What the Riff Next Gen

In the fall of 1984 there was nowhere you could go in the United States without hearing something off of Purple Rain, the album and the motion picture from Prince and The Revolution.  This album was the sixth studio album by Prince, and the first to also bill the band, The Revolution (although the band was hinted at on the album 1999, being written backwards on the album cover).  Prince would beco...

The Ramones are considered the first true punk band by many.  Despite never having a lot of commercial success, the band achieved immortality as the founders of a rock genre, and inspired a multitude of bands to follow.  Their debut album, self titled as Ramones started it all in 1976.  The album came out in February but we're featuring it in the summer of 1976 which is considered the "summer of p...

Roger Waters is one of the best known rock celebrities, both as a founding member of Pink Floyd and as a solo artist after leaving the band.  Amused to Death is his third solo album, and Waters considers it to be a continuation of The Wall.  The name is inspired by the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman.  The concept of the album is a television where the channels are continually be...

While many bands of the 80's were focusing on the synth-heavy New Wave or screaming guitars of Hard Rock, one band was taking their inspiration from the 50's roots of Rock.  The Stray Cats came out of New York  in 1979 and developed a devoted following quickly, but moved to the UK after hearing of a revival of the 50's subculture there.  Inspired by the Sun Records artists of the 50's, the Stray C...

By 1973 Elvis had definitely not left the building.  In fact, January 1973 would be the month that Elvis Presley would broadcast a concert live via satellite to 38 countries.  The concert would air in the United States on NBC in April 1973, and would be the basis for the album we are featuring - Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite, the four-month delay being a result of a conflict with Super Bowl VII...

While Under the Table and Dreaming may have been released in September 1994 as the debut studio album by the Dave Matthews Band, songwriter and guitarist David John Matthews was working as a bartender in 1990 when a friend encouraged him to get together with drummer Carter Beauford and record a demo of a few songs he had written.  Matthews also brought in saxophonist LeRoi Moore, and the trio bega...

It may not be surprising that the self-titled debut album from Foreigner was a hit, since all the members had previously worked with successful acts, making this collaboration a bit of a supergroup.  British guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones came from Spooky Tooth.  Multi-instrumentalist and fellow Brit Ian McDonalds had played in King Crimson.  They were joined by another Englishman, drummer  D...

Leftoverture is the fourth and most commercially successful studio album by Kansas.  Formed out of a complex merger between a band called Saratoga and a prog rock outfit called White Clover, Kansas takes its name from the band's state of origin, as their start was in Topeka.  The band consisted of Steve Walsh (keyboards, vibraphone, vocals), Kerry Livgren (electric guitar and keyboards), Robby Ste...

New York native Joe Satriani had previously recorded an album in 1986, and ran up some credit card credit card debt in the process.  He paid off the debt from his earnings as a member of the Greg Kihn Band, but stayed on a low budget of $13,000 when he recorded his second and all-instrumental studio album, Surfing with the Alien.  This would be a break-out album for the guitar virtuoso. Satriani b...

Believe it or not, many considered The Who to be a band in decline just before the release of their iconic rock opera Tommy.  Their recent releases hadn't been as popular as expected.  They had a popular stage show, but between Pete Townshend destroying his guitars and/or Keith Moon destroying his drums, the shows were expensive!  The double album Tommy would change the trajectory of the group and...

If Bob Seger sounds like he's experienced it all on his breakout album Night Moves, well, he kind of has.  Seger got his start in the music industry in 1961, and this album is his ninth studio album, though the first to credit the Silver Bullet Band on the album cover.  Many of the songs reflect on earlier times, successes and failures of the past, with a wistfulness.   Detroit native Robert Clark...

Despite the fact that Berlin would be considered the standard for early 80's European new wave, the band actually originated in the Los Angeles area.  The band had no actual connections with Berlin, but chose the name to make them seem more European and exotic than their own Orange County.  Pleasure Victim is Berlin's second studio album and the one that was their breakout success. The group was f...

