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The Album Club
The Album ClubSubscribed: 781Played: 9,153
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Description
A deep dive into some of the best albums ever made with a history of the artist, recording of the album, cover art, a track by track analysis and a discussion of what happened next.
77 Episodes
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The pioneering Grunge/Punk/Metal band's breakthrough album, Bricks Are Heavy is our latest subject. And to help us get a better understanding of the band and the album, we enlisted the help of chief mayhem maker and band leader, the legendary Donita Sparks to fill in a few of the gaps. Sit back, bang your head and Pretnd You're Dead!
Straight outta lockdown! We had the immense pleasure of chatting with 90’s alt-nation rock royalty - the kaleidoscopic, beautiful and gilded-throated Evan Dando, head lemon of the Lemonheads.Ensconced in his Martha’s Vineyard home, and through an era-appropriate lo-fi phoneline (sorry about that, folks!), everyone’ favourite indoor type generously shared stories about the band’s classic “It’s A Shame About Ray”; the album that found a new sound for the band and ignited their mainstream success.We also do our thing, slouching into history(from punk rock to GQ), recording, track by track of this slice of sweet and sour, slacker Americana, and what came next for the band and, indeed, the man.
Our last lockdown episode finishes a shitty year with a bang. A real gem of the 2000s, Pretty in Black saw The Raveonettes enlist the help of members of Suicide, The Velvet Underground and The Ronettes to create a dark and poignant, modern rock album indebted to music of the 50s and 60s. Lead singer, drummer, guitarist, songwriter and sampler in the band Sune Rose Wagner joins us to take us through the tracks while also talking about driving without a licence, learning about music through books, being launched by a music journalist, drinking with Buddy Holly's widow and prepping for the US elections.
Mark Lanegan's 35 year music career has been prolific and diverse, after starting with the Screaming Trees, he has worked with/in Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age, Gutter Twins, Twilight Singers, Isobel Campbell, UNKLE and countless others. He recently released his engrossing and brutal memoirs, Sing Backwards and Weep and accompanying solo album Straight Songs of Sorrow, a brilliant collection of songs which features John Paul Jones, Dylan Carlson, Warren Ellis and many others. We spoke to ML in Ireland over the phone (and found out what he's been working on. We talk about various albums throughout his career, find out what he's been doing under lockdown and find out why Izzy Stadlin is the coolest guy in the world.
The man, the myth, the legend and super-cool guy Page Hamilton joins ask ostensibly to talk about making the Betty album but we also talk about (in order): George Floyd killings, Trump, Waco, seeing a dead body, Helmet on MTV, their non-image, the Betty album cover, his home studio, cancelled tours, the upcoming Helmet documentary, visiting Australia, releasing the Big Day Out live show, working with T Ray, forming Helmet, Sonic Youth, getting into jazz, revisiting the classic albums, guitars, the Judgment night soundtrack.
We do 90's a lot. But we've been saving this absolute gem for a while. Helmet's '94 sledgehammer classic release, "Betty" refined the band's bite and helped redefine alt rock and metal for years and genres to come. All muscle, sinew and beer-cool melodies. Plus, Alex tries and fails to keep his composure, as maelstrom maestro and riff swinger Page Hamilton himself joins us for a detailed, insightful and fun chat looking at all this timeless, hook laden monster.
Our interview in full with the talented Mr Nick Sansano who moved from hip hop engineering to producing a landmark album in alternative rock. How did that happen and how did they make their masterpiece
Spirit desire... Sonic Youth's 5th album was released on October 18th 1988 and changed the trajectory of rock. Blending the avant garde, dissonant noise rock and punk it was a game changer in alternative rock. We revisit this high watermark for the band and are joined by the man who recorded the album at Greene St studios in New York City, Nick Sansano. He tells of how the album was made and how he worked with the band to get the sounds and results we hear today.... We will fall
In the second part of our double episode on The Clash's masterpiece, we take you through the back half of the album where things get kinda weird. We discuss the rest of The Clash's catalogue and their acrimonious breakup. Then we look at what the members did in the remaining years and why The Clash never reformed.
We finally cover our first double album and our most requested album meaning the favourite album of Album Club listeners. So we decided to give it the treatment it deserved and do a double episode. London Calling is a monumental album in the way it broadened the idea of what punk was and could be and gave a template to other bands wanted to branch out. And it's full of banging tunes. We discuss the birth of the Clash, the recording of the album, the iconic album artwork and listen to the first half of tracks on the album.
