Cosmic America

Our last review in the Steely Dan catalogue finds us in 2003, as we evaluate "Everything Must Go". There are some good moments, for sure! But there's also some questions. While Two Against Nature succeeded modernizing both the jazz sound and the lyrical inspirations of the classic Steely Dan formula, Everything Must Go comes up a bit short in both. It's absolutely not a bad album, but it ends up being a bit disappointing --- especially since it's the last album in the official canon. And while we'd go on to get some more solo albums and band tours, this ends up being the end of the road for the Dan's recording career.

After the surprise live show reunion of the mid-1990s, it felt like only a matter of time before Steely Dan were reconstituted as a studio act. And while it would take until 2000 for that to actually come to fruition, the result ended up being...pretty good, all things considered! It's definitely a DIFFERENT Steely Dan from where we left them in 1980, but the fans who followed the roadmap of Becker & Fagen's solo and collective efforts over the next two decades had a clue of what to expect going in. What we hear on this album is a fun combination of sardonic lyricism, an almost giddy basking in dirty old man-dom, and some genuinely interesting bemusement that they're still speaking to audiences so directly 30 years into their careers. It's probably not your favorite Steely Dan album, but it's actually a really good Steely Dan album if you can get past the overly professional fusion/jazz sheen that is caked all over the instruments.

The pause in the Steely Dan creative partnership had quietly eroded in the late 80s and early 90s, with Becker playing a key role in Fagen's second solo album. Fagen returned the favor on Becker's first solo album, which served as a prelude for the first Steely Dan tour in nearly 20 years.Becker's 11 Tracks of Whack gets the review treatment here, and ends up being one of the most revelatory moments in the Steely Dan experience. Becker's lyrical contributions to the Steely Dan atmosphere suddenly come in to crystal clear focus, as we hear him spinning tales of drug abuse, love, loss, mortality, and undercover aliens. The music is like little else we've heard from the duo --- a clean, uncluttered, almost overly pristine sound at times, but with plenty of beautifully played and produced moments. This one is almost always overlooked by Steely Dan fans, but is well worth checking out. Yes, Becker's voice falls firmly into the "non-traditional" camp, but once you get past that, you're left with a fascinating collection of songs that preceded the duo's official return to the studio at the end of the decade.

As you know by now, Steely Dan's core identity is the songwriting and performative partnership of Fagen & Becker. And with the group's dissolution in the early 1980s, the partners would occasionally step out on their own and create art under their own name. With Becker abandoning the continent and seeking sobriety and a general life reset after Gaucho, it was left to Fagen to make the first solo record of the creative partnership.The Nightfly came out in 1982, and it sounds...VERY MUCH like a Steely Dan album. Even with Becker gone, much of the machinery that made Gaucho was still in action, from the involvement of the engineering and producer staffs to the roster of ace session musicians. Add in Fagen's vocals and the expected intelligence of the lyrics, and many critics viewed The Nightfly as the natural progression of the Steely Dan creative spirit --- to the point that many critics immediately assumed that Fagen had done all the heavy lifting for Steely Dan and that Becker's contributions must have been comparatively minimal.But scratch the surface of The Nightfly and you'll notice something that rarely shined through on prior Steely Dan albums --- emotions of hope, wonder, wistfulness, and playfulness. It might have sounded similar but the sentiment was very different in spots. It's lovely, it's meticulous, and it's one of the best albums of the early 1980s, but it's not the automatic carryover from Gaucho that many assumed at the time.

The 80's have arrived in Steely Dan land, and all is not well. After the stratospheric success of Aja on the artistic and commercial stages, Becker & Fagen returned to New York and started work on their next album. But it ended up being a tortuous recording process, full of the kinda of troubles and difficulties that can produce both great art and great loss. And we got lots of those items with Gaucho. This ends up delivering an album that is both accessible and inaccessible at the same time --- an album with an icy, mechanical demeanor covering up a range of powerful emotions just below the surface.

