Dolly Parton, Brian Eno and Tina Weymouth Are Part of a New Book About the Albums Artists Think We Missed
A new book gathers 80 musicians reflecting on beloved and underheard albums. On the Records is due Nov. 17, 2026.
A new music book is turning the usual favorites list inside out. On the Records: 80 Musicians on Beloved and Overlooked Albums will collect reflections from 80 artists on records that stayed with them, shaped their work, or deserve far more attention than they got.
What arrives in November
The book is scheduled for release this fall through Clarkson Potter/Random House, with publication set for Nov. 17, 2026. It is available to order now.
Brian Beck and Piotr Orlov are the authors behind the project. Beck has worked across artist relations, including jobs at record labels and in artist management, and later served as Sonos’s global head of music and entertainment. Orlov is a writer, editor and educator who also publishes the newsletter Dada Strain. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and The Village Voice, among other places.
Who is in it, and what readers can expect
The collection includes contributions tied to a wide range of musicians, including Brian Eno, Erykah Badu, Dolly Parton, Bon Iver and Tina Weymouth. The publisher also points to pieces involving Black Thought of The Roots, Chris Stapleton, Billie Eilish and Finneas.
The premise is not simply a roundup of famous albums. Each entry centers on an album, artist or group of songs that the contributor believes should have entered the broader canon but remained underappreciated. Some of the choices come from well-known artists’ catalogs. Others are described as long out of print, self-released or difficult to find.
The book’s angle is personal as much as historical. Readers are promised stories such as the music that shaped Parton’s earliest memories through her mother’s voice, the rare recording Black Thought discovered and still draws from, and the album that changed how Stapleton listened to and approached music.
Many of the pieces were written by the musicians themselves. Others were built from new conversations and then shaped into essays intended to preserve the voice and spirit of those exchanges. Each reflection is paired with album art and other imagery connected to the record being discussed.
For readers who still love discovering a hidden classic, or learning what records mattered to artists they already know, this is the change: a new anthology focused less on consensus masterpieces and more on the beloved albums musicians think listeners should go back and hear.
