what's up everyone this is jason from it's not
that bad and there can only be one and you are
listening to my weekly mixtape the podcast that's
better than a stack of cds and a double deck
cassette ghetto blaster now get ready to play
along because the party starts now Welcome to
My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that takes the classic
mixtape approach to building a modern playlist.
I'm your host, Brian Colburn. Joining me tonight
as guest curator is someone who you might remember
from episode one, opening guitar riffs, as well
as episode 21, great songs from bad movies. Here
to three -peat for the first time on My Weekly
Mixtape is Jason Whistle, host of the It's Not
That Bad and There Can Only Be One podcast. Jason.
Welcome back to the show. Now, is it a three
-peat or is it a trifecta? I can't remember which
show we're on at this point. I know. It's confusing.
Let's go. I don't know. You kind of stumped me
on that one. I didn't think that far ahead. Well,
tonight, instead, you know, now that I'm thinking
about this, we should have did. artists' third
albums just because of the three -peat. But alas,
tonight we are diving into 90s sophomore releases.
And this is actually a harder topic than one
would think. So here's an example. Jason, you're
based out of Canada, so this one will immediately
resonate with you. Alanis Morissette. For those
of us based in the U .S., one might think...
Her debut, Jagged Little Pill, was absolutely
massive, so for a sophomore album, I'll pick
a song off of supposed former infatuation junkie.
Well, for tonight's episode, that actually doesn't
count because, believe it or not, Jagged Little
Pill was Alanis Morissette's third studio album.
There was 1991's Alanis and 1992's Now Is The
Time, both full -length studio albums released
on MCA Records. Only in Canada. Oh, trust me.
Those got played a lot, especially because Alanis
is actually from my hometown of Ottawa. So we
heard her songs, those early songs, a lot. Well,
putting that criteria up to this topic tonight,
Jason, did you have a tough time coming up with
a bank of songs for this episode? There were
a few artists where, because when we were preparing
for this episode, we tried to kind of set some
kind of boundaries, because otherwise there would
be so many albums up for grabs. So in making
the cutoff that the debut album had to be in
the 90s, as well as the second album being in
the 90s, that would eliminate a band like Dream
Theater, seeing as how that first album came
out in the 80s, or a band like Godsmack, where
the second album came out in the 2000s. But that
being said, there's still a lot of albums to
go through. And it's funny you mentioned the
Alanis Morissette angle because I realized that
there are some of my references which are definitely
going to have my Canadian showing in this one,
depending on which direction this podcast and
this mixtape is going to go. Well, some of the
amazing Patreon mixtapers chimed in with what
they feel would best kick off a 90s sophomore
efforts mixtape. And I want to give a few quick
shout outs, but I want to preface it with a mea
culpa because I did not. put all of our criteria
out in the universe when I put this out on social
and I mentioned it on Patreon. So some of the
ones that they chimed in with do have the 80s
angle to it. No disrespect to any of these albums
or any of these choices because I think they're
great picks, but a few of them we will not be
getting into tonight based on the fact that we
made it as difficult on ourselves as possible.
Ooh. Ooh. Brand new mixtaper, Jason Donchus,
who I'd like to first welcome to the mixtaper
family, chimed in with a couple. Anything off
of Southern Harmony from the Black Crows, he's
going to go with Remedy. Absolutely love it.
Simple from Collective Soul's self -titled album.
Cherub Rock from Smashing Pumpkins, although
his favorite off that album is Hummer. And Interstate
Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots. Ben from the
Too Vague podcast, who you heard as guest curator
on episode 31, New Wave Classics, chimed in with
Liz Phair's Jealousy from Whipsmart. Seeker chimed
in with Pearl Jam's Rearview Mirror off of Versus.
And Cactus P chimed in with Oasis' Champagne
Supernova from What's the Story? Morning Glory.
Now, Jason, one of the things we should probably
get out of the way before we get into the episode
is the topic of EPs. Now... There are a lot of
bands that'll start off with an EP before the
debut album. And tonight, for criteria's sake,
we are letting the EP slide, meaning we're not
counting that as a studio album. Which is really,
really good because that would mean that Alice
in Chains' Sap would have been their second album,
but instead we get to qualify Dirt as their second
album, even though there are really, really good
songs on both of those. But in some cases, too,
as again, we were preparing for this, there are
some cases where you had an independent full
-length release and then the major label studio
release. But the albums are almost identical
as far as the track listing goes. And in some
cases, it's just a rerecording. So there's some
bands where that lesser known first album may
have disqualified it. But because it's basically
the same album, it's like, OK, we'll just pretend
that this is this one. Yeah. And that's part
of the asterisk. We call it on this show where
we're not going to be hard and fast stomping
our feet on the ground and pounding on the table
to say, wait a minute. But we try to keep. the
research as honed in as possible, but this is
definitely a tougher category for tonight. So
I am glad to have a trifecta three Peter on the
show to do that with. So let's get down to business
tonight. As I mentioned at the top of the show,
Jason and I'll be curating a nineties sophomore
albums mixtape, and we're going to use that old
cassette deck approach. Jason, as my special
guest, will begin side A with his first song
choice, and then I'll add a song that I feel
best follows up that choice. We'll then flip
-flop choosing songs until we've mapped out 10
songs for side A. We'll then give our mixtape
a proverbial flip, and we'll map out side B,
only this time I'll kick things off with Jason
choosing second. Our overall goal for this episode
is to craft the best 90s sophomore albums mixtape
possible through only 20 songs. At the end of
the show, you can take our conversation to the
next level by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen via the
embedded playlist. And finally, if you like what
you're hearing on My Weekly Mixtape, you can
help me out by either telling a friend about
the show, leaving the show a five -star review
wherever you're tuning in, or becoming a Patreon
mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
Jason, now I'm officially pressing the record
button on this mixtape and the floor is yours.
