STACK #219 January 2023

MUSIC FEATURE

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CHART Vinyl

album. Jackson personally penned four of these: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ , The Girl Is Mine (the duet with Paul McCartney), Billie Jean , and Beat It . Thriller catered to a broad demographic and was forged through a canny composite of pop, disco, soul, funk, and rock and it was no accident that seven of the nine tracks were released as successful singles. Today, it’s difficult to appreciate Thriller ’s seismic influence not only on popular culture, but also on rewriting record industry rules and revolutionising the music video business. The album would go on to rack up an enviable list of honours, and Jackson, through resolute ambition, was crowned the King of Pop. Thriller remains a zenith unsurpassed, not only in the artist’s career, but also in the history of popular music. It’s a vinyl necessity for every collection. This unique 40th anniversary edition features an alternative sleeve image selected from Dick Zimmerman’s original promotional shots, lyrics, and the story behind the concept of the seven singles released spread across the gatefold. TOP TRACK: Billie Jean FAST FACT: The white Hugo Boss suit Michael Jackson is wearing on the cover belonged to photographer Dick Zimmerman. Jackson took a liking to it while deciding what to wear for the shoot, so Zimmerman took it off, and it fitted like a glove. Each month we hand-pick a collection of reissues, limited editions or just straight classic long-players that deserve a place in any record collection. Words Zoë Radas

1. TAYLOR SWIFT Midnights 2. HARRY STYLES Harry’s House 3. ARCTIC MONKEYS AM 4. QUEEN Greatest Hits 5. NIRVANA Nevermind 6. FLEETWOOD MAC Rumours 7. LANA DEL REY Born to Die 8. PINK FLOYD The Dark Side of the Moon 9. FLEETWOOD MAC Greatest Hits 10. FOO FIGHTERS

MICHAEL JACKSON THRILLER 40 (1982) It’s 1982. A 24-year-old Michael Jackson, vehemently focused on becoming the most successful artist of all time, wanted to make an album on which ”every song is a killer.” In Jackson’s opinion, his previous record, Off the Wall , had been underappreciated. That album had been a staging point for his evolutionary transition away from the Jackson 5 mawkish persona, and he was ready to make a statement with the follow up. Enlisting producer Quincy Jones once again, the pair pulled together close to 30 tracks, from which nine were selected for the

The Essential Foo Fighters

MUMFORD AND SONS BABEL (2012) 10TH ANNIVERSARY CREAM VINYL, 2022

THE CLOUDS PENNY CENTURY (1991) 30TH ANNIVERSARY BLUE VINYL, 2022

Back in the halcyon days of 2009, people who’d never identified a bluegrass bone in their body were alarmed to find themselves weeping along with the breathless banjo of Hottest 100 victor Little Lion Man . Three years and a string of awards later, Mumford & Sons nailed ‘flash-in the-pan’ accusations to a Frisbee and flung them over a rainbow with their follow-up album Babel . Nominated for 'Album of the Year' at both the

When Jodi Phillis was just 23, she packed in an eight year stint designing for notoriously cool surfwear brand Mambo to form Sydney indie-grunge act The Clouds. Two years later, on the band’s ARIA-Gold debut Penny

BRITs and the Grammys – and it won the latter – Babel has been re-pressed on gorgeous cream vinyl for its tenth anniversary. Side one presents the singles, including the yearning I Will Wait , the gist of which hits even more hopelessly lovestruck when you learn the story of lead vocalist Marcus Mumford and his wife, actress Carey Mulligan, who were married in the year Babel was released. (Short version: the two became penpals when they were 12 via their respective church youth groups, met up as adults, and got engaged five months later). On the same side we get heart-stompers Whispers in the Dark and Holland Road , and of course the soaring title track. Side two gives us the harmony-laden Lover’s Eyes , along with the rush of Hopeless Wanderer and galloping closer Not with Haste . Inescapably romantic and life affirming, Babel doesn’t care if you think you “don’t like country” – ‘cos on some level, you definitely do like Mumford & Sons. TOP TRACK: Holland Road FAST FACT: Babel fought off records by Muse, The Killers, and Green Day to become the fastest- and best selling album of 2012 in the UK. Mumford & Sons bassist-vocalist Ted Dwane said at the time, “If you told me in the ’90s that I’d be in a chart battle with Green Day, I probably would have just laughed at you.”

Century , Phillis’s femme-rock vocal instantly evoked contemporaries like Lucia Cifarelli, and Liz Phair. But the harmonic union of Phillis and bassist-vocalist Trish Young offered a fresh aerial magic, both bright and dangerous, quickly elevating tracks like Heironymus and Anthem to radio staple faves. On re-pressed vinyl, Penny Century ’s incisive guitars, pithy drums, and sinister-serene melodies evoke all the excitement of the era – you’ll be digging out your Drazic posters in one minute flat. TOP TRACK: Fear the Moon FAST FACT: Magic Dirt frontwoman Adalita is a dyed-in-the-wool Clouds fan. In 2017 she told Triple J of Penny Century’s lead single Hieronymus : “It's just such a classic song, so beautifully crafted, and so original and unique. I still listen to it today! One of my all-time favourite songs ever.”

32 JANUARY 2023

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