February 3, 2025 • 47 mins
The “sophomore slump” is an all too common phenomena in the music industry. Following up a break-through record with one equally as successful requires talent and dedication. Join us as we discuss 3 successful sophomore albums.
- Led Zeppelin – II (1969)
- A Tribe Called Quest – Low end Theory (1991)
- The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
Other Diggins
- Lauren Mayberry – Vicious Creature (2025)
- Franz Ferdinand – The Human Fear (2025)
- Bob Mould – Here We Go Crazy (Mar 2025)
- Flipturn – Burnout Days (2025)
- DITZ – Never Exhale (2025)
- Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy (1978)
What do you think of these records? What great sophomore 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!!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts Andy, Don, and Dude.
(00:13):
I believe in second chances for success, for fortune, for fame.
That's a good thing.
Yes, it is.
This is the Elb Nerds podcast.
I'm Dude.
I've got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, you ready to get sophomoric?
Get sophomoric.
Got to look that up real quick.
I don't know.
No, I'm not.
It probably says C, Album Nerds.
Hopefully that's good.
(00:35):
It basically means immature, but yeah, jejun perhaps.
Jejun, like jevenet.
Yeah, I think the podcast is, we've been in that lane for quite a while, I would say.
Yeah.
Pretty comfortable there.
I've been in that lane for quite a few decades.
How are you doing there, Don?
Ready to go back to class?
(00:56):
Yeah, well after biology or global studies, I think I'm going to try out for JV baseball.
I think you might have good chances here.
These are all things that happened in 10th grade, I think.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
So this is the Elb Nerds podcast.
We love albums and the album format.
And today we have an excellent show for you.
(01:17):
We're going to be talking about three second albums that were big successes.
Don's going to ask us a deep question.
We're going to have some shout outs to some other albums and album related items we're
digging.
Then of course we'll spin that wheel of musical discovery to find out what we're talking about
on the next show.
But today it's all about sophomore successes.
(01:37):
That's what I'm talking about.
The concept of a sophomore slump is well known in the music industry, where an artist's second
album often fails to live up to the commercial or artistic success of their debut.
However, many artists have defied this trend by releasing sophomore albums that not only
matched but surpassed their efforts, cementing their place in music history.
(01:59):
Today each of us will present a successful sophomore album.
Yeah, I mean success can be dollars and cents, sales, fame, whatever, but it also can be
artistic success.
Some of the big names that come to mind for bands or artists that had sophomore successes,
The Stooges, The Pixies, Black Sabbath, even Neil Young, Garth Brooks, and Public Enemy,
(02:24):
these now incredibly known artists that really started to find their way on their second
album and moving forward.
Weird Al.
Sure.
Incredible artist.
Andy, did you have any other favorites that you almost picked this week but ended up going
in another direction?
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean there's like so many good second albums here.
(02:46):
The one I kind of made a little project for myself out of is my buddy Valentine and their
sophomore album, Loveless, which is a pretty influential record on its own.
The Dublin, Ireland, Shoegaze Pioneers.
I never really got into that record growing up, but I've been trying over the last few
years to get into it and kind of understand it.
I think it took a place where I felt like I was pretty into the Loveless space.
(03:09):
It's great right before Valentine's, you know.
How about you, Dom?
Well, I was thinking of Interpol, their second album Antics from 2004.
Interpol, I mean they sound English, but they're actually from New York City.
Got really into their first album, Turn On the Bright Lights.
Kind of like Joy Division sounding, kind of post-punk moody stuff.
(03:31):
But I felt like their second album, it was less derivative and it sounded like they were
kind of creating their own distinct sound.
So that's a good one.
Dude?
Yeah, I went for one of the most obvious, especially for Gen Xers, The Nirvana's Nirvana.
The Nirvana's, oh yes.
With Nevermind, released September of 1991.
It's their second album, obviously, Bleach being their first.
(03:54):
And it propelled raw energy and introspective lyrics and grunge and punk.
And it just changed popular music at that time.
And so yeah, that was a success.
Also it was.
But yeah, we've talked about that on the show before and it's just this is not the time
for it.
Ain't the time, ain't the place.
So why don't we get into our choo choo choo choices.
(04:16):
You choo choo choose me?
All right, for my sophomore success here, we're going with some Low Hanging Fruit talking
about Led Zeppelin and their second CD album, Led Zeppelin 2.
Great title.
Yeah, very creative, right?
(04:38):
Well I mean when they're so close together, I mean within the same year, it really is
a tune.
Yeah.
So yeah, this is the follow up to their self-titled debut, which came out just in earlier January
of 1969.
This came out in October.
Features a mix of originals and remakes of contemporary blues and folk music.
Let's jump in and play the opening cut and the lead single, Hold On To Love.
(05:01):
Does he do that effect?
Is that the guitar?
That's the Doppler effect.
Just going by.
Yeah, I assume that's Jimmy Page guitar there.
Yeah, it really just kind of busts right out of the gates there with a pretty heavy high
(05:28):
energy cut there.
It was a really popular song for them.
The interesting history behind that song a little bit, some of the lyrics were adapted
from Willie Dixon's song, You Need Love, which was played by Muddy Waters in the 60s.
Dixon would go on to sue Zeppelin because he wasn't credited in the 80s.
Also some similarities to some Small Faces songs from the 60s.
(05:50):
Definitely pulling from a lot of influences, but it's safe to say that they really did
kind of define their own sound and really did define the sounds of many generations
to come with this record here, that very like riff based blues, hard rock sounds.
It's pretty much the blueprint for it right here.
How much do you suppose they were sued because of their blues influences?
(06:12):
However, blues as a genre itself is nothing but influences from one another.
People covering each other's songs.
It's supposed to be a shared pot, right?
Yeah.
I think a lot of it had to do with just how successful they were, right?
These guys were making all the money and all the tours and anyway, my clickbait headline
for Led Zeppelin 2 is Page and Co.
(06:33):
Ain't Got Time for a Sophomore Slump, delivering one of Rock's definitive records while still
touring their first.
Kind of a crazy story here.
They were touring in the US and UK for their first record, which really just came out a
few months prior and recorded this one on the road throughout a variety of different
studios, mostly in the US from what I read, wrote and recorded it on the road, which I
(06:53):
really don't hear bands doing that very often.
They were just kind of that hot, I guess, at the time and the creative pieces were flowing.
I think it's really impressive that this record sounds as amazing as it does for circumstances
it was recorded under.
It was just recently remastered and about a decade ago.
I think it just sounds incredible.
It's such a lively record and it's so well mixed.
(07:16):
Well, when your sound is based completely on musicians and what your instruments and
voices sound like, it really doesn't matter where you record it, right?
I mean, if it's based on studio wizardry and tweaking stuff, then it does matter.
But I think because they were not doing that, this was how they sounded.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, that's up in one to me that sound kind of like a group of musicians recording
(07:39):
in a room where this sounds a little bit more intentional in terms of how it's put together.
Like the pieces kind of all felt like they're more in the right places.
All right, let's play it.
Let me cut from the record here.
This is track three, Lemon Zone.
Well, Ziplin had performed Howlin' Wolf's The Killing Floor live a lot in this time
(08:05):
period.
And so that song became the basis for the Lemon Song.
When they did it live, Plant often improvised the lyrics.
That line, the famous line in it, squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg.
Just wanted to read that one out loud, Don.
He really needed to go see a doctor about that.
That lemon juice, yeah.
(08:25):
That is a reference to Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues from 1937.
But people believe that Johnson actually borrowed that from She Squeezed My Lemon by Art McKay
from that same year.
Just a long, long legacy of lemon squeezing.
Yeah, and it just goes to show how far you had to go with metaphor and innuendo back
(08:48):
in the day instead of now people will just say things in songs.
In 1972, Arc Music, who owned the publishing rights for Howlin' Wolf, of course sued Led
Ziplin for copyright infringement.
And that was settled out of court.
And so now anytime the song appears, Howlin' Wolf gets co-writing credit.
So there's a big echo effect on Plant's voice.
(09:11):
Apparently none of that is artificial.
So I mean, it's actually the studio space itself.
It was a 16 by 16 foot wooden walled studio in Mystic Studios that creates that echo.
All right.
Well, my clickbait headline for Led Ziplin 2 is, Ziplin's second effort makes album
nerd shout, don't stop rocking.
(09:33):
No, no, no, don't stop rocking.
Yeah.
I mean, this is just a rocking explosion.
It's been a few years since I've listened to this record straight through and it's very
heavy.
I thought I was listening to Black Sabbath, but it's a little more bluesy, I think, than
Sabbath.
Lots of psychedelic stuff going on in there, but it's not over the top compared to a lot
(09:57):
of the psychedelia of a couple years earlier.
And they do throw in some kind of acoustic stuff in the middle, but they're like the
who in that it's just like everybody is just like top notch at their instrument.
I mean-
Yeah, it's got an all-star cast.
Yeah.
And he's just an innovative guitarist, plants obviously, just a bluesy rock singer.
(10:22):
John Paul Jones is a great bassist and of course, John Monum's with thundering drums.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
Why don't we hear one of those more folk inspired tracks here and this is track seven, Ramblin'.
That's the stuff.
(10:46):
Ramblin', well known folk inspired track with the lyrics referencing J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and it blends acoustic and electric elements really well.
It kind of is the precursor, I think, to that sound on the next album, Led Zeppelin III,
where they lean more into that.
