January 20, 2025 • 48 mins
Popular music often finds itself in the midst of social controversy. Something about it works well when it comes to challenging norms and pushing boundaries. On today’s show we discuss records that stirred-up plenty of controversy.
- Marilyn Manson – Antichrist Superstar (1996)
- N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
- W.A.S.P. – W.A.S.P (1984)
Other Diggins
- Warpstormer – Warpstormer (2024)
- Caixa Cubo – Modo Aviao (2024)
- Paul Heaton – The Mighty Several (2024)
- Ethel Cain – Perverts (2025)
- Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out (2025)
- VANT – Dumb Blood (2017)
What do you think of these records? What controversial albums do you love? Let us know on our website, albumnerds.com or email us, podcast@albumnerds.com.
Listen to more episodes and suggest topics for the Wheel of Musical Discovery on albumnerds.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.
Thanks for listening!!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey album nerds, quick heads up.
(00:01):
In this episode, we're talking about controversial albums.
So it might get a little spicier than usual with the language, just a warning
in case the kids are sitting with you while you listen.
All right.
It's going to be a great show.
Keep listening.
(00:21):
Welcome to the album nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don and dude.
What's happening you sons of.
Oh, take that parents.
See album nerds podcast.
Dude, I got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, you prepared to get controversial today?
(00:44):
Yeah, man.
Got a collection of embryos over here.
I'm doing some stem cell research.
Oh my God.
Wait a second.
This is a moment where Andy has taken it too far.
Not me, not done Andy marketing your calendars folks too much.
Got some little clones of Andy over here.
(01:05):
You know?
Yes.
That's what the world needs.
More Andy's.
How you been doing over there, Don?
Well, you know, I'm finally, I'm going to say it.
The album nerds podcast is bigger than Taylor Swift.
Let me stop you right there.
Yeah, you're going to let her finish.
(01:28):
So this is the album nerds podcast.
We love albums, the album format and finding any excuse in the
book to talk about them.
We've got a great show for you today.
We're going to be talking about three hand picked controversial albums that
we're going to dig into a little bit.
Don's going to ask us a deep question.
(01:49):
So deep today.
It's a little deeper than usual.
Well, I got to keep that controversy flowing.
We are going to have some shout outs to some other albums and album related
items that we're digging, and then we're going to spin that wheel of musical
discovery to see where this crazy trip takes us next time.
This week it's all about controversy.
(02:11):
Music has always been a powerful medium for artists to express themselves,
challenge societal norms and push boundaries.
Throughout the history of popular music, certain albums have sparked intense
debate, outrage, legal battles, and the formation of organizations like the
parents music resource center due to their provocative content, controversial
artwork or challenging themes.
(02:33):
So today, each of us will present an album that was controversial.
And it should also be noted that members of this podcast do not necessarily
endorse the content discussed today.
Thank you for making that clear.
Controversial albums, I think are part of what made popular music interesting
as a youth in particular, you know, the, the stuff that your parents didn't want
(02:55):
you to listen to was obviously more enticing than, than the stuff that they
were like, Hey, yeah, have you, have you heard this new Wilson Phillips album?
Like some of the big ones that come to mind might be cannibal corpse, their
unforgettable album, butchered at birth, body count, self titled album,
with the controversy with the cop killer song back in 1992 mayhem, the
(03:19):
mysterious dumb satanas, dead Kennedy's Frank and Christ.
So a little punk fun and Eminem, the Marshall Mathers LP, where he
leaves nothing to the imagination.
So besides those, like what, what other albums did you guys consider for this
episode before you made your final pick?
(03:40):
Yeah.
The one that kept getting lumped in with all those other groups that you
mentioned there, which are usually pretty violent or sexually explicit.
As Madonna's like a virgin 1984, some of that a few times, I find that
that bracket much more empowering than I do, like see it in controversy.
It's just like a very sexual positive album.
It's very sugary and pop too.
(04:01):
It's not like very aggressive or angry sounding music.
At the time, I believe PRMC and other parent organizations were, there's
probably not just the words, like using the word virgin was like still
taboo on TV or radio.
Unless you're in church.
Right.
Unless you're in church.
But she dressed provocatively and people were afraid their elementary school
(04:26):
age kids would want to wear bustiers or whatever.
So parents get scared easy when it comes to their kids.
Something new.
Yeah.
What was your listening experience like?
I considered Guns N' Roses, their weird follow-up to Appetite for Destruction
called Lies or GNR Lies.
It was weird because it was really just a combination of two EPs, like one that
(04:50):
had been recorded prior to Appetite.
And then there was like four songs that were recorded while they were touring.
But anyway, there's a controversial song on that record called One in a Million
where Axl is dropping N-bombs.
Got some homophobic slurs in there.
Just really, really bad, I think.
(05:11):
I'm trying to tick off everyone he possibly could.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, they just needed to have a little patience with him.
You know?
That song is on there on that album, by the way.
The only reason anyone bought it to probably, to be honest.
That's true.
How about you, dude?
The controversy on this one, Kiss of the Dead, I think, is a very
(05:33):
familiar one.
I think Kiss Alive from September of 1975 was a live double album by Kiss.
And they had had three previous studio albums that had done little to nothing,
but they did have a bit of a live following.
So they recorded this live album to show the world what they sounded like in their
crazy live shows with explosions and whatnot.
(05:54):
But the controversy wasn't so much about the content, although parents didn't like
the makeup, but it was that the crowd noises may have been overdubbed to sound
like they cleaned up some vocals, they cleaned up guitar parts.
So they did a lot of studio stuff to make it sound crisper than it really would have
been truly live, which I don't necessarily have a problem with.
(06:15):
They eventually admitted it years later, but it's the album that broke them.
So I guess it was worth the risk.
I used to add crowd noise to my demos and stuff when I was a kid.
I'd be playing on the Casio and just throwing a little crowd noise.
Ah, yeah, I made my own.
I'd record myself on one boombox while I played myself going, yeah.
(06:38):
Then I would do it over and over and over.
So I built my own.
I probably should have just recorded the prices right or something.
That would have been smarter.
Oh, well, somehow I got very sad here.
Yeah, it always does.
It always does.
All right.
Enough about all that stuff.
Let's get to our controversial choo choo choo choices.
(06:59):
You choo choo choose me?
For my controversial album selection here, I'm going with Marilyn Manson
and his October 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar.
This is the second studio album for the Fort Lauderdale based
(07:20):
industrial metal five piece provided a strong social critique of perceived
fascist elements of the conservative and political movements of the time.
It's very controversial, very controversial.
It's a big deal when I was growing up.
A lot of groups did not appreciate what Mr. Manson was about.
And this album was kind of like really his rise to power,
(07:42):
I guess, in terms of pop influence.
Let's play the big song here.
One of his most popular hits.
It's called The Beautiful People.
So the steeple, does that mean people, churchgoers or people that are well endowed?
(08:05):
I've always wondered, honestly.
Possibly both, but I imagine it's the size of the institution he's referring to.
That's a fairly sexual album, but it's mostly focused on kind of tearing down
the establishment or critiquing the establishment.
This album was very controversial.
Well, the title alone.
(08:25):
Yeah, a reference to Jesus Christ Superstar or Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
Well, and the Antichrist, the coming of the end of things as we know it in the
book of Revelation and in the Bible.
So yeah, definitely a loaded title.
Yeah, Manson here basically pushing his muddy buttons as possible, I would say.
(08:45):
Luckily, the headline for Antichrist Superstar is Manson and co.
Cook up a record filled with all the ingredients most likely to offend.
Really does kind of feel like he was cherry picking topics from the popular
culture that we know people would kind of take offense to and threw them all
together here and this is kind of what we got.
(09:05):
Yeah, it's like the antagonistic sibling that's like poking you in the car.
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
Dad, Marilyn keeps poking me.
No, I'm not.
Yeah, it totally worked.
The band became a target of congressional hearings in 1997, led by Senator
(09:25):
Joel Lieberman, you guys remember him?
Oh yeah.
It was called Music Violence.
How does it affect our children?
He called Manson perhaps the sickest group ever promoted by a mainstream record company.
There was also a case where a young man killed himself and he blamed Manson or his
parents did, and some of his lyrics for the suicide.
(09:46):
Lots of religious groups picketed the subsequent tour of this album.
There were bomb threats called into different venues.
Utah and California legislators branches took up measures to keep Manson from
appearing in their states.
It was a pretty big deal when I was in high school.
Coming back to it now, it's kind of a little more mature adults, slightly more mature adults.
(10:11):
An adult that spends hours and hours talking about records and music.
Yeah, talking about music.
Honestly, I couldn't appreciate the message a little bit more in my forties.
I think it's a fairly nuanced argument he's making in terms of the sort of anti-fascist,
anti-establishment thing he's doing.
It's not really just a sadistic Satan worshiping thing so much as more of a sticking
(10:34):
into the man kind of message, I guess.
Y'all can't see my eyes rolling.
Okay.
Sure.
Go ahead.
Go ahead, man.
I think it was more flash and no substance.
Listening back to it now, it just seems like picking the most controversial words to say.
It didn't matter.
It might've been angry youth stuff from him, but it doesn't feel rooted in anything real to me.
(10:59):
It just sounds like throwing a tantrum.
It doesn't elicit any like, hmm, now I'm going to think differently about politics.
Like, dude, just sit down and say it.
