Discord and Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Once one of the biggest bands in the world, Def Leppard is now a bit of a joke among “serious” rock fans. But do they deserve that? Amanda thinks not, and does her best to convince Rich, Mike, and Phil that Hysteria is a truly excellent album. Even if you’re not on board with Mutt Lange’s super-shiny production, this is a terrific bunch of songs, and very much worth any music fan’s time. Yes, even...

It's the first episode of our new series covering Motown's Number 1 hits! This is an amazing compilation that includes every single Motown song that ever hit number 1 on any chart. Obviously this is an amazing batch of songs, and we love talking about them. In this episode: a brief history of the label, much gushing over the amazing Motown sound, and many references to our 1980s childhoods. NOTE:...

In this episode, Ben leads everyone through an album nobody would have pegged him as loving (since it's not by Elvis), 1967's The Velvet Underground and Nico. Produced (sort of) by Andy Warhol and featuring singing (sort of) by German model Nico, the album's noisy, abrasive rock music - sweetened by Lou Reed's reliable pop instincts - has influenced generations of bands. But is it any fun to liste...

ULLA!!! Discord & Rhyme tackles an art-rock/disco musical based on the 1898 H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds and which John posits as the most ‘70s album ever made. Featuring an unforgettable spoken word performance by Richard Burton, as well as an absolutely fascinating who’s who collection of prominent late-’70s vocalists from the worlds of rock music and musicals, this album has gone...

This is the last of our miniseries on Pure Moods! In this episode: more soundtracks, some critiquing of Twin Peaks, and a surprise Eurythmic. (Also some technical difficulties - please forgive our less-than-stellar audio quality in this one.) Angelo Badalamenti - The Theme from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Geoffrey Oryema - Makambo Mark Isham - My Wife With Champagne Shoulders Michael Nyman - The...

This week on Discord & Rhyme, we strap in for another ride through ’90s indie rock as we discuss Pavement’s beautifully messy third album, Wowee Zowee. Released right as the band was positioned for a possible mainstream breakout, this sprawling, stylistic tour de force was apparently the last thing MTV’s Buzz Bin was looking for in 1995. Over the years, however, fans and critics have come arou...

It's the next set of Pure Moods! In this episode: more mispronounced words, a couple of soundtrack excerpts, and...David Byrne? Enigma - Sadeness, Part 1 Karl Jenkins - Adiemus Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme Ennio Morricone - Theme from The Mission David Byrne - Main Title Theme from The Last Emperor Sacred Spirit - Yeha-Noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity)   Get early access to bonus episodes...

This week on Discord & Rhyme: witty, unpredictable talent and natural game. In the early ‘90s, Bobby Diggs, aka Bobby Digital, aka the RZA, served as de facto leader for a nine-piece Staten Island (or Shaolin) collective that changed the face of hip-hop. The Wu-Tang Clan’s rhymes were clever, aggressive, filled with pop culture references, and came at you from all sides, paired with production...

Our new series of compisodes is covering Pure Moods, the New Age collection that you saw one million commercials for back in the '90s! This episode includes many mispronounced names, lots of reminiscing about our teenage years in the 1990s, and a surprising number of video game references. Enjoy!  Enigma - Return to Innocence Enya - Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby Jean-Michel...

My, my, my! Brian Eno is the producer’s producer, so it only makes sense that Producer Mike would eventually get around to him. Eno is renowned for producing classic albums for U2 and Talking Heads, pioneering and naming the genre of ambient music, and composing the seven seconds that comforted Windows 95 users as they learned how to use the Start button. Today, Mike guides Dan, John, and Rich thr...

You guys were knocking at our door with a thousand million questions, so we thought we'd give you some answers! In this episode, you'll find out what albums we'll probably never discuss, our desert island discs, our favorite music books, and why Rich hates bananas.  Theme music: The Moody Blues - Question Support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/discordpod

WE DID IT! We've reached the very end of the Nuggets box set! In the final episode: a truly astonishing number of Simpsons jokes, young idiots who want to be shocking, a great struggle to find new things to say about Nuggets songs, and the big reveal of our next compilation. And Amanda, who writes these descriptions, gets the last word on the Sonics. Get early access to the next set of This Is Com...

Progressive metal titans Dream Theater are one of those “love them or hate them” bands that everybody seems to have an opinion on. Phil firmly falls into the “love them” category. On this episode, he and the crew take on one of Dream Theater’s most well-known albums, 1999’s “Metropolis Pt. 2 - Scenes From A Memory”, and get into the nitty gritty about what they like about it and what they don’t li...

