I just learned this now and don’t have time to do it proper justice, but today is National Album Day. This appears to be the first ever of such days and is marking the 70th anniversary of the much celebrated album format for music.

Alas, it appears to be a UK-only celebration, but I don’t see any reason why the rest of us can’t join in on the fun! You can also read more about it here.

In the days when I often mourn the loss of the concept album, it’s nice to see that people still remember and celebrate the format. Once upon a time, albums were total bodies of work and often told a story as you progressed through the music. Today, we tend to pick and choose and listen more to what we used to call ‘singles.’ That was not always the case.

As I said, I don’t really have time to do this article justice. I’d still like to encourage you to leave comments about your favorite albums, your memories associated with those albums, or what your impressions were the first time you listened to those albums.

I do know what I’ll be doing, however. I will listen to a complete album as I ride along and someone else drives me. The album I have chosen is the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty.

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