Trimming The Musical Fat

It’s day 2 of our North Coast 500 trip! Reunite with Stephen, Paul & Ross in Gairloch as they select 3 more favourite songs by a Scottish act or an act featuring a Scottish musician. Today’s selections include Marmalade, Eddi Reader & The Waterboys. Come back soon for Day 3. Like the podcast? Why not show your appreciation by buying Paul & Stephen a coffee ☕️ - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/trimmi...

It’s episode 100! And to celebrate this milestone, podcast hosts Stephen & Paul, along with their friend and frequent podcast guest Ross, decided to hit the road and travel around Scotland’s North Coast 500 in an RV - https://www.northcoast500.com/. And at the end of each day, the boys sat down to share a favourite song by a Scottish act or an act featuring a Scottish musician. So, in day 1’s...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive released in June 2022 ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: Join host Stephen Nicholson and podcast friends Ross Braidwood & Davie Melon (all Radiohead fans) for a discussion about Radiohead’s “OK Computer” album. The guys pick their favourite song from it and decide which track they would remove as their least favourite. Like the podcast? Why not show you...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive and was released in March 2022 ** ** FILM COMMENTARY ** We had that much fun doing our Paul McCartney ‘Pipes of War on Broad Street’ pod, we decided to do a commentary for ‘Give My Regards To Broad Street’; Macca’s 1984 critical & commercial box office failure. Watch along with us or just listen as we discuss the movie, songs & how grey London loo...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive released in June 2022 ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: Join host Stephen Nicholson and podcast friends Ross Braidwood & Davie Melon (all Radiohead fans) for a discussion about Radiohead’s The Bends album. The guys pick their favourite songs, take a Radiohead quiz and choose which track they would remove from the album 💿 . Like the podcast? Why not sh...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive released in September 2022 **  TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: What an album this is! Paul is a longtime fan of ELO’s A New World Record. Stephen is a recent listener. Join them as they discuss the merits of the album, share their favourite tracks, and reveal their least favourite.  Check out Trimming The Musical Fat's other ELO episodes: 1977's Out of...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive and released in May 2022 ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: There's usually always  a song on a classic album that you don't rate as highly as the rest. Join hosts Paul & Stephen Nicholson, plus guests Bryan Borthwick, Paul Melon & Mark Poole for a look back at Metallica’s 1991 masterpiece ~ ’Metallica’ aka The Black Album.  The group discuss the album,...

HIDDEN PRIME CUTS POD: A-ha’s second album ‘Scoundrel Days’ was another huge success for the band, selling 6M copies worldwide. The singles from the album were ‘I’m Losing You’, ‘Cry Wolf’ & ‘Manhattan Skyline’. But, right at the beginning of the album, is perhaps its greatest song: The title track. Podcast hosts Stephen & Paul, along with guest Bry, relisten to ‘Scoundrel Days’, critique it & rem...

TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: It’s this year’s April 1st episode! Join us as we lovingly look back on legendary British pop band Bros’ classic second album ‘The Time’ (1989). An album described by Sounds as “The most so-so record of the year”; and by the NME as "crap, f—ed up funk workouts which Wham! perfected five years ago”. Which tracks get Paul & Stephen’s seal of approval? Too Much? Space? Siste...

TRIMMING THE SINGLES POD: It’s the final episode of our special side-series dedicated to the eighties singles of U2.  Over the course of our 6 previous episodes, we’ve critiqued and ranked each single & its accompanying album to lead us to this point where we’ll create the ultimate eighties U2 singles collection. The album must be 50 minutes or less to fit onto a single vinyl release.   Helped by...

** This episode was previously a Patreon exclusive released in October 2022 ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: Oasis blasted onto the music scene with their 1994 debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’. Rightfully regarded as a classic, it features Live Forever, Supersonic, Shakermaker, and Cigarettes & Alcohol. But which song would you remove from it if you had to? That‘s the task podcast hosts Stephen & Paul h...

TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: “You should cut down on that pork life mate, get some exercise…“ Blur’s 1994’s album ‘Parklife’ is a Britpop classic & one of the most highly regarded albums of the nineties in the UK. Home to the singles ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘To The End’, ‘Parklife’ & ‘End of a Century’, it’s the band’s most commercially successful album in the UK. And it’s the first ‘indie’ album podcast co-...

TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: “Tell me why this is a land of confusion“.  Genesis’ 1986 album ‘Invisible Touch’ was the most commercially successful of their career. With it, they became the first band to score 5 top 5 US singles from the same studio album. And it’s the first album podcast co-host Stephen ever bought (in 1987). But which songs are least deserving of a place on this eighties classic? W...

