''Classic Albums'' is a British documentary series about pop, rock and heavy metal albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

Format

The TV series was made by Isis Productions and distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment. It is shown on various broadcasters including

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, ITV, Sky Arts, VH1 and VH1 Classic. They are also available on DVD. The show is similar in structure to VH1's short-lived 2001 series Ultimate Albums. The music, and its production, is dissected by the musicians and/or producer playing the

multitrack recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive who ...

s and singling out tracks that one does not usually consciously hear when listening to the music, giving insight into the way the sound is built up. Also, the individual musicians play back pieces, which are then blended with the original recording. Almost all songs are dealt with, focusing almost entirely on the music itself, how it was composed/realised. Personal aspects of the band or members are occasionally dealt with, but mostly only if they serve this purpose. TV episodes are 50 minutes long but the DVD releases contain much additional material. All the releases in this series are done with the co-operation and full authorisation of the artists involved. The series producers are Nick de Grunwald and Martin R Smith. Various directors have been used for the series but the majority of the programmes have been directed by Bob Smeaton, Matthew Longfellow and Jeremy Marre.

History

The first hour-long series, produced independently by Pidgeon and Scott, opened with Dire Straits' '' Brothers in Arms'' in May 1989, followed by The Rolling Stones' '' Beggars Banquet'', Genesis' '' Invisible Touch'', Pink Floyd's '' The Dark Side of the Moon'', The Who's '' Who's Next'', Fleetwood Mac's '' Rumours'', the Beach Boys' ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...

'', The Police's '' Synchronicity'', Eagles' '' Hotel California'' and U2's '' The Joshua Tree''. Scott died of cancer five months later, and the second series aired posthumously. Further programmes were presented by Richard Skinner. The first episode of ''Classic Albums'' was actually a documentary called "The Making of Sgt. Pepper". This documentary focused on The Beatles' landmark album and was produced in much the same way as the ''Classic Albums'' series. Isis Productions and Nick de Grunwald helped co-produce this documentary and it helped lay the template for the ''Classic Albums'' series. It aired in 1992 both on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

in the United States and ITV's '' The South Bank Show'' in the UK.

Episodes

Most episodes focus on one particular album in a band's catalog. The three exceptions have been the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

, Rush, and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

, each of whom had a pair of albums featured in a single episode.

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

and

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

were each featured in three episodes, and

in two – first as a solo artist, and later as a member of The Mothers of Invention. The albums that have been covered are:

Dutch episodes

In the Netherlands, special episodes were produced exploring landmark Dutch albums. There were two series produced for two different channels. The first ran in 1997 on the channel NCRV, in between episodes from the BBC series. These were never released on DVD. * Q65 - ''Revolution'' (1966) * Boudewijn de Groot - ''Voor de overlevenden'' (1966) *

Cuby + Blizzards Cuby + Blizzards, also known as Cuby & the Blizzards, were a Netherlands, Dutch blues rock group, founded in 1964 by vocalist Harry Muskee and guitarist Eelco Gelling.Larkin C ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p 137 D ...

- ''Groeten uit Grollo'' (1967) * The Outsiders - ''Outsiders'' (1967) * Focus - '' Focus II'' (''Moving Waves'') (1971) * Kayak - '' Royal Bed Bouncer'' (1975) The second ran in 2011-2012 on the channel VPRO.http://zoeken.beeldengeluid.nl/internet/index.aspx?contentid=6&chapterid=1164&filterid=974&searchID=3488645&columnorderid=-1&orderby=1&itemsOnPage=10&defsortcol=12&defsortby=2&pvname=personen&pis=expressies;selecties&startrow=1#pageCounter *

Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in The Hague in 1967. They were part of the Nederbeat movement in the Netherlands. The band had a string of hit songs during the Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture movement of the 1960s and e ...

- '' At Home'' (1969) including "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

" (1969) * Herman Brood - '' Shpritsz'' (1978) * De Dijk - ''Niemand in de Stad'' (1989) * Bettie Serveert - '' Palomine'' (1992) * Caro Emerald - '' Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor'' (2010)

References

External links

IMDb ''Classic Albums'' listing episode listing
of John Pidgeon {{authority control 1997 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 1980s British music television series 1990s British music television series 2000s British music television series 2010s British music television series 2020s British music television series 1990s British documentary television series Documentary television series about music BBC television documentaries VH1 music shows British English-language television shows 2000s British documentary television series 2010s British documentary television series