Folkiness, but it's really a testament to their ability to take their influences and
(11:12):
on this album is when this really begins, when they completely shape their own interpretation
and sound of that.
It's not mimicry.
Nope.
It's a Ramblin'.
I think it's plants way of speaking about his traveling troubadour sort of vibe.
You know, this traveling minstrel telling tales and living on the road and all that
(11:34):
stuff.
So I think it all works and fits into that Tolkien-esque world as well.
My clickbait headline to describe Led Zeppelin II, the one album that rules them all.
And yes, it's my precious.
Oh God.
You okay?
(11:56):
Yeah, a little something in there.
Got a little golem in the troat.
So yeah, at this point, they really refined their sound, I think all that road time.
And I think they got to the top of their creative peak here, but they stayed there for like
three or four more albums.
(12:17):
There wasn't an immediate down the other side.
So yeah, it's the nice thing about when you're putting out records so quickly and your peak,
you've got it for a little bit longer.
Yeah, well, you know, the Beatles were able to throw albums out there constantly.
And I think that helps with the songwriting process.
The whole album, all the tracks just come from the guts, you know, and you can feel
(12:41):
it.
There's just something very visceral about their performances.
Yeah, definitely.
It grabs you by the balls for sure.
I think that struck me looking back on some reviews from back in the early 70s.
A lot of folks just said it was just too noisy, too loud, all the songs sounded the same.
(13:02):
That was really struck listening to like, this is really, to me, it seems like a very
diverse record.
I mean, there are heavy songs, there are blues based songs, but there's a lot of interesting
quieter moments on here and some experimentation.
I think people just weren't ready for it.
Yeah, it was blowing their minds, man.
All right, well, I don't think there's really, for me at least, much debate about the importance
(13:24):
of this record.
Yeah, it's like I said earlier, it's really the blueprint for a lot of music that would
come in over the next 50 years, and I'm sure probably after that too.
So for me, it's a shoe in for the album and song of fame.
What do you gents think?
Yeah, this is a definite, you know, I think they really perfect that hard rock blues sound
(13:44):
on this album.
And it, you know, paves the way for heavy metal.
So yes.
Dude, on the fence.
No.
The better question might be what Zeppelin album doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
So yeah, obviously, this is a landmark record.
And like I said, they're kind of at their long lasting peak right here.
(14:09):
But you know, some of the other tracks that really get to me are like, Thank You and Living
Loving Maid.
She's just a woman, just that driving sound that they're capable of and the tempo changes.
It's just amazing.
It feels like you're there, like you're a part of this creative process.
It just feels so real and sounds real.
(14:29):
So absolutely yes for me.
All right.
Well, congratulations to Mudd Zeppelin.
Welcome to the Hall of Fame.
I have a feeling you might be back again in the future.
Absolutely.
Wow, what does Sylvester Stallone have to do?
I think because you said absolutely in your thing.
So it just had me think, you want a roommate?
(14:50):
Absolutely.
Before we get to our next sophomore success, let's hear from the worst podcast on Mars.
Worst podcast ever.
I'm Amanda and that's Evan.
Say hi, Evan.
(15:11):
Hi, Evan.
And we're the hosts of the worst podcast on Mars.
This is the podcast that talks music.
And on Fridays, we work our way through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 200 definitive
albums.
I do a bunch of research trying to figure out why it's on this list.
And on Tuesdays, we do smaller episodes that are not part of the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame's list.
(15:31):
And Evan, well, he just literally shows up.
So if that's what you're into, please find us on Apple Music or Spotify.
But not Mars.
Not yet.
My pick for a sophomore record is The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest, which
was released in September 1991.
(15:53):
It's the second studio album, obviously, by the hip hop group formed in Queens in 1985.
Features MC and main producer Q-Tip, also MC Fife Dog and DJ and co-producer Ali Shahid
Mohamed.
So this is the follow up to their first album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths
of Rhythm, which came out in 1990.
(16:14):
Well, here's the opening cut.
This is Excursions.
Listen to the rhymes to get a mental picture of this black man, black woman picture.
Why do I say that?
Because I gotta speak the truth.
What's happening here?
Don's becoming the hip hop curator here.
The hip hop head.
Yeah.
You wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed this record this week.
(16:34):
I'm like, oh, I gotta listen to Zeppelin now, I gotta go back to Tribe.
What's going on?
Driving slowly through your cul-de-sac up there.
Windows rolled down, sunglasses on.
My one hand on 12 o'clock on the wheel.
Anyway, so Excursions kind of has that minimalist jazz beat to it and a prominent bass line.
(17:01):
Basically the bass line is sampled from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, A Chant for
Boo is the name of the song.
This kind of sets that jazz fusion tone for the record, which is a bit of a departure
from their first album.
Q-Tip is the lone MC on this particular song.
Deals with several themes.
(17:21):
Musical heritage that starts out, he's actually talking about a conversation with his dad
about the connection between bebop jazz and hip hop.
You've got Afro-centricity in there.
It's mentioned in African Heritage and the Zulu Nation.
Artistic integrity, so authenticity in hip hop and personal growth.
That's where the Excursions comes in.
(17:42):
Just so different from the NWA record that we listened to a couple of weeks ago.
Right.
East Coast versus West Coast, man.
Holy cow.
It's not a fun.
Yeah.
I didn't notice it until I was reading about it, but there's barely any profanity on this
at all.
I don't even think it gets an explicit sticker on it.
(18:02):
I had read that Ron Carter, who's on one track, wouldn't play on a record with too much profanity.
Maybe they cut back.
I'm not sure.
Yep.
That's the standup bass player they brought in.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, my clickbait headline for the low end theory is Q-Tip swabs ears with innovative
sounds and thoughtful lyrics.
(18:24):
Why did you have to go there?
That's gross.
Well, yeah.
Not many people know this, but Don's rap name is Cotton Swab, which is just the generic
name for Q-Tip.
The big differences between this and their first album was again, mostly that jazz influenced
(18:50):
style.
But it's also a more, I think, refined and cohesive sound.
The first one was a bit more eclectic.
There's actually more Fife Dog on this one and there's more sort of back and forth between
Q-Tip and Fife Dog than you get on the first record.
Actually, if you go later into their discography, there's more of that interplay between the
(19:14):
two of them.
Anyway, let's hear some more.
Here's the final cut on the album scenario.
Her little MF there.
(19:34):
Count on Buster Arms to get one of them.
So that collaboration and everything is really at the forefront here for a scenario featuring
leaders of the new school, which was Buster Rhymes group at the time.
That was his set of rhymes on that track.
(19:55):
Just the feel, the party feel, this whole album just feels like a summertime soundtrack,
like something to play and play some frisbee golf with your...
It just sounds like something to play at the beach or whatever.
It's just so fun to listen to.
This final track leaves you in that kind of mood, rah rah like a dungeon dragon.
(20:19):
Love that line.
The layered production, of course, features those subtle jazz influences and that bass,
that low end sound that permeates on the album.
And scenario has been sampled, referenced and paid homage to many, many times by even
the Insane Clown Posse I read somewhere.
Juggalo for life.
(20:40):
If you can inspire those guys.
Well that's saying something.
Mike Clickbait headline to describe low end theory.
The record that had you vibing the bass lines while your beeper buzzed in four, four time.
Our beepers mentioned way too much on this.
There's a whole song.
The Skypager, whatever.
(21:02):
Skypager.
And then there's other mentions of their beepers buzzing and stuff.
But just be careful, songwriters, about the technologies that you mention in your songs.
Unless you're going to explain what they are to the folks a couple decades later listening
to it.
There's also a lot of Arsenio Hall on this album.
I mean they must mention him at least five times.
It was a big deal.
(21:22):
I'm sure they were guests on the show and if you want to keep appearing.
So yeah, I mean this is a classic hip hop record that I've owned for a long time and
I don't have a lot of them in my collection, but this is just an infectious sound Q-tip.
It just has one of the best voices and flows.
It's just so smooth and jazzy also.
(21:45):
It just works really well here.
I read that he actually had a cold during the recording sessions and he wanted to go
back and re-record his vocals, but people said it sounded fine.
But hearing it after that, I'm like, oh, he does kind of sound, you know, a little clumped
up.
I never thought about that.
All right.
Well, let's hear a little more.
Here's Check the Rhyme.
(22:06):
Check the Rhyme is the first single from Lil' N' Theory.
It's got that great stand up bass sound, which is prevalent throughout the album.
I think a pretty killer verse from Five Dog there.
He really steps up on this record and kind of, at least for me, kind of solidified himself
(22:30):
as a real force, not only in this group, but in the 90s hip hop in general.
My clickbait headline for Lil' N' Theory is Tribe Theorize, a smooth, groovy hip hop classic.
Yeah, I mean, I'll just kind of second everything you guys had said.
This is one of those A plus stand out hip hop albums for me.
There's not a bad moment on it.
I think you could argue maybe it gets better as it goes on, but it starts out in a pretty
(22:54):
good place.
It ends up in a really good place.
So it's a pretty nice trip to make.
Yeah, definitely a big maturation process from the debut, I think, particularly Q-Tip
and the production does sound much more intentional and it's much more interesting too, I think.
Jazz influence is obviously a big part of it, but also it's just, it's got a good feel
to it.
The bass, I love the bass sound.