Most artists or musical groups have a "pinnacle" album --- one where they demonstrate conclusively their talent, their genius, their modus operandi. Aja is that album for Steely Dan --- a brilliant mix of music, lyrics, production, and performance that elevates many of the core elements of their sound to a higher plane. Aja is a fascinating album because of how Steely Dan manages to make a work that many view as their quintessential sound, despite several key departures from what they did in their previous work. The lyrics are more optimistic and less cynical, the performances are both cleaner and less cold, and the overall atmosphere of the sound is welcoming instead of standoffish. The album stands as one of the signature sonic achievements of the 1970s, and contains so many layers that we're still trying to unpeel them after 25+ years of listening.

The mid-70s are in full swing, and the contemporary malaise is starting to seep into pop music more and more. Keen cultural observers Becker and Fagen are right there to document the troubles, and we get to hear a lot of those observations in the lyrics of The Royal Scam. We also hear some decidedly evolutionary changes in the music --- the influences of disco and hard rock start to seep into the cellar of many songs on this album. And yet --- you could make an argument that The Royal Scam is the least satisfying of the early Steely Dan records. There are some tremendous moments, but there are also some moments that don't feel entirely realized. It's still miles better than most albums that came out in 1976, but does it live up to the Steely Dan standard that the group has created in the first four years of their career?

Steely Dan has fully morphed into a studio-only operation at this phase --- the last tour of of the 70s ended in mid-1974, and Becker and Fagen had disbanded the permanent membership (except for themselves), opting instead for an alchemy of the best session players in Los Angeles. They also continued to sharpen their writing skills both lyrically and musically, adding even more acid wit and despicable characters to their songs. The result of all these changes is Katy Lied --- possibly the group's most subversive album, and certainly one of the most striking and unique major artist releases of the decade. Even a major recording malfunction couldn't blunt the impact of this collection of songs.

We're back after an unexplained hiatus, talking in-depth about a pivotal album in Steely Dan history, the 1974 classic "Pretzel Logic". As Becker & Fagen's vision for the band mutates into a largely studio-based operation, their conceptualization of songs and the way the music is recorded starts to change. This album introduces more sophisticated song structures, clearer recording approaches, and an increase in session players and guest musicians. Steely Dan starts to leave behind the "quirky songs by a quirky band" classification and replaces it with something deeper and more intriguing.

Sophomore albums are often a mixed bag, as musical artists grapple with the shock of going pro, the exhaustion of their initial written material, and the need to come up with new ideas while in a constant state of touring to support their first album. Steely Dan were no different, but unlike many groups who have wilted under the pressure, the band arguably puts forward a stronger effort than their debut. Countdown to Ecstasy didn't have a hit single, but what it did have was an incredibly solid and consistent group of songs that had numerous moments of brilliance. Attitude and atmosphere abound here, from the post-60s hippie kiss-off of Bodhisattva to the post-nuclear holocaust fantasy of King Of The World. The playing is sublime in places, as Baxter, Dias, and Fagan showcase their technical and melodic skill in equal measure. This album sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of Steely Dan albums, but you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't fully immerse yourself in it.

We launch our reviews of Steely Dan with an examination of the first official releases by the group - the stellar debut "Can't Buy A Thrill" and the long lost first single. It's a perfect way to delve into a group that fascinated 70s audiences and has consistently grown in stature and popularity over the last 20 years.Can't Buy a Thrill captures a group of young musicians in 1972 with a unique perspective on popular music and recording. Rock, pop, and jazz collide with fascinating lyrical narratives about gentleman losers and two-timers. The sound on this record is a prototype of the eventual Steely Dan sound, combining pop stylings of the early 70s with instrumental virtuosity and careful recording techniques.

On this very special episode of Cosmic America, we decide to tackle the last fully original studio release(s) of the Black Crowes by focusing on each as part of a larger whole. For most people, Before The Frost existed separately from Until The Freeze --- an album of mostly higher octane songs and big musical statements, and then a separate album of sparer, more country-tinged songs. However, co-host Galen Clavio has always been enamored with the vinyl release, which combined both into a LONG double album that ebbs and flows throughout its 90+ minutes of music. In many ways it's the epic album that the Crowes always needed to make, and it's arguably the best way to listen to this group of songs as a single piece. So join us on a bardic saga as we explore the incredible diversity and melodic appeal of the combined Before The Frost / Until The Freeze albums.

