Stairway to Eleven Episode #7: Def Leppard, Tears For Fears, The Mars Volta

00:00:00There's a podcast that's sure

00:00:04All that rocks hard is gold

00:00:07And they're climbing the stairway to 11

00:00:14When they get to there they know

00:00:18The record stores are all closed

00:00:21But online they can get what they came for

00:00:58Facebook, Instagram.

00:01:00If you do follow us on those, please comment on anything we post.

00:01:05We'd love to hear from you.

00:01:07I think we all would like to hear what people think of the bands and albums we're choosing.

00:01:12And if there's a band you think we might be interested in covering, send them our way.

00:01:18Because while there are hundreds of albums I can choose from, I don't know about you guys.

00:01:23I'm not going to lie.

00:01:24I struggle every week.

00:01:26What am I going to do this week?

00:01:27Yeah.

00:01:28And I've got 50 albums I'm looking at and it's kind of like my collection.

00:01:31You can't see here.

00:01:32I've got three or 4,000 CDs behind me and all my vinyl on the floor.

00:01:35And I'm like, I've got all this music and I literally have nothing to listen to today.

00:01:40I don't know if you guys get like that.

00:01:41Oh, yeah.

00:01:42I get like that with choosing.

00:01:43I've got five or six albums.

00:01:45These are definites.

00:01:46And I'm like, oh, man, what am I going to do?

00:01:48So if you have suggestions, forward them our way.

00:01:51Please let us know if there's any bands that you would like to hear us cover that we might like.

00:01:56Yeah.

00:01:57You know, I always, every episode I think ahead of time about what I want to cover for the next episode. And then after we're done recording an episode, that's when the three of us sit here and decide the next episode. And it's never what I thought it was going to be. So it makes planning kind of pointless. I think only two so far for me. Yeah. Yeah. Everything else has been like, all right, TR, what am I going to deal with? Yeah. When you stole fair warning, I had to

00:02:28Well, that was a terrible pick, TR. Oh, my goodness. That damn Genesis. Yeah. All right. We've got three more albums for you today. And we're going to start with mine, which is Def Leppard's Pyromania. It's down to fire. Released on January 20th, 1983, over 40 years ago. This was Def Leppard's third album.

00:02:56This was the first album to feature guitarist Phil Collin. In a partial capacity anyway. While the band had some success with their first two albums. Particularly with bringing down the heartbreak from their second album High and Dry. It wasn't until Pyromania that Def Leppard broke through in a huge way. The album would spawn seven singles on its way to eventual diamond sales status. And I still remember Little George.

00:03:26First time he heard fooling on the little radio in the kitchen by the sink while doing dishes and being blown away. I remember the first time I saw the album in a store. It was a Kmart, actually. I was gazing through the glass case because they locked that stuff up back then at the awesome band logo, the off spelling of their name, and the sense of danger portrayed by the crosshairs in the burning building. I just knew that this had to be a cool album.

00:03:56When I finally got my greedy little hands on a cassette copy, my suspicion was confirmed. Pyromania kicked ass. I mean, come on. Ten songs on the album and seven were singles. That's the same number as released from Michael Jackson's Thriller. And there's no filler on this baby. Is that the same, not to cut you off, is that the same as Hysteria? How many singles from that? I think they had at least seven, didn't they? Let's...

00:04:27That might be for another episode. Not to interrupt, but to think about that. Back-to-back albums with at least seven singles. Yeah. That's insane. There were seven. That's insane. Yep. Animal, Women, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Hysteria, Armageddon at Love Bites, and Rocket. Wow. That is insane. Back-to-back sevens. That's even better than Michael Jackson. Boom.

00:04:57This is probably in the top 10 greatest rock albums of the 80s. It's in my DNA. Is this one of your, like if you had to pick your desert island? Yeah, I love desert. Yeah, definitely. I mean, cool. You know, for something in this vein, it's of course. Yeah, because your desert island disc, you kind of try to get everything, every type of music, you know, at least I do. Yeah. Nice.

00:05:27Wow, this is a big one. Go for it. Do you have any? Yeah, so overall, the funny thing is I didn't really get into Def Leppard when this came out. Of course, you couldn't avoid it because it was everywhere. It was. I like the songs enough, but I'm just not sure why I didn't make the leap to buying this record at the time. Of course, I have it now, of course, but at the time, I don't know why I didn't buy this album. I'm going to stop you right now, TR.

00:05:56Okay.

00:05:56George,

00:05:57you're a little bit younger,

00:05:58not much,

00:05:58but a little bit younger.

00:05:59TR is two weeks older than me.

00:06:02Okay.

00:06:03Were you not into high and dry when that came out?

00:06:05I loved high and dry when it came out.

00:06:07Yeah.

00:06:07I thought it was.

00:06:08Yeah.

00:06:08Okay.

00:06:09So here's the thing.

00:06:10Like you were on,

00:06:10you were on board at least before this came out.

00:06:13Oh yeah.

00:06:14It's just that I don't know.

00:06:16I don't know.

00:06:17I mean,

00:06:17I can't really explain it because by all rights,

00:06:20I should have owned this album when,

00:06:21you know,

00:06:22in 1983,

00:06:23I don't know why I didn't.

00:06:25So all the videos from this period were live performance style with varying degrees of storytelling or other imagery. And I can tell you, I definitely wanted British flag boxer shorts after seeing these videos. I think I might know somebody that had those. I actually, so I did, but when I, so I can't remember if like my parents got them for me or if I found them someplace, but they weren't the same as his. Like when you looked at, who's the drummer, Rick Allen. Yeah. Yeah.

00:06:54So when you looked at his, the whole boxer short was like a flag. And the ones I ended up with were like partially, it was like a small flag on it. It was like, it was such a bogus pair of boxer shorts. Like when I'm going to say you got a cheap knockoff from another country. So because it was bogus. And I just remember like being like getting them. I can't remember if I bought them myself or if my parents got it. I can't remember like what the deal was, but I just remember. You bought it from the guy down the street from the venue selling it.

00:07:25I'm sure it was like at the record store or someplace.

00:07:28But like worse.

00:07:29I know.

00:07:30And so, so, I mean, I remember because the way it was packaged, it looked like nothing but flag.

00:07:39But the minute you opened it up, and of course you had to buy it to open it up, then it was like, oh, there's all this like kind of white around it.

00:07:47There's a flag on your bum.

00:07:49Yeah, exactly.

00:07:50It was like, what the heck?

00:07:51I wanted the whole thing to be the flag, not a little part of the flag, and then the rest is just white boxers. I was a little disappointed with that. That's lame. I know. It was kind of devastating at the time, but I got over it. I've got a lot of trust issues from buying musical things in the 80s. That's the thing. Back then, you couldn't just go on YouTube and check it out ahead of time. Exactly.

00:08:21on the radio. And, you know, I think like at the time, so, you know, you're $6.99 or $7.99 for your record, you know, that was like, okay, that's hard-earned money. So you wanted to make sure, or at least I did, I wanted to know, okay, am I getting into like an album that I'm going to like most of the songs on it? And, you know, if you heard all these tracks on the radio, it's, yeah, I know I like it, like at least five of these

00:08:51It's going to be really good. So I'm going to get this, you know, but yeah, that was the thing back then.

00:08:57You didn't know what you were getting because you couldn't like, like nowadays you can listen to an album the minute it drops and you can know the whole thing and you can listen to the whole thing and be like, okay, yeah, I like this or I don't like this or whatever. And I don't know, you know, back then it was like album covers. Yeah. It was the album cover and your buddy got it and he's like, dude, this is really great. You got to check this out. And then you'd go and get it and you know, whatever. But yeah.

00:09:21It's a whole different world now. I mean, it's great because you can check stuff out, but there was also a little bit of mystery involved back then. There was some discovery because you went and got it and you went and listened to it and you discovered for yourself what the album was about. Kids these days, they don't know anything about finding music. They get all the music handed to them on a silver Spotify.

00:09:51the music to hear it.

00:09:53That's right.

00:09:53And not only that, but we had to wait until we got home.

00:10:00That's right.

00:10:01These are all true stories.

00:10:02Until I got a walk, man.

00:10:04And then I could listen to the car.

00:10:05This really happened.

00:10:06Yes.

00:10:07Or you had to sit there and wait for your FM station to play that song again.

00:10:11That's right.

00:10:12Do you ever used to call up the radio station and make requests?

00:10:15I used to do that all the time as a kid.

00:10:17Yes.

00:10:18Yes.

00:10:19Hey, can you play that really cool song from Death Leopard? Yeah. I remember requesting Abracadabra by Steve Miller. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Really? Yeah. Those are the two I remember most. Nice. I think probably some Styx. Yeah. Stuff like that. Mr. Roboto. Exactly. Love that thing. That was my very first musical purchase was Styx, Mr. Roboto. Oh, wow. Or Kilroy was here, I guess it was called. Yeah. Yeah.

00:10:49All right, John, what are your thoughts on this album? Let's see. I'll try to keep it quick. I already knew about Def Leppard because of High and Dry. I remember the summer before I came back to school, I remember hearing Let It Go and all the songs and was a fan then, and that was 1981. So when this came out, I was already a fan of both albums. And I loved it, of course. I thought it was great.

00:11:19I have a different opinion of the album now, 40 years later. But we'll stay here for now and I'll let that come out as we go through the songs. Real quick, I actually saw them on this tour, September 1983. My friend Derek Pennant-Jones, we went. I think his mom dropped us off at the Oakland Coliseum, that place, you know, where Dave said I got myself a brand new Oakland scarf. That's right. We saw him. She dropped us off, 15 years old.

00:11:48We walked in and it was just insane. I stood in front of Phil Collin the whole night about maybe not even 10 feet from the rail. Wow. Those were GA shows back then. So it was just crazy. And I do know someone who bought the Union Jack shorts and they were full Union Jack shorts from the front to back, top to bottom. Of course I know him. He's me. It was me. Yes. That'll be one. Hoping somebody would.

00:12:18I would have done Obi-Wan for me. Yes, I had them. They didn't fit for long. So yeah, we'll just leave it at that. I have other comments about it, but I love this album. It was great to revisit it again. There are some songs on here that are like Stairway to Heaven to me now, and that's because they've been overplayed in all formats, but it still was cool to go back and listen to them again. So we'll just, I won't say much. Let's roll into it. Let's do this. Let's rock, rock till you drop.

00:12:47Track 1. The grandiose start of this song lets you know you're about to head on a grand adventure. And then the riff kicks in and it rips! Seven of the ten songs of the album were released as singles, and I'm not sure why this wasn't one of them. It's a true rocker, probably one of the last real headbanging songs before they entered the hysteria period. Too loud, man! Too loud! I absolutely love it. This is one of my favorite songs from their whole catalog, and their whole catalog,

00:13:17for me is three and a half albums. But still, I absolutely love this song. I will. I should have just said in my intro, I'll say now there are two things about this album. I absolutely hate. I hate the sound that Mutt Lang created starting with this album because it carried forward onto hysteria. And it's a very loud sound. And they have degraded reverb on the drums. Yeah, I could deal with the gang singing because they've been doing that since.

00:13:47It's very mid-80s, the sound.

00:13:53And so you get that right off the bat with rock, rock, till you drop.

00:13:57But that's okay, because like George said, it's an absolute banger.

00:14:00It's got a killer chorus to sing.

00:14:02I don't usually care about lyrics that much.

00:14:04I sing this song.

00:14:06I love that Elliott's vocals remind me of the first two albums.

00:14:09They're a little rougher on this song, which is so cool.

00:14:13And if I remember correctly, hold on.

00:14:16Let me get up my disc that's got the live show on it. Oh, that's right. Oh, they opened up with it and it just blew my mind seeing them open up with that great opening track. One of my favorite, maybe one of my favorite opening tracks from just a straight rock album. Definitely. I think. Yeah. One of, you know, that was one of my comments is excellent opening track for an album. Like just to kick it off. Boom. Here it is. It's a rock and riff, a great solo. You know,

00:14:46a great tune. Yeah. I've never seen them. I've thought about it in more recent years because they've done some decent like pairings. I mean, I think they did some poison stuff, which I wasn't thrilled about that, but I thought they did a tour with somebody that was like, it was Kiss. Yeah. Okay. I saw them with Jen and I saw them with Kiss. Yeah. I would have done that. So I've seen them twice. The first time was in 1983. Way back when there was icicles on my FM radio.

00:15:15And they opened up with Rock Rock Till You Drop. I see them with Kiss with Jen, and they opened up with Let It Go. I was just like, yes! Oh, man. Wow. That's pretty awesome. Look out for the Rock Brigade. Rock Brigade. Hold on. That was the second song on the 1983 tour. So we'll get... All right, fine. The third song was High and Dry. I literally was in heaven at that show. Oh, yeah. So... All right. Track number two, Photograph.

00:15:45One of the greatest hard rock songs of all time in my book. And it was only a few hours ago. Sorry. It's only a few years ago that I found out that this one was about Marilyn Monroe. Oh, you didn't know? I didn't see the video? Yeah. No, I didn't. When this was out, I didn't have MTV. It wasn't until later. So this was on every, yes, hour. They play the crap out of this. Every hour. It makes sense. It's kind of the pictures of Lily for the

00:16:16And of those seven singles, this was definitely in my top three, if not number one. This song is catchy as hell. And hearing this, I really wish someone would do a high res remaster of this album. I'm looking at you, Stephen Wilson. It sounds great as is, but imagine with more clarity and punch. The guitar playing on this album is just perfect. It's still got the hard rock bite to it, which, you know, eventually takes a backseat on the next album kind of.

00:16:46I'll go again. I didn't want to cut you off there to everyone to talk about this. Yeah. This is a song that I'm tired of hearing, but I don't get tired of hearing it. And so TR has heard me do this, say this every time I'm going to make a connect. I'm going to make an odd connection. I've never done that. Okay. Here we go. Connect Def Leppard and Opeth together. I love connection. Every time we've gone to see Opeth and say the last.

