A series celebrating the classic albums that many of us have tucked away on vinyl at the back of a wardrobe. We say get them out, dust them off and give them a spin!
This series will remind you why you really, really should. Like cornflakes, you may have forgotten how good they are...

Queen - A Night at the Opera
If ever there was an album worthy of inclusion in the Classic Albums series it is Queen’s breakout release A Night At The Opera. Released in 1975, this was not only the band’s first platinum album, but also the one that catapulted them into the spotlight as one of the biggest rock acts in the world.

Motörhead - Ace of Spades
In 1980, Motorhead released their fourth album Ace Of Spades. Loud, fast and overwhelmingly heavy, Ace of Spades would propel Motorhead into the ranks of Heavy Metal's elite and 25 years later is still considered a benchmark album in its genre. Ace Of Spades sees Lemmy, "Fast" Eddie Clarke and Philip "Philthy Animal" Taylor talk candidly about the writing and recording of the album and the goings on inside the MOTORHEAD camp at the time.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" Classic Album is the creative story behind the masterpiece: "Dark Side Of The Moon". "Dark Side Of The Moon" transformed Pink Floyd from art house favorites to global, stadium superstars. With the timeless qualities of its production and musicality, allied to the hypnotic evocation of its central themes - alienation, paranoia, madness, war and death, "Dark Side Of The Moon" would become the album that would dominate the 70's and 80's (with a record number of 741 consecutive weeks in the Billboard 200).

U2 - Joshua Tree
Originally released in 1987, 'The Joshua Tree' is considered by many to be the seminal album from U2, one of the biggest bands in music history. Bono's powerful lyrics are cemented by the virtouoso guitar playing of The Edge throughout the album, which never seems to sound out of fashion.

Phil Collins - Face Value
Here we explore the album's making in a one-hour documentary film, with Collins himself providing the bulk of the insightful commentary. From his home studio, he discusses how the lyrics to "In the Air Tonight" wrote themselves after his painful divorce and why a drummer would never use a drum machine.

The Who - Who's Next
The songs and story of the Who's classic album. Who's Next is viewed by many as the greatest testament to the songwriting talent of Pete Townshend and the musical power of the Who. When the album was released in 1971, it climbed to the Top 5 on the Billboard chart and remained in the Top 40 for five months. The story of how the Who came to record the album is told by group members Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle, together with contributions by those who were close to the group during this recording, also providing insight into the importance of the late great Keith Moon to the success of the Who.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
One of the most popular albums of all times, Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album Rumours spent 130 weeks on the U.S. Billboard album chart and won the Album of the Year award at the 1978 Grammy Awards. It has been certified for sales of 19 million albums by the RIAA. But the record almost wasn't made. John and Christine McVie were in the process of seperating, the relationship of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks was on the fritz, and the turmoil between the five members was high.

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks
The definitive story behind one of the classic albums from the British punk era. See surviving band members talk about how it all came together, along with classic tracks like "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the UK."

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Catch a Fire
The songs and story of Bob Marley's reggae music masterpiece. The Wailers, featuring the legendary Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, became the most influential band in the history of reggae music. Catch a Fire, their first Island album, released in 1973, introduced them to an international rock audience. Here the principal figures in the creation of Catch a Fire tell the story of how this record was designed to "cross over."

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
The story of Jimi Hendrix's epochal 1968 double album is told in words, music, and rare archival footage. Hendrix's most experimental album, Electric Ladyland features the legendary guitarist using the studio itself as a major instrument to enhance his already adventurous sound. Unfortunately, this sprawling masterpiece would be Hendrix's final studio album before his untimely death in 1970.

Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell
Since its release in 1977, Bat Out of Hell has gone on to sell an estimated 30 million copies and become one of the top five biggest selling albums of all time. Released during the days of the disco boom and the advent of punk rock, Bat Out of Hell totally bucked those musical trends, yet as Meat Loaf recalls, the record is "more honest than 99% of all records released."

Band - Band
Comprised of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson, The Band's self-titled sophomore effort spent 24 weeks in the Billboard Top 40. The album was released at a time when the US album charts were taken over by the psychedelic rock movement, and despite this, the album had the aforementioned chart success and would go on to sell over one million copies.

Elton John  - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road gave Elton John his second number one album in both the American and British charts and provided him with four top ten singles. Interviews with Elton John himself, as well as with songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, there are contributions from musicians Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson, Gus Dudgeon (producer), David Hentschel (engineer), Del Newman (orchestral arranger) along with comments from Sir Tim Rice and Paul Gambaccini amongst others.

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
The making of Stevie Wonder's seminal 1976 album is detailed in this Classic Album documentary featuring interviews with Motown founder Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and others. Includes a reunion of original album players highlighted by renditions of Sir Duke and I Wish.

Metallica - Metallica
The story of the making of this remarkable album is told here via exclusive interviews with band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted, archive footage and performance, and contributions from producer Bob Rock. We revisit the original multi-tracks of the album, as well as listen to previously unheard demo recordings.

