Welcome to the Album Nerds Podcast with your
hosts, Andy, Don, and Dude. You down with RTB?
Yeah, you know me. It's the Album Nerds Podcast.
I'm Dude. I got Andy and Don with me. How you
fellas doing? Andy, you ready to get into some
Roy Thomas Baker? Yeah, I've been baking pretty
hard since yesterday, so I got some loaves lined
up. ready to go okay was rtb the big gun and
um doom that's that's the uh the bfg the bfg
right yes we'll leave the acronym up to your
imagination geez so yes this is the album nerds
podcast we love albums the album format finding
all kinds of excuses to talk about them like
this for instance we've got a great show for
you we're each going to bring an album to discuss
that was produced by Roy Thomas Baker. See how
much we want to talk about albums? It's just
crazy. Don's going to ask us a deep question.
Then we're going to have some shout -outs to
other albums and album -related items that we're
digging. And then that wheel of musical discovery
is going to get a spin, and we'll find out what
we'll talk about next time. But this week, RTB
for you and me. That's what I'm talking about!
Renowned for his innovative production techniques
and distinctive sound, Roy Thomas Baker has shaped
the landscape of rock and pop music since the
1970s. He began his career at Decca Records at
age 14 and later worked at Trident Studios, co
-founded Neptune Productions, and signed a production
deal with CBS Music. He also later in his career
served as senior vice president of A &R at Electra
Records. His work spans decades and genres, leaving
a lasting impact on the industry through a catalog
of albums that showcases unique ability to blend
artistic ambition with commercial success. And
today, each of us will present an album produced
by Roy Thomas Baker. Are we just going to go
buy RTB the rest of the show? That's way cooler,
right? Some people call it that. It's always.
interesting for us to focus on a producer to
group together albums to talk about depending
on their interests and talents they can span
lots of different genres lots of different eras
sometimes there are hits there are misses there
are missteps so Approaching Roy Thomas Baker,
how did you guys do? What other albums did you
consider as we poured through the list before
making your final decision? Well, I think I see
it in the golden era of RTB in the mid to late
70s there. I listened to some lesser known projects
that I wasn't familiar with. The one that stuck
out to me was from a group called Man. They're
a psychedelic rock group from Wales. The name
of the album that RTB produced is called Rhinos,
Winos, and Lunatics. It's pretty fun. They're
a five -piece, more traditional psychedelic sound,
but there's also some really scorching guitar
solos that made the album pretty fun to listen
to. Though I would say it was a little uneven.
But yeah, great 70s sound, man. He definitely
had some records that filled that bill pretty
nicely. How about you, Don? Well, in addition
to an artist that we're going to talk about later,
he's also known for working with the Cars. So
I believe he produced their first four records.
Yeah. I think my favorite, I go back and forth
between the self -titled debut and Candio from
1979. So one of these days I'll get around to
talking about Candio. Really good record. It's
got It's All I Can Do and Let's Go and Dangerous
Type. Yeah. Those really car records are the
greatest hits albums. I mean, ultimately, the
Cars would have been one of the best selections
to make because it's among some of his best work.
But, you know, in these instances, we're really
trying to learn about things ourselves, explore
albums we haven't done before. So for those of
you out there, when you hear our picks and you
go, hey, you should have done the Cars. Well,
we didn't. We have done some of their albums
and we will do more, I'm sure, in the future.
But the first thing that came to mind for me
was an album by The Darkness from 2005. So the
tail end of Roy's production career, I think,
in that era. One Way Ticket to Hell and Back.
It was their second studio album. I loved Permission
to Land. from a couple years before, and I was
very excited about this. Went and bought it the
day it came out, and I didn't enjoy it as much.
And I still, I tried, and I still don't love
it. I don't think Roy's to blame. I think they
were, at the time, they were vocally compared
to Queen to some degree. And the lead singer,
Justin Hawkins, is a huge Queen fan, lifelong
Queen fan. And having Roy Thomas Baker produce,
I'm sure, was a huge... But it was just too polished.
The lyrics doing the tongue -in -cheek funny
stuff just didn't work. And it kind of fell flat.
It's not terrible, but it fell flat for me. And
I just didn't think it was a great example of
that really necessary, harmonious connection
between producer and performer. And that's what
we were looking for in our actual Ch -Ch -Ch
-Choices. So why don't we get to them? You choo
-choo -choose me? All right, for my Roy Thomas
Baker selection, I'm talking about Robert Calvert
and his album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters.
Oh, God. Yes, get ready. This is kind of a niche
record here. This is the debut album for the
English musician. Mr. Calvert is a poet and on
and off again frontman for the Pioneer Space
Rock Group. Hawkwind. You guys heard of Hawkwind
before? I have now. I have, only because of reading
about other artists that were part of Hawkwind
at different times, but I don't think I've really
explored their discography. There's more records
than I thought. Yeah, they've been around for
a long time. They were sold together in some
form. All right, well, this record here is a
concept album. It's about a very specific concept.