What song did you choose to kick off side A?
Oh, I juggled a bunch of songs for the start
of this tape. There were a few where it's like,
do I put a band in that I'm a huge fan of? Do
I put a band in that maybe hasn't been as mentioned
on the podcast before? But you know what? I'm
going to start. with one of my favorite albums
from the 90s and coincidentally one of the last
bands that i got to see before the pandemic hit
and all the concerts shut down because i went
from where i am in the the greater toronto area
all the way down to louisville kentucky this
band was actually the opening band for the nixons
Off of 1996's Wax Ecstatic, I'm going to go with
the title track off of that album from Sponge.
And this album, I mean, front to back, even the
hidden track, which may be one of the best hidden
tracks of the 90s, that's not a joke song. Velveteen
is a great song, but I mean, the whole album
all the way through. And the funny thing is,
it's not even my favorite Sponge album. That
one goes to New Pop Sunday, which was their third
album. It didn't get as much attention as it
should have gotten, but wax ecstatic. In my opinion,
it's better than their debut. There's so many
good songs off of that one, but yeah, this album,
front to back. Could not agree more, and do you
want to laugh? I normally don't have songs earmarked.
for spots on the playlist but i'm going to tell
you right from song one you scooped me because
i was thinking of that opening guitar riff and
the opening drums to be the fantastic track two
oh wow to follow up whatever you had picked so
you scooped me on the band the song and the album
i love wax ecstatic my band used to cover that
song we used to jam it all the time i love singing
it it's got this groove to it this hard rock
swagger to the song the first album was very
much rooted with songs like molly and plowed
in that kind of alternative i don't want to say
too cool for school thing but you could tell
it was a little bit more introspective the songs
Wax's static feels like they took the 80s excess
and they fused it with the 90s alternative sound.
So it had this hard rock feel to it and it was
less alternative than anything off Rotting Pinata.
So absolutely love the choice. And now I think
there's only one song I can follow it up with
as a second one because I want to keep that energy
going. Wax -A -Static really kicks off with energy
and it's anthemic. And I'm going to go with one
that when I say the band name, you might not
think, wow, that's going to be heavy following
up Sponge, Wax -A -Static. But to me, it's probably
the band's heaviest song of all time. And I'm
going to go with The Counting Crows. From their
follow -up to 1993's August and Everything After,
I'm going with Angels of the Silences from 1996's
Recovering the Satellites. When I first heard
that song, I said, this isn't The Counting Crows.
I was expecting a Mr. Jones, a Rain King, and
they come out with this blast of sonic energy.
really stands out from any song across their
entire discography. And I think taking the level
of wax ecstatic, I feel like we're keeping that
energy going to kick things off tonight. So Counting
Crows, Angels of the Silences. Arguably. No,
it's not even arguably. That may actually be
my favorite Counting Crows song. Eventually,
there's going to come a time when that Counting
Crows, there can only be one episode is going
to be done. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
And it's going to be hard to not pick that as
the only one. It's so good. It's so good. And
it is. It's a blast of energy. And I remember
when I used to DJ events and stuff like that.
Trust me when I say that song got played a lot.
And the funny thing is, when I was putting my
list together, I was like, oh, this would go
well if it was right after this song. I had a
feeling you were going to put some Counting Crows
on there. So I know exactly what I'm going to
follow that up with. And here's where the Canadiana
comes in. off of their Hallucigenia album from
1994 from the band Lowest of the Low. It's a
song called Penadona's Hand. Now, I was really,
really fortunate to be able to interview Ron
Hawkins on my old Majo mixtape. To him, this
was not his favorite album. It's the follow -up
to their big, gigantic album, Shakespeare, My
Butt. Yes, that's actually the name of the album.
But Penadona's Hand, it's got a very powerful,
acoustic, groove to it has a bit of uh you know
the the tail end of home for a rest from spirit
of the west that kind of vibe to it but it's
so good and if you've ever had a chance to listen
to lowest of the low that's a phenomenal album
to deep dive into so that song really leans into
that 90s alternative sound that Toad the Wet
Sprocket, who we can't talk about tonight because
their debut album came out in the 1980s using
the criteria we set. But I definitely feel like
they're the Canadian answer to Toad the Wet Sprocket
here in the US. I could see that. Yeah. So then
using that as a launching point, I think I know
what I'm going to do. I'm going to fast forward
a few years. And this band is, to me, one of
the more underrated alternative rock bands of
the 90s. They've only had a handful of albums,
but every one of them I've loved so, so much.
And I am going to go with a song that originally
debuted on 1999's American Pie soundtrack. So
it fits just in the nick of time. But the song
then followed up on their 1999 album Sugar. And
I'm going to go with Tonic, You Wanted More.
It still has that acoustic alternative energy
and feel and has that I don't want to say Toad
the Wet Sprocket vibe, but that's a sound. When
I say Toad the Wet Sprocket, you immediately
know the sound I'm talking about. And Lowest
of the Low channels that in their music. So to
me, I feel like following that up with something
in those lines would be a perfect way to go.
Now, to me, 1996's Lemon Parade is really hard
to top. I mean, open up your eyes if you could
only see. These are songs that I've been covering
for years. Fantastic. But you wanted more. It's
got that really cool hook. The guitar groove.