We're nearly at the end! In this episode: the dreaded second return of the Sonics, a cover of "Open Up Your Door" by Will's dad, a proto-Fall song, and a baffling but very cool record company mistake. Early access to these episodes is available at http://www.patreon.com/discordpod The Sonics - The Witch The Electric Prunes - Get Me to the World on Time The Other Half - Mr. Pharmacist Ric...

Arguably the rock-geekiest band of all time, Hoboken indie-rockers Yo La Tengo have internalized seemingly every album they've ever heard, and they mix these diverse influences into distinctive and tasty musical stir-fries. Sometimes they're noisy and deliberately sloppy, sometimes they're gorgeous and pensive, but they're almost always engaging, and I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is simultan...

A short and sweet one for you today! This episode features a batch of really great songs by bands no one has ever heard of. We're mostly rhyming here, but saved some discord for the end. The Wailers - Out of Our Tree The Harbinger Complex - I Think I'm Down The Dovers - What Am I Going to Do Charlatans - Codine The Mystery Trend - Johnny Was a Good Boy Clefs of Lavender Hill - Stop - Get a Ticket...

We are commemorating the 50th anniversary of two world-changing events: the Apollo 11 moon landing and the release of To Our Children’s Children’s Children, the Moody Blues album it inspired. Dense but accessible, spine-chillingly beautiful, and toweringly ambitious, To Our Children’s Children’s Children pushed the band’s sound as far as it could possibly go. The five of us on this episode think i...

We're in the home stretch! In this episode: the most 1967 title ever, a shockingly good song by a completely unknown band, one of the coolest song intros ever recorded, and the primordial garage-rock classic we've been training for this whole time. The Chocolate Watchband - Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In) The Leaves - Too Many People The Barbarians - Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl Sam the...

Get jammed by Discord & Rhyme! This week, we spotlight British punk rockers The Jam, specifically their 1979 post-punk opus Setting Sons. John, Rich, Dan, and host Ben unpack Paul Weller's dark subject matter and make the case that it can still result in fun — and even uplifting — music. It doesn't hurt that the band's spare, crackling energy makes even the dourest songs danceable, and that th...

We're 75% of the way through Nuggets. This episode includes a lengthy digression into the weirdness of J. Edgar Hoover, more questionable Shadows of Knight lyrics, a funny adolescent take on hallucinogens, and the return of Ted Nugent. Don't forget, you can get early access to these episodes through Patreon! Unrelated Segments - Story of My Life The Third Bardo - I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time We...

This week, the Discord and Rhyme crew settle in for a breezy, fast ‘n bulbous chat about one of the most infamously impenetrable albums of the 20th century. Sure, we could have made it easy on ourselves and chosen one of Captain Beefheart’s shorter, more accessible records, but where’s the fun in that? On this episode, Dan guides Mike, Phil, and Rich through Beefheart (and the Magic Band)’s 1969 m...

In this episode: the dreaded return of the Sonics, a critique of punctuation in music, food synesthesia, and a learned discussion of balloon farms. Get early access to bonus episodes at patreon.com/discordpod The Sonics - Psycho The Lyrics - So What!! The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be a Witch The Balloon Farm - A Question of Temperature Mouse & the Traps - Maid of Sugar - Maid of Spice The Uni...

It’s Discord & Rhyme’s 25th episode, and we’re celebrating by tackling not one, but two Yes albums (with more in common than they appear to have): The Yes Album from 1971 and Drama from 1980. In this double-length episode, Rich, Phil, and Amanda join forces with Prog John and (making a return appearance) with Washington Post reporter David Weigel, aka Prog Dave, aka The Man Who Wrote The Book On P...

In this episode: lamenting the decline of local journalism, the second song on the comp titled "Run, Run, Run," John's appreciation of preposterous '60s songs, and Rich comparing songs to movies again. Get early access to bonus episodes at patreon.com/discordpod The Music Explosion - Little Bit o' Soul The "E" Types - Put the Clock Back On the Wall The Palace Guard - Falling Su...

SURPRISE!!! We just thought we’d drop in, for an episode that’s truly a Discord & Rhyme party out of bounds. This week, Rich turns his watch back to late ‘70s Athens, GA, where you were either a student, a townie, or one of the artsy deadbeats in between. The B-52s fit into that last category, and the quintet had no artistic inspirations — they just sort of alternated between hanging out and c...