Use your big boy words, okay?
Yeah, he does dress them up a lot.
I think maybe that's where some of the controversy came from and some of the confusion around his
(11:20):
message here.
We'll stick in here and hear another cut from the album.
This is towards the middle of the record.
It's called Angel with Scabbed Wings.
Someone had to eat his broccoli.
So, Angel with Scabbed Wing is written by Manson, Twiggy Ramirez, and Madonna Wayne Gacy.
(11:48):
At least they stuck to the gag, I guess, at least.
Yeah.
So, supposedly all the band members were named after a sort of a female bombshell or whatever,
and a serial killer.
So, yeah, that's where that all comes from.
So, yeah, so that song actually, if you listen to it, the riff kind of resembles the main
(12:12):
theme of Jesus Christ Superstar.
So, there it is, you know, kind of...
I'm not a musical aficionado.
I would not have picked that up.
I had to sing that in choir.
Oh, the Manson song?
Yeah.
Well, so many years have gone by.
Maybe schools have evolved and they're not doing Jesus Christ Superstar, they're doing
(12:34):
the Antichrist one.
I can imagine my choir teacher telling you how to get your voice like...
More demonic, Donald, more demonic.
So, this song sort of follows the concept of the record, which is basically you have
this supernatural being who's portrayed as a sort of demagogic rock star who seizes political
(12:59):
power from humanity and initiates this apocalyptic event supposedly influenced by Nietzsche's
concept of the Ubermensch, which is...
Ubermensch.
Yeah.
I guess sort of that dynamic person that fools people.
The album is divided into three cycles, the hierophant inauguration of the worm and disintegrator
(13:21):
rising.
So, that's supposed to show sort of the evolution of this character.
And so, this song, Angel with Scab Wing, takes place in the second cycle there.
So, it's pretty complicated.
It looks like he put some thought into it maybe a little bit.
My clickbait headline for Antichrist Superstar is, Don't You Get Him Wrong, Manson Drags
(13:44):
Andrew Lloyd Webber to Hell.
Okay.
Nice.
So, yeah, so obviously it's a play on Jesus Christ Superstar, although it's basically
just the title and then that little riff that they did that hints at the musical.
But it's long, right?
(14:05):
Oh, God, is it ever?
Yeah, 72 minutes almost exactly.
Yeah.
But it's really the first Manson album I've spent, like that I've listened to straight
through.
There were aspects of it that I like.
I mean, I like that there's a concept to it in a story.
I actually kind of found myself admiring his vocals a little bit.
(14:27):
I mean, he does do a lot of things.
He's got the whisper and then the scream.
And I guess musically, it still has some of those industrial elements of like nine-inch
nails, but it seems like there's more metal in it, maybe more guitar and stuff than nine-inch
nails.
(14:48):
So overall, I thought it was a good record, just a bit long.
Yeah.
It's kind of a symptom of the era, I would say, in the 90s.
I'd love to fill out the CD as much as possible.
But yeah, I would agree.
I think there's some interesting things going on from a production standpoint.
There was a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of drugs in the kitchen too apparently
during the recording of this album.
(15:10):
Wouldn't have thought that.
A lot of experimentation going on.
I think some pretty interesting results from that, especially as you get towards the end
of the record, there's some cool electronic components that do seep its way in here.
But yeah, I'll take in and hear the title cut here.
This is Antichrist Superstars.
(15:34):
This album definitely brings visions of Dante's Inferno to mind.
It sounds like being in hell, to be honest, throughout the album.
That's the culmination of the album's concept with the protagonist's total transformation
into this destructive being.
The Antichrist.
(15:55):
So, my clickbait headline to describe the album, Antichrist Superstar, the album that
proved shock rock still works, outraged parents and thrilled hot topic.
This is a landfall for hot topic.
Yeah.
It was more about what was on the surface, which was his scaricure that he was playing
(16:15):
and not enough about the music.
There are good things to be said about the production, the sound of the band.
I like their overall musical vibe.
It's just he's so cringey to me that it just turns into this silliness.
It's so over the top.
It's like Cirque du Soleil.
And it's like an angry child slamming his door on his parents or something.
(16:42):
Like I said, there's some good stuff happening here.
It just doesn't quite land for the old dooder.
Yeah.
Part of me kind of wonders how much difference there is between the person, Brian Warner
and Marilyn Manson and the character in the album.
So I feel like they're all very closely related to each other or at least the lines have gotten
(17:02):
pretty blurred.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't think you're wrong in your critique by any means.
And I think Manson very much, as much as he likes to talk about tearing down things and
being anti-establishment, I think he is definitely reveling in the position he's created for
himself.
Yeah.
And he took the money.
Yeah.
He's been doing this for a long time.
Through lots of ups and downs, a lot of groups reach out, do focus their hate on him for
(17:25):
different things that he might not be directly involved with.
And I would say to a lot of people who have a lot of legal cases outstanding against him
and a lot of other just extraneous issues that he probably is a bit of a douchebag.
Yeah.
See, that seems to be the case.
I don't think that's going to make it a huge stretch there.
But I do think he did put some pretty interesting music that at least did make a big splash.
(17:50):
It was controversial.
Culturally, it was very controversial.
So if you somehow missed that in the nineties, I think Anti-Curios Superstar would probably
be my go-to recommendation for Mr. Manson.
Yeah.
Give it a listen if you are not familiar.
Before we get to our next controversial album pick, why don't we hear a little bit from
(18:10):
our friends over at the Astrovert Podcast.
What's up, folks?
It's Jake here from the Astrovert Podcast.
Come join us as we play underplay and undershare bands from across the United States and the
world.
We found local bands from the Midwest, Florida, the UK, New Zealand, and far, far beyond.
Some of our recent favorite discoveries include Sprawl, Glitch Kingdom, City of Auburn, Flake
(18:33):
Michigan, and so many more.
We feature Rock News and Rock News.
As well as discuss our band's journey towards finishing our forthcoming EP.
Our first two singles, Last Call and Tides of Elephants, both out now.
You can find the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
(18:56):
Well done, Astrovert.
It's up their pants.
Yeah.
I mean, talking about music, talk about your own music, that's the way to get your stuff
out there.
So go check them out, Astrovert Podcast.
So my pick for a controversial album comes from NWA.
It's their debut album from 1988 called Straight Outta Compton.
(19:20):
The core lineup of NWA features group leader and MC Eazy E, producers, Arabian Prince,
Dr. Dre, and DJ Yella, and MCs Ice Cube and MC Ren.
Also have some lyrics written by the DOC.
Let's just get right into it.
Here's the opening cut, Straight Outta Compton.
(19:52):
That is an unforgettable introduction to the world.
Yeah.
Classic.
Yeah.
So the opening verse is wrapped by Ice Cube.
MC Ren delivers the second verse and then Eazy E does the third verse.
I didn't realize that Eazy E doesn't write his own rhymes.
Same with Dre.
(20:12):
So most of those were written either by MC Ren or the DOC.
Ice Cube wrote a lot of lyrics though too, didn't he?
Yeah.
Yep.
I'm sorry.
Ice Cube also wrote lyrics for those guys.
So that record actually samples You Like It Too by Funkadelic, West Coast Pop Luck by
Ronnie Hudson and the Street People, Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number Nine by Wilson
Pickett and then the most prominent sample in there is Amen Brother by the Winstons.
(20:37):
So I mean this track basically just provides a raw, unfiltered portrayal of Compton, California
in the late 1980s.
I mean this record was controversial for many reasons.
Not just the profanity, the graphic descriptions of violence, the misogyny, the anti-police
sentiment and just those depictions of gang life and then sort of the perceived at least
(21:01):
glorification of criminal behavior.
My clickbait headline for Straight Outta Compton is West Coast crashes hip hop party and refuses
to leave.
Yeah.
So apparently at this time, I mean the East Coast was sort of the center of the hip hop
universe and what you had apparently out in California was more kind of party and dance
(21:29):
based hip hop but NWA along with Ice-T sort of established this sound that later became
known as gangster rap.
Yeah.
I mean but public enemy kind of sowing the seeds of revealed truths about life on the
streets and things too.
I feel like that West Coast sound really, at least for me, I associate with this album,
(21:53):
that sort of vibe of the West Coast originating from this.
The production and the beats and the cadence of the rhymes, I would say so too.
So NWA apparently did not like the gangster rap label.
They prefer to call it reality rap.
Yeah.
So they're basically just capturing that time and that lifestyle and it wasn't necessarily
(22:18):
a glorification of it.
It wasn't necessarily a comment against it.
I mean a lot of that East Coast stuff we listen to from KRS-One and Guru and all those guys,
a lot of them it was a bit more preachy sort of saying stop the violence and these guys
were just singing about, or I'm sorry, rapping about reality.
All right.
(22:38):
Well, let's hear some more.
This is Express Yourself.
See, see parents, it's cool.
Express yourself.
No swear words here.
So this one was lyrics written by Ice Cube performed by Dr. Dre primarily and it promotes
(23:02):
individuality, authenticity, and in the music industry in particular, which is what they
were trying to do.
This samples Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's 1970 track, Express
Yourself, though Wright apparently called NWA's version redundant.
Of course it does.
(23:22):
It became a hit reaching number two on the US hot rap songs chart.
Individuality, creativity, staying true to yourself and Ice Cube critiques artists who
are fake commercialized personas, Marilyn Manson.
