The Asylum Podcast

Dateline – The Asylum. The Year… 1989. Kousin Tim graduated from high school. Kousin Ray finished his first year of college. Kousin Gary was a Junior in high school. Kousin Marvin was 13, so he could probably only think about girls. Some of those represent the biggest, or perhaps the most widely known, moments in some artists’ careers. In addition to all the great music, not just...

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...

Another iconic loss for fans of ’70s-’90s hard rock. This one, though, hits really close to home. This podcast was started to allow the Kousins to talk about their collective favorite band, KISS. All eras, really, but none of the conversations could have happened without what happened in the beginning, when four hungry New York-born “boys” decided to put on makeup and take...

The inaugural Asylum Summit, which started in the quaint suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, called Greensburg, and moved into the ‘Burgh proper, happened this past weekend. It was here that Kousins Tim, Gary, Marvin, and Ray were in the same place/room at the same time, for the first time. With the four Kousins were their wives (in order as above), Stephanie, Christy, Jamie, and Kristi. Als...

The Kousins (including Ray) will meet up for the first time in Pittsburgh this weekend. Kousin Tim and Kousin Gary get to hang out often, but Kousin Tim hasn’t seen Kousin Marvin since they were both children. And Kousin Tim has never met Kousin Ray. The guise of the meeting is that all four are going to the Geoff Tate concert, where, supposedly, Geoff is going to do Operation: Mindcrime in...

September 26, 2025, is the 42nd anniversary of Mötley Crüe’s sophomore album, Shout At The Devil . One Kousin calls it their favorite album. Which one? It was released in 1983, and that year marked a definite turning point for the music we love. Let’s say it opened the door. Listen along as Kousins talk about the elements, songs, players, and more. Calls from Bruno from Sunny South Afr...

The new segment,  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 a...

The reason this podcast started was that there were three KISS Kousins who needed something to do during the pandemic. Along came a fourth – honorary Kousin. We had a great run as a KISS podcast. But we moved away from KISS once they hung up the platform boots and batwings. And we acknowledge that our hard rock fandom would be nothing without KISS, and KISS would be nothing without the relea...

This weekend will be Kousin Marvin’s birthday! And thus, all four Kousins added three songs each from the year 1976 to celebrate him in a 1976 Mixtape (well, mostly). All the Kousins seemed happy with this mixtape. You should listen and see what you think. Calls from Bruno from Sunny South Africa, Jim from Irwin, and Dave from Winston-Salem. What are your three favorite songs from 1976? Let...

This coming week, Kousin Gary starts his new residency on Camel City Radio . It will be about new music discovery and will be called Asylum – First Listen . It won’t necessarily be new releases, although that’s not ruled out. This will feature newly discovered music, not just from Kousin Gary, but also for listeners of this podcast and, hopefully, new listeners to both the radio...

Yesterday was Kousin Ray’s birthday! And thus, all four Kousins added three songs each from the year 1970 to celebrate him in a 1970 Mix Tape. Kousin Ray seemed happy with his mix tape. You should listen and see what you think. A call from Bruno from South Africa. It seems the Spinquisition went well. What would you contribute from 1970 for Kousin Ray’s birthday mix? Let us know by cal...

All four Kousins were in the proverbial house this week. And, with that, there is a new theme intro  and outro performed by the fantastic Stuart Hill. But that isn’t all the “new” that the Kousins threw at you this week. A  new segment, called Spinquisition , was launched and will occur approximately every 4-6 weeks . The premise is this: the Kousins put out a call for their dedi...

Kousins Marvin and Ray were both out, so that left Kousins Tim and Gary on their own. However, the shimmering light known as Christy came and sat in, and offered her perspective on this week’s topic. Speaking of which, circumstances over the last month have kept the Kousins from talking about the 40th anniversary of Live-Aid. The discussion was on the event, who watched it (which was 95% of...

