Concrete Blonde (album)

Concrete Blonde is the debut studio album by American rock band Concrete Blonde, released in 1986, by I.R.S. Records. The band released an EP three years prior, under the name Dream 6, but rebranded to Concrete Blonde in 1986, chosen by labelmate Michael Stipe as a contrast between their hard rock music and introspective lyrics. Concrete Blonde is the band's first release with the name, and compared to their later work, has a more post-punk sound.

Three singles were released from the album, "Still in Hollywood", "Dance Along the Edge" and "True", each with a music video, but only the latter charted, reaching No. 42 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and No. 91 on the Australian ARIA charts. The album was not the commercial breakthrough the band was looking for, who declared bankruptcy, and took a hiatus. Superfecta Recordings remastered and re-released the album on May 11, 2004.

Critical reception was relatively kind on release, and the album garnered the band a cult following, but nowadays, the self-titled debut album is seen as one of the weaker albums in Concrete Blonde's discography. Criticism has been drawn towards the raw production, overambition as the band still figured out their sound, and Johnette Napolitano's untrained vocals.