Back in time

PAUL McCARTNEY And WINGS Topped The US Album Charts With ‘WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

26 April 2026

PAUL McCARTNEY and WINGS had a 10-year run, from 1971 until 1981.
Macca‘s then-wife, Linda Eastman (1941-1998) was the band’s keyboardist.
They released 7 LPs.

One of them was WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND. It topped the US album charts, today 50 years ago, on 26 April 1976. Actually their fourth consecutive LP to do so. In the UK, the record peaked at #2.

In response to critics who believed Wings was merely a vehicle for Paul McCartney, the album featured every member of the band taking lead vocals on at least one song, and two songs from the album are written or co-written by band members other than the McCartneys.


Back sleeve

Melody Maker (legendary British music weekly) said: “This is not an album that hits
you with the sustained power of Band on the Run or Venus and Mars. Much good music
then on an album that will engender fierce comparisons with the past two albums but will increase the growing worldwide appeal of Wings.

SINGLES

ALBUM


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RAMONES – New York’s Punk Pioneers RAMONES Released Game Changing Debut Album 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

23 April 2026

The New York punk pioneers RAMONES (1974 – 1964 / 14 studio albums)
released their self-titled debut LP on 23 April 1976, today 50 years ago.

All 4 original members Joey, Tommy, Dee Dee,
and Johnny are already gone. R.I.P.

The New York Times said back then: “What the Ramones do is deliver a nonstop
set of short, brisk, monochromatically intense songs. Conventional considerations of
pace and variety are thrown calculatedly to the winds. The ingredients are simplicity
itself. The effect in the end amounts to an abstraction of rock so pure that other
associations get left behind.”

TUTV: In my punk book, this gabba gabba hey debut was a game-changer.
Turning bubblegum pop into sickly catchy and speeding blitzkrieg electricity
was just jaw-dropping. Without a shadow of a doubt, da brudders’ best exploit.
A timeless document in rock history. Hail hail!

Singles.

– BLITZKRIEG BOP –

– I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND –

ALBUM


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THE ROLLING STONES Released Drugs-Fueled Rock Classic ‘STICKY FINGERS’ Today 55 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Signicificant longplayers from yesteryear

23 April 2026

Rock giants THE ROLLING STONES released their 9th album,
titled STICKY FINGERS on 23 April 1971, today 55 years ago.

It topped the charts in the UK, US, Canada
and several European countries.


Back sleeve

AllMusic/Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in retrospect: “Pieced together
from outtakes and much-labored-over songs, Sticky Fingers manages to have a
loose, ramshackle ambience that belies both its origins and the dark
undercurrents of the songs.

It’s a weary, drug-laden album, well over half the songs explicitly mention
drug use, while the others merely allude to it. With its offhand mixture of
decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, Sticky Fingers set the
tone for the rest of the decade for the Stones.”

Singles.

– BROWN SUGAR –

– WILD HORSES –

ALL FINGERS


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THE DOORS – Their 6th Album ‘L.A. WOMAN’ Came Out 55 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

19 April 2026

Rock icons THE DOORS (1965–1973 / 9 albums) released their 6th LP L.A. WOMAN
on 19 April 1971, today 55 years ago today, three months after the release, on July 3, frontman Jim Morrison was found dead.

#1 in Holland, #11 in Canada, #9 in the US, #28 in the UK

The band began recording without much material and needed to compose songs
on the spot, either by jamming or talking through ideas. Lyrically, the album deals
with contemporary topics such as love, life in Los Angeles, and complex aspects
of the human experience.

The LP, as a whole, demonstrated Morrison‘s songwriting abilities, combined with his poetic phrasing and enthusiasm for Los Angeles, but still a desire to leave the city with
his partner, Pamela Courson. Artistically, L.A. Woman saw the band mixing blues and
rock, with some elements of psychedelic and jazz rock of their early career.

NME said: “One of their best in sometime with great depth, vigour and presence.”

TUTV: One of the best bands ever (as if you didn’t know this) with one of their best
albums ever (as if you didn’t know this), including two of their best songs ever (as if
you didn’t know this) with Love Her Madly and Riders On The Storm.

– RIDERS ON THE STORM –

– LOVE HER MADLY –

ALBUM


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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Released Their 2nd Album ‘EVIL EMPIRE’ Today 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

16 April 2026

L.A.’s rap-metal rockers RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE released their
2nd full-length EVIL EMPIRE on 16 April 1996, today 30 years ago.

It went straight to #1 in the US.

The album’s title came from a speech by Ronald Reagan in
the 1980s, addressing the Soviet Union as the “evil empire”.

“If you look at the atrocities committed by the U.S. in the latter half
of the 20th century, we feel that tag could be easily used to describe
the U.S.”


Press photo by Niels Van Iperen

Rolling Stone wrote: “Heavy metal has never been much of a forum for political discourse. Rage Against the Machine hope to change that with their inflammatory blend of roaring guitars, barked raps and political activism.

Their lyrics lambaste government corruption, media manipulation, big business, complacency and ambivalence, and the band members practice what they preach.”


