This series looks at the writing and recording of some of the greatest albums of our era. Musicians, producers, and engineers are interviewed in the studio, and the master tapes are played, sometimes isolating particular channels, to highlight certain instrumental sounds or voices. Many of the musicians play live along with the tracks, demonstrating how they played the parts. In some cases, group members are reuniting after considerable time as they reminisce together. This is usually interspersed with some vintage clips and photos of concert performances. The BBC co-produced series began in 1997 with Ringo Starr as narrator. Later episodes have no narrator. The first seven episodes were licensed to VH1 in the US, then periodically more were released. Some have been shown on the BBC network, ITV, Sky Arts, VH1, A&E, PBS, and Biography Channel. One or two were repackaged by VH1 as 'Ultimate Albums'.
Rating: 8.40/10 (avg out of 316 votes)
Classic Albums Airs: Friday
Classic Albums Status: Break
Returns: Unknown
CLASSIC ALBUMS - General Information
Series Premiere: April 14, 1997 Classification: Documentary Genre: Action | Documentary | Music Network: Sky Arts Airs: Friday at 09:00 pm Runtime: 60 Minutes
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 1 -- 7 Episodes
1x1 -- Apr 14, 1997 -- Paul Simon: Graceland 1x2 -- Apr 15, 1997 -- Grateful Dead: American Beauty 1x3 -- Apr 16, 1997 -- Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life 1x4 -- Apr 17, 1997 -- The Band: The Band 1x5 -- Apr 18, 1997 -- The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland 1x6 -- Jul 22, 1997 -- Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 1x14 -- TBA
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 2 -- 5 Episodes
2x1 -- Oct 26, 1999 -- U2: The Joshua Tree 2x2 -- Nov 02, 1999 -- Phil Collins: Face Value 2x3 -- Nov 09, 1999 -- Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell 2x4 -- Dec 01, 1999 -- Bob Marley & The Wailers: Catch a Fire 2x5 -- Feb 03, 2000 -- Steely Dan: Aja
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 3 -- 6 Episodes
3x1 -- Nov 01, 2001 -- Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast 3x2 -- Nov 06, 2001 -- Elton John: Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road 3x3 -- Nov 12, 2001 -- Metallica: Metallica (Black Album) 3x4 -- Nov 26, 2001 -- Lou Reed: Transformer 3x5 -- Dec 03, 2001 -- Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley 3x6 -- Dec 10, 2001 -- Judas Priest: British Steel
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 4 -- 3 Episodes
4x1 -- Oct 26, 2002 -- The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks 4x2 -- Nov 27, 2002 -- Deep Purple: Machine Head 4x3 -- Jan 06, 2003 -- Def Leppard: Hysteria
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 5 -- 3 Episodes
5x1 -- Dec 29, 2004 -- Motorhead: Ace of Spades 5x2 -- Dec 30, 2004 -- Simply Red: Stars 5x3 -- Jan 15, 2005 -- Nirvana: Nevermind
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 6 -- 4 Episodes
6x1 -- May 17, 2006 -- Queen: A Night at the Opera 6x2 -- Oct 05, 2006 -- Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon 6x3 -- Oct 19, 2006 -- The Who: Who's Next 6x4 -- Nov 06, 2006 -- Cream: Disraeli Gears
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 7 -- 2 Episodes
7x1 -- May 01, 2007 -- Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention: Over-Nite Sensation / Apostrophe 7x2 -- Oct 03, 2007 -- Jay Z: Reasonable Doubt
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 8 -- 3 Episodes
8x1 -- Apr 14, 2008 -- The Doors: The Doors 8x2 -- Jun 24, 2008 -- John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band 8x3 -- Oct 27, 2008 -- Duran Duran: Rio
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 9 -- 5 Episodes
9x1 -- Oct 29, 2010 -- Black Sabbath: Paranoid 9x2 -- Nov 17, 2010 -- The Rolling Stones: Beggar's Banquet 9x3 -- Nov 19, 2010 -- The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds 9x4 -- Jan 07, 2011 -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes 9x5 -- May 06, 2011 -- Rush: 2112 and Moving Pictures
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 10 -- 8 Episodes
10x1 -- May 06, 2011 -- Primal Scream: Screamadelica 10x2 -- Mar 23, 2012 -- Peter Gabriel: So 10x3 -- Nov 19, 2013 -- The Who: Tommy 10x4 -- May 05, 2017 -- Carly Simon: No Secrets 10x5 -- Dec 08, 2017 -- Don McLean: American Pie 10x6 -- Sep 14, 2018 -- Amy Winehouse: Back to Black 10x7 -- Jul 12, 2019 -- The Crickets: The 'Chirping' Crickets 10x8 -- Feb 14, 2020 -- Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 11 -- 3 Episodes
11x1 -- Sep 14, 2018 -- Amy Winehouse: Back to Black 11x2 -- Jul 12, 2019 -- The Crickets: The 'Chirping' Crickets 11x3 -- Feb 14, 2020 -- Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
CLASSIC ALBUMS - Season 12 -- 6 Episodes
12x1 -- Apr 23, 2021 -- The Who: The Who Sell Out 12x2 -- Apr 30, 2021 -- Soul II Soul: Club Classics Vol. 1 12x3 -- May 07, 2021 -- Suede: Coming Up 12x4 -- Sep 24, 2021 -- Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man 12x5 -- Oct 01, 2021 -- The Doors: Morrison Hotel 12x6 -- Oct 08, 2021 -- Frank Zappa: Freak Out!
