The Next Episode

Oh, dip! Look who's back!  Chris and Jared have returned to discuss just what is political music.

We bring "The Ladies of the 80's" to a close with an unmitigated banger.  Not talking about sausage but this British(?) crew led by The Dread Pirate Hynde, purely plundered our hearts and minds.  No more rhyming.  I mean it!  Beware the rope-a-dope of Side B...

Ladies of the 80"s can't stop and won't stop.  Let's cast our ears back to the "Reagan Era" for this delightful second album by The Bangles.  We'll see what a young "up and comer", Prince had to contribute and how the gals had everyone walking like Egyptians.

We're still about the "Ladies of the 80s" in this episode.  Out of the early 80s L.A. punk scene came a force of nature known as the Go-Gos.  With a little bit of help from an "old school" record man behind the board, they delivered a classic that won't quit.  Just like Jared's love for Belinda Carlisle.  

We're going to kick off our "Ladies of the 80's" run with the queen herself, Pat Benatar.  "Crimes of Passion" is her second album.  Released in 1980, no one could match her tough-guy femininity or her singing chops.  Throw in the guitar man Neil Giraldo and stand back and turn it up.  There's a reason these two have been making beautiful music together for over 40 years.  

Before things got dark and sad, there was a time when STP was on top of the world.  Their second album quieted a lot of the critics who had perhaps written the band off as "Grunge" pretenders to the throne.  Perhaps we needed to be convinced as well.  Sure, they could grunge it up with the best of them but they also had places to go outside of those lazy corners of pop rockdom.  Come and have a listen to a record that makes it feel like it's always raining in San Diego.  We've been converted.  Hallelujah.

This week we have our good "friend of the show", Troy Carter back in with us to take a listen to the second album from Wilco.  Join us as we geek out and sing along with these "Icons of Americans".  And... maybe some bad Celine Dion impressions. Dig it!

OK.  So, what is AC/DC's second album actually?  Nobody cares as long as it rocks like Ayers.  Enjoy this episode full of totally non-offensive Australian impressions.  Sorry.

How come we don't listen to The Cult more often?  Can a guitar solo be for the entire length of a song?  What the hell is a Fairlight? Come on.  You know we got these answers for you.  Here comes the rain, suckers!

Hardly can believe it's taken us this long to get around to The Doors.  American icons.  Art rockers who can right a hit.  Subjects of a brilliant documentary by Oliver Stone.  We might have realized that 99% of what we know about this band, we learned from Val Kilmer and Co.  Listen two times!

Rudy can't fail and neither can this episode!  We are joined by Rev (The Drowns) to break down and enjoy sophomore effort from The Clash.  Can "punk" be more of a credo than a sound?  Does Blue Oyster Cult have anything to do with this?  Is Jar Jar a Sith Lord? Join us as we answer these and all the questions you were too scared to ask.  It's drug stabbin' time.Check out the latest album from The Drowns, "Lunatics" in stores and streaming now.https://shop.piratespressrecords.com/pages/the-drowns

This week was so much fun because we had not one, but two guests to help us peel this onion.  That "onion" being "Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" by Georgia's own, Black Crowes.  How much life must be lived to sing the blues?  When does ignoring Rick Rubin go right?  Who killed that bird upon your windowsill?  Why does Led Zeppelin come up so much in this episode?  We promise to answer at least two of those questions.  Special thanks to Joey Mazak and Troy Carter for their help on this one.  

Ok, right out the gate there's an asterisk on this episode.  We know it's not the second album.  It's their fourth.  See, if you have a guest fly all the way out from the east cost, we let 'em bend the rules.  To be fair, it's the second album from the "classic lineup".  That counts, right? And there is plenty of Philip K. Dickin' around. Anyway, Thank you to John for joining us on this one.  A good time was had.  Get into "Sister" by Sonic Youth.

This week we are joined by friend and podcaster, Elise Ballard (The Importance of Wine Podcast).  She has chosen the most excellent second album, "Rid Of Me" by PJ Harvey.  Pop the cork on some vino and revel in the veritas. Cheers!

