Maybe at At 3:33pm on 13th October, stop what you’re doing, sit back, relax and play an album of choice in full from start to finish. It could be rejoicing in your favourite album of all-time or selecting an album you’ve never heard before.

We want to see what your ultimate National Album Day album of choice is – let us know by using the hashtag #NationalAlbumDay and handle @AlbumDayUK and @rockshotmaga #rockshotmag

National Album Day: Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins

National Album Day: Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins

Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins; the album that gave me the power to get through my teenage chaos years and forever find other ‘Pumpkin heads’ in life, making life long friends out of them. Back from the times when you actually listened to an entire album, from...

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National Album Day: Bad by Michael Jackson

National Album Day: Bad by Michael Jackson

Bad was the very first album that I have a conscious memory of wanting to absorb in its entirety in the way that seems trivial these days; pouring over the fold out album booklet from my father’s cassette tape and consuming the videos on television over and over...

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National Album Day: Solid Air by John Martin

National Album Day: Solid Air by John Martin

Solid Air is an album that had me hooked from the opening few seconds on first listen. For me, John Martyn is (was) one of the finest songwriters out there. The way he captures raw emotion is staggering and songs like May You Never, Over The Hill and the title track...

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National Album Day: Achtung Baby by U2

National Album Day: Achtung Baby by U2

Yes, The Joshua Tree has the bigger hits, but U2's seventh studio album is a far more interesting prospect. Dark, tortured, experimental, it's the sound of a band who were trying to find their way, just a few years after Time magazine had called them "Rock's hottest...

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National Album Day: Moving Pictures by Rush

National Album Day: Moving Pictures by Rush

In 1987, I was nineteen years old (please don’t work it out). On a warm summer’s night and after an extremely alcoholic trip out, my friend Stuart James put on Moving Pictures by Rush. I didn’t know what it was and I’d not really heard much Rush to that point. I had...

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National Album Day: Low Slung Town by Beef

National Album Day: Low Slung Town by Beef

I have never met another person who owns this album, which is a terrible shame because it is one of the few albums from 1990 I still play from start to finish without cherry picking tracks. Beef, (not to be confused with a different band with the same name who started...

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National Album Day: Let It Bleed by Rolling Stones

National Album Day: Let It Bleed by Rolling Stones

The one album that I could not live without is Let It Bleed by Rolling Stones. When I first became interested in music Glam Rock was at it's height. I was surrounded by Ballroom Blitz-es and New York Groove's. I was being urged to Bang A Gong and even try a Glass Of...

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National Album Day: Nevermind by Nirvana

National Album Day: Nevermind by Nirvana

When someone asks me about my musical inspirations first to mind comes The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, AC/DC, Janis Joplin, and Nirvana to name just a few. But if anybody wants to know the album that changed my entire life and made me who I am now, that has to be...

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National Album Day: Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan

National Album Day: Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan

Blood On The Tracks is an album for every season. I first heard it as a teenager and it seems as deeply intriguing, as powerfully emotional and as satisfyingly comforting to me today as it did back then. Hilarious and tragic, soothing and bitter, lonely and redeemed,...

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National Album Day: Violent Femmes

National Album Day: Violent Femmes

  I first caught wind of the Violent Femmes six years after the release of their debut album, at the tender age of 14. Followed in quick succession by Hallowed Ground and 3, the Violent Femmes’ self titled album speaks to a younger audience, with the consequent...

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&U&I @ Muthers Studio (Henry Finnegan / @finneganfoto)

&U&I: Back From The Break, In The Room, And In Their Element

There’s a particular kind of electricity that happens when a band reunites after years apart. Sometimes it’s cautious,...
&U&I @ Muthers Studio (Henry Finnegan / @finneganfoto)

&U&I, Back In Birmingham As If They Never Left

Some gigs feel significant before they even begin. The return of &U&I, after nearly a decade off the radar,...
Bad Nerves @ O2 Institute, Birmingham (Nick Allan)

Never Mind A Wet Night In Stoke, Bad Nerves Made The Best Of A Cold Tuesday Night At The O2 Institute Birmingham

Bad Nerves rolled into theBad Nerves tonight armed with a setlist built for chaos, and although the room was a little quieter than expected, the people who were there lit the place up. A smaller Tuesday night crowd didn’t dull the spark – instead it made the gig feel like a secret show shared only between the band and the diehards. And the band fed off it.

Police Dog Hogan (Press)

Police Dog Hogan Announce New Album The Light At The Top Of The Stairs And 2026 UK Tour

Beloved Americana collective Police Dog Hogan will return this spring with their most emotionally resonant work to date. The band have confirmed that their new album, The Light At The Top Of The Stairs, will be released on 10th April, accompanied by the reflective new single Passing Through.

Killerstar (Briony Graham-Rudd)

KillerStar Announce Second Album ‘The Afterglow’, Lead Single ‘So Easy’, And Two-Night 100 Club Residency

London art-rock outfit KillerStar have announced details of their anticipated second album, The Afterglow, set for release on 20th March. The news arrives alongside the record’s lead single, So Easy, and confirmation that the band will celebrate the album with two intimate launch shows at London’s legendary 100 Club on 6th and 7th March.

Hot Milk @ Roundhouse (Kalpesh Patel)

Hot Milk Bring Fire, Fury & Pure Catharsis To London’s Roundhouse

On a bitterly cold Wednesday night in Camden, Manchester hard rockers Hot Milk turned London’s Roundhouse into a...
Callum Beattie (Press)

Callum Beattie Shares New Single ‘Always Rains In Glasgow’ Ahead of Huge OVO Hydro Headline Show

Scottish singer-songwriter Callum Beattie has released his new single Always Rains In Glasgow, arriving just days before he takes to the stage for his biggest headline show to date at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 22nd November. The performance, which sees Beattie step up in front of 14,500 fans, is close to selling out—an extraordinary leap from the early days when he struggled to move 30 advance tickets.

Culture Wars (Eliot Lee)

Culture Wars Drop New Single ‘In The Morning’ Ahead of Sold-Out London Headline Debut

Rising alt-rock five-piece Culture Wars continue their momentum with the release of their new single In The Morning, a groove-laden, ’90s-tinged track that marks a key creative moment for the band. The song lands just days before the group make their UK headline debut at O2 Academy Islington on 27th November, a show that has already sold out.

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