It's dealing with the Germany's Air Force purchase
of the specific fighter plane called the Lockheed
F -104 Starfighter. It's an American -produced
single -engine supersonic aircraft. It was known
for being particularly unsafe. Germans lost over
116 pilots out of the... Jeez. about a thousand
aircrafts that they purchased. So this album
is kind of just throwing shade at this aircraft.
And it's kind of odd, but I kind of liked it
by the end. So let's jump in here and play. This
is track six of the album. It's called The Right
Stuff. Oh, the right stuff. Different right stuff.
Damn it. Donnie Wahlberg does not sound well
there. All right, so that's, I guess, kind of
about our main character here, who is a test
pilot. He has nerves of steel, as they discuss
in the song there. This album kind of is a series
of political, satirical comedy sketches interwoven
throughout. They tell a loose story about a general,
and he's trying to buy some aircrafts, and there's
this salesman. He's trying to sell him these
kind of shady... airplanes my clickbait headline
for robert calvert's captain lockheed and the
starfighters is strapping boys it's going to
be a bumpy flight but have faith captain calvert
will get us home one way or another okay if you
say so might be in a body bag but we'll get there
Yeah, I think it's interesting from a production
standpoint when it's so theatrical and there's
all this kind of spoken word passages and, you
know, the song, the more standard songs are still
sometimes moments of those radio opera, you know,
moments where it interrupts. right right there's
just a few albums out there that like if i'm
driving around listening to it like i'll turn
it down just so like people don't hear it and
like wonder what the hell's going on because
like like the like the the hitler sounding guy
you know like right talking in german loudly
you're in your car getting indoctrinated while
you wait for your coffee Yeah, if you were just
kind of driving by and listening to it, that
could sound a little suspicious, but if you listen
closely, it's pretty funny, and they're kind
of poking fun at Germany here, I would say, generally.
I mean, it's also important to recognize that
this is from an English -European perspective,
too, so it's... Yeah. Post -World War II. It's
different than the way that maybe we were raised
to think about that era. It's just a very different
perspective. Yeah. Calvert, as a boy, grew up
in England and dreamed of being a fighter pilot,
which I'm sure was kind of tied into some of
the way you were just saying there, dude. I think
that's really where this album stems from, this
kind of childhood fantasy of his and kind of
ran with it. And I appreciate how just dedicated
they are to this concept. They go all in on it.
Definitely put a lot of work into it. The sketches
are pretty elaborate and odd. Now, Andy, how
would you categorize this musically? Because
it's really a little more sort of, to me, Frank
Zappa rocky, you know, than seems like fits for
some of the narration. Yeah. It has that weird
Zappa quality to it that you might expect. I
think this is generally classified as like an
early space rock record, which is kind of like
adjacent to psychedelic. rock, but maybe a little
bit more droney and jammy orientated. Yeah, I
think RTB does a nice job of kind of weaving
some of those disparate vocal tracks in with
some of the musical tracks. It plays fairly well,
though I think it maybe goes a little bit off
the rails by the time we get to the end. Why
don't we jump in and play one of those tracks
that does have a little bit more of a focused
musical element to it. This is called The Widowmaker.
Yeah, you gotta watch out for those rain shakers.
What the hell's that mean? I'm not sure. I think
it's, yeah, it must be, you know, pilot lingo
or something. I don't know. Going through the
clouds, maybe? I don't know. Here's the homework.
Just see how this lands with people. So the next
time you have some kind of tense moment with
your wives, call her a real rain shaker and see
how it goes. See how she takes it. Yeah, you
try that one first, man. All right, well, The
Widowmaker was co -written by Calvert and Dave
Brock. So again, you know, this Lockheed F -104
had like a sleek... dart like design that's why
they called it a starfighter um so it had narrow
wings which gave it like high speed performance
but unfortunately it made it really difficult
to control at lower speeds um and of course that's
you know taking off and landing so those are
pretty crucial parts i'm not a pilot but i understand
that that's you know kind of the hardest part
of flying we've all seen top gun right so we
know how it goes we know what's necessary so
as andy alluded to before this Jet had a grim
reputation, and so it became known as the Der
Witwenmacher, which is the Widowmaker. So what's
kind of cool about this track is, you know, I
think they're actually trying to sort of capture
the sonic experience of one of these jets. you
know i guess flying and then falling to disaster
so there's like a distorted guitar riff at the
beginning which is supposed to be like the engines
and then all of a sudden it gets really punkish
like the part you just heard there um and it
has like that brass that kind of chaotic brass
in the end and that's when i guess things go
wrong on the plane i don't know why i'm laughing
that's not really funny but yeah well there is
a certain monty python sort of flavor to things
and maybe i'm just hearing that because it's
british and i'm projecting that on there but
it feels a little bit like that somehow that
came to mind as well and i think that's i guess
similar to monty python monty python doesn't
always land with me you know like apparently
yeah Anyway, my clickbait headline is Captain
Lockheed and the Starfighters is a brilliant
concept, but it crashes one's patience. Yeah.