The Black Crowes broke up after the Lions tour, and it seemed fairly unlikely that they'd be getting back together anytime soon. Yet just a few years later, the band was back again, and with most of the original group back in place! But after a couple of tours and an aborted attempt at an album, things started to fall apart a bit --- Marc Ford left, Eddie Harsch got fired, and suddenly the number of prime-era members was down to the Brothers Robinson and Steve Gorman. They did manage to add North Mississippi All-Stars guitarist (and rock scion) Luther Dickinson, but it was unclear what the destiny of the band was at this point.Which is what made the content of Warpaint somewhat surprising. The album laid out a set of songs that was both familiar and unfamiliar territory for the Crowes - heavily blues influenced, but with specks of influence of the Robinsons' respective solo careers, plus a more subtle and refined lead guitar sound. The songwriting wasn't quite up to the all-time highs of some of the band's 90s output, but it was also pretty far ahead of By Your Side in places. To some degree the album feels like another progression of the group's sound from Lions, but in many ways it feels like a very different group. Somewhat lost in the shuffle of the group's albums, this one deserves to be revisited.

Lions represents an interesting turning point in the band's career. Their second "middle lineup" album, this one has a bit more juice than By Your Side, integrating some interesting new songwriting approaches and showing off their Led Zeppelin influences after their touring experiences with Jimmy Page a few years prior. It's not their best album by any means, and it suffers from some of the melodic and lyrical issues that By Your Side has, but it's also a very interesting album that deserves a closer look.

Less than a decade after a multi-platinum debut album, the Black Crowes found themselves at a crisis point in 1998. Gone were lead guitarist Marc Ford and bassist Johnny Colt. Gone was their label. And the Crowes found themselves increasingly out of musical fashion. Enter Columbia Records, Kevin "Caveman" Shirley, VH1 Behind The Music, and a new batch of harder-rocking songs. By Your Side retained some of the DNA of its unreleased predecessor, but had a completely different vibe - less The Band and more late-period Aerosmith. Rich Robinson took on most (if not all) of the guitar work, as guitar solos gave way to layered riffs. The results were...interesting. Some of the songs yielded a welcome shot of adrenalin, some felt like they were missing a few pieces, and a couple ended up being among the worst songs the band would officially release in their career. It's not a bad album per se, but for a band as talented musically as the Black Crowes, it was a bit of a disappointment. Still worth listening to, though! And we do that here, going track by track and evaluating what worked and what didn't on this album.

Following the Three Snakes and One Charm tour, the Black Crowes toured extensively, then pulled things back in to record a new album, entitled either "Band" or "The Band" depending on who you ask. The album was in some ways a continuation of the quieter approach on Three Snakes, but also went into some new and different directions, with more acoustic and country influences and less outright rock numbers. It showed off some interesting melodic twists to the group's classic formula, while maintaining Rich Robinson's rocksteady riffs as the core of most of the songs.Unfortunately, the album was rejected by the label, and started a chain of events that would see the Crowes lose 33% of their lineup and undergo a complete change in direction as far as their sound was concerned. The album was resurrected a decade later as part of the "Lost Crowes" CD release, which featured a complete and reproduced version of the album. And it's pretty good! We dive into this still-hidden gem and go track-by-track.

1996's Three Snakes and One Charm has all the hallmarks of a transitional album, yet it wasn't really viewed as such at the time. The last official album with what most would identify as the "classic lineup" for the band, it captures a group struggling at times to live up to the blistering pace their first three albums set. The songwriting is still quite good, the riffs are still memorable, the performances are professional and skilled, and yet it also feels like something is missing from the proceedings - a sense of direction, perhaps? Despite not being as good as its preceding two albums, TSOC is still a very enjoyable album with some memorable moments, and we go track-by-track to chat about every second of it.