And it's got that shuffle beat going. It's almost
Americana and rock combined. And I feel like
following up lowest of the low, it helps tell
that story, but still keep that energy up because
you wanted more is definitely. a lot more energetic
than if you can only see from lemon parade so
i'm gonna follow up with tonic you wanted more
that is such a good song and yes you scooped
me again i also had mean to me on my list as
well because you're right nice you know it is
hard to follow up such a big album like that
but i think they did it really really well with
sugar and there's there's some of the deeper
cuts on there that are also really good and i
think i know exactly where i'm going to go with
this because To me, that brings it to a bit more
of a melodic rather than, you know, straight
ahead chords, you know, chugging away. And that
leads me to version 2 .0 from Garbage and their
song When I Grow Up. Oh, good pick. I was flip
-flopping between this one and Special because
to me, the first album was really, really good.
A lot of production work and some of the electronic
sounds that we got a lot of industrial and all
that from the 90s. Here. It's almost like Shirley
Manson was channeling a very Pat Benatar vibe
with some of these songs. And I personally think
2 .0 is a better album than the original as far
as songs go, at least the way I hear them. But
yeah, I'm going to go with When I Grow Up from
Garbage. Scooped me on the band. I had Push It
sitting on my list. Again, it all depended on
where we were heading musically, but that's another
great song. I also think you hit the nail right
on the head comparing it to a Pat Benatar sound
because there's definitely that influence in
songs on version two versus the first album,
which is definitely much more rooted in Butch
Vig's mindset, so to speak. Hmm. And I think
I'm going to follow this up by sticking with
the female perspective here. But musically, it's
going to be a little bit of a shift. Sonically,
because I don't have much that fits with garbage
in my list. So I'm going to slow things down
a little bit and go with a song that is hitting
a little closer to home right now, because this
is a band that when I first heard them, I said
to my friends and I felt this now for 30 years.
I'm like, wow, this is Sinead O 'Connor in the
90s. I could hear Sinead O 'Connor in this group.
And that would be the Cranberries. And I am going
to follow up from 1994's No Need to Argue with
the anthem Zombie. And I'll tell you why this
song has staying power. Recently, my band was
playing a trio show. It was myself on acoustic
guitar, my buddy Chris Van Cleave on keys, and
drummer Jay behind the kid who you remember from
some Playlist Wars episodes. And we're doing
a trio set. And somebody comes up to the stage
and says, Can you guys cover the Cranberry Zombie?
Chris looks at me and says, I'm not singing that.
And I said, look, we're three guys up here. That's
a pretty tall order vocally. I said, so I'll
make a deal with you. And the band is looking
at me like we've never played this before. And
I literally turned to them and I go, it's E minor
C G D for the most part. Just let's run with
it. And they said, how are you going to sing
it? I said. The verses I can handle. So then
I turned to the crowd and said, the only thing
I'm going to say is if you're not singing this
chorus, this song is going to sound awful. And
we went in and did it. And every single person
in the crowd sang it so loud that the hair on
my arm stood up. And we have included that song
in every show we've played ever since. Thankfully,
now we have my good friend from high school,
Nikki, who joins on female vocals to make it
a little bit more close to the original because.
Yeah, I am not a Dolores O 'Reiden level vocalist,
let's just say. But this song to me just has
a timeless energy to it. It's slower, but it's
so anthemic and it's so memorable. And again,
it's another singer who's gone too soon, just
like Sinead, who, you know, as we're recording
this, we're still feeling the sting of that happening.
So, yeah, following up. surely from garbage i'm
going with dolores from the cranberries and zombie
what is it about that song that random people
are going to come up to you and say hey can you
play this song because we had one of those situations
where we were just wrapping up second set and
someone's like yeah can you play zombie we're
like okay we're just gonna quickly look at how
to play it you know what the chords are in between
our sets and then we'll when we come back third
set we're gonna play it third set rolls around
we're ready to play it and they were so drunk
that they left So luckily, we saved ourselves
having to probably butcher that song. But we
were ready to go. We were ready to go. Yeah,
it's so good. And even when you heard the remake
done by Bad Wolves, it just proves how timeless
that song is. And that's one of those things
where there's a lot of songs where you hear it
done by a band from a completely different genre
and it still sounds as good. That tells you how
good the song was and not just the production
behind it. And then you add to the fact that
Dolores O 'Riordan was supposed to guest on that
Bad Wolves version adds an even more haunting
layer to that story because, man, I love the
original and I do enjoy Bad Wolves version. The
two of them together was probably going to make
musical magic. And it's one of those what ifs
that, man, I wish would have come together. Oh,
absolutely. Absolutely. And I know exactly where
I'm going to go with that one. One of the. bigger
albums you know when it came out in 1997 i played
this album ad nauseum and that's off of the eight
arms to hold you album by baruch assault i'm
gonna go with shutterbug though and not volcano
girls because i feel like shutterbug a it's a
great song But B, I think it matches the tonality
of Zombie a little bit more. I think I've actually
liked Shutterbug even more than some of the other
songs on the album, even though I can't remember
if it was released as a single or not. This album,
really, to me, production -wise, obviously, it's
better than American Thighs. And they should
have exploded. And yeah, Volcano Girls. Did get
a lot of airplay. And then, of course, you know,
Louise Post and Nina Gordon kind of went their
separate ways for a little bit. And now they're
back together. But, you know, it's great that
these songs are there. And Shutterbug, to me,
best song on the album. Oh, that's so tough.
