Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen – 1984 Claimed Sales: 30m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music There’s a relatable quality about Bruce Springsteen’s gravelly tones that makes him seem like someone you could know. Irrespective of his politics leaning prior work, or his electrifying stage presence Born in the U.S.A. is an obvious breakout … Continue reading
Can’t Slow Down – Lionel Richie– 1983 Claimed Sales: 20m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music Can’t Slow Down is another of those albums that marked a change of career trajectory for its central star. His first studio album after leaving The Commodores it’s a statement of ‘whatever Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder can do, … Continue reading
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture – Various Artists – 1983 Claimed Sales: 20m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Youtube (You cannot stream this album anywhere!) I went into the Flashdance soundtrack completely blind. I’ve never seen the film, and I was partly expecting the sort of compilation record that accompanied Dirty Dancing a few years … Continue reading
Back In Black – AC/DC – 1980 Claimed Sales: 50m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music The opening 30 seconds of the title track would be enough to justify pretty much any album’s place in a series like this. It’s just a shame that I didn’t enjoy the other 41m41s of Back in Black as much. … Continue reading
The Wall – Pink Floyd – 1979 Claimed Sales: 30m First listen?: No Format Listened?: Apple Music If The Dark Side of the Moon is conceptual prog rock at it’s most accessible, The Wall is surely the opposite extreme. This is no simple general concept to follow, here’s an entire narrative across 1hr20m of storytelling soft rock … Continue reading
Off the Wall – Michael Jackson – 1979 Claimed Sales: 20m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music Managing to avoid listening through Michael Jackson’s extensive discography for most of my life was one of the main catalysts for starting a series like this, the cultural impact of pretty much all of his Epic Records released albums … Continue reading
Breakfast In America – Supertramp – 1979 Claimed Sales: 20m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music Breakfast In America probably could never be classed as a ‘bad’ album, but it’s the sort of record I can’t imagine anyone selecting as the ‘favourite’. I just didn’t find any of it that memorable, which is key for … Continue reading
Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track – Bee Gees & Various Artists – 1977 Claimed Sales: 40m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music/Vinyl Of the many Soundtrack albums I’ve listened to so far for this series, none of them have a Side A as stellar as Saturday Night Fever. Stayin’ Alive, How Deep Is … Continue reading
Hotel California – Eagles – 1976 Claimed Sales: 32m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music Being able to listen to these albums in the order of release is great for dealing with that elephant in the room; context. It’s so easy to see how after Their Greatest Hits became one of the biggest hits collections of … Continue reading
Boston – Boston – 1976 Claimed Sales: 20m First listen?: Yes Format Listened?: Apple Music In my notes from listening to Boston for the very first time I wrote two words. An ALBUM. The caps bit is important. It’s genuinely hard to believe that Boston was recorded in 1975 the production style and tightness of everything must have been … Continue reading
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