This is probably less prevalent these days with atomised culture, online streaming, leaks, etc, but it’s interesting to think back on albums you were desperately looking forward to. I remember In Rainbows (Radiohead!) coming out as being super exciting, and an EVENT, because of who it was and the relatively short notice and the simultaneous online release everywhere. I remember waking up, downloading it right when it was released and listening to it all day.

Mostly it probably happened more when I was younger. Pearl Jam was probably the first band I got obsessively into as a teenager, and when I actually got into music seriously (probably later than a lot of people) I listened to all their older albums that a friend lent me, and then found out that Binaural was coming out, which would be the first album I’d listen to of theirs right when it came out. It was a bit of a dud to be honest, but at the time I was so excited to get hold of it. In recent years Animal Collective MPP and Deerhunter Halcyon Digest seemed poised to be huge era-defining releases, that upon first listen they probably came close to that heightened anticipation of childhood, that sense that great things were going to happen.

What was yours? And did it live up to your expectations?