WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.910 So... I think we should just start by reading 00:00:02.910 --> 00:00:05.750 out the official Apple Podcast title and description 00:00:05.750 --> 00:00:07.690 we put together for this because it really sets 00:00:07.690 --> 00:00:10.109 the stage perfectly. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Go 00:00:10.109 --> 00:00:12.910 for it. OK, so the title for this deep dive is 00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:16.329 Unpacking the Madness, a deep dive into alien 00:00:16.329 --> 00:00:19.710 sex fiends, it's the album. I love that. Unpacking 00:00:19.710 --> 00:00:22.370 the Madness is pretty much exactly what we're 00:00:22.370 --> 00:00:24.350 about to do. Right. And the description goes 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:27.350 like this. Ever wondered what happens when an 00:00:27.350 --> 00:00:30.230 underground 1980s rock band takes complete creative 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:32.719 Control, paints their own album cover, and drops 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:35.700 a 13 -minute track called Manic Depression. In 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.200 this custom deep dive, we explore the wild release 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.119 history, format -shifting quirks, and mind -expanding 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.600 track list of Alien Sex Fiend's 1986 masterpiece, 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.560 It's the Album. It really is a masterpiece of 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.140 just breaking all the rules. It really is. The 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:53.000 description continues. From the bizarre decision 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.200 to attach a whole previous album to the cassette 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.079 release, to decoding the band's relentless year 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.960 -by -year output, we extract the hidden gems 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.799 of music history from a single Wikipedia source. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.239 Whether you're a vinyl aficionado, a physical 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:09.719 media nerd, or just wildly curious about creative 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:12.739 boundaries, join us as we unpack the why and 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:15.540 how behind this obscure but fascinating undertaking. 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.359 That covers all the bases. And I mean, it hits 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:20.620 all those key ideas we want to talk about. Alien 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:24.319 Sex Fiend, the album, 1986 rock albums, physical 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.379 media evolution, cassette culture. Yeah, CD reissues, 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.819 the Trouser Press music review, post -punk history, 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:32.500 DIY album art, Nick Fiend himself. It's all in 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:33.939 there. It's a lot to get through, but it's such 00:01:33.939 --> 00:01:36.099 a rich topic. It really is. So welcome to the 00:01:36.099 --> 00:01:38.480 deep dive, everyone. We are looking at a single, 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:42.180 relatively sparse Wikipedia page today, but what's 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:44.819 buried within its track lists and footnotes is 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:46.900 basically a masterclass in breaking the rules 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:48.939 of the music industry. It's a brilliant case 00:01:48.939 --> 00:01:50.819 study, really. what immediately strikes me about 00:01:50.819 --> 00:01:54.180 this document is that it functions as a snapshot 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:56.939 of a highly transitional era. Yeah, totally. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.319 And not just for this specific band, but for 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.280 the entire ecosystem of music consumption. In 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.799 1986, the physical formats were essentially at 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:07.819 war with one another. Right. You had the old 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:10.560 guard and the new tech colliding. Exactly. Vinyl 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.360 was the established prestigious canvas. Then 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.400 the cassette tape was the dominant, highly democratized 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:20.500 consumer format. And the compact disc was this 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:23.800 emerging technology promising limitless uninterrupted 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:26.419 digital audio. It was the Wild West for audio 00:02:26.419 --> 00:02:28.719 format. It really was. Yeah. So when we analyze 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:30.400 this album, we are actually watching a group 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:32.939 of artists collide with these shifting tectonic 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:35.659 plates of technology. The source material lays 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:38.120 out these distinct versions, the vinyl, the cassette, 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:41.500 the CD, and each format fundamentally alters 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:44.000 the artistic statement being made. That format 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.620 collision is exactly why this source is so compelling 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:48.620 to me. You look at the page, and it's not just 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:50.860 one album. It's a morphing piece of art depending 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.599 on how you physically bought it at the store. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:54.439 Depending entirely on the plastic container it 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:56.379 came in. Exactly. But before we get into the 00:02:56.379 --> 00:02:58.780 tapists and the digital reissues, I mean, we 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.300 have to establish the human element driving this 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:04.219 machine. The article introduces us to the core 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:07.560 personnel here. We have Nick Wade. who operates 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:10.360 under the brilliant moniker Nick Fiend. Great 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:13.180 name. Such a great name. And Christine Wade. 