What the Riff Next Gen

Tears for Fears comes from Bath, England, and were formed by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.  Their first album, "The Hurting" was released in 1983 and was successful with songs like "Mad World" and "Pale Shelter."  However, their second album entitled Songs from the Big Chair, a title taken from the motion picture "Sybil" would be the one to propel them to super-stardom.  It peaked at number 2 in...

Atlanta, Georgia's own The Georgia Satellites released their debut and self-titled album in 1986.  Dan Baird was their primary songwriter and lead vocalist on most songs.  Guitarist Rick Richards, bassist Rick Price, and dummer Mauro Magellan complete the band.  Originally formed as Keith and the Satellites in 1980, the band saw a number of personnel changes and a name change to The Georgia Satell...

Formed in London in 1969, Uriah Heep released their fourth and (to this point) most successful album, Demons and Wizards in May 1972.  This album would also see the debut of what is considered the classic lineup of Uriah Heep as bassist Gary Thain and drummer Lee Kerslake joined vocalist David Byron, guitarist Mick Box, and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Ken Hensley to form th...

Steve Winwood was a well known vocalist and guitarist throughout the rock era due to his contributions to the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith.  His solo career would hit its high water mark with his fourth studio album, Back in the High Life.  It was originally released in June 1986, and we are featuring it in February 1987 when the last single, “The Finer Things” was released and wa...

One of the founding groups of heavy metal is Judas Priest, and their eighth studio album entitled Screaming for Vengeance would be their commercial breakthrough album for North America.  In addition to the distincive vocals of Rob Halford, the Judas Priest lineup for this album included K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton on guitars, Ian Hill on bass, and Dave Holland on drums. Judas Priest was formed i...

For their ninth studio album and Sammy Hagar's third album as lead singer, Hagar suggested Van Halen title it F*CK (... only the * was a letter).   Censorship in rock music was a controversial topic at the time, and Hagar wanted to push limits.  The name changed to For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge when Hagar was told by Ray "Boom Boom” Mancini that the vulgarity was actually an acronym for this phras...

Today Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is considered Eric Clapton's best work.  However, at the time that this double album debut by Derek and the Dominos came out it was considered both a commercial and critical failure.  Clapton met fellow Derek and the Dominos band members Bobby Whitlock (keyboards), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums) when working with Delaney & Bonnie.  Whitlock a...

Some of the most popular songs from The Cult come from Sonic Temple, their fourth studio album.  They garnered some attention in 1985 when the single “She Sells Sanctuary” off their second album hit the US charts, and they had established a solid following as a “post punk” or “goth rock” band, but Sonic Temple would put them over the top with its more hard rock appeal. The band lineup for this alb...

One of the earliest examples of a prog rock record was Days of Future Passed, the second studio album by The Moody Blues. Originally a rhythm and blues band, The Moody Blues were in difficult financial straits when they convinced the record company to combine their music with orchestral elements and interludes in a single album.  The group recorded much of their sessions first, then provided these...

At a time when most music was coming out of the Seattle grunge scene or the Athens, Georgia college environment, Alabama's own Brother Cane is a reminder that good rock music can originate anywhere.  The band was formed by front man and guitarist Damon Johnson and bassist Glenn Maxey, and they were joined by guitarist Roman Glick and drummer Scott Collier.  Their self-titled debut album would peak...

The James Gang originated in Cleveland, Ohio, and is best known as a power trio consisting of Jim Fox on drums, Dale Peters on bass (Tom Kriss on bass for their first album) and Joe Walsh on guitars and lead vocals.  This Greatest Hits album captures work done on the first three James Gang albums where Joe Walsh is the principal songwriter and is front and center of the band. Walsh joined the grou...

Pet Sounds was the eleventh studio album by the Beach Boys.  The album revolutionized music production, helped establish the album as the dominant form of music, and made the recording studio an instrument.  The Beach Boys at this time are Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, and Mike Love. Some consider Pet Sounds to be a Brian Wilson solo project.  He stopped tou...