00:17:15I really hate to say it's what last 10 years yeah what is the one song I'm like I always say geez I hope I they don't play as soon as it starts I'm like this is the greatest song ever baby deliverance every time oh god yeah it's like do we have to hear this again and then when they start playing it it's oh yes this is so good he looks over and I'm like doing my old man headbang till my neck stiffens up right and so that's photographed for me especially at the end man and I will say I can say this because I've seen this I've seen that song played probably

00:17:4540 plus times live. So I feel that way about photograph. I'm like, oh, there it starts again. And then once the cowbell comes in, it's just the greatest song ever. That's so funny because I wrote excellent use of cowbell. I will say I find it, for those who don't know, we talked about Phil Collin being on guitar, but the original guitarist, Pete Willis, who got kicked out of the band during this period, plays on all this. He plays rhythm on all the songs, but he's a co-writer on this song.

00:18:14So I thought that was interesting when you consider how different this song was from their first two albums. Imagine how much drugs and beer you would have to drink to get kicked out of Def Leppard. I think it was because of his drinking, yeah. Wow. If you can drink more than Steve Clark, you probably should be kicked out of the band. You might be dead. That tells me there's more to that story because you bring up a good point, George. Steve Clark had a hard time. He died from alcohol poisoning. He did. Yeah. Really sad because

00:18:44They tried with them. So I'm actually

00:18:50really happy I got to see them

00:18:52with both

00:18:54Steve Clark and Rick Allen

00:18:56with both arms. And I'm not making light of that.

00:18:58I was a drummer and I always liked

00:19:00his power drumming.

00:19:02It was cool to see him.

00:19:04It was mind-boggling

00:19:05and amazing when Rick Allen was able to come

00:19:07back from that and continue to play with

00:19:09the band.

00:19:12Talk about a movie

00:19:13of the week kind of story. It's like, oh, hell yeah. Unbelievable fortitude. And kudos to the band for saying, we'll just give them a try. We know we need to get another drummer, but he's our friend. And then he pulls it off and they're like, we don't want another drummer. Yeah, exactly. Kudos to them. I mean, that's pretty amazing. And then, you know, him essentially leveraging technology to be able to do what, you know, it's incredible. Like just that couldn't have happened any other time.

00:19:43in history, right? You know, anytime earlier than that, I don't think you could have done anything like that, you know, without electronic assistance or, you know, triggering or some of the other things that would have enabled you to be able to use other limbs to trigger different parts of those drum parts. Great. Yeah. Now that I actually know how to, how drum, I can't say I know how to play drums. I know how drum playing works. I've never really thought about it until now. I'm like, how do you do a drum?

00:20:14You know, it's like you can do a kick snare no problem with one arm and one leg. And you know, so you got to figure out the hi-hat somehow. His snare is on his foot. His snare was on his foot. Nice. Because he's playing his hand on his ride and his hi-hat. Okay. So he has to use his one foot to do his fills. Interesting. That's cool. That's some dedication there. And that's just even more respect. And it's rewiring your brain. Yeah, exactly.

00:20:44playing drums. I don't know if you play drums at all or ever. I can't. George, you know. I can't even keep a beat. And I haven't played in gazillion years, but you have to rewire how you do rhythm because it's really easy to get off rhythm really fast. And I'm really good at that. Anyway, great, great second track. And I'm glad it was the opening track. I'm glad it was second at minimum. So. Yeah, I agree. And, you know, this was played on the radio.

00:21:13on MTV incessantly. I mean, great tune. It reminds me, for whatever reason, this song reminds me of summer, even though this album was released in January of 1983. And I don't even know really when this single came out, but it just reminds me of summertime. And it kind of makes me feel nostalgic because whenever I listen to this song, I think of the video and I think about, you know, basically being, you know, a young teenager, you know,

00:21:43in front of MTV watching this and thinking, wow, this is really cool. You know, it takes me back. Like I just listen to this and think, wow, you know, I remember being a kind of a young kid, just like looking at this stuff and thinking, man, these guys look really cool. You know, they were so cool. Yeah. You know, hair metal wasn't really a thing yet. This was still just hard rock music. Yes. You know, we were another couple of years from theater of pain and the advent.

00:22:13of true glam metal. Downfall. And so it was just, you know, I mean, there were a lot of denim and the hairspray and whatever, but still it was so cool. Yeah. Remember the painter's hats? I had those. Yeah. I love painter's hats. I, in fact, if I dug around a little bit, I think I could find one in my house. I remember seeing people wearing like Def Leppard painter's hats and I was like, Oh, I had a journey painter's hat.

00:22:43I had one, but I don't remember what it was. I remember I had a, I remember going to these stores in the mall where you could just buy stuff, you know, exactly. The painter's hats. And I got a black Sabbath Velcro wallet. Oh, that's awesome. I think mine was like a palm tree on my wallet. My friend had, my friend had the Joe Elliott, the Union Jack shirt. Oh man. He wore it all the time. Yeah. I think his dad was actually from England, which made even more sense too.

00:23:13because his mom was from Texas, but his dad was from England. So, so funny. All right. Track three, Stage Fright. This is the second of three songs not released as a single. I like how I'm going in the opposite direction. Usually I say this is the second song. This is the second of three songs not released as a single because it's easier to go that way. And I can see why. It's kind of a rager for these guys. It's got good hooks and melody, but the riffs are probably just a bit much for AOR of the 80s, which was vocalized.

00:23:43are wild. The riffs are cool. That said, it's still probably my least favorite song in an album where every song is classic. Like, I'm not saying it's a bad song. I'm saying if I rank them all, everything's probably above this one. That's not meant to be. Yeah. It's still a great song. I love it. Yeah. So on record, stop looking at me that way. No, it's all right. Cause actually, you know, it's not my favorite either, but I, my favorite part of this is the guitar solo though. I will say that.

00:24:14I think this might be John's favorite song. Oh, no. I just think it's not my least favorite on the album. The reason why I like this song so much is because it is the only song on the album that sounds like it could have been on the first two albums. I was thinking that, too. Yeah. And that probably is what it stands out. There's no doubt it's not a sore thumb at all, but it definitely stands out in the crowd on this album because it is a raging song.

00:24:43It's heavy. I think it's actually a heavier song than Rock Rock To You Drop. I think Rock Rock To You Drop has heavier production. That makes it sound heavier. But they're the two heaviest songs on the album. But the difference is one sounds like it should be on Pyromania. And the other sounds like it should be on the first album for the most part. Yeah. So, yeah, I love it. It's a great hard rocking song. But it's not my go to song. No, I agree. Yeah. Track four, Too Late For Love. Slowing things down a bit.

00:25:13An air of mystery, a bit ominous. Back in the early 80s when this was new, I knew a guy that enthusiastically showed me how he could replicate the drums coming in. Like when there's all this stuff going on and then, you know, there's the... And he's like, he could replicate that by snapping an open garbage bag to make the drum snap. He would take the bag and go, you know, whoops. And he was like, it sounds just like it.

00:25:43And I never quite got it, but that has spent 40 years rattling around in my head. I released you. Anyway. You've just, you know, equated the beginning of this song to a trash bag. I know. I was like, you're insane, man, but whatever, you know, and it's those insane things that stick out in your memory. So anyway, this song is another classic, you know, who wrote songs like this? I don't know.

00:26:12This is just very unique to me from this period. And when I was listening to this, I was just missing Steve Clark. So. Yeah. I agree. I love that they slow down the album at this point, not necessarily slow it down, but they bring the pace down, the tempo down. It reminds me a little bit of bringing on the heart break in terms of the drive and the vibe of it. Yep. But it obviously is their new sound. And I agree with you, George. I love the dark.

00:26:42feel and I almost like this kind of semi old west guitar tones. Yeah. A little bit at the beginning. It's just feels like the video should have been heading into town, you know. No, hold on. Man with no name. It's the 80s. Videos are new. So the first thing we have to start with is you have to show a desert scene and you're, you know, and a little tumbleweed comes by the door from the abandoned barn is opening and closing in the wind. Yes. And the guitar tone starts.

00:27:12Yes.

00:27:13Yep.

00:27:14That's a great.

00:27:14It's one of my favorite off the album.

00:27:16Awesome.

00:27:17Yeah.

00:27:18Same thing.

00:27:19Rocking ballad along the lines of bringing on the heartbreak.

00:27:22And this is one of my favorites on the album.

00:27:25I thought it had more of an older sound.

00:27:27I like,

00:27:27but I like high and dry a little more.

00:27:30Oh,

00:27:30I agree.

00:27:31And you know,

00:27:31it's funny.

00:27:31You mentioned ballad TR.

00:27:33I agree with you,

00:27:33but it's not a ballady ballad.

00:27:36If that makes sense.

00:27:36It's.

00:27:36Oh, yeah, no, I would agree. Like, because it's so... Not a hair metal ballad that comes out four years later. No, absolutely not. And it actually, I feel like, yeah, because it's more of a, it's kind of rocking, it rocks a little more than a ballad. Like, to me, it's, I don't know, it's really well done, and it doesn't feel like a ballad, because, I mean, it's slower, it's a slower tune, but it's not like, I mean, yeah, it's about love, but it's too late.

00:28:06for love. You know what I mean? It's just, it's not like lovey-dovey, you know, in terms of being about. Yeah, exactly. It's too late, man. I'm on my way out of town. You had your chance. Yeah, that's it. I gotta hit the road, babe. Yeah, I really like the dark overtones on this song because they're not known for that necessarily. Yeah. So. All right, track five, Die Hard the Hunter. The third and final

00:28:36song not released as a single.

00:28:39And this is one of the darker songs on the album.

00:28:41You're just talking about darker,

00:28:42but this is definitely darker.

00:28:441983 was still very recent to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

00:28:49And like other songs by man of war and Huey Lewis,

00:28:52this song tackles what would likely today be called PTSD experienced by a

00:28:57soldier back home and trying to adjust to life after the horrors of war.

00:29:02Shush Siri.

00:29:03Shush.

00:29:04It's a heavy topic and a rocking song.

00:29:06Yeah.

00:29:08So this song opens with warlike sounds, right? Helicopters, sirens.

00:29:13And I felt like this was, if you will, the most mature song on the album.

00:29:18And actually, you raise a good point, George.

00:29:20Like this, you know, there were a number of artists that were kind of addressing this topic of, you know, people coming back from Vietnam.

00:29:32And actually, it reminded me of Sammy Hagar's Remember the Heroes, at least thematically. And this is the longest song on the album. It's got a lot of cool riffs and guitar work in the middle of the song. I like this tune. Yeah. Yeah. And it's definitely a deep cut. If you're a fan, you know it. If you're not, if you're there for the hits, this is probably something you wouldn't gravitate to. I think it's a great tune. To me, it had a feel of high and dry a little bit.

00:30:02and some of it, but again, it has the Pyromania production.

00:30:06There are some keyboard work on this and synth work by Booker T.

00:30:11Bofin. I don't know if you guys know who that is.

00:30:12I do.

00:30:13A.K.A. Thomas Dolby.

00:30:16She blinded me with science.

00:30:18Science.

00:30:19Which I think is actually very cool.

00:30:21I really like that kind of the mid part of the song where the instrumental section,

00:30:26there's some nice guitar work in that part there.

00:30:28It's a cool tune.

00:30:29It is.

00:30:29And it kind of flows really well, I think. It ends the first side, you know, with this kind of two darker songs, different paced songs from the first three kind of rippers. So, yeah. And then side two kicks off with F-F-F-Foolan. Yeah. Lady Luck never smiles. As mentioned previously, this was the song that set me on the Def Leppard path. Number two in my top three songs,

00:30:59from the album. Is there anybody out there? Is there anybody there? Love this song. Killer Riffs. I know John likes previous album more, but man, this album is so magical. Oh, I love this song. Yeah. I think it's some of Joe Elliott's best singing. He just quoted the lyric when he just, towards the end of the song, when he just belts it out. It's catchy as all hell. It was on MTV a lot. I might've seen this one. Yeah. Again, it's a

00:31:29It's a darker song still. It's still not a bright. Hysteria became very bright and kind of fluffy in terms of the content of the songs. Fluffy. And this is still kind of, you know, it's a little dark. It's a little catchier. It is. It's like he's, is there anybody out there? Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody care? Somebody cares enough because there's a nice prescription of cowbell on this album. Oh, yeah. That's what I said. More cowbell. Yeah.

00:31:59Yeah, so I like Joe Elliott's lower range in the beginning of this song. And I feel like he didn't employ that enough. I feel like, you know, he, if he had used that more on this album, you'd feel the dynamic that you get from this song, which is he starts low, and then he's, you know, he like really launches up into the stratosphere.

00:32:29And then it's, you feel the difference because he started low, you know, but there are a lot of songs on this album where he kind of starts high and he stays high. And it's, it has more of an impact when you can hear, you know, where there's a difference in where you start and where you end. A wider dynamic range. Exactly. Yeah. That's a great point. This may be my favorite tune on the album. And I also like how it has kind of a mysterious vibe, you know, like the, just the,

00:32:59the guitars and the kind of the minor key kind of deal on this album or this song is just so cool and so yeah this is probably my favorite on the album yeah you bring up a good point he when he goes to his highs for the chorus or the bridge into the chorus oh yeah it gives you chills right and it's because he starts low and you get this feeling like you know and his low register is really good i don't know why he didn't sing more in that register because

00:33:28His voice is good in that register. And I really kind of feel like I wish that he had done a little more there to give it a little more, a little more breadth and a little more dynamic range. Because that I think that's one of the elements of this song that makes it so great, you know, to go from this kind of heat, you know, it builds slowly. He's talking and then and then it just, you know, the drums kind of built.

00:33:58And he really just rips.

00:34:02And I think that's one of the successes of this song.

00:34:05And I kind of wish he had done a little more of that on this album,

00:34:09where he had just kind of done a little more lower register stuff.

00:34:13Plus, the gang singing chorus is very minimal on this song, which I liked a lot.

00:34:19And not that I don't like.

00:34:21Def Leppard is one of the few bands I give a pass for when it comes to that.

00:34:24But some of their songs can be a little too.

