Claim OwnershipClassic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix
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© 2026 Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix
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Not all albums stand the test of time, but plenty do and Australian music critic Stevie Nix will bring one to you each week. He'll cover all eras and most genres and tell you why each record is so revered and, equally, why it deserves to be. And he only uses six songs to do it.
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Send us a text Graceland introduced global sounds to mainstream Western audiences in a way that felt organic rather than exploitative. The conversations about cultural appropriation, artistic responsibility, and the relationship between art and politics continue to resonate. Simon's approach — collaborative rather than extractive, respectful of his influences while transforming them into something new — has become a model for thoughtful cross-cultural artistic endeavours. Yet the complex ques...
Send us a text The album's power lies in its refusal to play by the rules of either folk purity or contemporary indie rock. These weren't musicians interested in archaeological authenticity or preserving some imagined folk tradition in amber. Instead, they took the instrumentation and structural vocabulary of folk, bluegrass, and country music and weaponised it with the dynamics and emotional intensity of arena rock. The result was something genuinely new: songs that could pack the intimate s...
Send us a text When Phil Collins released Face Value in February 1981, few could have predicted that this deeply personal debut would launch one of the most successful solo careers in pop music history. The album emerged from one of the darkest periods of Collins' life — a crumbling marriage that left him alone with his pain and a drum machine — and transformed that raw emotional devastation into something far greater than a simple breakup album. It became a watershed moment that proved Colli...
Send us a text The Stranger permanently altered the trajectory of Joel's career, transforming him from a struggling piano man to a stadium-filling superstar. More importantly, it established him as a serious artist whose work could connect with both critics and mainstream audiences. The album balances nostalgia with clear-eyed recognition of limitation and compromise. Its complex relationship with time and memory feels quintessentially American in its tension between idealism and pragmatism. ...
Send us a text Us is particularly notable for its deeply personal lyrical content. While Gabriel's previous work often dealt with political themes or character-based narratives, this album turned inward to explore relationships, personal psychology and emotional vulnerability. Written during a period of intensive psychotherapy, the album is deeply personal — exploring his divorce, his subsequent relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette and the growing distance between him and his first daug...
Send us a text Night And Day stood out by offering something sophisticated — a hybrid of styles that acknowledged contemporary trends and also classic songwriting traditions. Jackson's classical piano training is evident in the complexity of his arrangements, but he never lets technique overshadow musicality. And the integration of Brazilian and Latin American rhythms was ahead of its time, predating the World Music boom of the late 1980s. Featured songs: Another World Steppin' Out Breaking U...
Send us a text Bat Out Of Hell represents a singular moment in music history where ambition, talent and timing combined to create something truly unique. It demonstrated that rock music could embrace theatrical drama and technical complexity while maintaining emotional authenticity and commercial appeal. The album stands as proof that sometimes the most unlikely combinations — theatrical drama and rock music, teenage romance and classical influences, technical complexity and raw emotion — can...
Send us a text What makes All Day remarkable isn’t just the novelty of hearing Foxy Brown on top of Peter Gabriel, or Big Boi rapping over Portishead, though those moments are undeniably thrilling. It’s the way Greg Gillis transforms these fragments of cultural detritus into something bigger. He doesn’t just create mashups; he creates nostalgia factories. Featured songs: Oh No Jump On Stage Get It Get it Make Me Wanna Steady Shock Every Day
Send us a text Released in 1970, this double album didn’t just push the limits of jazz; it obliterated them. Bitches Brew is a chaotic, electrifying, and hypnotic masterpiece, fusing jazz, rock, funk, and avant-garde into something utterly transformative. Featured songs: Pharaoh’s Dance Bitches Brew Spanish Key John McLaughlin Miles Runs The Voodoo Down Sanctuary
Send us a text Blending retro soul with jazz, Motown, and hip-hop elements, Winehouse created a timeless sound that paid homage to classic music styles while pushing soul into new, contemporary territory. By bridging these genres, she infused Back To Black with an eclectic vibrancy, defying genre conventions and showing how genre-blending could convey deep, complex emotions. And in exploring themes of addiction, love, heartbreak and self-destruction, Winehouse went beyond typical pop narrativ...