(23:15):
I wish more hip hop would have this kind of like live bass feel to it.
I know it's sampled, but it does feel like so big in the mix.
It just sounds cool.
Yeah.
The jazz treatment, I think works a lot better than that.
Remember that Guru record we did where he was like truly just rapping over jazz?
Jazzmatazz?
Yeah.
I think this is better.
(23:35):
Yeah, but I mean, that was actually on Jazzmatazz that music was performed specifically for
the album.
I think the problem with that record was the music is so busy that I think it makes it
hard to really make rhymes work over it.
Because with this, it just seems to be a better marriage.
Yeah, I think that this is a more natural sounding collaboration between those genres,
(24:03):
but I think that Guru is trying to take the next step and make it an actual jazz album.
So they're kind of in different categories, but-
I'm not dissing Guru.
Yeah, it feels like you are.
So I'm getting a little jazzed up over here.
Kind of, I think we're coming right out of there, I don't know.
Cool.
All right, well, I mean, it sounds like we're all pretty positive on this album.
(24:26):
So as the official hip hop guy on the show, I'm going to nominate this.
Oh, God.
I'm going to nominate this for the Album Nerds Hall of Fame.
Going out in the limbo, Don, for sure.
So what can you replace Donnie Likey with that's specific to hip hop albums?
Donnie Vibeon.
Yeah, I first listened, I wasn't that excited, but basically like the second time around,
(24:55):
I got really into it.
It does seem like this is a pretty innovative record.
I also want to mention the mixing engineer, Bob Power gets a lot of credit for this record
for removing a lot of the surface noises, crackles, and pops that you hear a lot, particularly
like in 80s hip hop.
All these samples sound really lo-fi and I think they do a really good job on this album.
(25:18):
But yes, the low end theory belongs in the Hall of Fame.
What do you think, dude?
Sure.
Yeah, I mean, absolutely.
As I said, this is one of those albums that I made an exception for even in my rock music
only-est of days.
I think tracks like What and Buggin' Out.
(25:38):
Yeah, What is just so smart and Buggin' Out is just so fun as a second song after Excursions.
They just did a great job with sequencing, with figuring out what goes where, everything
fits perfectly and it's just a pleasure to listen to and hearing all these voices and
funny lines and it sounds like everyone's bringing each other to the next level and
(26:00):
that's great to hear.
So absolutely yes for me.
Andy?
Yes, definitely.
It's all the things you guys have said and more and deserves to be there.
I think it's definitely a definitive Quest record and it's a great representation of
nice hip hop.
If we were doing this right, we would have wrapped that entire presentation.
Yeah, leave that up to Q-Tip.
(26:24):
Don't forget Cotton Swab.
Well, congratulations to Tribe Called Quest.
The Low End Theory is now part of the Avel Nerds Hall of Fame.
Excuse me, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
(26:44):
It's time again for Deep Questions by Don.
So we're dealing with a lot of albums today that are as good or better than the original.
What are some cases where a sequel is better than the original?
Yeah, I think this does happen occasionally in movies.
I think Terminator 2 would be like the most obvious one that I could think of.
(27:06):
Okay, well, you mean T2?
Maybe there's a couple other ones.
But one that I really did appreciate a lot recently, well not recently, the last 20 years,
The Dark Knight.
I think that in every way it really does outdo Batman Begins, especially the scope, but also
the performances I think are significantly better.
Well, The Bad Guy is certainly more interesting than Ra's al Ghul or whatever.
(27:30):
Why so serious?
Yeah, definitely.
But I think the one I would hang my hat on is Evil Dead 2, which is pretty much a remake
of Evil Dead 1, but with a lot more money and better understanding of how to make movies
I think on Sam Raimi's part there.
Yeah, one of my favorite horror comedy movies of all time.
(27:50):
How about you, dude?
Not to rain on your parade, but I think Army of Darkness is way better than Evil Dead 2.
This is my boomstick!
That's the third one in the series.
It's not a sophomore though, I mean, come on.
No, but it's still a follow-up.
Sure.
Yeah, so one of the most obvious ones I think is Empire Strikes Back.
(28:13):
To me, I'm not a big Star Wars guy, but I grew up with it as a kid, and that was the
first one I actually saw.
It's dark, it's...
I mean, Yoda is a little eye-rolly, but...
Yoda's awesome, man, come on.
But there's not a bunch of cutesy crap going on in it.
Oh, the Ewoks you're talking about?
(28:34):
Yeah.
The bad guys win.
No, I am the father.
It went against a lot of the things you expect in a movie at that time, in like a movie full
of heroes and brothers and sisters that make out.
So yeah, for sure, I think that still to me is the best of the movies.
(28:55):
Yeah, I agree.
I actually, I was thinking of the world of video games, and that's a case where it's
easier to be better the second time around because generally technology is improving.
But Miss Pac-Man, right, was kind of the sequel to Pac-Man even though it was developed by
a different company.
I mean, it's more to it than just having the throw in the bow on her.
(29:15):
The fruit moves around the screen instead of staying in one place.
Wow.
Yeah.
Big innovations.
You could go through the tunnel to go to the other side.
There's like four of those on some of the screens.
So I mean...
Wow, sounds like you were a big fan.
For me, it's like slightly different on Miss Pac-Man.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, music is totally different.
(29:36):
For me, the big draw for that one, I didn't get to play it much, but if I went to the
grocery store with my dad, he'd play it because they had a Miss Pac-Man in the lobby.
I'd get to watch because I would just waste a quarter.
Put it in, I'm dad, I'm dad, I'm dad, game over.
So the cartoon little story between levels when they'd show Miss Pac-Man at Pac-Man meeting
(29:59):
and popping out some babies and all that stuff, I liked that.
Yeah.
They show that?
Yeah, they get into this thing.
They play Barry White, the two of them make sweet love.
They become one Pac person.
It's beautiful.
Completed the circle.
Oh my God.
(30:22):
What other sequels were better than the originals?
Let us know.
Hit us up on Instagram or Facebook or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds.com.
All right, so for my sophomore success album pick, I'm going with something from the 90s.
Shocking, I know.
Smashing pumpkins.
(30:43):
Pumpkins?
I think it's a hipper take on smashing pumpkins.
Siamese Dream from July of 1993.
Smashing pumpkins were formed in Chicago in 1988.
Original members who are on this record, Billy Corgan, James Eha, Darcy Retzky and Jimmy Chamberlain.
They're known for this distinctive intricate sound and incorporates elements of gothic
(31:06):
rock, heavy metal grunge, psych rock, prog rock, shoe gaze, dream pop, electronica.
And they do it well.
Why don't we start off with a little bit of today.
All right, boys, I don't know about you, but for me, I remember sitting in my room plucking
(31:31):
that ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding to make people think I knew how to play
guitar.
Do you guys ever try that one?
I think everyone in my high school tried that one.
I usually did wish you were here.
Of course.
Of course.
Okay.
Back to Pink Floyd, son of a bitch.
All right.
(31:51):
So, so today opens with the deceptively simple five note riff that we were just playing around
with and that contrast between the light intro, the heavy guitars, the dynamic range, the
layering.
I remember listening to the song and being like, yes, today is a good day.
This is a time in my life when I really had no worries or cares.
(32:11):
And I didn't really get to the fact that it's essentially he's super depressed, feeling
suicidal he said in an interview and then thought it would be funny to just say, oh,
today's the greatest day.
It's sarcastic yet for me, this album and this song were the bright spot in the grunge,
haze and clouds.
(32:32):
It's an uploading sounding song.
But I think he's implying that he's not getting to tomorrow.
Right.
Yeah.
Yikes.
Yeah.
And Butch Vig was the producer on this, also produced Nevermind, but the details, there's
all the details and that intense layering of like 30 layers per song of guitar sounds
(32:52):
and this kind of nod to 70s Prague and bands like Boston and Queen that were producing
these big sounding pop rock records.
And I was reading that Billy Corgan was kind of thumbing his nose at alternative music
and the rules, you know, you couldn't have strings, you couldn't have joyful sounds that
(33:15):
all had to be dark and dank and you couldn't celebrate big sounding rock and roll anymore,
which they totally did here.
My clickbait headline to describe Siamese Dream, the album that dared to bring strings,
big pop hooks and crushing guitars to a genre obsessed with sounding miserable.
They just, they nailed it.
(33:36):
Yeah.
This was a bright spot in a dreary landscape, even though beneath the surface it was also
dreary.
So, all right, why don't we listen to a real happy song.
This one's called Disarmed.
Yeah, such a pretty dark song written at the same day, I believe, as he wrote today.
(34:02):
Corgan there, it's about his parents and some abuse he suffered growing up.
Yeah, I think it ties into the attempted suicide as well by Corgan there.
The quote I found from Corgan was, I didn't have the guts to kill my parents, so I thought
I'd get back at them through song.
Pretty happy stuff there.
Yeah, it could have changed that quote.
I would never kill my parents because that's wrong.
(34:23):
No, I didn't have the guts.
That freaks me out a little.
All right, my clickbait headline for Siamese Dream is the pumpkins leave the Gish behind
for a more focused Corgan and some angry Vic guitars.
I think this is a huge step forward from what they were doing on their previous record,
(34:44):
Gish.
Yeah.
That record is very, in my opinion, very kind of murky and just sounds constantly like it's
getting distracted and doesn't really have a clear modus operandi.
