Big Blasts From The Past

THE WHITE STRIPES Released Their Boiling ‘WHITE BLOOD CELLS’ Album 25 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

3 July 2026

Detroit‘s blues rock tandem THE WHITE STRIPES (1997–2011) released their
superlative album WHITE BLOOD CELLS today 25 years ago, on 3 July 2026.

Not an instant hit record.
#61 in the US and #55 in the UK,
but selling more over the years
when they got bigger.

Pitchfork said: “It’s here that they have finally come into their own, where Jack and Meg White finally seem not only comfortable with the path they’ve chosen, but practiced, precise and able to convey the deepest sentiment in a single bound. It’s hard to know at this point in the game where they’ll head from here, but what matters is right now.”

SINGLES

ALBUM


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 All Albums – Third Man Records

BOB DYLAN’s Double Masterpiece ‘BLONDE ON BLONDE’ Is 60 Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

20 June 2026

bobdyalnblonde

The now 85-year-old singer-songwriter genius BOB DYLAN released one
of his solid gold masterpieces, double LP BLONDE ON BLONDE, today
60 years ago, on 20 June 1966.

It was the final album of a trilogy, the eternal troubadour recorded in
1965/1966. The other two being the classic Bringing It All Back Home
and Highway 61 Revisited.

Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album‘s songs have been described as operating on a grand scale
musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called “a unique mixture of the visionary
and the colloquial“. It was one of the first double albums in rock music.

It peaked at #9 in the US and #3 in the UK.

Rolling Stone Magazine called Blonde on Blonde: “the most mysterious, majestic
and seductive of Bob Dylan albums, not to mention the greatest. It remains the pinnacle
of Dylan’s genius. It’s his most expansive music, with nothing that resembles a folk song,
just the rock & roll laments of a vanishing American, the doomed outsider who’s given
up on ever belonging anywhere.” .

Singles.

– JUST LIKE A WOMAN –
(Live)

– RAINY DAY WOMEN #12 & 35 –
(Audio)

– I WANT YOU –
(Live)

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website – All Albums

A compilation of pictures taken by Jerry Schatzberg (who also took the blurred photo for the front sleeve) were on the gatefold sleeve of the first vinyl pressing in 1966.

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Released Their Post-Punk Landmark Album ‘JUJU’ Today 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

19 June 2026

London‘s post-punk pioneers SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES (1976–1996)
released their 4th LP, named JUJU on 19 June 1981, today 45 years ago.

Steve Severin (guitarist/producer): “Juju was the first time we’d made a “concept”
album that drew on darker elements. It wasn’t pre-planned, but, as we were writing,
we saw a definite thread running through the songs, almost a narrative to the album
as a whole”.

It was acclaimed by critics upon its release, with praise given particularly to
John McGeoch‘s unconventional guitar playing and Siouxsie‘s vocal performances.
It remains a critical favourite and is seen as a landmark album of post-punk.

Sounds (legendary British music weekly) wrote at the time: “Siouxsie’s voice
seems to have acquired a new fullness of melody with a rich, dark smoothness.
The way this unit operates is impressively cohesive, like one brain the inventive
musical talents of guitarist McGeoch, drummer Budgie and bassist Severin mesh
perfectly with Siouxsie”.

Singles.

– SPELLBOUND –

– ARABIAN KNIGHTS –

ALBUM


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Short Bio – All Albums

BECK 30 Years Ago Today And ROD STEWART 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

18 June 2026

Fab songsmith BECK (born Bek David Campbell in Los Angeles 56 years ago) released
his supreme album ODELAY on 18 June 1996, today 30 years ago. It was his 5th LP.

#16 in the US #17 in the UK.

AllMusic/Stephen Thomas Erlewine: wrote: “Odelay is
a full-fledged, full-bodied album, released on a major label
bearing an intricate, meticulous production by the Dust Bros.
Like a mosaic, all the details add up to a picture greater than
its parts”


TUTV: Unquestionably the best ever LP by the
white soul man, who definitely isn’t a loser.

