1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,280 Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts Andy, Don, and Dude. 2 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:20,400 Hello lovers. It is I, Dude. This is the Album Nerds podcast. Got Andy and Don with me. Andy, 3 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,240 are you ready to talk about your love? 4 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:25,920 Are you inviting me into the hot tub, man? 5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,320 Yeah, I'm a little worried about this episode. We've got 6 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,800 album picks from our lovers. I'm a little concerned we're going to offend some people 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:40,240 in the process here. Yes, but passion comes from anger and anger turns to love. 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,880 You feeling the love over there, though? Are you alone? Because you've got my interest. 9 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,080 Oh, gosh. Oh my gosh. Was that on like a little 10 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:56,560 candy heart or something? Are you French? Because I fell for you. Oh, this is chat GPT all day long. 11 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,560 Do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date? Oh, God. Oh my gosh. Okay. 12 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:09,040 So this is the Album Nerd's podcast. We love albums, the album format and terrible jokes. 13 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,920 Today we've got a great show for you. We're going to be talking about our lovers collection. So 14 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:20,320 albums that are special someone's love. Then Don's going to ask us a deep question. 15 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:24,800 And we're going to have some shout outs to some other albums or album related items that we're 16 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,640 digging. And then we're going to spin that wheel of musical discovery to find out what we'll be 17 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:34,000 talking about next time. But this week it's all about our lovers. Who else wants to talk about 18 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:41,520 their lover? That's what I'm talking about. So a romantic relationship is not just the union 19 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:47,280 of souls. It can also be a combining of music collections. Exploring a spouse's album collection 20 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,400 can be an enlightening journey through their tastes and experiences. You can find both treasures 21 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:58,320 and trash. And today each of us will present an album from our romantic partners collections. 22 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,480 We all have trash in our collections. 23 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:10,240 Yeah. So it's always an interesting conversation with your partner, wife, husband, lover, 24 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:15,760 whatever about your music collection, what you used to love, what you do love now, and finding 25 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,560 that common ground. And so this is the interesting journey of just saying, Hey, you know, what's an 26 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,320 album that really sticks out to you as important or great or that you enjoyed when you were young. 27 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:31,440 So this is fun to try and look at it from that perspective. And so I'm sure these conversations 28 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:37,440 led to several potential album picks. What other albums did you think about for the show before 29 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:43,760 making your final choice? Yeah. Yeah. We talked long, long into the night about potential records 30 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:49,920 to go over. Strawberries and whipped cream, champagne. Of course. Every conversation we have 31 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:55,600 includes those things. If you mentioned a couple that I was not super familiar with, the other one 32 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:02,560 that I didn't pick was Sublime's 40 Aunts of Freedom. Thank God. I know that you had some 33 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:08,000 reservations about that record, dude. The debut album for that ska punk group, very popular, 34 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,400 her being on the radio, quite a few singles from that record. Apparently one of the most successful 35 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,400 independent releases of the era. Didn't know that. Yeah, that's a cool sound. I mean, 36 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:22,560 that's a good gateway to reggae, I think, that album and that band perhaps. How about you, Don? 37 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:28,320 Well, probably my wife's favorite artist is Keith Urban, but we did one of his albums not too long 38 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:35,520 ago. Another one I considered was Blake Shelton. His album from 2016, if I'm honest, actually came 39 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:41,760 out not long after his divorce from Miranda Lambert. That's actually there in the record. 40 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,720 There's some breakup songs on there that are kind of fun. 41 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,160 Yeah, sounds juicy. That guy has so many hits. It's ridiculous. 42 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,360 He just has a charming way about him. Yeah. 43 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,880 Every man vibe even though he's like not at this point. 44 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:58,880 Right. Yeah. How about you, dude? 45 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:06,560 Toto. Toto IV is an album my wife had when she was a kid. I guess she got it as a birthday or 46 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:13,040 Christmas present at one point. It was released in April of 82. It was their fourth studio album, 47 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:20,240 thus Toto IV. It features that polished blend of rock, pop and jazz and had Africa on it, 48 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:26,720 which was famously recently covered by Weezer. Rosanna, which is another really well known 49 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,360 track. Toto also was involved in a lot of other projects, including Michael Jackson's thriller, 50 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,960 but it's just so clean and fun to listen to. I wanted to go with something that maybe went a 51 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:43,600 little deeper lyrically. No Toto this time, folks. Sorry. All right. Why don't we get into our 52 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:48,400 choo choo choo choices? You choo choo choose me? 53 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:56,720 All right. For my lovers collection selection. 54 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,440 We're going with the ODB, old dirty bastard. That's romantic. 55 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:09,840 Nothing more romantic than ODB. Going with his debut album, returned to the 36 chambers, 56 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:18,960 the dirty version. Let's hear second single and the second cut. Shimi Shimi Ya. 57 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:28,720 There's of course the old dirty bastard himself there with production by RZA. This was the 58 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:35,440 second in the series of solo Wu Tang albums that came out after their big debut a couple of years 59 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:41,600 prior. This is the follow up to Method Man's Tikal, which was in 1994. Yeah. I'm this record 60 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,880 kind of making a pretty big splash when I was in school. I remember the album art quite 61 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,720 prevently being around my high school. So my wife grew up listening to this record in high school. 