This album definitely does, or is much more focused in comparison in my opinion.
Yeah, I mean, Gish was on like Caroline Records and then when they got signed to Virgin, that's
(35:05):
when it was like pressures on go be rock stars.
We think based on Gish that you've got the stuff.
Yeah, there was a lot of hype around them.
Yeah.
And of course, back in 93 or 94, anyone that wanted to show you they were cooler than you,
oh, Gish is my favorite album.
Some people go, what's Gish?
And they'd be like, oh, the Smashing Pumpkins first album.
(35:29):
I got caught in that trap myself.
Yeah, I think it's a pretty big step back.
The songwriting I don't think is nearly as sharp.
And really, I think that the pumpkin sound I think is defined here on Siamese Dream,
that sort of like loud, soft dynamic and Corrigan's voice really comes into its own here, I would
say in terms of how he uses it and how it's treated here, I guess.
(35:52):
It's like ghostly somehow.
Yeah, it is creepy.
Coming back to this record, I think the thing that struck me most is the just awesome guitar
sound that I seen Fig was very involved with.
It just sounds so freaking cool, man.
It just rips through some of these cuts and it almost sounds supernatural in a way.
It's just so punishing and otherworldly sounding.
(36:14):
I really love it, especially when they lean into it, which on a handful of tracks here
do get a little bit heavier.
But for me, there are some tracks I think do kind of lose the thread a little bit, especially
as they get into the second half of the album, just a little bit overly long and maybe not
quite as interesting.
Mayonnaise and Space Boy I think are a little bit boring for me.
(36:35):
Soma, for me, really kind of it's just about three minutes too long in the middle of the
song.
It's a sweet song, but you could have cut out some of that stuff.
And then maybe that's a symptom of the 90s a little bit too.
It's a long record.
Yeah, I try to remember that when we're listening to albums from this era that it's not their
fault.
It's not the band's or producer's fault that there's songs that might go too...
They were just trying to fill 70 minutes every time.
(36:58):
So this album is full of odd song titles.
This one is no exception.
Let's listen to Silverfuck.
I almost hurt myself to that song many times.
(37:19):
Oh, sure.
So speaking of long songs, that's the longest on the record.
It comes in at eight minutes and 42 seconds.
And it's epic.
It's a roller coaster.
I would say the loudest and hardest moments of the record are on this and probably the
quietest are there as well.
There's this long ambient section in the middle and his vocals become whispery and stuff.
(37:46):
There's that part where he's like, bang, bang, you're dead, hole in your head.
I don't know.
It's a freaky song.
I guess it became a live favorite for a few years and I could see that.
I never had the pleasure of seeing the Smashing Pumpkins, but I think that would have been
probably something that come at the end of the set, just a big epic tune.
(38:06):
The guitars and bass guitars are tuned to drop D. So if you're trying to play it at
home...
Drop that D.
Wow.
Drop that D.
That has so many potential connotations.
I have to get a t-shirt.
My clickbait headline for Siamese Dream is Corgan smashes alt rock rivals with depressing
(38:28):
but uplifting epic.
As we've mentioned before, the lyrics are dark as hell, but for some reason the musical
treatment and I guess it's that shoegazy dream pop feel, all those layered guitars and stuff,
there's some optimism in it that keeps you going.
Yeah, I think he does a really great job with that.
(38:51):
It reminds me of bands like Boston, where the sound and the attention to detail in the
guitars and the layers and all that can set a tone that might be counter to what the lyrics
might be saying.
When I think of, when people say alternative rock from the nineties, this is the sound
(39:14):
that I have in mind.
The distorted feedbacky guitars that are just blended together in this mix, but it's also
melodic.
Yeah, I mean, I see it as a quintessential nineties alt rock album.
Yeah, for sure.
There's so many great songs on it.
(39:35):
You listen to this record and you don't even realize how many of them you recognize sounds
from anyway.
Songs like Rocket and of course Cherub Rock, which we did not talk about today, but that
song just crushes you at the beginning of the album, but then it takes you on a flight
somehow too.
It's really cool.
(39:55):
So yeah, Smashing Pumpkins.
They smashed it on their sophomore album.
Just a beautiful growth in their sound and such a fun nineties record to listen to.
So yeah, go check out Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins.
You will not regret it.
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
(40:17):
Can you dig it?
Well, I guess we're done with our sophomore experience.
So moving into our junior years, I guess.
God.
That summer where maybe you got your first job or learned how to drive.
All right.
What are you guys digging?
I got a couple of things here in my backpack with papers and rulers falling out.
(40:42):
You carried rulers in your backpack?
I'm a nerd.
A variety of rulers, yeah.
All right.
First one for me is a debut solo album from an artist named Lauren Mayberry who is the
singer and percussionist from the pop dance group Churches.
You guys familiar with Churches?
Churches with the V.
With the V. That's right.
(41:02):
The album is called Vicious Creature.
Let's play Shane.
It's usually a genre I spend a lot of time with, but it's very catchy and anthomic, just
uplifting.
I've been enjoying it.
What about?
She's got a knack for writing catchy songs.
Yeah, picture you Andy.
(41:22):
Just got out of the shower, you got a towel on your head and you're singing into your
brush.
You're not wrong.
All right.
And then the last one for me here is from a guy I didn't know was still put up.
He's got music, Franz Fernanan.
He's got a new album out.
Are they having an album out?
I was going to say, now it's just the guy is Franz Fernanan, like Alice Cooper.
(41:43):
No, they're four piece I believe from Glasgow, Scotland.
They have a new album out called The Human Fear.
It's their sixth studio album.
Album deals with searching for the thrill of being human via fears.
Let's play Trek 4 Hooked.
Wow, what's happening to you this week Andy?
(42:09):
Dancing this week.
This is a very diverse record.
There's some songs that kind of sound like what I thought Franz Fernanan sounded like.
Yeah, yeah.
Those are songs that are very different.
Very fresh Sunday night.
I've enjoyed it quite a bit so far.
Nice.
What you been digging on down?
Well, I discovered that Bob Mould, famously of Who Screwed You and Sugar has a new album
(42:35):
coming out March 7th called Here We Go Crazy.
Here's a little bit of the title track.
Bob's getting all mellow.
Yeah, I'm curious to hear the rest of the album.
Another band I had heard of but I hadn't paid much attention to, Slip Turn.
(42:56):
Another band from Fernandina Beach, Florida formed in 2015.
There's an album called Burnout Days which came out earlier this month.
There's a song called Rodeo Clown.
I was thinking it's going to be more punk or something based on Flip Turn sounds like
a skateboard thing or something.
(43:18):
Yeah.
There's harder or edgier stuff on the record but yeah, pretty poppy indie rock I would
say.
That's a good dude.
This week I've been listening a little bit to a band named Dits and their 2025 album
Never Exhale.
It's their second studio album so hopefully this is a sophomore success.
We shall see.
(43:38):
They're based out of Brighton, England.
They're a noise rock band and their first album was called The Great Regression which
had quite a bit of critical success.
This album showcases the fusing of post-punk and noise rock and abrasive textures, relentless
tension and kind of reminds me of bands like Idols and the Gila Band but why don't we
(44:01):
check out a little bit of Taxi Man.
I guess maybe my Fontaine's DC obsession is leading me in these directions as well.
I'd just be excited to say, hey, I'm putting on the Dits.
Oh God.
All right, so I like to always go back to the old music collection and something I picked
(44:26):
up fairly recently was Warren's Evon's Excitable Boy on vinyl.
It's a 1978 album.
It's his third studio album.
It blends rock, folk, jazz influences.
There's kind of sardonic sort of tongue-in-cheek storytelling, explores themes of violence,
obsession and madness but it's of course highlighted by Werewolves of London is the big song off
(44:49):
of there but why don't we listen to a little bit of Johnny Strikes Up the Band.
Such an interesting guy, interesting voice.
Like it's hard to know what to make of him.
Is he a Springsteen type of guy?
Is he, you know, what is he?
(45:10):
You're just saying is he Tom Waits?
Yeah, that's what I like about him.
When you think of some of the most interesting artists from the late 70s and early 80s, he's
kind of a composite of all of it.
It's a great listen.
So what are you digging?
Let us know.
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also on our website, AlbumNerds.com.
(45:32):
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show and I'm reminded of the great American author
F. Scott Fitzgerald who said, never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
With that in mind, let's bring out my friend and yours, Wodbot, to see what we'll be talking
(45:54):
about on next week's episode.
Music is personal but it's even more meaningful when shared.
Next time, you will be diving into the albums that live in your significant others collections,
the records they love, the ones they may have introduced you to and the sounds that shaped
(46:16):
them.
Your lover's music collection.
Yeah, so that's apropos for Valentine's Day.
Hopefully these are romantic albums.
If they're not, then what will that say about our relationships?
Well, what's your favorite thing in your partner's music collection?
What else are you listening to?
Email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
(46:37):
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, threads and bluesky at albumnerds.
And visit us at albumnerds.com to suggest topics for the show, peruse the hall of fame
and listen to all 277 episodes.
Also the best way to support the show is to share it.
Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
Thank you for joining us on the album nerds podcast.
(46:58):
We'll catch you next time with our lovers favorites.
Thanks for listening everybody.
Catch you next week.
Hey, hey mama.
I said the way you move.
Gonna make you sweat.
Gonna make you groove.
No.
That just sounds like a guy talking like this.
