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Let’s discuss the great albums, they said. Let’s listen, you said.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
When one thinks of the top rock albums of 1991, undoubtedly certain classics come to mind. Nirvana's "Nevermind." Pearl Jam's "Ten." "Achtung Baby" by U2. Metallica's so-called "Black Album." Guns'n'Roses even released "Use Your Illusion I & II" that year. But when Spin magazine unveiled its best album of the year, that honor went to Scotland's Teenage Fanclub for their "Bandwagonesque." And for good reason. Combining early-90s crunch and distortion with odes to the pop goodness of the likes of Big Star, "Bandwagonesque" is as complete and inspiring as anything else that came out that year. We dare you to listen to it and not be drawn in by the melodic hooks, syrupy harmonies, or the relatable lyrics. Teenage Fanclub may be the most underrated-yet-influential band of the last 30 years. And this album shows why.
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Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
For cynics and critics, "Green" was supposed to be the beginning of the end for R.E.M. After all, the Athens, Ga., band had culled a following throughout the country by essentially touring nonstop and bringing their DIY ethos to college radio -- a medium they practically helped create. "Green" was their first album with Warner Bros. Records -- and their deal with WB was (at the time) the most lucrative recording contract in US history. But most important to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe was the freedom and artistic control it provided. "Green" reflects a band at its artistic and creative zenith. It was commercially successful thanks to songs (and videos for) "Stand" and "Pop Song '89," but it was still weird enough and full of "R.E.M.-iness" to placate even their most devoted fans. It was also a bridge album between the jangle pop of the early days and the lushness of what was to come.
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Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
For cynics and critics, "Green" was supposed to be the beginning of the end for R.E.M. After all, the Athens, Ga., band had culled a following throughout the country by essentially touring nonstop and bringing their DIY ethos to college radio -- a medium they practically helped create. "Green" was their first album with Warner Bros. Records -- and their deal with WB was (at the time) the most lucrative recording contract in US history. But most important to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe was the freedom and artistic control it provided. "Green" reflects a band at its artistic and creative zenith. It was commercially successful thanks to songs (and videos for) "Stand" and "Pop Song '89," but it was still weird enough and full of "R.E.M.-iness" to placate even their most devoted fans. It was also a bridge album between the jangle pop of the early days and the lushness of what was to come.
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Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
There’s a very good chance that if you’ve set foot in a random bar in the South over the last 25 years, you've heard the song “Straight to Hell.” This song has all the makings of a prototypical country song: twang; heartache; self-loathing; a catchy, singable chorus to raise a beer to. But it’s a song about a latchkey kid with a somewhat loose, disinterested mother. The song, off Drivin’ N Cryin’s 1989 “Mystery Road” album, gives you a great glimpse of the mystery that is the Georgia band: you probably know the song, but you probably didn’t know it was by them. “Mystery Road” itself is full of contradictions. There are bluesy songs. There are southern rock anthems (“Honeysuckle Blue”). There are hair metal songs. There are protest songs (“With the People”). There are bluegrass songs (“Ain’t It Strange”). At the heart of all of them are Kevn Kinney’s heartfelt and voice-cracking lyrics that make you wanna hug the nearest person. Drivin’ N Cryin’ would reach a larger audience with their follow up “Fly Me Courageous” album, but this is the one that shows the breadth of their heart and talent.
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Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
In many ways, Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” – which turns 25 years old this month – was the un-“Full Moon Fever.” When it was released, “Wildflowers” seemed sparse and stripped down, especially compared to his previous offering. But it not only featured Petty’s hit-making skills – the album produced bona fide Petty radio and MTV hits like “You Wreck Me” and “ You Don’t Know How it Feels” – but it gave the world a chance to for Petty to pour out his soul in a way that still haunts today. With Rick Rubin’s get-out-of-the-way production, “Wildflowers” is (sadly) Petty’s autobiographical epitaph --- one that he just happened to write two decades before his death.
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Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
As forerunners of alternative hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest helped set the standard. They led a movement of thoughtful rap, fused by music inspired by their parents and lyrics inspired by their lives in Queens. Led by Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, Tribe’s second album, “The Low End Theory” pays homage to jazz and bebop while dropping insightful rhymes about the shadiness of the music business, poseur rappers and injustices all around them. It also introduced the world to Busta Rhymes. To this day, songs like “Scenario,” Excursions,” “Buggin’ Out” are considered masterpieces – and the album can still get a house party jumping.
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Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Before they reached international stardom thanks to the song "'74-'75," The Connells were something of a regional favorite to music fans along the Eastern seaboard. Man, could they pack a house. The band composed some of the most pop-centered, unforgettable, singalong songs of the late-'80s and '90s -- ANYWHERE. It also didn't hurt that they came across -- even on stage -- as just normal dudes. They even looked the part. Nowhere was this devotion to catchy melodies more emphasized than on their third album, "Fun & Games." Mention The Connells today to someone of a certain age in Virginia or the Carolinas, and there's a very good chance this is the album that comes to mind. You can still see the album cover on t-shirts to this day. If that's not lasting power, we don't know what is.
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Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
In our second ever "Listener's Choice" epipod, we take the Wayback Machine to 1998 when boy bands ruled the world. More specific, NSYNC took the pop world by storm with their debut album. This was the world's first glimpse of Justin Timberlake, but NSYNC was more than just JT. In fact, they were a perfectly constructed boy band of the finest ilk -- even if the group didn't reach its full potential until later offerings. But "NSYNC" is a 13-song "how to" album chock-full of the boy band formula: pop gold ("Tearin' Up My Heart" and "I Want You Back"), soulful ballads ("(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You") and even Euro dance hall beats ("I Need Love"). It was a syrupy, uber-produced glimpse of what was to come ... and it was quite the appetizer.
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Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
It’s an album full of rage caused by racial injustice. It’s an album borne out of the voices of the oppressed. It’s a musical masterpiece of dope beats, thumping bass and intellectual rhymes that spotlight police brutality, racial undercurrents and the promise of a pyrrhic breaking point. The album is also 32 years old. The fact that Public Enemy’s seminal “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” is as timely and current today as when it was released is a sad testament to America’s progress in race and socioeconomic progress. However, one reason “It Takes a Nation” still resonates is because musically it still freaking slaps. Spurred by Hall of Fame-caliber hits like “Bring the Noise” and “Don’t Believe the Hype,” this album signaled a brave new world in music. It took courage then to produce it. Unfortunately, even in 2020, it still does.
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Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
No album brought heavy metal into the mainstream quite like Metallica's "... And Justice For All." It didn't hurt that in the golden age of MTV, the anti-war video for "One" was on HEAVY rotation and turned James Hetfield and the rest of the band into household names. But this was still a heavy metal album with all the boxes checked: dark, brooding lyrics; growling vocals; speed-metal guitar riffs; and even double kick drums courtesy of Lars Ulrich. But unlike a lot of previous metal albums, which tended to dive into the dark and sinister for the sake of being dark and sinister, "Justice" was the thinking man's metal album with songs about loss of freedom, inequality, and, of course justice. But there was still just enough of the songs about death and anger and genocide for any headbanger to enjoy.
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