Day 0588 - Trio

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris "Trio" (1987) - got it

The three country stars were fans of each other and had been trying to get this collaboration together for a while.  Schedules and the fact that they were all signed to different labels interfered with these plans and early efforts generally fell by the wayside.

Some of these early attempts at collaboration leached into their respective solo releases in the following years, and they continued to cover each other's songs.  Finally they were able to make it happen and "Trio" the album was born.

Their three voices join together in beautiful harmonies on the country hymns, while making space for some strong spotlight performances.  It was a bit of a return to more straight-ahead country for at least a couple of the members who had been wandering into more novelty pop-country territory.

"Wildflowers" is a personal favourite of mine.

Day 0449 - Metal Box

Public Image Ltd "Metal Box" (1979)

Where the first PIL album had been all over the place, with some noisy drone pieces, and some remnants of John Lydon's punk stylings; Metal Box is much more cohesive, and more 'its own thing'.

The title and album cover really spell out the feel of the music: cold, bleak, and nihilistic. Blasts of bass-heavy post-punk that preceded many other such grinding, industrial bands. Bringing in influences seemingly as diverse as dub, and krautrock into the mix.

The album finishes with the somewhat out of place melodic, almost classical (but still cold and a little harsh somehow) piece "Radio 4".