I mean, I think it's cool. I love concept albums.
I mean, Andy's usually... good at bringing interesting
ones to the table. I remember that Mike Watt
one about sailing that was really goofy, too.
Sailor man, sailor man, sailor man. So, I mean,
it serves its purpose. I ended up having to read
up about this failed jet and all the corruption
and cover -up of the German military. So, I mean,
it's a history lesson, so it works in that way.
I think musically, I actually enjoyed it. I like
the sound of the songs. I don't know. It's just
not like enjoyable experience i think listening
to the whole album yeah they could have cut down
on the theatrical you know conversation stuff
that what's on like news announcements and things
it's just it's kind of distracting and maybe
it's because of the era of streaming and not
just sitting down and listening to a record looking
at the liner notes but it was very disjointed
feeling, I think, because when we're listening
to music these days, we're often doing other
things, and it was hard to focus. It sounds more
like a radio play than an album or a podcast
or something. Yeah, War of the Worlds with a
little bit of backing music. Yeah, I put together
a playlist of just the musical tracks. It's about
28 minutes of the 42 -minute whole runtime is
just music. I think that is a little bit out
of balance, to be honest. I agree with you guys.
but you know it's it is what it is it's kind
of a weird oddity of its time um i appreciate
it for that let's jump in here a cut towards
the end of the record this one kind of fits right
in that theme it's called ejection A little Steve
Miller band vibe there from my perspective, you
know, a little saxophone. Yeah, like, you know,
I think we've pretty much said it all when it
comes to the, I wouldn't say overreaching, but
they really went for it here. And I wouldn't
say it's a failure. It just is more than I bargained
for. And I think that's what Andy is great at
finding those albums that challenge us. It's
a very nice way of putting that. Especially with
Roy Thomas Baker here, his involvement in this.
with other albums in the same year from very
different bands, and his ability to work with
artists that have completely different goals.
My clickbait headline to describe the album,
Aerospace, Fighter Planes, and RTB. Captain Lockheed
and the album, I'm Not Cool Enough to Understand.
So maybe that's what it comes down to. See, you're
doing the thing where you're making yourself
look cool by saying you're not cool enough to
understand something that's lame. That's just
your interpretation, man. So I think what's more
important here is how you view me. Yeah, I mean,
like I said, this was an unwelcome challenge,
but I'm glad that we were faced with it. It definitely...
forced us to uh look at this producer from every
direction you know and it's a good way to start
this conversation yeah there's a lot of detail
in here like you tell a lot of love when they're
making this record and i appreciate that aspect
of it i'll just mention here some of the members
who played in this band so i mean hawkwind was
pretty much the backing band here for Mr. Cabot.
And that includes Dave Brock and Lemmy for Motorhead
on guitars. Cool. As well as Brian Eno is on
synthesizers and electronical effects. That's
nice. Yeah, pretty impressive collection of guys
here. Yeah, so if you're looking for the definitive
space rock record that explores the pros and
cons of the Lockheed F -104G Starfighter airplane.
Of the many that are out there, this is the best.
I think this is the one to go. with yeah sure
check out robert calvert captain lockheed and
the star fighters before we continue our journey
with rtb aren't we here A little bit about what's
going on with Friend of the Podcast, Music Notes
with Jess. As our listeners know, Music Notes
by Jess is Jessica Ann Katina. She does great
pieces about artists on the pop charts. Jess's
latest episode deals with Lady A. But yeah, so
I mean, she's really good at telling the story
of these groups. And she provides a top 10 list
of their best songs, which is fun. Yeah, just
to show that she's, you know, doesn't focus on
just one genre. Her episode before that was about
Doji, who just won, I think, best rap album at
the Grammys. She draws parallels with Janet Jackson.
So, you know, the whole realm of pop music, you
know, Jess is your source. All right. So my pick
for an album produced by the great RTB, Roy Thomas
Baker. is tapow tapow tapow With their debut
album, Bridge of Spies, which was released in
September 1987. T 'Pau was formed in 1986 in
Shrewsbury, England by vocalist Carol Decker
and guitarist Ronnie Rogers. All the songs on
this album were written by Decker and Rogers.
And the name T 'Pau comes from Star Trek. You
Trekkies out there, season two, episode one,
Amok Time, the Vulcan leader, the matriarch,
her name is T 'Pau. Wow. That was one of my favorites.
That's when Spock and Kirk have to fight, right?
It is a good episode. Yeah. I love that music.
And he, like, sabotages the course of the Enterprise
to get to Vulcan because he's, like... Well,
he's all horny. Yeah. Yeah, it's really a good
episode. Wait, is Spock horny or is Kirk horny?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's like a heat kind of. Oh,
my gosh. Yeah. Well, that's how they lose all
their logic when they're supposed to go mate.
