#AlbumQuestJan

Day 31: Wildcard

Maxim Vengerov, Kurt Masur and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig - Bruch and Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos (1993)

I'm no classical music buff, but I've loved this since I first heard it about 25 years ago.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 30: Album you didn't get as a kid that you like now

Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)

I like it more than I did, but it's still a work in progress.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 29: Album recorded in Europe

Kadavar - Berlin (2015)

Recorded at Candy Bomber Studios, Berlin-Tempelhof, Germany.

Sabbath-esque. I've bought this album for many people over the years. Nothing groundbreaking, but good songcraft and hooks aplenty.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 28: Album with a favourite guitarist

Deep Purple - In Rock (1970)

Ritchie Blackmore a true virtuoso. More unpredictable and explosive than his contemporaries, and with a personality to match. His work with Deep Purple is genius.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 27: Album not on Spotify / streaming

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Ragged Glory (1990)

Only because @quizzimodo@twitter.com referred to it other day and I wanted to listen to it and then remembered that Neil had pulled his discography. Had to dig out my physical copy.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 26: First album bought on CD

Tom Waits - Closing Time (1973)

Bought from Virgin Megastore, Norwich in the mid 90s. I doggedly stuck to vinyl until about '98 when finding new releases on vinyl became a near impossibility / expensive relative to CDs.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 25: Album produced by Sam Phillips

Johnny Cash - With His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957)

A genuine landmark debut. What a voice. Imposing from the start.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 24: A 1950s album

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)

Arguably the most influential jazz album of all time, it's that simple.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 23: Local artist album that never made it big

Jacob's Mouse - No Fish Shop Parking (1992)

While they should be judged on their own merits, no British band deserved the moniker "UK Nirvana" more than Jacob's Mouse. They should have been huge.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 22: Album recorded in Africa

Tinariwen - Aman Iman (2007)

Recorded at Bogolan Studios, Bamako, Mali.

Desert rock, quite literally.

Even my "non-world music" loving friends fell in love with this.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 21: Album with a favourite vocalist

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)

The perfect balance between weird shit and crooning troubadour. It's all going on, shanties, folk, blues, country, free-jazz, Latin, and straight rock 'n' roll. A stone cold masterpiece.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 20: Concept album

The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

A nostalgic look back at the fading English pastoral past. Absolute genius songwriting. A masterpiece.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 19: First album bought with own money

Adam and the Ants - Prince Charming (1981)

I wanted to be Adam Ant.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 18: Album produced by Alex Paterson

The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (1991)

Transformative. Visionary. Genre-defining. The production and attention to detail is crazy.

It was either this or Gil Norton for his work on Bossanova by Pixies.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 17: Collaboration or joint project album

Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (1995)

Reads like a who's who of early '90 alternative... Eddie Vedder, Novoselic and Grohl, Lanegan, Stephen Perkins, Flea, Frank Black, J Mascis, Dave Pirner, Evan Dando, Rollins...

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 16: Warm up act album better than the headline act

Clutch - Blast Tyrant (2005)

Clutch supporting CKY at UEA, Norwich, October 2005.

Clutch were touring Blast Tyrant. Need I say more.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 15: Album recorded in Australia or New Zealand

Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining (1990)

Recorded at Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney.

I've been listening to this a lot recently. The perfect follow up to Diesel and Dust.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 14: Album with favourite bassist

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1971)

Geezer Butler is the principal reason I learnt to play bass. I love his smooth style and tone. He's not flash but has a groove all of his own and a wonderful feel for a song.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 13: Electronic / dance album

The Shamen - En-Tact (1990)

Purposefully picking something that I like but didn't use for #15ElectronicLPs. This encapsulates a period where I was largely denying my love for electronic music in favour of guitar-based music.

#AlbumQuestJan

Day 12: Prized album in your collection

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)

This could change on a daily basis, but I guess it's Blues Breakers because it took me so long to find a good original press on vinyl.