00:34:26It's like 18 guys on stage singing. You know, the way the production is. And this one's not as much, which I kind of liked because it focuses is really more on Joe Elliott than the whole band singing. So, yeah, I agree with E.T. on all that. Yeah, he's outstanding on this song. Yeah, it can easily transport me back to 1983 and put me back in that frame of mind for better. And he took one for the team. He got burned during the video on this song, too. Really? He got Hetfield?

00:34:56I think he did if I'm not mistaken I think there was an explosion

00:34:59Darren you know because he's oh that's right he's going through that little zone where

00:35:03they're like blowing stuff up next to him and yeah and he I think he took one for the team I

00:35:07didn't know that wow I think so I could be wrong but I thought he did well James Hetfield and Michael Jackson Joe Elliott a very small club yeah all right track seven more filler what do you know what am I going to say what rock of ages yeah the intro for this song

00:35:26the well-known Gunter-Glieben-Glautengloben, often mentioned, but by me only understood as I researched this album for today. This was spoken by producer Mutt Lang and is apparently meant to sound like German gibberish to replace the standard count in the count in of one, two, three, four. Gunter-Glieben-Glautengloben, and then you go in. I can sleep easy knowing the backstory now. And three of three, and I hold up four.

00:35:56Fingers to emphasize that in my top three songs for this album. This song ties into the Pyromania aspect of the album title since there is no title track per se. And it's just a monster of a rock song. Great riffs, hooks for days, what's not to love? Yeah, it's definitely the biggest song of the album. And yes, another like this album had a ton of cowbell. And this is another one of those songs with a ton of cowbell.

00:36:26So, you know, I don't know.

00:36:29I don't know if that's the actual backbeat of the song.

00:36:32Yeah, exactly.

00:36:33It's okay.

00:36:34Now, John, just like you, I've heard this too many times, but it is a good tune.

00:36:41You can't not turn it up.

00:36:43Yeah.

00:36:44So, here we go.

00:36:48Grumpy old man time.

00:36:50Yeah.

00:36:50Let me tell you, back in this chemo, I liked it.

00:36:53No.

00:36:54I do like this song, but it's their stairway to heaven for me off of this album. It's just played all the time. And I'll be honest, I finally realized this time listening to it for the last couple of weeks is that this is the, hey, let's get the crowd to sing along with us for the whole song. So the verse part of the song, the music will be this kind of loud clapping like that Joe Satriani song, T.R. What is that called?

00:37:25Yeah, yeah.

00:37:26You know, it's the precursor to the power metal, you know, fist in the air go, hey, hey, hey, hey.

00:37:31And then the car goes like that.

00:37:34But this is a whole song.

00:37:36With that said, I do like the song much better when you get to the chorus.

00:37:39I think the whole band playing sounds great.

00:37:42The guitar solos are great.

00:37:44I love that they're still not giving up on that prescription of cowbell.

00:37:48No, it is a good song.

00:37:49It's just it's worn me out a little bit because I like so many other songs on the album.

00:37:54It falls down the list because

00:37:56like Photograph, it was just

00:37:58played constantly

00:38:00and still is. It's still on classic

00:38:02radios all the time.

00:38:03I mean, they got like a Vegas show based

00:38:06on this or whatever.

00:38:07Oh, yeah.

00:38:08Yeah, so but yeah,

00:38:10it's good. I just,

00:38:12you know, I don't gravitate to

00:38:14it as much anymore because I've heard so much.

00:38:16It's not because it's not a good song.

00:38:17It's just I'm tired.

00:38:19Rock of Ages fatigue.

00:38:21I got to take a nap.

00:38:26So track number eight,

00:38:28coming under fire.

00:38:30This sounds like the sequel to too late for love.

00:38:34I'm running out of ways to say I love songs on this album.

00:38:37Luckily there's only two more songs,

00:38:38but per usual for the album,

00:38:39this one brings the hooks and the riffs.

00:38:45So this was released as a signal.

00:38:46This one,

00:38:47this was,

00:38:48it was really.

00:38:49Yeah.

00:38:50Now, I will say this is my least favorite song on the album. I like it. Like how you feel about Stage Friday, feel about this song. Same thing. Yeah. I saw TR make the little eh. This is not my favorite. I'm with you, John. This is my least favorite song on the album. I would say this is my second least favorite. But again, I like them all. So. Yeah. It's not a bad song at all. No, but it's just eh. You know. Okay. What's next? Yeah. So, but you know, it's another Pete Willis song. He co-wrote this. He co-wrote four songs on this album, which is interesting.

00:39:20He's way more involved in this album than say like Dave

00:39:22Mistake was involved in Metallica's first album.

00:39:24You know, you don't stop hearing him talk about that all the time.

00:39:29But it's kind of like a Dave Mistake situation a little bit,

00:39:32playing on the album and writing some of the songs, but not being there.

00:39:36Only he didn't start another band and get wildly famous as well.

00:39:41No, you're right. He didn't.

00:39:43Yeah.

00:39:44That's a very good point, George.

00:39:47Okay, then.

00:39:48I got my tail between my legs after that.

00:39:51Track 9, Action, Not Words. I thought this was kind of an odd song out of the bunch. It's cool and all, but it feels a little more generic pop rock, maybe a little precursor to hysteria. But the chorus is still pretty rocking, and I've always liked it. There's nothing against it. It's just something I noticed while listening to it. I was like, it's not quite as heavy. It's a little more poppy. Yeah, I felt like thematically, this was a little like stage fright.

00:40:19I feel like he must be a frustrated director or something because it's all about you know welcome to my show you're going to be on stage you're going to do this and actually give me action you know it's the same theme you know same concept but just in a different song so yeah. So we all have songs from bands that everyone loves that we hate and some people don't like and we love.

00:40:49And I feel like this is that song for me. I love this song. Oh, really? Yeah, I absolutely love it. And I think it's because I got hooked by the chorus. The chorus always got me. And it is. It's a simple rock song. It's the most generic song on the album in terms of song construction and everything. And I bet a lot of people don't gravitate to this song that are fans of the band. I don't know what it is. I just, we all have these songs. I absolutely love it. It's not my favorite song on the album, but I just think it's cool. And I love, I'm going to talk about it.

00:41:20This is a little more of a comparable time. But I love at the end when he yells out light, lights, camera, sound. And when he yells sound, it sounds like Brian Johnson a little bit. It's a little rough there. I was about to rock fire. Yeah, it's got a little bit there at the end. And so, and I don't know what it is. I think the melodies during the verse portions, I just, I like the guitar melodies in there. They just, they are, it's complete. This song,

00:41:49stands out as like stage fright, but it stands out for a different reason. It's not like anything on the album. Yeah, that really doesn't. So yeah, track 10. Billy's got a gun. While this track was released as a single, I don't recall there being much of a big deal made of it, which is too bad because this is among my favorites from the album. Yeah, it's got groove and menace and there's danger in the air.

00:42:19I don't know. It's just kind of a cool song. And I was related to Billy the Kid. You know, Billy and a gun. You'd think Billy the Kid. And, you know, being an outsider in a world out to get you. And, hey, where you get that gun? You know, these days talking about guns so casually is not really kosher. But back in the innocent 80s, this was cool. Bang, bang. The end of the song. Oh, wow. Yeah, I love this song, too. There's a lot, actually a lot of sense in this song, which kind of gives it a nether,

00:42:49kind of darker feel. It's not necessarily a darker feel, but definitely a different feel in terms of the song structure. I like that it's slow and prodding and rhythmic with the drums. Some great guitar work at the end. It's actually not the last song on the album. Yeah. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. But I think it's a cool tune. I think it's a good way to end the album. Yeah, this actually, this seemed like the other half of Die Hard the Hunter to me in terms of like, you know,

00:43:19It does lyrically, lyrical content. He's talking to Die Hard the Hunter like, he's coming for you, he's going to shoot you down or whatever. And then here's Billy, he's got a gun and he's going out for you. So it kind of seemed like the other half of that. Another decent tune, but not my favorite on the album. But definitely a decent song, but just in terms of like, I mean, it would fall in the lower half for me.

00:43:48in terms of favorite tunes.

00:43:51Yeah.

00:43:52It doesn't sound anything like the rest of the songs on the album.

00:43:55That's true.

00:43:56Yeah.

00:43:57And, you know, we're getting to this, but I've never understood the weird drum ending thing that, you know, precipitates at the end here.

00:44:04I just, I did not get that.

00:44:06And I really don't understand.

00:44:10There's nothing even cool about that.

00:44:11I don't understand.

00:44:12Oh, it's cool.

00:44:13It's cool.

00:44:14I don't know.

00:44:14It's not cool.

00:44:15First of all, it's not even anything for me.

00:44:18It's not even part of Billy's got a gun. It's a hidden track. Yes, but at the same time, it's just nothing. It's just completely unnecessary. It's not needed, and it's cool. It's cool. Okay. It's cool. Two to one. And it's got a cool name. Yes, it does. Yeah, what is it? The zombie something or other? We'll get to that. We'll get to that. All right. Yeah. So, honestly, I think Billy is probably friends with Ricky. Do you know Ricky? He's a young boy, has a heart of gold, works.

00:44:48I thought it did. Nine to five and worked his finger to the bone. I lost his number so I don't know. That's exactly where I was going with that. Don't you lose my number. Yeah okay that's Genesis but I'm talking Skid Row people. I know we're talking Steely Dan buddy. Oh whatever. Mickey don't lose that number. Oh maybe that's what I'm thinking. What's the Genesis song? Yeah you wouldn't you don't like them at that point. Anyway all right moving on. Track 11.

00:45:18the secret track.

00:45:20I never knew.

00:45:21I never knew that the bit after Billy's got a gun,

00:45:23the last song had an actual name.

00:45:26And it sounds like this weird looping backwards drum sound over and over.

00:45:32And,

00:45:32uh,

00:45:33it's called the March of the wooden zombies.

00:45:36I love it.

00:45:37Thank you.

00:45:38Wikipedia.

00:45:39Yes.

00:45:40Um,

00:45:40I did not know that until yesterday.

00:45:44And I was like,

00:45:44I always wondered what that was about.

00:45:47Yeah.

00:45:47I learned a lot of things about this album. It's peculiar. Yeah, it is a little odd. And it seemed kind of tacked on. But okay, whatever. I didn't get anything out of that. All right. You kind of sound like you're offended or something. You are, man. You've got some real attitude about this thing. I just don't know. Let me tell you about those wooden zombies. Let me tell you about them wooden zombies. Back when I was a kid, we didn't have wooden zombies. Our zombies were made out of rotting dead flesh.

00:46:17made out of dirt.

00:46:20Oh,

00:46:20there they are in their union jacks.

00:46:23I'm showing them.

00:46:24John is holding up the picture from the album of them.

00:46:27Hold it,

00:46:27wearing all kinds of British flags on themselves.

00:46:31Yeah.

00:46:31Union jack shorts,

00:46:33union jack,

00:46:34everything,

00:46:34union jack shirts.

00:46:35So it's cut off shirt and basically a lemmy shorts.

00:46:41They ain't hiding much.

00:46:42No,

00:46:43nothing is left to the imagination.

00:46:45Anything else for Def Leppard before we move on? No, not a bad song in the album. In my opinion, it's a great album. It's not my favorite. I've told you guys I'm a high and dry fan, but I have always cherished all three albums. The first being the new wave of British heavy metal into their, you know, not just arena size, their stadium sound, you know, that came with Pyromania. Yep. I'm with you, John. And half of Hysteria, I'm guessing.

00:47:15Yeah, there's about four songs on the album that I like. I really like the song Rocket. I don't know what it was. There's something about it that I liked. Yeah. I like women's kind of cool. I like most of it, if not all of it, but it's not something I'm going to reach for before Pyromania. No. Yeah. It's more of a, if it comes on the radio, I'll turn it up. Yeah. God's is gods of war on that. Yep. Yeah. I like that. That's kind of cool. Yeah. That's got the, well, actually it's not,

00:47:45Not in that track. I don't think it's in a different track, but there's a backwards message that I remember that that says we've been fighting with the gods of war. And that was one of the songs that I did a backmasking demonstration speech in high school. I brought in my entire stereo into the school, set it up in front of the classroom and played it backwards like the satanic worshiper that I am. And like everybody's just like, uh, like, could you be any more weird?

00:48:15Whoa, did that say eat at Joe's? Turn me on dead man. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Yeah. So, all right, well then let's move on to our second album, John. All right. So for my second album, I am still stuck in the eighties. I can't get out. I'm stuck. It's just something about, well, now I'm out of my comfort zone of 1980 to 1983.

00:48:45Way in the future to 1985. Slow down. What are you doing? This is scary stuff. And for my album, I did not do necessarily a rock album. Or a hard rock album. Definitely not a hard rock album. Not even close. And some people might be like, what? But this is not the album you think it is. If you only know two of the big songs off of it.

00:49:15So I went with Tears for Fears songs from the big chair. And I will state right now, I did not like this band when they came out. I didn't like their songs. I mean, I'm hearing, you know, everybody wants to rule the world. I'm hearing that in those kids. And I'm thinking, you take my life, but I'll take his too. And I'm like, I like the guy taking the other guy's life. I like that better. He's going to run me through. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I'm thinking, you know,

00:49:44with rapid fire and i don't want to rule the world because i got rapid fire baby we're taking over the universe

00:49:50boy was i wrong because i've grown to absolutely love this album it's not for everyone you know if you don't know who tears for fear which would be really hard not to know who this band is yeah um this is a mega album that came out was released in february 25th 1985 they recorded a place called the wool hall which is kind of an interesting name for a studio

00:50:14and recorded in England, which is where they're from. It is a new wave pop rock. It's a little progressive pop. They get a little interesting towards the back half of the album. It's breath pop. Yeah, you know, it's got an ethereal feel to it, but there's a little more to them than just the couple of songs you've heard. It's their second full length album, but it's actually the last to feature all the original members, which in their videos, they're all there. But after this album, it just becomes the

00:50:45Orzabal and Kurt Smith show. But on this album, they had their keyboard player, Ian Stanley and Manny Elias on drums, sold roughly 10 million copies worldwide. So this is a big album. What else I got to say real quick? Nothing more than that. I mean, I didn't, I didn't put too much together because I think most people probably heard this album. They maybe have not experienced the whole album yet. And so I'm going to try to maybe help you along the way in that. What do you guys think to start?