And, you know, there's actually like an anti-drug message in the song as well.
(23:45):
So be genuine.
That's the vibe.
And I think it's a needed break on this album, a moment to celebrate the ability, the freedom
to make this record to some degree.
My clickbait headline to describe straight out of Compton, the album that had the FBI
watching and Karens clutching their pearls when the streets invaded the suburbs.
(24:06):
Besides being street knowledge, it also created a whole, you know, we kind of talked about
sub-genre, but all these MCs from this group creating their own music, discovering new
artists, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, et cetera.
They make records together, break off, do solo projects, work on each other's projects.
(24:28):
Really a time of a lot of ingenuity and discovery in the next wave of true change in the hip
hop scene.
It's funny that you mentioned suburbs in your headline there because I read that 80% of
the album sales came from the suburbs.
Oh, wow.
That's interesting.
Okay.
Well, let's hear another one.
(24:50):
Here's that suburban anthem, Fuck the Police.
Fuck the police coming straight from the underground.
A young nigga got it bad because I'm brown.
And not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority.
Ice Cube and that bass line, man, just kind of slap you across the face there.
(25:14):
Yeah.
And the crisp delivery too.
I mean, you're catching every word.
It's very clear.
Very clear.
It's a really interesting track though.
Basically, it's like courtroom drama.
The police department on trial, yeah, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E kind of all take turns
testifying against this policeman who kind of gets convicted at the end of it.
(25:35):
Dr. Dre is presiding over the court.
It's pretty cool.
My clickbait headline for Straight Outta Compton is locally sourced, bespoke, 100% organic
beats and rhymes straight from the streets of California now available to households
everywhere.
Nice.
I like that.
Yeah.
This really did kind of like put the, at least what was going on in Compton and maybe probably
(25:56):
lots of streets across America, like right in the face of everybody in their suburban
households and kind of like, this is a situation.
It's pretty extreme.
I think that in and of itself provided a lot of value and probably did open up a lot of
conversations that just weren't happening or even possible prior to this.
Also, you know, trying to imagine from different perspectives, I mean, depending on where you
(26:20):
grow up, your view of authority figures like the police or other institutions that you
might think are supporting you or helping you or in other situations, they might be
oppressing or misusing their power.
You know, and I hope that those 80% that got that record that it helps some people think
(26:41):
about other people's perspectives and other people's lives.
Yeah, totally.
But looking at this as a piece of art, I think, yeah, there are obviously are a lot of classic
tracks on here.
I think the beginning of the record is holds up amazingly well.
I think it's at its best when the production kind of is working hand in hand with the MCs,
which are a lot like Express Yourself.
I think it works really well.
(27:03):
It has a really interesting beat and a bit of melody to it.
As you get later on in the record, I think there's some more just conventional 80s hip
hop tracks I think are a little bit less interesting as you get into like Dope Man and Quiet on
the Set.
But overall, I think this does hold up pretty well and still, you know, live up records
I think aged not as well from this era.
But this one, I think more or less is still pretty hard-hitting.
(27:28):
One thing that stuck with me was Eazy-E when the ladies are saying, Eazy-E, I wanna fuck
you.
And he's like, I wanna fuck you too.
I'm not so sure about this one.
I think those are the kind of moments you're talking about.
Yeah.
So the first three songs, they're just killer and that really makes the album, I think.
(27:52):
I mean, the album has a very aggressive tone and I think a lot of it is just that the beats
are so layered or the samples, like there's so much going on that the MCs actually have
to be sort of louder and I think a more aggressive to go over that sort of intricate backing
sound.
(28:13):
I mean, one of the things I appreciate about this of the three albums we're talking about
and controversy, this is just these guys being their genuine true selves.
There's no characters here.
It seems like it can be shocking at times, but it reflects real life, not monsters and
devils and things, which in a way is more disturbing.
(28:36):
Reality rap.
Yeah.
All right.
We'll end WA straight out of Compton, put the West Coast on the hip hop map and set
the genre's tone for the 1990s.
Check it out.
Excuse me.
I'd like to ask you a few questions.
Now it's time for Deep Questions by Don.
(28:59):
This is the controversial edition.
For a lot of people, these records, their parents had an issue with them.
What were some things that might've been controversial to your parents, but not to you?
At the time we're talking about.
Yes.
Yeah.
It sounds bizarre to even say this, but the Simpsons were controversial when they first
(29:21):
came out.
Oh yeah.
Bart Simpson's eating, you know, eat my shorts was his catchphrase.
He was kind of a smart ass.
Yeah.
Disrespectful.
Yeah.
I had a t-shirt with them on and my parents didn't like me wearing it to church.
They felt uncomfortable with that situation.
To church?
Oh my God.
T-shirts in general were not allowed to church when I was.
(29:43):
Yeah.
Yeah, so like Simpson's South Park was like another one.
Even watching Saturday Night Live was not, was kind of like a taboo in my household when
I was younger.
Yes.
I grew up on Saturday Night Live, so that wasn't as controversial in my house, although
a lot of other things were.
Yeah.
Like what?
Well, so a couple of things come to mind.
(30:05):
For instance, the show Growing Pains.
No big deal, right?
But my parents took great issue with Mike Sievers antics.
Before I was watching, the most racy thing happened when my parents walked through the
room.
They just happened to walk by and it's like, yeah.
And there was an episode where Mike was referencing a young lady's major league yabos.
(30:27):
My dad walked through the room right there.
He's, what are you watching?
I wasn't allowed to watch that show anymore.
I'm like, but it's one moment in a show that teaches about family togetherness and stuff.
Nope.
And another one that comes to mind is Pulp Fiction, when I went to go see that, it was
very controversial, the movie was at the time because of its violence and stuff.
(30:47):
And I was certainly old enough to go see it and my parents were just disappointed that
I had gone.
And now years later, satellite TV, whatever, my dad, it's one of his favorite movies.
He quotes it constantly still to this day.
You can't say anything about a quarter pounder or something without him going off on a voyage
(31:09):
in the cheese.
So, right.
Yeah.
It's funny how things kind of shift over time in terms of what's accepted and not.
I mean, right.
That's changed a lot.
How about you Donnie?
Well, you know, I mean, despite having kind of conservative parents, they were actually
pretty lenient when it came to, you know, the content in the house.
And I watched a lot of our movies and I watched MTV and all that stuff.
(31:29):
Well, they just want, they were desperate for your approval.
But they didn't forbid me from partaking in these things, but actually the stuff that
dude mentioned last week, like Mad Magazine and Garbage Pail Kids and stuff, like I could
tell that they just didn't really approve of it.
And I don't think it's because they thought it was bad or objectionable or something.
(31:50):
I think they just probably didn't want me to be a dork.
They were looking out for you.
Yeah.
They didn't want you to get picked on.
Yeah.
And here I am.
So, what was controversial to your parents, but not to you.
Let us know, hit us up on the socials, Instagram, Facebook, or leave a comment on our website,
(32:12):
albumnerds.com.
All right.
So I'm going with Marilyn Manson's dad, Wasp.
Not really his dad, but I feel like this kind of stuff is what made things like Marilyn
Manson possible.
Born in 1982 in Los Angeles by Blackie Lawless.
(32:33):
I'm thinking that's not his birth name.
They were originally called Circus Circus before evolving into Wasp, which has periods
between it's an acronym, but they don't know what for.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants?
Could be.
And Wasp, it's a scary creature, I guess.
(32:54):
So the band became notorious for their theatrical live performances featuring Blood, Fire, Raw
Meat, and Torture Racks.
Signed with Capitol Records in 1984, released their self-titled debut album, which immediately
fueled controversy due to its aggressive themes and shocking imagery.
All right.
So the lineup on this particular album is Blackie Lawless, of course, on lead vocals
(33:14):
and bass.
Chris Holmes, who really shapes their sound with his guitar work is on lead and rhythm
guitars, Randy Piper also on lead and rhythm guitars, and Tony Richards on drums.
I guess you could call it the classic lineup for Wasp.
Let's start off with the track that actually got removed from the album right before it
was released because of the parents music resource center not being happy about it.
(33:39):
This one is called, I don't know why anyone would be upset about this, Animal, Fuck Like
a Beast.
Oh, that's the parts.
There's a subtitle, Don's Anthem.
Oh man, the images.
(34:05):
Sorry.
That's what I expected.
The lucky listeners can't see this in their minds because they don't know you like we
do.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
So that was a song about tender lovemaking and romance originally planned as the opening
track.
And like I said, it was pulled from the album.
In response, Wasp released it as an independent single in the UK where it became a sought
(34:28):
after import in the US.
And the track was finally reinstated in the 1998 CD reissue of the album.
I guess it was recorded at Village Recorder in Los Angeles, produced by Mark Varney and
Blackie Lawless.
And unlike their glam metal peers, this album is heavier, more aggressive and Blackie's
raw vocals sound more, I guess, evil, more maniacal than some of the other singers at
(34:54):
the time.
And the songs are about fame, power, sex, violence, some occult stuff, but it's tame
compared to Marilyn Manson, which is just what happens.
All right.
Clickbait headline to describe a Wasp, the 80s soundtrack to parental outrage, satanic
panic and the rise of questionable leather fashion.
(35:18):
Wasp was a scare.
I was a little kid.
They were scary.
They threw meat and tortured people and had a saw blade for a cod piece and shot fire
from a cod piece.
