The album has had 25 years of being hammered by other formats – Napster, iTunes, Spotify, TikTok – and not only survived but thrived. For Keith Jopling it’s the irreplaceable way to hear music and to measure the people who make it. His new book Body Of Work celebrates its battle-scarred trajectory from the beating heart of pop culture to 21st Century affordable luxury, and stops off at …

… growing up in the age of cassettes

… his lifelong devotion to a Police album left on his doorstep

… Adele’s battle with Spotify to get records played in sequence

… how albums are how you calibrate a career, from the Beatles to Taylor Swift

… has anyone ever loved a CD the way they love an album?

… how parents used to despair of their kids loafing in bedrooms listening to records but now try and persuade them to do it

… pictures of equipment: rock porn!

… the swingback to Listening Parties and analogue recording

… records as shining examples of the packaged goods business

… “we need to regain control of our attention”

… and the iTunes launch party and why Smashing Pumpkins thought they’d seen the future.

Order Body Of Work in the UK here: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/keith-jopling/body-of-work-how-the-album-outplayed-the-algorithm-and-survived-playlist-culture

And in the USA here: https://repeaterbooks.com/product/body-of-work-how-the-album-outplayed-the-algorithm-and-survived-playlist-culture/

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