Swedish pop band ABBA has become a beloved cultural institution in the four decades since they disbanded, but in a world of ABBA Gold and "Mamma Mia!," the band is typically remembered in terms of individual songs more than in terms of their albums. John, however, got into them primarily through their albums, and for this episode, John lead a discussion (along with Rich, Amanda, and Phil) on ABBA: The Album (aka The Album), the 1977 album by ABBA that in many ways is the most album album that ABBA ever released in a string of terrific albums. Take a chance on the ABBA album, ABBA: The Album, and learn why the band always thought of itself much less as a singles band and much more as an albums band. If you've never heard "Eagle" or "I'm a Marionette," then you have a hole in your soul.
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Can’s music is part of the DNA of an incredible variety of music - from indie rock, to new wave, to electronica, to ambient, and most points in between. Despite this, Can are not well known outside of music geeks like the Discord and Rhyme crew. They have long been one of Phil’s very favorite bands, though, and he’s here to talk about perhaps the band’s greatest album, 1971’s Tago Mago, along with John and Mike. Together, they’ll demonstrate that while the voyage into the world of Can can be a somewhat difficult trip, it’s a trip very much worth taking.
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Before Neil Finn was the New Lindsay Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, and after he labored in the shadow of his brother Tim in Split Enz, he was the singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band Crowded House. In 1985, Finn, drummer Paul Hester, and bassist Nick Seymour recorded Crowded House's debut album with producer Mitchell Froom, featuring the hits “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong.” Ben, Amanda, and Rich talk about this collection of punchy, melodic, and thought-provoking anthems that broke a band of New Zealanders and Australians big in America.
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In 1994, the charts were dominated by the likes of Mariah Carey, Beck, Gin Blossoms, Ace of Base, and Pearl Jam - and then out of left field came elder statesman Tom Petty with a new album that was heartfelt, thoughtful, and beautiful, but could still rock your face off if it wanted to. Petty may have already released his greatest hits album, but Wildflowers showed that he was nowhere near done writing excellent songs. In fact, there were so many that several had to be cut in order to fit it all onto one album. As a result, Wildflowers is kind of a mess - but it’s an emotional, charming, and very interesting mess that we had a great time talking about. Tonight we ride.
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Eins, zwei, drei, vier! This week, Producer Mike brings our winter of electronic music to a close with a band that didn’t just pioneer electronic music – they basically wrote the source code. Kraftwerk formed in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1969 and started messing around with basically anything with wires that made a funny noise. They weren’t the first band to experiment with electronic music, but they infused it with a quirky, creative sense of humanity that transcended language and resonated with audiences worldwide. None of the members of Kraftwerk owned a computer when they recorded their 1981 album Computer World, but the album is shockingly prescient, anticipating the myriad ways computers have wormed their way into every aspect of daily life, and it’s also among their most influential, echoing through genres like hip-hop, electro, and basically any music with an electronic pulse. So get ready to beam yourself into the future, because Discord & Rhyme is going fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf der Autobahn.
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We used to think that the day would never come, but Discord & Rhyme has reached a new milestone: it’s our first singles compilation! New Order issued Substance in an effort to bail out Factory Records, whose financial mismanagement is the stuff of legend. But that also meant that the label was willing to spend money on cool new equipment for the band, which meant that they were always one step ahead of the game technologically, leading an unintentional revolution in electronic dance music. Substance spans the years 1981–1987, during which the band rose from the ashes of Joy Division, issued the groundbreaking 12-inch single “Blue Monday,” and ascended to arena stardom with appearances on major soundtracks such as Pretty in Pink and hits such as “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “True Faith.” They’re one of Rich’s very favorite bands, so join us as he leads Mike and John on the journey from Manchester to Madchester.
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Renaissance formed in 1969 as the classical-folk-rock brainchild of two former Yardbirds, turned over its entire lineup by its third album, and spent the bulk of the 1970s churning out a brand of prog rock that brought them a devoted cult following but nothing like the commercial success of peers like Yes, Genesis, or ELP. This cult following, however, includes John, who has loved their 1973 album Ashes are Burning for over 20 years and successfully roped Amanda, Mike, and Phil into letting him wax rhapsodic about it and about the angelic vocal gifts of Annie Haslam. Join us as we cover an album and band that may borrow extensively from other prog rock bands (when they’re not borrowing from classical composers of all eras) but that still carved out its own unique identity and created some of John’s very favorite music.
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Happy holidays from Discord & Rhyme! We got you a big enough umbrella, though you’ll probably still end up getting wet. To close off our fourth(!) calendar year as a podcast, Phil, Rich, John, and Mike have decided to sit around the fire and talk about an album we all know and love. When the Police recorded their final album, 1983’s Synchronicity, the trio of Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were at the peak of their popularity, but were also on the verge of collapse, fracturing under the stress of three very different personalities moving in opposite creative directions. The album often receives criticism as a prelude to Sting’s solo career, but we argue that it’s much more nuanced than that, and that even at their most incoherent, the trio had a natural chemistry and an ability to check and balance one another’s excesses that all came together into some truly remarkable arrangements. Whether Synchronicity is the best or worst Police album is very much up for debate, but it’s certainly one of their most interesting.
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This week, the street-walking cheetahs of Discord and Rhyme take a stroll down the dark, sketchy alley that is Iggy and the Stooges’ 1973 classic Raw Power. Mostly ignored upon release, its primal, menacing energy would become a blueprint for countless punk and hard rock bands in the decades to come. In our discussion, we detail the drug-fueled, messy production of the record that yielded two radically different mixes of the album that continue to divide fans to this day. Shirts are optional.
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Pearl Jam might have had the most ambiguous relationship with fame of any major rock band. In the early nineties, they were arguably the biggest rock band in the world, but the group gave few interviews, made no music videos, and were difficult to see live due to their ongoing refusal to work with Ticketmaster. 1994’s Vitalogy captures the band in the midst of this era - struggling with the pressures of fame and trying hard to assert their independence from the drudgery of corporate rock. Vitalogy, despite its inconsistency, remains Phil’s favorite Pearl Jam episode, and he’s here to tell Dan and Rich exactly why he thinks it’s the most interesting Pearl Jam album - an album well worth listening to even if you never cared for the group’s earlier work.
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