Oh my gosh.
It's a very multifunctional cod piece.
Yes, very much.
He was wearing a transformer on his crotch.
(35:40):
But it was like the next level of Kiss and Twisted Sister.
It was taking it to an Aussie.
It was the next iteration of pushing the boundaries a little bit more.
It was influencing metal music overall, not just being controversial.
I think the controversial stuff was definitely, hey, look at me.
And it worked.
I think the PMRC and parental outrage probably is the reason they had any success at all.
(36:06):
They could have just disappeared if no one had gotten angry about it.
All right.
Why don't we jump into another track, Sleeping in the Fire.
The slow down moody track there, kind of tying love to the seduction of black magic.
(36:28):
Yes.
I like that track a lot.
I actually came to like this record a fair amount, especially for an 80s hair metal album.
I thought it was pretty compelling.
My clickbait headline for Wasp is, Wasp sells their souls to produce a punishing record
that will leave you swollen and calling for an exorcism.
(36:50):
All right.
From the sting from the Wasp.
From the stings.
From the stings.
I wanted to make sure that was clear.
Yeah, I mean, it definitely leans into the devil worship and the misogyny thing.
But I think what makes this record at least interesting for me was more kind of the guitars
and drums.
They just fucking rip through these cuts here.
(37:12):
It's really fast and hard.
It's not really, I mean, it's metal, I guess.
It's metal.
It's metal.
We'll say it's metal.
It doesn't have that hard edge, I guess, but it is fast and kind of like that punk rock
spirit.
There's a titanic edge to it, which has kind of spread about through a handful of cuts
that I could see being pretty disturbing for parents especially.
(37:33):
Yeah.
I wonder if they're honorary dark priests like Manson.
No.
What I did read was that Blackie grew up in Christian churches and his parents and family
were very much involved.
And when he was a teenager, he kind of rebelled against the control of organized religion
and then for a few years studied the occult.
(37:54):
Now he's a born again Christian, but he's not religious.
He has faith.
It's not religion.
That's what he says.
Oh, I see.
Okay.
Was he a Satanist at the time of the record?
Never a Satanist, just interested in the occult.
Okay.
Yeah, it seems like he's mostly in it for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll, my impression
based on the lyrics here.
(38:16):
But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised with this.
I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did.
Well, it's not all about Satan.
It's about success, wanting to be a big star.
And I went with this to a little bit of I want to be somebody.
He doesn't want to rock and roll all night.
(38:37):
He wants to be somebody.
So that's actually, if you own the US version of the original album, this would have been
the opening cut.
It was also the first single from the album.
According to Lawless, the title was inspired by an episode of the TV show Barney Miller.
That's awesome.
Where one of the characters said, God, I want to be somebody in a way that Lawless found
(39:02):
amusing.
So yeah, funny where inspiration comes from.
Barney Miller was a cop show sitcom just for those that never caught it.
Yeah, so that opening guitar riff is very Judas Priest.
And then in the middle of the song, you've got this cool solo from Chris Holmes.
(39:24):
But yeah, I mean, that's just a kiss song basically, right?
I mean, like you said, it's rock and roll all night.
It just feels very much in that spirit.
So my clickbait headline is Wasp stings the metal scene with aggressive yet catchy and
melodic fury.
Yeah, like Andy, I was pleasantly surprised by this record.
You know, just beyond the sometimes silly lyrics, it just sounds good.
(39:49):
It does sound good.
It's so catchy.
So I don't know.
I mean, maybe if they had gone a different direction, they still might have found success
because they definitely have a knack for songwriting, I think.
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree.
There's some other album highlights I want to talk about really quick.
Tormentor, one of the heaviest tracks on the album.
(40:09):
It gained some extra notoriety by being featured in a couple cult horror films.
The Torture Never Stops.
PMRC didn't like this one either.
I think the title kind of speaks for itself.
And Hellion, which is this really fast paced anthem that is kind of a staple of their live
shows apparently.
And it just sounds awesome.
(40:29):
It sounds like its title.
I also found this album much better than I expected.
But I hadn't really heard it since I was a kid and that I was just scared of it.
So yeah, I really like the way he sings.
I think the arrangements are great.
It's a good 80s metal record that if you haven't indulged, you should.
(40:50):
Even with some of the silly devil references and stuff, it doesn't take over the album,
which I think is important.
So yeah, go check out Wasp.
Get yourself stung.
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
All right.
(41:11):
Well we've been embroiled in a sea of controversy all week.
Were we able to escape and dig anything else?
I got a few pics here in my witches brew here boiling over.
First one is from a South London four piece stoner rock group called Warp Stormer.
Their debut album out called Warp Stormer.
(41:35):
It's a heavy, fuzzy, slow stoner rock record, but enjoying it a fair amount.
Let's hear Cursed Cold.
Got a revolutionary stuff there, but pretty good I would say in terms of the genre.
What makes it stoner rock?
I think it's the slowed down nature.
Yeah, it's that kind of plodding sound.
Heavy, yeah.
(41:55):
And they smoke a lot of weed down.
I have no idea.
And the last one for me is from an experimental jazz trio from Brazil.
This record is from Kaja Kubo.
The name of the album is Modo Abio.
Let's play the title cuts.
(42:17):
You know that Andy's digging something if he has to put a question mark on the end of
the band name or the song name or the album name.
If it's that much of a struggle for me to say, much know I really appreciate the record.
It's really good.
It's got a cool modern sound, but also kind of like some Latin flair to it.
Subtle, but there's a lot going on too kind of under the surface.
(42:39):
Sounds a little Sergio Mendez or that kind of thing from the 60s.
All right.
What you been digging on Donald?
I discovered this from another podcast called the New Wave Music Podcast.
Paul Heaton, who's from the bands The House Martins and The Beautiful South, never really
broke in the United States, but they have a long legacy in Britain.
(43:00):
Paul Heaton has an album that came out last year called The Mighty Several produced by
Ian Brody of The Lightning Seeds.
It features vocals from Rhianne Downey.
Here's the opening cut, National Treasure.
That was not what I expected.
Yeah.
It's not really New Wavey at all.
(43:20):
Much more kind of organic sounding.
Yeah, I think maybe in the upcoming year I might spend some time going back to The Beautiful
South and House Martins and figure out what's going on here.
Another one, Ethel Kane.
This is her second studio album.
Her real name is Hayden Silas Onhedonia.
(43:41):
She's from Tallahassee, Florida.
This is an album called Perverts.
This incorporates elements of drone and slow core, kind of just dark.
The opening track is called Don.
This is the second track called Punish.
(44:05):
This one's, I mean, it's about 86 minutes.
It's tough, but it's interesting because it's called Perverts and it just, I guess it just
explores various forms of perversion, like self-indulgence and self-disgust.
Apparently nothing like her first album, but again, it's Ethel Kane, Perverts.
(44:26):
What are you digging, dude?
Yeah, I'm digging a group called the Lambrini Girls and the album is called Who Let the
Dogs Out.
It's not that, Who Let the Dogs Out, kids.
This is the debut album from the Brighton-based punk duo and they're known for their raw
energy, scathing humor and very confrontational feminist anthems.
(44:50):
Features jagged riffs, distorted bass, topics like police brutality, toxic masculinity, gentrification.
They do it all and they're funny at the same time.
So why don't we listen to a little bit of Company Culture.
I love that little don't touch me line there in Company Culture.
(45:13):
Yeah, so a lot of what they're talking about is being sexualized everywhere they go and
things of that nature.
So I really love the sort of aggressive way of facing some of these challenges.
The song titles are funny.
Yeah, I can't say some of them.
Big Dick Energy is one that I think you can figure out.
(45:35):
Another one I definitely won't say.
All right, so the next album I'm digging is an album from 2017 that I was a big fan of
at the time.
And this band Vant sort of changed their trajectory and the kind of music they were making.
But this one called Dumb Blood, their debut album was politically charged garage rock
(45:55):
and I really dug it.
And I finally got a copy of it on vinyl a few years after it came out because it got
a lot cheaper.
It was like 35 bucks when it came out and then dropped to 15.
Sorry Vant.
Let's listen to a little bit of Parking Lot.
You remember that one right Andy?
We talked about it on the show.
Oh yeah, of course.
Really enjoyed that record.
Wish they would come back around and do some more of that again.
Yeah, me too.
What did they end up doing?
It got a little more poppy and less garage rocky.
(46:30):
So what are you digging?
Let us know.
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also our website albumnerds.com.
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show and I reminded of former American president Richard
(46:53):
M. Nixon.
Of course.
Who said, if an individual wants to be a leader and isn't controversial, that means he never
stood for anything.
Hmm.
He was not a crook.
That's right.
With that in mind, let's bring out my friend and yours, Wodbot and see what we'll be talking
about on next week's episode.
(47:20):
Career redefining albums are the turning points that change everything.
Next time, you will be exploring three records that reshaped legacies, broke new ground and
proved the power of reinvention in music.
Career redefining albums.
I guess making a creative choice to change sounds.
We'll see.
This could be interesting.
(47:41):
What's your favorite career redefining album?
What else are you listening to?
Email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram threads and bluesky at albumnerds and visit albumnerds.com
to suggest topics for the show, peruse the hall of fame and listen to all 275 episodes.
(48:01):
And the best way to support the show is to share it.
Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
Thank you so much for joining us on the Helm Nerds podcast.
