Michael's Record Collection

Styx founder and former frontman Dennis DeYoung is a force of nature and so setting up 30 minutes to talk to him about his new album quickly turns into an hour and 15 minutes of talking about life and death, religion, his departure from Styx, and so much more. I enjoyed hearing about his excellent farewell album (we should all sound so good at age 74) and I hope you will too, along with all the ot...

Sweet (or "The Sweet" if you're European) have been churning out great glam rock hits with soaring vocal harmonies since the early 1970s. You know the songs: "Fox on the Run," "Love is Like Oxygen," "Ballroom Blitz," etc. The current lineup of the band, led by original guitarist Andy Scott -- the sole surviving classic era member of the band -- has re-recorded and reworked a dozen of the band's mo...

New York rockers Wildstreet literally pulled their van off the side of the road to do this interview with Michael's Record Collection about the band's latest release III while on tour in the southeast. All of the band's members weigh in, particularly lead singer/guitarist Eric Jayk, about the making of III, their process, their favorite tracks from the album, and more. They're a fun bunch of guys...

Singer/songwriter Shane Howard traveled to the heart of Australia 40 years ago and it changed his life. He had a spiritual awakening that led him to write "Solid Rock," a hit song (particularly in Australia) from his band Goanna's debut album, Spirit of Place. That song remains one of my favorite all-time song from the 1980s (and ever) and so I was eager to talk to Shane about how it came about an...

For this episode I'm joined by Annie Haslam of the legendary symphonic progressive rock band Renaissance. The band just released its 50th anniversary live box set with the prog-length title 50th Anniversary Ashes are Burning, an Anthology - Live in Concert with the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra. Annie was kind enough to talk to me about making the live album, her long tenure in the band, her backg...

In this episode, I'm joined by Ray Shulman of the legendary progressive rock band Gentle Giant. The band's Free Hand album (1975) has been reissued with 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mixes by Steven Wilson. Ray was kind enough to tell me how the band got involved with Wilson, who has remixed several of their releases. He also talked about the making of the album, what it was like being in the band...

Singer/songwriter Laura Meade is best known for her work in the progressive rock band IZZ. She's a fantastic talent and her contributions to that band cannot be understated. However, she's also a great solo artist and has recently followed up 2018's Remedium with a new album titled The Most Dangerous Woman in America. The album centers around the theme of women who have been silenced from speaking...

In this episode, we're doing things a little differently. Rather than interviewing a musician about an album they did, I'm talking to a fellow music lover with a podcast that discusses many albums. Ben Montgomery of the Records Revisited podcast joins me and I ask him about his show and then it kind of devolves into two guys discussing what music they like, how they got into music, how they listen...

In this episode I'm joined by 2/3 of the band Rocket Scientists. Musicians Mark McCrite and Don Schiff (unfortunately Erik Norlander wasn't available) were kind enough to discuss the making of their 2006 double album Revolution Road, which is now 15 years old. This is one of my favorite Rocket Scientists records and I enjoyed hearing about how it was made and a little of the history involved. Sadl...

For this show, I'm joined by Aldo Lonobile and Roberto Ramon Messina from Italian power metal masters, Secret Sphere. Aldo and Roberto talked to me about the band's new studio album (the band's ninth), Lifeblood. This is a fun, melodic, and at times progressive album that I really enjoyed. The guys told me a bit about the record, how it was made, their musical influences, signing with Frontiers Re...

Dave Cousins is the leader of the legendary band The Strawbs, who have been recording albums since the late 1960s. He's also, as it turns out, a delightful fellow with which to have a conversation. Dave joined me to discuss his band's latest release, "Settlement." The album was recorded remotely by the band during the pandemic lockdown and Dave talked about how he hasn't been able to go back to hi...

In this episode of MRC, I jump into a musical genre a bit outside my usual comfort zone. Eternal Return is an interesting new post-rock/ambient/experimental project that entered my radar because of the involvement of Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin. The five musicians in Eternal Return all started the project while living in different countries and got together in Germany to record the album be...

In Episode 5, musician/producer Billy Sherwood, probably best known for his work with progressive rock giants Yes, joined me to discuss his newest project, Arc of Life. Recorded before the pandemic, Arc of Life began with some simple writing sessions with Jon Davison while Yes was on tour and grew from there. Billy talks about the making of the record, being in Yes, serving as a good steward of Ch...

Welcome back to Michael's Record Collection! For Episode 4 I spoke to British musician Lee Abraham about the making of his eighth studio album, Harmony/Synchronicity. The album was put together while he was in lockdown for the pandemic. Lee is a great guitarist and bass player and has been a member of the storied British prog band Galahad. Generous with his time, as ever, Lee spoke about his recen...

Robert Berry is a talented guy and he's worked with a lot of other talented musicians. His latest release is "Third Impression" under the moniker 3.2. The 3.2 project emerged out of the band 3 from the late 1980s when Berry connected with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer of ELP to record and release "To the Power of Three." The project was shelved for years until he convinced Emerson the time was rig...

Randy George is a terrific multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He may be best-known as the bassist in progressive rock supergroup The Neal Morse Band, but he's done a lot of other things. I spoke to Randy about he and his wife Pamela's Sweet Invention project, playing live during the pandemic, his christian prog rock band Ajalon (and whether we'll see another album from that band), meeting and r...

In 2005, the Miami-based progressive rock quartet Little Atlas was one of South Florida's best bands and recorded what I believe to be their best album in a catalog full of great music. I interviewed lead vocalist and keyboard player Steve Katsikas and we were joined in mid-discussion by bassist Rik Bigai. The two musicians are great guys and talked me through the making of the 2005 album Wanderlu...