62 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:59,120 Wu Tang was big in her with her friend group and she can rap the first eight tracks, I would say, 63 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,680 pretty much straight through without hesitation. Yeah. It's dangerous putting this all on at the 64 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:09,520 house because she will just tear into it pretty quickly. Wow. Yeah. I mean, you guys could have 65 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,760 one of those nice moments when you're sitting at the piano and you can start going ding, ding, ding, 66 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,880 ding, ding, ding, ding. She could shimmy shimmy ya for you. She could just chime in. Yeah. 67 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,280 I'm definitely the RZA of the relationship, I would say. 68 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:27,920 Next clickbait headline for returned to the 36 chambers is ODB takes the wheel and immediately 69 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,440 jumps the curb, runs through a fruit stand and parks in the middle of a fountain. 70 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:37,440 And this is a pretty unhinged record as you probably would expect if you know anything about 71 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:44,480 ODB. He's a pretty messy, energetic, creative figure. And this record, I think, captures his 72 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:51,440 essence pretty well, the good and the bad of his personality. There's some great moments on here, 73 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:56,000 I think, that do rival there, the Wu Tang's debut, especially towards the beginning of the record. 74 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,720 But in all, now it's a pin as the record goes on, it kind of falls apart more and more. And 75 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:10,640 there's just so many odd skits and singing and ODB has this kind of odd singing voice he uses 76 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,480 a lot of times when they're in the record. I feel like there had to be 50 people in the 77 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:21,760 room trying to keep him on track. Like, hey man, you got to do this verse now. You got to get 78 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:27,520 something on tape today. You can feel it even throughout the album. That's just my feeling. 79 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:33,840 Yeah. I know the album took over two years to produce, I guess, which is even back then, 80 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:38,480 that's a long time to make a record. Let's jump in here and play. This is track four. 81 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,360 I believe this is also a single off the album. This is Brooklyn Zoo. 82 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,040 I'm the one man army, hey Sean. I never been tooken out. I keep MCs looking out. 83 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,560 I drop signs like cross, be dropping babies. Another mech, another mech, another mech. 84 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:56,240 So yeah, Brooklyn Zoo seems to be kind of a tirade against some unknown adversary. One of the 85 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:02,160 potential origin stories is that it was born out of an argument he had with members of the group, 86 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:07,760 Brooklyn Zoo, who I guess he hung out with a lot. According to Brooklyn Zoo member Buddha Monk, 87 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:12,720 ODB channeled the energy and anger from this dispute into the recording booth and used some 88 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:18,080 of the words and phrases from that argument to craft the track. So something like a musical 89 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:24,160 equivalent of a lover's quarrel. Yeah. He's like, are we getting Chinese? Are we getting pizza? 90 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:32,560 But kind of typical of the record, it's kind of simple backing, just that piano, 91 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:38,240 that little piano melody that they use quite a bit. Actually, he uses the line, 92 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:43,840 shame on you when you step through the old dirty bastard Brooklyn Zoo. He basically says the same 93 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:49,760 thing in Protect Your Neck on the Wu Tang record. All right, so my clickbait headline is ODB Reminds 94 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:55,360 Album Nerd Why He Was Never Into Hip Hop. That's not really a diss. 95 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:59,520 Don't say that. That's not really a diss. 96 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,520 That's not a diss. 97 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:11,120 It's just so crass and crude. I think it's probably intentionally off putting, but it's just so, 98 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,560 there's that word, sophomoric again and juvenile. It feels like my friends and I used to record 99 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:22,640 ourselves just saying nonsense and it sounds like something we would have recorded for each other. 100 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,600 But on the other hand, I do think there's some magic here. I think his sort of 101 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:33,360 sing songy rap style is kind of interesting. I'm not really sure who else does that. Maybe Busta 102 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:38,000 Rhymes kind of has something like that, maybe Biz Markie, but yeah, it seems to be unique. 103 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:44,800 And I like the way he raps. I think the backing tracks are perfect in sort of eerie feel, 104 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:50,960 which somehow works with his weird nature, just this thing that can't be contained. 105 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:58,320 Well, I mean, this is like the anti-intellectual album compared to other things we've listened to 106 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:03,360 recently. Yeah, sure. Compared to that Tribe record last week is kind of the opposite. 107 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:08,080 Yeah. But on the other hand, I get the sense that maybe he plays sort of a buffoon, 108 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,400 but I bet he's actually a genius. That's a different guy. That's the jizzle. 109 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:19,120 Oh, right. Oops. But yeah, I mean, he's a character, and I think he's sort of crafting 110 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,960 his character. I don't know. I feel like there's more to him. 111 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:27,520 Yeah. You wonder how much of this is like a character he's putting on, or a persona versus 112 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,840 who he actually is. Or was. 113 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,200 Right. Just the first time ever you sucked my d***. 114 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,760 Oh, geez. Is that the name of the song? 115 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:39,840 That was in the intro, right? I think so. 116 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,400 Oh, the five minute intro track. Yeah. 117 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,280 I do feel like, yeah, it is very immature on purpose. 118 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,600 Yeah. And I think your point about 119 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:57,280 playing a character to some degree is probably true. I mean, because Wu-Tang Clan was not only a 120 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:03,760 rap collective, they're also a group of friends. And everyone kind of plays their role in a group 121 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:09,520 of friends. And if he was the doing crazy stuff, saying crazy stuff guy, then that personality has 122 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:16,880 to be amplified for the performative side of things. And I agree that sometimes I feel like 123 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:22,800 it goes too far. There are moments when I was made to feel uncomfortable, but that's the point. 124 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,640 And I think the people who really loved this album, those were the moments that intrigued 125 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,640 them the most. They kind of embrace that it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. 126 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:45,040 Yeah. Let's jump in here and play another cut from the record. This is track three, Baby Come On. 127 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:51,920 I like that moment in that song, probably among the best besides Shime Shime Ya, just because 128 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,000 it feels the most like a track that would have potentially been on a Wu-Tang album. 