We'll catch you next time with some redefinition.
Do we have to redefine the show?
Maybe we should.
Next week, we might.
I'll do muppet voices.
Yeah, be sure to tune in for that guys.
(48:26):
See you next week.
Thanks for listening.
Sweet dreams are made of these.
Wait a second.
What were you doing there?
Was that Louis Armstrong doing?
Marilyn Manson or a muppet.
Like an eight year old lady with FZ mimes.
Hey album nerds, quick heads up.
(00:01):
In this episode, we're talking about controversial albums.
So it might get a little spicier than usual with the language, just a warning
in case the kids are sitting with you while you listen.
All right.
It's going to be a great show.
Keep listening.
(00:21):
Welcome to the album nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don and dude.
What's happening you sons of.
Oh, take that parents.
See album nerds podcast.
Dude, I got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, you prepared to get controversial today?
(00:44):
Yeah, man.
Got a collection of embryos over here.
I'm doing some stem cell research.
Oh my God.
Wait a second.
This is a moment where Andy has taken it too far.
Not me, not done Andy marketing your calendars folks too much.
Got some little clones of Andy over here.
(01:05):
You know?
Yes.
That's what the world needs.
More Andy's.
How you been doing over there, Don?
Well, you know, I'm finally, I'm going to say it.
The album nerds podcast is bigger than Taylor Swift.
Let me stop you right there.
Yeah, you're going to let her finish.
(01:28):
So this is the album nerds podcast.
We love albums, the album format and finding any excuse in the
book to talk about them.
We've got a great show for you today.
We're going to be talking about three hand picked controversial albums that
we're going to dig into a little bit.
Don's going to ask us a deep question.
(01:49):
So deep today.
It's a little deeper than usual.
Well, I got to keep that controversy flowing.
We are going to have some shout outs to some other albums and album related
items that we're digging, and then we're going to spin that wheel of musical
discovery to see where this crazy trip takes us next time.
This week it's all about controversy.
(02:11):
Music has always been a powerful medium for artists to express themselves,
challenge societal norms and push boundaries.
Throughout the history of popular music, certain albums have sparked intense
debate, outrage, legal battles, and the formation of organizations like the
parents music resource center due to their provocative content, controversial
artwork or challenging themes.
(02:33):
So today, each of us will present an album that was controversial.
And it should also be noted that members of this podcast do not necessarily
endorse the content discussed today.
Thank you for making that clear.
Controversial albums, I think are part of what made popular music interesting
as a youth in particular, you know, the, the stuff that your parents didn't want
(02:55):
you to listen to was obviously more enticing than, than the stuff that they
were like, Hey, yeah, have you, have you heard this new Wilson Phillips album?
Like some of the big ones that come to mind might be cannibal corpse, their
unforgettable album, butchered at birth, body count, self titled album,
with the controversy with the cop killer song back in 1992 mayhem, the
(03:19):
mysterious dumb satanas, dead Kennedy's Frank and Christ.
So a little punk fun and Eminem, the Marshall Mathers LP, where he
leaves nothing to the imagination.
So besides those, like what, what other albums did you guys consider for this
episode before you made your final pick?
(03:40):
Yeah.
The one that kept getting lumped in with all those other groups that you
mentioned there, which are usually pretty violent or sexually explicit.
As Madonna's like a virgin 1984, some of that a few times, I find that
that bracket much more empowering than I do, like see it in controversy.
It's just like a very sexual positive album.
It's very sugary and pop too.
(04:01):
It's not like very aggressive or angry sounding music.
At the time, I believe PRMC and other parent organizations were, there's
probably not just the words, like using the word virgin was like still
taboo on TV or radio.
Unless you're in church.
Right.
Unless you're in church.
But she dressed provocatively and people were afraid their elementary school
(04:26):
age kids would want to wear bustiers or whatever.
So parents get scared easy when it comes to their kids.
Something new.
Yeah.
What was your listening experience like?
I considered Guns N' Roses, their weird follow-up to Appetite for Destruction
called Lies or GNR Lies.
It was weird because it was really just a combination of two EPs, like one that
(04:50):
had been recorded prior to Appetite.
And then there was like four songs that were recorded while they were touring.
But anyway, there's a controversial song on that record called One in a Million
where Axl is dropping N-bombs.
Got some homophobic slurs in there.
Just really, really bad, I think.
(05:11):
I'm trying to tick off everyone he possibly could.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, they just needed to have a little patience with him.
You know?
That song is on there on that album, by the way.
The only reason anyone bought it to probably, to be honest.
That's true.
How about you, dude?
The controversy on this one, Kiss of the Dead, I think, is a very
(05:33):
familiar one.
I think Kiss Alive from September of 1975 was a live double album by Kiss.
And they had had three previous studio albums that had done little to nothing,
but they did have a bit of a live following.
So they recorded this live album to show the world what they sounded like in their
crazy live shows with explosions and whatnot.
(05:54):
But the controversy wasn't so much about the content, although parents didn't like
the makeup, but it was that the crowd noises may have been overdubbed to sound
like they cleaned up some vocals, they cleaned up guitar parts.
So they did a lot of studio stuff to make it sound crisper than it really would have
been truly live, which I don't necessarily have a problem with.
(06:15):
They eventually admitted it years later, but it's the album that broke them.
So I guess it was worth the risk.
I used to add crowd noise to my demos and stuff when I was a kid.
I'd be playing on the Casio and just throwing a little crowd noise.
Ah, yeah, I made my own.
I'd record myself on one boombox while I played myself going, yeah.
(06:38):
Then I would do it over and over and over.
So I built my own.
I probably should have just recorded the prices right or something.
That would have been smarter.
Oh, well, somehow I got very sad here.
Yeah, it always does.
It always does.
All right.
Enough about all that stuff.
Let's get to our controversial choo choo choo choices.
(06:59):
You choo choo choose me?
For my controversial album selection here, I'm going with Marilyn Manson
and his October 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar.
This is the second studio album for the Fort Lauderdale based
(07:20):
industrial metal five piece provided a strong social critique of perceived
fascist elements of the conservative and political movements of the time.
It's very controversial, very controversial.
It's a big deal when I was growing up.
A lot of groups did not appreciate what Mr. Manson was about.
And this album was kind of like really his rise to power,
(07:42):
I guess, in terms of pop influence.
Let's play the big song here.
One of his most popular hits.
It's called The Beautiful People.
So the steeple, does that mean people, churchgoers or people that are well endowed?
(08:05):
I've always wondered, honestly.
Possibly both, but I imagine it's the size of the institution he's referring to.
That's a fairly sexual album, but it's mostly focused on kind of tearing down
the establishment or critiquing the establishment.
This album was very controversial.
Well, the title alone.
(08:25):
Yeah, a reference to Jesus Christ Superstar or Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
Well, and the Antichrist, the coming of the end of things as we know it in the
book of Revelation and in the Bible.
So yeah, definitely a loaded title.
Yeah, Manson here basically pushing his muddy buttons as possible, I would say.
(08:45):
Luckily, the headline for Antichrist Superstar is Manson and co.
Cook up a record filled with all the ingredients most likely to offend.
Really does kind of feel like he was cherry picking topics from the popular
culture that we know people would kind of take offense to and threw them all
together here and this is kind of what we got.
(09:05):
Yeah, it's like the antagonistic sibling that's like poking you in the car.
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
Dad, Marilyn keeps poking me.
No, I'm not.
Yeah, it totally worked.
The band became a target of congressional hearings in 1997, led by Senator
(09:25):
Joel Lieberman, you guys remember him?
Oh yeah.
It was called Music Violence.
How does it affect our children?
He called Manson perhaps the sickest group ever promoted by a mainstream record company.
There was also a case where a young man killed himself and he blamed Manson or his
parents did, and some of his lyrics for the suicide.
(09:46):
Lots of religious groups picketed the subsequent tour of this album.
There were bomb threats called into different venues.
Utah and California legislators branches took up measures to keep Manson from
appearing in their states.
It was a pretty big deal when I was in high school.
Coming back to it now, it's kind of a little more mature adults, slightly more mature adults.
(10:11):
An adult that spends hours and hours talking about records and music.
Yeah, talking about music.
Honestly, I couldn't appreciate the message a little bit more in my forties.
I think it's a fairly nuanced argument he's making in terms of the sort of anti-fascist,
anti-establishment thing he's doing.
It's not really just a sadistic Satan worshiping thing so much as more of a sticking
(10:34):
into the man kind of message, I guess.
Y'all can't see my eyes rolling.
Okay.
Sure.
Go ahead.
Go ahead, man.
I think it was more flash and no substance.
Listening back to it now, it just seems like picking the most controversial words to say.
It didn't matter.
It might've been angry youth stuff from him, but it doesn't feel rooted in anything real to me.
(10:59):
It just sounds like throwing a tantrum.
It doesn't elicit any like, hmm, now I'm going to think differently about politics.
Like, dude, just sit down and say it.
Use your big boy words, okay?
Yeah, he does dress them up a lot.
I think maybe that's where some of the controversy came from and some of the confusion around his
(11:20):
message here.
We'll stick in here and hear another cut from the album.
This is towards the middle of the record.
It's called Angel with Scabbed Wings.
Someone had to eat his broccoli.
So, Angel with Scabbed Wing is written by Manson, Twiggy Ramirez, and Madonna Wayne Gacy.