You need to be in that small wooden room, don't you?
(47:19):
Yeah, you got to grow your hair out if you're going to sing like Robin Plant.
Well, that helps too, yeah.
Get some tiny jeans.
And the tighter the jeans, the higher your voice.
Shut up.
Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts Andy, Don, and Dude.
(00:13):
I believe in second chances for success, for fortune, for fame.
That's a good thing.
Yes, it is.
This is the Elb Nerds podcast.
I'm Dude.
I've got Andy and Don with me.
Andy, you ready to get sophomoric?
Get sophomoric.
Got to look that up real quick.
I don't know.
No, I'm not.
It probably says C, Album Nerds.
Hopefully that's good.
(00:35):
It basically means immature, but yeah, jejun perhaps.
Jejun, like jevenet.
Yeah, I think the podcast is, we've been in that lane for quite a while, I would say.
Yeah.
Pretty comfortable there.
I've been in that lane for quite a few decades.
How are you doing there, Don?
Ready to go back to class?
(00:56):
Yeah, well after biology or global studies, I think I'm going to try out for JV baseball.
I think you might have good chances here.
These are all things that happened in 10th grade, I think.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
So this is the Elb Nerds podcast.
We love albums and the album format.
And today we have an excellent show for you.
(01:17):
We're going to be talking about three second albums that were big successes.
Don's going to ask us a deep question.
We're going to have some shout outs to some other albums and album related items we're
digging.
Then of course we'll spin that wheel of musical discovery to find out what we're talking about
on the next show.
But today it's all about sophomore successes.
(01:37):
That's what I'm talking about.
The concept of a sophomore slump is well known in the music industry, where an artist's second
album often fails to live up to the commercial or artistic success of their debut.
However, many artists have defied this trend by releasing sophomore albums that not only
matched but surpassed their efforts, cementing their place in music history.
(01:59):
Today each of us will present a successful sophomore album.
Yeah, I mean success can be dollars and cents, sales, fame, whatever, but it also can be
artistic success.
Some of the big names that come to mind for bands or artists that had sophomore successes,
The Stooges, The Pixies, Black Sabbath, even Neil Young, Garth Brooks, and Public Enemy,
(02:24):
these now incredibly known artists that really started to find their way on their second
album and moving forward.
Weird Al.
Sure.
Incredible artist.
Andy, did you have any other favorites that you almost picked this week but ended up going
in another direction?
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean there's like so many good second albums here.
(02:46):
The one I kind of made a little project for myself out of is my buddy Valentine and their
sophomore album, Loveless, which is a pretty influential record on its own.
The Dublin, Ireland, Shoegaze Pioneers.
I never really got into that record growing up, but I've been trying over the last few
years to get into it and kind of understand it.
I think it took a place where I felt like I was pretty into the Loveless space.
(03:09):
It's great right before Valentine's, you know.
How about you, Dom?
Well, I was thinking of Interpol, their second album Antics from 2004.
Interpol, I mean they sound English, but they're actually from New York City.
Got really into their first album, Turn On the Bright Lights.
Kind of like Joy Division sounding, kind of post-punk moody stuff.
(03:31):
But I felt like their second album, it was less derivative and it sounded like they were
kind of creating their own distinct sound.
So that's a good one.
Dude?
Yeah, I went for one of the most obvious, especially for Gen Xers, The Nirvana's Nirvana.
The Nirvana's, oh yes.
With Nevermind, released September of 1991.
It's their second album, obviously, Bleach being their first.
(03:54):
And it propelled raw energy and introspective lyrics and grunge and punk.
And it just changed popular music at that time.
And so yeah, that was a success.
Also it was.
But yeah, we've talked about that on the show before and it's just this is not the time
for it.
Ain't the time, ain't the place.
So why don't we get into our choo choo choo choices.
(04:16):
You choo choo choose me?
All right, for my sophomore success here, we're going with some Low Hanging Fruit talking
about Led Zeppelin and their second CD album, Led Zeppelin 2.
Great title.
Yeah, very creative, right?
(04:38):
Well I mean when they're so close together, I mean within the same year, it really is
a tune.
Yeah.
So yeah, this is the follow up to their self-titled debut, which came out just in earlier January
of 1969.
This came out in October.
Features a mix of originals and remakes of contemporary blues and folk music.
Let's jump in and play the opening cut and the lead single, Hold On To Love.
(05:01):
Does he do that effect?
Is that the guitar?
That's the Doppler effect.
Just going by.
Yeah, I assume that's Jimmy Page guitar there.
Yeah, it really just kind of busts right out of the gates there with a pretty heavy high
(05:28):
energy cut there.
It was a really popular song for them.
The interesting history behind that song a little bit, some of the lyrics were adapted
from Willie Dixon's song, You Need Love, which was played by Muddy Waters in the 60s.
Dixon would go on to sue Zeppelin because he wasn't credited in the 80s.
Also some similarities to some Small Faces songs from the 60s.
(05:50):
Definitely pulling from a lot of influences, but it's safe to say that they really did
kind of define their own sound and really did define the sounds of many generations
to come with this record here, that very like riff based blues, hard rock sounds.
It's pretty much the blueprint for it right here.
How much do you suppose they were sued because of their blues influences?
(06:12):
However, blues as a genre itself is nothing but influences from one another.
People covering each other's songs.
It's supposed to be a shared pot, right?
Yeah.
I think a lot of it had to do with just how successful they were, right?
These guys were making all the money and all the tours and anyway, my clickbait headline
for Led Zeppelin 2 is Page and Co.
(06:33):
Ain't Got Time for a Sophomore Slump, delivering one of Rock's definitive records while still
touring their first.
Kind of a crazy story here.
They were touring in the US and UK for their first record, which really just came out a
few months prior and recorded this one on the road throughout a variety of different
studios, mostly in the US from what I read, wrote and recorded it on the road, which I
(06:53):
really don't hear bands doing that very often.
They were just kind of that hot, I guess, at the time and the creative pieces were flowing.
I think it's really impressive that this record sounds as amazing as it does for circumstances
it was recorded under.
It was just recently remastered and about a decade ago.
I think it just sounds incredible.
It's such a lively record and it's so well mixed.
(07:16):
Well, when your sound is based completely on musicians and what your instruments and
voices sound like, it really doesn't matter where you record it, right?
I mean, if it's based on studio wizardry and tweaking stuff, then it does matter.
But I think because they were not doing that, this was how they sounded.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, that's up in one to me that sound kind of like a group of musicians recording
(07:39):
in a room where this sounds a little bit more intentional in terms of how it's put together.
Like the pieces kind of all felt like they're more in the right places.
All right, let's play it.
Let me cut from the record here.
This is track three, Lemon Zone.
Well, Ziplin had performed Howlin' Wolf's The Killing Floor live a lot in this time
(08:05):
period.
And so that song became the basis for the Lemon Song.
When they did it live, Plant often improvised the lyrics.
That line, the famous line in it, squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg.
Just wanted to read that one out loud, Don.
He really needed to go see a doctor about that.
That lemon juice, yeah.
(08:25):
That is a reference to Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues from 1937.
But people believe that Johnson actually borrowed that from She Squeezed My Lemon by Art McKay
from that same year.
Just a long, long legacy of lemon squeezing.
Yeah, and it just goes to show how far you had to go with metaphor and innuendo back
(08:48):
in the day instead of now people will just say things in songs.
In 1972, Arc Music, who owned the publishing rights for Howlin' Wolf, of course sued Led
Ziplin for copyright infringement.
And that was settled out of court.
And so now anytime the song appears, Howlin' Wolf gets co-writing credit.
So there's a big echo effect on Plant's voice.
(09:11):
Apparently none of that is artificial.
So I mean, it's actually the studio space itself.
It was a 16 by 16 foot wooden walled studio in Mystic Studios that creates that echo.
All right.
Well, my clickbait headline for Led Ziplin 2 is, Ziplin's second effort makes album
nerd shout, don't stop rocking.
(09:33):
No, no, no, don't stop rocking.
Yeah.
I mean, this is just a rocking explosion.
It's been a few years since I've listened to this record straight through and it's very
heavy.
I thought I was listening to Black Sabbath, but it's a little more bluesy, I think, than
Sabbath.
Lots of psychedelic stuff going on in there, but it's not over the top compared to a lot
(09:57):
of the psychedelia of a couple years earlier.
And they do throw in some kind of acoustic stuff in the middle, but they're like the
who in that it's just like everybody is just like top notch at their instrument.
I mean-
Yeah, it's got an all-star cast.
Yeah.
And he's just an innovative guitarist, plants obviously, just a bluesy rock singer.
(10:22):
John Paul Jones is a great bassist and of course, John Monum's with thundering drums.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
Why don't we hear one of those more folk inspired tracks here and this is track seven, Ramblin'.
That's the stuff.
(10:46):
Ramblin', well known folk inspired track with the lyrics referencing J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and it blends acoustic and electric elements really well.
It kind of is the precursor, I think, to that sound on the next album, Led Zeppelin III,
where they lean more into that.
Folkiness, but it's really a testament to their ability to take their influences and
(11:12):
on this album is when this really begins, when they completely shape their own interpretation
and sound of that.
It's not mimicry.
Nope.
It's a Ramblin'.
I think it's plants way of speaking about his traveling troubadour sort of vibe.