129 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:03,120 It feels a little more focused and in control. But yeah, I mean, again, braggadocious lyrics, 130 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:12,960 minimalist, grimy beats. And I guess it really exemplifies this album as a whole personality 131 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:19,520 driven hip hop and rap, as opposed to lyrical meaning, painting pictures of the landscape 132 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:27,120 around them or whatever. This is about this guy's personality. It's definitely on display here. 133 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:32,160 My clickbait headline to describe Return to the 36 Chambers. Is there a clean version? 134 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:35,280 There's not a clean version. 135 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:40,080 Old Dirty Bastard took the Wu-Tang Clan's raw energy and embraces the madness. 136 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:49,760 Yeah. I think he just probably even lived that way in that universe, I guess. So unpredictable. 137 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:55,120 I read that the RZA had to piece together verses from random studio recordings to make 138 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,320 some of the tracks. I believe it. 139 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:05,120 Sort of a no rules approach to rapping, whether it be with what you say or with the way that 140 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,520 flows happen, the disruption in a flow, the change of cadence. 141 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:17,360 It's so wild to hear ODB rap verse and then hear someone like Method Man who was pretty on the beat 142 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,880 and understand what he's saying, go back to back. 143 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:27,520 That's part of the problem too, is losing any kind of threads throughout. That's why the songs that 144 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,520 work best are the ones with a raise your hands in the air moment, like the saying Wu-Tang or 145 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,680 Shimmy Shimmy, something that you can grab onto, even if it's nonsense. 146 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:39,440 Yeah. Bring it all back together. 147 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:47,920 Yeah. This is not for everyone. I don't think even hip hop heads, its inconsistency and its length. 148 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:54,400 An album this long being unfocused makes it a challenge at times. I do feel that his unique 149 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,680 style and personality worked better in the group setting. 150 00:13:57,680 --> 00:13:58,880 Yeah. I agree. 151 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,080 Because then it's a flavor in the overall recipe. 152 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,920 Yeah. You need some meat and potatoes in there too. You can't just have all flavor. 153 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,080 Yeah. Just drinking a bottle of hot sauce is what it's like listening to this record. 154 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:11,520 Yeah. Seriously. 155 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:16,560 But I mean, I do think this album is a classic in that it captures his unique talent and he 156 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:21,760 is a hip hop pioneer, warts and all. And this is at the peak of his creativity, even though it 157 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:26,320 needed a little help from his friends. But this character that exists now in hip hop history 158 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:32,400 exists because this album so effectively showcased it, even though sometimes it's hard to keep your 159 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:37,440 eye on the ball. Yeah. I think he has a little bit of a mythology around him now. He's kind of a 160 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,600 larger than life character, especially after he was passing away about 10 years after this album. 161 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:48,640 All right. Well, that is my wife's selection there. I got ODB, Return 36 Chambers, the Dirty 162 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,200 Version. Definitely an interesting little capsule from that mid-90s hip hop. If you're not familiar 163 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,640 with what was going on with Wu Tang, it's a great place to jump in. 164 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:06,000 Before we continue on our love us journey, why don't we hear from our friend Jess from Music 165 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:13,920 Notes with Jess. Hi, I'm Jessica Ann Katina. I've always loved music and surround myself with it 166 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:19,680 every day. I've sung in choirs, took digital musical classes in college and used to work in 167 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:26,320 radio. To further share my knowledge and experience with others, I created this podcast, Music Notes 168 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:33,920 with Jess in 2019. I'm so fortunate of the listener growth and hearing back from some of the celebs I 169 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:41,280 discussed in past episodes. That's why now I'm ready to expand. So let's have fun taking weekly 170 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:48,800 music notes of throwbacks, modern hips and media. Thank you. Talk to you soon on Music Notes with 171 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:55,760 Jess. Go check out Music Notes with Jess wherever you get your podcasts after you listen to ours. 172 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:06,720 So my pick for my lovers collection comes from Night Rangers, Midnight Madness from 1983. This 173 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:13,520 is the second album by the rock band formed in San Francisco in 1979. The band's lineup at the time 174 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:19,200 was bassist and vocalist Jack Blades, guitarist Brad Gillis, drummer, vocalist Kelly Keighy, 175 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:24,080 guitarist Jeff Watson and keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald. It was in the band Montrose with 176 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:30,400 Sammy Hagar. Oh, Sammy Hagar, nice. So my wife, she and her friends in college, I guess, really 177 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:35,840 latched on to Night Ranger and they were really big fans and I've actually seen them live a bunch 178 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,440 of times with them. Well, Jack Blades a good looking dude too. Oh yeah, yep. I'm sure that was 179 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:45,920 part of it. Of course. Well, let's hear the biggest hit from this album. It's Sister Christian. 180 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:55,200 Sister Christian, oh the time has come and you know that you're the only one. 181 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:00,880 All right. So Sister Christian was written and sung by drummer Kelly Keighy. It was inspired by 182 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,480 his younger sister, Christy, after visiting his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He was struck by how 183 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:11,680 quickly she was growing up. She was 10 years younger than him. He wrote the song expressing 184 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:16,480 his feelings as a protective older brother. Apparently when he introduced this song to his 185 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:23,520 bandmates, he was actually saying Sister Christy, but they mistook it as Sister Christian and so they 186 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:28,400 stuck with that. It's got the term motoring in it. It's motoring. 187 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:33,040 Like I always wondered, so does that mean moving through life quickly, motoring? 188 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,640 Yeah. I mean, I think it was kind of a reference to sort of cruising around, 189 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:42,560 like young people do, but I think yeah, motoring is probably also moving through life as you say. 190 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:48,400 Not young people cruise around, but mostly in Fortnite instead of in actual cars. 191 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:49,360 Yeah, true. 192 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:51,360 They scroll around more than anything. 