Big Blasts From The Past

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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ALICE COOPER Released Breakthrough LP ‘LOVE IT TO DEATH’ Today 55 Years Ago

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Significant longplayers from the past

9 March 2026

The now 78-year-old shock rocker ALICE COOPER, and his troops released
their 3rd and breakthrough LP LOVE IT TO DEATH on 9 March 1971, today
55 years ago.

It peaked at #35 in the US and #28 in the UK.

The record consolidated the band’s aggressive hard-rocking sound, instead
of the psychedelic and experimental rock style of their first two albums. It was
the first longplayer on which the members received individual credit for songs.

The album has come to be seen as a foundational influence on hard rock,
punk, and heavy metal; several tracks became live Alice Cooper standards
and got frequently covered.

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KURT VILE – Philly Tunesmith Released 4th Album ‘SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO’ Today 15 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

8 March 2026

Along with Adam Granduciel Philly based singer-songwriter/guitarist KURT VILE
formed The War On Drugs in 2005. After their 2008 debut LP Wagonwheel Blues
Vile left to pursue his own journey.

He has released his 4th solo album, titled
SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO on 8 March 2011,
today 15 years ago.

Pitchfork said: “Kurt Vile’s fourth full-length may also be his best, as it distills classic
American guitar music into one singular and sublime vision. He’s still cycling between strummers and fingerpicked mazework, but the battery of pedal effects is mostly gone.
Vile has acknowledged limits in length for the sake of depth. It makes for a full-blown
journey.”

The LP got to #8 on the US Independent Albums Charts.

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NICK DRAKE – Second LP ‘BRYTER LAYTER Released 55 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

5 March 2026

The late, idolized and personally troubled British singer-songwriter NICK DRAKE, born Nicholas Rodney Drake, who died by suicide in 1974, only 26, released his 2nd (of his 3) albums, titled BRYTER LAYTER on 5 March 1971, today 55 years ago.

Nick Drake soon after the release: “I had something in mind when I wrote the songs, knowing that they weren’t just for me. The album took a long time to do, in fact, we started it almost a year ago. But I’m not altogether clear about this album – I haven’t got to terms with the whole presentation.”

Rolling Stone: “Drake’s melodies are seldom less than enchanting. Built around acoustic folk-jazz guitar figures and muffled percussion, they become emotionally charged when shaded by arranger Robert Kirby’s poignant, eddying strings. Drake’s impressionistic lyrics are vivid but provocatively sketchy, making them as curiously personal as phrases mumbled in sleep. They’re delivered in an airy, nearly unconscious whisper that blends as naturally into the arrangements as a breeze rippling through tall grass.”

#23 of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever” – Q Magazine (British music monthly)
#14 of “The Greatest Albums of the ‘70s” – NME (Legendary British music weekly)
#245 of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” – Rolling Stone Magazine

TUTV: Musically his most frolicsome LP. Romantic pearls about loss
and loneliness. 5-star reveries with a relaxing and dreamy timbre.
Intimitaly arranged and orchestrated.

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ELVIS COSTELLO Was The ‘KING OF AMERICA’ 40 Years Ago Today

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Significant longplayers from yesteryear

21 February 2026

First-class songsmith ELVIS COSTELLO (born Declan Patrick MacManus 71 years ago
in London) had his 10th album (out of a total of 32, so far), named KING OF AMERICA released on 21 February 1986, today 40 years ago.

Co-produced by Costello and his musical pal T Bone Burnett, the album originated following a series of tours the two made under the name The Coward Brothers.

The longplayer reached number 11 in the UK and number 39 in the US.

Hailed as a return to form for Costello and his best record in years, the album was
praised for its production, depth and vocal performances. Mixed reviews found the
LP too complex and lacking accessibility to attract new fans.

Later reviewers call King of America one of Costello‘s best works, praising its
personal tone and the songwriter’s growing maturity, and arguing the album
anticipated Costello‘s various musical excursions and collaborations in the
following decades.

Melody Maker said at the time: “He’s still this blighted isle’s
finest songwriter, a force, who at his best, is simply beyond peer.”

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Nina Simone cover

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DINOSAUR JR Released Their 4th LP ‘GREEN MIND’ 35 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

19 February 2026

American slacker rockers DINOSAUR JR. led by commander J Mascis
have released their 4th LP GREEN MIND, today 35 years ago, on
19 February 1991.