You know, this traveling minstrel telling tales and living on the road and all that
(11:34):
stuff.
So I think it all works and fits into that Tolkien-esque world as well.
My clickbait headline to describe Led Zeppelin II, the one album that rules them all.
And yes, it's my precious.
Oh God.
You okay?
(11:56):
Yeah, a little something in there.
Got a little golem in the troat.
So yeah, at this point, they really refined their sound, I think all that road time.
And I think they got to the top of their creative peak here, but they stayed there for like
three or four more albums.
(12:17):
There wasn't an immediate down the other side.
So yeah, it's the nice thing about when you're putting out records so quickly and your peak,
you've got it for a little bit longer.
Yeah, well, you know, the Beatles were able to throw albums out there constantly.
And I think that helps with the songwriting process.
The whole album, all the tracks just come from the guts, you know, and you can feel
(12:41):
it.
There's just something very visceral about their performances.
Yeah, definitely.
It grabs you by the balls for sure.
I think that struck me looking back on some reviews from back in the early 70s.
A lot of folks just said it was just too noisy, too loud, all the songs sounded the same.
(13:02):
That was really struck listening to like, this is really, to me, it seems like a very
diverse record.
I mean, there are heavy songs, there are blues based songs, but there's a lot of interesting
quieter moments on here and some experimentation.
I think people just weren't ready for it.
Yeah, it was blowing their minds, man.
All right, well, I don't think there's really, for me at least, much debate about the importance
(13:24):
of this record.
Yeah, it's like I said earlier, it's really the blueprint for a lot of music that would
come in over the next 50 years, and I'm sure probably after that too.
So for me, it's a shoe in for the album and song of fame.
What do you gents think?
Yeah, this is a definite, you know, I think they really perfect that hard rock blues sound
(13:44):
on this album.
And it, you know, paves the way for heavy metal.
So yes.
Dude, on the fence.
No.
The better question might be what Zeppelin album doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
So yeah, obviously, this is a landmark record.
And like I said, they're kind of at their long lasting peak right here.
(14:09):
But you know, some of the other tracks that really get to me are like, Thank You and Living
Loving Maid.
She's just a woman, just that driving sound that they're capable of and the tempo changes.
It's just amazing.
It feels like you're there, like you're a part of this creative process.
It just feels so real and sounds real.
(14:29):
So absolutely yes for me.
All right.
Well, congratulations to Mudd Zeppelin.
Welcome to the Hall of Fame.
I have a feeling you might be back again in the future.
Absolutely.
Wow, what does Sylvester Stallone have to do?
I think because you said absolutely in your thing.
So it just had me think, you want a roommate?
(14:50):
Absolutely.
Before we get to our next sophomore success, let's hear from the worst podcast on Mars.
Worst podcast ever.
I'm Amanda and that's Evan.
Say hi, Evan.
(15:11):
Hi, Evan.
And we're the hosts of the worst podcast on Mars.
This is the podcast that talks music.
And on Fridays, we work our way through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 200 definitive
albums.
I do a bunch of research trying to figure out why it's on this list.
And on Tuesdays, we do smaller episodes that are not part of the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame's list.
(15:31):
And Evan, well, he just literally shows up.
So if that's what you're into, please find us on Apple Music or Spotify.
But not Mars.
Not yet.
My pick for a sophomore record is The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest, which
was released in September 1991.
(15:53):
It's the second studio album, obviously, by the hip hop group formed in Queens in 1985.
Features MC and main producer Q-Tip, also MC Fife Dog and DJ and co-producer Ali Shahid
Mohamed.
So this is the follow up to their first album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths
of Rhythm, which came out in 1990.
(16:14):
Well, here's the opening cut.
This is Excursions.
Listen to the rhymes to get a mental picture of this black man, black woman picture.
Why do I say that?
Because I gotta speak the truth.
What's happening here?
Don's becoming the hip hop curator here.
The hip hop head.
Yeah.
You wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed this record this week.
(16:34):
I'm like, oh, I gotta listen to Zeppelin now, I gotta go back to Tribe.
What's going on?
Driving slowly through your cul-de-sac up there.
Windows rolled down, sunglasses on.
My one hand on 12 o'clock on the wheel.
Anyway, so Excursions kind of has that minimalist jazz beat to it and a prominent bass line.
(17:01):
Basically the bass line is sampled from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, A Chant for
Boo is the name of the song.
This kind of sets that jazz fusion tone for the record, which is a bit of a departure
from their first album.
Q-Tip is the lone MC on this particular song.
Deals with several themes.
(17:21):
Musical heritage that starts out, he's actually talking about a conversation with his dad
about the connection between bebop jazz and hip hop.
You've got Afro-centricity in there.
It's mentioned in African Heritage and the Zulu Nation.
Artistic integrity, so authenticity in hip hop and personal growth.
That's where the Excursions comes in.
(17:42):
Just so different from the NWA record that we listened to a couple of weeks ago.
Right.
East Coast versus West Coast, man.
Holy cow.
It's not a fun.
Yeah.
I didn't notice it until I was reading about it, but there's barely any profanity on this
at all.
I don't even think it gets an explicit sticker on it.
(18:02):
I had read that Ron Carter, who's on one track, wouldn't play on a record with too much profanity.
Maybe they cut back.
I'm not sure.
Yep.
That's the standup bass player they brought in.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, my clickbait headline for the low end theory is Q-Tip swabs ears with innovative
sounds and thoughtful lyrics.
(18:24):
Why did you have to go there?
That's gross.
Well, yeah.
Not many people know this, but Don's rap name is Cotton Swab, which is just the generic
name for Q-Tip.
The big differences between this and their first album was again, mostly that jazz influenced
(18:50):
style.
But it's also a more, I think, refined and cohesive sound.
The first one was a bit more eclectic.
There's actually more Fife Dog on this one and there's more sort of back and forth between
Q-Tip and Fife Dog than you get on the first record.
Actually, if you go later into their discography, there's more of that interplay between the
(19:14):
two of them.
Anyway, let's hear some more.
Here's the final cut on the album scenario.
Her little MF there.
(19:34):
Count on Buster Arms to get one of them.
So that collaboration and everything is really at the forefront here for a scenario featuring
leaders of the new school, which was Buster Rhymes group at the time.
That was his set of rhymes on that track.
(19:55):
Just the feel, the party feel, this whole album just feels like a summertime soundtrack,
like something to play and play some frisbee golf with your...
It just sounds like something to play at the beach or whatever.
It's just so fun to listen to.
This final track leaves you in that kind of mood, rah rah like a dungeon dragon.
(20:19):
Love that line.
The layered production, of course, features those subtle jazz influences and that bass,
that low end sound that permeates on the album.
And scenario has been sampled, referenced and paid homage to many, many times by even
the Insane Clown Posse I read somewhere.
Juggalo for life.
(20:40):
If you can inspire those guys.
Well that's saying something.
Mike Clickbait headline to describe low end theory.
The record that had you vibing the bass lines while your beeper buzzed in four, four time.
Our beepers mentioned way too much on this.
There's a whole song.
The Skypager, whatever.
(21:02):
Skypager.
And then there's other mentions of their beepers buzzing and stuff.
But just be careful, songwriters, about the technologies that you mention in your songs.
Unless you're going to explain what they are to the folks a couple decades later listening
to it.
There's also a lot of Arsenio Hall on this album.
I mean they must mention him at least five times.
It was a big deal.
(21:22):
I'm sure they were guests on the show and if you want to keep appearing.
So yeah, I mean this is a classic hip hop record that I've owned for a long time and
I don't have a lot of them in my collection, but this is just an infectious sound Q-tip.
It just has one of the best voices and flows.
It's just so smooth and jazzy also.
(21:45):
It just works really well here.
I read that he actually had a cold during the recording sessions and he wanted to go
back and re-record his vocals, but people said it sounded fine.
But hearing it after that, I'm like, oh, he does kind of sound, you know, a little clumped
up.
I never thought about that.
All right.
Well, let's hear a little more.
Here's Check the Rhyme.
(22:06):
Check the Rhyme is the first single from Lil' N' Theory.
It's got that great stand up bass sound, which is prevalent throughout the album.
I think a pretty killer verse from Five Dog there.
He really steps up on this record and kind of, at least for me, kind of solidified himself
(22:30):
as a real force, not only in this group, but in the 90s hip hop in general.
My clickbait headline for Lil' N' Theory is Tribe Theorize, a smooth, groovy hip hop classic.
Yeah, I mean, I'll just kind of second everything you guys had said.
This is one of those A plus stand out hip hop albums for me.
There's not a bad moment on it.
I think you could argue maybe it gets better as it goes on, but it starts out in a pretty
(22:54):
good place.
It ends up in a really good place.
So it's a pretty nice trip to make.
Yeah, definitely a big maturation process from the debut, I think, particularly Q-Tip
and the production does sound much more intentional and it's much more interesting too, I think.
Jazz influence is obviously a big part of it, but also it's just, it's got a good feel
to it.
The bass, I love the bass sound.
(23:15):
I wish more hip hop would have this kind of like live bass feel to it.
I know it's sampled, but it does feel like so big in the mix.
It just sounds cool.
Yeah.
The jazz treatment, I think works a lot better than that.
Remember that Guru record we did where he was like truly just rapping over jazz?
Jazzmatazz?
Yeah.
I think this is better.