193 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:57,680 Well, my clickbait headline for Midnight Madness is Night Ranger goes motoring down 194 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,160 Sentimental Street with melodic hooks. Sentimental Street was actually a hit that came 195 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:07,440 on their next album, Seven Witches, but yeah, I mean it's a lot of just sentimental lyrics, 196 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:12,320 lots of love and love lost kind of stuff. I mean, it's arena rock, I think more than it is 197 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,840 like glam rock. I think it has more in common with the journeys of the world. 198 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:24,080 Those things hadn't been completely defined yet. I think bands were struggling when they were 199 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:30,560 like hard rock bands. I preferred their first album, Dawn Patrol. It was a little edgier, 200 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:36,000 this one, the edges are smoothed off a little bit, but the name of the game was getting on MTV 201 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:40,880 and getting on the radio. And at that time, making devil horns and stuff wasn't going to get you 202 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:41,680 a number one hit. 203 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,160 Does Sister Christian have a good video? 204 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:44,640 Oh yeah. 205 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,480 Very cinematic. 206 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,640 Yeah, and the same girl that is in that is also in the When You Close Your Eyes video. 207 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:56,160 Yeah, I would say they have more in common probably with like Billy Joel than Judas Priest, 208 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:01,520 I think. I mean, these are just pop songs. Although, I mean, they're a bit more aggressive 209 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,840 than Journey and Foreigner, I think, because they got like the dual guitars. And I mean, 210 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:10,320 I think both guitarists in the group, Brad Gillis, who had played with Ozzy after Randy 211 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:15,920 Rhodes passed away, and Jeff Watson, I think they're both technically very good guitarists. 212 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,520 They seem to have some cred among musicians of that time, of that rock world, 213 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,480 but others have called them the air supply of heavy metal. 214 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:30,000 Yeah, I read that too. Anyway, well, let's hear more. Here's When You Close Your Eyes. 215 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:44,320 Yeah, so this is a power ballad about lost love and nostalgia. They were kind of kings of the 216 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:49,760 early power ballad. I'm not saying they were the first to do it, but they definitely were good at 217 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:55,840 it. These are well-crafted, well-written songs. Lyrically, they're interesting, I think, especially 218 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,480 for the time. But it's about the lingering feelings and memories of past relationship, 219 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:05,760 and then wondering if your former lover is still thinking about you, you know. 220 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,640 According to the video, the former lover is married to a chimp. 221 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,760 Oh, that's interesting. 222 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,240 Check that out. Lost my lover to a monkey. 223 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,560 Heart wants what the heart wants, right? Yeah, so there are soaring vocals on here. 224 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:22,240 Death Leopard-esque, like that part we played, you know, kind of feels a little bit like the 225 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:28,320 early Death Leopard stuff. It just doesn't take it up to 11. It keeps it down around seven, 226 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:34,080 and that's fine. I think it works for this song. My clickbait headline to describe the album, 227 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:40,000 not quite metal, not quite pop. Midnight Madness proves Night Ranger was the ultimate 80s rock 228 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:46,320 tweener. As, you know, we kind of got to, they're not quite Toto Journey Sticks, REO Speedway, 229 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,480 Speedwagon, or, and they're also not quite Death Leopard Quiet Riot Judas Priest. 230 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:55,200 They're somewhere in the middle, and I think that's a hard place to be moving forward. 231 00:20:55,200 --> 00:21:00,960 At the time, it was the right place to be, like trying to hit all those angles and the fans of 232 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:06,480 all of those types of bands. Overall, I enjoyed it. I thought the vocalists sounded great. I think 233 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:13,280 the songwriting was above average. Sister Christian is like clearly a classic. Yeah, it's just an 234 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:19,040 awkward time in rock music and hard rock music and metal. The labeling had started to begin 235 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,760 of what subgenre you were a part of. Yeah, these guys got kind of left behind 236 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:28,400 once like the Bon Jovi's and the Poisons and, you know, all those groups that, 237 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,000 who have a lot in common with Night Ranger, I think. They do. They're very similar. I think 238 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,520 maybe the keyboard work may have sanded the edges off a little bit too much. Things are electrified, 239 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:43,200 and then it just gets really saturated with a little more sappiness, and the keyboard touches 240 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:48,400 were what was doing that for me, especially upon a headphone listen. I'd be kind of rocking along 241 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:54,240 to the Touch of Madness. It was an album highlight for me. That nursery rhyme intro is cool. It's 242 00:21:54,240 --> 00:22:00,960 even more Def Leopardy, and those keys came in and kind of took away from the power of it for me, 243 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:07,040 but still I really enjoyed that track as well. Yeah, I think it suffers from sort of that early 244 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:12,880 and mid-80s production, and a lot of the hard rock and metal of that time, I think, 245 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:18,560 suffers because it's just very trebly, you know? And I don't think this has been remastered, 246 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,840 or at least like the versions I've found are not remastered, and it definitely sounds of its time 247 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,880 from a production standpoint. All right, let's hear another one. This is actually the opening 248 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:42,480 cut. You Can Still Rock in America. You know, thanks to this great country of ours, 249 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:50,240 you still can rock in America. Yeah, most people can. That was the first single from the album that 250 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:55,520 peaked at number 51 on the Billboard. It features Glenn Hughes on backing vocals. 251 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,760 Ah, nice. He was in Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. The Black Sabbath connection there, interesting. 252 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,560 Blades, who was the lead singer, one of the lead singers. Yeah. Blades said that he wrote the song 253 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,600 as a commentary on what he was seeing when he was out there, when everybody was saying rock was dead. 254 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,280 They're still saying it. Yeah, I know. I remember people saying that since like the 60s, I think. 