33 1/3 (Thirty-Three and a Third; also stylized as ) is a series of books with its first installation in 2003, and is published by Bloomsbury Publishing since 2010. The books are about albums from various musical genres. As of 2025, 196 books have been published in the main series. Six additional series have been published, all of them specific to a region except for one about music genres.
History and overview Each book of is about a single album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, revolutions per minute.
Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Barker in 2003. At the time, Continuum published a series of short books on literature called Continuum Contemporaries. One-time series editor Ally-Jane Grossan described Barker as "an obsessive music fan who thought, 'This is a really cool idea, why don't we apply this to albums. PopMatters wrote that the range consists of "obscure classics to more usual suspects by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones".
In 2010, Continuum was bought out by Bloomsbury Publishing, which continues to publish the series. Following a leave, Barker was replaced by Grossan in January 2013. Leah Babb-Rosenfeld has been the editor of the series since 2016.
Several independent books have been spun off of the series. The first, Carl Wilson's 2007 entry on Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, was expanded for a 2014 Bloomsbury reissue with material not specifically pertaining to the Dion album and retitled Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste. Joe Bonomo, at the invitation of Barker, expanded his proposal on Jerry Lee Lewis's Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album into a full-length book about Lewis, the album, and his career titled Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, published by Continuum in 2009. A rejected proposal from writer Brett Milano for an entry on Game Theory's 1987 album Lolita Nation was instead expanded by Milano into a biography on the band's leader Scott Miller; that project, titled Don't All Thank Me at Once: The Lost Genius of Scott Miller, was released by 125 Books in 2015.
In August 2017, Bloomsbury announced the launch of Global, an extension of the series to popular music from around the world. The first two sub-series launched were Brazil, edited by Jason Stanyek, and Japan, edited by Noriko Manabe. The first book for Brazil was Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning. The first books for Japan were Supercell ft. Hatsune Miku by Keisuke Yamada and Yoko Kanno's Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by Rose Bridges.
Published titles , 198 books have been published in the main series.
Main series # Album Artist Year(album) Year(book) Author of book ISBN # 1 Dusty in Memphis 1969 2003 2 Forever Changes Love 1967 2003 3 Harvest 1972 2003 4 1968 2003 5 Meat Is Murder 1985 2003 6 Pink Floyd 1967 2003 7 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits ABBA 1992 2004 8 Electric Ladyland 1968 2004 9 Unknown Pleasures Joy Division 1979 2004 10 Sign o' the Times Prince 1987 2004 11 1967 2004 12 Let It Be 1970 2004 13 Live at the Apollo 1963 2004 14 Aqualung Jethro Tull 1971 2004 15 OK Computer Radiohead 1997 2004 16 Let It Be 1984 2004 17 Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 1971 2005 18 Exile on Main St. 1972 2005 19 Pet Sounds 1966 2005 20 Ramones Ramones 1976 2005 21 Armed Forces 1979 2005 22 Murmur R.E.M. 1983 2005 23 Grace 1994 2005 24 Endtroducing..... 1996 2005 25 Kick Out the Jams MC5 1969 2005 26 Low 1977 2005 27 Born in the U.S.A. 1984 2005 28 Music from Big Pink 1968 2005 29 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Neutral Milk Hotel 1998 2005 30 Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys 1989 2006 31 Doolittle Pixies 1989 2006 32 There's a Riot Goin' On Sly and the Family Stone 1971 2006 33 1989 2006 34 In Utero Nirvana 1993 2006 35 Highway 61 Revisited 1965 2006 36 Loveless My Bloody Valentine 1991 2006 37 1967 2006 38 Bee Thousand Guided by Voices 1994 2006 39 Daydream Nation Sonic Youth 1988 2006 40 Court and Spark 1974 2006 41 Use Your