Alex, Galen, and special guest Ron McFall are back to talk about the unreleased music from what was probably the band's most fertile time period --- the mid 1990s. Chris is in Los Angeles, Rich is in Georgia, but the music continues to come unabated, and there's a lot of magical stuff that didn't make official release from the various projects that were underway. We talk in depth about the Sweet Pickle Salad sessions (which only included Chris and Marc Ford) and the remarkable range and depth of those songs. We also take a listen to several songs recorded at various points between 1993 and 1995, including some cuts that were on the aborted "Tall" album as well as some songs that never got quite that far. Unreleased Crowes tracks can be pretty interesting and compelling, so if you're looking for some new ideas or directions on the music, this is a great place to start.

Amorica comes right in the middle of perhaps the greatest creative stretch in the Black Crowes career --- but also in the midst of the personnel conflicts that would ultimately tear the band apart. With Chris Robinson stationed in LA and Rich Robinson still in Georgia, the writing and recording process was not quite the same as it had been on the first two albums. The ideas are there, but the execution isn't as smooth as it was before. That said, Amorica knocks it out of the park by pulling the best ideas out, mixing in some new approaches (particularly involving ballads), and creating an impressive and unique hybrid of 70s rock sensibility and 90s rock reality. We are joined by our good friend Ron McFall on this episode, as we go track-by-track through Amorica.

Is this the Crowes' magnum opus? Quite possibly yes. The band was hot after two long tours on the success of Shake Your Money Maker, and back in the recording studio with fresh musical ideas, improved playing techniques, and most importantly, two new members of the band who would steer the ship in an new, more virtuosic direction. Marc Ford on lead guitar and Eddie Harsch on keyboards immediately wove themselves into the Crowes' 70s rock and roll stew, adding incredible textures and leads across a collection of songs that reaches for the same sort of soul-influenced canvas that bands like the Faces, Free, and the mid-period Stones and Allman Brothers painted. The results are stunning, and highlight all of the best aspects of the band.

Our next artist spotlight is The Black Crowes, a band that had one of the bigger roller-coaster rides in recent rock and roll memory. It all started with Shake Your Money Maker, a dynamite set of songs in the classic 70's Stones/Free/Aerosmith mold that emanates energy and youthful vigor. A twin guitar attack, aggressive riffage, a couple of slower gems, and Chuck Leavell on keys help to set the stage for one of the more enduring debut albums in this style.

We reach the end of our Arcade Fire examination with Everything Now, which was not greeted with the critical acclaim of its predecessors. Galen and Alex break down how this album falls short of the usual Arcade Fire standard and what it might mean for the future of the band.

Galen and Alex begin the post-Grammy era of Arcade Fire with a look at the band’s longest and most bizarre album, Reflektor. Is there too much LCD Soundsystem and not enough Regine Chassagne? Is it too unfocused thematically? The boys dive into these questions and more on this episode of Cosmic America.

The Suburbs is either the best or second-best Arcade Fire album according to most fans, and it's easy to understand why people hold it in such high acclaim. The soaring, anthemic title track sets the table for a tremendously well-written series of vignettes on middle America (and Canada), and the melodies and lyrical content mesh with an increasing level of professionalism in the studio. It's a Grammy-winning album that actually deserves such awards.

Neon Bible was the second major release from Arcade Fire, and the band finds themselves in an impressive and intriguing groove for the full 50 minutes. Not as celebrated as either of the albums which bookend it, Neon Bible nevertheless provides some classic moments for Arcade Fire, cementing their position as a group that knows how to put together a proper album.

Was this the best album of the Aughts? A lot of fans and critics seem to think so. We take a deep dive into the margins of this album to talk through what makes it so impressive --- its combination of lyrical ideas, melody, harmony, orchestration, and sense of dramatic sweep. An album full of anthemic moments as well as more withdrawn introspections, Funeral ends up being a brilliant and poignant examination of the uncertain transition to adulthood.