It was the band’s first release after their bassist Lou Barlow left to form
his own bands, Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, as well as the first on
a major label.

The record is close to being a J Mascis solo album. He played most
of the instruments, with founding drummer Murph only featuring
on three tracks.

It peaked at #168 on the Billboard 200. Single The Wagon went to €22.

Rolling Stone: “Green Mind “sounds every bit as energetic and full-blooded
despite much of the record being performed solely by Mascis, whose guitar
playing, will bowl over even confirmed louder-is-better zealots.”

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THE KNIFE – Swedish Electro Pop Duo Released Their Dark 3rd Album ‘SILENT SHOUT’ 20 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

18 February 2026

Swedish electro pop duo THE KNIFE – siblings Karin
and Olof Dreijer filled dancefloors from 1999 until 2014
with

Their 3rd album, titled SILENT SHOUT, came out 20 years ago, on 17 February 2006.
It topped the Swedish charts, got to #12 on the US Dance Charts, and to #28 on the
UK’s Independent Albums.


Album artwork

Pitchfork wrote: “Ditching the springy Europop of 2004’s Deep Cuts, Sweden’s the Knife here pits dark, ghostly electro backdrops against elastic vocals, which they mash through a wringer of digital manipulation. A far cry from the duo’s friendly first singles, Silent Shout gorily births the Knife’s mutant twin. The result is creepy enough to warrant its own genre: haunted house.

Silent Shout inspires similar imagination and pushing outwards; after all, no matter how heady and interior electronic music allows itself to become, it could never get as scary as the world outside. ”

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THE BLUETONES – Britpop Vets Released Their Debut LP ‘EXPECTING TO FLY’ 25 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers of yesteryear

16 February 2026

Band: THE BLUETONES
Who: Britpop legends from London
Active: 1993–2011, 2015–present

Album: EXPECTING TO FLY
Released: 12 February 1996
25 years ago today
Score: #1 in the UK – platinum


25 years ago

Q magazine wrote: “Perhaps the most accomplished rock debut album since
The Stone Roses in 1989, Expecting to Fly avoids the usual primitive drive of
first recordings, in favour of technical brilliance and adventurous songwriting.
A classic rock album.”

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25th Anniversary Tour Dates

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PJ HARVEY Released Her Remarkable Album ‘LET ENGLAND SHAKE’ Today 15 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

14 February 2026

The now 56-year-old, unique songstress PJ Harvey released her 8th LP
LET ENGLAND SHAKE on 14 February 2011, today 15 years ago. One of
my beloved PJ albums.

The record was written over a 2+1⁄2-year period, and recorded in five weeks
at a church in Dorset (UK) during April and May 2010. It peaked at #8 in the UK
and #32 in the US.

PJ: “I knew that I wanted the music to offset the weight of the words. That was very important.
I wanted the music to be full of energy and to be very uplifting and unifying, almost insightful
in its creation of energy.

It took me a long time to find out how to sing such words because to sing it in the wrong voice would have given it the wrong feeling– maybe too self-important and dogmatic. I wanted the songs to be much more ambiguous than that. This was the way that the language was best moved from lip to ear.”

Pitchfork said: “On Let England Shake, Harvey is not often upfront or forceful.
Her lyrics, though, are as disturbing as ever. Here, she paints vivid portraits of war,
and her sharp focus on the up-close, hand-to-hand devastation of World War I,
depicting “soldiers falling like lumps of meat, provides a fitting setting for today’s battlegrounds.”

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GENESIS – 7th LP ‘ A TRICK OF THE TAIL’ By Prog Rock Giants Is 50 Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

13 February 2026

English prog-rock legends GENESIS released their 7th studio album,
today 50 years ago, on 13 February 1976. It was the first LP with their
drummer Phil Collins on vocals replacing face/voice Peter Gabriel
who had left the band.

It went to #3 in the UK and #31 in the US.

Upon release, critics were impressed by the improved sound quality
and the group’s ability to survive the loss of Gabriel without sacrificing
the quality of the music.

AllMusic said: “This album is not quite as memorable as Foxtrot or Selling England, largely because its songs aren’t as immediate or memorable: apart from “Dance on a Volcano,” this is about the sound of the band playing, not individual songs, and it succeeds on that level quite wildly — to the extent that it proved to longtime fans that Genesis could possibly thrive without its former leader in tow.”

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