255 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:22,160 My Click-Pay headline for Midnight Madness is Night Rager can cock the perfect midnight snack 256 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,360 filled with plenty of cheesy lyrics, a heavy dose of repetitive guitar, and a glaze of squeaky 257 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:33,040 production. Wow. Yeah, I definitely agree with Don's comment on the production there being very 258 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:41,280 treble focused and squeaky clean, which is not uncommon of the era by any means. I just have real 259 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:47,120 issue with this being labeled as like hard rock or heavy metal and having a keyboard doing the 260 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:54,400 primary rhythm for the group. It just sounds unlike any sort of rock I'm familiar with, I guess. It 261 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:59,600 just feels very pop-orientated, I guess, to me. I thought it was a bad thing, but I think positioning 262 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,760 it as rock for me feels like you're trying to package stuff as something it's not. 263 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:10,560 Yeah. Well, I think terminology changes. I mean, in the 50s, rock was Chuck Berry. 264 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:19,680 I think it's a slippery term of what hard rock is. In 1982 or three, this was more aggressive 265 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:26,800 guitar wise than say Huey Lewis and the News or something, or Billy Joel, or even REO Speedwagon 266 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:32,080 and Journey and some of those others we mentioned. This one, I feel like it borrows some sounds from 267 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,320 the New Wave of British heavy metal, dual guitar harmonies and things like that. 268 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:44,000 Guitar riffs, perhaps. Yeah. It just feels very watered down. Even the guitar riffs are interesting 269 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:49,600 at times. They're just very, very repetitive. I think after a few moments, you get the gist 270 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,680 of what they're going for here. Wow. I feel like this is a transitional 271 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,320 sound going mainstream essentially of some of those sounds. 272 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,800 Yeah. It does sound like a very mainstream version of that sound, I guess, which is fine. 273 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:13,440 Not for me, but that's okay. It's interesting, Andy, that you tend to reject pop from this era 274 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:21,280 for being commercial or too mainstream, but then you embrace the K-pop or more dance-oriented pop. 275 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:27,920 You seem to forgive the commercial nature and the poppiness of those genres, but not 80s rock. 276 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,880 Yeah. What up with that? Grab a napkin, homie. You just got served. 277 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:39,440 That's a fair point. I think, I don't know, 80s pop to me always feels like it's pretending to be 278 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:46,880 harder than it is. Whereas today's pop, I don't get that pretension from it at all. It feels like 279 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,120 more of a sugary package that's intended for that use. Whereas, I don't know, 80s pop, 280 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,040 maybe it's just the hair is being longer, makes me feel like it's trying to be metal or something. 281 00:25:55,040 --> 00:26:01,280 It just doesn't have that low end. It's just not there in the 80s at all. That really bothers me. 282 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:07,840 It's not a low end era, unfortunately. All right. Well, for nine catchy pop hits 283 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,720 with a hard rock treatment, check out Night Rangers, Midnight Madness from 1983. 284 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,200 Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a few questions. 285 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:28,400 Okay. It's time again for Deep Questions by Don. All right. So, we've been introduced to 286 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:33,920 some different music by our partners. What other things has your partner introduced you to? 287 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:44,640 On my in-laws. I mean, there's a lot of things. Just looking back over, 288 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,560 we've been together for like 10 or 12 years now, 11 years. 289 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:49,200 You better know. 290 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,040 The first one that came to mind would be like gardening. We do a lot of different houseplants 291 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:04,080 and vegetables and whatnot. My wife is very knowledgeable about that. My wife was a massage 292 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,400 therapist for many years. So, she's taught me a lot about how the body works and different muscle 293 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:13,600 groups and how they all affect each other. She's been getting like Indian philosophies and religion. 294 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,800 So, I know a lot about that from her. I mean, I probably could go on for quite a while, 295 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,440 but those are the main things I could think of. Yeah, how about you, Don? 296 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:29,360 Well, the one thing that my wife introduced me to was vodka martinis. I had gin martinis before, 297 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:35,120 but never vodka martinis. But all sorts of things, obviously, but fatherhood and grand fatherhood. 298 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:41,520 When I married her, my stepdaughter was a teenager and she's grown up and has kids now. So, 299 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:48,320 experiencing the tail end of adolescence and crappy boyfriends and all that stuff, 300 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:56,480 that was eye-opening and grew me up quite a bit pretty quickly. So, yeah, just becoming a man 301 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,400 is what my wife introduced me to. 302 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:11,200 So, yeah, I guess one thing my wife introduced me to or introduced me to caring about is the 303 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:18,640 royal family and the British monarchy. My whole life, I just couldn't have given less of a shit 304 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:26,080 about any of that. I remember when Princess died and I was like, why do people care? But now, 305 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:32,640 I've just seen so many movies and documentaries, not just like the current royal family, but going 306 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:40,640 back to Henry VIII and stuff. It really is kind of fascinating, just that long legacy of rulers 307 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:47,440 and bad behavior. Just like, I guess, any kind of history. The history of the British monarchy is 308 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:48,560 pretty fascinating stuff. 309 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,240 Well, geez, you've become like a sleeper agent for the Redcoats, huh? 310 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:55,200 Damn. 311 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:56,480 I'm a monarchist. 312 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:57,360 It's the spine. 313 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:05,440 All right. Well, what did your partner introduce you to? Let us know on Instagram and Facebook, 314 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:15,600 or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds.com. From my lovers collection, I bring Sir Elton John, 315 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:20,320 born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, the renowned British singer, songwriter, pianist, 316 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:27,600 who has achieved much success throughout music and Broadway and blah, blah, blah. It's a long list. 317 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:28,320 I've heard of him. 318 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:35,120 His career includes chart-topping albums, singles contributions to musical films and theater and 319 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:40,080 probably Lion King being so important to so many people was because of Elton John. 320 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:46,640 But this album is Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy from May of 1975. 321 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:52,880 This is a concept that chronicles the autobiographical story of Elton John and 322 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:58,560 his writing partner, Bernie Taupin. Elton is Captain Fantastic. Bernie is the Brown Dirt Cowboy. 