Let Love Rule – One-man debut against the big 80s sound
On 6 September 1989, Lenny Kravitz released Let Love Rule on Virgin, a debut cut mostly at Waterfront Studios in Hoboken with vintage gear and almost no outside players.
Blondie – Heart of Glass
Blondie’s Heart of Glass (Parallel Lines, 1978): disco grid after ballad/reggae tries, Harry cool, Chapman, No. 1.
Elvis Presley – Sun Records voltage for the living room
From Sun Studio in Memphis to Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley put rock and roll on national television and kept the voltage personal.
Prince – Controversy
Warner Bros. released Controversy on 2 September 1981, six weeks before the album, from a track cut at Kiowa Trail.
The Smiths – Romance, riffs and English melancholy
In May 1982 Johnny Marr walked up to Steven Morrissey's door in Stretford with a proposal and a pile of records.
Top 10 Albums Released Ahead of Their Time
Ten albums that arrived early and looked odd until everyone caught up.
Interview of Prince (1985)
Prince's first televised MTV interview, in 1985, arrives in the long shadow of Purple Rain and the deliberate quiet around Around the World in a Day.
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
Sabotage, from Ill Communication (1994), is the Beastie Boys' short punk-rap blow-up, sealed by Spike Jonze's cop-show video.
The Wall – Pink Floyd
On 30 November 1979 Pink Floyd released The Wall: a double rock opera about a star who walls himself off, cut under Bob Ezrin while the band barely spoke.
Big Soul – Black River Boogie
Black River Boogie, from Big Soul's Funky Beats (2001), is a short West Coast funk-rock cut that found a second home in French clubs.