Well, yes, that makes sense. That tracks. Mating
is not logical. All right. Well, wrong podcast.
Let's talk about the album. Here's the big hit,
at least here in the States, Heart and Soul.
Heart and Soul. Heart and Soul. Heart and Soul.
That's a little bit different than fighter jet
drama. It's definitely drama. So, Ronnie Rogers,
who plays guitar and is one of the... co -songwriters.
He was actually experimenting with a new keyboard
that I guess had a built -in sequencer. And somehow
he created that bass line. And so Decker just
improvised a melody in the opening line, more
than oceans keep us apart. So apparently they
were romantically involved. And so it was sort
of about her longing for him when she was out
of the country or something like that. But the
song, the lyrics ended up taking on kind of a
different theme of longing and emotional distance
also declarations of like self -worth so it's
kind of a lot of this album there's sort of a
tension between I guess vulnerability and resilience
but we'll get back to that I think the song is
kind of known for that rap interlude Yeah. Apparently
not RTB, but some guy named Andy Piercy, who
I guess they brought a demo of this song to.
He pointed out that there were some kind of gaps
in the arrangement. And he's the one that actually
encouraged Decker to write a rap, you know, to
fill in. Maybe should have left that out. This
is about RTB, brother. Yeah. But Piercy doesn't
get any credit at all. Well, now he did. I guess
in interviews. Yeah. That's pretty unique style.
That did catch on for a while, right? Or was
it? Like an early use of this? Or was that pretty
common at this point already? Yeah, Blondie's
Rapture kind of did that before. But what's different
here is I love how it's worked under the chorus.
It's not like a featured thing. It's just how
it continues underneath the chorus. It's very
cool. I remember at the time thinking it was
actually two different people. Yeah, that makes
sense. I mean, we didn't know anything about
what they could do in the studio at that age.
But yeah, I found this a compelling pop song
at the time. I mean, I didn't go crazy for it,
but if it was on the radio, I didn't turn it
off. Were you breaking to it? Were you popping
and locking? No popping and locking to this one.
By 87, I had given up that life. Almost ready
to start shopping for flannels, but not yet.
No, no, no. That was a little ways off. Well,
my clickbait headline is Bridge of Spies is highly
illogical, Captain. Sorry. We'll keep going with
the Trek stuff. Most illogical. You know, just
despite being a very. polished and processed
pop album. I think that there is a lot of raw
emotion in it and I wouldn't call it, you know,
it's not soul and her voice isn't really soulful,
but it's bold. I think when we were talking about
this before, I think dude, I think you used the
word sassy. Yes, I did. It's sassy. Yes. Yeah.
She's got a little, little spunkiness in her
voice. A little. Yeah. Yeah. She might, she might
smack you in the face. Yeah. It kind of reminded
me of some other kind of British pop acts at
the time. You remember Roxette? Oh, totally Roxette.
Yeah. Must have been love, but it's over now.
This feels, I think just because of her voice,
there's maybe a little more of an edge to it.
Taylor Dane kind of thing too. I'll buy that
too. And of course, I mean, you know, I think
the reason, you know, record labels were really
leaning into some female pop groups is because
of Madonna. Right. Right. Well, let's. Let's
keep moving through the record. Here's Monkey
House. I mean, literally any other title and
way of telling this. Because the lyrics to Monkey
House critique societal conformity and kind of
the suppression of individual thought under this
mental hygiene that keeps being mentioned through
the song. Lines like, we'll teach you how to
think a clean way and now for your own good,
we will take the choice away. Suggesting this
kind of enforced uniformity. Using Monkey House,
you know, it's clean up the monkey house. It's
like you're cleaning up poop. Like what? Why?
I don't understand that choice. Mental poop.
It's a metaphor. Sure. Right. I know, but you
don't, the metaphor sometimes outshines the lyrical
content or the music itself when I'm picturing
literally people sweeping up turds. That is not
the image you want. I don't think. Maybe that's
what you wanted. You know, it stuck with you,
man. I mean, we're captivated by it here, so
I don't know. It's a pile. That's the pile on
your face. Yeah, there you go. It is a catchy
tune. It is catchy. Yeah. That show would be
perfect for a getting it done montage in an 80s
movie. Right. Yeah, there's a lot of good montage
music on this album. I mean, I was drawn to the
song because when I was first listening, I'd
never heard the whole album before. And I was
like, did she? Monkey House? What? What are we
doing? My clickbait headline to describe the
album, Tapao's Bridge of Spies, RTB's Studio
Sorcery, turns hairspray into gold until the
can runs dry. And I feel like Heart and Soul
kind of blew the whole can of Aquanet or whatever
hairspray people were using in 1987. It's a good
song with really interesting production layers,
and I feel like the rest of the album doesn't
reach that. There's a lot of... attempts lyrically
to go deep. It sounds insincere at times, I think
just because the music is not lifting those lyrics
as high as they should have. Yeah, I felt similar.
