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Today in rock history: on this date in 1996, hip-hop outfit The Fugees released the album that would make it one of the best-known and successful acts in its genre. The Score, the group’s second album, turned out to be its last as well, but its popularity and astronomical sales numbers gained the group a place in hip-hop history. Featuring the sultry vocal styling of singer Lauryn Hill and the hip-hop skills and production prowess of members Wyclef Jean and Pras, the album was a massive hit and rose to the No. 1 spot on both pop and hip-hop albums sales charts. Widely recognized as one of the all-time best and most influential hip-hop albums ever, The Score featured hits “Fu-Gee-La,” “Ready or Not,” a superb cover of “Killing Me Softly” (a song popularized by jazz and soul singer Roberta Flack in the early 1970) as well as the group’s take on “No Woman, No Cry” which was made famous by reggae giant Bob Marley. The Score topped sales charts all around the world, sold over six million copies in the U.S. alone and was awarded with two Grammys.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1970, what’s often referred to as the very first heavy metal album was released. Black Sabbath, the self-titled debut album by the hard rock, Birmingham, England quartet hit record store shelves in England on this date (the record would see an American release in June of the same year). Reaching the top 10 in the band’s native England and scratching the top 20 in the U.S., this historic record was almost unanimously panned by rock critics in both countries. The album’s deep, brooding sound and its dark lyrics instantly caught the attention of hard rock fans and instantly set Sabbath apart from all its contemporaries. The album’s lone single, “Evil Woman,” performed poorly but, nonetheless, the album as a whole piece of work quickly found a faithful audience. Containing Sabbath classics like “The Wizard” and “N.I.B,” the impact of this all-important album is immeasurable and it forever will be regarded as one of the cornerstones of heavy metal music.
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Review: Arcade Fire powers through a graceful Tampa debut at the USF Sun Dome
Today in rock history: on this date in 2011, Canadian-based indie rock band Arcade Fire surprised the world (and itself) when ittook home the prestigious Grammy award in the Album of the Year category for the band’sthird album, The Suburbs. Although the album had debuted at the No. 1 spot on sales charts in America, Canada, Ireland and England, a large amount of music lovers in those regions had no idea who Arcade Fire was. The band was nominated for a total of three statues at the night’s award presentation and lost two of those trophies. However, in a huge upset, the band beat out Eminem, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry for the biggest award of the night. No one was more surprised than band members themselves when they seemed almost dumbfounded when making their acceptance speeches. While an internet meme that read “Who is Arcade Fire?” went viral by social media users who were unfamiliar with the large, ambitious band, Arcade Fire did receive some unexpected praise by outspoken hip-hop artist Kanye West who, soon after the award was presented to the band, tweeted “#Arcade fire!!!!!!!!!! There is hope!!! I feel like we all won when something like this happens! FUCKING AWESOME!” Read our review of the band’s 2017 Tampa set by clicking here.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1961, Henry Rollins was born in Washington D.C. Born Henry Lawrence Garfield, the charismatic and intense vocalist and frontman lead essential punk rock band Black Flag for five years starting in the early 1980s and soon became known as one of the very best and intriguing lead vocalists of his time. Known also as a rock historian, as well as a gifted writer and poet, Rollins formed his own hard rock outfit, simply titled Rollins Band, in the late 1980s and carved out an audience in that genre as well. Serving time as an actor, a spoken word artist, a talk show host and a radio show personality, Rollins has remained vital and significant since his initial emergence as Black Flag’s fierce front man.
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This article appears in Feb 8-15, 2018.