You scoop me on the band once again. I did have
Volcano Girls just because of that manic punk
energy in that song. Veruca Salt always reminded
me of like the 90s answer to the Go -Go's, if
that makes sense. Baruch Assault is one of those
bands that I feel is just criminally, criminally
underrated because both of those albums and Nina
Gordon's solo stuff, I absolutely love as well.
I don't understand how they weren't bigger just
overall because they just had all the right pieces
of the musical puzzle as far as I'm concerned
all the way around. Oh, absolutely. Especially
on Nina Gordon's solo album. Like if I was making
a chill mixtape. I guarantee you right now, one
of the first songs on there would be Tonight
and the Rest of My Life. It's such a good song.
That and Now I Can Die is another beautiful one
from that album. Oh, my God. I could just go
on. Maybe we have a future episode there. All
right. Following up Veruca Salt, I want to get
weird. I want to go with a big song, but just
one that's so 90s that there's no other decade
this song could have been recorded in. And when
you're following up a massive, massive album
like 1994's self -titled, you have no idea which
self -titled I'm talking about. A lot of self
-titled. The Blue Album. One would think that
the band would feel the pressure to do whatever
it was they did on the first album and copy and
paste it in order to continue that success that
they had with their debut. But Weezer. Kind of
said, nah, we're going to do whatever the hell
we want. And that would be 1996's Pinkerton,
which most Weezer fans will argue is the best.
Other Weezer fans will argue that the Blue Album
is the best. It's always this fight going back
and forth. But to me, there is no denying the
absolute insanity of El Scorcho. Musically, there
is no way to fit this song anywhere on this playlist.
In a sense of, wow, this follows up whatever
song was well, because it is on its own island
musically. And that's what I love about it. And
I cannot hear a song like El Scorcho being released
in any decade other than the 90s. And it's just
everything that I love about Pinkerton. And I'll
be honest, I am probably more of a Blue Album
person by just a scoach, but I love this album
just as much. It's really tough to choose for
me. So I'm going with El Scorcho from Weezer.
I would be curious if you were to put a poll
on the platform formerly known as Twitter and,
you know, Blue Album or Pinkerton, which is the
better album. I'd be curious which one actually
won out. But I'm glad you kind of went to the
weird side because I'm not going to lie. There's
an album here and a song. that I was really,
really hoping I was going to get to drop. And
I think now is probably the best time. If I were
to tell you that a song was a mix of ska and
doo -wop, would your brain melt a little? Just
a bit. Okay. But being the musical chameleon
I am, I would be like, I'm in. Well, here we
go. Because off of 1994's How to Make Friends
and Influence People by Terror Vision. i'm gonna
go with oblivion this was one of those songs
that kind of came out of the blue when it came
out on you know much music back the day because
i can't believe especially you know now going
through a lot of these albums just how much of
my The musical tastes are shaped by the videos
that I would see on Much Music and, you know,
making those compilation VHS tapes because you're
standing by and you come home from school and
you've got like play and record and pause already
set in the minute. They say that that video is
OK on pause. Here we go. Dude, are you sure we're
not related somehow? This was one of those ones
that's completely out of the blue. Never heard
of the band, and I don't think I've ever actually
listened to any of their other albums. But this
album is so. good and it's so much fun like it's
it's a bop i know a lot of people say the songs
are about this song's a bop i mean you have the
horns you've got the almost like the doo -wop
kind of chorus to it it's fun and if you never
had a chance to listen to this album i had like
two or three songs off of this album it's fun
it's a lot of fun and you've left me in a interesting
predicament here to close out the side because
Scrolling through my list, I have not the closest
thing that I could follow that up with is Goldfinger.
But I don't feel like it's a side closing song.
And so this song is going to be both kind of
a musical palate cleanser and a way to close
out side one. And to me, the only way to close
out a 90s sophomore release side. Is with the
follow up to 1990's Facelift. Not SAP like we
talked about. But 1992's Dirt. You can also talk
about the amazing soundtrack to singles. I'm
going with Alice in Chains Wood. To me that is
a closing anthem. And there's really just no
way. To start a side with that. Or pop that in
the middle of a side. It only. closes things
out for me personally at least oh i mean as a
bassist i don't know if there's a rock bassist
in a band around that has not learned the bass
groove to wood i mean i guarantee you i have
played that you know while warming up or while
doing sound check or just getting a level going
you know it's not the kind of song that we would
play at the bars that we play because people
are there to dance and i don't know if i could
ever actually see anyone dancing to wood I'd
be curious to see how that would play out, but
that song and just that opening as a bassist,
and I'm sure you agree on this one, there are
certain songs that are made for the four stringers
out there, and this is one of them. A thousand
percent. I'll also throw in one other one that
my old band used to do, Rotten Apples. We would
jam out the beginning and the one guitarist would
doodle over it and the other guitarist would
come in with the clean guitar and it just worked
so well. And that one just always hits. Alice
in Chains had such a unique sound. They're part
of what I call the 90s Big Four. When you think
about Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice
in Chains. And I'll be honest, they might be
my favorite of the big four. And it's hard because
I respect all four bands immensely. But Alice
in Chains leans into a lot of the heavier stuff
that I love near and dear to my heart. But they
also know they have a side that's softer than
any of the bands on that list. Even as softer
songs like Nothing Man from Pearl Jam or Something
in the Way by Nirvana. You take a song like Don't
Follow. by Alice in Chains. They have a spectrum
of music that is just undeniable. Oh, absolutely.
