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Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix

von 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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  1. Brothers by The Black Keys

    Looking back more than a decade later, Brothers proved that classic albums don't always emerge from revolutionary artistic statements, but sometimes from artists who perfect their craft and find the ideal moment to present it to the world.

  2. Post by Bjork

    Post’s lasting influence stems from its fundamental reimagining of what pop music could accommodate. By 1995, alternative rock had codified into its own set of conventions, electronic music remained largely confined to dance floors and art

  3. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits

    What makes Love Over Gold particularly significant in the context of early 1980s rock is how it represented a conscious rejection of prevailing commercial trends. Rather than pursuing the arena-oriented rock direction that had proven succes

  4. Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette

    Partnering with producer Glen Ballard, who she also co-wrote the album with, Morissette embarked on a journey of musical and emotional excavation. The resulting songs were raw, confessional, and unapologetically intense. Where her previous

  5. Elton John by Elton John

    In the pantheon of transformative second albums, few records demonstrate as dramatic a leap in artistic maturity and commercial viability as Elton John's self-titled 1970 release. While history often views breakthrough albums as sudden ligh

  6. Blunderbuss by Jack White

    Named after an 18th-century short-barreled firearm known for its wide, scattered shot pattern, "Blunderbuss" proved aptly titled. White's lifelong obsessions — Delta blues, country ballads, garage rock, gospel, and vaudevillian oddities — c

  7. Locked Down by Dr John

    The album's sonic palette draws from a diverse range of influences. Elements of swamp blues, voodoo funk and Afrobeat coexist alongside garage rock snarl and gospel fervour. Yet these disparate ingredients never feel forced together — they

  8. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey

    The album represents a stunning artistic maturation for an artist who had already established herself as one of pop music's most distinctive voices. Where her earlier work sometimes veered into stylized melodrama, Norman Fucking Rockwell! a

  9. Folk Singer by Muddy Waters

    This album is Muddy Waters as you’ve rarely heard him: intimate, vulnerable and devastatingly powerful. It’s the sound of a man returning to his roots — not out of nostalgia, but with full awareness of how far he’s come since first recordin

  10. Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam

    What ultimately elevates Tea For The Tillerman to classic status is how it articulates a particular historical consciousness while speaking to enduring human concerns. In giving voice to his own spiritual journey with honesty and artistry,

  11. Sour by Olivia Rodrigo

    Yes, Sour is gloriously teenage — Rodrigo was just 18 when she recorded it. It’s riddled with insecurity and melodrama. But that’s exactly why it works. In embracing the undignified mess of a first heartbreak — without shame or apology — Ro

  12. Coat Of Many Colors by Dolly Parton

    When Parton made this album she was not the megastar we came to know — she was still seen as Porter Wagoner's blonde sidekick. But Coat of Many Colors sits right at the point where Dolly Parton is becoming Dolly Parton. You can hear the App

  13. London Calling by The Clash

    London Calling arrived at a moment when punk was at risk of becoming rigid and formulaic. By expanding the definition of what punk could be, The Clash helped ensure the movement's lasting influence. Their willingness to embrace musical dive

  14. Wildflowers by Tom Petty

    Wildflowers is not Tom Petty’s tightest album, nor his easiest to listen to. There’s hopelessness and anger; disappointment and regret. Its disparate modes — blues, country, folk, power-pop, torch songs — are connected by the roads, both li

  15. When The Pawn... by Fiona Apple

    Part of what makes When The Pawn so enduring is how it captures a specific moment in Apple's artistic development. After the raw, sometimes unpolished brilliance of Tidal, but before the more experimental sounds of Extraordinary Machine and

  16. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths

    What elevates The Queen Is Dead to classic status is its synthesis of seemingly contradictory elements. The juxtaposition of Morrissey's mordant, often devastating lyrics against Marr's shimmering, melodic guitar creates a tension that ener

  17. Catch A Fire by Bob Marley & The Wailers

    Catch A Fire captures Marley at a crucial moment in his artistic development—already a great songwriter and performer, but still hungry and relatively unknown outside Jamaica. There's an urgency and raw energy to these recordings that Marle

  18. A Night At The Opera by Queen

    By the mid-1970s, the idea of "rock opera" had already been explored by bands such as The Who, but Queen's approach was distinctly different. Rather than telling a single narrative across an album, they created a kind of musical theatre whe

  19. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen

    What elevates the album beyond mere tribute is how Springsteen connects these traditional songs to his own artistic identity. The political dimensions of the album cannot be overlooked either. Springsteen had become increasingly outspoken i

  20. Jaydiohead by Max Tannone

    What's most striking about Jaydiohead is how naturally the two artists' aesthetics merge. On paper, this should have been a train wreck. Radiohead's anxious art-rock and Jay-Z's confident hip-hop swagger represent opposing poles of contempo

  21. Waking Hours by Del Amitri

    What makes Waking Hours particularly notable is its emotional maturity. While many of their contemporaries were trading in either dance-floor escapism or political sloganeering, Del Amitri focused on the intimate struggles of everyday life.

  22. Coming Home by Leon Bridges

    It would be a mistake to view Coming Home purely through the lens of retrospection. What makes it a classic album rather than a skillful homage is how Bridges creates something new within established forms. His vocals — smooth yet subtly te

  23. Too-Rye-Ay by Dexys Midnight Runners

    What makes Too-Rye-Ay a classic is how it stands at the intersection of multiple musical traditions while creating something entirely original. It respects the past – drawing from American soul, Irish folk, and British pop – while pushing b

  24. Saint Dominic's Preview by Van Morrison

    What makes Saint Dominic's Preview so compelling is not just its musical ambition but its position at the intersection of Morrison's various artistic impulses. The album balances radio-friendly cuts with extended spiritual explorations. It

  25. Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 by Traveling Wilburys

    This album contains effortless songwriting, camaraderie and pure musical joy, but it’s not an artistic statement. It isn’t an album to take seriously, but that doesn’t mean it’s not infectiously enjoyable. What makes the Wilburys' debut alb

  26. Cuz I Love You by Lizzo

    Cuz I Love You is a record that doesn’t whisper — it roars. It’s unapologetically loud, bold and full-throttle, drenched in saturated colour and volume. Lizzo leans into classic soul, doo-wop, and old-school romance, yet the result feels an

  27. Gold by Ryan Adams

    Gold represents a creative peak for Adams. While he would continue to release prolific and often excellent work in the decades that followed, this album captured him at a moment of perfect equilibrium — his youthful exuberance tempered by g

  28. The Great Escape by Blur

    If Parklife was a celebration of British life in all its eccentric glory, The Great Escape took a darker turn. Behind the brash, satirical pop of Country House and Charmless Man lay a more cynical and world-weary perspective, reflected in s

  29. Walk Through Fire by Yola

    Walk Through Fire is a breathtaking fusion of country, soul, folk, and Americana. Produced by Dan Auerbach, these 12 songs present a fully realised artistic vision, one that embraces both joy and pain, light and shadow – and time has only s

  30. Nevermind by Nirvana

    Nevermind is one of the most influential and culturally significant albums in modern music history. Its impact transcended mere commercial success to fundamentally alter the trajectory of popular music and youth culture in the 1990s and bey

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