Diver Down is the fifth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on April 19, 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the album chart in the United States and had, by 1998, sold four million copies in the United States.
Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
The Black Ark was the recording studio of reggae and dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, built in 1973 and located behind his family's home in the Washington Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica. Despite the rudimentary set-up and dated equipment, it was nonetheless the breeding ground for some of Jamaica's most innovative sounds and recording techniques in the latter half of the 1970s.
9 is the seventh studio album by Public Image Ltd, but their ninth full-length release including the live albums Paris au Printemps and Live in Tokyo. It was released in May 1989 on the Virgin Records label.
Soundtracks for the Blind is the tenth studio album by Swans. It was released as a double CD on October 22, 1996, through Young God Records. Soundtracks for the Blind was intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a "soundtrack for a non-existent film." It was the last studio album released by the band until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky. A reissue of the album was released on July 20, 2018, marking the first time Soundtracks for the Blind was released on vinyl.
"Who Shot Ya?" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., also called Biggie Smalls, backed by Sean Combs as the "hype man". Puffy's emerging record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, released it on February 21, 1995, on an alternate reissue of Biggie's single "Big Poppa/Warning," out since December 5, 1994. While this 1994 release climbed the Billboard Hot 100, its new B side "Who Shot Ya"—now Biggie's "most infamous classic," with an instrumental now iconic—revised some vocals of a "Who Shot Ya" track, rapped by Biggie and Keith Murray, already issued on a mixtape from a Harlem DJ earlier in 1995. Recalled as "menacing magic" that helps "define New York rap," "Who Shot Ya" was "controversial and hugely influential." Widely interpreted as a taunt at 2Pac, the single provoked a "rap battle" between the two rappers, formerly friends.
"I Shot Ya" is a song by American rapper LL Cool J featuring Keith Murray, from his sixth album Mr. Smith. The remix version, which featured Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Fat Joe, and Foxy Brown, of the song was released as a B-side to "Hey Lover", but received a video directed by Hype Williams, leading some to believe the track was an actual single from the album. Produced by Trackmasters, the remix was released in 1995 for Def Jam Recordings, and peaked at number 55 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the Billboard charts.
"King of Pain" is a song by English rock band the Police, released as the second single from their fifth and final studio album Synchronicity (1983). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a post-separation song from his wife, "King of Pain" conjures up symbols of pain and relates them to a man's soul. A&M Records released "King of Pain" as the album's fourth single in the UK, while in many other countries it was released as the second single.
Songs to Remember is the debut studio album by the British pop band Scritti Politti. The album's recording had to be delayed for nine months due to frontman Green Gartside's collapse and illness, and then after completion its release was delayed for a further year at the band's request. It was eventually released on 3 September 1982 by Rough Trade Records, peaking at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was heavily influenced by disco, reggae, and soul music, and marked the beginning of Scritti Politti's move from their underground DIY post-punk sound towards commercial pop music.
Joshua Michael Tillman, better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Tillman is known for his satirical lyricism and eccentric performance style.
Black Gives Way to Blue is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on September 29, 2009, on the 17th anniversary of the release of their second album, Dirt. It is their first record without original lead singer Layne Staley, who died in 2002, and their first album with new vocalist and rhythm guitarist William DuVall sharing vocal duties with lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who sings lead vocals on most of the songs. The title track is a tribute to Staley featuring Elton John on piano. This is the first Alice in Chains album released on Virgin Records and their first venture away from Columbia, who handled all of their previous releases. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the RIAA on May 26, 2010, with shipments exceeding 500,000 copies in the U.S. and over 1 million copies sold worldwide. "Check My Brain" and "A Looking in View" were both nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Black Gives Way to Blue won Revolver magazine's Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year in 2010.
Vacilando Territory Blues is J. Tillman's sixth album. It was released via the Western Vinyl label. The label writes: "Vacilando Territory Blues, came as the result of three different recording attempts in 2008, in which entire sessions were scrapped, and ultimately the majority of the final material would surface and be recorded days before mastering. The push and pull of this record veers sharply from the tone of Tillman's previous releases, which for the most part, adhere to a singular mood and stylistic execution. The tension dynamically between songs like "Firstborn" and "New Imperial Grand Blues" is hard to reconcile, but the way the songs are framed herein belies a cohesion not dissimilar to classic oddball albums such as After the Gold Rush."
Time Remembered is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Chuck Israels and Larry Bunker partially recorded at the Shelly Manne's club in Hollywood, California in May 1963, but not released until 1983 on the Milestone label as a 16-track double LP. It would be later reissued on CD in 1999, with only 13 tracks. The trio performances were recorded at the same sessions that produced At Shelly's Manne-Hole (1963) and were first released on Bill Evans: The Complete Riverside Recordings (1984). The four solo performances were recorded in a separate session in April 1962 in New York City. "Some Other Time" was recorded in December 1958, in New York City.
What Separates Me from You is the fourth studio album by American rock band A Day to Remember, and their third and final for Victory Records. Originally planned for release in late-October 2010, the album was delayed by a few weeks until mid-November. What Separates Me from You was released on November 15, 2010, in the UK, and on November 16 in the US. The album, which was recorded mainly at The Wade Studios in Ocala, Florida, from May to July 2010, was the first to feature guitarist Kevin Skaff. The album was produced mostly by Chad Gilbert, with help from Andrew Wade and the band's vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon. "All I Want" was released as the first single. It reached number 12 on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart and number 25 on the Rock Songs chart.
Gloss Drop is the second studio album by American experimental rock band Battles, released on Warp Records in June 2011.
Innerspeaker is the debut studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 21 May 2010 by Modular Recordings. The album was recorded and produced by musician Kevin Parker at a remote beach shack in Western Australia during the winter of 2009, who also wrote every track on it except for interlude "The Bold Arrow of Time".
Fear Fun is the first studio album released by American folk musician Josh Tillman under his pseudonym Father John Misty. It was released on April 30, 2012, in the UK and Europe on Bella Union, and in the rest of the world on May 1, 2012, on Sub Pop Produced by both Tillman and Jonathan Wilson, the album was released following Tillman's departure from Fleet Foxes.
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph is the third book by author Ryan Holiday. It was published in 2014. It is a book which offers individuals a framework to flip obstacles into opportunities, an approach crafted by Holiday. It was inspired by the philosophy of stoicism.
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay is a 1976 educational album by the American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. The album was recorded to raise awareness of tooth decay among children. The album features several notable personalities including Howard Cosell, Frank Sinatra, and Ossie Davis. The album was recorded in the year of the United States Bicentennial, and makes several patriotic references to America's past including the Liberty Bell and Paul Revere.
"International Blue" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released as a single in December 2017. This song is the first single for the album Resistance Is Futile (2018), written by James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore.