Don't forget Nutshell. I mean, the song that
kicked off the MTV Unplugged, that song is chills
up and down the arm every time I hear it. I completely
agree. Alice in Chains, I think, is my favorite
of the grunge four, if you will. Played a couple
of Alice in Chains songs in my first band live
a couple of times. We did Wood, and then we did
It Ain't Like That. And again, lots of fun songs
to play as a band, but great songs to listen
to as a listener. 100%. And that, folks, closes
out side A of our 90s sophomore albums mixtape,
kicking off with Sponge's Wax -A -Static to sell
Angelina, Counting Crows, Angels of the Silences.
Lowest of the Low, Penedono's Hand, Tonics You
Wanted More, Garbage When I Grow Up, Cranberry
Zombie, Veruca Salt's Shutterbug, Weezer's El
Scorcho, Terror Vision's Oblivion, and Alice
in Chains. Head over to MyWeeklyMixTape .com
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this
mix through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, Jason, before we flip this proverbial
mix over to Side B, why don't you catch everybody
up on what's been happening over at It's Not
That Bad and There Can Only Be One podcasts.
Well, it's funny you mention that because as
we're recording this, this is a big week for
It's Not That Bad because not only is it the
two -year anniversary of the podcast and we've
got our two -year episode, which will be out
now by the time you're listening to this episode
on Howard the Duck. Because what better way to
celebrate two years than by going down that road.
But we're also closing in on our 100th episode.
And I'm just going to let you figure out which
one that's going to be. But I guarantee you it's
going to be very interesting to watch that film.
But on the other side, where there can only be
one, that podcast is starting to take off a little
bit. And that one's a ton of fun as well as we
go through an artist's studio discography and
pick our one song. only one song off of each
studio album as you know you've suffered through
that debacle of trying to pick just one song
many many times and I can almost guarantee you
like myself you probably have an album listed
as your research for this episode and multiple
songs from that album picked as I know I do for
some of these albums there it's been a ton of
fun you know and since the start of it's not
that bad and now we've got both podcasts going
I love To see the progression of it, I love to
see people having fun with it. And we have a
lot of fun guests on the show, yourself included,
as well as Gomez from the Sleepy G Show. And
we've got Gritting on a Curve episodes coming
up as well, where we have just a bunch of people
just ranking different movies in different categories.
So if you're in for a positive podcast that still
likes to have a really good laugh, or if you
like a music podcast where... The guest and myself
suffer through having to decide on just one song.
You have two podcasts to choose from. I think
they're both fantastic. I'm subbed to them both.
I'm always messaging you my commentary offline
about some of the song choices and things like
that. They're two of my absolute favorites, and
I'm glad to be part of that universe. Congrats
on the 100. Episode milestone. I still got about
60 something more to go before we get there at
my weekly mixtape. But that time will come. Technically,
that time will come in less than two years if
I am sticking to the name of the show and keeping
it weekly. I'll just take the time here and apologize
again for making you listen to Metallica's Lulu.
Thank you. I'm still trying to cleanse my palate
from that one. So to do so, I will kick things
off with Side B by picking something that is
not from Metallica. because they had several
albums in the 80s and they don't count. But we
were just talking about the big four of the 90s
and I am a sucker for album opening tracks. When
you're following up an album that kicks off as
amazing as 1991's Tended with the song Once,
you best equally bring that intensity to start
off your sophomore album. And on 1993's Versus,
Pearl Jam does just that with the insanity. known
as Go. I absolutely love the intensity that this
song brings to kick off an album that I feel
is on par with 1991's 10. And yes, I'll just
say it, Vitology as well. I love all three of
those albums. No Code, not as much, but the first
three Pearl Jam albums are a statement in and
of itself to me. And to kick off a side, how
can you not kick it off with a song called Go?
Let's just... kick this thing off with some authority.
I can't argue that Pearl Jam definitely avoided
the sophomore slump. I personally had Rearview
Mirror on my list, so you kind of scooped me
on the album there. Still, if we were ever to
do a Pearl Jam, there could only be one. We could
not talk about my favorite Pearl Jam song, which
is State of Love and Trust, which of course was
on the single soundtrack. But you're right, that
album, like when you're following up 10, that
was such, not just a good album, But it was a
momentum changer in the entire listener base
of rock music. That album shifted us into the
world of grunge. And to follow it up, showed
that grunge had the longevity, even though popularity
-wise and mainstream -wise, it did fade after
a while. But, oh, so good. So good on verses.
So good on vitality. I completely agree. Now,
you went with Go. That's got a lot of energy
to it. Where do I go from here? As I take a look
at my multiple pages of notes here, you know,
I think I know what I'm going to go with. And
I was hopeful that the inevitable actually happened.
Spotify has this thing where occasionally a full
album isn't available. Get certain songs here
and there. But just about a week or two before
we record this episode. the full album popped
up. And I was like, oh my God, it's there. I
can mention these songs. And it's arguably, in
my personal opinion, 1994, one of the best albums
of that entire year. That's a big statement.
But I'm going with off of the Trouble Gum album
from Therapy. I'm going to go with a song called
Stop It, You're Killing Me. I freaking love.
this album like it is raw energy all the way
through arguably has the best cover of a joy
division song that i think i've ever heard in
isolation this is another one of those bands
where this album stands out amongst their entire
discography and they're still around to this
day and still putting out new music and if you
have a chance listen to trouble gum if you like
something where it's like raw energy all the
way through Listen to this album. very, very
much. And we're obviously going energetic for
side two. So I am sticking with energetic and
I am going up with another one of the nineties
namesake bands. This is not going to be a band
that shocks anybody, but the song might, I am
going to go off of 1994 is purple. And I'm going
to go with my favorites. If we were doing a stone
temple pilots episode on there can only be one.