00:51:14Before we get into the songs. So when this album came out in 85, I was just entering my death to false music phase. And this album was one of the 80s bands and albums that was on my hit list. I couldn't stand it. But as has happened so often with music from the 80s, I now find myself at the polar opposite of where I was in high school and all the stuff I hated in high school. I actually have nostalgic fondness.

00:51:44for now. And this is one of those. I've actually seen the band twice.

00:51:48So. Okay. Yeah, this is another band I never got into. Obviously, I definitely knew the hits. It was played like crazy on the radio and MTV when it came out. I was actually surprised at how many songs I knew when I listened to this album. This also made me nostalgic and it made me think of movies like The Breakfast Club, even though none of their songs were on that movie.

00:52:10But it's got that feel, right? It was that time, you know, like... The Breakfast Club envelops everything that is the 80s. That's true. All those Brat Pack movies that were coming out and, you know, Ferris Bueller and everything else that was happening at that time, like, it just brings back memories of that for me. Anyway. How cool is that? You think kids today are like, oh my gosh, 20 years later and I really like, you know, Fast and

00:52:40and furious. I mean, come on. They don't make John Hughes movies anymore. Why? Because he's dead. But you bring up a good point. We have two generational films. Like, the 90s had, what, American Pie? That's kind of their generational film that everyone seemed to love. We had Brad Pack films. We had 16 Candles. And we had The Breakfast Club. Especially The Breakfast Club because of the... You think, oh, it's just a

00:53:11these five punk kids, there's so much dynamic in their personalities going on that a lot of us could identify. It's, you know what it is? There was at least one person in that group that you could identify with. Oh, yeah. And you had friends that were the other ones. Regardless of what clique you came from. And that's the genius of that film because, you know, pretty much, you know, regardless of what group you kind of identify with, all of them were represented. You know, every type of person almost was,

00:53:40was represented in that film, you know, to include the conservative, you know, what's his name? The teacher, you know, you grab the bull, you get the horns, you know? Yeah. See those horns coming up. You mess with the bull, you get the horns. That's right. You mess with the bull. So which character are you or characters? I'm the Anthony Michael Hall character. Brian. Yeah, you are. Definitely. Yeah. I couldn't get I couldn't get the trunk to work. It wouldn't turn on. It wouldn't.

00:54:10Turn on, John. So I have two characters. I was the athlete, but in my junior year, while I was still an athlete and playing schools, not in the school year, I was playing for the school. I started shifting into the rock heavy metal guy. So I was both. Yeah, I was both Brian and Bender. I just didn't smoke. That's an interesting combo.

00:54:40Yeah, you know, I was Bender in that I was very angry and metal. But I was also Brian because I was a total nerd and still angry. So. Yeah, crazy. You know, the only thing, one last thing about this film, because we're not talking about The Breakfast Club, but it is fun to talk about. No, but you break up a very good point because his album does remind you that the only thing that would have made that film basically a 10 out of 10 for me is how they included the song Subdivisions from Rush.

00:55:11Because that subject matter Actually, that would have been perfect for that. That would have been perfect. Yes. Yes. Damn you, John. And it would have worked with Bender. Instead of, I want to be in Air Force range, you'd be like, you know, singing Rush in the hallway. In the traffic halls, in the concert halls. Yes. So let's... Basement bars. Carry on. I've got the damn lyric in my head. Way to go, TR. Yeah, you're welcome. Be cool or be cast out.

00:55:42All right, so let's get started. And this album starts off with an absolute behemoth of a song for this band. It is one of their signature songs. They don't have a lot of albums, but if you're going to have signature songs, what better way to start the album off? And it's the song Shout. If you haven't heard this song, I'd be hard-pressed. If you listen to music, it'd be hard-pressed that you haven't heard this yet in your life, if you're of a certain age.

00:56:09Starts out with this kind of interesting digital kind of percussion, and it's leading you into something, and it just rips right into the chorus with heavy. It's all synth and all programmed drums, but just this heavy vibe and rhythm of now the famous chorus of shout, shout, let it all out. These are the things I can do without. Come on, I'm talking to you.

00:56:36I mean, it's not that hard to remember that. And they sing it a lot there in this song because it's a long song. But it was a mega hit for them on MTV. It was not the first single. It was the second single off the album. It's described from Roland Olserval, who's the singer and guitar player, as a simple song about protest. And you can see that. But yet it has this big, catchy, programmed drum sequence and bombastic vocals.

00:57:07Some interesting guitar work. This is not a guitar album, but there's interesting guitar work that he does. It's subtle. He does some cool, neat little things. And it sounds like a band, even though it's the 80s. And even though it's got a synth-y sound, it sounds like an organic band, though. The drums are real in places. In places, yeah. It plays on most of the songs, but this is one where he doesn't play. This is that kind of Phil Collins sound, but it's all programmed. It does get a little tedious with the chorus after a while. It does.

00:57:36But it's still a great song. I agree. For me, this is the first of the three. Again, I hold up four fingers. I don't know why. I just can't get that one down. The first of three big songs for me on this album has a crazy hooky chorus, kind of epitomizes what was good about Britpop in the 80s, as we sort of alluded to with the Breakfast Club stuff. It's bright and synthy with big expressive vocals and that 80s affected vocal sound that I can't quite

00:58:06put into words, but you know it when you hear it. It's, oh yeah, that's definitely an 80s tune. I used to roll my eyes at this song, but now I love it. Yeah, it's funny because absolutely the huge hit from this album. And I think there were too many synths in this for me. I've since softened on that. It's catchy and memorable for sure. The outro guitar is simple but tasteful. And John, you're right. There are, you know, initially when you listen

00:58:36to this album, it's obviously not a guitar album. However, there are some very tasteful guitar parts on this album. If you listen for them. If you listen for them, you will find them. And I did. And so, yeah, if you play it, they will hear it. Exactly. And I was there and I did. So, yeah, definitely. So, George, real quick, I have to ask, you've seen them twice live. I have to imagine this song is like big, like when you hear it, not big as I'm like, wow, but just big sound.

00:59:06because of the drum sequencing that they use. And he plays live. The drummer plays this live. But it's a combination of the program drums and the acoustic drums. It has to sound pretty good in a big venue. It almost becomes an AOR song, even though it's not AOR style music. But it becomes an arena song because of that, I think. I saw them once at Verizon and once at Meriwether. Wow. Those are big places. Very cool.

00:59:36All right, so the second song, it's called The Working Hour. This song opens up a kind of a sexy jazz sax kind of subtle sense followed by some program percussion again. It features a lot of big musicians on it. Mel Collins is on saxophone from King Crimson, played with Camel, Alan Parsons, Dire Straits. And now we have to go to our annual or episode.

01:00:06Peter Gabriel reference time. Yes, here we go. Includes Jerry Morata on percussion and saxophone arrangements. He's played with Peter Gabriel. Will Gregory on saxophone, who's known for being in a band called Goldfrap, an English electronic music from London. But he's also worked alongside Tori Amos, Porter's Head, and yes, Peter Gabriel. So there is that Peter Gabriel connection there. I guess we have to, like, every episode now, we have to mention Peter

01:00:36Gabriel in some context. Maybe. Until we end him like the Leviathan was ended on the Metalheads podcast. Chop! Once we finally caught that whale. That whale is floating at the bottom of the ocean now. There's some really cool synths on this. I think this song kind of crescendo reminds me some of the synth sounds off of, believe it or not, Peter Gabriel's Melt album, which doesn't surprise me because this music kind of, I think, is a derivative slightly of

01:01:06that early Peter Gabriel sound in early 80, 81. Not that it's copying at all, but I think Peter Gabriel's on to something that a lot of bands kind of gleaned onto that and used that. There's kind of a signature melody that starts through the song that becomes kind of an earworm. And it has that kind of new romantic style. Do you guys remember that from the late 70s, early 80s? That was really big. You know, Bowie was kind of part of that. He kind of edged that along a little.

01:01:35I like the song I think it's got some interesting things going on it's again not what you expect from this band after you hear their hits they kind of take it a little different direction and I think Roland wears a ball's vocals on this are great I actually enjoy this song a lot yeah me too so the saxophone some pretty serious saxophone playing on this album or on the song I should say and you know it's got this sax beginning with these new agey kind of keys

01:02:05to start the song. It's a chilled out tune. And you mentioned Roland's vocals on this. They, to me, they weren't as prominent on this song. They seem to be like more in the mix, which I was okay with because, you know, it seemed like the song itself was more important than the lyrics. And so I don't know if that was, you know, deliberate or if it was just kind of the way that it worked out.

01:02:35But his vocals didn't seem as like higher up in the mix than the rest of it to me at least. And I was surprised to learn that Jerry Marotta did the percussion and the sax arrangements. So my notes read, Saxy. Where's Matt? Oh, it's Saxy Sauce, no doubt. We just went from Britpop to smooth jazz in one song. These are my notes. So I'm stream of consciousness. Okay.

01:03:05Here comes the Brit Bop bits now. Okay. But it sounds to me like a detective show where the guy is standing near a streetlight at midnight with a fedora and a cigarette. You know? Yeah. It's got that vibe about it. And then I said, and it changed again. I don't know. To me, the song kind of meanders aimlessly to my ears. And when I say aimlessly, I don't mean that in a bad way. I just mean that it's not as cohesive, you know, verse, course, verse.

01:03:36So not aimlessly, just meanders. It's okay, but there's no hook grabbing me. However, towards the end, I noticed that some of the vocals were giving me a Duran Duran, a view to a kill vibe. I was like, eh? Interesting. Yeah, I think this song proves that this album is not what you think it is if you haven't listened to it before. Because it's really not. Yeah, to be sure. Although, the next song we get into is the album you think it is.

01:04:05That is the other huge hit off of this album, which was actually the third single. And I'm still having a hard time believing that. Does nobody like that third song? Because I do. Oh, no. What I'm saying is I'm having a hard time believing that this was the third single, not the first one. Yeah, that's true. I agree. And that is Everybody Wants to Rule the World. When this song came out, no, not having it. Not at all. I was listening to Priest, Black Sabbath, Yes, Rush, Genesis.

01:04:35That was me.

01:04:36They just,

01:04:37this is a song that typified the brooding mid eighties kid at school.

01:04:44You're like,

01:04:44Oh God,

01:04:45they are.

01:04:46I can't listen to their violent fems album.

01:04:48Hey,

01:04:49now I'm not knocking the bands.

01:04:51I'm saying at that time,

01:04:52right.

01:04:52We were hard rock metal guys.

01:04:54I know,

01:04:55but I always liked the violent fems.

01:04:56I absolutely love this song because it's so simple.

01:05:01It's got this great driving beat from the bass and drums.

01:05:04It's got this signature intro again, just like Shout, the way it starts with the synths at the beginning. And actually, it's a last minute addition to the album. This is, I think, the last song that got added to the album that they recorded. And it also features Kurt Smith on vocals. While on the first album, they split the vocals, Kurt Smith and Roland. He sings this one exclusively, and there's no bass on this. It's all synths, so he doesn't actually play the bass on this like he normally does.

01:05:33Yeah, it's synth pop, but it's cool. I like the guitars. They kind of have an edgy, kind of semi-jagged sound, especially during the solo at the end. I think it's interesting that when you watch the video to this, it's another desert feel, like I talked about on the previous Pyromania. But it has the video where he's driving in the desert, and the music kind of sounds like you're in your car just driving on the open road somewhere, where it's not just open road, but open, expansive area, too, on top of that.

01:06:03I love it. I didn't then. Now I think it's a great tune. And it is. It is a great tune if you separate what you like and just think of the song itself. Pure pop brilliance. Yeah. Okay. Now we're talking probably the band's biggest song in my book anyway. We got hooks galore on this bad boy. Such a sing-along song. I really like the break part. It's kind of stereotypical in its placement, the break that is. But I don't care. It's cool.

01:06:33I think mostly about their synth work when I think of these guys, but there's, as John said, there's some really good guitar on here too.

01:06:41Yeah, this is the other huge hit. It's a classic tune. I like the guitar riffs in the middle of the song and it's just chilled out, right? The tune is just chilled out. And it's funny because John, you know, you, you, you kind of, and even George, I think we've, we all kind of, this wasn't our thing when we were coming up in 85.

01:07:03But I think, I don't know, just the nostalgia, I guess the nostalgia piece of this, it is. And it kind of, it changes your whole perspective on this because at the time, this was not my thing. There was too many synths and it just, you know, fake drums and whatever you want to say about it. It just was like, not my thing. But now looking back on it, it's kind of like, yeah, you know, there was some good times.

01:07:33And I remember listening to that and it was kind of the soundtrack of your life while things were happening around you and you heard it everywhere. And while you weren't listening to it full time on your own, you know, CDs or whatever, you know, records and albums that you had at the time, it was just ubiquitous. I mean, you know, you couldn't escape it. And so I think some of that just creeps in without you knowing it, you know, you can't help it.

01:08:01And even though it wasn't kind of my thing, it's okay. This takes me back to 1985. And, you know, when you're growing up and it's like you're a sophomore in high school or whatever, and it's okay. Yeah. That's like a distinct period of your life. And you can't escape that. I'm not stuck in that period now. And that's the difference in 1985. Everything sucked. Now I can look back on this and be like, oh yeah, it's nice. Yeah. You're right. TR.

01:08:31This is by far the most nostalgic part of the album. I remember watching this video. So if this doesn't make sense, maybe to you guys it might, and George, I'm not sure because you said you didn't watch MTV as much initially. I know TR and I were probably glued to it because we're like, wow, what is this? I watched even videos I hated. Exactly. Because you couldn't leave because Maiden might come up next. Or there is that.

01:09:01It could be the crappiest band, but you'd never seen anything like that.

01:09:06So it was just, you couldn't help but watch it. You were transfixed completely.

01:09:11I was.

01:09:12I was too.

01:09:14Even like these stupid songs with stupid videos, it was like nothing you ever saw and you wanted to completely absorb it.