Illusion I and II Guns N' Roses 1991 2006 69 69 Love Songs 1999 2006 42 Songs in the Key of Life 1976 2007 43 1968 2007 44 Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart 1969 2007 45 Double Nickels on the Dime Minutemen 1984 2007 46 Aja Steely Dan 1977 2007 47 People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm 1990 2007 48 Rid of Me 1993 2007 49 Achtung Baby U2 1991 2007 50 If You're Feeling Sinister Belle & Sebastian 1996 2007 51 Pink Moon 1972 2007 52 Let's Talk About Love 1997 2007 53 Swordfishtrombones 1983 2007 54 20 Jazz Funk Greats Throbbing Gristle 1979 2008 55 Horses 1975 2008 56 Master of Reality Black Sabbath 1971 2008 57 Reign in Blood Slayer 1986 2008 58 Shoot Out the Lights 1982 2008 59 Gentlemen 1993 2008 60 Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash 1985 2008 61 1969 2008 62 Pink Flag Wire 1977 2009 63 XO 1998 2009 64 Illmatic Nas 1994 2009 65 Radio City Big Star 1974 2009 66 One Step Beyond... Madness 1979 2009 67 Another Green World 1975 2009 68 Zaireeka 1997 2009 70 Facing Future 1993 2009 71 It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Public Enemy 1988 2010 72 Wowee Zowee Pavement 1995 2010 73 Highway to Hell AC/DC 1979 2010 74 Song Cycle 1968 2010 75 Spiderland Slint 1991 2010 76 Kid A Radiohead 2000 2010 77 Tusk Fleetwood Mac 1979 2011 78 Pretty Hate Machine Nine Inch Nails 1989 2011 79 Chocolate and Cheese Ween 1994 2011 80 American Recordings 1994 2011 81 Some Girls 1978 2011 82 You're Living All Over Me Dinosaur Jr. 1987 2011 83 Marquee Moon Television 1977 2011 84 Amazing Grace 1972 2011 85 Dummy Portishead 1994 2011 86 Fear of Music Talking Heads 1979 2012 87 Histoire de Melody Nelson 1971 2013 88 Flood They Might Be Giants 1990 2013 ; 89 I Get Wet 2001 2014 90 Selected Ambient Works Volume II Aphex Twin 1994 2014 91 Entertainment! Gang of Four 1979 2014 92 Blank Generation 1977 2014 93 Donuts 2006 2014 94 Smile N/A 2014 95 Definitely Maybe Oasis 1994 2014 96 Exile in Guyville 1993 2014 97 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2010 2014 98 Danger Mouse 2004 2014 99 ( ) Sigur Rós 2002 2014 100 Dangerous 1991 2014 101 Tago Mago Can 1971 2014 102 Ode to Billie Joe 1967 2014 103 Live Through This Hole 1994 2014 104 Freedom of Choice Devo 1980 2015 105 Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Dead Kennedys 1980 2015 106 Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack 1985 2015 107 Beat Happening Beat Happening 1985 2015 108 Metallica Metallica 1991 2015 109 A Live One Phish 1995 2015 110 Bitches Brew 1970 2015 111 Parallel Lines Blondie 1978 2016 112 Workingman's Dead Grateful Dead 1970 2016 113 Hangin' Tough New Kids on the Block 1988 2016 114 1990 2016 115 Dig Me Out Sleater-Kinney 1997 2016 116 Sound of Silver LCD Soundsystem 2007 2016 117 Live 1972 2016 118 Psychocandy 1985 2016 119 1976 2017 120 Soundtrack from Twin Peaks 1990 2017 121 Colossal Youth Young Marble Giants 1980 2017 ; 122 Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde 1992 2017 123 Arcade Fire 2010 2017 124 Workbook 1989 2017 ; 125 Uptown Saturday Night Camp Lo 1997 2017 ; 126 1979 2017 127 Homogenic Björk 1997 2017 128 Okie from Muskogee 1969 2018 129 In on the Kill Taker Fugazi 1993 2018 130 24 Hour Revenge Therapy Jawbreaker 1994 2018 131 Transformer 1972 2018 132 Peepshow Siouxsie and the Banshees 1988 2018 133 Southern Rock Opera Drive-By Truckers 2001 2018 134 Jesus Freak DC Talk 1995 2018 ; D. Gilson 135 Boys for Pele 1996 2018 136 One Grain of Sand Odetta 1963 2019 137 Manic Street Preachers 1994 2019 138 Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las 1966 2019 139 Southern Accents 1985 2019 140 Blue Lines Massive Attack 1991 2019 141 Switched-On Bach 1968 2019 142 1976 2019 143 Diamond Dogs 1974 2020 144 Voodoo D'Angelo 2000 2020 145 Judy at Carnegie Hall 1961 2020 146 Blue Moves 1976 2020 147 I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen Various artists 1991 2020 148 1997 2020 149 Suicide Suicide 1977 2020 150 From Elvis in Memphis 1969 2020 151 Murder Ballads 1996 2020 152 Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth 24-Carat Black 1973 2020 153 Tapestry 1971 2021 154 