Cosmic America is back, and we're tackling the discography of Arcade Fire, one of the more enduring and endearing bands to come out of the Aughts. We start with an overview of the band, before segueing into a review of their first official release, the Arcade Fire EP, which contains a lot of precursor ideas and sounds to what the band would come up with on later releases.

Our Rolling Stones reviews are sadly at an end (at least, until the band releases a new album!). On this final episode, Alex and Galen take a look back at the herculean task of reviewing one of the longest and most distinguished musical catalogs in rock and roll, and talk about what they learned along the way.

We're not quite done with the Rolling Stones yet! Although the number of albums dropped off precipitously in the post-Wyman period, the number of tours increased quite a bit, as did the number of greatest hits albums. We take a tour through the "extra" tracks that dotted the band's landscape during this period, from the bonus songs "Highwire" and "Sex Drive" off of Flashpoint all the way through to the present-day "Living In A Ghost Town".

The Rolling Stones last studio album? Can that really be? (The answer is yes, at least until the long-rumored 2020 album comes out). It's hard to believe we've finally gotten to this point.So we arrive here, and what do we find? A pretty good album overall! Very back-to-basics, especially considering the all-over-the-map approach that they took on Bridges to Babylon. The guest musicians and sidepeople are kept to a minimum, as are the producer and writer credits. Many of the tracks feature just the core band in the studio making music (and sometimes that just includes Mick, Keith, and Charlie). There's some good riffs, there's some good vocal melodies, and there are a couple of unexpected treats. There's also a larger amount of filler here, and this album ends up suffering from some of the mid-70s "we didn't really develop this idea very fully" problems that they'd mostly avoided on their last three releases. We evaluate this latest (and potentially last) Stones album track-by-track.

Voodoo Lounge showed that the Stones might actually be able to pull off the unthinkable --- a melding of the classic melodicism and guitarplay that they'd been known for with songcraft that sounded relatively fresh and, if not modern, at least in keeping with the aesthetic of the times. Part of that was due to the rotation of music fashion, with the sounds of the 1990s sounding a lot more like the late 60s and early 70s than the 1980s had. Bridges To Babylon, however, showed that the union of Rolling Stones album and modern sound was still a hit-or-miss proposition. There were some fascinating modern touches on this album, and some songwriting that was still pretty remarkable despite its new production wrapper. There were also a lot of songs and ideas that just didn't quite cut it, and an atmosphere of separation and disagreement in the writing and production structure that ends up making the album feel like a bunch of solo projects going on simultaneously.The result is an album that is a genuinely interesting but ultimately frustrating listening exercise. There's at least two bona fide Rolling Stones classics on here, but there's also a group of songs that sound either uninspired or perfunctory. It's well worth a listen with modern ears, but it may be the most dated-to-the-moment album that the Rolling Stones had made since the mid 1960s.

This 1994 release is the first Stones studio album Galen had on CD, and it’s the first Stones album released in Alex’s lifetime. Beyond the personal connections to the album, Voodoo Lounge offers a wide variety of musical stylings and some excellent performances. The hour-long album offers tastes of country, baroque pop, alt-rock, balladry, blues rock, and a towering Keith Richards song at the end. Though not every song is a home run, Voodoo Lounge earns high praise from the Cosmic America team as the best Stones album in more than a decade at that point.

The 1980s, mercifully, were coming to an end as the Rolling Stones released Steel Wheels on August 29, 1989. The album, hailed at the time as a return to form, marked the Rolling Stones’ returning to their signature sound. Galen and Alex break down the good and bad about this album, and there’s quite a bit of both. The production of the album is very 1989 -- in other words, not very good -- but there are indications that the band is entering an era of increased creative energy. All that and a farewell to longtime bassist Bill Wyman on this episode of Cosmic America.

From the album cover to some of the songs that sound unfinished or uninspired, there’s quite a bit to criticize about Dirty Work. The 1986 album was made amid internal disagreements and continued substance abuse issues, leading to a musical document that marks another rough time in the band’s history. It’s not all bad, though! As with most of the post-Tattoo You period for the Rolling Stones, properly evaluating the album requires that you separate the musical document from the in-the-moment critical analysis. The first and last songs serve as highlights, and there are some bright points along the way.

