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Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix
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.
Episodes
72 episodes
OK Computer by Radiohead
OK Computer arrived like a dispatch from the near future — a warning, a prophecy, a mirror reflecting our increasingly complicated relationship with technology and modern existence. The album didn't just capture the zeitgeist; it antic...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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43:16
Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Released into the heart of the psychedelic era, Are You Experienced announced the future loudly, imperfectly and irresistibly. It captures is a threshold moment. Jimi Hendrix didn’t gently evolve the three-minute song; he stretched it,...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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47:22
King Of America by Elvis Costello
King of America is an album born out of retreat and reset, following a period when Costello himself felt he’d lost the thread. It feels like an artist stripping everything back to find out what still matters. Even the name “Elvis Coste...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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53:34
Graceland by Paul Simon
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 polit...
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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41:55
Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons
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 to...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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47:43
Face Value by Phil Collins
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 perio...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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47:23
The Stranger by Billy Joel
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 a...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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47:20
Us by Peter Gabriel
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 a...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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50:29
Night And Day by Joe Jackson
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 arra...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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44:34
Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf
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 ma...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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49:10
All Day by Girl Talk
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 ...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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43:54
Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
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 transforma...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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32:03
Back To Black by Amy Winehouse
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 Blac...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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37:52
Blue by Joni Mitchell
What distinguishes Blue from other confessional albums of its era is Mitchell's refusal to simplify her emotions. She embraced what she called "chords of inquiry"— suspended chords that carried inherent questions, that never quite reso...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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53:51
Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen
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 ...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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45:18
Odelay by Beck
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 ro...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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35:31
Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson
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 materia...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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56:41
Horses by Patti Smith
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 betw...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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47:01
Elephant by The White Stripes
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 alb...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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34:10
Introducing The Hardline According To ... by Terence Trent D'Arby
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, a...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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44:53
Lemonade by Beyonce
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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38:02
Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin
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-i...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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45:56
Crime Of The Century by Supertramp
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 newf...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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40:05
Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos
Little Earthquakes was a seismic shift in the landscape of alternative rock and feminist expression. Tori Amos, with her virtuosic piano playing and raw, confessional lyrics, crafted a collection of songs that were both deeply personal...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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35:57