Nirvana - Nevermind
There possibly isn't an album in history that is as genre defining as NIRVANA's "Nevermind." Released in 1991, it single-handedly was responsible for the birth of what became to be known as grunge and has gone on to sell over 8 million copies in the US alone. "Nevermind" was the second album from the Seattle trio and the first on the DGC label (it's predecessor "Bleach" was released on the Sub Pop label). It was produced by Butch Vig (also the drummer for the band Garbage) and mixed by Andy Wallace. Nirvana's surviving members Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums) talk candidly about their past, the recording of Nevermind and about Kurt Cobain and the legacy that he has left behind.

Steely Dan - AJA
A vivid portrait of a '70s record that is still as fresh and memorable today as when it was released more than two decades ago. Pioneering pop/jazz band Steely Dan, formed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in the early seventies, had already secured five Top 40 albums before the release of Aja in 1977. Aja, however, was to prove to be the biggest selling album of Steely Dan's illustrious career, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard chart and spending a year in the Top 40. Becker and Fagen, renowned for their relentless perfectionism in the recording studio, recall the history of an album that was a year in the making, but rewarded with a Grammy Award and three hit singles.

Def Leppard - Hysteria
British rock band Def Leppard are one of the most successful hard rock bands of all time. The band, whose career was plagued by death and tragedy, released their most successful record, HYSTERIA, in 1987. A worldwide phenomenon, the recordsold more than 17 million copies and elevated the band to notoriety. On this installment of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series, the surviving members of the band discuss the making of the record, as they sort through and explain the original multi track tapes.

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast was Iron Maiden's greatest achievement, and, accordingly it brought them their greatest popularity and notoriety. Revered by metal fans for their focus on music and reviled by critics for their supposed "satanist" leanings, this record represents the seminal British metal band at their peak.

Lou Reed - Transformer
Lou Reed with the help of Andy Warhol at the 'Factory', made The Velvet Underground a massively influential band. However it was Transformer, Lou Reed's second solo album, which took him from cult hero of The Velvet Underground to international superstar status. The program takes a track-by-track look at the album, which was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. In an exclusive interview in New York, Lou Reed talks of the making of the album and together with Ken Scott, the original engineer, takes us through the multi-track tapes of "Perfect Day" "Vicious", "Satellite Of Love" and "Walk On The Wild Side" amongst others.

Paul Simon - Graceland
The story of Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album, Graceland. Recorded in New York and South Africa, Graceland not only sold 14 million copies, but it was also named Album of the Year at the 1986 Grammy Awards. It brought the sound of South African music to audiences around the world. This acclaimed film shows how a career setback for Paul Simon precipitated the inspiration for Graceland, how he learned so much from the South African musicians he met, and how, in collaboration, a triumphant album was created.

Grateful Dead - Anthem to Beauty
One of the most successful live touring bands in the world, Grateful Dead's longevity is founded on their desire to play music their way, coupled with an extraordinarily close relationship to their huge following. From Anthem to Beauty tells the story of the band and their journey from the experimental "Anthem of the Sun" (recorded in 1967/1968) to the accessible, countryish "American Beauty." It is told in the band's own words and includes a rare interview with lyricist Robert Hunter.

Judas Priest - British Steel
Had Judas Priest released just this one album, it would still go down in history. Judas Priest was one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the 70's. The welding of British Steel is told in this exclusive program in the band's own words, and by their once long-term producer Tom Allom. Featuring archive footage, interviews and rare live performances, plus all of British Steel's finest songs, including "Living After Midnight", "Breaking the Law", "Metal Gods", "The Rage", "United" and "Grinder".

John Lennon
A fascinating look at the making of John Lennon's debut solo album, Plastic Ono Band, which saw the former Beatle dealing with issues such as abandonment, class, love and God.

Frank Zappa - Over-nite Sensation and Apostrophe (!)
Frank Zappa is an American composer and musician of such breadth and prolific output - 60 albums - that fans differ constantly about the contenders for his Classic Album. What is agreed is that over 30 years of work, Zappa’s records embraced Rock, Jazz, Funk, Blues, Doo Wop, and Classical influences and lyrically most were tinged with sufficient degrees of humour, satire and wry political observation and exuded excellent musicianship and faultless production. The two albums which encapsulate this cornucopia of musicality perfectly are Over-nite Sensation (1973) and Apostrophe(!) (1974).

The Doors: The Doors
If the Doors had only recorded their debut album they would still have been assured a place in rock and roll history. Released during 1967 the album still sounds as fresh and exciting today. A mix of blues, rock and jazz, together with the voice and lyrics of Jim Morrison made the album probably one of the greatest debut albums of all time.

Classic Albums: Jay Z
The street hustler turned rap star and hip-hop mogul discusses his first album Reasonable Doubt, which featured Ain’t No Nigga and Feelin’ It, and the meaning behind its edgy lyrics.

Duran Duran - Rio: Classic Albums
A detailed look at the English new wave band's second album, which propelled them to stardom against a troubled backdrop of riots, record unemployment figures and the Falklands War.