(11:48):
At least they stuck to the gag, I guess, at least.
Yeah.
So, supposedly all the band members were named after a sort of a female bombshell or whatever,
and a serial killer.
So, yeah, that's where that all comes from.
So, yeah, so that song actually, if you listen to it, the riff kind of resembles the main
(12:12):
theme of Jesus Christ Superstar.
So, there it is, you know, kind of...
I'm not a musical aficionado.
I would not have picked that up.
I had to sing that in choir.
Oh, the Manson song?
Yeah.
Well, so many years have gone by.
Maybe schools have evolved and they're not doing Jesus Christ Superstar, they're doing
(12:34):
the Antichrist one.
I can imagine my choir teacher telling you how to get your voice like...
More demonic, Donald, more demonic.
So, this song sort of follows the concept of the record, which is basically you have
this supernatural being who's portrayed as a sort of demagogic rock star who seizes political
(12:59):
power from humanity and initiates this apocalyptic event supposedly influenced by Nietzsche's
concept of the Ubermensch, which is...
Ubermensch.
Yeah.
I guess sort of that dynamic person that fools people.
The album is divided into three cycles, the hierophant inauguration of the worm and disintegrator
(13:21):
rising.
So, that's supposed to show sort of the evolution of this character.
And so, this song, Angel with Scab Wing, takes place in the second cycle there.
So, it's pretty complicated.
It looks like he put some thought into it maybe a little bit.
My clickbait headline for Antichrist Superstar is, Don't You Get Him Wrong, Manson Drags
(13:44):
Andrew Lloyd Webber to Hell.
Okay.
Nice.
So, yeah, so obviously it's a play on Jesus Christ Superstar, although it's basically
just the title and then that little riff that they did that hints at the musical.
But it's long, right?
(14:05):
Oh, God, is it ever?
Yeah, 72 minutes almost exactly.
Yeah.
But it's really the first Manson album I've spent, like that I've listened to straight
through.
There were aspects of it that I like.
I mean, I like that there's a concept to it in a story.
I actually kind of found myself admiring his vocals a little bit.
(14:27):
I mean, he does do a lot of things.
He's got the whisper and then the scream.
And I guess musically, it still has some of those industrial elements of like nine-inch
nails, but it seems like there's more metal in it, maybe more guitar and stuff than nine-inch
nails.
(14:48):
So overall, I thought it was a good record, just a bit long.
Yeah.
It's kind of a symptom of the era, I would say, in the 90s.
I'd love to fill out the CD as much as possible.
But yeah, I would agree.
I think there's some interesting things going on from a production standpoint.
There was a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of drugs in the kitchen too apparently
during the recording of this album.
(15:10):
Wouldn't have thought that.
A lot of experimentation going on.
I think some pretty interesting results from that, especially as you get towards the end
of the record, there's some cool electronic components that do seep its way in here.
But yeah, I'll take in and hear the title cut here.
This is Antichrist Superstars.
(15:34):
This album definitely brings visions of Dante's Inferno to mind.
It sounds like being in hell, to be honest, throughout the album.
That's the culmination of the album's concept with the protagonist's total transformation
into this destructive being.
The Antichrist.
(15:55):
So, my clickbait headline to describe the album, Antichrist Superstar, the album that
proved shock rock still works, outraged parents and thrilled hot topic.
This is a landfall for hot topic.
Yeah.
It was more about what was on the surface, which was his scaricure that he was playing
(16:15):
and not enough about the music.
There are good things to be said about the production, the sound of the band.
I like their overall musical vibe.
It's just he's so cringey to me that it just turns into this silliness.
It's so over the top.
It's like Cirque du Soleil.
And it's like an angry child slamming his door on his parents or something.
(16:42):
Like I said, there's some good stuff happening here.
It just doesn't quite land for the old dooder.
Yeah.
Part of me kind of wonders how much difference there is between the person, Brian Warner
and Marilyn Manson and the character in the album.
So I feel like they're all very closely related to each other or at least the lines have gotten
(17:02):
pretty blurred.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't think you're wrong in your critique by any means.
And I think Manson very much, as much as he likes to talk about tearing down things and
being anti-establishment, I think he is definitely reveling in the position he's created for
himself.
Yeah.
And he took the money.
Yeah.
He's been doing this for a long time.
Through lots of ups and downs, a lot of groups reach out, do focus their hate on him for
(17:25):
different things that he might not be directly involved with.
And I would say to a lot of people who have a lot of legal cases outstanding against him
and a lot of other just extraneous issues that he probably is a bit of a douchebag.
Yeah.
See, that seems to be the case.
I don't think that's going to make it a huge stretch there.
But I do think he did put some pretty interesting music that at least did make a big splash.
(17:50):
It was controversial.
Culturally, it was very controversial.
So if you somehow missed that in the nineties, I think Anti-Curios Superstar would probably
be my go-to recommendation for Mr. Manson.
Yeah.
Give it a listen if you are not familiar.
Before we get to our next controversial album pick, why don't we hear a little bit from
(18:10):
our friends over at the Astrovert Podcast.
What's up, folks?
It's Jake here from the Astrovert Podcast.
Come join us as we play underplay and undershare bands from across the United States and the
world.
We found local bands from the Midwest, Florida, the UK, New Zealand, and far, far beyond.
Some of our recent favorite discoveries include Sprawl, Glitch Kingdom, City of Auburn, Flake
(18:33):
Michigan, and so many more.
We feature Rock News and Rock News.
As well as discuss our band's journey towards finishing our forthcoming EP.
Our first two singles, Last Call and Tides of Elephants, both out now.
You can find the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
(18:56):
Well done, Astrovert.
It's up their pants.
Yeah.
I mean, talking about music, talk about your own music, that's the way to get your stuff
out there.
So go check them out, Astrovert Podcast.
So my pick for a controversial album comes from NWA.
It's their debut album from 1988 called Straight Outta Compton.
(19:20):
The core lineup of NWA features group leader and MC Eazy E, producers, Arabian Prince,
Dr. Dre, and DJ Yella, and MCs Ice Cube and MC Ren.
Also have some lyrics written by the DOC.
Let's just get right into it.
Here's the opening cut, Straight Outta Compton.
(19:52):
That is an unforgettable introduction to the world.
Yeah.
Classic.
Yeah.
So the opening verse is wrapped by Ice Cube.
MC Ren delivers the second verse and then Eazy E does the third verse.
I didn't realize that Eazy E doesn't write his own rhymes.
Same with Dre.
(20:12):
So most of those were written either by MC Ren or the DOC.
Ice Cube wrote a lot of lyrics though too, didn't he?
Yeah.
Yep.
I'm sorry.
Ice Cube also wrote lyrics for those guys.
So that record actually samples You Like It Too by Funkadelic, West Coast Pop Luck by
Ronnie Hudson and the Street People, Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number Nine by Wilson
Pickett and then the most prominent sample in there is Amen Brother by the Winstons.
(20:37):
So I mean this track basically just provides a raw, unfiltered portrayal of Compton, California
in the late 1980s.
I mean this record was controversial for many reasons.
Not just the profanity, the graphic descriptions of violence, the misogyny, the anti-police
sentiment and just those depictions of gang life and then sort of the perceived at least
(21:01):
glorification of criminal behavior.
My clickbait headline for Straight Outta Compton is West Coast crashes hip hop party and refuses
to leave.
Yeah.
So apparently at this time, I mean the East Coast was sort of the center of the hip hop
universe and what you had apparently out in California was more kind of party and dance
(21:29):
based hip hop but NWA along with Ice-T sort of established this sound that later became
known as gangster rap.
Yeah.
I mean but public enemy kind of sowing the seeds of revealed truths about life on the
streets and things too.
I feel like that West Coast sound really, at least for me, I associate with this album,
(21:53):
that sort of vibe of the West Coast originating from this.
The production and the beats and the cadence of the rhymes, I would say so too.
So NWA apparently did not like the gangster rap label.
They prefer to call it reality rap.
Yeah.
So they're basically just capturing that time and that lifestyle and it wasn't necessarily
(22:18):
a glorification of it.
It wasn't necessarily a comment against it.
I mean a lot of that East Coast stuff we listen to from KRS-One and Guru and all those guys,
a lot of them it was a bit more preachy sort of saying stop the violence and these guys
were just singing about, or I'm sorry, rapping about reality.
All right.
(22:38):
Well, let's hear some more.
This is Express Yourself.
See, see parents, it's cool.
Express yourself.
No swear words here.
So this one was lyrics written by Ice Cube performed by Dr. Dre primarily and it promotes
(23:02):
individuality, authenticity, and in the music industry in particular, which is what they
were trying to do.
This samples Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's 1970 track, Express
Yourself, though Wright apparently called NWA's version redundant.
Of course it does.
(23:22):
It became a hit reaching number two on the US hot rap songs chart.
Individuality, creativity, staying true to yourself and Ice Cube critiques artists who
are fake commercialized personas, Marilyn Manson.
And, you know, there's actually like an anti-drug message in the song as well.
(23:45):
So be genuine.
That's the vibe.
And I think it's a needed break on this album, a moment to celebrate the ability, the freedom
to make this record to some degree.
My clickbait headline to describe straight out of Compton, the album that had the FBI
watching and Karens clutching their pearls when the streets invaded the suburbs.
(24:06):
Besides being street knowledge, it also created a whole, you know, we kind of talked about
sub-genre, but all these MCs from this group creating their own music, discovering new
artists, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, et cetera.