They came from LA with a sound like no other, scraping up remnants of roots music, blues, country and mixing it up and thrashing it out with a punk sound, everyone scratched their heads for over 30 years until generations of musicians discovered them. Jack White says their songs should be taught in Schools. Led by the insufferable but irrepressible wildest of frontmen and Elvis from hell, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they carved out a niche in underground rock music and started a whole genre. On this episode, former Gun Club drummer Terry Graham joins us to talk about the making of the album, his memories of the time, his favourite songs and what he thinks of the legacy of The Gun Club and Jeffrey Lee Pierce as well as reunions. Preach the Blues!
One of the most enduring, puzzling, mythical, personal and unique albums of recent times, In the Aeroplane over Sea continues to find new listeners and increase in stature as a modern classic with each passing year. We take an in depth look at the legacy of this album and the fascinating history of its making and the motley Elephant 6 crew that inspired and created it. We go track by track and cover the way this album was the starting point and ending point of the album and why and how they broke up. So get ready for 2 headed boys, carrot flowers, pianos filled with flames, faces filled with flies, semen-stained mountaintops, Anne Frank, tomatoes and radio wires. It's all in here.
1234! This episode explores Forest Hills' finest punk underdogs' 3rd album and who, why and what TF were the Ramones. We examine how they started and if they were really a punk band at all, why they never got the recognition they deserved until they broke up, the revolving Ramone lineup and the personalities that created one of the most toxic band feuds ever. And we talk about the songs. Count it in...
The seering debut from the chanteuse of Dorset is the subject of today's dicussion. P.J. Harvey arrived fully formed with album, although she reformed and repackaged herself numerous times in future albums, to bring us a dark, haunting, angry and despondent album about sex, love, death and Sheela Na Gigs. We discuss the themes and sounds of the albums and talk about how it came to be and the impact it had.
They came from L.A. with a message to the world and a huge sound that has never been replicated. Like its cover, Rage's first album was an explosion that set alight numerous bands, movements and genres. Their politics, spat out with the incomparable Zach De La Rocha to the hitherto unheard guitar bleeps of Tom Morello worried the CIA, politicians and parents everywhere. This week The Album Club reunites to celebrate one of the 90s' most important albums. Wake up!
In 1968, Skip Spence tried to murder his Moby Grape bandmates with an axe under the influence of acid and black magic. He was put in an insane asylum for 6 months. When he was released he had pages and pages of songs so he bought a Harley, drove to Nashville and recorded an album in 2 weeks. Then he rode away at the age of 22 and never released another song. His album was the lowest selling in Columbia's history but soon became a massive influence on artists from the 90s. That album was Oar.
Listen my friends! It's the story of Moby Grape, the band most likely to succeed, that failed, horrendously, though through no fault of their own. Bad management, bad tours, bad drugs, bad production, bad promotion all conspired against this remarkable supergroup. Listen to how they came together and created a classic debut before they succumbed tot hat age old pitfall of novelty songs, black magic and hallucinogens. Part one of two.
In the second half of the 2 part special on The Vines' explosive debut album, original assist and co-founder of the band, Patrick Matthews takes us through the story behind the album cover artwork, a track by track analysis of the album and we talk about why he had to walk away from the band.
We were lucky to have The Vines co-founder and former bassist Pat Matthews with us to talk about The Vines debut smash album Highly Evolved. In part one, we talk about how Pat formed the Vines with Craig Nicholls while working in McDonalds and created an amazing bunch of demos which saw them become the new hype band and get flown to LA to record the album
An ending fitting for the start. In part 2 of our Libertines double header we find out what happened after the release of Up the Bracket and follow Pete's descent into heroin and crack hell, and ultimately prison. We also look at the birth of Babyshambles, the reunion and freedom gig and discover what a steeplejack does. We mourn the ultimate dissolution of the band but not before releasing their second wondrous album of which we gift you a track by track analysis. Hurry up Mrs Brown, I can feel it coming down and it won't take none too long!
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Great knowledge on some great albums here. They got In Utero spot on.Libertines too. Will definitely stick with these . Tool are fucking awesome too so don't listen to that dick.
great podcast if you like to hear people unwrap food and talk while chewing.
Episode 54 and they've started scraping bottom already? Good God who would put Tool's output anywhere near the zip code of greatest albums.
This is a great podcast for music lovers!