The Asylum Podcast

Kousin Ray is on assignment for July. So, the other Kousins had to go on with him. In a show that was supposed to happen last week, Kousins Tim, Gary, and Marvin each picked four “America”-ish songs to highlight. The songs could be about America, mention America, have America in the title, and so on. It was cool to celebrate the country’s 250th right after the Asylum 250th episod...

It was a night of anniversaries. This was the 250th episode of this podcast, The Asylum Podcast , the 50th(ish) of I Remember Now the Queensryche Podcast , and Queensryche’s second full studio album, Rage for Order (1986). To celebrate, two guests graced the show: Communal Steve from IRNTQP and “Ze German,” Henning, from Germany. Making this a “two-fer” with Asylum an...

Kousin Ray was under the gun to distribute some major spoons this week. But the Kousins found a suitable sub for him, a friend of the show, Stuart Hill. With Stuart comes the new solo record that he just released last month, called The Other Side . So, the group had a little listening party, but in “Storyteller’s” style, since the man who played all the instruments (save the drum...

May 19, 2026, was the fortieth anniversary of Peter Gabriel’s So (1986). That album happens to be Kousin Tim’s (and one of Ze German’s) favorite album. Kousin Tim walked the other Kousins and the Asylum Inmates through the album track-by-track with some deep-dive producer notes kind of stuff, and stories he has collected over the years. Calls from Christy Kirk, Jim from Irwin, Br...

The whole gang was back together again for the first time in a month or so, and they didn’t come alone. Asylum Inmate, Jim from Irwin, was on the show as well. The battle talk had been picking up since JFI said he’d challenge Kousin Gary in a Gladiator battle to defend Night Ranger. So, to keep it fair, the albums chosen were Night Ranger’s Greatest Hits (1989), which JFI defende...

Kousin Ray had to handle some family business and was unable to be on, but Kousin Tim, Kousin Gary, and Kousin Marvin held down the fort and did yet another album that was “out of Kousin Tim’s comfort zone,” so to speak. KT has never shied away from the fact that he’s not a huge Aerosmith fan. Well, next week will be the 50th anniversary of their album Rocks (1976), and it...

Kousin Gary was out this week, but Kousin Tim, Kousin Marvin, and Kousin Ray carried on. This month marks the 41st anniversary of Exodus’s debut album,  Bonded by Blood  (1985), which received the classic “Listening Party” treatment. The only full-length album to feature original lead singer, Paul Baloff, who unfortunately passed away in 2002 of a stroke. Because this episode was...

Kousin Ray is out this week, so Kousin Tim, Kousin Gary, and Kousin Marvin hold down the fort with an extended Now Listening session woven through the Let Me Know music‑history rundown. The Let Me Know segment runs throughout, covering birthdays, album releases, and singles from April 12 through 18. Plenty of side conversations break out. Calls from Bruno from South Africa and Jem from Alabama. Wh...

Kousin Ray is out celebrating an anniversary with his better ¾ so the other Kousins went for a random topic. Kousin Gary attended a Corrosion of Conformity concert this week and decided to educate the other two Kousins, who were both quite unfamiliar, on their music. The Kousins also listened to a tune from the opening band, Whores. Calls from Bruno from South Africa, Eugene B Sims from Wheeler&#8...

It’s time for another Mt. Rushmore episode. Each Kousin gave their four entries for their drummers of choice, with a song played for each. There wasn’t a collective Rushmore this time around. Perhaps they’ll put one together by next episode? It’s not limited to hard rock or metal drummers, but it was the majority of the drummers’ genre. Calls from Bruno from South Afr...

The Spinquisition was back with a whole new album to drop on the Kousins. The premise is this: the Kousins put out a call for their dedicated listener base to send in album recommendations. As was put to them(ish): “We will load a long list of albums into the randomizing wheel (we dubbed it ‘Takamata’) with the premise of the episodes being that we have to review an album,&#...

It has been a year since the Kousins did a Gladiator Battle. Oddly enough, one of the albums competing tonight was featured on that one, too. Being as this is the 40th anniversary year of both the first post-DLR Van Halen record  and the first post-VH David Lee Roth record, let the two battle it out. So this battle has Kousin Marvin defending Van Halen’s  5150 and Kousin Gary defending  Eat...