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:15.500 And if we look at the discography section at 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:17.919 the very bottom of the page, it paints a picture 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:21.039 of a band operating with a relentless, almost 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.039 punishing work ethic. The timeline is the first 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:26.219 major indicator that we are dealing with a highly 00:03:26.219 --> 00:03:28.919 unusual creative force here. Right. Let's look 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:31.280 at the dates. So if we track their studio releases 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:33.719 according to the source, they debut with Who's 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.879 Been Sleeping in My Brain in 1983. Okay, 1983. 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:39.800 They followed immediately with Acid Bath in 1984. 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:43.659 Then comes Maximum Security in 1985. And then 00:03:43.659 --> 00:03:46.439 the focal point of our discussion today. It, 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:49.860 the album. Released in October 1986. That is 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:53.099 four full -length studio albums in four consecutive 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:55.360 years. Four years, four albums. It's an incredible 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.039 pace. It's a level of stamina that kind of forces 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:01.039 you to reevaluate how modern music is made today. 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:03.819 Oh, absolutely. The modern landscape is completely 00:04:03.819 --> 00:04:06.360 different. Today the standard industry cycle 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:08.979 is characterized by long periods of silence. 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.680 An artist releases a project, they tour it for 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.319 a year, they retreat, they spend two years writing. 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:16.660 Maybe teasing a few singles along the way. Right, 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:19.220 and maybe on the fourth year we see a highly 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:22.589 manicured rollout. Alien sex fiend completely 00:04:22.589 --> 00:04:25.389 bypasses that preciousness. They are operating 00:04:25.389 --> 00:04:28.189 like a newsroom, putting out an annual report 00:04:28.189 --> 00:04:30.750 on their own sonic evolution. Operating like 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:33.129 a newsroom is a really great analogy because 00:04:33.129 --> 00:04:36.670 it implies urgency. In the mid -80s underground 00:04:36.670 --> 00:04:39.170 rock scene, particularly in the UK, that urgency 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:41.649 was basically a survival mechanism. You had to 00:04:41.649 --> 00:04:43.370 stay in the conversation. You had to stay visible. 00:04:43.790 --> 00:04:45.970 But beyond the mere logistics of staying relevant, 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:48.879 A one -year album cycle requires an immense amount 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.120 of unedited raw output. You just don't have the 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:54.220 time to second -guess yourself. No, you don't 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:57.720 have the luxury of over -analyzing a mix or spending 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.439 six months debating a snare sound. You write 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:02.639 the material, you capture the visceral energy 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:04.959 of that specific moment in time, you commit it 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.079 to wax, and you immediately pivot to the next 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.279 project. It suggests a band that is operating 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:12.850 purely on instinct. momentum. Pure momentum. 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:15.470 And yet, as much as we can marvel at that momentum, 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:18.970 the Wikipedia page itself introduces a fascinating 00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:21.529 little crack in the historical record here. Oh, 00:05:21.589 --> 00:05:23.730 the timeline discrepancy. Yes. I want to draw 00:05:23.730 --> 00:05:26.009 your attention to a discrepancy in the text because 00:05:26.009 --> 00:05:28.759 it's so funny. In the chronology info box at 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:30.500 the top right of the article, it lists maximum 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:34.300 security in 1985, the album in 1986, and then 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.819 it states their next release is Here Come Germs 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:39.699 in 1988. Which implies a gap year. Right. It 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:41.839 implies they finally took a breath, had a gap 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.379 year in 1987, maybe slept for a few months. But 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:47.519 if you scroll down to the actual discography 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.720 list at the bottom of the exact same page... 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.980 It explicitly lists Here Come Germs as a 1987 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.860 release. Exactly. Followed by Another Planet 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:59.089 in 1988. So the page contradicts itself. It is 00:05:59.089 --> 00:06:02.470 a wonderful contradiction. And honestly, it's 00:06:02.470 --> 00:06:04.889 highly representative of the inherent flaws in 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:07.069 documenting underground music. We are looking 00:06:07.069 --> 00:06:10.069 at a centralized, crowdsourced encyclopedia that 00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:13.050 cannot definitively agree on the release year 00:06:13.050 --> 00:06:15.470 of an album within its own text. It completely 00:06:15.470 --> 00:06:17.949 reframes how we trust digital archives. It really 00:06:17.949 --> 00:06:20.529 does. You have to ask yourself... Did the sheer 00:06:20.529 --> 00:06:23.089 physical and creative exhaustion of writing, 00:06:23.370 --> 00:06:26.670 recording, and touring four albums in 48 months 00:06:26.670 --> 00:06:28.870 finally catch up to Nick and Christine Wade? 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:32.889 Did it force them to pause in 1987? Or did they 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:35.970 maintain that furious streak and this discrepancy 00:06:35.970 --> 00:06:39.550 is simply a casualty of poor 1980s indie label 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:42.170 record keeping migrating poorly to the internet? 00:06:42.750 --> 00:06:44.889 I mean, what's your take? Given the sheer velocity 00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:47.509 of their early career, the latter seems entirely 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:50.069 plausible. Independent labels like Anagram Records 00:06:50.069 --> 00:06:52.170 weren't necessarily prioritizing the kind of 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:55.370 meticulous, globally synchronized metadata that 00:06:55.370 --> 00:06:57.310 major labels use today. They were just trying 00:06:57.310 --> 00:06:59.050 to get the records pressed and into the shops. 