01:09:22I just remember sitting in front of MTV and just like so I didn't have MTV at my house. We lived in the in the in, you know, in the country. So we didn't have cable. And so for me, I had to go over to my friend's houses that had MTV because that was the only place I could see it. And so my buddy Jason had cable and I would go to his house.

01:09:51And of course,

01:09:52he had been watching it for the last 14 hours.

01:09:55So when I would show up,

01:09:56he's like,

01:09:57I don't want to watch this anymore.

01:09:58And I'm like,

01:09:59what are you kidding me?

01:10:00That's all I wanted to do was watch that.

01:10:02I don't want to see you.

01:10:03I just want to watch your TV.

01:10:05Yeah,

01:10:05pretty much,

01:10:06you know,

01:10:06like,

01:10:06come on,

01:10:06man,

01:10:07let's watch MTV.

01:10:08And he,

01:10:08and you know,

01:10:09he had it when you have something,

01:10:12you don't,

01:10:13you know,

01:10:13you don't care about it because it's,

01:10:14you've got it.

01:10:15So it's like,

01:10:15yeah,

01:10:15I can watch that anytime.

01:10:16I don't know.

01:10:17And,

01:10:18but I didn't have it.

01:10:19So for

01:10:21Like, this is incredible. Special treats. Remember, yeah, like being glued to the TV and just wanting to watch hours of it. Even if it was like the dumbest thing. You know, some of these videos were terrible. And when you look back on it, it's like, how is this like fascinating? But yet. Video killed the radio star. Yeah. And you know, it was though, it was fascinating and it did suck you in. Even these songs that you really probably wouldn't listen to the music.

01:10:51But with the video aspect of it, you kind of got pulled in. So yeah, this definitely was one of those songs that kind of had it all, right? Like the video, the music, the hit, the catchy thing, the whole deal. Yeah. And one thing about the video, real quick, is that it was the traditional video of the time, which was there was some backstory that made no sense.

01:11:21some kid who came out from his house on the dirt road. And then it would phase into seeing them playing in a studio, not a studio setup, but like a fake stage setup. Right. You know, and then to go back to the story that made no sense, like how do you ruin the world driving your little Aston Martin or whatever car he was driving, you know, his little thing with the top down. And it was, you just go back to the plan. I want to see the guys playing, you know, and then you're like, that video was kind of cool, but it just,

01:11:51was a weird mix of styles. All right, so we move on to the fourth song in the album called Mother's Talk. This, I believe, is the first single from the album. This is by far the most 80s-sounding song in terms of the big, huge drum sounds, the synthy horns, along with the kind of, which I guess would be patches, I'm not sure, maybe you guys know better than me, and the synth work. It's got a total chorus ear warming,

01:12:21They sing We Can Work It Out, but it's got the big booming drum sound. And it's cool. I like it, but it's definitely the most of that dreaded 80s sound. For the bands we love, like Rush, this is a sound we don't like. Or Genesis, or Yes. For a band like Tears for Fears, it works because it's still within their sphere of what they're trying to do. I do like some of the edgier guitar sounds, again, kind of like

01:12:51Everyone Wants to Rule the World. It's a cool tune. I mean, I don't dislike any tunes on this album. There's some I like more than others. This one's fine. I could see why they would use that as a single. I'm just surprised it's the first single off the album. Yeah, this one was one I actually had forgotten about. And I remember hearing this one on the radio and at parties in college. It's a little too synthy for me and the drums were overproduced. So those things, you know, like you said, it's got that 80s sound.

01:13:21that's just, you know, was kind of an anathema to me. I just did not care for this kind of sound. But as I listened to this song, it was, oh, I remember this, you know, like it's, again, when you don't have this album and you didn't listen to the whole album, but I did remember this track just from being on the radio and stuff.

01:13:44So I didn't think I knew this one and I'm still not sure I did, but the we can work it out part does sound familiar. So maybe I have heard it, you know, and just didn't register it, but it's more peppy than track two. I didn't think it was super hooky, which is what I'm a bit shocked that this was the third signal. I thought it would have been a different track yet to come, but it's kind of interesting.

01:14:13And I said that in the part that I find interesting about it is it feels like a sort of a mashup of two songs at the risk of invoking his name again, a little bit of Peter Gabriel sledgehammer vibe combined with maybe some Prince bat dance, which by this point was not released yet for another couple of years. So, yeah. So they're influencing bat dance. Exactly. It's their fault.

01:14:42This is the one, this song, while I like it now, is the song that what I detested. I did. I almost detested a lot of this music in high school. This is the type of song, not this particular song, but this is the type of music that I was like, I don't get this. I don't like it. Now I'm like, maybe I was wrong about a lot of this stuff. Not all of it. That's the story of my life, Eaton Crow. Yeah. Well, yeah, John, I'm with you on that. Like at the time, I just, I couldn't stand this.

01:15:12But I think nostalgia is a huge thing that really kind of can change your whole perspective. And I think when music kind of relates to a particular time in your life that, I don't know, just music, of course, has the ability to transport you through time, right? And when you hear something, you're instantly transformed.

01:15:43to an earlier time in your life for certain songs. And that's a pretty powerful thing. And so even if you didn't care for the music, the power of time transport is a powerful thing that can kind of overcome some of the, some of the, you know, some of the complaints you might've had about that particular song. And so I find that a lot of people,

01:16:12A lot of these, now don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of 80s synth pop stuff that I still can't stand. Agreed, completely. But there are some that have mellowed over time, like one of those bands is R.E.M. I did not care for them when they came out. They were one of my trigger bands too, and now I love them. Yeah, I've grown to really like that band and the songs from those early songs, or at least up through 89.

01:16:42like Pop Song 89 and some of the tunes like from that whatever that album was green or whatever. Yeah. All that stuff kind of at the time I didn't care for it but from the nostalgia factor kind of changed my view on some of that and this is one of those albums like now don't get me wrong I'm not like oh my god I got it you know Tears for Fear songs for the big cheer I want to have that album so bad it's no but it was really cool to listen to the whole thing and you know

01:17:12I can't hear all of the songs in the context of an album.

01:17:16I enjoyed that.

01:17:17And a lot of the songs that I maybe didn't care for,

01:17:22or just kind of,

01:17:24you know,

01:17:25was present for at the time.

01:17:27Now I kind of have a greater appreciation for them.

01:17:31I can agree with that.

01:17:33All right.

01:17:33So move on to the fifth song.

01:17:36And once again,

01:17:36proving this is not the album you thought it was.

01:17:39If you hadn't heard the whole thing,

01:17:41The fifth song is called I Believe. This is a very kind of somber, emotional song. It's got a jazzy feel to it. And it's a pretty simple song in terms of what's going on. It opens with piano, some quiet hi-hat and snare work, and just rolling, or as of all, vocals. And it's got that kind of, the E note, this is something I've coined for myself, the E note, which has got that emotional

01:18:11to it when you listen to him sing. And it's not a full a cappella song, but it's pretty close to him being an a cappella. Until the song builds up a little bit. It features some interesting saxophone work from Will Gregory on it in the middle of the song. There's not much to say other than you have to listen to it to hear. I watched a live performance he did back in the 80s, and I'm sitting thinking, it's this big, huge room.

01:18:41you know whatever how many hundreds or a thousand people and he's singing that's a lot of pressure not to mess up because he doesn't have anything to cover his voice up on it and i think he does an outstanding job on it i think he's a good singer to begin with because i like his register and everything and he can get high but he doesn't generally go high all the time and this song he kind of has to lay it out it's kind of a cool very i guess it's somber mellow song i hate to use that word mellow because then i think he's like

01:19:11getting high. I'm going to sing a song, dude. It's not that at all. It's just very quiet. So this sounded like a Sade song to me. I mean, honestly, like I don't care for Roland's vocals on this. And I kind of feel like it would have been better with Sade singing it. Honestly, she's a cool operator. Yeah, she he could have been a smooth operator, but it's it's a little too lounge for me.

01:19:40and it doesn't seem to go with the other songs on this album, but okay. I mean, I don't know. I feel like I get what they were trying to do with this song, but I don't feel like they execute well. I just feel like, to me, this is a Sade song to me.

01:19:59I'm glad I'm not alone on this island. I'm sorry for the words I'm about to say, John, but know that I love this band. Don't look so serious.

01:20:09I'm waiting for you to say something. So you think it's shit. Okay, that's fine. No, I just have silly comments. I said, again, these are like stream of conscious notes. I said, ballady song. Barf. That was just like an 80s joke. Makes me think of Wedding Singer and the way the band sings Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? Okay. And there's maybe a little solo George

01:20:39Michael in there, which is not a bad thing. Overall, not one of my favorite songs on the album, but at least there's some socks. All right. Don't have to like everything. All right, we'll move on. The next three songs are actually all tied in together, but I'll talk about this song on its own, but then the next two songs I'll talk together. The next song is called Broken, which is a short song, only two and a half minutes. It was actually

01:21:35It's a reprise after

01:21:39Head Over Heels, which is coming up as the seventh song. But I actually like this song. Hopefully, I'm not the only one who does. But because I think this is the rockier part of the album, where they start to show a different side again. They've literally flipped from synth pop to Sade to now kind of a rock sound. And it's there. And it's a cool instrumental for most of the song. There's some interesting guitar tones I hear that remind me of David Bowie's

01:22:09Scary Monsters album which came out in 80. The lyrics tie in to the following song because they're the lyrics to Head Over Heels which were actually the lyrics to the song Broken that came out a few years prior to that. It's probably the heaviest song in the album that doesn't mean anything for an album like this but it's also the most rock song on the album and I love it and it ties right into the song Head Over Heels which we'll go into next after we talk about this one. Yeah I'm with you John like this to me

01:22:38felt like, okay, this is more like it. You know, like after going through, I believe it was like, okay, let's get back to what this band is about and what they do well. And for me, and yeah, you intros, the theme from the next song, right? You get that theme popping up from head over heels. And that, you know, it makes its appearance in this song, but you're right. Like it's to me, like this had the jamming,

01:23:09guitar parts on the whole album. And, you know, for as short as it was, I thought it was really just jamming out, which I thought was cool. Yeah. I said, cool guitar bit. I was actually initially going to say they did an instrumental, but literally in the last minute, they throw in some vocals. I thought it was a nice segue into head over heels. Yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah. I was just going to say that I kind of felt, man,

01:23:38And, you know, this is kind of cool. Like, why didn't we get this on the single? You know, like, with Head Over Heels, like, it pretty much, I don't remember all that, you know? Was it a single? No. That's what I don't get. See, I thought this was the third single. But, you know, should have been. Somebody at that record label needs to be fired. That's right. The singles were Mother's Talk, Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and the next song, Head Over Heels. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Oh, so it was a single.

01:24:08Head Over Heels was. Yeah, Broken wasn't. Broken wasn't. No, I know, but I thought they were only three. The point I was making was I kind of felt, man, they should have put this before Head Over Heels and make the whole thing the single. Yeah, I get that. It was released as a B-side of a single. Yeah, but like three. I'm saying like, you know, to me, like it introduces the theme. Like it seems like the more complete version of Head Over Heels if this part's in front of it.

01:24:38because it introduces that theme. So I kind of felt it would have been more complete if all of that had been part of the single. You know what I'm saying? One big song. Yeah, exactly. So you're saying that this is the proggier part of the album and this is like the three parts of a single song that's like eight minutes long. That's what I would like on a single. Of course. We all would, TR. That's not how it works. Just us, I think. That thing's going to come up again.

01:25:08I had to hear you flesh it out a little more together.

01:25:10Sorry.

01:25:11I need to clear that up.

01:25:13This is really cool.

01:25:14Then you're like, I want it to be the whole song.

01:25:16Yes, I agree with you.

01:25:18I do.

01:25:18Yeah.

01:25:19What TR means by that is that the underlying piano synth, I guess it's a piano he's doing

01:25:25or off of a synth.

01:25:27Wow.

01:25:27That leads into the next song, Head Over Heels, which was the fourth single.

01:25:31Another song that was played constantly on MTV.

01:25:35It's actually my favorite song in the album because I kind of just like the vibe of the song. It's again, it doesn't sound like the other two big singles off the album. It's just they have a knack for staying in their synth pop world, but each song is just slightly different in where they're going. This is another kind of rock song, but with that 80s sound. I always loved the video, even though it was silly as all hell. To this day, there's that mid-soul

01:26:05Midverse. Yeah, that gets yelled out. I still yell it out every time I hear it. I think it's cool. It's I just I like the vibe of the song. It's a little different. It feels more organic. This part of the album feels more organic. Feels like there's a full band playing all the time. It's mid paced. And yes, there is that whole law chorus gang singing thing going on. I give this song a pass because I like this song so much. It goes on a little too long for me.

01:26:35is it breaks back into Broken. It's kind of a live reprise at the end, which has got this kind of cool little drum bit that goes on that, you know, kind of digital sound that comes in at the end. And so you reprise back into Broken, as Tiara was mentioning. So you kind of go back to the previous song, which they had split in half and they kind of bookended around Head Over Heel. So I put those two together. While Broken reprise is not listed on a lot of the albums,

01:27:05It's basically a song at the end. The single for Head Over Heels stops at the end of the Head Over Heels part. It doesn't include that broken part. But now you hear it sometimes on Sirius XM, you know, on the 80s channel. They'll play the whole bit. I was just going to say this is obviously another big hit. I like this one for the most part. It got overplayed, but it's been a while since I heard it. I like the broken reprise. It gives the song more context because, again, you know, you get broken.

01:27:35and you get the theme, it introduces it, and then you get the bookend on the backside. It just, it gives the whole thing more context to me. And I felt, I wish they, like, I wish the whole thing had been like what they had released. Cause then it would have been like, this kind of goes on a journey. It takes you a little, it's not as, it's not as obvious as head over heels, right? That's the single. And that's what we got. But like, when you listen to the album and you listen to broken head over heels, and then the reprise at the

01:28:32And while they're

01:28:35They have that proggy pop thing going on a little bit. They don't have the traditional bubblegum pop choruses. The fact that they did that with this, I think kind of does set them apart. And it foreshadows what's coming up on the subsequent albums where they definitely get kind of proggy and kind of beat Alaska almost on their stuff. I love this one. I think I prefer their airy British pop compared to when

01:29:05to get fancy, but dang these hooks. You get lucky if you write one hook of this caliber in your life, and they have at least three on this album. So this is epic.

