The Asylum Podcast

Kousin Marvin is out doing the Moonwalk. So the other Kousins did an Extended Now Listening combined with Let Me Know. This includes a deep dive into a KISS-adjacent songwriter. You’ll enjoy it. Calls from Jim from Irwin and Bruno from Autumnal South Africa. What are/have you been listening to? Let us know by calling the TLDNetwork (KUZZ Army) hotline and leaving a message for the Kousins at...

October 7, 2026, marked the 40th anniversary of Slayer’s Reign in Blood . So, the Kousins had a listening party. The whole album was over in 28 minutes. So they took time to pay a short tribute to The Spaceman himself, Ace Frehley, who died a year ago on October 16. Calls from Nick Provenzano from Northern California, Jim from Irwin, Jem from Alabama, and Bruno from Sunny and Blue-Skied Sout...

To honor the anniversary of Eddie’s passing on October 6, The Kousins put together a Top 10 of the early years, or the DLR Mach I era. This means the albums included were: Van Halen (1978), Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982), and 1984 (1984). 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth was left out of this. Each Kousin submitted their Top...

Kousin Ray was out this week, but the show went on with a listening party for the 40th Anniversary of Megadeth’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? (1986). The guys gave opinions, observations, and surprises about the album. Calls from Jem from Alabama and Bruno from Warm-ish South Africa! What are your thoughts on Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? Let us know by calling the...

Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and sometimes Anthrax. The big metal tour happening right now. Steve from the I Remember Now: The Queensrÿche Podcast saw the show in New Jersey. Kousins Ray, Gary, Marvin, and Tim and Jem from Alabama went the show in Charlotte, NC. Steve got to experience Anthrax while they weren’t on the Kousins’ show. The Charlotte group was there for the Asylum Summit II or...

Bringing back the Spinquisition for the first time in several months! The Kousins started as a trio this week until Kousin Marvin could get online. The “Wheel of Spinquisition” came up on the album Attention Shoppers! from the band Starz (1978). That album was submitted to the wheel from Eugene B Sims from Wheelers Dog podcast. Calls from Jem from Alabama and Bruno from Sunny but Chill...

Kousin Marvin is out with some Krud, but the other three Kousins wanted to give a listen to the newest album from the band that brought them all together on a podcast, KISS! Universal released an Eddie Kramer-produced version of the Anaheim, California, August 20, 1976 (Kousin Ray’s 6th birthday) concert. The band was on fire for this show. If much is said, it would be giving it away. Listen...

It’s Kousin Ray’s birthday, and to celebrate, the Kousins did a Top 10 of the band that he just can’t get enough of, Cinderella. Kousin Tim is vocal about not really caring for the band (as does Bruno), but hey, it’s KR’s bday! Calls from Jim from Irwin, Jem from Alabama, and Bruno from Swelteringly Hot South Africa. What would be your ten faves from Cinderella? Let u...

All four Kousins were back together again for the first time in almost two months! So, why not do it right? A top 10 was in order, and that’s what they did. Yes, it’s a hard rock podcast. But nostalgia isn’t something to take lightly, and there are “hard” aspects to this Top 10’s subject. It’s The Cars. Live, they’re not exciting. Visually, they&#821...

Kousin Marvin is out this week, but Kousin Ray is back and instead of jumping into something deep, the Kousins did an Extended Now Listening woven through the Let Me Know segments. Calls from Bruno from Pleasantly Warm and Sunny South Africa, Jim from Irwin, and the return of Jem from Alabama! What have you been listening to lately? Let us know by calling the TLDNetwork (KUZZ Army) hotline and lea...

Kousin Ray was due back, but got Cruise ‘Rona and couldn’t be on the show. But the other Kousins had another “Asylum EP-isode.” This time with R.E.M.’s 1982 EP, Chronic Town , and Alice In Chains’ Sap (1992). Mega fan Christy Kirk came on to talk about Chronic Town and jumped off for Alice in Chains. Calls from Jim from Irwin and Bruno from some messed up weathe...

As hard as it is to believe, it has been a year since the world lost The Prince of Darkness, The Ozzman, John “Ozzy” Osbourne. Kousin Ray is awash in the seas and the other Kousins pay tribute to Ozzy by going beyond the usual Black Sabbath- No More Tears tropes and stepping one album after, 1995’s Ozzmosis . Calls from Jim from Irwin and Bruno from Sunny but Atmospherically Chil...

Kousin Ray is still out, so Kousin Marvin was indulged with some of his favorite stuff, punk! But, in order to keep it to the point, the Kousins covered two for the price of, well, $5.98 and some of Kousin Tim’s sanity. The gang listened to AFI’s 1999 EP All Hallow’s EP and followed that up with Metallica’s Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987). Nine songs is a bargain at that pr...

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...