00:06:59.529 --> 00:07:01.709 Exactly. Release dates in the underground were 00:07:01.709 --> 00:07:04.579 often fluid. An album might be finished in late 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:07.560 87, but not physically distributed to certain 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.300 shops until early 88. So the paperwork just gets 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:13.519 messy. Very messy. The fact that the source contains 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.220 this unresolved tension highlights how ephemeral 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:19.579 this era of music history really is. The exact 00:07:19.579 --> 00:07:22.079 chronological boundaries blur, but the evidence 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.040 of their prolific, unrelenting output remains 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.870 the central takeaway. That independent ethos, 00:07:28.050 --> 00:07:30.410 the idea of operating outside the meticulous 00:07:30.410 --> 00:07:33.649 machinery of major labels, brings us to a detail 00:07:33.649 --> 00:07:36.290 in the content section that I find deeply compelling. 00:07:36.550 --> 00:07:39.069 The artwork. Yes. There is a single sentence 00:07:39.069 --> 00:07:41.629 regarding the visual presentation of It the Album 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:43.970 that recontextualizes the entire project for 00:07:43.970 --> 00:07:46.810 me. The source notes, the album cover was painted 00:07:46.810 --> 00:07:49.560 by frontman Nick Fiend. That is such a critical 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:51.540 piece of information. It really is. When the 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:53.740 frontman is physically taking paint to a canvas 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:55.980 to dictate the visual identity of the music, 00:07:56.339 --> 00:07:58.540 you are looking at a totalizing artistic vision. 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:01.259 Because in the 1980s, the visual packaging of 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:04.470 an album was almost always delegated. Oh, heavily 00:08:04.470 --> 00:08:07.470 delegated. Labels had dedicated art departments. 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:11.149 Or they hired expensive, trendy graphic designers 00:08:11.149 --> 00:08:13.750 to ensure the product looked commercially viable 00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:16.230 on a record store shelf. They wanted a specific 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:20.209 glossy look to sell units. Right. So for Nick 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:23.110 Fien to bypass that entire apparatus and produce 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:26.670 the artwork himself is a profound assertion of 00:08:26.670 --> 00:08:29.199 control. It completely changes the psychological 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:31.560 relationship between the listener and the physical 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:34.539 object. Think about what it means to hold a 12 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:37.220 by 12 inch piece of cardboard in your hands, 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:39.399 knowing that the brushstrokes you're looking 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.460 at were executed by the exact same person who 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.779 is currently screaming or playing guitar through 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:46.960 your speakers. The cover is no longer just a 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.159 marketing container. Exactly. It is a direct 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:52.220 unfiltered extension of the auditory experience. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.399 It's all bleeding from the same source. It establishes 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:57.539 an immediate intimate trust with the audience. 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:00.299 And that desire for absolute control extends 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:02.440 directly into the sonic architecture of the album 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:04.460 as well. Let's talk about the production. The 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:06.720 production credits provided in the source are 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.620 equally telling. The album is produced by Alien 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.299 Sex Fiend themselves, alongside Pete McGee, and 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:16.600 released on Anagram Records. Even the name Anagram 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.879 Records feels perfectly suited to this whole 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.710 vibe. How so? Well, think about what an anagram 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:24.129 is. It takes an established set of letters, a 00:09:24.129 --> 00:09:26.570 known structure, and scrambles them into something 00:09:26.570 --> 00:09:30.250 entirely new and slightly disorienting. That 00:09:30.250 --> 00:09:32.529 seems to be exactly what this band is doing with 00:09:32.529 --> 00:09:35.330 the concept of a rock album. That is a great 00:09:35.330 --> 00:09:38.350 observation. It's a very fitting label name for 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:40.809 a self -produced project. Self -production in 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:43.029 this era, especially for an underground band, 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:45.730 meant assuming a massive technical and creative 00:09:45.730 --> 00:09:47.750 burden. You aren't just walking into a studio 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:50.029 and letting a famous producer sculpt your to 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:52.149 fit the radio format of the day. No, you are 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:54.250 the one deciding how abrasive the guitar should 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:57.090 be. You're deciding how far back in the mix the 00:09:57.090 --> 00:09:59.870 vocals should sit, how the drums are equalized 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.169 to create a specific atmosphere. You own all 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:04.629 the successes and all the mistakes. Exactly. 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:07.470 When you combine the self -painted cover with 00:10:07.470 --> 00:10:09.809 the self -produced audio, you have an autorist 00:10:09.809 --> 00:10:12.730 approach. The band isn't compromising. They are 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:15.629 building a self -contained world. And the architecture 00:10:15.629 --> 00:10:18.090 of that world becomes incredibly daunting when 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:20.230 we look at how they actually structured the track 00:10:20.230 --> 00:10:22.230 list. This is where it gets really interesting. 