Classic Albums

Phil's first solo album, which launched his career outside of Genesis, is examined here. Engineer Hugh Padgham peels the layers of sound back, and Phil explains how the lyrics to many of the songs wrote themselves, as he was going through a bitter divorce. Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Darrell Stuermer are on hand, and many of the studio musicians who contributed are seen as they describe working with Phil.

In 1977, Marvin Lee Aday, aka Meat Loaf, shocked the music world by releasing this 30 million-selling blockbuster. Previously little-known as an actor and singer , he hooked up with writer Jim Steinman, producer Todd Rundgren, and vocalists Ellen Foley and Carla Devito, to create one of the top five sellers of all time. Kasim Sultan and Max Weinberg, who also played on the album are heard from, and Todd isolates some of the masters to show how the sounds were created.

Producer Chris Blackwell is the main focus of this episode, as he recounts bringing in some top American session men to the studio, in an attempt to break Bob Marley to the US audiences. Wailer Peter Tosh, and instrumentalists Wayne Perkins and Rabbit Bundrick are interviewed, and we see some rare clips of Bob himself.

'Joshua Tree' elevated U2 to superstar status internationally, and confirmed their position as one of rock's most influential and powerful forces. Here we examine the making of the album, with the four group members, along with producers Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite, and Daniel Lanois. Elvis Costello is also on hand to lend friendly comments.

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker delve into the master tapes to discuss the year-long effort that went into this, their biggest album. Well known as perfectionists in the studio, this labor of love is dissected layer by layer. Producer Gary Katz and engineer Roger Nichols help explain the craft and detail that the Dan, along with Michael McDonald and some other session players, spent on the Grammy-winning jazz-rock classic.

This edition looks at the making of the 1973 Wailers album, Catch a Fire, the album that brought international recognition to Bob Marley. Already big names in their native Jamaica, it took until this release for Marley and Co to finally go global. It features interviews with key musicians and engineers who helped make the album, as well as record label boss Chris Blackwell, who talks about how the band had song-writing and performing skills in abundance but needed to be put through the equivalent of a "rock blender" to make them palatable to a wider audience. Through first-hand accounts, this programme tells how they did just that. The programme takes a track-by-track look at the making of the record. In London, the producer Chris Blackwell and original engineer Tony Platt lead viewers through the original multi-tracks of Slave Driver, Concrete Jungle, Stir it Up, Rock It Baby and others. Rabbit Brundrick (keyboards) and Wayne Perkins (electric guitar) tell how they were brought back in to add the rock and roll parts to the songs. It is illustrated with archive footage from the Wailers in concert, early interviews with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, plus television performances and rare home movies - all of which provide a unique insight into the process behind the recording of this landmark album.