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Blues for the Red Sun (Album of the Day)
If Josh Homme is now best known for leading Queens of the Stone Age, the performer had already earned a place in hard rock history as a founder of Kyuss. Emerging from the California desert at the end of the 1980s, the band released four albums, of which BLUES FOR THE RED SUN may be their masterpiece. Working with producer Chris Goss, the quartet finally captured the power of their live shows in the studio, and such tracks as “Green Machine,” “Thong Song” and “Thumb” thunder through the speakers like a freight train speeding downhill. While not a big seller, the 1992 collection was hugely influential, both for helping pioneer stoner rock and for Homme's distinctive instrumental work – tuned down two steps and played through a bass amp for maximum heaviness. We'll wish the guitarist a happy birthday now by cranking up BLUES FOR THE RED SUN.
Out of the Blue (Album of the Day)
Debbie Gibson's OUT OF THE BLUE was accurately titled; the Brooklyn teenager was playing night clubs when that debut album rocketed her to stardom. The average pop princess may be little more than a pretty face with a savvy manager, but Gibson was never average – she penned and produced her own material. On this day in 1988, her “Foolish Beat” topped the U.S. chart, making 17-year old Debbie the youngest woman ever to write, produce and record a No.1 single. That song was one of four Top Ten hits (along with “Only In My Dreams,” “Shake Your Love” and the title track) on the Atlantic collection. The buoyant dance pop on OUT OF THE BLUE still sounds fresh thanks to Debbie's effervescent vocal performance – and all the other skills the then-high school student contributed to this multi-platinum smash.
Then Play On (Remastered and Expanded) (Album of the Day)
Fleetwood Mac is one of rock’s most storied and successful bands, having endured numerous line-up changes and sold millions of albums worldwide. Originally part of the British blues boom, the Mac was among the most popular groups in that style by the time THEN PLAY ON was released in 1969. The quintet's stellar third studio album was the first with guitarist-songwriter Danny Kirwan and would be the last with founding member Peter Green. The collection’s powerful mix of blues and rock includes standout tracks like “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Searching For Madge” and “Coming Your Way.” Co-founder Mick Fleetwood remains the band's drummer all these years later, and we'll play THEN PLAY ON once again to wish him a happy birthday.
Bad Company (Deluxe) (Album of the Day)
The U.K. band's eponymous debut arrived in stores 45 years ago today, becoming the first release on Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label and soaring to No.1 on the chart on its way to platinum sales status. Of the eight tracks on the album, more than half would spend years in rotation on AOR and classic rock radio - “Rock Steady,” “Ready For Love,” “Movin’ On,” the title song and the #5 hit “Can’t Get Enough.” Surely the quartet's finest hour, BAD COMPANY remains at the pinnacle of blues-based hard rock rock.
Cosmic Thing (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition) (Album of the Day)
Athens, Georgia's resident musical oddballs The B-52s had earned a strong alternative rock following by serving up cultural kitsch with loving winks, but the loss of founding guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985 was a serious blow. The group came back swinging with COSMIC THING, and the Reprise collection became their most successful ever, soaring into the Billboard Top 10 on its way to quadruple-platinum sales. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Don Was, the set includes such standout tracks as “Channel Z,” “Deadbeat Club” and a pair of Top 10 singles: “Roam” and irresistible signature song “Love Shack.” Released 30 years ago today, COSMIC THING remains a surefire way to get a party into high gear, so if you don't already have a copy, come on and bring your jukebox money!
Goin' 50 (Deluxe Edition) (Album of the Day)
ZZ Top are celebrating 50 years of beards, blues, hot cars and fuzzy guitars this year with a Texas-sized compilation that includes the 50 songs that helped transform “that little ol' band from Texas” into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame standard bearers they have become in the 21st century. Packed with enough hits to fill a roadhouse jukebox, GOIN' 50 spans the band's entire musical career, from its 1969 debut and its multi-platinum zenith during the Eighties to its most recent releases. This new retrospective includes an array from each of the 15 studio albums that guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist Dusty Hill have recorded since 1970, plus a single recorded in 1969 by the original incarnation of ZZ Top. Among the irresistible hits on the 3-CD GOIN' 50 are “La Grange,” “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs” and “Velcro Fly.”
Unknown Pleasures (Album of the Day)
From Peter Saville's distinctive radio-waves cover art to the last notes of “I Remember Nothing,” Joy Division's UNKNOWN PLEASURES delivers from start to finish, and is cited by such outlets as Q and NME as one of the greatest British albums of all time. Thanks partly to the work of producer Martin Hannett, the 1979 debut album has a starker, more atmospheric sound than the group's loud and aggressive concerts, and the band brought an outstanding set of songs to the studio. “She's Lost Control” and “Shadowplay” are bleak and claustrophobic but vibrant all the same, touched with a sense of late-‘60s experimentalism and played with an urgency that's timeless. Now available, a limited edition 40th anniversary pressing of UNKNOWN PLEASURES on 180-gram ruby red vinyl allows listeners to experience the pleasures of this post-punk landmark anew.
Representing The Mambo (Album of the Day)
After nearly a decade of silence, Little Feat made a welcome return with LET IT ROLL, and 1990 follow-up REPRESENTING THE MAMBO showed the group was still on a roll. The Warner Bros. collection, the band's last for their longtime label, was recorded at Skywalker Ranch with George Massenburg and Feat keyboardist Bill Payne at the helm and adds modern production touches (including strategically employed synthesizers) to the group's signature mix of Southern rock, New Orleans R&B and jazz. Highlights include “Rad Gumbo,” the title track and Mainstream Rock chart-topper “Texas Twister,” and the collection as a whole reached #45 on the Billboard album chart. All but one of the set's 11 originals were co-written by guitarist Paul Barrere, so today we'll give REPRESENTING THE MAMBO another spin to wish him a happy birthday.
See How We Are (Deluxe) (Album of the Day)
More than four decades after bursting into life in the punk clubs of Los Angeles, X can safely be called one of the City of Angels' greatest musical treasures. Through the years, the foursome has incorporated folk and country influences in its breathless brand of rock, and the 1987 Elektra album SEE HOW WE ARE marks a key moment in their musical evolution. The group's first without founding guitarist Billy Zoom (Tony Gilkyson bends the strings here), the set includes “4th Of July,” which would become an X signature song. Though that one was penned by roots-rock ally Dave Alvin of The Blasters, cuts like “I'm Lost” and the title track show the Exene Cervenka-John Doe writing partnership was only growing stronger. The Deluxe Edition of SEE HOW WE ARE includes four demos of album songs and a great cover of Bob Dylan's “Highway 61 Revisited” as bonus tracks.
Cracked Rear View (25th Expanded) (Album of the Day)
Released 25 years ago today, Hootie & the Blowfish's CRACKED REAR VIEW became a musical phenomenon, reaching #1 on the U.S. album chart five different times during 1995. The collection generated four massive singles: “Hold My Hand,” “Only Wanna Be With You,” “Time” and “Let Her Cry,” which earned Hootie & the Blowfish a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. The monumental record is currently the tenth best-selling album of all time in the U.S., certified 21x Platinum by the RIAA, as well as the best-selling debut album of all time. Now in stores, the 2-CD CRACKED REAR VIEW: 25th ANNIVERSARY EXPANDED EDITION features a bonus disc including early versions of many of their biggest hits recorded in 1990 and 1991 and only available previously on cassettes sold at their live shows; the band's five-song 1992 Kootchypop EP; and other unreleased and rare studio tracks.