This week we introduce you to the debut album from a 24 year-old lad from Wales.  Thomas John Woodward - today Sir Thomas John Woodward - is better known as Tom Jones. He got his start as the front man for a beat group called Tommy Scott and the Senators, but they really didn't go anywhere beyond South Wales.  Gordo Mills became his manager, took him to London, and renamed him Tom Jones after the...

When you think of the greatest live albums of all time, the one at - or very near - the top of the list will be Frampton Comes Alive!, the double album that was the best selling album of 1976, and Rolling Stone magazine's choice for "Album of the Year."  While Peter Frampton was well known in rock circles for his guitar work and his previous stints with Humble Pie and the Herd, his solo work was c...

Dream Police is the fourth and most successful studio album from Cheap Trick.  It hit number 6 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, and was certified platinum only a few months after its release.  Robin Zander (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar, backing vocals), Tom Petersson (bass, backing vocals), and Bun. E. Carlos (percussion) would get more complex on this album, incorporati...

The Standells were a Los Angeles garage band formed in the early 60's, often referred to as an early punk band.  The lineup was Larry Tamblyn on organ and vocals, Tony Valentino on guitar, Gary Lane on bass, and former Mouseketeer Dick Dodd on drums and lead vocals.  The name came from Tamblyn and Valentino, and referenced their standing around booking agents, trying to get a job. The group made u...

Although they had been steadily growing in popularity since their debut in the mid-70's, Dire Straits would become a household name with their fifth studio album, Brothers In Arms.  Between the catchy hooks accessible on both rock and adult contemporary radio, and the video-driven appeal of the group on MTV, DIre Strats became an arena group in 1985. This album found Dire Straits composed of John...

Quick!  Name a song by Steely Dan.  Chances are good that the song you picked is off this sixth studio album, the iconic Aja.  Steely Dan had already become a successful jazz rock group by this time, but Donald Fagen and Walter Becker created their most successful album by far with this one. By the time this album was produced, the group had been reduced to the duo who were responsible for the lio...

Today the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a well known by all as one of the alternative rock founders, and that fame began with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, their fifth studio album.  This was the first album created under their new Warner Brothers label, and was recorded at the Houdini mansion in Los Angeles.  Front man Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, and bassist Flea moved into the former house o...

Damn the Torpedoes is the third studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and is the album where the group truly broke out into serious commercial success.  They had done well with their first album, with "Breakdown" breaking into the top 40, and "American Girl" receiving some air play.  But this album took the group to a different level.  Damn the Torpedoes was their first top 10 album, pe...

Scottish band Nazareth finally found international success with their sixth studio album, Hair of the Dog.  This album featured the well known (but often mislabeled) title track as well as an unusual but highly popular cover of the Everly Brothers song “Love Hurts.” Nazareth was originally formed in 1968 from the remaining members of a group called the Shadettes.  They took the name Nazareth from...

If "The Joshua Tree" was the album that propelled Irish band U2 to the stratosphere of rock success, Achtung Baby was the album that would cement them in that status permanently.  The band was coming off mixed success with their hybrid live/studio album "Rattle and Hum," and were struggling directionally.  The band felt that they were not prepared for the success they had received, or as drummer L...

Night Ranger was a reliable hit machine in the mid-80's and their second studio album Midnight Madness was the one that solidified this reputation.  The group originally started as a trio with Jack Blades on bass, Brad Gillis on guitar, and Kelly Keagy on drums.  Keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald came out of the group Montrose to join the band, and he recommended guitarist Jeff Watson.  The group was or...

Jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears waited until their second studio album to eponymously name it Blood, Sweat & Tears.  This band would defy convention in many ways.  It was a large band, boasting nine full-time members, and adding a tenth in trumpet player Alan Rubin for one song.  They also played a complex mix of progressive music that would come to be called "jazz-rock."  This album w...

Blues Traveler formed as a high school garage band in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987, and their fourth studio album, aptly named four, was their true breakout album. Blues Traveler is composed of guitarist Chan Kinchla, bassist Bobby Sheehan, drummer Brendan Hill, and front man, harmonica player, and primary songwriter John Popper.  Sheehan would die in 1999 and be replaced by Tad Kinchla.  The gro...