Singles.

– WHERE IT’S AT –

– DEVILS HAIRCUT –

– THE NEW POLLUTION –

ALBUM


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Linktree – All Albums

Scottish rock cassanova ROD STEWART, aged 81 now, released his
7th LP, NIGHT ON THE TOWN, on 18 June 1976, today 50 years ago.

#1 in the UK, New Zealand, and Northern Europe, #2 in the US

The cover art is based on French Impressionist artist Pierre Auguste Renoir
painting Bal Du Moulin De La Galette, with Stewart inserted in the centre in
period costume.

AllMusic: “It proves that Stewart could still stay true to
his open-hearted, ragged soul while on a big budget.”

Singles.

– TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT –

– THE KILLING OF GEORGIE –

– THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST –

ALBUM


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Linktree – All Albums

PLACEBO Released Their Kick-Ass Debut LP Today 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longlayers from yesteryear

17 June 2026

British rock veterans PLACEBO released their kick-ass eponymous debut LP
on 17 June 1996, today 30 years ago. It featured kick-ass debut single Nancy Boy.

NME said: “Dangerous, mysterious and utterly addictive.”

The album peaked at #5 in the UK.

To celebrate the event, the band launch a Re:Created
version this Friday, June 19th. More info here.

It’ll feature new, reworked, and embellished versions of all
10 tracks from the original album plus two bonus tracks.

Placebo: “We think of this record as a director’s cut. We haven’t recreated
it from scratch. We went back to the original master tapes and brought
30 years of playing these songs live back into the record.

This project was about finally finishing the record, dragging it into the 21st century
sonically, while preserving the integrity and the spirit of the original. It’s not about
improving it, there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s about completing it.

It’s a celebration of where we began, and a meeting point between who we were then
and who we are now; a way of honoring that innocence, while letting the songs exist
with the scale, confidence, and energy of the band we’ve become”.

The band will play several UK and European shows to celebrate the event.

All Dates HERE.

Don’t do it, Brian, there’s a lot of work to do.

Original Album


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THE SMITHS Released Their Masterly Album ‘THE QUEEN IS DEAD’ Today 40 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

16 June 2026

Manchester’s icons THE SMITHS (1982–1987 / 4 albums) released their masterly
THE QUEEN IS DEAD, their 3rd LP, on 16 June 1986, today 40 years ago today.

The longplayer’s title is taken from American writer Hubert Selby Jr.‘s
1964 novel, The Last Exit To Brooklyn. The LP’s cover features a still of
French actor Alain Delon from the 1964 film L’Insoumies (The Unvanquished).

Delon granted permission for the image’s use, though, according
to Morrissey’s Autobiography, the actor said his parents were
dismayed by the title.

Pitchfork‘s verdict: “A masterpiece marking the Smiths’ imperial phase with Morrissey’s grandly moving lyrics and delivery, alongside Johnny Marr’s sparkling melodies and intricate arrangementsfor. For true believers, the album cemented the Smiths’ status as the greatest group in the world despite their struggle to gain widespread commercial success at the time, and positioned Morrissey as a spurned savior of British music.”

Singles.

– THE BOY WITH THE TORN IN HIS SIDE –

– BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN –

– THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT –

ALBUM


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All Albums

DURAN DURAN – British Glam Rockers Released Their Eponymous Debut LP Today 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

15 June 2026

British glam rockers DURAN DURAN, initially branded as being part
of the New Romantic Movement in the UK, released their eponymous
debut LP on 15 June 1981, today 45 years ago.

Influenced by artists such as David Bowie, the Human League, Japan, and Chic,
the group features a mixture of new wave, synth-pop, and dance-punk tunes
with more atmospheric tracks, as well as elements of disco and punk rock.

Simon Le Bon‘s cryptic lyrics cover topics from youthful
torment and confusion to the band’s goals and ambitions.