Kousin Ray is on the open seas practicing speaking like a pirate, so the other Kousins discuss this week (March 15) being the FIFTIETH anniversary of the album that really put KISS on the map,  Destroyer . This is the sixteenth (not really) time that album has been discussed on this podcast. Discussions on the merits of the instrumentation, the production, the remastering (this was the 45th Annive...

A few weeks ago, the Kousins did a retrospective of music (and other pop-culture things) from 1982, focusing on the hard rock genre (available here ). The Kousins may be visiting other years (the jury is still out). But, if we do, and before we all move on, it is time to grade the top hard rock albums of 1982 (in their opinion). This time, however, the albums were picked slightly differently. In t...

Kousin Ray was out this week, so the other Kousins decided it was time to do some “Now Listening,” or as we call it, “Extended Now Listening,” and do what we usually do and split our regular “Let Me Know” segments and interweave the two. Each Kousin had three tunes and there was some pretty diverse stuff this episode. Calls from Bruno from Blue-Skied South Afric...

Dateline – The Asylum. The Year… 1982. WHAJ-FM 104.5 came to the airwaves, allowing Kousins Tim and Gary to hear true Top 40 radio for the first time. Both Kousin Tim and Kousin Ray turned 12. Yes, we jumped back instead of forward for this. Upon realizing that 1982 actually had a lot of good stuff and since we started the year retrospectives in 1983, it was time to give 1982 its due....

Megadeth released their (supposed) final album, self-titled Megadeth , on January 23, 2026. The final hurrah deserved a listening party to get the scope of what Dave Mustaine and his cast of replacement players were up to. Kousin Marvin couldn’t make it, so he’ll have to listen on his own. But, the other Kousins gave reviews, thoughts on Megadeth – new or old opinions, and other...

The Kousins hadn’t done a Mount Rushmore in a long time, so it was time to dust that feature off and go with the ladies. And this isn’t just hard rock female vocalists; this is all- encompassing . Each Kousin made their own lists, and then a collective Mt. Rushmore was tallied from the results. It was an interesting experiment and harder than expected. Calls from Eugene B Sims from Whe...

So, on December 19, Peter Criss released a self-titled album featuring an all-star-ish lineup. Names like Billy Sheehan and John 5 played on this as well as Late Night musician Paul Shaffer. It isn’t yet available on traditional streaming platforms but you can buy it via online music stores. The Kousins obtained a copy and gave each song a listen. The reviews were mixed. But, who leaned whic...

The Spinquisition was back with a whole new album to drop on the Kousins. The premise is this: the Kousins put out a call for their dedicated listener base to send in album recommendations. As was put to them(ish): “We will load a long list of albums into the randomizing wheel (we dubbed it ‘Takamata’) with the premise of the episodes being that we have to review an album, start...

The Kousins started off the new year with a heavy hitter! What could have easily been (for three of the four Kousins) a Top 50, they tackled the Top 10. It ended up being 14 because there were a few ties. But the lists were all diverse and, surprisingly, only one “Goocher” as we call any song that gets a vote from all the Kousins. It was fun. There were moments when a couple of Kousins...

A few weeks ago, the Kousins did a retrospective of music (and other pop-culture things) from 1989, which focused on the hard rock genre (which can be found here). The Kousins may be visiting other years (the jury is still out). But, if we do, and before we all move on, it is time to grade the top hard rock albums of 1989 (in their opinion). The albums that were graded (from A+ to F) were (in no p...

The Kousins were down one again this week. Kousin Ray was running the length of West Virginia. But, the other Kousins found another family member to fill the empty chair. Admittedly, neither Kousin Tim, Kousin Gary, nor Kousin Marvin had more than the slightest knowledge of the Canadian three-piece from Toronto not named Rush, so Jem from Alabama was asked to join, and we talked about one of his f...

Kousin Gary is on a dude holiday with his son this week, so the other Kousins decided it was time to do some “Now Listening,” or as we call it, “Extended Now Listening,” and do what we usually do and split our regular “Let Me Know” segments and interweave the two. It is three regular tunes plus one Christmas-themed one. We had fun with it. We had calls from Jem...

On November 24, 1991, KISSdom lost its backbeat, its rhythm. Eric Carr succumbed to heart cancer at the age of 41. Kousin Tim had just turned 21 and took up temporary binge drinking the night he heard. The news of this could have been, nay, should have been bigger; it was a great loss. However, Eric’s death was overshadowed by that of another musical celebrity, probably a bit more high-profi...