Send us a text Released during a period of intense personal transformation for Mitchell, Blue captures a raw emotional vulnerability that continues to resonate. Her songwriting is both confessional and poetic, a delicate balance of personal revelation and universal experience. Musically, the album is minimalistic yet richly expressive, featuring open tunings, sparse instrumentation, and an emphasis on melodic storytelling.
Send us a text Nebraska arrived at a time when the music industry was chasing bigger sounds and brighter production, but Springsteen went the other way. The album’s quiet power came from its restraint. Drawing on the folk traditions of Woody Guthrie and the fatalistic laments of Hank Williams, Nebraska stripped the myth of the American dream down to its bones. These were stories of debt, violence and fragile hope — told not with anger, but with empathy. It was a portrait of a country running ...
Send us a text As the alternative rock wave of the early 1990s began to fade, hip-hop and electronic music were rising to prominence. Beck, in collaboration with the Dust Brothers, bridged these genres, creating a groundbreaking work that fused alternative rock, hip-hop, folk, electronic, and psychedelic influences into a cohesive and innovative artistic statement. By treating genre as a fluid concept, Odelay inspired others to explore hybrid sounds and break free from traditional conventions.
Send us a text Red Headed Stranger is a concept album built around an old murder ballad Nelson remembered from his days as a radio disc jockey in Fort Worth and he interwove this dark story with carefully chosen country standards and original material. It sounds like a story told around a campfire, yet it feels timeless, even modern, in its emotional intelligence. It asks for attention and patience, and it rewards both with something rare: a record that feels intimate and epic at the same tim...
Send us a text Patti Smith’s Horses, released 50 years ago today, remains one of the most startling and transformative debuts in rock history. Half a century on, it still feels raw, defiant, and ahead of its time, a record that blurred the lines between poetry, performance art, and primal rock and roll. Smith showed that rock could be intellectual without being pretentious, mystical without being escapist, feminine without being weak. Featured songs: Gloria Birdland Free Money Break It ...
Send us a text Elephant represents the perfect expression of the White Stripes' artistic philosophy. Their emphasis on authenticity, their embrace of limitations, and their respect for rock and blues traditions all came together perfectly on this album. Elephant is raw, it’s rebellious and it’s relentlessly innovative. From the iconic opening riff of Seven Nation Army to the bluesy swagger of Ball And Biscuit, this record is a masterclass in how to make maximum impact with minimal tools.
Send us a text Produced largely by Martyn Ware of Heaven 17, Introducing The Hardline… fused crisp ‘80s production with a deep reverence for classic R&B. It channelled the ghosts of James Brown, the finesse of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, and the theatrical edge of Prince, yet somehow never felt derivative. Critics marvelled at D’Arby’s “soul ventriloquism”, his ability to summon these influences with uncanny ease, while still sounding brand new. And the public embraced him just as ...
Send us a text At its core, Lemonade is a narrative through the stages of heartbreak, anger, forgiveness and triumph. Structured around traditional elements of a relationship drama, the album creates a cohesive experience where each track builds upon the last, culminating in a sense of closure and catharsis. It exists simultaneously as a deeply personal exploration of Beyoncé's own experiences and a collective reflection of shared human emotions. Featured songs: Pray You Catch Me Hold U...
Send us a text Album #4 benefits from arriving early enough in Led Zeppelin's career that they still had something to prove, but late enough that they had developed the skill and confidence to execute their vision flawlessly. There's no excess here, no self-indulgence, no sense that the band has started believing their own mythology. Instead, there's a kind of fearless creativity, a willingness to trust in beauty and subtlety even while delivering some of the heaviest music ever recorded. Fea...
Send us a text Released in 1974, this was the album that transformed Supertramp from struggling British rockers into international stars. It was their third record, but in many ways, it felt like a debut – a complete reinvention that showcased the band's newfound confidence and artistic vision. What makes this album special isn't just its commercial success, but how it merged progressive rock complexity with irresistible pop melodies. The partnership between Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies reac...
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