Spin It! The Record Ranking Podcast

We have an announcement to make! After five straight years without missing a Friday release, we're making a change: we're going biweekly and releasing new episodes every other week. It'll still be the same podcast you know and love, just on a different schedule. We're hoping it will free us up to keep doing deep research and solid editing, while giving us some breathing room for big changes in our personal lives. And who knows, wit...

So you think you can tell Heaven from Hell? The Year Of Redemption comes to an epic conclusion this week as we review and rank Wish You Were Here, the sprawling concept album of absence by the ever-innovative Pink Floyd! After founding member and creative engine Syd Barrett had to step away from the band due to acute mental health concerns, the band processed their grief in the best way they knew how: through song. WWYH has gone do...

Sunrise doesn't last all morning, but maybe it'll stay around a bit longer for our episode on All Things Must Pass, the trailblazing triple album by former Beatle George Harrison! The Beatles passed up on a hefty number of George's songs over the years, and with their breakup he was free to create like never before! His proper debut solo record blends genres, explores spirituality, and piques interest like few records can. With Phi...

Good times never seemed so good this week! We're taking it back to a Hot August Night in 1971, when Neil Diamond delivered an iconic performance at LA's Greek Theatre! The show produced a live double album packed with his early career's greatest hits, from the pining Red Red Wine to the powerful I Am... I Said (and of course, a prerequisite dose of Sweet Caroline). We'll learn how his pre-med career evolved from the Brill Building ...

Can Creed take us Higher? Find out as we talk about Human Clay, the 1999 album full of Scott Stapp's unique vocals, and post-grunge, (lovingly) butt rock style laced with introspective religious overtones. From grief to death to fatherhood, Creed doesn't shy away from big questions. We'll explore the band's number-fudging beginnings, meteoric rise, and sudden unravelling through record-setting feats, ubiquitous hits, and nostalgia-...

Jimmy Buffett is making Landfall on the podcast this week! We're wasting away again with Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes, a career-defining album that features the ultimate beach drinking song, Margaritaville! We'll talk about Buffett's coastal upbringing and how he got his start in Nashville (as an author!) before a trip to Key West changed his life. Changes is the culmination of half a lifetime at sea, with a guitar (a...

Yeah, it Feels Like Summer! We're back for another Happy Hour with Weezer! After their debut Blue Album left Connor with a puzzle he just didn't want to put together, we're trying again with their sun-soaked, beachy experiment, Pacific Daydream! It's a clear departure from their signature style, complete with complicated spreadsheet-crafted compositions, but crankin' them Beach Boys might be enough to redeem a low score!

James &...

We've been having more dreams lately.. Welcome to Sunrise City, the feel-good sophomore record from "soft" indie guys Sub-Radio! This band of middle-school friends went viral as they got down bad for Stacy's Dad, and by broadcasting on Reddit during the pandemic they were able to generate a significant fanbase. Sunrise City is a saccharine nostalgia trip from teenage nights on the beach to Summer's End. Can their hooky record full ...

This week we've got So Much Things To Say as we review and rank Exodus, the gripping reggae album by Jamaica's own Bob Marley! After pushing rocksteady boundaries with his childhood friends Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, Bob's career made a strong pivot to pop and rock crossover music, riding the reggae wave to superstardom! A failed assassination attempt sent Marley overseas, where he crafted his ninth studio album, charged with Ras...

Stuck inside those four walls? We're making our escape with Band On The Run, the 1973 record by Wings! After a tough Beatles breakup, a burnt out Paul McCartney was struggling to stay relevant in the music world. He started Wings alongside his wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, and after a few tough outings, Band On The Run proved to be their major breakthrough! Despite a tumultuous recording process in Lagos, Nigeria, hits like...

We're Making The Most Of The Night as we review and rank Emotion, the 80s-infused pop record from Canadian songwriter and actress Carly Rae Jepsen! After we just met her (and that was crazy) back in 2011, Carly was struggling to shed the bubblegum pop reputation she gained with Call Me Maybe. After retreating from the spotlight, acting on Broadway, and writing a scrapped folk record, Emotion was her attempt to make something differ...

For our 250th episode, we're stepping into the Limelight to revisit Rush! In Ep. 121, we discovered how 2112 earned the trio creative control with their sci-fi rock opera gamble... Now we're back to learn about Moving Pictures, the band's most commercially successful album and home to enduring hits like Tom Sawyer and YYZ! The band aims to strike the perfect balance between unique identity and mass appeal. With the addition of more...

You've got to stop... and wish Connor a happy birthday! We're celebrating with a special episode reviewing Mac Davis' hit-packed 1974 record Stop And Smell The Roses! After making a name for himself as a songwriter with Elvis cuts like In The Ghetto, Mac established himself as a recording artist and TV personality. His fifth record crosses over from country to folk to soft pop seamlessly, and tentpole tracks like Burnin' Thing and ...

You can dance, you can jive! We're having the time of our lives this week as we review and rank Arrival, the 1976 breakout record for Europop sensation ABBA! After winning Eurovision (4th time's the charm), the band had to prove to the world they were more than a One-Hit Waterloo Wonder. Their hooky melodies and intricate vocal harmonies led to the band's most important record yet, from royalty-approved Dancing Queen to Money, Mone...

Hallelujah, We Love Him So! We're doing the Mess Around back to the earliest days of soul music with The Genius, Ray Charles, and his self-titled 1957 debut LP! After a childhood marked by tragedy, Ray Charles learned to read braille sheet music and arrange songs. After moving from coast to coast and back again to find work, Ray's intuition for melody and his passionate vocals finally started to land him on the charts and earn reco...

We're dancing on the sand this week as we rank and review Rio, the sophomore album by Duran Duran and a staple of the early '80s New Romantics movement. Featuring some of the band's biggest hits in Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer, and the title track, this record also includes some cult classics like the ambient soundscape of The Chauffeur! Learn how the Fab Five leveraged provocative music videos to dominate MTV and lead the c...

If you've been Waiting All Your Life for a follow-up to our Rascal Flatts episode (18), this is your time!! With the band officially re-formed and on their own redemption tour, we figured the Year Of Redemption was the perfect time to check out their self-titled debut album! After Me And My Gang pierced our nostalgic rose-colored glasses, we'll learn if getting right down to the DNA of Rascal Flatts' boy band-esque country sound ca...

Lights, camera, action! March Madness is in full swing, and this year we're breaking down a bracket of 36 iconic MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS! With four quadrants representing different genres and showcasing four facets of a meaningful soundtrack, this lineup is guaranteed to set the scene, get your adrenaline pumping, and tug at your heartstrings. Our audience had the opportunity to rank and score each song to determine our winners, and Jame...

The Notorious B.I.G. lived his life Ready To Die, and he set out to prove it to the world with his 1994 debut album... Ready To Die. After walking away from a straight-A career to enter the world of drug dealing and rap, Christopher George Latore Wallace (or, as you may know him, Biggie Smalls) became THE dominant force in the thriving East Coast hip-hop scene. His music was unfiltered, witty, and raw. It didn't glamourize or sugar...