M Means Music

Released on September 29, 2017, Tell Me You Love Me marks the moment where Demi Lovato finally stepped out from being a pop poppet to being a fully-fledged, mature pop/R&B star.

Few records define an era of grown-up pop music as Come Away With Me by Norah Jones. It appeared as if from nowhere in February 2002 and was suddenly everywhere. Blending contemporary and traditional, standards and covers, delivered in Jones' warm, disarming tones, Come Away With Me was an immediate hit, a balm in the post 9/11 world of hatred and warfare, something real and tangible in an unreal universe, a best kept secret to share. It seemed so unusual yet so familiar. It offered comfort. But what was this sound and who was it made by?

Released on the 14th of June 2010, Cheese was the debut album of Paul Van Haver, known to the world as Stromae. With his good looks, and bow-tie, he cut a different swathe through the world of dance and hiphop.

Released on Valentine's Day 2020, The Slow Rush was Tame Impala's first album in five years, a love letter to the world. That world was about to stumble into the first global pandemic in a century; The Slow Rush acted as a soothing balm.

This week we're discussing Imperial Bedroom, which represents a crossroads for Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Costello's seventh album, and the sixth with The Attractions, it was released in July 1982, and seemed to be the first time in his five year career where not everyone was hanging on his every word.

Season 2 is here! Released in November 1999, 2001 was Dr. Dre's second album, a much-anticipated follow up to 1992's The Chronic.

Dare!, the third album by The Human League and their first with a new line-up, was released in October 1981. Although it became one of the most loved albums of the 80s, it originated out of desperation.

As so often in their career, Queen created their very own moment with their first greatest hits compilation, which was released worldwide in October 1981. Its release was a celebration of the band's first decade together.

October, the second album by U2 was released in October 1981. It remains a curious entry to the U2 catalogue and is relatively unloved, especially when compared to the group's legendary big hitting-stadium-filling albums such as The Joshua Tree or All You Can't Leave Behind.

The Visitors was Abba's eighth studio album, released at the very end of November 1981. It is a complex record of contrasting emotions, which for years had the weighty honour of being the group's final album, a downbeat coda to what had been a scintillating decade of pop.

Dusty In Memphis was Dusty Springfield's fifth studio album, released in the UK in January 1969. It has become one of the most loved albums in popular music, let alone in her career. But like many great albums, its tale is one of many twists and turns.

This is a very special holiday annual edition of M Means Music, to celebrate the release of Norah Jones' first-ever Christmas album, I Dream Of Christmas, released on Blue Note.

Released in May 1980, diana by Diana Ross was the most successful album of her storied solo career. It reasserted her unassailable superiority as, to quote Billboard's line from 1976, The Female Entertainer of the Century.

This week, we're talking about an album that defined the 90s for many, and brought an underground scene to the widest possible audience. Nevermind by Nirvana was released in September 1991 and was to change the cultural landscape of the next few years for alternative rock.

Spice, the Spice Girls' debut album, opens exactly like the way the group burst into the public eye - all stomping feet and laughter!

Pure Heroine was one of the most influential albums of the 2010s. Released in November 2013, Lorde's debut album got into the US & UK's Top 5 and topped the charts in New Zealand & Australia.

Who's Next by The Who is one of those albums that routinely inhabit All Time Best Lists. It was much anticipated on its release in August 1971, it was the first brand new long form material from The Who since their ground-breaking double album, Tommy which had been released in May 1969.

This time we are looking at Mary J. Blige's No More Drama, her fifth album, released in August 2001. Called by Billboard as the “queen of hip-hop soul,” Mary J Blige had been a star for the best part of a decade by the time she recorded No More Drama.

This time, we are looking at Halsey's debut album BADLANDS, which was released in August 2015.

This time we are looking at Metallica by Metallica, commonly known as The Black Album, which was released in August 1991.

This time we are talking about Amy Winehouse's second album Back To Black, which was released in October 2006. Amy Winehouse burnt briefly and brightly in world popular music.

This time we are talking about Billie Eilish's debut-full length album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? released in March 2019

We're diving into what is commonly regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time and a landmark recording - it's Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

This time, we're going to be talking about the pop icon Grace Jones and her fifth studio album Nightclubbing.

This time, we're going to be talking about Colour By Numbers, the second studio album by Culture Club.

This time, we're going to be talking about Loose, the third studio album by Canadian superstar Nelly Furtado, released in June 2006.