01:29:17And they have a knack for creating memorable lyrics in their choruses. So all those three songs shout, everybody wants to rule the world and head over heels. I remember all those choruses. I can't remember lyrics from any songs. I just, I'm terrible at it. I remember all of them.

01:29:36All right, so the final song. This is my least favorite song on the album. There's not much to say. It's called Listen. It ends, it's a kind of a synth pop meets experimental type song. It's got this ethereal feel to it with some of the guitar work, their melodic guitars, and these quiet synths and piano. I don't know if you guys will like this because it's similar to, I believe, this time Kurt Smith actually sings a song.

01:30:03There's kind of some operatic vocal arrangements towards the end of the song. For me, it didn't do too much. It's kind of a weird ending. I almost wish that they had written a different song on the album and end it with the reprise of Broken with the crowd cheering at the end. That would have been kind of a cool way to end the album for me, from my perspective. Yeah, I agree with you, John. This song really lets the album down to me. This had a Phil Collins kind of sounding beginning.

01:30:35Yeah, the riff reminded me of Against All Odds. I love that song. What are you talking about? That's kind of like what this riff was almost. But it's not as the tempo is not the same. No, it's a little slower. No, it's very. Yeah, it's definitely slower. But that's that was the kind of vibe I got from it. And this song didn't do a lot for me. And it didn't seem to go anywhere. And the super high vocals at the end were just grating to me. It was trying to be soulful, but not really get it.

01:31:05this just seemed like background music for a Miami Vice episode.

01:31:09So I just, I don't disagree with that.

01:31:12I couldn't do it.

01:31:13You know, I'm going there too.

01:31:15Yeah.

01:31:15It's just a weird ending to the album.

01:31:18Yeah.

01:31:19I said, they're closing on another ballad.

01:31:22The music is kind of interesting, but honestly, music actually.

01:31:26Yeah.

01:31:26And honestly, this sounds like it should be an intro track to the album, not a closer.

01:31:31And maybe like it's been on every 80s soundtrack ever. Specifically, maybe a brooding lethal weapon sequence. You know, Mel Gibson's my girlfriend is at the bottom of the pier and those cougar hands. Oh, those cougar hands. And, you know, and that's the music they're playing. I just can't picture Daniel or, you know, singing like to this song, but singing, you know, I'm too old.

01:32:04I can't sing to save my life. He only had

01:32:07three more days till retirement.

01:32:10He was only like 48 when he filmed that too, by the way. Shut up.

01:32:14So yeah, I agree with you guys on this. This one didn't do it for me.

01:32:18Whereas I do like I Believe I Know You Guys Don't.

01:32:20That was a shorter song, so maybe that's why it worked better for me.

01:32:24But it almost feels like this could have been two minutes

01:32:27and could have led into another song, kind of like

01:32:30broken,

01:32:30led into head over heels.

01:32:33So I,

01:32:33I agree Terry summed it up.

01:32:35It is a little bit of a letdown because you just did this epic prog esque seven and a half minute,

01:32:42three part song.

01:32:43Yeah.

01:32:44I mean,

01:32:44but while I'm not wild about every song on the album,

01:32:47I'm a big fan of tears for fears,

01:32:48the band.

01:32:49And I think they've got a lot of good stuff.

01:32:51So,

01:32:51you know,

01:32:53I like what I like.

01:32:54I don't have to like it all.

01:32:55Oh,

01:32:55yeah.

01:32:56I'll say overall,

01:32:57I like this album.

01:32:58The Last Song lets it down a little, but the other songs are pretty strong and enjoyable. Like, you know, I'd never listened to this album, John, so I really appreciate you picking it because, again, it was one that it turned out I was actually familiar with a lot of it. I know, isn't that crazy? Yeah, that was a kind of a big surprise to me because I really, you know, when I thought of Tears for Fears, obviously, you know, it's, oh, yeah, I remember that tune. And then you hear another one, you're like, oh, yeah, I remember that. And next thing you know, it's like half the album's gone and you're like,

01:33:29I know all these songs. So that was kind of a surprise, but yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much I would reach for it, but overall I enjoyed listening to it and I, you know, I listened to it multiple times in preparation for this, but yeah, I thought it was pretty, pretty decent. Yeah. And I'll say it one last time. I kind of beat it over like a dead horse a little bit, but it really is not the album you think when you think of just like shouting, everybody wants to rule the world. I mean, there's, yeah.

01:33:58It kind of goes in a lot of different directions. And it's not. If I thought about this album in the 80s, I would think every song sounded like everybody wants to rule the world. Yeah. Boy, I would be 100% wrong. But it does epitomize the 80s. It does. I agree. It does. And that's why it reminded me of all those movies, I think. All right. The final album of this episode is the album I'm bringing to the table, which is.

01:34:28Mars Volta, Deloused in the Comatorium. This album was released on June 24, 2003. So recent. Yeah. How about that? Weird. Only 20 years ago. It's hard to believe. I'll tell you what, it sounds fresh as the day it came out. This is the first full-length album by this band, led by vocalist and lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez,

01:34:58Hardcore Band at the drive-in. D-Laust is an hour-long concept album that is an intense mix of numerous musical styles and has been classified as progressive and art rock. The lyrics tell the story of Serpent Taxed, and when the album first came out, you could send away for a lyric book from the independent record company that released the album, Gold Standard Laboratories. The story is supposed to be somewhat inspired by the death of Bixler Zavala's friend, Julio Venegas.

01:35:28who died in 1996.

01:35:31The lyric book has the entire story along with the lyrics from each of the songs on the album.

01:35:37Written by Bixler Zavala with some input from band member Jeremy Ward,

01:35:41the tale is hard to follow and is nearly incomprehensible due to Bixler Zavala's made-up words

01:35:47and use of words that give a visual or sound impression but don't necessarily make any sense.

01:35:53It actually reminds me of early Yes where John Anderson would put words together that sounded good but didn't make any sense together. Yours is no disgrace, right? Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are. Shining flying purple wolfhound show me where you are. What does that mean? It doesn't matter because it sounds cool, right? So the music is intense and energetic throughout but the band employs dynamics for ebbs and flows in the album.

01:36:22So this is a band that I've tried listening to a few times in the past and just never got into. So I was hoping that maybe this time would be the time I get the band. Will I? We'll see. John. Never have listened to a full song from this band until I put this album on two weeks ago. Never. Never have I ever. Okay. And every time I saw pictures of them,

01:36:52I just said, dude, when did MC5 come back? If you don't know what I mean by that, go look at some live footage of MC5. I used to play those outdoor shows. There's a lot of hair. I think I saw them once. They opened for Soundgarden. Really? MC5 opened for them? No. Mars Volta. I was going to say, I didn't know those guys were around. So I have definitely a different take on this band. I never got the hype behind the band.

01:37:22And I just never ventured into it. So I'm glad I got a chance to listen to it. But I'll save all my comments, you know, for each song. I just can't wait for TR to actually pronounce these songs. Yeah. The first song is Son et Lumière. Whoa! Which is French for sound and light. This short tune sets the stage with a fade in of guitar going back and forth between two notes, a vocal melody, and a highly syncopated drum riff. It launches right into the next song.

01:37:52which we'll cover in a moment. But I don't know if you guys had any thoughts about this little tiny intro piece. So I said that the production on this album is quite a bit better than the previous two albums, but that's because this is about 20 years newer. So I'm digging the music for this. And it was at this point as I was typing that I realized that this is really just an intro track for the next song. So. So you skipped it and went right to two. Nope.

01:38:22I listened. There's not much to hear. I mean, it's only a couple of minutes. So it's not even that. I think it's, yeah, it's a minute and a half. Maybe. I don't know. So yeah. Go ahead. Are you done, George? I am. Okay. Yeah. This, this track didn't do anything for me at all because it's an intro track and it's the buildup and it's no different than the following song. And I'll be honest, I didn't even realize that the second song had started because I thought it was still the same song. I think it was the same. Yeah. Yeah. And I,

01:38:52I understand why they broke it up. So this to me is the broken and head over heels of this album. Because these two songs really could just be one song, but I understand why they would break it up because the next song was the big single from the album. Or the song that everyone talks about. This is one of the big ones. And it's Inertiatic ESP. This song has soaring vocals, intense guitar parts, and electric piano keyboard riffs.

01:39:22Immediately, this does not sound like anything I had ever heard before.

01:39:26It's progressive in that it doesn't conform to typical songwriting norms.

01:39:31The lyrics don't make sense, but they are sung with such conviction that it doesn't matter.

01:39:37After the initial part of the song, it chills out a little and musically goes on a journey with backwards mass guitars and odd sounds.

01:39:48In the past, the vocals were always the thing I couldn't wrap my ears around. And right away, I remembered why. But what's interesting is that his vocals also remind me of my chemical romance. And while I'm not what I would call a big fan of my chemical romance, I do really love their album, The Black Parade. So maybe the vocal connection I'm making between these two will help me to acclimate to this guy.

01:40:18I mean, I hate to say it, but in the olden times back in the day, I didn't like Rush because of Getty. So things change. So the music on this track is pretty banging. And at this point, I was starting to wonder if maybe I'd been giving these guys a bad rap. So we'll see. All right. Now, don't hate me here. Okay. I'm not a big fan of his vocals at all. Now, I do point out where I do think he does a nice job, but it's a little much

01:40:48for me. It's too much. Yeah. But I list this album four times. So I actually, this album has gotten more listens than any album we've done up to this point. Wow. Because I didn't know the music. And this album takes more than a couple listens to start to recognize. No, that's an understatement, dude. Because yeah, you're right. No, to recognize the music, meaning to finally absorb it so that when you hear it, you're like, ah, I remember this part from the last time I listened. So the opening track, it's got this punchy mix of

01:41:20and almost hardcore rock going on. There's a lot. So the guitars are jagged and very kind of hardcore sounding. But then these keyboards in the background are kind of this cool psychedelic sound, which is what I did like about the album. The part that I don't like about this band. And it happens in this song, actually, the song is short. There's way too much wasted space on this album for me. So a lot of the songs have these long outros.

01:41:48of just noise. And I'd rather have those clipped off as tracks than to be on the songs, to be honest with you. Because I get a little lost on albums. Not just them. I get lost in albums when there's about a minute and a half of just slow fade out and noise. This song, it's short, but there's a few other songs where I'm like, damn. If it was Eddie Van Halen playing it out, you'd be all right with that. That would be different. This is, John, I totally get what you're saying because there are a number of

01:42:18songs on this album where they degenerate into kind of sound manipulation and beats and strange, peculiar, you know, noises. And, and, you know, while you might think it's a lot on this album, it even, it permeates their subsequent albums to the point where I couldn't even stand it myself. So, so, so yeah, that, that'll be a topic for,

01:42:48you know another time but or later on this in this segment but yeah so yeah i get where you're coming from on that yeah it's not as bad on this song because the song is short but it starts with this song yeah so yep so the next tune is called roulette dares the haunt of and this is a somewhat frenetic tune to start but then mellows out with beautiful melodies heavy use of dynamics and then a semi psychedelic midsection

01:43:19And then it chills out again and builds again. And then it ends lightly. And this tune makes use of the term exoskeletal. Yes. Thank you. I clipped my note to the wrong song, but thank you for pointing that out. So I'll just, since I'm already talking. Yeah. This is one of the songs I ended up liking a lot. And it's actually part of the album. I liked a lot right in here. And I agree with you. It does have that frenetic.

01:43:48But then they go into this really kind of cool ebb and flow type of jam. They seem to have controlled jamming that goes on during some of the longer songs, which is kind of neat. It's almost like Santana meets like modern or postmodern rock in a sense, because there's this cool Latin vibe to some of the songs with the percussion. And I'm not mocking them when I say that about Santana. I'm not a Santana fan, but I do like when,

01:44:18He would go in these long, kind of, not blown out, but drawn out jams. You know, Greg Raleigh playing these cool keyboards and they're kind of swirly psychedelic keyboards. They do that here in some of these songs. But then they add this kind of jagged edge to the actual music and the guitar playing. Sometimes the guitar tones get a little bit for me after a while because it's the same tone, but it's still kind of cool. And this one definitely, after the third listen, I was like, okay, I,

01:44:47This is a song I like on the album, which I thought was cool. And I do the ebb and flow of heavy, fast, slow, kind of cool melody type thing they do. So I said, as we arrive at track three, I'm honestly surprised that TR likes this band. This seems like it should be outside your comfort zone in some ways because it's just so crazy. But then I'm like, it's kind of proggy too. So, okay.

01:45:18My Chemical Progmance. This is a cool tune, and it definitely veers off into some avant-weird stuff, but musically, this is definitely cool, especially when you listen on Heavies headphones. Heavies.com. This kind of feels like two songs in one. I feel like the end is far from where the song began, which I think is probably another way of saying what John said is the outros are really long. Yeah. Clip that last 15 to 20 seconds.

01:45:48Okay. George, I'm looking forward to whenever you pick a My Chemical Romance album because honestly, I've never listened to them, so I have no idea what you're talking about. Damn it, TR, you just screwed me. Yeah, I'm sorry, dude. But John, don't you agree that he kind of sounds like him? Yeah, I think the guy, as I told you from My Chemical Romance, is a smoother singer. I think he's a better singer. But he has that high... He does, yes. So you should listen to them.

01:46:17Yeah, maybe so. Just the Black Parade. That's the only good album. Everything else is garbage. Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay. They got the power punk kind of emo thing going a little bit. No, they're definitely emo. But the Black Parade is different because it's sort of a classic rock, punk, rock, cabaret thing because it's a concept album. And so if they haven't yet, it really should be.

01:46:46a Broadway show because it plays out like it. The songs, they have a more punk rock emo, but to me, it's Pink Floyd, The Wall meets Green Day's American Idiot. Got the punk, the Green Day punk, but the storytelling of The Wall. Yeah. George, is that where they were wearing those outfits? They remind me of like modern day Beatles outfits or something, like Sgt. Pepper's.