00:10:22.730 --> 00:10:24.929 Let's dive into the physical reality of playing 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:28.950 this record in October 1986. The primary canvas 00:10:28.950 --> 00:10:33.100 is the two -sided vinyl LP. Right. And the source 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:36.379 gives us a total runtime of 46 minutes and three 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:39.220 seconds. To really understand the audacity of 00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:42.379 this album, we need to slow down and meticulously 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:45.639 decode Side A. Because the pacing here is a deliberate 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:48.399 descent into something very heavy and very challenging. 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.379 The sequencing of Side A is a masterclass in 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.460 challenging the listener's expectations. I mean, 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.740 a standard commercial album of this era would 00:10:55.740 --> 00:10:57.659 typically frontload the A -side with the most 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:00.279 accessible radio -friendly tracks. Always. You 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:02.250 want to immediately hook the... consumer before 00:11:02.250 --> 00:11:04.230 they decide to take the record off the turntable. 00:11:04.590 --> 00:11:07.389 Alien sex fiend completely inverts that logic. 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:10.169 The record opens with a track titled Smells Like. 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:13.049 and the source lists its runtime at five minutes 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:15.730 and 49 seconds. Right out of the gate, nearly 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:18.070 six minutes just to establish the opening argument 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:20.850 of the album. It's a slow, deliberate pacing 00:11:20.850 --> 00:11:23.269 that forces you to recalibrate your attention 00:11:23.269 --> 00:11:25.769 span. They are telling you up front, this is 00:11:25.769 --> 00:11:28.210 not going to be a collection of quick, digestible 00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:31.429 pop singles. And Smells Like is merely the warning 00:11:31.429 --> 00:11:34.509 shot because the second track on side A is the 00:11:34.509 --> 00:11:37.110 absolute focal point of the entire record. This 00:11:37.110 --> 00:11:39.720 is the one. Track two is Manic Depression, and 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:42.580 the runtime is a staggering 13 minutes and 13 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:45.240 seconds. This is where the structural rules of 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:47.620 a rock album are just completely thrown out the 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:50.039 window. A 13 -minute track on an album that only 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:53.019 runs 46 minutes in total. To truly grasp the 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:55.299 magnitude of that decision, we have to consider 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:57.519 the physical limitations of the vinyl medium 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.700 itself. Let's break that down for people who 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:01.840 might not be super familiar with pressing vinyl. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.000 Sure. So a single side of a 12 inch record can 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.820 comfortably hold about 22 to 24 minutes of audio 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:10.539 before you start encountering severe compromises 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:12.919 in sound quality. Things like inner groove distortion. 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:15.820 Exactly. Inner groove distortion, loss of low 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:19.080 end frequencies, lowered overall volume. So by 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.379 dedicating 13 minutes and 13 seconds seconds 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:24.639 to a single song, Manic Depression is consuming 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:26.820 more than half of the physical real estate on 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:29.200 Side A. It would literally dominate the visual 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.639 surface of the record. It would. When you pull 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:34.340 the vinyl out of the sleeve, that single groove 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:36.539 would look like a massive dark canyon taking 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.299 up most of the disc. It is a massive allocation 00:12:39.299 --> 00:12:42.279 of resources, both physical and emotional. And 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:45.039 the title itself, Manic Depression, provides 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.720 a crucial context for that length. Right. The 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:49.700 band isn't just writing a long song for the sake 00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:52.899 of self -indulgence or jamming. The extreme runtime 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:55.820 likely mirrors the clinical, grueling, and oscillating 00:12:55.820 --> 00:12:57.940 nature of the psychological state they are describing. 00:12:58.250 --> 00:13:00.990 You cannot neatly resolve the concept of manic 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:04.250 depression in a neat three minute verse chorus 00:13:04.250 --> 00:13:07.750 structure. It requires time to build to sustain 00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:10.870 tension and quite frankly to exhaust the listener. 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:13.710 It demands an intense level of commitment. If 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:16.470 you drop the needle on side A, you are essentially 00:13:16.470 --> 00:13:19.269 trapped in that sonic environment. You sit through 00:13:19.269 --> 00:13:21.830 the nearly six minute opener and then you are 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.690 plunged into this 13 minute monolith. And the 00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:27.070 side finally closes out with, believe it or not, 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:29.610 which sits at four minutes and 40 seconds. When 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:32.850 we view Side A in its entirety, just three tracks 00:13:32.850 --> 00:13:35.549 spanning roughly 24 minutes, it becomes clear 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:38.370 that this is designed as an immersive, continuous 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:41.070 piece of atmospheric world building. It is heavy, 00:13:41.309 --> 00:13:43.529 it is brooding, and it requires the listener 00:13:43.529 --> 00:13:45.580 to sit still and endure the weight of it. They 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:47.879 have engineered a deeply specific psychological 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:50.240 space. But the brilliance of the album and the 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.799 part that gives you absolute structural whiplash 