50 albums that changed music 1 First With The News Edition

• Published in: The Courier-mail
• Main Author: Kitty Empire, James Bennett, Dave Gelly, Lynsey Hanley, Noel Mengel, Sean O'Hagan, Elle J. Small, Neil Spencer
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brisbane, Qld Nationwide News Pty Ltd 30.12.2006
• Subjects: Bowie, David; Dylan, Bob (1941- ); Franklin, Aretha (1942-2018); Hendrix, Jimi; Redding, Otis
• ISSN: 1322-5235

THE King's first album was also the first example of how to cash in on a teenage craze. With Presleymania at full tilt, RCA simultaneously released a single, a four-track EP and an album, all with the same cover of Elvis in full, demented cry. They got their first million-dollar album, the fans got a mix of rock-outs like Blue Suede Shoes, lascivious R&B and syrupy ballads. Without this . . . no King, no rock-roll madness, no Beatles first album, no pop sex symbols. THE best record to come out of punk, or punk's death knell? On this double album, The Clash fused their rockabilly roots with their love of reggae, moving away from the choppy snarls of the scene that birthed them. This was the album that legitimised punk into the rock canon. Its iconic cover, and songs about the Spanish Civil War brought left-wing politics firmly into musical fashion. Without this . . . would the West have come to love reggae, dub and ragga quite so much? We certainly would have no Manic Street Preachers . . . or Green Day, or Rancid . . . or possibly even Lily Allen. WHEN the Bronx-born Queen of Hip Hop Soul catapulted her debut on to a legion of approving listeners, she unwittingly defined a new wave of R&B. Before [Mary J Blige], R&B's roots were still firmly planted in soul and jazz (ie, [Aretha Franklin] and Chaka Khan). The emergence of hip hop and this album from Blige and her mentor and producer Sean Puffy Combs (aka P Diddy) gave birth to a new gritty sound, informed by the singer's harrowing past.