I'm going to go with my favorite song from that
album. And it's a song that I cover with my good
friend DC Slater on the album Wicked Garden,
a millennium tribute to Stone Temple Pilots,
although our version was a slowed down acoustic
version. The studio cut of Stone Temple Pilots
unglued hits me every time as a raw, manic, powerful
rock song. And just for those out there that.
Maybe curious to hear what me and my buddy did
with the song when we kind of flipped it on its
side. I'll throw a version up on the episode
page at myweeklymixtape .com just in case you
want to check that out. But following up Therapy,
Stop It, You're Killing Me, Stone Temple Pilots,
Unglued. Such a good song. I had Interstate Love
Song on my list. Oh, yeah. Interstate Love Song
has such a mass appeal. I completely get it.
Patreon mixtaper Jason Donchus chimed in with
that one. That is a huge, huge song that really
extends Stone Temple Pilots' notoriety outside
of the hard rock vein. But coming out of Pearl
Jam and Therapy, I felt like Unglued was the
better fit for this mixtape. That album, really,
those first three albums for Stone Temple Pilots,
again, it's a phenomenal three -album run right
there. Oh, where to go from here? Where to go
from here? Okay. Okay. I've got this one here.
Not necessarily as energetic, but still with
the same kind of crunch that you would get from
what we've got so far on this side. I'm going
to go with off of 1995 Seeds album from Brother
Kane and Fool's Shine On. This was another one
of those ones where out of the blue. This video
comes up on Much Music, MTV for all of you American
listeners. And all of a sudden, you've got the
hook stuck in your head. And it had that kind
of early collective soul kind of chunk to the
song itself. And the fact that some of the members
of Brother Kane teamed up with Kelly Gray and
Scott Rockefeller later in a group called Slave
to the System. If you're looking for side projects,
that's a phenomenal album to listen to. and Fool's
Shine On from 1995's Seeds. It's funny you mentioned
Collective Soul because as soon as you mentioned
Brother Kane, the first thought that came to
my mind, we talked about my band, Colburn & Company.
Drummer Jay is a huge fan of Brother Kane, so
that immediately popped into my head. And the
second thing that popped into my head is the
only thing I could follow up Brother Kane with
on my list is Collective Soul because I feel
like they just have that same energy to them
i don't want to say musically they're not paint
by numbers by any stretch of the imagination
but vibe wise i feel like they both fall under
that same vein and i'm going to keep the energy
up and i'm going to go with a song that i got
a chance to talk with a member of collective
soul will turpin on episode 12 the ultimate collective
soul playlist i am going to go with the song
that was first featured on the soundtrack to
the jerky boys movie And then the lead single
from their sophomore effort. I'm going to go
with gel. I just love the riff. There's something
that's so perfect in its simplicity. It's so
catchy. It's so catchy. It's so infectious. It
almost has a cars meets nineties vibe. And I'm
talking about the cars, Rico cassock. You take
that sound and you merge it with nineties rock.
You get a song like jail by collective soul.
So infectious. So wonderful. And instead of hearing
me talk about it, go back and listen to episode
12 because Will Turpin says some great stuff
about it. And before I forget, also, like I mentioned
at the top of the show, Jason Donch has chimed
in with Simple from the same album. I mean, there
are so many songs you could pick from this album.
Untitled, The World I Know, anything works. I'm
just trying to fall in line with this playlist
that we're putting together here. But I love
that band. I can't wait for them to put out something
new again. Yeah, you scooped me on gel. I had
that on my list for sure. And you're right, especially
when you're coming off of an album where Shine
was such a big song that was all over the place
at the time. You know, if you weren't walking
around and here's a... If your response is not...
Then you didn't 90s properly here. But I'm glad
you mentioned the cars because that tells me
exactly where I'm going to go next. This album
had some of the biggest choruses of the 90s.
And I'm glad that Butch Walker went on and had
a long solo career afterwards. But I'm going
to go with off of Hey Album from Marvelous 3.
But rather than go with Freak of the Week, I
think I'm going to go with Vampires in Love.
Because that song's got such a great sing -song
chorus to it. I mean, that whole album. The whole
album. If you like a catchy hook and a big chorus.
and sing -along vibes to the whole song, you're
going to love that album. I love Butch Walker's
solo stuff, but Marvelous 3 had that catchy,
almost Cars kind of vibe to it as well. 100%.
You scooped me on Marvelous 3. However, I did
have Freak of the Week because I used to cover
that song. I love Butch Walker. They're doing
a reunion show this year in 2023. I'm so stoked
about that. I hope it leads to more. Butch Walker
is just one of the most gifted, prolific songwriters
and producers on the scene. He has his hands
on so many amazing albums from so many bands
across so many genres. And he speaks to all of
those genres effortlessly. He is one of the best.
Out there. And I'm so glad you picked them. And
that is hard to follow up. Because they have
this pop sensibility. That's not sitting in my
list. Very well. I don't have a lot of the pop
flavored. Punk kind of stuff. And I don't want
to call Marvelous 3 pop punk. Because they're
not. But they have that element to it. That tinge.