The album that would bring grunge into the mainstream is Nevermind by Nirvana.  While it was Nirvana's second album, it would be their first on a major label.  It would also see the introduction of Dave Grohl to the band as drummer joining Krist Novoselic on bass, and the iconic and troubled Kurt Cobain who was front man, guitarist, and songwriter for the band. “Troubled” could be a good descripti...

Jeff Beck left the Yardbirds in 1966, and recorded several singles in 1967.  In 1968 Beck released his first solo studio album, Truth, which would come to be regarded as one of the first heavy metal albums released.  It would also feature a number of talented artists in his band called The Jeff Beck Group, including Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, and Mickey Waller on drums, all of whi...

Their eighteenth studio album found The Kinks moving in a different direction than many previous albums.  Low Budget would address many contemporary issues in song, rather than the subtle pieces and nostalgia found on earlier albums.  The Kinks also recorded much of the album in New York rather than London.  The result charted well in the United States, reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200.  It...

Nik Kershaw's debut studio album, Human Racing, would also be his most commercially successful album.  He would find more popularity in the UK where his album hit number 3 on the album charts than in the United States, where it would appear at number 70 on the Billboard 200.  Kershaw wrote all the songs, performed lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, and percussion.  Other pers...

Running on Empty was the fifth album by Jackson Browne.  The album revolves around the theme of life on the road, and it is a live album, but with a couple of twists.  First, none of these tracks had previously appeared on a Jackson Browne studio album.  Second, while some of the songs were recorded on stage during concerts, others were recorded backstage, or in hotel rooms, or on the tour bus.  T...

The California band Cracker would have its greatest success with its second studio album, Kerosene Hat.  Cracker is David Lowery on lead vocals and guitar, Johnny Hickman on lead guitar and vocals, Davey Faragher on bass and vocals, and Michael Urbano on drums.  The name of the album comes from a time when Lowery and Hickman lived together in an old run-down house whose only heat source was a pair...

If Now and Zen, the fourth studio album by Robert Plant, sounds like Led Zeppelin, there's more reason for that than just the fact that Plant was the lead singer for the band.  In addition to continuing use of computerized technology in the album, Plant also incorporated more blues and Middle Eastern elements into his music.  He also had his Led Zeppelin band mate Jimmy Page contributing guitar to...

Paul Simon was in a slump in the early 80's.  His relationship with Art Garfunkel was at a low point, he was recently divorced from his second wife, Carrie Fisher, and his 1983 album “Hearts and Bones” was considered a commercial failure.  This album would change his fortunes.  Graceland would become his highest charting album in over a decade, his most successful studio album, and would win the 1...

It's our 200th episode!  And to celebrate, we are going to cover a group we reference frequently in other episodes - “all roads lead to Yes.”  The third studio album by Yes was simply entitled The Yes Album, and it was both a critical success, and a much-needed commercial breakthrough, hitting number 40 on the US album charts.  It was the first album not to contain any cover songs, and was also th...

While they may hail from Jacksonville, Florida, the southern rock group Blackfoot gets its name from the Native American tribe in recognition of the Native American heritage of multiple members of the band.  Strikes was their third studio album, and would go Platinum.  Blackfoot is Rickey Medlocke on lead vocals and guitar, Charlie Hargrett on guitar, Greg T. Walker on bass, keyboards, and vocals,...

British rock supergroup Cream debuted their first studio album entitled Fresh Cream in January 1967 in the United States, following the December 1966 British release.  Eric Clapton was on guitar and vocals, Jack Bruce was on bass, harmonica, piano, and vocals, and Ginger Baker was on percussion and vocals.   Clapton had come out of the Yardbirds, and both Baker and Bruce had been in the Graham Bon...

It is no surprise that Pearl Jam was under intense pressure to follow up their debut album "Ten" with another success.  What may be surprising is that the band's second studio album, Vs. (pronounced "versus") did indeed live up to the success for their debut.  Vs. started at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, sold almost a million copies in its first five days, and in its first week outperf...

Many consider Simon & Garfunkel's third studio album to be the breakthrough album.  The tracks on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme were written primarily by Paul Simon during his time as a visitor in England in the prior year.  The songs maintain the folk feel of previous albums, and are heavily tilted towards acoustic instrumentation.   Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel met in elementary school i...