pedal board.
· 4 min read
What Made The Essential Bob Dylan a Quiet Powerhouse?
Released by Columbia Records in 2000, The Essential Bob Dylan launched Sony Music's double-disc series. It stretched from 1963's "Blowin' in the Wind" to the Oscar-winning "Things Have Changed."
· 3 min read
What Made Built to Last the Grateful Dead's Last Stand?
Grateful Dead released Built to Last on Arista Records on October 31, 1989. Brent Mydland wrote four of its songs, more than anyone else on the album.
· 3 min read
What Made This Charming Man by The Smiths a Classic?
The Smiths released 'This Charming Man' on Rough Trade on October 31, 1983, weeks after Johnny Marr wrote it in a BBC session for John Peel's radio show.
· 4 min read
How Did Wolfmother's Debut Album Shock the Rock World?
Wolfmother's self-titled debut, recorded at Sound City Studios, was released in Australia on October 31, 2005. It turned a riff-heavy trio into an international act.
· 3 min read
Why Did Paul McCartney Sit on Pipes of Peace for a Year?
Paul McCartney's Pipes of Peace was ready for months before its October 31, 1983 release, yet the album became his first solo record to miss the US top 10.
· 4 min read
How Did Eagles Conquer the Chart Without a Traditional Release?
The Eagles released Long Road Out of Eden on October 30, 2007, selling it only through Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and their own website. The album still reached number one in the US.
· 4 min read
How Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection Imagined America
Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, released in the UK on October 30, 1970, was a country-and-western concept album. Bernie Taupin wrote its Old West lyrics before he had ever set foot in America.
· 4 min read
Why U2 Relearned Their Sound on All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2 released All That You Can't Leave Behind on October 30, 2000, returning to producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois after a decade of studio experiments.
· 3 min read
Why Did Weezer's Raditude Become a Punchline?
Weezer released Raditude on October 30, 2009, with five producers, a Lil Wayne feature and a Kenny G sax solo. The album sold well but became a byword for compromise.
· 4 min read
Why Did Buffalo Springfield Make an Album While Falling Apart?
Buffalo Springfield released Buffalo Springfield Again on Atco Records on October 30, 1967. The nine months of sessions behind it saw the five members already pulling apart.
· 3 min read