The Great Albums
Two indie rock musicians, Bill Lambusta and Brian Erickson, dive into great rock and pop music, having a conversation about how it connects to their lives through the lens of the medium they care for most, the album. Episodes frequently include guest contributions from musicians, podcasters, and journalists and always culminate in a track by track review.
Episodes
Bill and pulls up Spotify's curated 2021 playlist and talks about what he enjoyed listening to in the last year! Plus some listener emails!
Jeff Fiedler joins Bill to discuss his top 10 albums of 2021! Listen in to find out where he ranked albums from: ABBA, Adele, Leon Bridges, Coldplay, Crowded house, Del Amitri, David Duchovny, Gary Kemp, John Mayer, and Silk Sonic!
Bill and Brian pull up Spotify's curated 2020 playlist and talk about what Bill enjoyed listening to in the last year!
Bill talks about Pearl Jam, Craig Finn, the Beths, Great Grandpa, The Promise Ring, and maybe more?
Also we share listeners’ top 10s of 2020 and their thoughts on Brian and Jeff's lists.
Jeff Fiedler joins Bill and Brian to discuss his top 10 albums of 2020! Listen in to find out where he ranked albums from: Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, Haim, the Killers, Kylie Minogue, Mandy Moore, Harry Styles, Keith Urban, The Who, and Hayley Williams.
It's that time of year again! So, Bill and Brian dust off their microphones to chat about Brian's top albums of 2020. Featured in this episode include albums from: Fiona Apple, Beach Bunny, Phoebe Bridgers, Drakeo the Ruler, Bob Dylan, Haim, Jyoti, Mac Miller, Run the Jewels, and Jessie Ware.
Bill and Brian are back once again to talk about a fun article, this time from Brooklyn Vegan, in which Andrew Sacher explores the phenomenon of classic pop punk bands ditching their youthful sound for a more "mature" expression of art. We have fun talking about some of the albums we've enjoyed like Green Day's Warning or Hellogoodbye's Would It Kill You and others we didn't know too much about prior to this like Panic at the Disco...
Bill and Brian dive into the Spin magazine article Pearl Jam's 25 Best Deep Cuts by Dan Weiss to see where they agree, disagree, and maybe dip into thoughts on the band's latest release, Gigaton.
Bill and Brian create content by listing 5 albums each that we wish we'd have covered on the podcast! There's always hope!
Bill pulls up Spotify's curated 2019 playlist and sits down to talk about what he enjoyed (or just listened to) in 2019.
Bill talks about the Weakerthans, the National, the Hold Steady, Craig Finn, the Beths, PUP, Ex Hex, Charly Bliss, the Extensions, Frightened Rabbit, Wilco, the New Pornographers, and maybe more?
Bill and Brian hang out with thegreatalbums.com blogger Jeff Fiedler as he counts down his favorite albums from 2019.
Listen to find out where he ranked albums from: Lana Del Rey, Bruce Hornsby, Jonas Brothers, Jenny Lewis, New Pornographers, Thomas Rhett, Raphael Saadiq, Sturgill Simpson, Vampire Weekend, and Kanye West!
Brian lists his favorite albums of 2019! Bill listens.
Listen in to find out where Brian ranked albums from: Black Belt Eagle Scout, Lana Del Rey, King Princess, Jenny Lewis, Lizzo, Angel Olsen, Purple Mountains, Tyler the Creator, Jamila Woods, and Nilufer Yanya!
Bill and Brian give thanks, list our top 10 episodes, and read a bunch of emails in the midst of our indefinite hiatus.
In our final episode that'll be part of a regular release schedule, we take a look back at the first album we ever discussed, the Replacements' Let It Be (1984, Twin/Tone). Bill and Brian use the skills they've honed during their years of podcasting experience to see what a conversation revisiting the first album would sound like. Enjoy!
It's finally happening! As we reach the penultimate episode to be part of our weekly releases, Bill and Brian take the time to talk about what's great about Radiohead's OK Computer (1997, Parlophone/Capitol). Bill spends a little time talking about what happens when fans say things like they can't get into an artist or album and how it can be perceived. Then we get to the track by track review, focusing on what we enjoy in the tune...
Author and educator Doug Robertson, AKA the Weird Teacher, joins Bill and Brian to discuss Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's Let Love In (1994, Mute Records).
Musician Sean Barna drops by to discuss the Hold Steady's sophomore effort Separation Sunday (2005, Frenchkiss).
Musician Scott Sylvester (Meeko Brando) hangs out with Bill and Brian while we discuss Sonic Youth's Murray St. (2002, DGC Records).
Writer, blogger, and vlogger Maureen Zahn joins Bill and Brian to discuss the Police's Synchronicity (1983, A&M).
*There's a part in the show where we reference Synchronicity and Thriller being out in the same year. Thriller was actually released in November 1982 with this following in June 1983. However, it's worth noting that in that time period they were both eligible for the same Grammy awards ceremony in 1984.
Podcaster Rachel from We Are Weezer joins us from across the country to talk about one of her top 3 bands of all time, Garbage, and their debut self titled album (1995, Almo).
We're back from a month long break from the podcast with a Liner Notes episode. Bill and Brian discuss what they've been up to in their time off - check out Brian's new band the Extensions, and check out Bill's band Fake Pockets' entry into the Tiny Desk contest! Also, we've got a special announcement regarding the future of the podcast. Jump to 32:25 if you want to just get the bad news out of the way...
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