Sir Reginald Dwight.  The Rocket Man.  Captain Fantastic.  In 1970 though, plain ol' Elton John and his band Hookfoot messed around and dropped a jewel.  Let's, shall we?

  1996 was a wild time. The President played saxophone, got BJs, and "smoked" grass.  A "Florida Man" tried to kill Bjork with a mail bomb and got WAY too close to succeeding.  The Feds caught up with Ted Kaczynski who tried to kill some professors with mail bombs and unfortunately was quite successful.  Tupac was gunned down in Sin City.       Grunge was also dead. Buried by waves of Bushes and Seven Mary Threes.  Yeah, we still had Rage Against the Machine but they were headed into the "Renegades" era.  The Strokes were just getting their first pubes and Metallica got haircuts.  "Rocking" was becoming precarious.       Was there another option?  Maybe, just maybe, we could all just chill the F out for a minute.       Enter the Crows.       Their second album hits all the right notes for this foul year of our Lord.  Mellow enough but without the Hootie-isms.  Poppy enough but with a poetic bent that owed itself to its Bay Area roots.  Just "rockin" enough to fend off Oasis fans at a festival.      Let's party like Woodstock '99 hasn't happened yet.

Fade into this, fool.  Some records are for a certain type of listening.  Some records make you want to pump your fist, shake your booty, or drive fast.  Mazzy's second album will not make you drive fast.  In fact, I wouldn't recommend operating any machinery heavier than a roach-clip while listening to this.  Settle into the gentle groove with us and just relax already.  Seriously!  Fu#&ing relax!  The world (TNE staff) needs this right now.

Here comes another recent second album.  We're living in the now!  "Happier Than Ever" is the second offering from Los Angeles native, Billie Eilish.  She gets by with a little help from her songwriting partner/producer/brother, Phineas.  ASMR pop is here and you'll EFFing like it!

If a disco record drops in a disco-less world, does it make a sound?  You tell me.  If you didn't hear Dua Lipa last year, your quarantine bubble is too tight.  And, maybe get the internet.  In 2021, this album was the star of every Zoom dance party, car stereo, and gas station radio.  Oh, yeah, and the internet.  Time to "Blawst Off"!

This week, with Chris out on assignment, Peter joins Jared in the "117 Studios Compound" to discuss one of his favorite second albums.Circa Survive's second album, "On Letting Go".  Jared is just not that into it, historically. Will he change his tune?  Will Peter slander Led Zeppelin?  Will both of our hosts admit that it's not worth the work to be "cool"? Turn up and find out on The Next Episode.

     We're breaking from tradition again.  Sometimes we just want to take an episode to shed some light on an overlooked record or maybe one that the artist would just as soon you overlook.  Such is the case with "One Hot Minute" from the RHCP.       What do you do when you lose a superstar guitarist of a generation?  Well, sometimes if you're lucky, you just scoop up another one.  They didn't have to look that far even though they did. (Shout out Arik Marshall).  Just so happened that a young but established guitar god was fresh out of a gig and lookin to mingle.  I mean, come on.  Dave Navarro got that Sammy Hagar deal.       If all you remember from that era is "aeroplane", you might need a revisit and you have come to the right place.  We've got drugs, rock n roll, and sex.  Well, not so much sex.  This might go down as the Chili's least horny record to date.  They made up for it with lavish displays of homoeroticism and boundary pushing videos.       In this episode, we thank Dave for his service and hopefully reacquaint everyone with a semi-lost classic.

Long live the fighters!  Thanks to Augie (Fair Warning), and Corrie (Dune Expert) for joining us to express our many thoughts about the new Dune movie.  From Harkonnen haircuts to "Eyes of Ibad" and more.  Let's catch the last Hi-Liner to Arrakis and remember, it's a movie about drugs.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.  They just go together like the best of them.  Lennon and McCartney, Hall and Oats, and Gin and Tonic.Chris is back in the country and in studio.  For real.   Let's go.

