Classic Albums
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Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.
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[edit] Format
The TV series is made by Isis Productions and distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment. It is shown on various broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Sky Arts, VH1 and VH1 Classic. They are also available on DVD.
The music, and its production, is dissected by the musicians and/or producer playing the multitrack recordings and singling out tracks that one does not usually consciously hear when listening to the music, giving insight into the way the sound is built up. Also, the individual musicians play back pieces, which are then blended with the original recording. Almost all songs are dealt with, focusing almost entirely on the music itself, how it was composed/realised. Personal aspects of the band or members are occasionally dealt with, but mostly only if they serve this purpose. TV episodes are 50 minutes long but the DVD releases contain much additional material. All the releases in this series are done with the co-operation and full authorisation of the artists involved.
The most recent episode in the series covered Duran Duran - Rio. This was released on DVD in October 2008.
[edit] History
They were devised by radio producer John Pidgeon as a vehicle for Roger Scott, following the disc jockey’s move from Capital Radio to BBC Radio 1 in 1988. The first hour-long series, produced independently by John and Roger, opened with Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms in May 1989, followed by the Rolling Stones’ Beggar’s Banquet, Genesis’ Invisible Touch, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, The Who's Who's Next, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Police’s Synchronicity, the Eagles’ Hotel California and U2’s The Joshua Tree. Roger died of cancer five months later, and the second series aired posthumously. Further programs were presented by Richard Skinner.
[edit] Episodes
The albums that have been covered are:[1]
- The Band - The Band
- Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch a Fire
- Cream - Disraeli Gears
- Deep Purple - Machine Head (see Classic Albums: Deep Purple - The Making of Machine Head)
- Def Leppard - Hysteria
- The Doors - The Doors
- Duran Duran - Rio
- Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
- Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
- Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') / Over-Nite Sensation
- Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun and American Beauty (see Anthem to Beauty)
- Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
- Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
- Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
- John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
- Judas Priest - British Steel
- Lou Reed - Transformer
- Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell
- Metallica - Metallica ("Black Album") (see Classic Albums: Metallica - Metallica)
- Motörhead - Ace Of Spades
- Nirvana - Nevermind (see Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind)
- Paul Simon - Graceland
- Phil Collins - Face Value
- Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon, (see Classic Albums: Pink Floyd - The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon)
- Queen - A Night at the Opera
- Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
- Simply Red - Stars
- Steely Dan - Aja
- Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
- U2 - The Joshua Tree
- The Who - Who's Next
[edit] False episodes
There have been some DVD documentaries released with the phrase "Classic Albums" in the title that are, in truth, of no relation to the Classic Albums television series. These documentaries are not produced by Eagle Rock Entertainment and do not air as part of the series on VH1 and BBC. They are released by a company called Classic Rock Legends [2][3].
They are identifiable by the fact that the Classic Albums logo does not appear on the box art. They also do not feature the original artwork of the album under discussion on the DVD cover, but reinterpreted drawings which resemble said artwork. The program itself does not feature interviews from members of the bands and suffer a great reduction in general production quality. The most notable difference is the fact that music from the album on discussion is not featured, but instead songs by cover bands performing these works.
These titles include:
