Shows / Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie Nix
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
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixPost 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixLove 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixJagged 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixElton 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixBlunderbuss 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 —…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixLocked 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixNorman 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixFolk 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixTea 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixSour 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixCoat 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixLondon 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixWildflowers 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 —…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixWhen 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixThe 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixCatch 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixA 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixWe 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixJaydiohead 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixWaking 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixComing 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixToo-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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixSaint 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixTraveling 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixCuz 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixGold 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixThe 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixWalk 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixNevermind by Nirvana
Nevermind is one of the most influential and culturally significant albums in modern music history. Its impact transcended mere commercial success to…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixCold Fact by Rodriguez
Sixto Rodriguez crafted a collection of songs that merged folk traditions with psychedelic textures, underpinned by razor-sharp social commentary and poetic…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixCouldn't Stand The Weather by Stevie Ray Vaughan
What makes Couldn't Stand The Weather endure is its emotional authenticity. Vaughan played with undeniable technical brilliance, but his virtuosity always…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixMermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg & Wilco
The decision to collaborate on this project was a bold one. Guthrie's lyrics, often steeped in the social and political struggles of mid-20th century America…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixReady To Die by The Notorious B.I.G.
Ready To Die wasn’t just another rap album; it was a cinematic masterpiece — raw, vivid, and deeply personal. Across 17 tracks, Biggie painted a portrait of…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixTransformer by Lou Reed
Transformer arrived when glam rock was ascendant and the rigid gender norms of the past were being questioned and the album didn't just ride this wave; it…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixLost In The Dream by The War On Drugs
The War On Drugs' third album is one of the most significant rock albums of the 21st century. What began as Adam Granduciel's deeply personal project evolved…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixAbbey Road by The Beatles
Released in 1969, Abbey Road is often spoken about as a farewell, though it wasn’t presented that way at the time. What it really represents is a final act of…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixGettin' Down To It by James Brown
Gettin’ Down to It is James Brown proving that he wasn’t just a powerhouse performer — he was a storyteller, a stylist and, above all, a man who could make any…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixAutomatic For The People by REM
What makes Automatic For The People exceptional is its ability to address the most profound human experiences without platitudes or melodrama. The album…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixA New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
Released in 1976, this was the moment Jeff Lynne’s vision snapped into clarity. After years of experimenting with the marriage of rock and classical textures…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixOK 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixAre 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixKing 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixGraceland by Paul Simon
Graceland introduced global sounds to mainstream Western audiences in a way that felt organic rather than exploitative. The conversations about cultural…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixSigh 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixFace 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixThe 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixUs 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixNight 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixBat 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixAll 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixBitches 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixBack To Black by Amy Winehouse
There are many reasons this album endures, but one is very much Winehouse’s voice. It was idiosyncratic in the way that all the truly great voices are…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixBlue 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixNebraska 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixOdelay by Beck
What made Odelay a classic rather than simply an impressive album was the tension at its heart. On the surface, it seemed almost aggressively carefree — a…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixRed 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixHorses 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixElephant by The White Stripes
What made Elephant special was the way it expanded the band’s world without losing their raw simplicity. The record moves easily between blistering rock…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixIntroducing 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…
Classic Albums. Hosted by Stevie NixLemonade by Beyonce
What makes Lemonade a classic rather than simply an important album is that it works on every level and all at once. As a confessional portrait of a marriage…