1001 Album Complaints

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Moby started as a New York City crate diver before taking some hard left turns in his career and isolating his small fanbase, then rising like the phoenix again on a wave of commercial licensing. The guys get together to talk about selling out, additive sampling practices, and going up against Eminem. Jo...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums. Chic set out to make sophisticated and elegant dance music and took the disco world by storm before waning in popularity alongside the genre they helped create. The fellas get together to discuss muted strings, studio perfectionism, and 3 on E. Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and access 55...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums. Nick Drake released 3 relatively unheralded albums in his short lifetime and only decades later became a household name thanks to one savvy music supervisor at an ad agency. The guys get together and discuss retuning your guitar constantly, never changing your strings, and the bridge on the river Kwai. Jo...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums. The Stranglers started with a jazz drummer and an ice cream van, and somehow made it work such that they continued to tour for 50 years. The boys get together to discuss punk rock, pub rock, and leaving hotel rooms spic and span. Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and access 55+ bonus shows!...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Bad Brains revolutionized the DC punk scene by being consistently adversarial and unpredictable. The fellows get together to discuss hair metal, prog noise solos, and Rastafarian-ism. Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and access 50+ bonus shows! https://www.patreon.com/1001AlbumComplaints J...

Special bonus: we made an album - hear us, the musicians and producers tell the backstory - first of The Ghostbusters film that was our inspiration, and then of how we made Stay Puft together. And - we announce the winners of our listener contest! Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and access 50+ bonus shows! https://www.patreon.com/1001AlbumComplaints Join our Mailing List here: http...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected stories behind the making of your favorite albums. Happy (almost) New Year! In order to take a little break for the holidays we've painstakingly compiled our funniest mean tweets from the entire year, then we got together at our annual holiday party and listened to them together as a team. We hope you enjoy it (we certainly did, as you will hear) and we...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Taylor grew up on a Christmas tree farm and moved to Nashville to become a country star before ditching it all to become the pop princess marketing maven the world knows today. The boys get together to talk about Taylor hooky lines, and Max Martin's production stamp, the Swiftie community's con...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  The Jesus and Mary Chain started as warring brothers with a port-a-studio and ended up on Top of the Pops while helping kick off the Glasgow music scene of the 1980s. The boys welcome a special guest to help make sense of this band and discuss hypnosis, vintage fuzz pedals, and fighting your audience as...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Meat Loaf met his soulmate Jim Steinman on stage in New York and the two set about crafting the most over-the-top theatrical rock opera of an album ever produced. The only problem? No one wanted it....until everyone did. The boys get together to discuss piano prodigies, excessively long songs, and rippin...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Tom Petty came up in the swamps of Florida playing tiny clubs and sock hops before heading to LA and making his fortune. The boys talk about perfect background vocals, questionable key choices, and the scrappy rock band era of a generational artist. Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and acc...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Queens of the Stone Age were birthed from a desert party culture deep in the southern California dunes and rose to success on a wave of heavy, fuzzed out rock and roll. The guys welcome a special guest to discuss building suspense, playing outside and big chorus payoffs. Join us on Patreon to continue th...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Dolly Parton worked her way up through the country music landscape by being a genuinely kind person while distinguishing herself with the craft of songwriting. The guys get together to discuss goat vibrato, wild bass antics, and millions upon millions from one single songwriting credit. Join th...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums. Michael Viner was an idea man floating around LA for years before he landed on his most lasting idea: a band of studio killers doing instrumental rock covers with a lots of percussion. The guys get together to discuss mimes, Sean Connery, and fooling the CBC. Join us on Patreon to continue the conver...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  k.d. lang came from the prairies of Canada with a mission to be the next Patsy Cline, and with some savvy marketing and good luck, she ended up in Nashville with a storied backing band to make her solo debut Shadowland. The boys welcome a special guest to discuss this retro country album. Join...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  The Police started as a punk band but quickly pivoted to something completely new and started releasing a parade of hit songs that lasted into the next decade. The team get together and talk about syncopation, reviving songs from old bands, and the inherent aggressiveness of the high hat. Join us on Patr...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Tom Waits struggled to find his audience on his first two albums but had the confidence and backing of a young David Geffen when he decided to turn a recording studio into a nightclub for his third effort. The guys discuss the dive bars of LA, the curse and blessing of a live studio audience, a...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  The Cars had years to learn and perfect their pop rock craft before locking in a becoming just what America needed (I know), The team get together to discuss metronomic timing, Berklee shredders, and J Geils Band's Magic Dick Join us on Patreon to continue the conversation and access 45+ bonus shows! htt...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Merle Haggard was in and out of prison several times before being discovered by Lefty Frizzell and launching a musical career based on the latest and greatest country music movement: the Bakersfield sound. The guys get together to discuss rumdums, second-story men, and bone orchards. Join us on Patreon t...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Blur were London's answer to the Madchester movement up north but grew into Brit-Pop force to be reckoned with (or competed against) in the charts after Parklife became a hit. The fellows welcome a very special first time guest and discuss bellends, geezers, and being knackered in the village green. Join...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Paul McCartney was feeling left behind by his ex-bandmates' solo careers and dealing with an ever-shifting roster of players in his new band when he decided to head for the tropics of Lagos, Nigeria to record his next album. Things only got wilder from there. The gang get together to talk about Linda's h...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Sonic Youth set out to reinvent rock music by merging avant garde art world ideas with noisy guitars. By doing so they set a template for indie bands that came after them. The guys welcome a special guest and talk about prepared instruments, car crashes, and Ferris Bueller. Join our Mailing List here: ht...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Pantera transitioned from a glam metal band into the sludgy groove pioneers we know them to be today and tried to scrub the record of their previous KISS-like excess. The guys get together to discuss Dimebag's precision, Phil Anselmo's growling, and how Rob Halford figures into the Pantera stor...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Stephin Merritt set out to write a songbook's worth of material and record it in his bedroom in Manhattan with the help The Magnetic Fields. He never expected it would become an indie darling. The guys meet to discuss the final listener pick of the summer and touch on universal truth via zither...

Musicians recount the strange and unexpected story behind the making of your favorite albums.  Television helped kick off the New York music scene of the 1970s by building the stage bands played on - literally. The guys get together live in Wilmington Delaware to discuss a complete lack of choruses, Jimi Hendrix's only guitar student, and Tom Verlaine's connection to the complainers' bel...