TRIMMING THE SINGLES POD: It’s the penultimate episode of our special side-series dedicated to the eighties singles of U2.   In it, we’ll critique and rank each single & its accompanying album to create the ultimate eighties U2 singles collection. The album must be 50 minutes or less to fit onto a single vinyl release. We’ll also share some interesting facts and figures related to each song / albu...

Take 2! We recorded the first version of this pod earlier in the year but had to scrap it due to sound issues in editing. So, we reconvened earlier this week to do it all again! What was worth all this effort? Queen’s 1989, UK number one album - ‘The Miracle’. Specifically, the Collectors Edition (CE) of it released last year (2022). Podcast hosts Stephen and Paul critique the CE & use the tracks...

Hello Nasty is the fifth studio album by Beastie Boys. Released in 1998, it was a critical & commercial smash for the group, reaching number one in the US & UK. But, at 67 minutes in length, is it too long? Yes say podcast hosts Stephen and Paul & their guests, Beastie Boys fans Bryan Borthwick & author Mark Poole. With that in mind, they do a deep dive into the album to create an under 50 minute,...

TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: “What’s the time, it’s time to get ill“.  Beastie Boys’ 1986 debut album ‘Licensed To Ill’ was a game changer for the rap genre. The first rap album to reach number one in the US; it has sold over 10M copies there alone.  But which songs are least deserving of a place on this classic? Which are the best? That’s what podcast hosts Stephen & Paul discussed with lifelong BB...

** This episode was previously a Patreon podcast exclusive ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: Paul McCartney made both a critical and commercial return to form with his band Wings’ 1973 classic - Band On The Run. Featuring evergreen classics like its title track, Jet and Let Me Roll It, it is Macca’s biggest post-Beatles success. But, which song would you remove from it if you had to?  That‘s the task p...

** This episode was previously a Patreon podcast exclusive ** TRIMMING THE CLASSIC POD: Automatic For The People’ is arguably R.E.M.’s greatest album. A triumph for the little band from Athens, Georgia who made it (very) big. Both a massive critical and commercial success. But, is there a bad track on it?  Podcast hosts Stephen & Paul revisit the album to give their thoughts on it; reveal their fa...

TRIMMING THE SINGLES POD: It’s episode five of our special side-series dedicated to the eighties singles of U2.  In it, we’ll critique and rank each single & its accompanying album to create the ultimate eighties U2 singles collection. The album must be 50 minutes or less to fit onto a single vinyl release. We’ll also share some interesting facts and figures related to each song / album, and our o...

TRIMMING THE COVER POD: After covering Gun N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion albums, Stephen & Paul decided to stick with one of its tracks - Live & Let Die. How does GNR’s 1991 cover version stack up against Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1973 original? Which do they both prefer? What facts can they share about each version? Listen on to find out. Let the battle commence 🥊  Like the podcast? Why not show you...

There were two big reasons to purchase / stream the recently re-released Use Your Illusion 1 album by Guns N’ Roses: 1/ The album was remastered for the first time 2/ It contained a new version of rock classic November Rain with a 50 piece orchestra replacing the synth strings from the original  Does the new version live up to the hype? How does it compare to the original from 1991, or the de...

TRIMMING THE COVER POD: It’s snowing outside so it must be time for our 2022 Christmas show!  And we‘re taking on a Christmas charity classic: Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’. Not just the 1984 original but Band Aid II (‘89); Band Aid 20 (‘04) and Band Aid 30 (’14).  Which get the thumbs up from Paul & Stephen?  Look out for strong opinions, interesting facts and bad Davie Bowie impersona...

Here it is! One of our most requested episodes: To curate one double album from the two Use Your Illusion double albums, released by Guns N’ Roses in 1991. What 15 tracks from 30 will make the cut? What would you choose?  Stephen & Paul also:  - Discuss the band’s recent announcement of a show at Hyde Park in 2023.  - Bemoan the fact that GNR’s cancelled 2022 Scottish show has still not been resch...

TRIMMING THE COVER POD: We’ve just covered the Ray of Light album by Madonna. We had such good fun doing that with Marissa & Caroline from The Eves that we decided to keep going! So, in this short episode, we pit Don McLean’s 1971 classic song, American Pie, against the Madonna cover version from 2000. Both were hugely successful, but which has stood the test of time better?  Let the battle commen...