Back in time

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

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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.

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NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – 11th Album ‘NO MORE SHALL WE PART’ Released 25 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

2 April 2026

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS released their 11th LP, called
No More Shall We Part on 2 April 2001, today 25 years ago.

Nick Cave had to overcome heavy heroin and alcohol addictions in
1999–2000 before starting to work on this album. It featured guest
appearances by Kate & Anna McGarrigle and was met with mostly
positive reviews.

Pitchfork wrote: ‘If ‘No More Shall We Part’ seems less distinguished next
to Cave’s mid-90s streak and his reinvigorated Anti- output, it represents
an important turning point in the Bad Seeds discography. It marks that
pivotal moment where Cave regains the sensation in his red right hand.”

Turn Up The Volume: Not really top – too many masterpieces
to compare to – on the other hand, the iconic Australian crooner
never made a bad album.

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PRINCE – The Late Royal Genius Released His 8th Album ‘PARADE’ Today 40 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

31 March 2026

The late royal genius PRINCE (1958 – 2016) released his 8th LP (and also the
4th and final one, where the Revolution is billed) PARADE today 40 years ago,
on 31 March 1986.

Parade eschews the guitar and rock elements of Prince‘s 1984 album Purple Rain in
favor of the neo-psychedelic style he explored on Around the World in a Day (1985), austerely produced funk, and soundtrack compositions.

It went to #3 on the US Pop Charts and #4 in the UK.
It sold more than 2 million copies internationally.

The New York Times: “The album succeeds in part because of the more aggressive
songs, in which Prince chooses to play up the black side of his multifaceted musical
sensibility.”

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More than 560 million
streams on Spotify.

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LED ZEPPELIN – 7th Album ‘PRESENCE’ Came Out 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

31 March 2026

Herculian blues rock giants LED ZEPPELIN (1968-1980) released their
7th LP, named PRESENCE, on 31 March 1976, today 50 years ago.

It went #1 in the UK and the US

Rolling Stone wrote: “In spite of a few dull blues rock songs, the album is
another monster in what by now is a continuing tradition of battles won by
this band of survivors.”

Turn Up The Volume: For many bands, this would have been a top album.
For Led Zep – given the brilliant work they released before – it was nothing
more than a good, but too familiar-sounding LP.

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LED ZEPPELIN: Facebook

JETHRO TULL – Their Prog Rock Classic ‘AQUALUNG’ Is 55 Today

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19 March 2026

British prog rock icons JETHRO TULL (1967–2012, 2017–present) led on one leg
by charismatic Scottish vocalist/flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, have released their
4th LP AQUALUNG on 19 March 1971, today 55 years ago

The LP has generally been regarded as a concept album with a central theme of
“the distinction between religion and God“. The album’s “dour musings on faith and religion” have marked it as “one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners“. Academic discussions of the nature of concept albums have frequently listed Aqualung amongst their number.

The album’s original cover art by Burton Silverman features a watercolour portrait
of a long-haired, bearded man in shabby clothes. The idea for the cover came from a photograph Anderson‘s wife took of a homeless man.

Anderson later felt it would have been better to have used the photograph rather than commission the painting. Also, he recalled later that he posed for a photograph for the painting.

AllMusic said in retrospect: “In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. While the leap to full-blown prog rock wouldn’t be taken until a year later on ‘Thick as a Brick’, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable.”

KEY SINGLE

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And their not done yet.

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HÜSKER DÜ – Guitar Rock Champs Released 5th LP ‘CANDY APPLE GREY’ Today 40 Years Ago

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Significant longplayers from yesteryear

17 March 2026

HÜSKER DÜ (guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart) turned up the decibels between 1979 and 1988 with no less than 6 LPs.

The 5th one, named CANY APPLE GREY, came out on 17 March 1986, today
40 years ago. It was their first major label release, though Warner Bros.

Candy Apple Grey was the first Hüsker Dü album to chart on the Billboard Top 200,
but despite positive reviews, exposure with the singles on radio as well as MTV, it
only went to No. 140.