The mid-1980s were not an easy or fruitful time for the Rolling Stones. Galen and Alex break down the goings-on behind the scenes while examining the band’s 1983 effort Undercover. It sounds very much like a 1983 album, with echoey drums and synth sounds. From the title track to “Too Much Blood”, there’s quite a bit to like about this album, even if it’s not a traditional-sounding Rolling Stones record.

The Rolling Stones were back in 1981 with a brand new album --- except this was unlike any "Brand New Album" they'd ever released as a band, since almost none of it was actually brand new. Instead, the Stones and their engineering team combed the vaults and found a bunch of half-finished tracks, put lyrics and modern production on them, and released them to the public. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?Except it was great. Tattoo You is broadly viewed as the last truly awesome Rolling Stones album, and time has arguably been kinder to it than even the initial reviews were. Similar to mix of rock, balladry, and groove that they perfected on Some Girls, this mix of songs sounds surprisingly coherent, despite most of them not coming from the same recording session (or even the same group of musicians, in many cases). We go track-by-track through the grooves on this album, from the archetypal riffage of Start Me Up all the way to the dreamy songscaping of Waiting on a Friend.

Emotional Rescue was not a well-loved album by many at the time it was released in 1980, and it's relatively low reputation among Rolling Stones albums has largely persisted over the years. Is that a fair perspective? Or did the album simply get caught up in disappointment that it wasn't quite as good as its predecessor? We check it out in detail on this episode of Cosmic America.

The Rolling Stones were back in a huge way in 1978, roaring into the hearts and minds of fans and critics with the rock/punk/disco/country synthesis of Some Girls. Here finally, at the end of the 70s, was an album that once again sat right in the middle of the musical zeitgeist of the era. Of course, it took a lot for the band to get to this point. Keith Richards spent much of the run-up to this album in and out of courtrooms and rehab programs, stemming from a 1977 drug bust in Toronto that threatened to put him in jail for years. Mick Jagger and Ron Wood helped to steer the ship through this tumultuous period, with Jagger learning guitar and Wood adding his instrumental virtuosity and rock sensibilities to a (mostly) gritty set of songs about urban life in New York City. For many fans, Some Girls has become their favorite album, even exceeding those magical releases of the late 60s - early 70s period. It's compact, it rocks, it's funny, and it's got a sound quite unlike anything else in the catalogue up to that point. We go track-by-track to unpack this classic gem.

Mick Taylor is gone, having quit shortly after the release of It's Only Rock & Roll. While he wasn't a huge fixture on that album, he helped to provide some of its most memorable moments. With Keith Richards sinking further into addiction-related absence, it was a fair question to ask what would become of the Rolling Stones musically in the mid-70s.Black and Blue saw the band going through the process of auditioning guitar players to replace Taylor, and it showed. Three new lead or second guitarists make major contributions on this album, and their musical contributions ran the gamut of rock and roll. But there are other influences here of note. The production is much cleaner and more focused than on the previous album, the songs are largely more thought-out, and the influences from other realms of pop music are starting to really make a mark on the sound of the band. You hear elements of funk, disco, synth-driven balladry, and reggae all over this album, making it a pretty eclectic musical experience. But does all of that make it better than its relatively low-key reputation? We go track-by-track through the album and talk about how it sounds, on this latest episode of Cosmic America.

The Stones may have taken a step back on the recording front in the eyes of many with 1973's Goats Head Soup, but the band had never been stronger on the road, plowing through a legendary set of tours in both the United States and Europe that cemented their reputations as the biggest rock and roll band in the world. They resumed recording operations during this time, but with new producers --- themselves. Or, more precisely, Mick and Keith, restyled as "The Glimmer Twins", taking over the reins full-time from Jimmy Miller, who had largely bowed out during the previous album's sessions.The resulting album, released in 1974, still retains many of the hallmarks of the Rolling Stones that we'd come to know over the previous decade. But it was a different sort of album, a different sort of songwriting, a different sort of production. We delve into the individual tracks and discuss what works, what doesn't, and where we disagree (which is quite often, surprisingly!) on this latest edition of Cosmic America.