They make records together, break off, do solo projects, work on each other's projects.
(24:28):
Really a time of a lot of ingenuity and discovery in the next wave of true change in the hip
hop scene.
It's funny that you mentioned suburbs in your headline there because I read that 80% of
the album sales came from the suburbs.
Oh, wow.
That's interesting.
Okay.
Well, let's hear another one.
(24:50):
Here's that suburban anthem, Fuck the Police.
Fuck the police coming straight from the underground.
A young nigga got it bad because I'm brown.
And not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority.
Ice Cube and that bass line, man, just kind of slap you across the face there.
(25:14):
Yeah.
And the crisp delivery too.
I mean, you're catching every word.
It's very clear.
Very clear.
It's a really interesting track though.
Basically, it's like courtroom drama.
The police department on trial, yeah, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E kind of all take turns
testifying against this policeman who kind of gets convicted at the end of it.
(25:35):
Dr. Dre is presiding over the court.
It's pretty cool.
My clickbait headline for Straight Outta Compton is locally sourced, bespoke, 100% organic
beats and rhymes straight from the streets of California now available to households
everywhere.
Nice.
I like that.
Yeah.
This really did kind of like put the, at least what was going on in Compton and maybe probably
(25:56):
lots of streets across America, like right in the face of everybody in their suburban
households and kind of like, this is a situation.
It's pretty extreme.
I think that in and of itself provided a lot of value and probably did open up a lot of
conversations that just weren't happening or even possible prior to this.
Also, you know, trying to imagine from different perspectives, I mean, depending on where you
(26:20):
grow up, your view of authority figures like the police or other institutions that you
might think are supporting you or helping you or in other situations, they might be
oppressing or misusing their power.
You know, and I hope that those 80% that got that record that it helps some people think
(26:41):
about other people's perspectives and other people's lives.
Yeah, totally.
But looking at this as a piece of art, I think, yeah, there are obviously are a lot of classic
tracks on here.
I think the beginning of the record is holds up amazingly well.
I think it's at its best when the production kind of is working hand in hand with the MCs,
which are a lot like Express Yourself.
I think it works really well.
(27:03):
It has a really interesting beat and a bit of melody to it.
As you get later on in the record, I think there's some more just conventional 80s hip
hop tracks I think are a little bit less interesting as you get into like Dope Man and Quiet on
the Set.
But overall, I think this does hold up pretty well and still, you know, live up records
I think aged not as well from this era.
But this one, I think more or less is still pretty hard-hitting.
(27:28):
One thing that stuck with me was Eazy-E when the ladies are saying, Eazy-E, I wanna fuck
you.
And he's like, I wanna fuck you too.
I'm not so sure about this one.
I think those are the kind of moments you're talking about.
Yeah.
So the first three songs, they're just killer and that really makes the album, I think.
(27:52):
I mean, the album has a very aggressive tone and I think a lot of it is just that the beats
are so layered or the samples, like there's so much going on that the MCs actually have
to be sort of louder and I think a more aggressive to go over that sort of intricate backing
sound.
(28:13):
I mean, one of the things I appreciate about this of the three albums we're talking about
and controversy, this is just these guys being their genuine true selves.
There's no characters here.
It seems like it can be shocking at times, but it reflects real life, not monsters and
devils and things, which in a way is more disturbing.
(28:36):
Reality rap.
Yeah.
All right.
We'll end WA straight out of Compton, put the West Coast on the hip hop map and set
the genre's tone for the 1990s.
Check it out.
Excuse me.
I'd like to ask you a few questions.
Now it's time for Deep Questions by Don.
(28:59):
This is the controversial edition.
For a lot of people, these records, their parents had an issue with them.
What were some things that might've been controversial to your parents, but not to you?
At the time we're talking about.
Yes.
Yeah.
It sounds bizarre to even say this, but the Simpsons were controversial when they first
(29:21):
came out.
Oh yeah.
Bart Simpson's eating, you know, eat my shorts was his catchphrase.
He was kind of a smart ass.
Yeah.
Disrespectful.
Yeah.
I had a t-shirt with them on and my parents didn't like me wearing it to church.
They felt uncomfortable with that situation.
To church?
Oh my God.
T-shirts in general were not allowed to church when I was.
(29:43):
Yeah.
Yeah, so like Simpson's South Park was like another one.
Even watching Saturday Night Live was not, was kind of like a taboo in my household when
I was younger.
Yes.
I grew up on Saturday Night Live, so that wasn't as controversial in my house, although
a lot of other things were.
Yeah.
Like what?
Well, so a couple of things come to mind.
(30:05):
For instance, the show Growing Pains.
No big deal, right?
But my parents took great issue with Mike Sievers antics.
Before I was watching, the most racy thing happened when my parents walked through the
room.
They just happened to walk by and it's like, yeah.
And there was an episode where Mike was referencing a young lady's major league yabos.
(30:27):
My dad walked through the room right there.
He's, what are you watching?
I wasn't allowed to watch that show anymore.
I'm like, but it's one moment in a show that teaches about family togetherness and stuff.
Nope.
And another one that comes to mind is Pulp Fiction, when I went to go see that, it was
very controversial, the movie was at the time because of its violence and stuff.
(30:47):
And I was certainly old enough to go see it and my parents were just disappointed that
I had gone.
And now years later, satellite TV, whatever, my dad, it's one of his favorite movies.
He quotes it constantly still to this day.
You can't say anything about a quarter pounder or something without him going off on a voyage
(31:09):
in the cheese.
So, right.
Yeah.
It's funny how things kind of shift over time in terms of what's accepted and not.
I mean, right.
That's changed a lot.
How about you Donnie?
Well, you know, I mean, despite having kind of conservative parents, they were actually
pretty lenient when it came to, you know, the content in the house.
And I watched a lot of our movies and I watched MTV and all that stuff.
(31:29):
Well, they just want, they were desperate for your approval.
But they didn't forbid me from partaking in these things, but actually the stuff that
dude mentioned last week, like Mad Magazine and Garbage Pail Kids and stuff, like I could
tell that they just didn't really approve of it.
And I don't think it's because they thought it was bad or objectionable or something.
(31:50):
I think they just probably didn't want me to be a dork.
They were looking out for you.
Yeah.
They didn't want you to get picked on.
Yeah.
And here I am.
So, what was controversial to your parents, but not to you.
Let us know, hit us up on the socials, Instagram, Facebook, or leave a comment on our website,
(32:12):
albumnerds.com.
All right.
So I'm going with Marilyn Manson's dad, Wasp.
Not really his dad, but I feel like this kind of stuff is what made things like Marilyn
Manson possible.
Born in 1982 in Los Angeles by Blackie Lawless.
(32:33):
I'm thinking that's not his birth name.
They were originally called Circus Circus before evolving into Wasp, which has periods
between it's an acronym, but they don't know what for.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants?
Could be.
And Wasp, it's a scary creature, I guess.
(32:54):
So the band became notorious for their theatrical live performances featuring Blood, Fire, Raw
Meat, and Torture Racks.
Signed with Capitol Records in 1984, released their self-titled debut album, which immediately
fueled controversy due to its aggressive themes and shocking imagery.
All right.
So the lineup on this particular album is Blackie Lawless, of course, on lead vocals
(33:14):
and bass.
Chris Holmes, who really shapes their sound with his guitar work is on lead and rhythm
guitars, Randy Piper also on lead and rhythm guitars, and Tony Richards on drums.
I guess you could call it the classic lineup for Wasp.
Let's start off with the track that actually got removed from the album right before it
was released because of the parents music resource center not being happy about it.
(33:39):
This one is called, I don't know why anyone would be upset about this, Animal, Fuck Like
a Beast.
Oh, that's the parts.
There's a subtitle, Don's Anthem.
Oh man, the images.
(34:05):
Sorry.
That's what I expected.
The lucky listeners can't see this in their minds because they don't know you like we
do.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
So that was a song about tender lovemaking and romance originally planned as the opening
track.
And like I said, it was pulled from the album.
In response, Wasp released it as an independent single in the UK where it became a sought
(34:28):
after import in the US.
And the track was finally reinstated in the 1998 CD reissue of the album.
I guess it was recorded at Village Recorder in Los Angeles, produced by Mark Varney and
Blackie Lawless.
And unlike their glam metal peers, this album is heavier, more aggressive and Blackie's
raw vocals sound more, I guess, evil, more maniacal than some of the other singers at
(34:54):
the time.
And the songs are about fame, power, sex, violence, some occult stuff, but it's tame
compared to Marilyn Manson, which is just what happens.
All right.
Clickbait headline to describe a Wasp, the 80s soundtrack to parental outrage, satanic
panic and the rise of questionable leather fashion.
(35:18):
Wasp was a scare.
I was a little kid.
They were scary.
They threw meat and tortured people and had a saw blade for a cod piece and shot fire
from a cod piece.
Oh my gosh.
It's a very multifunctional cod piece.
Yes, very much.
He was wearing a transformer on his crotch.
(35:40):
But it was like the next level of Kiss and Twisted Sister.
It was taking it to an Aussie.
It was the next iteration of pushing the boundaries a little bit more.
It was influencing metal music overall, not just being controversial.
I think the controversial stuff was definitely, hey, look at me.
And it worked.
I think the PMRC and parental outrage probably is the reason they had any success at all.