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:54.940 happens when that needle hits the center label 00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:57.340 on side A. Because you are forced to physically 00:13:57.340 --> 00:13:59.399 interact with the medium. Right. You have to 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:01.100 pick up the record, you flip it over side B, 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.960 you drop the needle again, and the band completely 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.399 shatters the heavy brooding atmosphere they just 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.750 spent 24 minutes building. The sequencing of 00:14:09.750 --> 00:14:12.730 Side B is fascinating because it initially tricks 00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.269 the listener into thinking the long -form endurance 00:14:15.269 --> 00:14:17.250 test is going to continue. It's a total fake 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:19.730 out. You flip the record, expecting perhaps a 00:14:19.730 --> 00:14:22.389 shift in tempo, but the opening track of Side 00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:26.009 B is April Showers, clocking in at 9 minutes 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:28.350 and 15 seconds. It's brilliant misdirection. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:32.419 You think, OK, we are back in the marathon. Another 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:36.100 massive sprawling epic. But the moment April 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:39.139 Showers ends, the dam completely breaks. The 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.580 rest of Side B is sequenced like a rapid fire 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:44.240 punk assault. The contrast is incredibly stark. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.340 Following that nine minute opener, we are suddenly 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:49.039 hit with a sequence of four tracks that are entirely 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.019 different in their structural DNA. Let's read 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:53.799 through them. We get Watt Bob at 3 .42. Get into 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:57.720 it at 3 .43. Lesson one at 3 .35. And do it right. 00:14:57.769 --> 00:15:01.309 at 5 .03. Just reading those titles out loud 00:15:01.309 --> 00:15:04.090 completely shifts the energy in the room. Wop 00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:07.210 -op, get into it, do it right. These are aggressive, 00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:10.250 kinetic, almost instructional titles. They imply 00:15:10.250 --> 00:15:13.070 movement, friction, and immediate gratification. 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:15.690 Which is the exact polar opposite of a title 00:15:15.690 --> 00:15:18.269 like Manic Depression. This raises an important 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:21.429 question about album sequencing. How do you maintain 00:15:21.429 --> 00:15:25.139 momentum? It creates a deeply dynamic listening 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:28.620 experience here. You endure the slow psychological 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:31.279 weight of the A -side, you wade through the nine 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.039 -minute opening of the B -side, and then the 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:35.899 band essentially releases all the built -up tension 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:39.000 in a burst of shorter, punchier, high -velocity 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.720 tracks. It shows a really sophisticated understanding 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.539 of album pacing. You can't sustain a 13 -minute 00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:46.539 atmosphere indefinitely. Eventually, you have 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:48.179 to break the tension, and they do it with this 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:50.580 barrage of shorter songs. It's like they held 00:15:50.580 --> 00:15:52.129 their breath for the entire first... to half 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:54.669 of the album, and side B is the explosive exhale. 00:15:54.909 --> 00:15:57.350 That's a perfect way to describe it. But as kinetic 00:15:57.350 --> 00:16:00.110 and chaotic as that sequence is, it all leads 00:16:00.110 --> 00:16:02.889 to the single most bizarre and theatrical choice 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:05.570 on the entire track list. Oh, the closer. The 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:08.429 final song on it, the album is titled To Be Continued, 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:11.250 and the source notes, it is exactly 42 seconds 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:14.720 long. Ending a 46 -minute, structurally complex, 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.879 emotionally taxing album with a 42 -second fragment 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:20.419 is a fascinating subversion of the medium. It 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.279 feels inherently cinematic to me. Like a serialized 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.820 television show cutting to black right at the 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:28.039 climax of the episode. Exactly. It completely 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:30.340 denies the listener the traditional catharsis 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:33.000 of an album closer. The standard convention of 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.000 a rock album is to end on a grand sweeping statement. 00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:39.629 Or maybe a slow, acoustic fade -out that gently 00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:42.409 transitions the listener back into reality. Alien 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:45.230 Sex Fiend rejects that entirely. By ending on 00:16:45.230 --> 00:16:48.649 a 42 -second cliffhanger explicitly titled, To 00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:51.509 Be Continued, they are playfully antagonizing 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:53.710 the audience. They are leaving you suspended 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:56.330 and mid -air. It's a structural joke that practically 00:16:56.330 --> 00:16:58.690 demands you go back to the record store and purchase 00:16:58.690 --> 00:17:01.370 their next release just to find out how the thought 00:17:01.370 --> 00:17:03.970 concludes. It shows a band that is highly self 00:17:03.970 --> 00:17:05.950 -aware, playing with the format of the vinyl 00:17:05.869 --> 00:17:08.549 as if it were a comic book or a serial film. 00:17:08.849 --> 00:17:11.390 That acute awareness of the format is the perfect 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:14.490 segue into what might be the most mind -blowing 00:17:14.490 --> 00:17:17.390 aspect of this entire Wikipedia page. Oh, the 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:20.509 format wars. This is where it gets insane. We've 00:17:20.509 --> 00:17:22.230 spent all this time breaking down the tightly 00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:25.549 curated 46 -minute experience of the vinyl LP. 00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:28.609 But the source material outlines the release 00:17:28.609 --> 00:17:31.349 history across different physical media. And 00:17:31.349 --> 00:17:33.990 this is where the limitations of 1980s technology 00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:36.829 forced the band to make incredibly surreal decisions. 