323 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:03,600 And there's themes of hardship, rejection, self-doubt, perseverance, all about their early 324 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:08,640 years up until this point in 1975. Why don't we jump into the opening track, 325 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,960 Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. 326 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:27,200 So the track kind of opens is like an Americana, almost country western sort of vibe to it. 327 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:33,760 And then there's that subtle interplay between the electric piano and the acoustic guitar. 328 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:41,120 And it's really about their alter egos of these two starry-eyed young dreamers that met and 329 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,640 contributed to each other's musical journey. And then the song really changes throughout. 330 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,440 You get more of a funky rock and roll treatment later on in the song. 331 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,400 Bernie Taupin would write the lyrics. Elton John would compose around them. 332 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:05,680 And these lyrics are quite detailed and not pop songs per se. And Elton's ability to write music 333 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:13,360 and then find ways to phrase those words is very at the forefront for me of why this is a special 334 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:18,320 album. And my wife grew up loving the album, listening from start to finish over and over 335 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:23,520 again. I'd heard it before, but her story is about spending hours reading the liner notes and 336 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:29,040 exploring the album's art and lyrics. And she had a big crush on Bernie Taupin, not Elton John, 337 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:34,880 which I think that tells you something about someone when the poet, the lyric writers who 338 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,600 they're drawn to, much like me, I'm a deep soul. You attracted to Bernie as well. 339 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:47,600 So I clicked the headline to describe Captain Fantastic, proof that sometimes the nerdy kid 340 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,880 at the piano and the cowboy poet end up ruling the world. I mean, they were at their high point 341 00:31:52,880 --> 00:32:00,000 here. And to look back on it and try to level set is a really interesting choice to make instead of 342 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,360 writing another album full of top 40 hits. So yeah, I think it's something special. 343 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:10,640 It's pretty interesting to take a moment in the middle of your career to look back like this. 344 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,800 I wonder what prompted them to take that moment. It's kind of odd. 345 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:16,000 I don't know if it has- 346 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,960 They've been working together for a long time up to this point, right? 347 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:23,760 Yeah, like a decade. So I don't know if it was just like a time of change and growth. 348 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:30,480 Music was changing by 1975. So maybe it was just an opportunity to try to put it all in perspective. 349 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,840 And these guys were grownups by this point and probably had gone through a lot. 350 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,840 All right. Why don't we continue our journey with Tell Me When the Whistle Blows? 351 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:48,720 Music playing. 352 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:53,280 Lousy track there about Bernie, who I guess grew up in the country, 353 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:58,080 kind of thinking about that life he had there. And I'm wondering if he could ever get back to it. 354 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,520 And if he lost his country soul. I like that idea. 355 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:07,680 CB. My clickbait headline for Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is Elton and Bernie 356 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:13,840 Weave a Colorful Tapestry from Their Collective Talents and History. This does very much feel like 357 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:21,040 a two-hander like so many of Elton's records are. I guess you really can sense the camaraderie 358 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:27,280 between the guys here and just how deep their relationship is and how much they are dependent 359 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:31,600 on each other for their success. They're kind of tied together at the hip. 360 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:32,160 Like us. 361 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:37,680 Yeah. Pretty much exactly like us. We'd all be useless on our own. 362 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,680 I think what really struck me listening to this record, not being super familiar with Elton John's 363 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:52,000 career at all, his voice sounds fantastic on this record. Just very light and free and just moves 364 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,480 effortlessly through these tracks. Along with the arrangements too are super interesting and doesn't 365 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:01,440 like dude said, it's not really a pop record. It's more going on than just like a traditional 366 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,560 pop song. The structures are not that expected. 367 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:12,240 Yeah. Interestingly, I read that it was noticed by critics that his voice was a little rough 368 00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:15,520 because they just come off a tour, but I think it sounds great too. 369 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:16,800 Yeah. Yeah, it really does. 370 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,400 It's got just the right timbre and energy and emotion. 371 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,920 Yeah. Not a lot of like anthems or hits sound here. I mean, there's like a couple that you 372 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:31,280 might recognize, but yeah, there's some cool string accompaniments and it feels more like 373 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:38,480 a Dylan record than like a pop Elton John record, I think in terms of the density and the poetic 374 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:43,200 qualities going on here. So yeah, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was quite good and 375 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:44,800 I'll probably come back to it in the future. 376 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:50,160 All right. So why don't we continue with probably the biggest hit and most recognizable song here, 377 00:34:50,160 --> 00:35:02,240 Someone Saved My Life Tonight. 378 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:06,400 I spend a lot of good mornings with Sugar Bear, Sugar Crisp cereal. 379 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,560 Yeah, I'll hear Sugar Crisp cereal. 380 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:10,480 I thought that was a pet name for your wife. 381 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:19,040 All right. So yeah, Someone Saved My Life Tonight is of course written. The music is by Elton John 382 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,320 and lyrics are by Bernie Taupin. So the song concludes side one of the album, chronicles 383 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:31,600 their early history in finding their way in the music industry. So this refers to a time in 1968 384 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:37,040 when John was engaged to be married to his girlfriend, Linda Woodrow. So John and Woodrow 385 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:42,960 were sharing a flat with Taupin. John didn't love her and felt trapped by it. So he made a 386 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:49,680 sort of a half-assed attempt at suicide. He tried to asphyxiate himself with a gas oven, 387 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,520 but he left the windows open. So I mean, that's more a cry for a help. 388 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,840 I thought you were going to say he tried to exfoliate himself. 