Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix

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1. Post by Bjork

   29 oktober 2026 · 48 min

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   Post’s lasting influence stems from its fundamental reimagining of what pop music could accommodate. By 1995, alternative rock had codified into its own set of conventions, electronic music remained largely confined to dance floors and art installations, and mainstream pop clung to increasingly formulaic approaches to melody and production. Post exploded these boundaries not through rejection but through synthesis, creating a template for how seemingly incompatible musical languages could not only coexist but enhance each other. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Army Of Me
   Hyper-Ballad
   Isobel
   Possibly Maybe
   Headphones
   It's Oh So Quiet

   The conversation continues on Medium

2. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits

   22 oktober 2026 · 39 min

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   What makes Love Over Gold particularly significant in the context of early 1980s rock is how it represented a conscious rejection of prevailing commercial trends. Rather than pursuing the arena-oriented rock direction that had proven successful with Making Movies, Dire Straits executed what can only be described as a leftward artistic detour, abandoning any lingering pub-rock vestiges for a full immersion into progressive territory. This wasn't mere experimentation for its own sake, but rather a natural evolution of the sophisticated musical sensibilities that had been percolating beneath the surface of their earlier work. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Telegraph Road
   Private Investigations
   Industrial Disease
   Love Over Gold
   It Never Rains

   I have more to say about the album in this article on Medium.

3. Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette

   15 oktober 2026 · 43 min

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   Partnering with producer Glen Ballard, who she also co-wrote the album with, Morissette embarked on a journey of musical and emotional excavation. The resulting songs were raw, confessional, and unapologetically intense. Where her previous work had been polished and safe, Jagged Little Pill was jagged indeed — sharp edges of emotion cutting through layers of production to reveal something viscerally real. The album's sound married the power of alternative rock with pop sensibilities, creating something that was accessible and uncompromising. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   All I Really Want
   You Oughta Know
   Hand In My Pocket
   Forgiven
   You Learn
   Ironic

   The conversation continues on Medium

4. Elton John by Elton John

   8 oktober 2026 · 45 min

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   In the pantheon of transformative second albums, few records demonstrate as dramatic a leap in artistic maturity and commercial viability as Elton John's self-titled 1970 release. While history often views breakthrough albums as sudden lightning strikes of inspiration, Elton John tells a more nuanced story — one of strategic collaboration, refined ambition, and the crucial moment when raw talent finally found the proper framework for expression. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Sixty Years On
   The Greatest Discovery
   Take Me To The Pilot
   I Need You To Turn To
   Border Song
   Your Song

   The conversation continues on Medium

5. Blunderbuss by Jack White

   1 oktober 2026 · 44 min

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   Named after an 18th-century short-barreled firearm known for its wide, scattered shot pattern, "Blunderbuss" proved aptly titled. White's lifelong obsessions — Delta blues, country ballads, garage rock, gospel, and vaudevillian oddities — coalesce into something familiar yet startlingly fresh. The album represented not just White's first solo effort, but a comprehensive statement on his musical DNA. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Missing Pieces
   Sixteen Saltines
   Love Interruption
   Blunderbuss
   Hypocritical Kiss
   On and On and On

   The conversation continues on Medium

6. Locked Down by Dr John

   24 september 2026 · 44 min

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   The album's sonic palette draws from a diverse range of influences. Elements of swamp blues, voodoo funk and Afrobeat coexist alongside garage rock snarl and gospel fervour. Yet these disparate ingredients never feel forced together — they flow naturally from Dr John's expansive musical vocabulary and Dan Auerbach's sympathetic production approach. What ultimately elevates Locked Down to classic status is how seamlessly it integrates Dr John's personal mythology with broader social concerns. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Big Shot
   Revolution
   Getaway
   Locked Down
   My Children, My Angels
   God’s Sure Good

   The conversation continues on my Substack page

7. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey

   17 september 2026 · 44 min

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   The album represents a stunning artistic maturation for an artist who had already established herself as one of pop music's most distinctive voices. Where her earlier work sometimes veered into stylized melodrama, Norman Fucking Rockwell! achieves a rare authenticity and emotional clarity. This is Lana Del Rey fully realised — a songwriter of considerable depth chronicling America's gradual collapse with a poet's eye and a realist's resignation. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Norman Fucking Rockwell
   Venice Bitch
   Doin’ Time
   Happiness Is A Butterfly
   The Greatest
   Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me to Have – But I Have It

   The conversation continues on my Substack page

8. Folk Singer by Muddy Waters

   10 september 2026 · 40 min

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   This album is Muddy Waters as you’ve rarely heard him: intimate, vulnerable and devastatingly powerful. It’s the sound of a man returning to his roots — not out of nostalgia, but with full awareness of how far he’s come since first recording with Aristocrat Records in 1947, the label that would soon become Chess Records. Lees meer

   Folk Singer creates space — literal and emotional — for his voice to echo, growl, and howl. It’s one of the most evocative recordings in blues history, a tour de force in restraint, and — perhaps most surprising — a carefully crafted bridge to a new audience.

   Featured songs:

   My Home Is In The Delta
   My Captain
   Good Morning Little School Girl
   Cold Weather Blues
   Long Distance
   Feel Like Going Home

   The conversation continues on my Substack page

9. Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam

   3 september 2026 · 41 min

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   What ultimately elevates Tea For The Tillerman to classic status is how it articulates a particular historical consciousness while speaking to enduring human concerns. In giving voice to his own spiritual journey with honesty and artistry, Cat Stevens created a work that continues to offer solace, inspiration, and companionship to people navigating their own paths through an ever-changing world. Lees meer

   Featured songs:

   Where Do The Children Play?
   Sad Lisa
   Wild World
   Into White
   On The Road To Find Out
   Father And Son

   The conversation continues on my Substack page

10. Sour by Olivia Rodrigo

    27 augustus 2026 · 42 min

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    Yes, Sour is gloriously teenage — Rodrigo was just 18 when she recorded it. It’s riddled with insecurity and melodrama. But that’s exactly why it works. In embracing the undignified mess of a first heartbreak — without shame or apology — Rodrigo gave us one of the most cathartic and precociously accomplished debut albums in pop history. And she proved, definitively, that she was no one-hit wonder. Lees meer

    Featured songs:

    brutal
    traitor
    drivers license
    1 step forward, 3 steps back
    enough for you
    happier

    The conversation continues on my Substack page

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