Vinyl Verdict

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Disclosure's "Alchemy". Released in 2023, it is their fourth studio album. Disclosure is a duo of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence, who come from a family of musicians, with their mother, father and uncle having previously had musical careers with varying success. Reviews for the album were larg...

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe dive into the topic of their favourite album covers. Special reminder that this is a video episode on Spotify, so if you were interested in seeing the covers themselves, try that! Bell's pick is Electric Guest's "Kin" , Plouffe's pick is Chocolat's "Recontrer Looloo" and Jamie's pick is The Mo...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Royal Blood's self titled debut album. Released in 2014, it comes on the heels of the duo's EP, which came out just months before the album. Royal Blood, like previously covered Death From Above 1979, is a band consisting of only a bassist and drummer, but that's where most of the similarities...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Live at Monterey". A 1:1 recording of the group's debut performance in the United States, it was for many years only available in part. Like our second episode covering The Who's "Live at Leeds" album, this concert is of some historical significa...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Blarf's "Cease and Desist". His only album to date, it is produced entirely of samples and noise. Clocking in at just under 28 minutes, the experience is over quickly. The existence of this album raises questions such as: "who or what is Blarf?", "why isn't it available on any...

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe dive into the topic of picture discs. Bell brings George Ezra's "Wanted on Voyage" , Plouffe brings Hail Mary Mallon's "Bestiary" and Jamie brings Tool's " Lateralus". Once again, the albums could not be more different -- Bell's pick is a folksy bluesy record, Plouffe's pick is a rap...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Smash Mouth's "Fush Yu Mang". Their debut album, it went to number 19 on the Billboard 200 and spawned two hit singles. One of these singles - "Wallkin' on the Sun" went to #1 in the US and Canada, and propelled sales of the album. To date, "Fush Yu Mang" has sold over...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Ray Charles' "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music". Released in 1962, it was an immediate success, bridging the big band and jazz sound that Ray Charles had pioneered during the previous decade, with hits from country music. The album is made up of twelve covers of songs previously made...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, U2's "Songs of Innocence" . Released in 2014, it is their 13th album. It was released following the Apple Event to announce the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, with Apple making the album available to all iTunes users at no additional cost. Within a month, the album had been listened to by 81 million...

Merry Christmas from the Vinyl Verdict crew! On today's episode, we review the Christmas album our company put out -- way back in 2015. How did this certified Christmas banger get a vinyl release? A fan had two pressings made up and one was given to previous guest Dan Besser. We borrowed this from Dan, who is apparently hard at work remastering the album as well. How does this album stack up a...

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe get together to talk the artists they own the most albums by in their collections. Starting the episode off, Jamie brings the Beatles album "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" . Their eighth album, released in 1967, the band began work on this album shortly after retiring from touring in 1966. Many publications have cit...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Streetlight Manifesto's "Everything Goes Numb" . Released in 2003, it was their debut album. A ska album, the songs have the speed and tone of the Punk genre, combined with the large horn sounds of Ska. Critics have called this album one of the most important albums from the Third Wave of Ska...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, The Kinks - "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One". Released in 1970, this was their eighth album. A scathing critique of the British music industry, music contracts and royalties, the eventual success of the album led to the Kinks being able to negotiate a better contract and contin...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Father John Misty's "I Love You, Honeybear" . Father John Misty is the stage name of the musician Josh Tillman, previously of the band Fleet Foxes. This is his second album as Father John Misty, and it was released in 2015 to critical acclaim. Publications praised the lyrics, his warm delivery,...

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe get together to talk about their latest acquisitions. Bell brings Joji's "BALLADS 1", Plouffe brings Casiopea's "Super Flight" and Jamie brings The Flaming Lips' "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart". Once again, the album could not be more different! Which host had to fudge their latest...

Hey it's your buddy Jamie here with a minor content warning: this album is somewhat violent and sweary in its lyrical content, be forewarned. On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Slipknot's " Slipknot". Their debut album, it was released in 1999 to critical and fan acclaim. In addition to positive reviews of the album, the s...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, R.E.M.'s "Green". Released in November 1988, this was R.E.M.'s sixth studio album, and also their major label debut. Prior to signing with Warner Bros. Records, the band was signed to the relatively small label, I.R.S. While some ardent fans of the previous five albums thought the band was...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges". Released in 2008, the album was the fifth studio recording from the band, and represented a shift in their sound. Jim James, the frontman for the band said that they were trying to achieve a sound more akin to what they sound like in concert. Reviews for this ne...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe are joined by special guest Dan Besser. Like previous guests, Dan is both a friend and a coworker! Today, Dan brought with him Lorn's "Ask the Dust", the second album from the artist, released in 2012. If you've followed Dan's streams on Twitch (@BuhDan on there), you'll know that Dan likes songs with synths and so...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Arctic Monkey's "AM". Their fifth studio album, it was released in September 2013, and the album was an immediate hit for the band. Six singles were release from the album, with most of them charting well in both UK, where the Arctic Monkeys are based, and internationally. "AM" has...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Deja Vu" . Released in 1970, the album was one of the first albums released by a rock supergroup. David Crosby had previously been the guitarist in the band The Byrds, Stephen Stills and Neil Young had both been guitarists in the band Buffalo Springfield, and G...

Hey it's your buddy Jamie with a Content Warning: every song on this album has been flagged by Spotify/Apple Music as 'explicit'. The lyrics and song titles may be offensive to you. Maybe sit this one out if you listen with your kids. On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Machine Girl's "U-Void Synthesizer". The fifth st...

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell and Plouffe have teamed up to pick two albums from Jamie's collection! Bell's pick is the Electric Light Orchestra's " A New World Record", their sixth, and perhaps most successful album, released in 1976. This album spawned four hit singles - Do Ya, Livin' Thing, Telephone Line, and Rockaria! and went to number one here in C...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Marcy Playground's Marcy Playground . Released in February 1997, the album went nowhere until the single, Sex and Candy was released as a radio single in September. The immediate success of the single led to the album being re-released in October 1997. As a single, Sex and Candy went to #1 on the Moder...

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie’s next pick, Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Their sixth album, it marks the end of the period where Peter Gabriel was the lead singer. The album features a winding story of a boy named Rael, living in New York who experiences miraculous and bizarre events. Upon release, the reviews were mixed, but it was and remain...