Some tracks just felt like so much more produced
than others. And when they did have that extra
level of attention, I think that they were at
their best by far. Yeah, I think that was pretty
common in the 80s. I feel like even the first
time you heard the album and you only knew of
one single, you kind of knew which ones were
going to be highlighted in the singles. Because
you could tell they just put a little more time
in getting them right. All right, well, let's
hear one of the other singles. Here's China In
Your Hand. China In Your Hand That's one of the
better songs too. Yeah, that song spent five
weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in 87.
I read that it was based on the concepts of the
Frankenstein story, you know, Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein. It does seem to be about kind of
like cautioning the listener not to push too
hard or your dreams may come true and then destroy
you. It seems to be the lesson. Interesting message.
There's some really, I'll say bizarre, but just
kind of nuanced lyrical messages here that you
wouldn't maybe expect in an 80s kind of pop record.
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I think the lyrics are more
poetic than the music can support. Yeah. That
style, that 80s style. Yeah. I mean, at this
period, your dance moves were more important
than the words of music, you know? My clickbait
headline for this album is, Decker gives Tapao
some kapow. But Bridge of Spies is a bridge too
far for this album nerd. There's definitely moments
in here, like I think Dude and I were saying,
where it feels like they really did add some
attention and extra sauce to this to make it
feel like a really satisfying meal. But a lot
of this just felt kind of cookie -cutter and
a little bit less interesting to me. But there
are moments. I think towards the end of the record,
there's a track called Thank You for Goodbye.
I really enjoyed that track. There's some nice
arrangements on it. There's some horns come in.
ITB is really good at kind of having each instrument
have its own space in the mix. I've been noticing
that across all these albums where you really
can identify what's going on pretty clearly.
I do appreciate that aspect to it. Yeah, so it's
cool to hear. It is a little different than I
would have expected it to be. There's a little
more going on. But I think maybe a little bit
more time in the studio maybe would have produced
a really stellar album. Was it just needed a
few more minutes in the oven? Baker, yes. Yeah,
I think some of it is the era as well. I don't
think it was necessarily a production issue.
I think a producer takes what the band gives
them and tries to sharpen it up the most that
they can, get the best performances out of the
band. This is just more of a taste critique,
I think, than necessarily a quality critique
of the production or even of the songwriting
or anything else. If you compare it to its contemporaries,
this is probably... pretty advanced for that
era. All right. Well, Bridge of Spies stands
out among the shiny pop of the late 1980s, marrying
Roy Thomas Baker's studio prowess with DePauw's
thematic depth and melodic ingenuity. Check it
out. Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a few questions.
All right. It's time again for Deep Questions
by Don. So we're exploring the world of Roy Thomas
Baker. And, you know, I think with that name
comes, you know, certain expectations about what
a record is going to sound like that is produced
by him. What other names out there come with
expectations? The Album Nerds podcast, of course.
Expectation of quality and impeccable taste.
Yes. I was thinking about movies mostly. So I
was like. What movies have like an iconic look
to them? And some of the ones I came up with
immediately were Studio Ghibli. It was like animation
style. It's a very iconic style. And just like
I could recognize those films just by a single
frame. I don't know of any of them. Studio Ghibli?
Really? Is it a cartoon? Yes. Then I avoid it.
What about Pixar? I feel like Pixar has a pretty
definitive or pre -recognizable visual style
as well in their films. It does. I avoid that
one too, but yes. It's a good storytelling you're
missing out on, man. Yeah, it's the same story
over and over. Wow, yeah. But the other ones
in more adult films I could think of would be
Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick. I think you
could really... Wes Anderson especially has such
a distinct visual style. It's almost too on the
nose sometimes. I got worried when you said adult
films. Yeah, I got some expectations there for
sure. How about you, Dan? Yeah, I mean, certainly
movies came to mind for me as well, like Tarantino
and things of that nature, usually coming from
the director side of things. But I also thought
about TV series. and creators of tv series and
you know guys like dick wolf that have you know
all those law and orders and fbi series and stuff
you can go into this show that might be about
different and in this case it seems like a form
of policing but you kind of know what you're
in for yeah vibe wise maybe even quality of you
know good casting and things like that Or even
Aaron Spelling back in the day with things like
Charlie's Angels and Love Boat and that stuff.
Right. Sometimes you're looking for something
to watch and you see one of those recognizable
names as the creator of the show. It's like,
I'm going to give this a shot because I like
their other stuff. These prolific TV creators.
Yeah. Actually, my answer comes from TV as well.
