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
Why Did Seventh Sojourn End The Moody Blues?
Seventh Sojourn gave The Moody Blues their first US number one in 1972, but the sessions convinced the band they could not keep going together.
· 4 min read
Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You, Six Years On
Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You arrived on Columbia Records on October 23, 2020. It mixed three songs written before his 1973 debut with a four-day session by the E Street Band.
· 4 min read
Why Did Phil Collins Write Another Day in Paradise?
Phil Collins turned a street encounter with a man begging beside two children into Another Day in Paradise, the first single from ...But Seriously, released on October 23, 1989.
· 3 min read
Why Did Supertramp Swap Prog for Drum Machines?
Supertramp released Free as a Bird on October 23, 1987, trading progressive rock for drum machines and synth-pop. It was their final album of new songs for A&M Records.
· 4 min read
How Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Made Raising Sand
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss released Raising Sand on October 23, 2007. The T-Bone Burnett-produced album of covers reached number 2 on the Billboard 200.
· 4 min read
Why Did Paul McCartney Re-Record the Beatles for Broad Street?
Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad Street, released on October 22, 1984, rebuilt Beatles and Wings songs for a film soundtrack. George Martin produced the album.
· 4 min read
How Culture Club Kept the House Burning with Their Third Album
Culture Club released Waking Up with the House on Fire on October 22, 1984. The third album still went platinum in Britain and America despite a cooler US chart showing.
· 4 min read
Kiss Made Hotter than Hell While Everything Fell Apart
Kiss released Hotter than Hell on October 22, 1974. A stolen guitar, a car crash and a collapsed distribution deal turned the Los Angeles sessions into a fight.
· 4 min read
How Bad Company Rebuilt Itself for Fame and Fortune
Bad Company returned in October 1986 with Fame and Fortune, its seventh studio album and first with Brian Howe replacing Paul Rodgers on vocals.
· 4 min read
How Neil Young Made War Audible on Weld
Neil Young released Weld with Crazy Horse on October 22, 1991, a live double album recorded during the Gulf War with CNN playing in the background.
· 4 min read
How Led Zeppelin Made a Number One Album on the Run
Led Zeppelin II was recorded in hotel rooms and between gigs. On October 22, 1969, Atlantic released it in the US, where it became the band's first number one.
· 4 min read
How Blue Moves Broke Elton John's Hit Streak
Elton John's Blue Moves arrived on October 22, 1976, as his first Rocket Record Company release and his second double album. It peaked at number 3 in both the US and UK.
· 3 min read
The Cranberries Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
The Cranberries released Wake Up and Smell the Coffee on October 22, 2001, their only album on MCA Records and their last before a six-year break.
· 4 min read
Why Did Simple Minds' Once Upon a Time Top the UK Chart?
Simple Minds released Once Upon a Time on Virgin Records on October 21, 1985. The album went straight to number one in Britain and number 10 in America.
· 3 min read
How The Strokes Almost Lost Room on Fire
The Strokes released Room on Fire on October 21, 2003, after scrapping sessions with Nigel Godrich. The band finished the album with Gordon Raphael in three months.
· 4 min read
How Buddy Holly Found Strings in His Final Session
Buddy Holly walked into New York's Pythian Temple studio on October 21, 1958, and cut two songs with an orchestra conducted by Dick Jacobs. They became his final recordings.
· 4 min read
How Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell Survived Every Rejection
Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman were rejected by label after label before Bat Out of Hell arrived on October 21, 1977. It came out on Cleveland International Records and Epic Records.
· 4 min read
Roxette Look Sharp! Broke America by Accident
Roxette's Look Sharp! reached number one in Sweden for seven weeks, yet EMI America had already rejected the duo as unsuitable for the United States.
· 4 min read
Why Did Mogwai Name Their Debut After a Glasgow Gang?
Mogwai's debut Mogwai Young Team, released on October 21, 1997, borrowed its title from Glasgow street crews and its cover from a Tokyo bank branch.
· 3 min read
Why Did The Beatles' Love Songs Single Never Appear?
Capitol Records cancelled a planned Beatles single for Love Songs in early October 1977, leaving only printed picture sleeves behind. The compilation itself reached American shops on 21 October 1977.
· 3 min read
Why Did The The's Soul Mining Take 19 Years to Finish?
The The's debut Soul Mining reached shops on October 21, 1983, after sessions in New York collapsed and Matt Johnson rebuilt the record in London.
· 3 min read
The Who and Keith Moon's Last Stand in Toronto
Keith Moon collapsed in Boston and nearly bled out in his hotel before The Who reached Toronto. There, on October 21, 1976, he played his final public concert with the band.
· 4 min read
Why Did Lady Gaga Name an Album After a Dead Aunt?
Lady Gaga released Joanne on October 21, 2016, naming her fourth solo album after her father's sister, Joanne Stefani Germanotta, who died in 1974.
· 4 min read
How Billy Idol Made Hard Rock Dance on Whiplash Smile
Billy Idol's third album, Whiplash Smile, arrived on Chrysalis Records on 20 October 1986. It paired Steve Stevens' hard guitar with Keith Forsey's synth-heavy production.
· 4 min read