389 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:06,160 Yeah. So fortunately he wasn't successful and he took refuge in his friends. One of them was 390 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:13,600 Long John Baldry. And so he is supposedly Sugar Bear, who was this British singer and actor. 391 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:19,040 Porn star. That is a porn name if ever I heard. 392 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:27,280 Well, Sugar Bear convinced him to not get married and to sort of focus on his musical career. 393 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:28,000 Good advice. 394 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:29,440 Yeah. 395 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,520 The lyrics and butterflies are free to fly. It actually comes from Dickens, 396 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:39,040 Bleak House. The quote is, I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely 397 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,400 not deny Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies. 398 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,200 Will not deny Skimpole. 399 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:54,160 All right. So my clickbait headline for Captain Fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy is Captain 400 00:36:54,160 --> 00:37:01,680 Fantastic. Out shines the brown dirt. So it's just, there's no dirt on this. I mean, it's just 401 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:07,120 a shiny album. Although not as shiny as other Elton John records. 402 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:14,160 I think that's what I like about it so much is it feels more grounded in reality and it's not 403 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:15,680 as performative. 404 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:22,320 Yeah. I agree with that. It's much easier to process than Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I mean, 405 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,840 it's a great album, but it was just so many, it goes so many directions. And so this was just 406 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:33,680 easy to process for a concept album. And I tend to think of concept albums as being like these 407 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:39,120 big pieces. This album doesn't feel big. It just feels like a regular album that has a narrative 408 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:45,680 that goes throughout it. But I mean, it's a very accessible album, although not overtly poppy 409 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:47,760 other than someone saved my life tonight. 410 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:53,920 Yeah. One interesting thing I read was that this was the first album to debut at number one on 411 00:37:53,920 --> 00:38:00,160 the billboard 200. Like no album had done that up to this point. The album cover created by 412 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:06,880 Alan Aldridge is so interesting. Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights 413 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:11,520 Renaissance Painter. I guess it was one of the most expensive album covers ever commissioned. 414 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:17,840 I mean, the packaging is beautiful. The gatefold is beautiful. There's a huge booklet with tons 415 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:22,800 of details and pictures of them and throughout that first part of their history together. 416 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:30,160 And then Tower of Babel is a standout track that delves into rock and roll gospel with 417 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:36,480 biblical imagery, but critiquing the exploitive nature of the music industry. And got to get a 418 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:42,400 meal ticket describing the desperation of signing a contract just to survive in the music business. 419 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:49,760 Yeah. I'm surprised how funky that track was. There's some real funk moments on here I wasn't 420 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:50,480 expecting. 421 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:55,440 I think they were free at this point to just let it all go, do whatever. 422 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:57,120 Like butterflies. 423 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:04,400 Elton John himself has said that this is his finest work. And then we all fall in love sometimes, 424 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:09,600 which is kind of, it sounds like a romance, but it's about falling in love with the pursuit of 425 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:16,080 one's passion and this love between Bernie and Elton. It's not romantic in any way, but it's 426 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:21,520 that their passion, the passion they shared for music. And then Curtains closes it out. So nice. 427 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,840 I love this album. I've learned to love it because of my wife introducing it to me and 428 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:30,480 describing it the way she did. So I'm going to nominate this for the album, The Hotel of Fame. 429 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:38,800 I mean, the album tells a story. It resets what Elton John and Bernie Toppin were going to do 430 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:45,600 moving forward and looking back at what they had accomplished together. And just so beautifully 431 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:50,960 laid out, the music is great. The lyrics are great. Elton sounds amazing. And the fact that 432 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:55,680 my wife recognized something in this at a young age tells me a lot about the album and about 433 00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,680 her being awesome. So it's a yes for me. 434 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:03,280 Well, I agree with all those things. For me, I just haven't listened to this record enough 435 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:08,480 to really have a strong opinion on it one way or the other, I don't think. But I do, I do, 436 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:11,040 I'm enjoying it so far. So I'm going to say maybe. 437 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:13,520 Maybe is a no folks. 438 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:20,960 All right. Well, I think Elton John and Bernie Toppin are just one of the great songwriting 439 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:28,000 duos. And I think it makes sense that we would have at least one Elton John record in our Hall 440 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:34,320 of Fame. And this might be my favorite one. As I'm trying to think about it now, I think it's 441 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:39,760 probably the best listen from front to back. So yeah, I'll say yes. 442 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,720 Well, two's not enough. We need you, audience. 443 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:47,920 I guess it'll be a pretty easy audience vote, but let them have their voice. Go to our website, 444 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:55,200 Elbnerds.com to cast your ballot for Mr. John and Mr. Toppin. And of course, look us up on the 445 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:58,720 socials, Instagram and Facebook to cast your vote there as well. 446 00:40:58,720 --> 00:41:04,240 All right. So we need your help people. That was Elton John with Captain Fantastic and the 447 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,400 Brown Dirt Cowboy. Check it out. 448 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:07,360 Can you dig it? 449 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:09,920 Can you dig it? 450 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:12,960 Can you dig it? 451 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:21,040 All right. Well, did you guys have an opportunity to stop going through your spouse's things 452 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:24,960 and collection to find anything else that you're digging? 453 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,800 Yeah. I got a couple of things here in my little heart-shaped clutch. 454 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:37,280 Start with, started up in Norway, the group called Krokofont. It's a three-piece progressive 455 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:41,600 jazz group. They have a new album out called Six to play the opening cut. 456 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,920 That's what I think the noise in Andy's brain sounds like. 457 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:58,720 Just a constant stream of that. Yeah, very funky. Definitely more jazz than rock, 458 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:03,040 but pretty enjoyable, I would say. It's six tracks. Maybe that's why it's called Six. 459 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:10,560 All right. And the other one for me is a dance record by an artist by the name of Ella Minas. 