They toured with bands like Lit and Eve 6. So
I would not call them punk. But they had that.
punk flavor to the alternative rock sound, if
you want to call it that. Kind of that power
pop feel. Yes, yes. So coming out of that, my
God, this is so tough because I have three songs
I definitely want to talk about tonight and I
only have two spots left and I'm praying you're
going to pull one of these three. All right.
I'm going to follow it up with a song that is
not power pop at all. It's just manic energy.
It's one of these songs that is going to pick
the energy up to close out side B for the second
half, because no matter what song you put before
it, monkey wrench by the Foo Fighters is picking
the energy up. It doesn't matter what it is.
It's. rock. It's hard rock. It's everything I
love about the Foo Fighters. Again, following
up 1995 self -titled, which was just supposed
to be a demo tape. 1997 is by many considered
to be the Foo Fighters masterpiece. Personally,
for me, I think Wasting Light is the band's finest
hour with the color in the shape of close second.
But to me, as much as their songs like Everlong
and My Hero, Monkey Wrench just. rises to the
top it is just so much fun and so energetic and
it's everything i love about the foo fighters
so let's see how you follow up foo fighters monkey
wrench oh this is gonna be a tough one here because
like yourself there are certain songs where i'm
just like i wish i'm hoping for an avenue to
get that into but what follows up monkey wrench
really by the way i had hey johnny park on my
list as well so another great one i mean come
on you can go with any of them oh the whole album
No lie, there is a Foo Fighters episode coming
up on There Can Only Be One, and that is not
going to be an easy episode to pick songs off
of at all. Where do I go with this one? From
Foo Fighters, Keeping Up the Energy. Okay, okay.
I'm going to go a little more aggressive here,
but still on the rockier side. The song that
broke Woodstock. I'm going to go off of 1999's
Significant Other. Break Stuff from Limp Bizkit.
Now, say what you want about what went down at
Woodstock. Say what you want about Limp Bizkit
and their songwriting. But if you're looking
for a speeding ticket, Break Stuff is probably
going to be that song. And it stands out from
the rest of that album to me. Songs like Nookie.
there were definitely a lot of radio play, but
break stuff had not just the energy, but a lot
of fun to it. And sometimes you just wanted to
rage out to a song. So yeah, often significant
other break stuff, beauty in simplicity down,
down. The whole place is about to go off. Everybody
at that time was losing their mind to limp biscuit.
I know limp biscuit has become a punchline to
some over the years. But I'm sorry. Some songs
are just meant to be fun. They're just meant
to be party songs. They're just meant to be anthemic.
And Break Stuff, to me, is an absolute, I'll
just say it, classic. If I want to get psyched
up, I mean, two chords and I'm ready to go. I
understand everything that happened at Woodstock
99. And I am not. Team Bro or whatever those
guys were that were being obnoxious at that concert.
However, I've seen Limp Bizkit perform several
times during that heyday, and that song always
set the place off into a frenzy. And unfortunately,
well, fortunately and unfortunately, you've made
my next decision quite easy because I have two
songs that I want to talk about. One of them
works. And one of them doesn't. So the song that
doesn't work, I got to give respect to because
in my opinion, it's the best sophomore album
of the 1990s. But there has been no place for
me to fit a Southern rock album on this mix.
And that would be 1992's The Southern Harmony
and Musical Companion and Black Crow's Remedy.
Of course, I'm 100 % in lockstep with Patreon
mixtaper Jason Donchus on this pick. However,
the problem now is that I cannot follow up Limp
Bizkit with Remedy and have it make sense musically
and be in good taste. But I want to give a shout
out to that album because it's amazing. It's
a masterpiece of Southern rock and I love the
album and I'm so effing upset that I haven't
found a place to squeeze it in. However, coming
out of... Break stuff. There's only one song
that could possibly match that insanity. And
it's also another Woodstock 99 reference from
1996 is evil empire raged against the machine
bulls on parade. Let's just keep turning this
thing up. And can you imagine if this was a concert
and these songs were happening? Monkey wrench,
break stuff, bulls on parade. Holy moly, man.
Like, don't be driving when you're listening
to this playlist right now, because my weekly
mixtape is not responsible for any speeding tickets
that may incur when listening to said playlists.
If you were at a show and a band was playing
all these songs in a row, like literally a hard
rock 90s cover band. I would not be surprised
to see a circle pit in the middle of the bar
at the time, and then you never get to go back
and play there because you have to still be paying
the damages that happen. But again, that's on
them. That's not on you. Yeah, no. Rage Against
the Machine arguably is 90s hard rock and angry
rock, too. If you have SiriusXM, you're listening
to a lot of it. You're listening to Lithium or
Octane or Turbo, any of those channels, especially
anything that Tom Morello's got his show on.
One of the things, too, I love is the fact that
Tom Morello is such a talented guitarist, such
a talented guitarist. Anything he touches literally
has his signature on it, and you know instantly
who that guitarist is. I keep thinking about
Street Sweeper Social Club and their song 100
Little Curses. that is such a Tom Morello guitar
riff. There's also a video that Fender Guitars
put out. And if you're a guitarist and you want
to geek out a little bit here, okay, picture
this. Scott Ian, Nuno Betancourt, Tom Morello.