Bill Lawrence, who was a creator of shows like
Scrubs, Cougar Town. ted lasso and shrinking
they're all very similar and and i think what
it is um i mean sometimes i mean they're all
comedies and so they're funny but they do go
to dark places you know and tackle some big issues
but there's always like a there's just like a
goodness about them or like a positive thing
like i remember ted lasso kind of came out during
the pandemic and it felt like a you know, just
a perfect show that was like needed at the time
because of that, that goodness. Yeah. Goodness,
positive attitude through adversity, being in
an unfamiliar situation and finding your way
through it, which, you know, people could relate
to. Yeah. All right. Well, what other names come
with expectations? Let us know on Instagram and
Facebook or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds
.com. This is the time where we pull out the
big guns for the Roy Thomas Baker. We're going
to talk about a Queen album, which I think everyone
probably expects. Queen being formed in London
in 1970. Of course, the classic lineup, Brian
May on guitar, drummer Roger Taylor, pianist
and vocalist Freddie Mercury, and bassist John
Deacon. Each member contributed to the songwriting
in sort of a Beatles style. and they became one
of the most creative and versatile bands in rock
history. So Queen's third studio album, Sheer
Heart Attack, came out in November of 1974. They
had been battling some serious setbacks during
their U .S. tour with Mata Hoople. Mata Hoople?
Mata Hoople? Yeah, Mata Hoople. Brian May was
very sick and hospitalized off and on, and it
was a struggle. They sort of abandoned that pure
fantasy world of like Queen 2, and this brought
in more humor, swagger, and speed. The album
pushed boundaries, incorporating a lot of musical
styles and influences. Again, I heard in an interview
where they said that kind of a Beatles approach
in those Sgt. Pepper years of just really exploring
different types of sounds. And it all started
with the big hit single, Killer Queen. Let's
give it a listen. A little chime with my wife's
ringtone drives me crazy whenever I hear it.
Oh yeah? So this one was written by lead vocalist
Freddie Mercury. Big breakthrough for the band,
their first big hit in the United States. And
it's about a glamorous and cunning woman who
uses her charm to manipulate and control. It's
one of Queen's best examples of their witty,
narrative -driven songwriting with sharp satirical
takes on the world of power and seduction. Theatrical
and the layering vocals, the layering guitars
where they really start to hone this sort of
jack -of -all -trades sound with all these...
different influences and not being the first
two albums leaned a little more hard rock and
this is when i think they started to form their
signature sound my clickbait headline to describe
the album from multi -tracking to sonic mastery
rtb guides queen's hard rock evolution not revolution
but evolution where i think they took that that
sort of beatles approach to production and detail
in the studio and took it into the hard rock
world like they took it somewhere else that shaped
the music to come including other genres so why
don't we check out the opening track let's listen
to Brighton Rock That track was written by guitarist
Brian May during sessions for the previous album,
Queen 2. It contains a three -met guitar solo
right at the beginning of the album, which I
kind of love. It was ranked number 41 on Guitar
World's greatest guitar solos of all time. Woo
-hoo. Mm -hmm. That's a something. My clickbait
headline for Queen's sheer heart attack is...
As long as you're not recovering from serious
injury or experiencing symptoms like dizziness
or chest pain, Sheer Heart Tech gets this album
nerd's doctor's seal of approval. This album
kind of demands a lot of a listener, as you might
expect from a Queen album. But things really
do coalesce here in a nice way, I would say,
in comparison to the first two records. It kind
of smacks you in the face, takes no prisoner
kind of record, from my opinion. It's beautifully
recorded. I think this is one of the... Probably
the best examples we've heard of just the production
really just sounding top notch of the three albums
we talked about today. You can really hear each
member clearly in the mix. They all have distinct
voices. But he does something, I don't really
know what in the studio you would do to accomplish
this, but he kind of swirls some of the sounds
together at times and make them sound almost
like the vocals and the guitar will come together
and sometimes to create this sort of, I don't
know, sonic... viral i don't even know how to
describe it it sounds pretty cool really that
that harmony i guess is what it is that's that
that queen harmony just is that able to harmonize
like anything together and it works and then
harmonize with themselves too with all that that
layering of those harmonies it's just this beautiful
like angelic type sound mixed with this hard
rock experimentation and you know it one thing
we should mention is queen's first album was
1973 queen to 1974 This one, 1974. Night at the
Opera, 1975. This evolution was happening quickly.
That's why there's so much crossover between
when they wrote. Brian wrote the song for a Queen
II album, and then it makes it onto another one.
The song Share Heart Attack, it's not on this
album. Yeah, you just got so many songs coming
out of it at this point. You can't get them on
records fast enough. And Queen co -produced this
with Roy Thomas Baker, which he continued to
work with them on other albums in the future
as well. But this is where I feel like probably
the connection he had with the Cars, where they
bring out, you know, bringing out the best and
the material that you're being provided to from
Queen and the Cars. Yeah, it helps when you have
the top -notch musicians and some of the best
ever. Yes. When you have that kind of level where
it's like anything is possible in this, you know,
whatever the world that it lives in, let's find
out what we can do. With Brian May being out
for many of the sessions too, they had to put
things together and have him come in later and
put the guitar in. So to me, this is, I'd say
it's their second best album. The best being
Night at the Opera. I really enjoy this record.