(36:06):
They could have just disappeared if no one had gotten angry about it.
All right.
Why don't we jump into another track, Sleeping in the Fire.
The slow down moody track there, kind of tying love to the seduction of black magic.
(36:28):
Yes.
I like that track a lot.
I actually came to like this record a fair amount, especially for an 80s hair metal album.
I thought it was pretty compelling.
My clickbait headline for Wasp is, Wasp sells their souls to produce a punishing record
that will leave you swollen and calling for an exorcism.
(36:50):
All right.
From the sting from the Wasp.
From the stings.
From the stings.
I wanted to make sure that was clear.
Yeah, I mean, it definitely leans into the devil worship and the misogyny thing.
But I think what makes this record at least interesting for me was more kind of the guitars
and drums.
They just fucking rip through these cuts here.
(37:12):
It's really fast and hard.
It's not really, I mean, it's metal, I guess.
It's metal.
It's metal.
We'll say it's metal.
It doesn't have that hard edge, I guess, but it is fast and kind of like that punk rock
spirit.
There's a titanic edge to it, which has kind of spread about through a handful of cuts
that I could see being pretty disturbing for parents especially.
(37:33):
Yeah.
I wonder if they're honorary dark priests like Manson.
No.
What I did read was that Blackie grew up in Christian churches and his parents and family
were very much involved.
And when he was a teenager, he kind of rebelled against the control of organized religion
and then for a few years studied the occult.
(37:54):
Now he's a born again Christian, but he's not religious.
He has faith.
It's not religion.
That's what he says.
Oh, I see.
Okay.
Was he a Satanist at the time of the record?
Never a Satanist, just interested in the occult.
Okay.
Yeah, it seems like he's mostly in it for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll, my impression
based on the lyrics here.
(38:16):
But yeah, I was pleasantly surprised with this.
I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did.
Well, it's not all about Satan.
It's about success, wanting to be a big star.
And I went with this to a little bit of I want to be somebody.
He doesn't want to rock and roll all night.
(38:37):
He wants to be somebody.
So that's actually, if you own the US version of the original album, this would have been
the opening cut.
It was also the first single from the album.
According to Lawless, the title was inspired by an episode of the TV show Barney Miller.
That's awesome.
Where one of the characters said, God, I want to be somebody in a way that Lawless found
(39:02):
amusing.
So yeah, funny where inspiration comes from.
Barney Miller was a cop show sitcom just for those that never caught it.
Yeah, so that opening guitar riff is very Judas Priest.
And then in the middle of the song, you've got this cool solo from Chris Holmes.
(39:24):
But yeah, I mean, that's just a kiss song basically, right?
I mean, like you said, it's rock and roll all night.
It just feels very much in that spirit.
So my clickbait headline is Wasp stings the metal scene with aggressive yet catchy and
melodic fury.
Yeah, like Andy, I was pleasantly surprised by this record.
You know, just beyond the sometimes silly lyrics, it just sounds good.
(39:49):
It does sound good.
It's so catchy.
So I don't know.
I mean, maybe if they had gone a different direction, they still might have found success
because they definitely have a knack for songwriting, I think.
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree.
There's some other album highlights I want to talk about really quick.
Tormentor, one of the heaviest tracks on the album.
(40:09):
It gained some extra notoriety by being featured in a couple cult horror films.
The Torture Never Stops.
PMRC didn't like this one either.
I think the title kind of speaks for itself.
And Hellion, which is this really fast paced anthem that is kind of a staple of their live
shows apparently.
And it just sounds awesome.
(40:29):
It sounds like its title.
I also found this album much better than I expected.
But I hadn't really heard it since I was a kid and that I was just scared of it.
So yeah, I really like the way he sings.
I think the arrangements are great.
It's a good 80s metal record that if you haven't indulged, you should.
(40:50):
Even with some of the silly devil references and stuff, it doesn't take over the album,
which I think is important.
So yeah, go check out Wasp.
Get yourself stung.
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
All right.
(41:11):
Well we've been embroiled in a sea of controversy all week.
Were we able to escape and dig anything else?
I got a few pics here in my witches brew here boiling over.
First one is from a South London four piece stoner rock group called Warp Stormer.
Their debut album out called Warp Stormer.
(41:35):
It's a heavy, fuzzy, slow stoner rock record, but enjoying it a fair amount.
Let's hear Cursed Cold.
Got a revolutionary stuff there, but pretty good I would say in terms of the genre.
What makes it stoner rock?
I think it's the slowed down nature.
Yeah, it's that kind of plodding sound.
Heavy, yeah.
(41:55):
And they smoke a lot of weed down.
I have no idea.
And the last one for me is from an experimental jazz trio from Brazil.
This record is from Kaja Kubo.
The name of the album is Modo Abio.
Let's play the title cuts.
(42:17):
You know that Andy's digging something if he has to put a question mark on the end of
the band name or the song name or the album name.
If it's that much of a struggle for me to say, much know I really appreciate the record.
It's really good.
It's got a cool modern sound, but also kind of like some Latin flair to it.
Subtle, but there's a lot going on too kind of under the surface.
(42:39):
Sounds a little Sergio Mendez or that kind of thing from the 60s.
All right.
What you been digging on Donald?
I discovered this from another podcast called the New Wave Music Podcast.
Paul Heaton, who's from the bands The House Martins and The Beautiful South, never really
broke in the United States, but they have a long legacy in Britain.
(43:00):
Paul Heaton has an album that came out last year called The Mighty Several produced by
Ian Brody of The Lightning Seeds.
It features vocals from Rhianne Downey.
Here's the opening cut, National Treasure.
That was not what I expected.
Yeah.
It's not really New Wavey at all.
(43:20):
Much more kind of organic sounding.
Yeah, I think maybe in the upcoming year I might spend some time going back to The Beautiful
South and House Martins and figure out what's going on here.
Another one, Ethel Kane.
This is her second studio album.
Her real name is Hayden Silas Onhedonia.
(43:41):
She's from Tallahassee, Florida.
This is an album called Perverts.
This incorporates elements of drone and slow core, kind of just dark.
The opening track is called Don.
This is the second track called Punish.
(44:05):
This one's, I mean, it's about 86 minutes.
It's tough, but it's interesting because it's called Perverts and it just, I guess it just
explores various forms of perversion, like self-indulgence and self-disgust.
Apparently nothing like her first album, but again, it's Ethel Kane, Perverts.
(44:26):
What are you digging, dude?
Yeah, I'm digging a group called the Lambrini Girls and the album is called Who Let the
Dogs Out.
It's not that, Who Let the Dogs Out, kids.
This is the debut album from the Brighton-based punk duo and they're known for their raw
energy, scathing humor and very confrontational feminist anthems.
(44:50):
Features jagged riffs, distorted bass, topics like police brutality, toxic masculinity, gentrification.
They do it all and they're funny at the same time.
So why don't we listen to a little bit of Company Culture.
I love that little don't touch me line there in Company Culture.
(45:13):
Yeah, so a lot of what they're talking about is being sexualized everywhere they go and
things of that nature.
So I really love the sort of aggressive way of facing some of these challenges.
The song titles are funny.
Yeah, I can't say some of them.
Big Dick Energy is one that I think you can figure out.
(45:35):
Another one I definitely won't say.
All right, so the next album I'm digging is an album from 2017 that I was a big fan of
at the time.
And this band Vant sort of changed their trajectory and the kind of music they were making.
But this one called Dumb Blood, their debut album was politically charged garage rock
(45:55):
and I really dug it.
And I finally got a copy of it on vinyl a few years after it came out because it got
a lot cheaper.
It was like 35 bucks when it came out and then dropped to 15.
Sorry Vant.
Let's listen to a little bit of Parking Lot.
You remember that one right Andy?
We talked about it on the show.
Oh yeah, of course.
Really enjoyed that record.
Wish they would come back around and do some more of that again.
Yeah, me too.
What did they end up doing?
It got a little more poppy and less garage rocky.
(46:30):
So what are you digging?
Let us know.
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also our website albumnerds.com.
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show and I reminded of former American president Richard
(46:53):
M. Nixon.
Of course.
Who said, if an individual wants to be a leader and isn't controversial, that means he never
stood for anything.
Hmm.
He was not a crook.
That's right.
With that in mind, let's bring out my friend and yours, Wodbot and see what we'll be talking
about on next week's episode.
(47:20):
Career redefining albums are the turning points that change everything.
Next time, you will be exploring three records that reshaped legacies, broke new ground and
proved the power of reinvention in music.
Career redefining albums.
I guess making a creative choice to change sounds.
We'll see.
This could be interesting.
(47:41):
What's your favorite career redefining album?
What else are you listening to?
Email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram threads and bluesky at albumnerds and visit albumnerds.com
to suggest topics for the show, peruse the hall of fame and listen to all 275 episodes.
(48:01):
And the best way to support the show is to share it.
Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
Thank you so much for joining us on the Helm Nerds podcast.
We'll catch you next time with some redefinition.
Do we have to redefine the show?
Maybe we should.
Next week, we might.
I'll do muppet voices.
Yeah, be sure to tune in for that guys.
(48:26):
See you next week.
Thanks for listening.
Sweet dreams are made of these.
Wait a second.
What were you doing there?
Was that Louis Armstrong doing?
Marilyn Manson or a muppet.
Like an eight year old lady with FZ mimes.
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