Goats Head Soup is largely identified as the album where the Rolling Stones stopped being as special as they once were. It would have been nearly impossible for any band to keep up the breakneck pace of incredible art that the Stones pumped out from 1966 to 1972, and for many critics and fans, Goats Head Soup doesn't come close to their previous four albums in terms.Is that a fair criticism? Certainly there are a couple of questionable moments here, but there are also a large number of really fascinating and rewarding aspects on this album that have largely been lost to time. You can clearly hear the strain on this album from a band that has been living under tremendous pressure and change for the previous several years, but that creates a different --- and still very interesting --- listing experience. We delve into the album track-by-track and evaluate each moment, and come away with some surprising conclusions.

Few musical releases are more steeped in rock and roll mythology than Exile on Main Street. The self-styled World's Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band produced a double album that acted as a road map for most of their musical influences and creations, recorded during a time of great personal and professional transition, operating as tax exiles the south of France and seemingly awash in decadence and inspiration. The result of all these factors was an album that is unlike almost any "great" album in the history of rock and roll --- an album devoid of a hit single, an album with many songs where the lyrics are so indecipherable as to resist interpretation, an album that sits within one of the murkiest and least-defined soundcapes ever attempted by a major artist. Many rock and roll fans --- many ROLLING STONES fans --- find this album to be inferior to the previous three, lacking the obvious hooks and clear mission statement that is so present on Sticky Fingers or Let it Bleed.But despite this, Exile on Main Street is effectively the codex for understanding and loving The Rolling Stones and what they represented in rock history. It is sprawling, messy, and loose, with neck-deep excursions into country, blues, gospel, and voodoo incantation. Many of its songs are moods unto themselves, played and sung with a soulful conviction that summons the cornerstone artists and songs that preceded the emergence of rock and roll as an art form. There is an effortless energy to most of this album, a primal spirit that has captivated both fans and aspiring artists for nearly five decades. Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed might be more immediately rewarding listening experiences for the uninitiated, but there's a reason why Exile on Main Street's influence is so obvious and all-encompassing for many of the musical acts that emerged during the 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.Join us on this episode of Cosmic America as we delve into the sounds and vibes of Exile on Main Street.

After an 18 month hiatus, the Rolling Stones returned to the global spotlight in 1971 with Sticky Fingers, the album that many critics and fans consider their very best. And it's hard to argue with perspective. Sticky Fingers is chock full of incredible musical moments and ideas, watching the band cover familiar territory with new approaches while also extending their approach to incorporate new shades of blues, country, and rock and roll.Sticky Fingers was a key album for Stones mythology as well, as much of what had made up the band in the decade prior was changing. Mick Taylor had now completely integrated with their musical sound, studio sidemen like Nicky Hopkins were now integral pieces of their presentation, and Mick Jagger was starting to pursue his musical ideas more independently from Keith Richards at times. And the legend of the Rolling Stones had now fully matched the marketing --- after years of living in the shadow of The Beatles, the Stones were alone in the spotlight. They attacked the opportunity with gusto, and created rock and roll art that few bans were capable of in 1971.Join Galen and Alex on Cosmic America, as we review albums by important and interesting artists. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The period between September 1968 and November 1969 was an incredibly fertile time for The Rolling Stones, but also one of great tragedy and personal loss. Brian Jones would gradually fade into drug-induced obscurity before eventually being fired and accidentally dying, Mick Taylor would join the band as a replacement, and the personal relationships of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and others in the group's orbit would be altered permanently. The world was also on fire during this period, with war, student protests, and a rejection of traditional mores dominating western civilization.Despite this --- or perhaps more to the point, because of it --- the Rolling Stones entered their most fertile, enticing, and fascinating period as a band. The sound of the band gradually rounded into the true classic rock aesthetic, with crisp electric guitars, expert slidework, and key session players augmenting and improving their studio work. The writing became at once more advanced and more primitive, looking forward to the evolution of early 1970s songcraft while also calling back to the aural structures of the 1930s music they had been weaned on as youths. And the lyrics became more threatening, more drug-oriented, yet also more distant, observing a world that was increasingly harder to parse. Let It Bleed may be their greatest singular studio achievement, and we take the time to dissect it fully during this special episode of Cosmic America.