It's a good one. My very favorite Queen song
of all time is on it. So why don't we get into
that one and let Don talk Stone Cold Crazy. Stone
Cold Crazy is a rare occurrence of all four members
of the band receiving songwriting credit. It's
actually among the first compositions the band
performed together, dating back as far as 1970.
Apparently, the original version had a different
structure and tempo. Mercury had written some
lyrics with his previous band, Wreckage, and
according to May, the initial rift was kind of
soft. He felt that the frenetic nature of the
lyrics deserved equally energetic music, and
so that's how we end up with this version. They
delivered. Yeah. So, you know, fast tempo, heavy
guitar distortion. And some people will claim
that this is kind of the birth of thrash. i think
you know i saw may sort of like poo -pooing that
idea but you know i definitely hear bits of of
what iron maiden and saxon and bands like that
were doing a couple years later in this so i
bet it was some inspiration i don't necessarily
it doesn't mean that they invented thrash metal
but certainly inspired somebody else with a guitar
to move forward with it yeah And Roger Taylor
sounds really good on this track. I mean, you
know, the drumming is really incredible. And
the lyrics just seem to deal with the gangsters.
You know, there's like an Al Capone reference.
I guess they're stone cold. So my clickbait headline
is sheer heart attack is a royal celebration
of the rock riff. Yeah, it's royal. But yeah,
I mean, the riffs here are great. And I do think
this maybe paves the way for that British wave
of heavy metal, maybe a little bit. Yeah, it
paves the way for a lot of things. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, this sounds like a dual guitar attack
when it's one guitar. True. And that's part of
what became a signature piece of that thrash
sound and stuff. He had one guitar! Sorry. That's
Foreigner. Well, Foreigner. Yeah, well, Roy Thomas
Baker did produce a Foreigner album as well.
Lyrically, it's kind of hard to piece some of
these tracks together. There's not really a theme
or concept or anything, literally, to tie these
songs together literally, right? I don't think
so. Yeah, this is more one of the things I read
was that they get more into the real world on
this album, where the songs are about vignettes
in life or real things that are occurring, like
the track Now I'm Here. There's that line down
in the city, just Hoople and me, mentioning that
time they spent together touring. And then Roger
Taylor singing on Tenement Funster, punk -inspired
track. And yeah, there's a little bit of everything
here. It's that beginning of that ability, that
smorgasbord of providing folk and everything
else you could possibly hear, like bring back
that Leroy Brown. I mean, what the hell is that?
Yeah, who is that? What do you guys think of
In the Lap of the Gods? That vocal approach at
the beginning with that distorted sort of deep
voiced Freddie. Yeah. I think that that kind
of risk taking, I mean, the whole, the band was
built on his soaring vocals and for him to test
the waters of all these different tones and styles
and vocally dance with the instruments is just
what makes it so amazing. I mean, this album
wouldn't have been as good if I produced it.
you know i'm not i'm no roy thomas baker but
it would still have been pretty damn good because
it's a band that's true that's true they're they're
one of those like we've talked about the who
led zeppelin where everybody in it is is a virtuoso
and offering something new to the sonic palette
well said So Roy Thomas Baker, who in many ways,
this collaboration made his bones and helped
him put a stamp and a foot in the industry. And
it's been really fun exploring all of it and
especially listening to a bunch of Queen albums.
So go check out Sheer Heart Attack and all the
rest while you're at it. Can you dig it? Can
you dig it? All right. Well, it's been a week
of Roy Thomas Baker. Did you take a break from
him at any point and try to dig anything else?
I got a couple of things here hidden behind my...
careful suspicious sunglasses that i wear indoors
okay all right first one up is from saxophonist
from my neck of the woods in buffalo new york
james brandon lewis he has a new album out called
apple cores so you got away from roy thomas baker
but had to find a three -named person jbo yep
yep you got it 16 studio album first release
on anti records this is prince eugene Why does
that sound naughty? How's that possible? Sounds
like someone's up to something. You're naughty.
I don't even know where to go with that. All
right, well, that's a very kind of groovy, unconventional
jazz record. Some really interesting melodies
he explores on there. Number 11 on my 2025 list.
Oh, yes. Just like taunting you guys with those
numbers. And the last one for me is from a singer
-songwriter from Newcastle, England, Richard
Dawson. Survey says... What's going on? That
was the original host of The Family Feud. Oh
my gosh. Richard Dawson. Over my head with these
dated references. The album is entitled End of
the Middle. It's about family and passing things
down from generation to generation. On this good
quote here, he says, the characters do have a
lot of sadness, but I hope each one in every
song is having a moment where they are somehow
breaking that cycle or at least starting to shake
the spiral. Let's play a little bit of Gondola.
Gondola I'm still picturing the game show hosts
singing. Yeah, me too. With his checkered suits.