It peaked at #3 in the UK, #2 in New Zealand,
#9 in Australia, and #24 in the US.


Album artwork

NME wrote: “A sensibly-packaged, respectively safe and self-consciously
worthy record that belies the promised glamour of their two earlier singles.”

Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols years later: “If you go back
to the first record, they smoked everybody. It’s incredible! Disco bass-lines, Japan
textures and mixed by the guy who did the Iggy Pop records”

Singles.

– GIRLS ON FILM –

– PLANET EARTH –

ALBUM


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Still alive and trippin’.

ALL Tour Dates – Instagram – All Albums

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN – Scottish Dream Pop Masters Released Their Debut Album ‘TIGERMILK’ Today 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

6 June 2026

Scottish dream pop collective BELLE AND SEBASTIAN released their
debut LP, called TIGERMILK, on 6 June 1996, today 30 years ago.

It came out through a small Scottish label, ‘Electric Honey‘, on a limited release of
just 1,000 copies. It sold out quickly, but it took 3 years to re-release it properly
and sell over 120.000 units.

The album is named after an instrumental that did not end up on the record.
All of the songs were written by Stuart Murdoch between 1993 and 1996, and
originally performed solo on the Glasgow open mic circuit.

The LP’s cover photograph was taken by Murdoch and features his girlfriend
Joanne Kenney, who also appeared on the cover of the Dog On Wheels EP.

Pitchfork wrote: “Tigermilk is proof that pop can foster a community
without catering to elitism or attempting to be one-size-fits-all.”

TUTV: Start of a long, successful career for
the melancholic and romantic pop masters.

STREAM


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Instagram – Linktree – All Albums

RADIOHEAD Released 2nd Experimental Electro Album ‘AMNESIAC’ Today 25 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

5 June 2026

RADIOHEAD followed their electro experimental album Kid A
a year later with the equally synth exploring full-length, their 5th,
named AMNESIAC on 4 June 2001, today 25 years ago.

As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic
music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock.

The LP debuted at #1 in the UK and #2 in the US.
By October, it had sold, over 900,000 copies,
worldwide.

Rolling Stone: “Between arena tours and Number One albums, Radiohead want to get away from it all. Not a week in Goa or a summer in Provence but a more complete escape: oblivion. The songs on Amnesiac contemplate suicide, divorce, paranoia and mysterious disappearances, and the music follows them into the ether.”

Turn Up The Volume: Many thought that Thom Yorke and co would commit commercial suicide with this album and its twin brother Kid A (released a year before). I have no idea how many copies it sold. What I do know is that 25 years after it troubled many Radiohead fans, Amnesiac still sounds nothing less than amazing.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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RADIOHEAD: All Albums

METALLICA Cut Their Hair And Released 6th Album ‘LOAD’ Today 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

4 June 2026

Metal titans METALLICA released their
6th album LOAD on 4 June 1996, today
30 years ago.

The recording sessions were very productive, resulting in almost 30 songs being
recorded. While a double album was considered, the band decided to split the material into two albums; half appeared on Load, and the other half was released as Reload
the following year.

Metallica strayed away from their thrash metal roots in favor of a hard rock sound.
The group became influenced by non-metal artists during the writing process, resulting
in an array of musical styles such as Southern rock, blues rock, country rock, alternative rock,
and grunge.


Bam Magazine – 1996

They also changed their looks, which included short hair,
leather jackets, and make-up. Many fans disliked it.

Load received mixed reviews.

Q Magazine (British music monthly) said: “These boys set up their tents in
the darkest place of all, in the naked horror of their own heads. Metallica are
still awesome. What is new is streamlined attack, the focus and, yes, the tunes.”

The New York Times wrote: “For the first time, Metallica sounds as if
it’s looking over its shoulder, wondering where it fits in the era of grunge.”

Mixed reviews didn’t stop the album from becoming a global topper.
#1 in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and all over Europe.

LEAD SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree – All Albums