Inside artwork

Zack de la Rocha about the LP’s artwork: “The image of the second record
was a little ironic, you know? Considering if you look very closely at the boy’s face,
he symbolizes the power structure in the U.S. and if you look at him, he’s smiling as
if he’s in control.

But if you look deeper into his face, you see that he’s afraid, because he knows what’s
comin (note: now, today, we know too). He knows that poor people in the U.S. are not
going to suffer in the way that they are suffering without taking action.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


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THE ROLLING STONES Released Their Breakthrough Album ‘AFTERMATH’ Today 60 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

15 April 2021

THE ROLLING STONES released their breakthrough LP
AFTERMATH on 15 April 1966, today 60 years ago.

The record came out just months before two other classics were
released, Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and The Beatles’ Revolver.

It was their 4th British and 6th American studio LP,
It topped the UK charts and peaked at #2 in the USA

Aftermath was The Stones first LP with only original
Jagger/Richards songs and several hits on it.

The album’s release was briefly delayed by controversy over the original packaging
idea and title – Could You Walk on the Water? – due to their label’s fear of offending Christians in the US with its allusion to Jesus walking on water.

Record Mirror Magazine wrote at the time: “Whether they realize it
or not – and I think Andrew Oldham does – the Rolling Stones have on
their hands the smash LP of the year with Aftermath.”

Singles/clips: Paint It Black / Lady Jane / Under My Thumb

– PAINT IT BLACK –

– LADY JANE –

– UNDER MY THUMB –

ALBUM


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FOO FIGHTERS Released Their 7th Album ‘WASTING LIGHT’ Today 15 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

12 April 2026

Dave Grohl and his FOO FIGHTERS released their 7th album,
named WASTING LIGHT on 12 April 2011, today 15 years ago.

The album was recorded in Grohl‘s house in Encino, California. It was made
on only analog equipment and was produced by Garbage drummer and
Nirvana’s Nevermind producer Butch Vig.

The band spent three weeks making sure they could play the songs well before
recording, as no mistakes can be fixed after recording on analog equipment.

Pitchfork said: “Foo Fighters’ long-standing foundation has been built on fist-pumpers.
While Wasting Light features a host of worthy set-openers, few prove to be as sticky or memorable as any number of their previous singles.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


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MASSIVE ATTACK – Masterpiece Debut ‘BLUE LINES’ Came Out 35 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

8 April 2026

British trip-hop heroes MASSIVE ATTACK released their masterpiece
debut LP BLUE LINES, on 8 April 1991, today 35 years ago today.

It peaked at #13 in the UK.

NME said: “The sleekest, deadliest, most urbane, most confounding LP 1991 has
yet seen. Massive Attack put current changes on the dancefloor in perspective and
map out blueprints for what must surely come next. Soul, funk, reggae, house,
hip-hop and space-rock will be blurred forever.”

Turn Up The Volume: A ground-and-sound breaking
record. Trip-soul-hop-pop at its captivting best.

Singles.

– UNFINISHED SYMPATHY –

– SAFE FORM HARM –

ALBUM


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THE BIRTHDAY PARTY – Australian Psychos Fronted By NICK CAVE Released Their Debut LP Today 40 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

6 April 2026

Band: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Who: Insane group of mental cases, fronted
by wild man Nick Cave, nailing 2 longplayers
between 1977 and 1983.

Album: PRAYERS ON FIRE
Their debut released on 6 April 1981,
today 40 years ago.

AllMusic in retrospect: “While there might not be any of the explicit Biblical
imagery on Prayers on Fire that Cave would later ejaculate, the title of the
album is apt, and its aptness is revealed almost immediately.

Cave sounds like he’s being assaulted by the music, emitting horrific gasps
and primitive grunts. Oppressive and unrelenting, Prayers on Fire is highly
recommended for those aspiring to advanced states of dementia.”

TUTV: Scary band, scary Cave, scare record.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Short Bio – Discography

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB – Leather Jacket Rockers From San Francisco Released Their Bonzer Debut LP Today 25 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

3 April 2026

San Francisco‘ leather jacket rockers BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB scored their
bonzer debut LP B.R.M.C. today 25 years ago, on 3 April 2001. Their first of 8 (so far).

AllMusic/Bryan Thomas wrote: “This self-produced major-label debut boldly plunders
a reverb-and-white noise course previously trampled underfoot by long-gone British bands
of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

It all sounds very British, on many levels, despite the fact that only one band member is an Englishman living in exile in the States. On some songs, however, the driving, over-amped guitars and pounding drums have a swaggering primeval feel that rivals solid Detroit rock outfits, both old and new (including the Stooges and the Go, to name two).”


(photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brussels, 2010)

Turn Up The Volume: I fell in love with BRMC the moment I heard the sublime
debut single Whatever Happened To My Rock ‘N’ Roll (Punk Song) and when
the blistering debut longplayer came out, it felt like guitar fireworks and leather
ackets were totally back again. A solid gold masterpiece, and one of the best live
bands of this century.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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