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson...  We know. We were still young men once.  We entered the pop landscape in the early 80's. We didn't know then.There were "Titans" everywhere you looked.  Few of them had the help of one Quincy Jones. Steve Lukather and the rest of Toto joined the effort too.  Eddie Van Halen for crissakes!  We know now.But can we discredit the work of one of the illest MCs of 1982?Vincent Price deserves better.Quincy, Eddie, Steve, and every top-notch session player on this album deserve better.If you want to skip this episode, we get it.But, here we go."Thriller" by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, Steve Porcaro, John Bettis, James Ingram, Steve Lukather, Eddie Van Halen, and Vincent Price.

There are things that come and go from our lives.  There are musical artists that make their marks and fade from view.  Hemlines go up.  Hemlines go down. It appears to us at TNE, that as long as she doesn't bite the head off a bat or pick up a crippling drug habit, Taylor Swift is here to stay.  Join us as we delve into her big crossover, platinum, and second album. "Fearless"  

Funky psychedelia and cutting-edge studio technique led to lots great music in 1970.  The Isley Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix.  They all added their pieces but one band has come to define it.  It's literally in the name.  Funkadelic.  Accept no substitutes.  This album finds the band experimenting with the studio as well as LSD.  In lesser hands, it could have been a shit show.  Instead, it's a classic.

Jersey July comes to a close.  Don't act like we weren't going to let "The Boss" close the show the whole time.  Come stroll down the boardwalk with our esteemed guest and New Jersey native, Steve Whithacomb. Marvel at the cast of characters Bruce evokes in his pre-superstar era.

Jersey July rolls on!  Steve-O is back in the studio to enjoy "Slave To The Grind" with us.  He'll explain life on the Shore, how he could have met Sebastian Bach but didn't, and lastly, how much it costs to drive from Jersey to Long Island.  Get your sleazy hat on cuz we're gettin nasty.  It's Skid Row fer crissakes!  

You take the record advance money. You trick out your uncle's "Booga Basement".  Buy some gear and build this thing from the ground up.  Pras, Lauryn, and Wyclef settle "the score" after a lackluster debut and launch themselves to the top of not only the Hip Hop world but crossed over like a motherfucker with the sweet sound of Ms. Hill's voice.  Quit trying to front like you're down with Mt Zion.

What can you say about David Lee Roth that hasn't already been said about herpes?  It started out with a good time and now he's with us forever.  Listen along as we enjoy the second album from the former Van Halen frontman/demigod.  This would also be the last album to feature this all-star lineup of Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, and Greg Bissonette together.  This was way more fun than it had any right to be.  Long Live DLR!

This week, we're getting emo AF.  Jeremy Enigk, late of Sunny Day Real Estate, released his second solo album in 2006 and we're gonna listen to it and have emotions about it.  

Get ready to get soaking wet in this "quiet storm" with us.  The smoothest saxes, the slipperiest basslines, and that voice.  THAT voice.  Time to stop frontin' and get into this "sweetest taboo".

Well, we finally got here. Joy Division's second album, "Closer".  After this, we swear we're going to cover something light hearted and joyful.  Honestly, after a month of post-punk, we're all gonna need it.  Listen as a young band hones their craft and zeros in on what it sounds like to be utterly hopeless.  They make it hurt so good.  Unsung blues players.  Joy Division.

The "High Priestess Of Punk" herself, and her Banshees released this post-punk masterpiece before there was even a word for it.  Goth before it was a thing.  Though not looked at as one of their "greatest" albums, we disagree. You can't listen to this album without hearing the future echoes of The Cure, Sleater Kinney, or Jane's Addiction.  Also, we bet you've never heard "The Lords Prayer" performed like this.  

Ffffffresh from 40+ years ago, we get into the Tubeway Army's second album, "Replicas".  Synth-pop pioneers with a secret weapon.  I can't keep a secret.  This is Gary Numan's old band!  Yes. THE Gary Numan.  Philip K. Dick meets the guy that brought you "Cars".  Think about it.