(23:35):
Yeah, but I mean, that was actually on Jazzmatazz that music was performed specifically for
the album.
I think the problem with that record was the music is so busy that I think it makes it
hard to really make rhymes work over it.
Because with this, it just seems to be a better marriage.
Yeah, I think that this is a more natural sounding collaboration between those genres,
(24:03):
but I think that Guru is trying to take the next step and make it an actual jazz album.
So they're kind of in different categories, but-
I'm not dissing Guru.
Yeah, it feels like you are.
So I'm getting a little jazzed up over here.
Kind of, I think we're coming right out of there, I don't know.
Cool.
All right, well, I mean, it sounds like we're all pretty positive on this album.
(24:26):
So as the official hip hop guy on the show, I'm going to nominate this.
Oh, God.
I'm going to nominate this for the Album Nerds Hall of Fame.
Going out in the limbo, Don, for sure.
So what can you replace Donnie Likey with that's specific to hip hop albums?
Donnie Vibeon.
Yeah, I first listened, I wasn't that excited, but basically like the second time around,
(24:55):
I got really into it.
It does seem like this is a pretty innovative record.
I also want to mention the mixing engineer, Bob Power gets a lot of credit for this record
for removing a lot of the surface noises, crackles, and pops that you hear a lot, particularly
like in 80s hip hop.
All these samples sound really lo-fi and I think they do a really good job on this album.
(25:18):
But yes, the low end theory belongs in the Hall of Fame.
What do you think, dude?
Sure.
Yeah, I mean, absolutely.
As I said, this is one of those albums that I made an exception for even in my rock music
only-est of days.
I think tracks like What and Buggin' Out.
(25:38):
Yeah, What is just so smart and Buggin' Out is just so fun as a second song after Excursions.
They just did a great job with sequencing, with figuring out what goes where, everything
fits perfectly and it's just a pleasure to listen to and hearing all these voices and
funny lines and it sounds like everyone's bringing each other to the next level and
(26:00):
that's great to hear.
So absolutely yes for me.
Andy?
Yes, definitely.
It's all the things you guys have said and more and deserves to be there.
I think it's definitely a definitive Quest record and it's a great representation of
nice hip hop.
If we were doing this right, we would have wrapped that entire presentation.
Yeah, leave that up to Q-Tip.
(26:24):
Don't forget Cotton Swab.
Well, congratulations to Tribe Called Quest.
The Low End Theory is now part of the Avel Nerds Hall of Fame.
Excuse me, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
(26:44):
It's time again for Deep Questions by Don.
So we're dealing with a lot of albums today that are as good or better than the original.
What are some cases where a sequel is better than the original?
Yeah, I think this does happen occasionally in movies.
I think Terminator 2 would be like the most obvious one that I could think of.
(27:06):
Okay, well, you mean T2?
Maybe there's a couple other ones.
But one that I really did appreciate a lot recently, well not recently, the last 20 years,
The Dark Knight.
I think that in every way it really does outdo Batman Begins, especially the scope, but also
the performances I think are significantly better.
Well, The Bad Guy is certainly more interesting than Ra's al Ghul or whatever.
(27:30):
Why so serious?
Yeah, definitely.
But I think the one I would hang my hat on is Evil Dead 2, which is pretty much a remake
of Evil Dead 1, but with a lot more money and better understanding of how to make movies
I think on Sam Raimi's part there.
Yeah, one of my favorite horror comedy movies of all time.
(27:50):
How about you, dude?
Not to rain on your parade, but I think Army of Darkness is way better than Evil Dead 2.
This is my boomstick!
That's the third one in the series.
It's not a sophomore though, I mean, come on.
No, but it's still a follow-up.
Sure.
Yeah, so one of the most obvious ones I think is Empire Strikes Back.
(28:13):
To me, I'm not a big Star Wars guy, but I grew up with it as a kid, and that was the
first one I actually saw.
It's dark, it's...
I mean, Yoda is a little eye-rolly, but...
Yoda's awesome, man, come on.
But there's not a bunch of cutesy crap going on in it.
Oh, the Ewoks you're talking about?
(28:34):
Yeah.
The bad guys win.
No, I am the father.
It went against a lot of the things you expect in a movie at that time, in like a movie full
of heroes and brothers and sisters that make out.
So yeah, for sure, I think that still to me is the best of the movies.
(28:55):
Yeah, I agree.
I actually, I was thinking of the world of video games, and that's a case where it's
easier to be better the second time around because generally technology is improving.
But Miss Pac-Man, right, was kind of the sequel to Pac-Man even though it was developed by
a different company.
I mean, it's more to it than just having the throw in the bow on her.
(29:15):
The fruit moves around the screen instead of staying in one place.
Wow.
Yeah.
Big innovations.
You could go through the tunnel to go to the other side.
There's like four of those on some of the screens.
So I mean...
Wow, sounds like you were a big fan.
For me, it's like slightly different on Miss Pac-Man.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, music is totally different.
(29:36):
For me, the big draw for that one, I didn't get to play it much, but if I went to the
grocery store with my dad, he'd play it because they had a Miss Pac-Man in the lobby.
I'd get to watch because I would just waste a quarter.
Put it in, I'm dad, I'm dad, I'm dad, game over.
So the cartoon little story between levels when they'd show Miss Pac-Man at Pac-Man meeting
(29:59):
and popping out some babies and all that stuff, I liked that.
Yeah.
They show that?
Yeah, they get into this thing.
They play Barry White, the two of them make sweet love.
They become one Pac person.
It's beautiful.
Completed the circle.
Oh my God.
(30:22):
What other sequels were better than the originals?
Let us know.
Hit us up on Instagram or Facebook or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds.com.
All right, so for my sophomore success album pick, I'm going with something from the 90s.
Shocking, I know.
Smashing pumpkins.
(30:43):
Pumpkins?
I think it's a hipper take on smashing pumpkins.
Siamese Dream from July of 1993.
Smashing pumpkins were formed in Chicago in 1988.
Original members who are on this record, Billy Corgan, James Eha, Darcy Retzky and Jimmy Chamberlain.
They're known for this distinctive intricate sound and incorporates elements of gothic
(31:06):
rock, heavy metal grunge, psych rock, prog rock, shoe gaze, dream pop, electronica.
And they do it well.
Why don't we start off with a little bit of today.
All right, boys, I don't know about you, but for me, I remember sitting in my room plucking
(31:31):
that ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding to make people think I knew how to play
guitar.
Do you guys ever try that one?
I think everyone in my high school tried that one.
I usually did wish you were here.
Of course.
Of course.
Okay.
Back to Pink Floyd, son of a bitch.
All right.
(31:51):
So, so today opens with the deceptively simple five note riff that we were just playing around
with and that contrast between the light intro, the heavy guitars, the dynamic range, the
layering.
I remember listening to the song and being like, yes, today is a good day.
This is a time in my life when I really had no worries or cares.
(32:11):
And I didn't really get to the fact that it's essentially he's super depressed, feeling
suicidal he said in an interview and then thought it would be funny to just say, oh,
today's the greatest day.
It's sarcastic yet for me, this album and this song were the bright spot in the grunge,
haze and clouds.
(32:32):
It's an uploading sounding song.
But I think he's implying that he's not getting to tomorrow.
Right.
Yeah.
Yikes.
Yeah.
And Butch Vig was the producer on this, also produced Nevermind, but the details, there's
all the details and that intense layering of like 30 layers per song of guitar sounds
(32:52):
and this kind of nod to 70s Prague and bands like Boston and Queen that were producing
these big sounding pop rock records.
And I was reading that Billy Corgan was kind of thumbing his nose at alternative music
and the rules, you know, you couldn't have strings, you couldn't have joyful sounds that
(33:15):
all had to be dark and dank and you couldn't celebrate big sounding rock and roll anymore,
which they totally did here.
My clickbait headline to describe Siamese Dream, the album that dared to bring strings,
big pop hooks and crushing guitars to a genre obsessed with sounding miserable.
They just, they nailed it.
(33:36):
Yeah.
This was a bright spot in a dreary landscape, even though beneath the surface it was also
dreary.
So, all right, why don't we listen to a real happy song.
This one's called Disarmed.
Yeah, such a pretty dark song written at the same day, I believe, as he wrote today.
(34:02):
Corgan there, it's about his parents and some abuse he suffered growing up.
Yeah, I think it ties into the attempted suicide as well by Corgan there.
The quote I found from Corgan was, I didn't have the guts to kill my parents, so I thought
I'd get back at them through song.
Pretty happy stuff there.
Yeah, it could have changed that quote.
I would never kill my parents because that's wrong.
(34:23):
No, I didn't have the guts.
That freaks me out a little.
All right, my clickbait headline for Siamese Dream is the pumpkins leave the Gish behind
for a more focused Corgan and some angry Vic guitars.
I think this is a huge step forward from what they were doing on their previous record,
(34:44):
Gish.
Yeah.
That record is very, in my opinion, very kind of murky and just sounds constantly like it's
getting distracted and doesn't really have a clear modus operandi.
This album definitely does, or is much more focused in comparison in my opinion.
Yeah, I mean, Gish was on like Caroline Records and then when they got signed to Virgin, that's
(35:05):
when it was like pressures on go be rock stars.
We think based on Gish that you've got the stuff.
Yeah, there was a lot of hype around them.
Yeah.
And of course, back in 93 or 94, anyone that wanted to show you they were cooler than you,
oh, Gish is my favorite album.