01:47:16like bleach blonde real short. Okay. Yeah. That's what I thought. And it's an, you know, I didn't like the stuff before it. I didn't like the stuff after it, but that particular album is amazing. Really is good. Make us listen to it. Maybe I will. The next song is Tirame a las Arañas, which is Throw Me to the Spiders. It's a short instrumental odd guitar piece that essentially serves as

01:47:46Intro to the next song. Yeah, it does. Yeah. It's kind of like one of those interstitial Jethro Tull songs. It sounds nothing like the Jethro Tull songs, but it's just a little thing to put in between the other songs. That's funny you said that because I said it reminds me of when Porcupine Tree on the 90s stuff would put those little interludes in between songs to tie them so they'd have a theme, but they didn't do much. They just,

01:48:16Yeah, it was just to not have silence in between. And to connect the songs together. So yeah, I mean, I dislike it, but there's not much happening. It's, you know, guitar work and everything. Yeah. I wrote twice as much as the infamous Spinal Tap Review. I wrote four words. Here it comes. Psychedelic cowboy filler track.

01:48:46Who said that? You can't say that. That's just nitpicking. It's nitpicking. All right. The next song that it introduces is Drunk Ship of Lanterns. This song initially has an early Santana feel to it. Yeah, definitely. Acrobatic vocals, almost funky Latin jazz rock. It's got atypical guitar work that borders on atonal, but they keep it together. Searing, driving,

01:49:18and it degenerates into sound manipulation and a beat.

01:49:23Which again, John, I understand how, you know, okay, do we really need that part at the end?

01:49:29But the rest of it is really, I think, pretty cool.

01:49:32I agree. This is my favorite song on the album.

01:49:34And my first line right away feels like early Santana meets Psychedelia meets the 2000s alternative sound.

01:49:42Yeah, the vocals still not working for me on this, but I love the guitar tones.

01:49:47I like that kind of desert-y sound, that little stoner rock thing he does just a little bit, but then it goes into different areas. I've loved the mix a lot in music. I don't want to call it a psychedelic album, but they do some kind of psychedelic thing. Oh, yeah. It gets sprinkled in. Yeah, and this is not Prague with a capital P. This is Prague with a lowercase p, which means it's, like you said, progressive in that they're doing stuff that is moving forward in their sound that nobody else is doing.

01:50:15Not traditional progressive. So don't get mixed up in that. I agree that the jam from four and a half minutes to just when the noise starts at six, it's the best part of the album. I think it's really cool. I love their controlled jamming, which usually when you listen to the 70s bands, they're jamming, they're high and they're just on stage like, you know, like that. It's like, all right, hippie jam fest, you know, kind of thing. So yeah, I like when they jam.

01:50:42Yeah. I said, okay, this song is pretty weird. And that's actually endearing to me. Okay. By now I've accepted the vocals for what they are. And the music is just so bizarre that I can't not like it. What I don't get so far is how popular this band seemed to be when this album came out. I saw it everywhere. Yet to me, this is not music. I would expect the masses to fall in line behind. So I'm curious about that.

01:51:12But anyway, I think it's a really cool track, and I love all the many things going on throughout this. They were a Rolling Stone band, weren't they? When this came out? I wouldn't doubt it, but I don't remember for sure. I just remember it was a huge splash when it came out. The first two albums were. And the critics really loved it. And I can see why, because, I mean, this came out. I just remember, you know, hearing this and getting my mind blown. Like, just, I'd never heard anything like this.

01:51:42But Joe Schmo on the street ain't gonna get it. I agree with you, George, because honestly, so there are parts of these songs where it does, there is like a almost a pop aspect of the way he's singing and the lyrics and the, you know, the melodic nature of parts of these songs. It draws you in and you get, you know, you get kind of sucked in on it. But overall, there's no radio hits here. No, and not only that, but there's nothing to sing along with, you know. Yeah.

01:52:42now and is a big collectible to Mars Volta fans.

01:52:46But I remember receiving that book from gold standard laboratories and looking at those lyrics and looking at the story that went with it.

01:52:55And in some ways it, I mean, there's, you want a connection, John.

01:53:01This reminded me of 2112 in that if you got the gatefold album of 2112, there were passages in between the songs that told the story of what was going on in 2112. And it was more than just the lyrics of the songs. There was a storyline that went through the whole side A of that album. And this Mars Volta lyric book,

01:53:31had this story of serpent taxed as he's going through whatever and interspersed throughout this story were these lyrics to the songs which as i said i sent you guys the pdf to that but when you look at first of all when you read any of it it's so hard to read because these words like some of the words are made up some of the words don't even exist some of the words like don't make sense in the context that they're used

01:54:01But it all kind of has a feel and a vibe to it that kind of transcends all that because of the way he delivers it and the way that it marries up to the music. And so it's hard to explain, but it was such a phenomenon when this album came out that I was instantly drawn to this. I liked the guy's lyrics. I liked the guy's sound. I liked his vocals.

01:54:29I know you guys you know it sounds like you kind of it was like that was a little hard for you guys it's so funny to me because like there have been things that we've all listened to where you guys have liked the vocals and I just was like I can't not I can't abide but yet like with this one I just I love like the his high vocals because I feel like they they I don't know I think he sounds great it's probably just a an acquired taste yeah exactly I think it's it's like a personal preference thing because the music

01:54:59is amazing.

01:55:01Hands down.

01:55:01Yeah.

01:55:02We all hear,

01:55:02we all hear things differently.

01:55:04So,

01:55:04yeah.

01:55:05So just quick sidebar pulled out my 2112.

01:55:08Yes.

01:55:08I see that.

01:55:10I have not left the cave for days now.

01:55:13That's the first,

01:55:13that's the first kind of story I saw.

01:55:16I was like,

01:55:17I'm going to go back and read this again.

01:55:19You better read that again because that was,

01:55:21I'll tell you what,

01:55:21John,

01:55:22when I got that gateful to 2112 and discovered that there was like this

01:55:27whole story that I didn't know.

01:55:29I just remember it was revelatory. There's this whole story that like, you know, yeah, you can listen to all the lyrics, but there's this whole other thing that was written that, you know, if you didn't have this gatefold record, you wouldn't even know about it. So I would just remember getting that and thinking, man, this is like a whole nother story like that. The whole backs up the whole lyrics. It was, yeah. Does it explain about the intergalactic police at the end? It's the intergalactic police. It's the galactic empire.

01:55:59Yeah, whatever. I was looking for the lyrics, but I couldn't find it. And it has the greatest back cover photo ever. Oh, no. Don't break out the kimonos. I'm not talking about the kimonos. Oh, okay. Good. All right. I guess we better get back on track here because all of our 20 or 30 listeners are probably thinking, when are we going to get back to this story? Well, if they're Metalheads podcast listeners as well, they know that it will get there eventually. Yes.

01:56:28They're patient and loving. They've gotten crazy. I appreciate that. Okay, so the next track is called Areotarka. This is another song with beautiful melodies and guitar sound effects, shimmering tones. It gets going and sounds somewhat frenetic again, and it definitely takes you on a journey. Alternately intense and chilled out, John Theodore's drumming on this song and this album is crisp throughout. The guitars are used to paint a sound palette.

01:56:59And it ends with sounds that transition to the next song. Yeah, I like this song too. I like the nice slowdown with the quieter vocals, the swirly kind of psychedelic guitars. This is an ethereal feel to it. At first, it builds into a nice heavy section. I think his vocals are better on this song. This is where I can, the level I can take him. And I wish he had sang a little bit more like this, although I realize their songs are more frenetic and require a different thing from him.

01:57:29when he sings. But yeah, this one grew on me. But I'm going to keep complaining about it. Kill that last 30 seconds. I mean, it's cool once in a while, but when it's every song, it just it's a vibe for me personally. People might like that. It's a vibe killer for me. Just me. So. So I said there's a cool guitar intro. It's a little trippy sounding, but so far this might be the most quote unquote normal track. Still weird. But.

01:57:59But it's a good weird. And suddenly we make an accidental right turn into a whole lot of love. We're back. I don't know what that was, but, you know, I was expecting hi, hi, hi, hi. Yeah. So there is like a, there is a Zeppelin element to this in this album. So yeah, I can hear that. I know what you're talking about there. All right. The next tune is Cicatrice ESP.

01:58:29It's the longest song on the album. It's another epic track

01:58:33with the trippy guitar jam, a chilled out section, and then the quiet guitar sound effects section, then into a Santana style jam.

01:58:43I've defected.

01:58:45To which country?

01:58:46That's the main lyric. I've defected.

01:58:49Oh, thought you were leaving us for another podcast.

01:58:51No, I'm not defecting. I'm just, I've defected is the main lyric that you might remember from this song.

01:58:58Okay. Do you have any more to say about it? Nope. That's about it. Okay. I mean, it is the longest song and it is like a, you know, they kind of do that cool Santana style jam at the end. Yes. This was the first song at this point in the album where I'm like, okay, I've heard this before on the album. So it didn't grab me as much early on in the song. I was like, eh, been there, done that. But I agree. When you get to that Santana-esque type and almost Zappa-esque too a little bit, you know, because I know that

01:59:28that Zappa was an influence on the band a little. It's a nice mix of that. That's when I liked them the most. But sorry, gonna complain again. Then we get to six minutes in the song and let's just kill the vibe of the song for three minutes or whatever it is, or two minutes or whatever of just noise. Because I'm like, go back to the jam. Or at least go back to the main part of the song at the beginning because I thought they did a really nice job of tying it back to the main.

01:59:58you know structure of the song and so to me it really it just gets a little too artsy for me and don't get me wrong i love my pretentious artsy rock i will not try snobby about that stuff oh it's coming yeah i'm sure i just feel like the song at nine minutes would have been more epic to me than at 12 because even though i wasn't so big on the the beginning part of the song it is a big huge song on the album in terms of how you feel

02:00:28when you listen to it.

02:00:29And so get rid of that noise or lack thereof noise.

02:00:35So this music is really difficult to try to explain to someone that hasn't heard it.

02:00:41There's so much going on and so many changes and there's just no basis for comparison that comes to mind for me.

02:00:48But this is epic and makes one almost, it almost makes sense of supper's ready.

02:00:58Just kidding. I think this one makes a little more sense. What? There's no flower in the south. No. The guitar playing. Even F.R. draws a line there. That was just a jab for fun. The guitar playing and other musical bits are really cool. In the middle, we veer back into a whole lot of love again. Slight return. I see what they're doing here. They built in a bathroom break for people at their shows. A few minutes of ambient sounds while people

02:01:28themselves and then back to rocking out. See, that's what you should have done, John. Just, yeah. No. You could trip to the bathroom and then come back. No, I'll tell you why. Because you've got these cool Latin vibes on the album. And I want to hear more of that. That's like their prescription for the album. It's not Calabell. It's Latin vibes. Yeah. And they do a nice job of mixing old style music from the 70s with new style music from modern.

02:01:582000s. And I want more of that, personally. I like the weird Zappa-esque stuff they do that's mixed in with the Santana cool vibes. And then add all this crazy, jagged guitar sounds. That's what I want. I don't want... For two minutes. Yeah. No, I get it. Just me. I agree. And I'm with you on that. So moving on, we go to This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed. Which is the easiest title.

02:02:28of any song on the album. Perhaps, yes. It's another frenetic tune with good use of dynamics. Unconventional guitar passages. It's got backwards masked drums at the end. Kind of like Def Leppard? What? Oh, oh, oh. Yeah, that's a fair comment. Nice. Yep, just a very strange piece here. Oh, yeah, this one didn't do so much for me as much. What I got from this song,

02:02:58is that, here we go, another band tying, although this one's a little closer. They remind me of Catatonia a little bit on this song, in this song's structure. Catatonia's always got those big, beefy parts, and then they go into these real kind of somber, quiet, like, dub parts, you know? I just, am I saying that's what it is? It just reminded me of that. That's interesting. I had not thought of that. But they do that a little bit. They do. That's not uncommon for a

02:03:28A Lot of Bands do that. I thought the guitar soul in the midsection had an interesting kind of avant-garde feel to it, which was kind of cool. You know, again, I'm going to complain about wasting time, but you know, this one didn't get me as much. I like parts of it. Excuse me, I have to get into the right voice. This is a long album. Fatigue starting to set in. It continues to rock, but there is so much going on in this album.

02:03:58It's getting difficult to focus. Nice dissonant guitar bit towards the middle, though. There's a lot of interesting parts on this album. I hope they saved some for the second album. All right. We're getting toward the end, George. And the second to last song is called Televators. I like that. Yeah. It starts quietly. It's got a beautiful melody. It's kind of got absurd lyrics. But again, they're sung with great conviction.

02:04:28It's got congas and other percussion and layers of vocal melodies, call and response, interstitial sounds to bridge into the final song. I said, bird sounds, a little sanity break, refreshing. I like the laid back feel of the first few minutes. Will it last? It did. This is probably the closest thing to a normal song so far. It was nice.

02:04:58Yeah, I said similar. I said, this is not a ballad, but it's the closest thing to that song structure, which probably just means it's the closest thing to a non-frenetic song on the album. Yeah. Yeah. And while again, I'll bet you about the time at the end, that's kind of noise. It does tie into the song coming up. So yeah, I can live with that here.

02:05:20So that leads us into the final song called Take the Veil Serpentaxed. And again, you get atypical guitar lines. You get a swinging beat, catchy riffs, great energy. And then it gets really quiet. And then a strangely picked guitar section leads to an odd computerized sounding onslaught that goes into a really cool 70s groove jam. I like Ike Owens' keyboards here.

02:05:50and throughout the album.

02:05:52The song launches back into an earlier theme and then ends with another syncopated staccato drum driven riff.

02:06:00Yeah, I like how they got punchy and punky again at the end a little bit.

02:06:06This is the why I keep bringing up the MC5.

02:06:09This is a song that reminds me of a modern version of that band.

02:06:12If you don't know MC5, you're going to check out like kick out the jam.

02:06:16It's got that kind of attitude.

02:06:17That's what I mean when I reference MC5.

