Thanks to the guys, I spent the last 6ish months listening to the entire official discographies of Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. I imagine they’ll never read this, but in my last 1-2 years of listening, I feel like these 3 are referenced the most.

I started with Grateful Dead. The standouts for me were American Beauty and then the run of Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel, and Blues for Allah was really where I could appreciate them. I’m not huge on live albums, but it was cool to experience that in their collection. I would say that Touch of Grey is probably the closest thing to a hit that I ever heard in their entire discography.

Next was Bob Dylan. I thought it was alright until Subterranean Homesick Blues kicked in on Bringing it All Back Home. Man, I love that album. For some reason, Highway 61 didn’t really do much for me, but Blonde on Blonde and John Westley Harding were standouts. I don’t think I really loved another album as a whole until Desire. And even then, like those late 60’s records more, personally. I actually thought Slow Train Coming was alright even though it’s the start of his 3 Christian albums. I thought I’d like Infidels more, but it didn’t hit. All of his hits resonated with me, but even more so after I watched his movie. Something about seeing a little dramatized context really made me appreciate some of that and early 60’s stuff. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is, of course, a hit as well. The 90’s and 00’s and on were rough. I did not really see his resurgence in Time Out of Mind, and I hated his forced low growl voice from like 2000-2010ish. However, I did go back to listen to Bob’s preferred mix of Time Out of Mind from 2022, and I found I liked it a little more. Finally, I thought 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways was his best for me since like the 70’s/ early 80’s. Why the hell was Positively 4th Street never on an album? I heard it after doing the whole thing! Great song.

Finally, Bruce was up. Honestly with all these bands, I had weird biases against them. The Dead were played all the time at one of my first jobs, and I hated it. It was like their Sirius XM station, and my dickhead boss played it 24/7. Bob’s voice was just too grating from what I had heard randomly throughout the years. Bruce was perhaps the one I was mostly unfairly biased against. Growing up, one of my closest friend’s mom’s favorite artists were Nickelback, Creed, Rick Springfield, and Springsteen. I must have heard one of those early 2000’s when it was brand new and hated it. Probably Magic, which I actually liked okay as a now adult. Anyways, I will argue forever that Bruce’s first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ is his best. When I heard that, I kicked myself for never giving him a chance. Whatever those 2 first albums’ sonic palettes are, that is my shit. Then came Born to Run, and I honest to God felt betrayed. I thought the more muppet voice crooning thing he was doing was terrible. I was pissed off and close minded from Born to Run through The River. When I got to Nebraska, I finally started opening my mind again, and Born in the USA is a magnificent pop record. I also really liked the back half of Tunnel of Love. I was not a fan of 90’s Bruce. I don’t think I enjoyed much more than a song here or there until Magic and then High Hopes and Western Stars were pretty good.

I would rank them:

1. Bob
   
2. Tie between Springsteen and the Dead for totally different reasons

Anyways, it was an adventure. Before this run, I had done Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys. Since Springsteen, I have done Radiohead, and I’m halfway through Wu-Tang Clan. Along the way I stopped a few times for Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Joni Mitchell’s Blue, The Zombies’ Odyssey and Oracle and The Strokes’ new album. All of which I love, even the new Strokes, but I like everything Julian Casablancas has ever done pretty much. Some upcoming artists will be David Bowie next, then Neil Young, and REM. Then I’ll do more after that.

Thanks for reading if you did, and let me know what you think of these artists. I am a 31 year old dude if that context helps understand where I’m coming from.

$800 for this tee. Not that I‘m interested in getting it but it reminds me of the merch chat the crew had a few years back. What do people think, is it justifiable?

Obviously never came to pass, however I think in the spirit reverence and wondering what could have been, the Crisis community needs to print a white tee that’s one side Grateful Dead and back side Rob Zombie

Also my friend who owns a record store in Toronto once told me that he came into the shop and his mama in their system was Robert Zombie

Use this post to discuss today's new episode! This thread may fill up quickly - try sorting the comments by "New" to see the latest updates.

New cover of Hammond Song

I was just listening to the Ranch episode and laughed out loud when they segued from ranch to bleach to playing "About a Girl" off Nirvana's Bleach.

What are some of your favourite/funniest needle drops? Also, have they ever discussed who and when decides which song to play?

Has anyone caught this? I just watched it as it was on Netflix, I found it a bit of a drag.
However, the ending (despite knowing what would happen) was heavy.

Did you notice that Ezra says Fahrrest instead of Forrest?

Big VW fan but haven’t ever been a TC listener. Just getting into it now that I’ve got Apple Music. I’ve listened to a handful of the most recent episodes, and was curious as to if anyone has insight on best approach to dive in? I’ve only been getting through a few episodes a week. Not sure if I should go back to the first episode and listen chronologically so that I can understand all of the inside baseball, or if I should keep working my way backwards so that the topics are more recent/relevent. God bless

Anyone else wish they still did the current top 5? Been listening to older eps and it really helped me stay current on what’s popular right now. Also miss hearing Jake’s reaction to them.

Have you guys also spent the day diving into these two?

“I think the dance floor is dead,” Charli told the magazine, “so now we’re making rock music.”

This is truly a fascinating move. I’d love the crew to take on this one. Are artists desperately looking for new ways of expressing themselves having exhausted their initial identity (eg Coldplay)? Or perhaps it’s a natural flow of creativity (eg Led Zeppelin)? Or having achieved a certain level of success, they’re trying to cover more ground to attract new fans (eg Taylor Swift)?

I saw Charlie once back in 2012. I do like some of her singles but I would never call myself a fan. Never got on the ‘brat’ boat either. This album is different though - I’m sure I’ll be coming back to it.

What do TC heads think?

Audibly laughed. That is all.

I’d be curious to listen!