Some people go, what's Gish?
And they'd be like, oh, the Smashing Pumpkins first album.
(35:29):
I got caught in that trap myself.
Yeah, I think it's a pretty big step back.
The songwriting I don't think is nearly as sharp.
And really, I think that the pumpkin sound I think is defined here on Siamese Dream,
that sort of like loud, soft dynamic and Corrigan's voice really comes into its own here, I would
say in terms of how he uses it and how it's treated here, I guess.
(35:52):
It's like ghostly somehow.
Yeah, it is creepy.
Coming back to this record, I think the thing that struck me most is the just awesome guitar
sound that I seen Fig was very involved with.
It just sounds so freaking cool, man.
It just rips through some of these cuts and it almost sounds supernatural in a way.
It's just so punishing and otherworldly sounding.
(36:14):
I really love it, especially when they lean into it, which on a handful of tracks here
do get a little bit heavier.
But for me, there are some tracks I think do kind of lose the thread a little bit, especially
as they get into the second half of the album, just a little bit overly long and maybe not
quite as interesting.
Mayonnaise and Space Boy I think are a little bit boring for me.
(36:35):
Soma, for me, really kind of it's just about three minutes too long in the middle of the
song.
It's a sweet song, but you could have cut out some of that stuff.
And then maybe that's a symptom of the 90s a little bit too.
It's a long record.
Yeah, I try to remember that when we're listening to albums from this era that it's not their
fault.
It's not the band's or producer's fault that there's songs that might go too...
They were just trying to fill 70 minutes every time.
(36:58):
So this album is full of odd song titles.
This one is no exception.
Let's listen to Silverfuck.
I almost hurt myself to that song many times.
(37:19):
Oh, sure.
So speaking of long songs, that's the longest on the record.
It comes in at eight minutes and 42 seconds.
And it's epic.
It's a roller coaster.
I would say the loudest and hardest moments of the record are on this and probably the
quietest are there as well.
There's this long ambient section in the middle and his vocals become whispery and stuff.
(37:46):
There's that part where he's like, bang, bang, you're dead, hole in your head.
I don't know.
It's a freaky song.
I guess it became a live favorite for a few years and I could see that.
I never had the pleasure of seeing the Smashing Pumpkins, but I think that would have been
probably something that come at the end of the set, just a big epic tune.
(38:06):
The guitars and bass guitars are tuned to drop D. So if you're trying to play it at
home...
Drop that D.
Wow.
Drop that D.
That has so many potential connotations.
I have to get a t-shirt.
My clickbait headline for Siamese Dream is Corgan smashes alt rock rivals with depressing
(38:28):
but uplifting epic.
As we've mentioned before, the lyrics are dark as hell, but for some reason the musical
treatment and I guess it's that shoegazy dream pop feel, all those layered guitars and stuff,
there's some optimism in it that keeps you going.
Yeah, I think he does a really great job with that.
(38:51):
It reminds me of bands like Boston, where the sound and the attention to detail in the
guitars and the layers and all that can set a tone that might be counter to what the lyrics
might be saying.
When I think of, when people say alternative rock from the nineties, this is the sound
(39:14):
that I have in mind.
The distorted feedbacky guitars that are just blended together in this mix, but it's also
melodic.
Yeah, I mean, I see it as a quintessential nineties alt rock album.
Yeah, for sure.
There's so many great songs on it.
(39:35):
You listen to this record and you don't even realize how many of them you recognize sounds
from anyway.
Songs like Rocket and of course Cherub Rock, which we did not talk about today, but that
song just crushes you at the beginning of the album, but then it takes you on a flight
somehow too.
It's really cool.
(39:55):
So yeah, Smashing Pumpkins.
They smashed it on their sophomore album.
Just a beautiful growth in their sound and such a fun nineties record to listen to.
So yeah, go check out Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins.
You will not regret it.
Can you dig it?
Can you dig it?
(40:17):
Can you dig it?
Well, I guess we're done with our sophomore experience.
So moving into our junior years, I guess.
God.
That summer where maybe you got your first job or learned how to drive.
All right.
What are you guys digging?
I got a couple of things here in my backpack with papers and rulers falling out.
(40:42):
You carried rulers in your backpack?
I'm a nerd.
A variety of rulers, yeah.
All right.
First one for me is a debut solo album from an artist named Lauren Mayberry who is the
singer and percussionist from the pop dance group Churches.
You guys familiar with Churches?
Churches with the V.
With the V. That's right.
(41:02):
The album is called Vicious Creature.
Let's play Shane.
It's usually a genre I spend a lot of time with, but it's very catchy and anthomic, just
uplifting.
I've been enjoying it.
What about?
She's got a knack for writing catchy songs.
Yeah, picture you Andy.
(41:22):
Just got out of the shower, you got a towel on your head and you're singing into your
brush.
You're not wrong.
All right.
And then the last one for me here is from a guy I didn't know was still put up.
He's got music, Franz Fernanan.
He's got a new album out.
Are they having an album out?
I was going to say, now it's just the guy is Franz Fernanan, like Alice Cooper.
(41:43):
No, they're four piece I believe from Glasgow, Scotland.
They have a new album out called The Human Fear.
It's their sixth studio album.
Album deals with searching for the thrill of being human via fears.
Let's play Trek 4 Hooked.
Wow, what's happening to you this week Andy?
(42:09):
Dancing this week.
This is a very diverse record.
There's some songs that kind of sound like what I thought Franz Fernanan sounded like.
Yeah, yeah.
Those are songs that are very different.
Very fresh Sunday night.
I've enjoyed it quite a bit so far.
Nice.
What you been digging on down?
Well, I discovered that Bob Mould, famously of Who Screwed You and Sugar has a new album
(42:35):
coming out March 7th called Here We Go Crazy.
Here's a little bit of the title track.
Bob's getting all mellow.
Yeah, I'm curious to hear the rest of the album.
Another band I had heard of but I hadn't paid much attention to, Slip Turn.
(42:56):
Another band from Fernandina Beach, Florida formed in 2015.
There's an album called Burnout Days which came out earlier this month.
There's a song called Rodeo Clown.
I was thinking it's going to be more punk or something based on Flip Turn sounds like
a skateboard thing or something.
(43:18):
Yeah.
There's harder or edgier stuff on the record but yeah, pretty poppy indie rock I would
say.
That's a good dude.
This week I've been listening a little bit to a band named Dits and their 2025 album
Never Exhale.
It's their second studio album so hopefully this is a sophomore success.
We shall see.
(43:38):
They're based out of Brighton, England.
They're a noise rock band and their first album was called The Great Regression which
had quite a bit of critical success.
This album showcases the fusing of post-punk and noise rock and abrasive textures, relentless
tension and kind of reminds me of bands like Idols and the Gila Band but why don't we
(44:01):
check out a little bit of Taxi Man.
I guess maybe my Fontaine's DC obsession is leading me in these directions as well.
I'd just be excited to say, hey, I'm putting on the Dits.
Oh God.
All right, so I like to always go back to the old music collection and something I picked
(44:26):
up fairly recently was Warren's Evon's Excitable Boy on vinyl.
It's a 1978 album.
It's his third studio album.
It blends rock, folk, jazz influences.
There's kind of sardonic sort of tongue-in-cheek storytelling, explores themes of violence,
obsession and madness but it's of course highlighted by Werewolves of London is the big song off
(44:49):
of there but why don't we listen to a little bit of Johnny Strikes Up the Band.
Such an interesting guy, interesting voice.
Like it's hard to know what to make of him.
Is he a Springsteen type of guy?
Is he, you know, what is he?
(45:10):
You're just saying is he Tom Waits?
Yeah, that's what I like about him.
When you think of some of the most interesting artists from the late 70s and early 80s, he's
kind of a composite of all of it.
It's a great listen.
So what are you digging?
Let us know.
Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Also on our website, AlbumNerds.com.
(45:32):
It will be a discovery of extraordinary value.
Well, it's about that time on the show and I'm reminded of the great American author
F. Scott Fitzgerald who said, never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
With that in mind, let's bring out my friend and yours, Wodbot, to see what we'll be talking
(45:54):
about on next week's episode.
Music is personal but it's even more meaningful when shared.
Next time, you will be diving into the albums that live in your significant others collections,
the records they love, the ones they may have introduced you to and the sounds that shaped
(46:16):
them.
Your lover's music collection.
Yeah, so that's apropos for Valentine's Day.
Hopefully these are romantic albums.
If they're not, then what will that say about our relationships?
Well, what's your favorite thing in your partner's music collection?
What else are you listening to?
Email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.
(46:37):
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, threads and bluesky at albumnerds.
And visit us at albumnerds.com to suggest topics for the show, peruse the hall of fame
and listen to all 277 episodes.
Also the best way to support the show is to share it.
Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.
Thank you for joining us on the album nerds podcast.
(46:58):
We'll catch you next time with our lovers favorites.
Thanks for listening everybody.
Catch you next week.
Hey, hey mama.
I said the way you move.
Gonna make you sweat.
Gonna make you groove.
No.
That just sounds like a guy talking like this.
You need to be in that small wooden room, don't you?
(47:19):
Yeah, you got to grow your hair out if you're going to sing like Robin Plant.
Well, that helps too, yeah.
Get some tiny jeans.
And the tighter the jeans, the higher your voice.
Shut up.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.