AllMusic said in retrospect: “Demonstrating that punks can mature without losing
their edge, Mould inverts the rules of conventional confessional singer/songwriter songs
with these two haunting numbers, and in doing so, he illustrates the faults with the relatively staid post-hardcore punk that dominates the remainder of the record.”

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DEPECHE MODE – British Dark-Electro-Pop-Wave Legends Released 5th LP ‘BLACK CELEBRATION’ Today 40 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

17 March 2026

British dark-electro-pop-wave titans DEPECHE MODE, active since 1980,
released their 5th album, BLACK CELEBRATION, 40 years ago,
on 17 March 1986.

It topped the UK charts, but only went to #90 in the US.

Martyn Atkins designed the album cover, as he’d done for all of the band’s LP
covers since A Broken Frame from 1982. Originally, he had envisioned a physical
miniature building, draped in black banners and inspired by totalitarian imagery,
to be photographed.

However, the band was not happy with the original design and so the cover
was re-designed to include only a cropped, close-up of the original photograph
and they instead emphasized the logos around the image, which the band paid
to have embossed on initial pressings of the album.

The LP’s title was not a reference to Black mass or rituals of the Occult, it was meant to describe the daily boredom of a dreary life without climaxes or hope for improvement.

Martin Gore: “Our songs from Black Celebration capture the idea: Make
the most of what you have, and find consolation wherever you can.”

David Gahan: “It’s a common thing: at the end of a working day you go
out and drown your sorrows no matter how shitty you feel or how bleak your
future looks.”

NME: “Within their own parameters, Depeche Mode create a resonant, if undemonstrative techno-pop tapestry” with “a rich textured sheen that is not without a certain depth. When the songs address topics other than the composer’s state of mind, Depeche Mode sound like a lot more than just a high tech, low-life melodrama.”

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THE WHO Released Their 9th LP ‘FACE DANCES’ This Day 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

15 March 2026

British rock heroes THE WHO released their
9th LP FACE DANCES on 16 March 1981, today
45 years ago.

Despite mixed reviews, the record peaked at #4 on the
US Billboard Charts and #2 on the UK Albums Chart.

The album was originally to be titled simply The Who, but the name Face Dances
replaced it just before release. The phrase was inspired by a friend of Pete Townshend‘s who was rhythmically moving a match between her teeth, an action that Townshend jokingly termed “face dances.”

The album cover features 16 paintings of the band members by 16 British painters,
who were commissioned by Peter Blake, designer of the cover of the Beatles‘ album
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.

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R.E.M. Released Their Magnificent Album ‘OUT OF TIME’ Today 35 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

12 March 2026

It seems like ages ago since R.E.M. (1980-2011) was one of the greatest bands on
this planet. After 31 years and 15 LPs they went into history as a once in a lifetime
rock and pop sensation.

One of their best and most successful longplayers is, undoubtedly, their 7th one,
named OUT OF TIME. It was released today 35 years ago, on 12 March 1991.

It featured their giant hit Losing My Religion (almost 2 billion – !! – streams on Spotify).
It was the group’s first No. 1 full-length in the UK. It also topped the charts in the US
and several European countries and sold over 18 million copies worldwide.

Rolling Stone praised the record for achieving a balance between new mainstream
appeal and the band’s original identity, writing, “R.E.M. have managed to simultaneously branch out and consolidate their strengths.”

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WEATHER REPORT – Jazz Fusion Legends Released 6th LP ‘BLACK MARKET’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

11 March 2026

WEATHER REPORT was a jazz-fusion collective formed in New York City in 1970.

The band started as a free improvising group with avant-garde and experimental electronic leanings, but along their path, with changing line-ups, they increasingly
steered towards a funky, edgy sound incorporating elements of R&B and native
music from around the world.


Archives WR

After 14 LPs, the curtain fell in 1986.

Their 6th album, named BLACK MARKET, came out
on 11 March 1976, today 50 years ago. It got raving
press reviews.

AllMusic in retrospect: “While it goes without saying that most Weather Report
albums are transition albums, this diverse record is even more transient than most,
paving the way for WR’s most popular period while retaining the old sense of
adventure.”

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