On The Next Episode...We travel back to 1983 to visit the juggernaut that was "Colour By Numbers" by Culture Club.  After the drab 70's Boy George and Co. drop this explosion of Day-Glow soul/reggae/new wave greatness.  

We have a guest this week! Holy crap! Please welcome Darcie Pfiefle into "Studio 117" as she helps us dissect and come to terms with Amy's final album.  There will be laughs, tears, and genuine confusion.  Enjoy. 

This week, we get a little more familiar with Foreigner and their second album, "Double Vision".  Well, we wanted to be down with this album so hard.  In the end, were we?  Check it and see.

We close out Black History Month with "The Voice" herself, Whitney Houston.  1987 was a great year for music.  Probably because of this album.  God save the "Queen".

Join us as we come full circle with the mighty TLC.  Not just "Waterfalls, and Creep(in).  Some of the smoothest, horniest, and funniest tracks lay in wait as we dive into Atlanta's representation during Black History Month, CrazySexyCool.

In the second week of Black History Month, we go to New York City to find Living Colour and their second album, Time's Up.  Elite level musicianship? Check.  An old school "conscious" mind-set? Yup.  More Body Glove than Daisy Fuentes at the "Spring Break Beach House"?  You bet your jazz/metal/punk/soul/gospel/futuristic/hip-hop/rock lovin' ass!  Time's Up.

We kick off Black History Month with an album from a true pioneer of the game.  The one and only MC Ice-T. Power (1988) was as influential as it was boundary defiling.  Funny as it was serious but always real.

It's the last "Hometown January" show.  This week, we are celebrating The Melvins and their second album, Ozma.  Unsung "Doom Metal Pioneers"?  Maybe.  Ripped off by everyone?  Probably.  Heaviest band from the Northwest?  Definitely.  If you are from the Northwest or just like the music, drop us a line and let us know who you'd like to hear next "Hometown January".

Hometown January continues!  Hometown for us anyway.  If you are unfortunate enough to not live in the shadow of a killer volcano called Mt. Rainier, you still probably know or love this album.  Nirvana's Nevermind.  One of the greatest power trios up there with Cream and The Police?  Logging town misery?  Mean Girl snarkiness?  Come as you are and see for yourself.

We continue "Home Town January" with one of the biggest and long lasting bands to ever come from Seattle.  Pearl Jam.  We get into their second album, second drummer, second guesses and the like.

Before there were Black Days and Rusty Cages, there was Louder Than Love.  We kick off "Home Town January" with a listen to Soundgarden's second album.  Earlybirds on the so called "Grunge" scene in Seattle, Soungarden's influence would be felt for decades to come.  Perhaps Seattle's tallest band?  No doubt.  We get up to all this and more on The Next Episode.

This has been a long time coming and if this isn't one of the best second albums out there, we'll eat our hats.  The Cure's Seventeen Seconds.  See what how these youthful "Godfathers of Gloom" start laying the groundwork for the rest of their career and an entire genre.

Today we dig in to Queen II by, you guessed it, Queen.  Listen in to hear why Queen is like an expensive, imported sports car.  Why it's sometimes just fine to let the drummer sing one.  Last but not least, OGRE BATTLE!

This week we look into the early days of MEGA-BAND, U2.  Still fresh faced and barely a set of pubes between them, they embark on their most openly spiritual album to date.  They have yet to fully shed the cocoon of their influences to emerge as beautiful butterflies on "War" but the youthful exuberance still wins the day.  Check it out!

This week, we bring you the Hollywood juggernaut, Motley Crue.  Love 'em or hate 'em, these guys were enormous on the 80's scene.  We start a drinking game and somehow learn to love this album for what it is.

This is the first episode of our new Van Halen podcast, FAIR WARNING.  Jared Britt, Chris Pfeifle, and Augie Pagan bring you an in depth look at the history and shenanigans of America's greatest rock 'n roll band, Van Halen.  This episode, we just play a few songs and share some Eddie stories.  Rest In Power EVH.