If I remember correctly, it's Brad Paisley. And
you also have the music composer and showrunner
from Game of Thrones on six guitars doing the
Game of Thrones, theme song it's so good and
tom morello when he gets his butt to shine literally
you sit there and go how i don't know how he
makes those noises but damn if it isn't really
good jason if you send me the link to that i
will include that on the show page as well so
people can check that song out i'm glad you mentioned
brad paisley i know people are going to be like
wait a minute brad paisley People don't realize
he is a ridiculously sick guitarist, one of the
best country guitarists I've ever seen ever,
ever, ever, ever. But going back to Tom Morello,
you listen to the High Hopes album from Bruce
Springsteen, where he played lead on a lot of
the songs. And even that signature sound in a
Bruce Springsteen song, you know who you're hearing.
It's just unmistakable. And he is one of the
most unique guitarists. Of the 90s for sure.
It's almost like Morello captured for guitar
and signature tones exactly what Steve Vai did.
Remember when he was on the Whitesnake album
that he was on? You could tell instantly that
that was Steve Vai's guitar work right away.
And any album that he is on or he guests on,
I remember he guested on the track from... the
Hey Stupid album from Alice Cooper. And it was
him. And I think it was, I think it was Jeff
Beck as well. Just guitar dueling on one of the
songs. And it's like, I think it was Feed My
Frankenstein actually. And you could tell when
one and the other guitarist just completely started
to pick up their riff, that's their guitar tone.
And it speaks volumes. No pun intended. So now
speaking volumes is. One of the hardest things
you're going to have to do because you need to
follow up this trifecta of mayhem of Foo Fighters,
Monkey Wrench, Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff and
Rage Against the Machine's Bulls on Parade or
a three -peat, whatever you want to call it,
because we talked about at the top of the episode,
you're closing out the night. How do you encore
these three songs, Jason? Oh, dear God. This
is one of those, how do you close a show kind
of thing. And I'm just taking a look at my list
and there's so many songs here that I wish we'd
had a chance to discuss. Like anything from Bruce
Dickinson's Ballstick Picasso album would have
been wonderful to talk about. Tori Amos may be
the one artist I've seen the most of, but I don't
know if Tori Amos kind of goes well here. But
I think I know how I'm going to end it because
I'm going to end it kind of the same feel. at
least instrument -wise, that we ended side A
with. You know me in talking back and forth.
You know I'm a huge Nixons fan. So off of their
self -titled 1997 album, I'm going to go with
a song called The Fall. And this is a song where
the lead instrument really is a fretless bass.
And it's Ricky Walken's first album with the
Nixons after they had changed bases. It's a phenomenal
song. So we've got the songwriting talent of
Zach Malloy. You've got the fretless bass work
of Ricky Walken. And that album and their follow
-up on their third one, the latest thing, criminally
underrated. I know they get a lot of attention
from FOMA, but the fall off of the second album,
as well as songs like Baton Rouge. Great songs.
The third album, Latest Thing, which was produced
by Rico Kasich as well, since we have the Cars
reference there. If you haven't had a chance
to listen to the Nixons, do so. And this song
is just a wonderful song. Couldn't agree more.
You hit the nail on the head with Underrated.
I mean, people from 90s radio in the U .S. are
very familiar with Sister from FOMA. But then
the Nixons, at least here in the U .S., they
kind of fell off of rock radio. And it's a shame
because musically they checked all the boxes
as far as I'm concerned. And that is a very trying
to think of the right word to use here. Dynamic
way to close side B. Well, the funny thing is
this song actually acts as a fascinating bookender
because I remember if you remember like the first
song we talked about. That was the last concert
I saw before the pandemic shut concerts down.
Sponge was the opening act. The Nixons were the
headliner that night. So very autobiographical
for you, sir. Well done. Well played. And that
mixtapers concludes side B of our 90s sophomore
albums mixtape, which kicked off with Pearl Jam's
Go. Therapy's Stop It, You're Killing Me. Stone
Temple Pilots Unglued. Brother Canes and Fools
Shine On, Collective Souls Gel, Marvelous Three's
Vampires in Love, Foo Fighters Monkey Wrench,
Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff, Rage Against the Machines,
Bulls on Parade, and the Nixons' The Fall. Head
over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the
songs we've discussed in this mix through the
playlist embedded on the episode page. Jason,
before we hit stop on the mixtape tonight, why
don't you remind listeners where they can connect
with you and check out It's Not That Bad and
There Can Only Be One. Well, if you are on the
platform formerly known as Twitter, you can find
us there at Not That Bad Cast or at Only One
Cast or on other social media platforms. It's
just Not That Bad Cast, just the one account.
Or you can go to our website at notthatbadcast
.com where you can find pages for each of the
shows, including Grading on a Curve as well,
where we just have the specials that pop up in
the It's Not That Bad feel. As well, you can
see our Coming Soon page where you're going to
see some of the movies that we're going to be
talking about down the road. By all means, drop
us a line. Let us know what you thought of some
of those films or movies you'd love to hear us
cover because we want to hear from you, the listeners.
Well, Jason, my first three -peat trifecta guest,
thank you so much for joining me on My Weekly
Mixtape, and I'm looking forward to visit number
four, which, I don't know, we'd call it the quad?
I don't know. Whatever we'll name it. Thank you
again for joining me tonight. Brian, thanks so
much. We'll call it the quadraphonic episode.
There you have it, folks. Remember, you can find
My Weekly Mixtape on almost all of the social
media haunts at My Weekly Mixtape. You can also
head to myweeklymixtape .com to check out the
full catalog of My Weekly Mixtape episodes. Finally,
if you like what you're hearing on the show,
you can help me out by either telling a friend
about the podcast, leaving the show a five -star
review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. That's all for this week. Thanks
again for listening. Until next time, enjoy the
tunes.