00:17:37.069 --> 00:17:38.609 Let's talk about the cassette release, which 00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:41.450 the source tells us was literally titled It The 00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:43.970 Cassette. The naming convention alone is delightful 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:46.630 in its bluntness. It is very on the nose. But 00:17:46.630 --> 00:17:48.289 the reality of what was contained on that cassette 00:17:48.289 --> 00:17:51.170 is a phenomenal artifact of music industry economics. 00:17:51.470 --> 00:17:53.609 To understand the gravity of this, we have to 00:17:53.609 --> 00:17:55.430 talk about the physical properties of magnetic 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:58.230 tape. Please do, because this is wild. In the 00:17:58.230 --> 00:18:00.769 1980s, the standard blank cassette formats were 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:04.450 the C60 holding 30 minutes per side and the C90 00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:07.269 holding 45 minutes per side. And since the album 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:09.730 is 46 minutes and three seconds long, it creates 00:18:09.730 --> 00:18:12.230 an immediate logistical nightmare for a cassette 00:18:12.230 --> 00:18:15.230 manufacturer. Right, you can't fit it on a 45 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:17.529 -minute C90 without cutting something. Which 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:20.180 they obviously wouldn't want to do. And... If 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:23.279 you use a longer tape or split the 46 minutes 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.359 across two sides of a C60, you end up with roughly 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:29.720 23 minutes of music on side 1 and 23 minutes 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:33.039 on side 2. Which leaves you with immense stretches 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:35.980 of blank, silent magnetic tape at the end of 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:38.970 each side. Exactly. In the cassette era, dead 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:41.670 space was a major annoyance for consumers. You 00:18:41.670 --> 00:18:43.990 would finish listening to the music and then 00:18:43.990 --> 00:18:46.069 you would be forced to either sit in hissing 00:18:46.069 --> 00:18:48.990 silence for seven or eight minutes or manually 00:18:48.990 --> 00:18:51.130 fast -forward the tape until the mechanism clicked 00:18:51.130 --> 00:18:53.170 just so you could flip it over and play the other 00:18:53.170 --> 00:18:55.369 side. It was a huge friction point in the user 00:18:55.369 --> 00:18:58.839 experience. A massive friction point. To solve 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:01.220 this friction point, Anagram Records and the 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:04.079 band make a decision that is almost unfathomable 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.980 in today's highly monetized, streaming -driven 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:10.240 industry. The source explicitly states that the 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.400 1986 cassette version included the band's entire 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:17.380 previous 1985 album, Maximum Security. They literally 00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:19.579 just stapled their last record onto the leftover 00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:21.599 tape. They just slapped it on there. It is an 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:24.299 absurdly generous solution to a physical manufacturing 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.380 problem. But it also speaks volumes about how 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:29.980 independent bands viewed their own catalogs in 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:33.039 the mid -80s. Maximum Security was barely a year 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.700 old. In today's landscape, a one -year -old album 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:38.720 is still heavily promoted. It's heavily curated 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.359 and monetized as a distinct entity. But for Alien 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:45.140 Sex Fiend, operating at a furious album -a -year 00:19:45.140 --> 00:19:48.680 pace, their 1985 release was already the past. 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.230 It had become utilitarian. They were willing 00:19:51.230 --> 00:19:53.869 to use a full -length studio album simply as 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:56.410 filler material to solve a formatting quirk for 00:19:56.410 --> 00:19:58.869 their new release. It fundamentally changes what 00:19:58.869 --> 00:20:01.279 the consumer is buying. You walk into a shop 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:04.920 in 1986, you buy the new 46 -minute alien sex 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.500 fiend album on tape, and you walk out with a 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:10.039 sprawling 90 -minute double album experience 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:12.579 entirely by accident. The physical container, 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:15.160 the plastic shell, and the magnetic tape literally 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:17.339 dictated the boundaries of the art the consumer 00:20:17.339 --> 00:20:19.880 received. And that idea that the container dictating 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.539 the art becomes even more pronounced when we 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:23.480 look at the third format mentioned in the source 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:26.640 material. The compact disc. Yes, the Wikipedia 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.000 page details a later reissue on Compact Disc, 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.539 predictably titled, It, the CD. Also delightfully 00:20:33.539 --> 00:20:36.839 blunt. Very. The advent of the CD completely 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:38.539 shattered the constraints we've been discussing. 00:20:38.819 --> 00:20:41.779 You no longer had a side A and a side B. You 00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:44.180 didn't have to worry about inner groove distortion. 00:20:44.420 --> 00:20:46.279 You didn't have to worry about blank tape hiss. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.839 You simply had a single continuous digital canvas 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.539 that could hold up to 74 minutes of audio. And 00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.299 with all that newfound digital real estate, the 00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:58.539 band didn't just leave the 46 -minute album as 00:20:58.539 --> 00:21:01.460 it was. The source tells us they actively expanded 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:04.299 the runtime, adding three completely new tracks 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:06.619 to the end of the CD sequence. Right, let's look 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:09.559 at those. We get track 10, Bug and Me, at 3 .39. 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:12.839 We get track 12, It Lives Again, at 3 .46. But 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.480 the most significant addition is track 11. It's 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:18.160 a 6 -minute and 48 -second track called Hurricane 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:20.569 Fighter Plane. And the source provides a crucial 00:21:20.569 --> 00:21:22.490 footnote here noting that this is a cover of 00:21:22.490 --> 00:21:25.029 a song by the Red Crayola. The inclusion of a 00:21:25.029 --> 00:21:27.750 Red Crayola cover is a deeply revealing aesthetic 00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:31.650 choice. For context, the Red Crayola was an avant 00:21:31.650 --> 00:21:35.369 -garde, psychedelic, and often highly abrasive 00:21:35.369 --> 00:21:38.190 experimental rock band formed in the late 1960s. 00:21:38.269 --> 00:21:40.970 They were not writing pop hits. Far from it. 00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:43.630 They were notorious for creating unstructured 00:21:43.630 --> 00:21:47.250 chaotic walls of sound that completely alienated 00:21:47.250 --> 00:21:49.809 traditional rock audiences. So by choosing to 00:21:49.809 --> 00:21:52.089 cover a track with an evocative aggressive title 00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:54.569 like Hurricane Fighter Plane and stretching it 00:21:54.569 --> 00:21:56.890 out to nearly seven minutes, Alien Sex Fiend 00:21:56.890 --> 00:21:59.190 is doing more than just filling digital space. 00:21:59.490 --> 00:22:02.069 They are planting a flag. They're explicitly 00:22:02.069 --> 00:22:04.710 aligning themselves with the most boundary pushing, 00:22:05.150 --> 00:22:07.690 uncompromising lineage of underground rock history. 00:22:07.930 --> 00:22:09.670 It totally transforms the architecture of the 00:22:09.670 --> 00:22:12.269 album. We started by analyzing this very deliberate, 00:22:12.529 --> 00:22:15.730 highly curated, 46 minute vinyl experience. The 00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:18.029 heavy descent of side A, the whiplash of side 00:22:18.029 --> 00:22:20.630 B, the 42 second cliffhanger. Right. But when 00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:22.789 you add a seven minute avant -garde psychedelic 00:22:22.789 --> 00:22:24.589 cover and two other tracks to the end of it, 00:22:24.769 --> 00:22:27.569 the runtime swells well past an hour. The cliffhanger 00:22:27.569 --> 00:22:30.410 of To Be Continued isn't even the end of the 00:22:30.410 --> 00:22:32.509 album. anymore. It's just a weird speed bump 00:22:32.509 --> 00:22:34.730 before the bonus tracks kick in. It ruins the 00:22:34.730 --> 00:22:37.470 cliffhanger. It really does. It raises a fascinating 00:22:37.470 --> 00:22:39.609 philosophical question about the nature of the 00:22:39.609 --> 00:22:42.769 album as an art form. Which version is the definitive 00:22:42.769 --> 00:22:45.509 statement? That is the big question. Does the 00:22:45.509 --> 00:22:49.529 sprawling 60 plus minute CD version dilute the 00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.750 claustrophobic intensity of the original vinyl 00:22:51.750 --> 00:22:54.430 sequencing? Or does the limitless format of the 00:22:54.430 --> 00:22:58.180 CD finally allow the band to present the chaotic, 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:01.460 unedited scope of their vision without the physical 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:03.920 compromises required by wax and needles. The 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.539 source doesn't answer this, obviously. Yeah, 00:23:05.539 --> 00:23:08.000 but it provides us with all the raw data to see 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:10.960 how the technology of the era fractured the concept 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.000 of a singular artistic release. After unpacking 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.000 all of these layers, the blistering timeline 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.240 of releases, the DIY ethos of the self -painted 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.559 cover, the audacity of a 13 -minute track, the 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.420 serialized 42 -second ending, and the absolute 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:28.740 chaos of the cassette and CD format wars, we 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:30.400 really need to look at how this was actually 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.480 received in its time. The critical reception. 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:35.660 Right. The reception section of our Wikipedia 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:39.339 source is incredibly brief. but it offers a singular, 00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:42.140 incredibly potent piece of critical validation. 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:45.079 The magazine Trouser Press reviewed the album, 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.859 and the quote provided in the article calls it, 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:51.000 unquestionably, the group's most creative mind 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.720 -expanding undertaking. When you isolate that 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.099 phrase, mind -expanding undertaking, and apply 00:23:56.099 --> 00:23:58.140 it to everything we've discussed today, it feels 00:23:58.140 --> 00:24:00.559 like an incredibly accurate and earned assessment. 00:24:00.819 --> 00:24:03.099 The review isn't just praising a catchy guitar 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:06.299 riff or a clever lyric. Mind -expanding speaks 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:08.920 to the entire of the project. It's the sheer 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.680 scale of the defiance. Yes. It is a band fundamentally 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:15.079 defying the expectations of how their music should 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.019 be packaged, paced, and consumed. When a front 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:20.759 man paints his own album cover, he is expanding 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:22.779 the boundaries of his artistic responsibility. 