Release date calendar of all the AM top 100 albums

[Live in Phoenix]

The anniversary of U2’s The Joshua Tree was trending today on Twitter; apparently I’m not the only one who keeps some track of when some famous albums came out. So for the calendar-conscious, here you go:

Top album of each month in bold.

January
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme (January 1965 – no specific day listed)
4th: The Doors – The Doors (1967)
8th: David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)
18th: Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis (1969)
20th: Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (1975)

February
4th: Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
8th: Television – Marquee Moon (1977)
10th: Carole King – Tapestry (1971)

March
1st: Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
3rd: De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
9th: U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
10th: Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
12th: The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
13th: Radiohead – The Bends (1995)
15th: Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
17th: Elvis Costello – This Year's Model (1978)
22nd: Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
30th: Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (1970)
30th: Prince – Sign 'O' the Times (1987)

April (fares worst among highest-ranked albums)
1st: The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
8th: The Clash – The Clash (1977)
8th: Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)
12th: R.E.M. – Murmur (1983)
17th: Pixies – Doolittle (1989) [Earlier U.K. release]
20th: Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
23rd: The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971)
23rd: Ramones – Ramones (1976)

May (fares best among highest-ranked albums)
James Brown – 'Live' at the Apollo (May 1963 – no specific day listed)
2nd: The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)
12th: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? (1967)
12th: The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St. (1972)
16th: The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1966)
21st: Marvin Gaye – What's Going On (1971)
21st: Radiohead – OK Computer (1997) [Previously listed June 16th]
26th: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) [Earlier U.K. release. I think a June release was previously listed on Wikipedia.]

June
15th: Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)
16th: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica (1969)
16th: David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
16th: The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
18th: Beck – Odelay (1996)
20th: Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1966) [Previously listed May 16th]
22nd: Joni Mitchell – Blue (1971)
25th: Prince and The Revolution – Purple Rain (1984)
28th: Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

July
1st: The Band – Music from Big Pink (1968)
4th: Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
10th: Frank Ocean – Channel Orange (2012)
18th: Joy Division – Closer (1980)
21st: Guns N' Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)
25th: Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
30th: The Strokes – Is This It (2001)

August
3rd: Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973)
5th: The Beatles – Revolver (1966)
8th: N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton (1988, or, 8/8/88)
14th: The Who – Who's Next (1971)
17th: Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959)
22nd: Portishead – Dummy (1994)
23rd: Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
25th: Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)
25th: Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
30th: Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

September
13th: Nirvana – In Utero (1993)
14th: Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
15th: Otis Redding – Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)
16th: DJ Shadow – Endtroducing..... (1996)
18th: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001) [Physical release April 23, 2002]
19th: Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)
22nd: The Band – The Band (1969)
24th: Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
26th: The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)
28th: Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

October
2nd: Oasis – (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
2nd: Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
5th: R.E.M. – Automatic for the People (1992)
8th: Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980)
10th: Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
16th: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1968)
18th: Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
22nd: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969)
28th: Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks - Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)

November
1st: Love – Forever Changes (1967)
1st: Sly and the Family Stone – There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) [Previously listed November 20th]
4th: My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
8th: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
8th: Lou Reed – Transformer (1972)
9th: Derek and The Dominos – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
9th: Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
10th: Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
18th: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
18th: U2 – Achtung Baby (1991)
22nd: The Beatles – The Beatles ["White Album"] (1968)
22nd: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
29th: Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)
30th: Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)

December
3rd: The Beatles – Rubber Soul (1965)
5th: The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (1969)
6th: The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (1968)
11th: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
14th: The Clash – London Calling (1979)
17th: David Bowie – Hunky Dory (1971)

Source: Wikipedia 3/9/2021

[Nick]

Only 8 albums from Jan/Feb, about half as many as you'd expect with an even distribution. Is this just a coincidence? Or is it because record labels are less likely to release an album right after Christmas when they could've released it right before Christmas? (check the high number of November releases).

[Live in Phoenix]

Only 8 albums from Jan/Feb, about half as many as you'd expect with an even distribution. Is this just a coincidence? Or is it because record labels are less likely to release an album right after Christmas when they could've released it right before Christmas? (check the high number of November releases).

In the U2 by U2 coffee table book, the band's manager mentions that when How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb missed its fourth-quarter deadline, it set them back a full year: Fourth-quarter "record sales worldwide are so big it is really equivalent to the rest of the year put together."