Vs. Pearl Jam 1993 2021 155 Avalon Roxy Music 1982 2021 156 Rio Duran Duran 1982 2021 157 Once Upon a Time 1977 2021 158 Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 1985 2021 159 2010 2021 160 John Prine 1971 2021 161 Lyric & Coloratura Arias 1954 2021 162 Boxer 2007 2022 163 Computer World Kraftwerk 1981 2022 164 Moon Pix Cat Power 1998 2022 165 Faith 1987 2022 166 To Pimp a Butterfly 2015 2022 167 Blackout 2007 2022 168 That's the Way of the World Earth, Wind & Fire 1975 2022 169 Come to My Garden 1970 2022 170 Fontanelle Babes in Toyland 1992 2022 171 Madvillainy Madvillain 2004 2023 172 Come Away with ESG ESG 1983 2023 173 BBC Radiophonic Workshop – A Retrospective BBC Radiophonic Workshop 2008 2023 174 Time's Up Living Colour 1990 2023 175 Beauty and the Beat 1981 2023 176 Erotica Madonna 1992 2023 177 Body Count Body Count 1992 2023 178 Ingénue 1992 2023 179 Here's Little Richard 1957 2023 180 Invasion of Privacy Cardi B 2018 2024 181 This Is Hardcore Pulp 1998 2024 182 Sandinista! 1980 2024 183 101 Depeche Mode 1989 2024 184 3 + 3 1973 2024 185 Red Hot + Blue Various artists 1990 2024 186 White Limozeen 1989 2024 187 Garth Brooks in... the Life of Chris Gaines /Chris Gaines 1999 2024 188 Hounds of Love 1985 2024 189 The Moon & Antarctica Modest Mouse 2000 2024 190 Paris 1919 John Cale 1973 2025 191 Universal Mother Sinead O'Connor 1994 2025 192 And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out Yo La Tengo 2000 2025 193 The Land of Rape and Honey Ministry 1988 2025 194 Blue Bell Knoll Cocteau Twins 1988 2025 195 New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) Erykah Badu 2010 2025 196 Cosmic Thing The B-52s 1989 2025 197 Re Café Tacvba 1994 2025 198 Carrie & Lowell Sufjan Stevens 2015 2025 199 Antics Interpol 2004 2026 200 Inflammable Material Stiff Little Fingers 1979 2026 201 So Tonight That I Might See Mazzy Star 1993 2026 202 Violent Femmes Violent Femmes 1983 2026 TBC Blonde Frank Ocean 2016 2026 TBC TBC Disintegration The Cure 1989 2026 TBC TBC Believe Cher 1998 2026 TBC TBC Plastic Beach Gorillaz 2010 2026 TBC TBC What's the 411? Mary J. Blige 1992 2026 TBC TBC Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly Moss Icon 1993 2026 TBC TBC "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D "Weird Al" Yankovic 1984 2026 TBC TBC I'm Your Baby Tonight Whitney Houston 1990 2026 TBC TBC Dust Bowl Ballads Woody Guthrie 1940 2026 TBC
33⅓ Japan # Work Artist Year(album) Year(book) Author of book ISBN # 1 Supercell Supercell 2009 2017 2 Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack 1998 2017 3 Game Perfume 2008 2018 4 AKB48 AKB48 N/A 2019 ; 5 Fantasma Cornelius 1997 2019 6 Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro 1988 2020 7 Happy Hour Shonen Knife 1998 2021 8 Koza Dabasa Nenes 1994 2021 9 (:ja:14番目の月) Yuming 1976 2022 10 Kogun Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band 1974 2024 11 Don't Be Swindle S.O.B. 1987 2025 ;
33⅓ Brazil # Work Artist Year(album) Year(book) Author of book ISBN # 1 A Foreign Sound 2004 2017 2 Getz/Gilberto and João Gilberto 1964 2018 3 Tim Maia Racional Vols. 1 & 2 1974 2018 4 Sorriso Negro 1981 2019 5 Refazenda 1975 2020 6 Clube da Esquina and Lô Borges 1972 2020 7 Sobrevivendo no Inferno Racionais MC's 1997 2021 8 Saudades 1979 2021 9 Chico Buarque 1978 2022
33⅓ Europe # Work Artist Year(album) Year(book) Author of book ISBN # 1 A Blaze in the Northern Sky Darkthrone 1992 2020 2 Balkanology 1991 2021 3 Wolokolamsker Chaussee and Heiner Goebbels 1989 2021 4 Don't Break the Oath Mercyful Fate 1984 2022 5 Niemen Enigmatic 1970 2022 ; 6 DJs Do Guetto Various artists 2006 2022 7 Happy Birthday! Modeselektor 2007 2022 8 I'll Be Your Plaything 2010 2022 ; András Rónai 9 Sin Documentos Los Rodríguez 1993 2022 ; Fernán del Val 10 Astaganaga Massada 1978 2022 11 Bella Ciao 1976 2023 12 Récital 1961 1961 2023 13 Persepolis 1971 2023 14 Tantsi Vopli Vidopliassova 1989 2023 15 Amália at the Olympia 1957 2023 16 Projekt Jon 1997 2024 17 Aquarium Aqua 1997 2024 18 Kollaps Einstürzende Neubauten 1981 2024 ; 19 To the Cold Land J.M.K.E. 1989 2025 20 Jarmark Taco Hemingway 2020 2025
33⅓ Oceania