02:06:21Yeah, I kind of like the kind of cool proggy technical playing there at the middle of the song, which is the first time on the album where I'm actually saying, oh, it's proggy to me. And in terms of old like capital P prog more so than lowercase p. Yeah, the instrumental section is great. I love the psychedelic vibe. The guitar work is nice. Love the Latin vibes again in the percussion. And I like how the song kind of ends the way the album actually starts with

02:06:50which is this kind of it fits back up with that frenetic part at the beginning at the end which is i think kind of appropriate after you just got taken on this wild roller coaster ride of music i said the beginning guitars sound like voivod forgot to bring their distortion pedals to the studio all sorts of weird chords and stuff is the point but yeah it's cool i like it that's all i got

02:07:21Okay, overall, I love this album because there are so many cool things happening and all the musicians on it are playing at a high level and you get Flea on bass. In my opinion, the band's subsequent albums wouldn't surpass this one. They got even more experimental and weird on some of them and, John, those weird kind of passages of weird sounds and strange tones that they would do kind of even became

02:07:50more prevalent on some of the songs on the following albums. Now, are those songs more like that? Meaning they're kind of noisy? Yes, exactly. So the next album called Francis the Mute had a song called Francis the Mute that was like 20 minutes long. And because they actually didn't have time on the album to put that song Francis the Mute, the song that was,

02:08:19the album was named for didn't get onto the album. It was released as a B-side to a single that they put out from that album. And I later took that song and made it into two edits because there was so much noise and kind of just wasted time on the song that it was just... John feels validated. Yeah, I will tell you, like,

02:08:49You take all that stuff out and now you've got some really cool songs. And Rick Rubin produced this album, Deloused in the Comatorium. And if you read a little bit about it, they said, well, you know, he kind of simplified, he wanted us to simplify things. And, you know, he kind of, you know, changed the way we wanted it to be. But I think I think that he did the right thing. Exactly.

02:09:19He, you know, he, I don't know, they have put out, so Mars Volta has put out their demos for this album, and they do sound different. They sound pretty close in a lot of ways, but to me, like what Rick Rubin did, and that's another guy that's just amazing to me. Rick Rubin is a guy that like... Has a great beard. He does, but he also,

02:09:50He understands music and he understands artists and he understands how to get the best out of an artist, I think, and how to crystallize what that artist is about and help them to achieve a sound that is uniquely them. And so, so anyway, I think it's an interesting pairing because, you know, this band and him, it's just kind of,

02:10:19It's pretty interesting. And then, you know, just to finish it off, I, you know, I, they were outstanding live. I saw them on the D Laos tour at the 930 club in DC. And then again, in 2005, 2006 and 2009. I also liked the fact that they had storm Thurgesson artwork on their albums, which kind of, you know, was gave it a kind of a Pink Floyd feel because, you know, he did a lot of the art for the Pink Floyd albums.

02:10:48And so you get that kind of vibe from the art to include the singles that they released for some of their albums because he did the artwork for that as well. Is that like hypnosis? Yes, exactly. Yeah. I'm glad that you picked this, although probably not an album I'll reach for. And I don't know if I'll venture to the other stuff, but I did some of the songs as I started to listen more. I got what they were doing musically, not big on the vocals so much.

02:11:17Here's where I'll confuse you guys and maybe the listeners. I actually am more interested in listening to those other albums to hear what the noise sounds like than I am with the noise on this album. Because I do listen to a lot of ambient and dark ambient music, experimental stuff. But that's what that is. Yeah. I'm already expecting that. You don't want it as a byproduct. Yeah. And so I hate to bitch about it so much because I did. But it just because I was really digging on them.

02:11:49I would like this.

02:11:50I would like this.

02:11:50Jamming out, right?

02:11:50Yeah.

02:11:51And I watched some of their live stuff.

02:11:52And when they did jam out, I was like, this is cool.

02:11:54I like this.

02:11:55And so that's what I wanted to hear more of.

02:11:57And that's just a personal preference.

02:11:58Some people might like that.

02:11:59But I'm glad I got the chance to listen to it because I'd never listened to them before.

02:12:03And now I don't know how much I'll venture.

02:12:06I mean, I know that their two big albums are their first two in terms of how people rate them and what they like.

02:12:14So I might venture some more.

02:12:16We'll see.

02:12:16But I'm glad you picked it.

02:12:17Thank you. Yeah. Cool. Definitely. Thank you for making me listen to this. Okay. Fine. Fine. I'll say it. I like Mars Volta. What? At least for this album. Okay. That's fair. Is the rest of their stuff good? That was my partings was like, so I will say, I want to listen to more at this point. Yeah. So I, what I would do, George is I would go and listen to some of the singles from the following album. They had singles.

02:12:47They did have singles and actually some of them like there's a song called the widow wax simulacra. There were you know a few songs that were actually kind of focused and I don't want to call them pop but you know a lot more kind of normal traditional yeah exactly where you can kind of get the feel but it still had the flavor of what you hear on this album. So there are some tracks out there.

02:13:17that you probably would dig. Excellent. I'll check it out then. Cool. I'm glad you guys at least, you know, appreciated this somewhat. Oh, no. I, you know. Basically, I have no problem with it at all. I like it. Yeah, me too. You know, it took a little while to acclimate to the vocals, but after that, I mean, the music's cool throughout. Absolutely. Yeah. The vocals are always the demarcation line for fans. Yeah. And for all of us, right? You know, we all have what we kind of,

02:13:47get drawn toward or things that like we can't stand and i think it's kind of funny like how you know each of us kind of has their own thing where it's like oh i love this and the other guys are like yeah i don't know about that i don't like how high he sings okay bye i'm gonna go listen to king diamond now yeah exactly nobody said we were consistent no and that's the funny thing because i'm finding like so

02:14:16So that's the exact thing. John, you hit on

02:14:21a point that

02:14:23I feel is

02:14:25a conundrum for me

02:14:27when we're talking about certain

02:14:29albums where

02:14:31for example,

02:14:33we listen to Fair Warning

02:14:35and you listen to Dirty Movies

02:14:37and they're hooping it up

02:14:39and it sounds like you're at a strip club.

02:14:42But then,

02:14:44I don't know,

02:14:45War Babies will have some song about, you know, whatever, about the ladies or whatever. Did they have a song about the ladies? I don't know. I'm sure that there was something in there. Don't talk down to my band. He meant to say Still Panther, George. Okay, that'll work. But my point is that, like, how is it okay for that, you know, for Van Halen Dirty Movies, but like a similar topic, you know, with another band,

02:15:15And now it's not okay? What's the deal there? Why am I suddenly like, oh, well, I can't accept this because this isn't Van Halen. Wait a minute. It's no different. The theme and what they're talking about and the way it's being delivered. Okay, yeah, maybe the guitarist isn't the same or whatever, but let's get down to what is this song about, right? And there's plenty of stuff like that. And I'm not just talking about songs

02:15:45about misogyny. I'm talking

02:15:49like a number of different

02:15:51themes that

02:15:53may run through

02:15:55rock songs where

02:15:57with one band that you

02:15:59love, it's okay. But when

02:16:01you listen to some other band, now

02:16:03it's not okay because it's this other band.

02:16:06You know? And I'm

02:16:07trying to focus in on that because I

02:16:09feel as though

02:16:11there is a lot of inconsistency

02:16:14Don't stop right now. I mean, you just nailed it on the head right there. There's a lot of inconsistency period. You can't, you'll never TR. You will never figure it out. Yeah. When it's when you're on this level, you can get to, as you're saying this, I'm thinking of black metal because there are certain bands that will absolutely go ballistic over certain things. Some black metal bands do, but boy, they like that black metal band. That's okay. It wasn't supposed to be that bad. I know that's not the level you're talking about.

02:16:43Bursum sucks dissection rules exact yes that's extreme for what you're talking about TR but on the level you're talking don't even waste your time just think of yourself as a cat okay a cat has the prerogative to change their mind at any given moment my cat left sleeping in the window for three months window sucks now now I'm gonna go sleep on the floor yeah I know that doesn't make sense but if you have a cat cats change their

02:17:13mind all the time and you don't you can't understand what they're doing why are they doing that he doesn't like his food this week he likes his food next week that's what our music minds are like yeah it's true it really is it just doesn't have any damn sense i guess i was just trying to see yeah but i don't want you to spend all that time trying to figure it out i appreciate that but he's gonna do it anyway i feel like i owe it to the listeners for god's sakes no but honestly the same problems we have i know they do but you know it's the thing is

02:17:43So that's been one of the elements of this journey for me is trying to be objective about the music that I listen to after a lifetime of being completely subjective about it and being confronted with other bands and other music that, you know, over time or at the time I did not embrace or care for or whatever you want to say.

02:18:11And yet, if you hold it up to the same standards and the same, I guess, whatever things that you, I'm having a hard time, like getting the words out. But the bottom line is, is like you, you build up something in your mind for a certain song or a certain band. But then when you get like a similar thing from another band for, for whatever reason, that's unacceptable or it's not the same or you don't, you know, you can't accept that.

02:18:39Or it's too the same.

02:18:40Well, maybe. Or, right, yeah, they're just copying those guys. And so, you know, as we've gone on and, you know, as we look at these various albums, one of the things that I've really wanted to do is to try to peel some of that back to understand a little bit about that in my own understanding of music and my own way of interpreting music. And so, yes, John, it leaves a lot more questions than answers.

02:19:10But I feel as though I have to confront this because I feel as though it really gets down to, and you're right, in a lot of ways it's hard to say, okay, why do I get attracted to some particular type of music or a song or an album? You know, why did this Mars Volta album completely knock me over when it came out to the point where I was like, this is incredible, I love this, and it's really amazing. That's kind of a little bit hard to explain, right?

02:19:40because there are a number of different influences and different elements to that album that all came together in such a way that I was completely entranced by it. But to actually try to put that into words when a lot of it is driven by sounds, impressions, and emotions, it's very difficult to logically try to suss that out to be able to understand.

02:20:10what those drivers are in terms of in a way that is quantifiable. And maybe it's a fool's errand, but it is something that I have been thinking about as we've gone through these albums when you guys bring up some of this stuff. As I grapple with the various albums and music that I like, why is it that way? And what is it about?

02:20:39other albums or whatever things that I maybe didn't care for. And can I quantify that? And can I actually determine what the things are that drew me toward the albums that I like? And that's what I've been trying to do. And maybe I'm doing a little too much here, but I apologize if I've gone off the deep end. How many stouts did you have tonight? No, you're not going off the deep end. No, not at all. You put an awful lot of thought into it.

02:21:09And I don't marginalize your thoughts at all and your feelings and your wants and wishes to figure out what's going on. I just feel like you're going to wander off into the desert and we're never going to see you again because you're going to have to figure this out. On a horse with no name. You know, it's just, yeah, I've tried to figure that out. But then I start going down the actual scientific approach of like, well, we all hear frequencies different. And I start going down that path. I'm like, I don't even know what I'm talking about.

02:21:39What am I saying? Yeah. We all just, we have preconceived notions that we have a hard time to break. And I agree. I gave up because I was like, yeah, you know what? If you like it, you'll like it. If you don't. Like, this is a question for the Metal Hoods podcast. Those guys, like all these death metal bands, I'm like, eh, heard it before. And they're like, how could you not like this? I'm like, I don't know. Give me another J award, you know? And it's not because I don't think it's good.

02:22:08It's just, yeah, I don't know why we don't connect. Who knows? I mean, I'm sure there's something in how our brain connects to the sounds we're hearing. And I'm not being silly when I say that. No, that's a very real thing. It's a very real thing that we all process the sound waves and the frequencies differently. That's why Pete Pardo, you know, on the Sea of Tranquility on YouTube always says, hey, we all hear music differently. It's a very watered down way of saying the scientific stuff. It's true. Yeah.

02:22:38Arguing about bands and albums is ridiculous. Cause there's, you know, it's, there's no, you can't, you just can't. The only argument you can make is steel Panther socks. I don't care. I will bring that up at every podcast I'm on. That's it. After that, we all like what we like. Yeah. I'm still mad. Judas Priest brought them on tour when I saw them. I'm sorry. I'm not letting it go. At least they won't be there next time. Hell no. We're going to do some world war two.

02:23:09I've never seen them. Can't wait. Yeah. They're supposed to be amazing. But anyway, that's. So you know, you've ruined my night now. Cause I'm going to start thinking about this. I won't be able to go to sleep. Thanks for nothing. Jeez. No good. That's what I'm here for. No. Now I'm gonna have to go play with my cat. Oh, wait, there's another one. I can't figure out. Your cat. Oh, just don't get me started. Yeah. I want that life so bad.

02:23:38I know.

02:23:39I'm going to go sleep in the sun.

02:23:41I think I'll lick my tail for a while.

02:23:46Anyway.

02:23:47Anyway.

02:23:48All right.

02:23:48Here we are at the end of episode seven.

02:23:52Next month, we will be back for an episode eight.

02:23:56Yes, I can count.

02:23:57But point being, it's going to be the last episode of the year.

02:24:02So I guess we'll see what that will be.

02:24:06Maybe we'll, not saying something, but maybe we'll do something. We'll add a little extra. I'm thinking as a tease and I'll tell these guys offline, but I'm thinking of something else to do with our episode since it's the end of the year. Oh yeah. I was doing some thinking too. So yeah, just for fun. So yeah, this was fun. I enjoyed the diversity of the albums. Yeah, me too. Yeah. That's always a good piece of the episode. So, all right. Thanks for listening.

02:24:36And as John told you at the beginning of the episode, please

02:24:41make some comments online, Facebook, Instagram, whatever.

02:24:46John's opinions suck. Oh, cool. Somebody listened.

02:24:50Yeah. But if I said it, it's cool. So listen to me or John, either one of us. It's cool.

02:24:55Yeah. TR has really got me thinking. I spent five weeks trying to figure this out. I don't know what the hell's going on. Why don't I like this music?

02:25:02That guy's off the rails.

02:25:03Yeah.

02:25:04On a crazy train.

02:25:06That's right. All right. Diarray of the Madman. Cheers. All right. All right. We'll see you next time. Rock on. Peace.