A few weeks ago, Kousin Tim committed to a deep dive into Dio-era Black Sabbath albums; at least the first two. That said, Kousin Tim  discusses  Heaven & Hell  (1980) and  Mob Rules (1981) with his thoughts – and, believe it or not, he has a lot to say – about his feelings and what he may like or dislike, not only about these albums, but he discusses Ozzy Sabbath and Dio solo stuf...

This week, the music world is mourning the passing of John Osbourne, better known to his friends, you, and us as Ozzy. We say music world. Not just the metal world. Not just the hard rock world. Celebrities, musicians, artists, influencers, and everyday joes from ALL walks of life, genres, backgrounds, and origins are mourning our beloved Ozzy. We won’t discuss it extensively here in the sho...

A few weeks ago, the Kousins did a retrospective of music (and other pop-culture things) from 1988, which focused on the hard rock genre. Then, three weeks ago, the grades came in for 1988. Well, a lot of feedback/backlash/tongue lashes later, it was decided some of the most iconic albums of that year had been left off. So, this week, is “Part Deux,” grading 13  more albums that came o...

So, the final show for Ozzy and Black Sabbath was this past weekend. Kousin Gary streamed the whole show, carrying his laptop with him everywhere he went. He provided a comprehensive recap of the event, including the artists, surprises, and the spectacle. The Kousins talked about issues that the online world spouted off about, and the pluses and minuses. There’s even a small comparison betwe...

A few weeks ago, we were supposed to have Stuart Hill on to talk about Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns (in which he’s the guitar player), but due to technical issues, that didn’t happen. We rescheduled with both Stuart AND Matt himself. Well, Stuart had another engagement he had to tend to, so Matt came solo. The Kousins and Matt did a listening party of the newest album from the gro...

First, our producer apologizes for the lack of an episode last week. There it is; we’re done with it. No more mentions. A few weeks ago, the Kousins did a retrospective of music (and other pop-culture things) from 1988, which focused on the hard rock genre (which can be found here ). The Kousins will be visiting other years. But before we all move on, it was time to grade the top hard rock a...

It’s KISS Throwback time! The assignment was to pick your top five tracks #5 on the 20 KISS studio albums. To be clear, the #5s to choose from were: Let Me Know, Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rock Bottom, Flaming Youth, Baby Driver, Tomorrow & Tonight, Charisma, What Makes The World Go Round, Only You (using the original 1981 track listing from Music From ‘The Elder’)...

Continuing our 1988 theme, the year saw a months-long tour come to the USA and use the name Monsters of Rock. The show consisted of performances by openers Kingdom Come, Metallica, and Dokken, as well as headliners Scorpions and Van Halen. What the Kousins did was find four songs from each act, put them in the order that they were played, and create a listening party. Along the way, Kousin Ray tol...

Dateline – The Asylum. The Year… 1988. 1988 was still a good year for music. It was great not only in the hard rock but also in all music. We think it was pretty righteous. Some landmark albums came out that year, including Kousin Ray’s all-time fave, which happens to be Kousin Tim’s #2. Some of those represent the biggest or perhaps most widely known in some artists’...

Kousin Ray was takin’ care o’bidness this week, so the Original Three Kousins decided to do a little XNL and LMK. Each Kousin did four songs, and it was a pretty good mix of tunes. Calls from Bruno From Sunny South Africa, Jem From Alabama, Jim From Irwin, and Nick Provenzano. What have you been listening to? Let us know by calling the TLDNetwork (KUZZ Army) hotline and leaving a messa...

Kousin Marvin was missing this week, but he did send in his homework (in fact, he sent it in three weeks ago). The Kousins—sans KM—did the Asylum Top 10 Judas Priest Songs. Each Kousin made their top ten, which were combined and given a cumulative score, and the top ten (or, in this case, seventeen) were played and talked about. There were some surprises. Calls from Bruno from Currently Wintery an...

A few weeks ago, the Kousins did a retrospective of music (and other pop-culture things) from 1987, which focused on the hard rock genre (which can be found here ). The Kousins will be visiting other years. But before we all move on, it was time to grade the top hard rock albums of 1987 (in their opinion). The albums that were graded (from A+ to F) were (in no particular order): Alice Cooper &#821...