Pick a Day

Music History Events: Releases

August 11, 1997 Backstreet Boys release their second album, Backstreet's Back, in international markets. It tops the charts in several countries, including Canada, Spain and Germany. In America, some of the songs appear on their next album, Millennium, in 1999.

July 1, 1997 Radiohead release OK Computer in the US. With highly emotive songs and beguiling music videos for tracks like "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android," it lands on many lists of the year's top albums.

June 24, 1997 Sugar Ray release their second album, Floored, with their breakthrough hit "Fly."

June 3, 1997 Wu-Tang Forever, the second album by the 9-man rap group, is released.

May 19, 1997 Backstreet Boys release "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," their breakthrough single in the US.

May 12, 1997 Married country singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill release their first duet, "It's Your Love."

April 29, 1997 Lynyrd Skynyrd release the album Twenty, which is titled after the fact that it's being released 20 years after the plane crash that claimed the lives of three band members. It's their ninth studio album.

April 15, 1997 INXS release Elegantly Wasted, their last album with lead singer Michael Hutchence, who dies six months later.

April 14, 1997 Depeche Mode release their ninth album, Ultra, in the UK. Work on the album had to be stopped in 1996 when lead singer Dave Gahan nearly died of a drug overdose; he spent a lot of time making court appointments and trying to get sober when operations resumed. The band is in no condition to tour to support the album, but it still makes #1 in the UK and sells over 500,000 copies in America.

March 18, 1997 The second full-length album from Ben Folds Five is released, Whatever and Ever Amen. The album obtains platinum certification in the US, and spawns the group's biggest hit tune, "Brick."

February 4, 1997 The Offspring return with their fourth studio album, Ixnay on the Hombre - the follow-up to their 1994 breakthrough album Smash and the band's first after signing to Columbia Records in 1996.

February 3, 1997 David Bowie releases the electronica-influenced album Earthling, including the Grammy-nominated song (Best Male Rock Vocal Performance) "Dead Man Walking," and the paranoia-tinged track "I'm Afraid Of Americans," featuring Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

January 28, 1997 A day before his 16th birthday, Jonny Lang's major-label debut album, Lie To Me, is released.

January 20, 1997 French electronic duo Daft Punk release their debut album, Homework in the UK (it is released in America on March 25). The record is a big hit in Europe but only reaches #150 in the USA. Both members, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, are music producers who use recording technology to combine house music with synthpop.

November 5, 1996 Johnny Cash releases Unchained, his second album produced by Rick Rubin. He's backed by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and covers their song "Southern Accents."

October 1, 1996 Fountains of Wayne release their self-titled debut album, which took just five days to record.

September 24, 1996 Weezer release their second album, the self-produced Pinkerton. Named after a character in Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, it's darker than their 1994 debut and doesn't include any hits. Weezer fans remain divided over whether it's a work of genius or a creative flop.

September 17, 1996 Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise release their debut album, Blackwater Surprise, featuring the song "Once Upon a Time."

September 17, 1996 Three years after bursting into the musical consciousness with their debut Undertow, Tool release their second album, Ænima. It opens at #2 in the US and eventually sells over 3 million copies.

September 10, 1996 Neil Peart employs some jazz-influenced traditional drum grips on Rush's 16th studio album, Test for Echo. It's the last album the band releases before the death of Peart's daughter, followed ten months later by the passing of his wife, leads the band to take a six-year recording hiatus.

August 27, 1996 Pearl Jam release their fourth album, No Code, which debuts at #1 in the US.

July 23, 1996 Fiona Apple, 18, releases her debut album, Tidal, featuring "Shadowboxer" and "Criminal." It sells over 3 million copies in America.More

July 9, 1996 Thirteen-year-old LeAnn Rimes releases her debut album, Blue, and wows critics with the hits "Blue" and "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)."More

June 4, 1996 Metallica release Load, their first album in five years.More

May 21, 1996 Soundgarden's fifth album, Down On The Upside, is released. It debuts at #2 in America, behind Fugees' The Score.

May 6, 1996 Backstreet Boys release their self-titled debut album to international markets, aiming to tap into Europe's fascination with boy bands. A US release comes the following year.

April 23, 1996 Hootie & the Blowfish release their second album, Fairweather Johnson. It doesn't approach the 21 million in sales of their debut (Cracked Rear View), but still sells an impressive 3 million.

March 19, 1996 Barenaked Ladies release their third studio album, Born On A Pirate Ship.

March 8, 1996 Sting releases his fifth solo album, Mercury Falling.

February 27, 1996 Bad Religion release their ninth full-length studio album, The Gray Race. This is the first Bad Religion album to feature Brian Baker on guitar, replacing Brett Gurewitz, who left the band two years earlier.