Synopsis: There are certain albums that leave the artist's hands, and take on a momentum of their own -- changing everything for the artist, the fans, the culture.

Behind each of them is a drama of creativity and clashes, hassles and headaches, heart and soul.

Premiering on VH1 in March, "Ultimate Albums'' is a new series that examines a single important record in each weekly one-hour episode, recounting in detail why it connected the artist and the audience, and how it forever changed their lives and our culture.

In revealing, in-depth interviews, the artists and songwriters, band members, producers and confidants tell the powerful real stories of how their greatest works were transformed from riffs and lyrics to musical legacies. "Ultimate Albums'' surveys the social, cultural, emotional and political backdrop of the times, takes fans deep into the heart of the artist and chronicles what happened when their work collided with the world outside -- from the games, ads and movies that access the music and embody it in the culture, to the influence each record has had on millions of fans and fellow musicians.

Focusing primarily on records from the CD era (post-1985), "Ultimate Albums'' goes behind the music-making of Def Leppard's "Pyromania,'' TLC's "Crazy Sexy Cool,'' Red Hot Chili Peppers' "BloodSugarSexMagic,'' "Metallica,'' Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet,'' No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom,'' "Led Zeppelin IV'' and Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood,'' among many others.

Viewers can log on to VH1.com to check out album art, video clips, sound clips from the albums, a radio station featuring VH1's 100 greatest albums, and polls to vote for favorite albums/songs/artists, plus message boards for fans' comments and critiques (that may be used in the show) and more.
(courtesy VH1)

Production Info:
The executive producers are George Moll and Paul Gallagher.

Episodes:
Bob Marley: Legend
Premieres Sunday March 31, 9/8c
Legend is that rarity among ultimate albums, a compilation. But when the guy you’re compiling is Bob Marley, you’ve got a best-of disc bursting with more great tunes than several careers combined. Nine million Marley lovers can’t be wrong. We asked his wife, band-mates and fans how he touched their lives, too.

Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet
Premieres Sunday April 28, 9/8c
Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child had little more on their minds than girls and rock-as-mythology, but that may only mean they had identified their audience - young white adolescent males - and were targeting it accurately.

Def Leppard: Pyromania
When they went into the studio to make Pyromania, Def Leppard were just another meat and potatoes rock band with two flop albums and a silly name. But producer Mutt Lange had a dream of stadium-filling choruses, whomping drum tracking, and turning these Sheffield wannabes into pop-rock gods. VH1 tells the tale of how one guitar player and thousands of overdubs later, a masterpiece was born.

Green Day: Dookie
It was 1994 and Nirvana was becoming old hat. So three upstarts from Berkeley leapt into the breach, wrapping social dysfunction in a coating fizzier than a mouthful of pop rocks. They were Green Day. It was Dookie. Now, in a world awash with Blink-182s and Sum 41s, they explain how they made punk break - again.