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:26.359 When a band sequences a 13 -minute song... followed 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:28.859 by a barrage of three -minute punk tracks, they 00:24:28.859 --> 00:24:31.859 are expanding the listener's tolerance for structural 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:34.240 dissonance. And when they use an entire previous 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.420 studio album as functional filler for cassette 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:39.200 tape, they are completely blowing up the perceived 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.750 commercial value of their own catalog. Trouser 00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:43.710 Press recognized that this wasn't just a collection 00:24:43.710 --> 00:24:47.390 of songs. It was an exercise in testing the limits 00:24:47.390 --> 00:24:49.809 of the format itself. It makes you look at a 00:24:49.809 --> 00:24:52.569 simple Wikipedia page with an entirely new level 00:24:52.569 --> 00:24:55.589 of respect. If you just skim the source material, 00:24:55.710 --> 00:24:58.369 it reads like a dry catalog of times, dates, 00:24:58.509 --> 00:25:00.950 and track titles. Just raw data points. But when 00:25:00.950 --> 00:25:03.109 you actually sit down and decode the implications 00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:06.430 of a 13 -minute and 13 -second runtime, when 00:25:06.430 --> 00:25:08.470 you analyze the footnotes about the different 00:25:08.470 --> 00:25:11.170 release formats, you uncover the story of a band 00:25:11.170 --> 00:25:13.750 that viewed every single physical limitation 00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:16.690 of the 1980s music industry as an opportunity 00:25:16.690 --> 00:25:18.950 for subversion. They treated the medium as part 00:25:18.950 --> 00:25:21.430 of the message. They didn't view the vinyl record 00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:24.309 or the cassette tape as merely a neutral vessel 00:25:24.309 --> 00:25:27.009 to transport audio to a consumer. They viewed 00:25:27.009 --> 00:25:29.009 the constraints of those formats as a puzzle 00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:31.150 to be solved. And they solved it with a mixture 00:25:31.150 --> 00:25:34.349 of immense creativity and absolute pragmatism. 00:25:34.589 --> 00:25:37.250 It's a testament to the vitality of the underground 00:25:37.250 --> 00:25:39.599 scene during that transitional decade. Which 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:42.140 leaves us with our final takeaways for this deep 00:25:42.140 --> 00:25:45.779 dive. We started with the bare bones of a 1986 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:49.039 release by Alien Sex Fiend. Through that text, 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.339 we've reconstructed a narrative about what happens 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:54.299 when an artist refuses to compromise. We've seen 00:25:54.299 --> 00:25:57.140 how maintaining an annual release cycle requires 00:25:57.140 --> 00:26:00.380 a furious, instinctual creative engine. We've 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:02.299 seen how taking control of the production and 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:05.819 the visual art creates a unified, auteurist vision. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.339 And perhaps most importantly, We've explored 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:10.700 how the physical reality of the media itself, 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:13.619 the length of a vinyl groove, the blank space 00:26:13.619 --> 00:26:16.720 on a spool of magnetic tape, the digital capacity 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:20.380 of a compact disc, can fundamentally alter, dictate, 00:26:20.619 --> 00:26:22.819 and reshape the art that the audience ultimately 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:24.819 receives. To everyone listening right now, I 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:26.519 want to challenge you to take this perspective 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:29.079 into your own physical media collections. The 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:31.000 next time you pull a record off your shelf where 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:33.000 you find an old cassette tape in a thrift store, 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:35.200 look beyond the music itself. Look closely at 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.509 the track links. Look at how the songs are sequenced 00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:40.329 across side A and side B. Look for the weird 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:43.109 formatting decisions, the bonus tracks, the literal 00:26:43.109 --> 00:26:45.829 naming conventions like the cassette. Those details 00:26:45.829 --> 00:26:48.390 are not just trivial footnotes for archivists. 00:26:48.869 --> 00:26:51.829 They are the scars and the triumphs of an artist 00:26:51.829 --> 00:26:54.549 grappling with the physical limitations of their 00:26:54.549 --> 00:26:58.049 era. They are a crucial part of the story. Understanding 00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:00.490 the container provides invaluable context for 00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:03.250 the art it holds. It is a lens that enriches 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:05.430 the entire listening experience. And to leave 00:27:05.430 --> 00:27:08.009 you with a final, provocative thought to mull 00:27:08.009 --> 00:27:10.109 over as you go about your day, I want you to 00:27:10.109 --> 00:27:12.329 think about that cassette release strategy one 00:27:12.329 --> 00:27:15.289 more time. The stapled album. Exactly. Imagine 00:27:15.289 --> 00:27:17.849 if your absolute favorite artist working today 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:20.190 was suddenly bound by the physical constraints 00:27:20.190 --> 00:27:23.690 of 1986. Imagine if, in order to release their 00:27:23.690 --> 00:27:26.450 highly anticipated new album, the physical medium 00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:28.819 demands that they staple their entire previous 00:27:28.819 --> 00:27:30.960 album to the back of it, essentially giving it 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:33.480 away for free just to fill the physical space 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:35.059 of the product. That would break the internet 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.960 today. It really forces a compelling question. 00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:40.720 How much of the art we revere today, the pacing 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:43.599 we consider flawless, the album lengths we consider 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:46.500 standard, the separation of distinct eras, how 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:48.420 much of that is actually an intentional artistic 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:51.160 choice and how much of it is simply a byproduct 00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:54.359 of the container it happens to come in. A phenomenal 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:56.740 question that challenges our entire understanding 00:27:56.740 --> 00:27:59.450 of modern music consumption. Thank you so much 00:27:59.450 --> 00:28:01.789 for joining us on this dip dive into the brilliant, 00:28:02.029 --> 00:28:05.069 chaotic, and truly mind -expanding world of Alien 00:28:05.069 --> 00:28:08.529 Sex Fiends, the album. Keep questioning the formats, 00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:10.410 keep looking closer at the liner notes, and we 00:28:10.410 --> 00:28:13.109 will catch you on the next deep dive. Thank you 00:28:13.109 --> 00:28:13.490 for listening.