Oh, that guy. That's a really intimate, dark,
kind of sometimes funny at times record. Number
20 on my list. What you been digging on, Don?
Well, I... Discovered a band called Wet Leg.
Actually saw them on the Tonight Show. It's a
British indie rock group from the Isle of Wight
founded in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester
Chambers. They have an album coming out July
11th called Moisturizer. And here's a song called
Catch These Fists. Called Wet Leg and they have
an album called Moisturizer. Yeah. Okay. Feeling
some of that little Riot Grrrl vibe there with
some more pop, I think. Riot Grrrl meets Blondie.
There it is. I like that. All right. And another
one, there's a group called Animal Liberation
Organization, abbreviated as ALO. They have a
new album called Frames, kind of a jam band.
They actually have like 11 studio albums at this
point. They're from Saratoga, California. There's
a song called Black Canvas. It sounds like country
music with the wrong music. Right? There's something
in the delivery that sounds like a country song,
but then the music doesn't really match. Kind
of like a Jack Johnson vibe maybe or something.
Yeah, I could see that. Supposedly the album
explores themes of finding balance amidst the
rapid pace of modern life and emphasizes the
importance of reflection and connection in the
space between frames. That's why it's called
Frames. Nice. What are you digging, dude? I went
with something from 2024 that I missed. Too late.
Never too late. It's never too late for now.
Chain Saint is the band. Blindside is the album.
Chain Saint's a teenage thrash band from South
Florida. Their debut album, Blindside, came out
in August of 2024. They are all teenagers, and
it was produced by William Duvall, the co -lead
singer of Alice in Chains. It recorded entirely
to analog tape, preserving a natural, unpolished
sound. Let's check out a little bit of animosity.
I wonder what band they like. Definitely some
heavy -duty Metallica vibes there, which is what
I like about it. You know, young people playing
that kind of music, hopefully they'll continue
to develop, add new flavors to that sound, and
do something interesting with it. So these young
metal bands, that's what I'm hoping for. They
start by sounding like they're heroes, and then
hopefully they turn it into something more. Yeah.
Good to know that sound is carrying on. And then
next up is from my vinyl collection. I was talking
to my wife about seeing Stone Temple Pilots back
in 2008 or so, and the opening band was Rose
Hill Drive, and I bought their album Moon is
the New Earth right there on the spot. And I
hadn't listened to it in a while, so pulled it
off the shelf, and let's give it a listen now.
Let's hear a little bit of Sneak Out. I've got
a little love to give, wait and see. So this
is Roundabout, behind that Black Keys blues rock
revival, a little mini blues rock revival thing.
And this was a three -piece band. I was just
really impressed with them, enough so to pick
up their record. But it's a fun listen. It's
not a world beater necessarily, but it's fun
to go through your collection and find these
moments of time. I picked it up because I was
impressed. If you're feeling plucky, go check
out Rose Hill Drive. They're still touring. Well,
what are you digging? Let us know. Join us on
the socials, Facebook, Instagram, and threads.
Also on our website, albumnerds .com. It will
be a discovery of extraordinary value. Well,
it's about that time on the show when I'm reminded
of the great English record producer, Roy Thomas
Baker. Wow. Never heard of him. Yeah. You guys
not familiar? I haven't said it 50 times today.
Well, he had something to say, and I thought
I'd quote it here. He said, Freddie Mercury taught
me three things. Don't take anything too seriously,
have fun, and always fly first class. With that
in mind, let's bring up my friend and yours,
Wadbot, to see what we'll be talking about on
next week's episode. Sometimes the best creativity
happens outside the spotlight. Next time, you
will be exploring side project albums, where
artists stepped away from their main gigs to
explore new sounds, fresh ideas, and unexpected
collaborations. On the side. Down low. We were
on a break! Yeah, so those other projects that
musicians might work on when their band's on
a break. This should be interesting. A lot to
sift through. Yeah, little tendrils going off
the main roots. Yeah, and even sometimes they
outshine the original band. Maybe, right? Sometimes.
It's like our podcast side projects. Oh, yeah?
You got a side piece here, Don? Stay tuned. Oh.
Yeah, it's just a series of deep questions that
Don asks himself. All right. Well, what's your
favorite side project? What else are you listening
to? Email us at podcast at album nerds dot com.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram threads and
blue sky at album nerds and visit album nerds
dot com to suggest topics for the show. Peruse
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Thank you, as always, for joining us here on
the Album Nerds Podcast. We'll catch you next
time. See what happens during those breaks. But
we're not on a break. See ya. Thanks for listening,
everybody. See you next week. She's a killer.
I can't find the key. Duh. Queen gunpowder gelatine.
Dynamite with a laser beam. Why? Why wouldn't
you go for tapow or something that is within
your grasp, at least? Give a little bit of honey.
That didn't help. At least you're reinforcing
the great talents of the artists that we talked
about. That's what I do. We need RGB in there,
so smooth things out, maybe. Cool. It'd be a
lot of speckle.