Please allow us to introduce one of the 1968 album that changed everything for the Rolling Stones. “Beggars Banquet” is the first in one of the greatest four-album runs in rock history, and starts off with “Sympathy for the Devil,” one of the band’s most iconic tracks. Galen and Alex go beyond “Sympathy” and “Street Fighting Man,” and dive into songs that you might not know as well. They don’t always see eye-to-eye on which lesser-known tracks they prefer, but they agree that this album is a must-listen for any rock fan. Share your thoughts with them by reaching out on Twitter at @doctorgc or @akmccarthy.

Galen and Alex take a step back, looking into some of the Rolling Stones’ earliest songs, and the key early tracks that were released as singles instead of being on albums. These include some of the most iconic songs in rock history, such as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Paint It, Black.” This episode covers more than four years, yielding an incredibly diverse collection of music. Please share your thoughts on the Stones by reaching out to us on Twitter at @doctorgc and @akmccarthy.

Dust off those wizard hats and kaftans and fire up your mellotron, it’s time to get weird. Galen and Alex examine a truly singular entry in the Rolling Stones’ career with 1967’s “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” There are some good ideas and some solid songs on this album, but a chaotic recording process resulted in the uneven, odd final product. You can get in touch with Galen and Alex, who can proudly say they survived “Gomper,” at @doctorgc or @akmccarthy on Twitter.

Galen and Alex dive into another somewhat overlooked gem in the Rolling Stones’ catalogue with 1967’s “Between the Buttons.” The American version includes the bigger hits (“Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday”), but the boys discuss the UK version to get a look at some unheralded tracks. It’s another diverse journey, ranging from blues to baroque pop. Weigh in on our Rolling Stones series by tweeting at us at @doctorgc or @akmccarthy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones! In what may be the most daunting challenge that Cosmic America could call upon itself, we have decided to review nearly the entire discography of The Rolling Stones, starting with the UK Version of Aftermath and beyond. Yes, this seems crazy even to us, but at the same time it's a challenge worth facing.Aftermath stands as the first truly original outing by the Stones, with no cover versions and a lot of really interesting twists and turns throughout. The first new album by the "Big Three" of rock and roll to come out in 1966, Aftermath represents a sizeable leap forward in songcraft and production for the band, maintaining their rough blues aura while combining some fascinating touches of english folk, appalachia, and eastern musical ideas. Join us for this initial foray into one of the longest discographies in rock and roll. Welcome to Cosmic America! For information or to ask questions, tweet the show at @doctorgc or @akmccarthy. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Cosmic America’s deep dive into The National ends with a bang. Though it doesn’t have the grandiosity that the next two albums have, “Alligator” is almost certainly the most energetic and accessible listen in band’s catalogue. Two unforgettable songs bookend the album, with so many highlights in between that you might have forgotten about a couple. Galen and Alex touch on them all, discussing what makes this album so unforgettable. They pour a drink in honor of the narrator in “All the Wine” and toast the nine-part series on The National during this final episode of the bunch. Follow them on Twitter at @DoctorGC and @akmccarthy and let them know which bands you want them to tackle later and what you thought about The National series.

Galen and Alex accompany The National on a huge leap between albums, discussing 2003’s “Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers.” One of the band’s principal members described this as an “experimental album,” and the Cosmic America team dives into which new sounds the band carries forward and which sounds the band leaves behind on this album. Though it didn’t receive the attention that the subsequent albums received, “Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers” is a highlight of the band’s catalogue and a must-listen for fans of The National.Welcome to Cosmic America! For information or to ask questions, tweet the show at @doctorgc or @akmccarthy. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.