I'm not sure how popular these were (looks like at least some ended up on VH1), but the BBC documentary series Classic Albums is on Netflix. Not the most exploratory, so if you're already well familiar with the backstory of each album they may be of limited use, but for everyone else they're definitely worth a try.

Saw Rumours last week.

Just finished The Band...

[media=]

Edited May 28, 201214 yr by blessingx

If you're familiar with music production, and are a fan of Alan Parsons, the Dark Side of the Moon one is fun. If for no other reason than to hear what something simple like flanging does to the girly vocals, and to hear some of the tracks soloed (like the aforementioned flanged girly vocals). Or Rick Wright's take on chord voicing in Breathe.

The Aja one is good too, just for the rejected guitar solos in Peg.

Thanks Dusty. Will check them out.

Watched Goodbye Yellow Brick Road this morning.

Not sure if all episodes are on Netflix (depending on your device the search results are limited), but here's a breakdown from Wikipedia...

The albums that have been covered are:^[3]

• The Band - The Band (1969)
  
• Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
  
• Phil Collins - Face Value (1981)
  
• Cream - Disraeli Gears (1967)
  
• Deep Purple - Machine Head (see Classic Albums: Deep Purple - The Making of Machine Head) (1972)
  
• Def Leppard - Hysteria (1987)
  
• The Doors - The Doors (1967)
  
• Duran Duran - Rio (1982)
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)
  
• Peter Gabriel - So (1986)
  
• Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun and American Beauty (see Anthem to Beauty) (1968/1970)
  
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland (1968)
  
• Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (see Classic Albums: Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast) (1982)
  
• Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (Album) (1996)
  
• Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
  
• Judas Priest - British Steel (1980)
  
• John Lennon/The Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
  
• Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)
  
• Metallica - Metallica ("The Black Album") (see Classic Albums: Metallica - Metallica) (1991)
  
• Motörhead - Ace of Spades (1980)
  
• Nirvana - Nevermind (see Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind) (1991)
  
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes (1979)
  
• Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon, (see Classic Albums: Pink Floyd - The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon) (1973)
  
• Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)
  
• Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)
  
• Queen - A Night at the Opera (1975)
  
• Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)
  
• Rush - 2112 and Moving Pictures (1976/1981)
  
• Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks (1977)
  
• Paul Simon - Graceland (1986)
  
• Simply Red - Stars (1991)
  
• Steely Dan - Aja (1977)
  
• U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
  
• The Wailers - Catch a Fire (1973)
  
• The Who - Who's Next (1971)
  
• Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
  
• Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') / Over-Nite Sensation (1974/1973)
  

Edited May 28, 201214 yr by blessingx

Thanks for sharing, looks interesting. I have no time to check them all, but I'll try to watch the DSOTM one soon.

+1 to this thread. Classic Albums is a great series and I've enjoyed watching most of the episodes.

That being said, there are some episodes that are a cut above the rest as far as quality goes. I thought the Bob Marley, Paul Simon, and Nirvana episodes were all excellent and standouts of the 15 or so episodes I've seen.

IMO some artists are just more articulate when it comes to talking about their music than others. An intelligent guy like Paul Simon is able to tell a compelling story about his singing, songwriting and composition and it makes for very entertaining and educational viewing.