460 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:16,640 The album is called Dia. That's her second studio album. She's from Columbia. This album 461 00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:21,600 is made up of songs that seem to collectively ask where we go from here. Long after we've been 462 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:35,120 broken, but long before we intend to be broken forever. Let's play track five. She says it over 463 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:44,560 and over again. That's good. That's cool. It's like Star Wars. Yeah. She'd been digging on down. 464 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:48,400 Well, I actually, I was reading the New York Times, believe it or not. 465 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:58,240 Wow. And I read that this band, I think it's pronounced Simande. They're a British funk group 466 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:04,000 founded back in the 1970s. A lot of their songs ended up in a lot of early hip hop as samples. 467 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:11,520 Well, two of the original members anyway are back and they recorded an album called Renaissance. 468 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:21,840 Here's a song called Chasing an Empty Dream. Interesting. Yeah. I actually kind of went back 469 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:26,960 and I was listening to some of their earlier stuff. Pretty good. I've never really considered 470 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:32,560 British funk at all. I know. It sounds like just wouldn't work, but that sounds pretty cool. 471 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:38,080 Yeah. Cause I feel like funk requires some bad manners. Well, they actually have like 472 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:45,040 a kind of a Island sort of flavor. Okay. Nice. Another one I've been listening to, Lucy Dacus. 473 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:50,720 She has an album coming out, Forever is a Feeling comes out March 28th. This is her 474 00:43:50,720 --> 00:44:00,400 fourth solo album. Here's a track called Ankles. She of course is in Boy Genius, who I think that 475 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:05,040 was my record of the year a couple of years ago. Yeah. I think she's my favorite member of that 476 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:11,200 group. I kind of like her vibe. Yeah. I like the song Elbows better than Ankles though. 477 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:21,520 What are you digging dude? All right. It has become painfully obvious to me. I've been spending too 478 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:29,120 much time with Don and his kind of music. Cause I've been all about the UK lately. Fontaine's DCE, 479 00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:34,960 the Lambrini Girls, Dits from a couple of weeks ago, and now Wonder Horse, a English rock band 480 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:42,800 formed in 2020. Kind of grungy, a little more, dare I say, Heartland rock, bluesy than some of 481 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:47,360 the others. The 2024 album is Midas. Why don't we check out the title track? 482 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:57,600 I don't know about you guys, but there are moments here where I hear a little Warren Zevon, 483 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:03,760 a little... That's like a kind of Springsteen. Springsteen. Yeah. This one has some of those 484 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:09,280 touches where it sounds a little bit more of that raw rock sound. It's nice. I've been enjoying it. 485 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:16,640 So the next one up is Kal Akuma. The album is In the Mouth of Madness from 2021. It's a debut 486 00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:22,880 album from this Bangladeshi death metal band and it's unrelenting, suffocating sounding, 487 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:27,520 but it also has some doomy elements to it. Let's check out a little bit of the title track In the 488 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:38,160 Mouth of Madness. Sounds like Sabbath. Yeah. It's kind of Sabbath meets Night Ranger. 489 00:45:40,240 --> 00:45:45,600 I'm gonna keep one of them. There we go. Yeah. I picked this album up because I was on a record 490 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:50,560 website buying some stuff I wanted, Beach Boys and some other things, and I needed to get my 491 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:55,120 cart up to a certain amount for free shipping. This was like six bucks. I'd never heard it. 492 00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:59,680 Album cover looked interesting. I didn't have anything like it in my collection. So even though 493 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:05,040 I could have cheated and listened on Spotify, I didn't until I got it and I enjoy it. I don't 494 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:10,240 spend it a lot, but still a fun find and something cool to have in my collection. I think that's 495 00:46:10,240 --> 00:46:14,240 awesome. All right. Well, what are you digging? Let us know. Join us on the socials, Facebook, 496 00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:23,360 Instagram, and threads. Also on our website, albumnerds.com. It will be a discovery of 497 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:33,440 extraordinary value. Well, it's about that time on the show and I'm reminded of a Hungarian-American 498 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:40,080 actress, Eva Gabor. Ah. So it's kind of a deep, deep cut here, guys. She was in Green Acres. 499 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:45,440 Of course. And she said darling or darling a lot, right? Darling, yes. I believe her sister was 500 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:50,880 Zsa Zsa Gabor. Yep. Or maybe a family member. Well, Eva had a very interesting quote on love 501 00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:56,000 that I thought I would share. She said, love is a game that two can play and both win. 502 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:00,240 That's very true. I feel like we're all winners on today's episode. 503 00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:04,000 True, true. With that in mind, let's bring out my friend in yours, Wodbot, 504 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:11,200 and see what we'll be talking about on next week's episode. 505 00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:20,080 Some albums have the power to brighten even the coldest and darkest days. Next time, you will be 506 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:25,760 exploring records that lift spirits, shake off the winter blues, and remind us how music can be the 507 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:32,400 perfect antidote to sadness. Well, that's a heavy subject. Anti-depressants, finding albums that 508 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:35,840 bring you out of the doldrums. I thought we were doing methamphetamines. 509 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:42,720 I certainly have. That probably put you deeper into depression. 510 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,920 What do you listen to to break the winter doldrums? What else are you listening to? 511 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:53,920 Email us at podcast at albumnerds.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and threads. And blue sky 512 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:58,800 at albumnerds. Visit albumnerds.com to suggest topics for the show, peruse the hall of fame, 513 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:04,560 and listen to all 279 episodes. And the best way to support the show is to share it. Please 514 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:08,800 subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite podcast app. Thank you once again for joining 515 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:14,320 us on the Album Nerds podcast. We'll catch you next time when we turn that frown upside down with music. 516 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:17,520 Thanks for listening, everybody. See you then. 517 00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:23,520 You're motoring. What's your price for flight? 518 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:25,440 That is my price for flight. I'm out of here. 519 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:28,880 I'm out of here. I haven't got the chorus. 520 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:51,120 Happy Valentine's.