At First Listen

In Part 1 of our At First Listen / Ken Dashow’s Beatles Revolution crossover episode, our cohost Diamond meets the Beatles!
 
We explore the complicated history of the Beatles' final two albums – Abbey Road and Let It Be — the fraught relationships within the Beatles by the late-‘60s, the extraordinary cultural impact of the band and how Abbey Road comes across in 2024 to a fan of contemporary pop music, like Diamond.
 
We also spend A LOT of time on the background of the Beatles and the drama behind the scenes, so look out for the rest of this episode in Part 2!

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Play-by-play announcer and Action Network host Maria Marino joins the show to share one of her favorite albums by The Black Keys — the band's 2010 breakthrough Brothers.

The Black Keys' rootsy, blues-influenced Americana sound made the band an indie darling in the mid-'00s, but it was 2010's Grammy-nominated Brothers album, with hits like "Howlin' for You" and "Tighten Up," that drastically changed the band's fortunes and rocketed The Black Keys to mainstream "alternative" success. 

Brothers found Maria during a formative period in college, and The Black Keys have been with her ever since. But will hearing the album for the first time inspire the same loyalty in Andrew and Diamond? Will Diamond forgive Maria for rooting for the wrong New York baseball team? Listen to find out!

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(Episode 16.)

Andrew and Diamond agree that it's time to explore the blues, so they go straight to the King of the Blues himself, B.B. King, for some education with B.B.'s classic 1964 live album, Live at the Regal.

B.B. King is arguably the most famous blues musician of all-time. He began building his following in the early 1940s (!) and continued performing live for his fans for over 70 years (!!). A winner of 15 Grammy Awards (!!!), B.B. is one of the best-selling blues musicians ever and one of the most influential electric guitarists of all-time. 

Andrew and Diamond discuss how B.B.'s personality shines on Live at the Regal and play two new guessing games — Is he 83? and How much was $10 worth in 1964? Subscribe so you never miss an episode of At First Listen.

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(Episode 15.)

Andrew has never heard a Nicki Minaj album, and Diamond is pretty sure he will hate it ... nonetheless, Nicki's debut album Pink Friday (2010) is the topic of today's podcast!

There was a time when Diamond considered herself a Barb (a Nicki Minaj fan), and while her support of Nicki has waned in recent years, she wonders if Pink Friday will hold up. We also learn that Diamond's longtime go-to karoke song is on this album. 

Will Andrew find anything redeeming on Pink Friday? Could it backfire on Diamond and she kinda hates it too? Subscribe so you don't miss an episode of At First Listen.

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(Episode 14.)

One of the faces of Fender's new Player II series, bassist April Kae (Fever 333), joins the podcast to share one of her biggest musical inspirations: British rapper, singer and producer M.I.A.

From her visual art to her social media creation to her music, April Kae strives to create intrigue with her own work, and she finds a wealth of inspiration from other powerful women who march to their own beat. April found the Matangi album through the hit single "Bad Girls" and was immediately struck by how untethered and unconventional it sounded as a complete work.

Diamond and Andrew were both surprised that April chose an album with no electric bass on it (!). But did they find the same empowering message on Matangi as April? Listen to find out!

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(Episode 13.)

Although Diamond loves the song "Enter Sandman," she's always been too dubious of heavy metal to venture further into Metallica's catalog. 

But we face our fears here on At First Listen, and challenge ourselves (we are so brave). So on this episode of the podcast, we're digging into Metallica's seminal 1991 self-titled album — affectionately referred to as the Black Album.

Does Diamond deem Metallica a one-hit-wonder or will she find some sleeper standouts on the Black Album? Will Andrew's masterplan of turning Diamond into a metalhead begin to take shape or will it blow up in his face? 😈

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(Episode 12.)

After 10 episodes (and 11 albums), Andrew and Diamond take this week to recap some of their favorite music from their At First Listen podcast era. 

If you're weighing what episodes to listen to or where to start with our show, this should put you on track with our highest recommendations (and hottest takes) so far. 

Also, Andrew tried to get some real music on the show with a combination of an unplugged electric guitar and hours of frustrating production at home.

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AppleMusic recently named The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill the greatest album OF ALL TIME, and while we're dubious, Miseducation received glowing reviews from critics at the time of its release and it is still viewed as a touchstone recording in hip-hip and R&B.

Diamond grew up listening to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, while Andrew knows very little about Ms. Hill's work beyond the Fugees. 

We're also joined by guitarist and educator Alex Goldenthal, who gave Ms. Hill private guitar lessons at her New Jersey home for over a year. Alex shares his insight into the kind of musician, student and peerless talent he saw in Ms. Hill during their work together.

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(Episode 10.)

Our guest Andrew Pugliese from Elvis Duran and the Morning Show brings in one of his favorite albums ever, Lana Del Rey's celebrated 2019 album Norman F---ing Rockwell!, to the show.

Despite impressive record sales, luminary status with critics and a ravenous fanbase, Lana's music has for most of her career remained on the fringes of mainstream culture.

NFR! is widely considered a turning point in Lana's career, but will our cohosts appreciate the record's supposedly refined lyrics and soft/psych balladry? Listen to find out!

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(Episode 9.)

Andrew and Diamond finally get to an album they've been looking forward to since launching the podcast, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. 

Everyone knows at least a few of the numerous hits from Songs in the Key of Life — "Isn't She Lovely," "I Wish," "Sir Duke," "As" — but as Andrew and Diamond learn, Stevie Wonder's 1976 opus is packed with funk, soul, jazz and salient social commentary from track 1 to track 21. 

Just 26 years old at the time of its release, Songs was the 18th (!) studio album of Stevie's recording career, and he was as inspired as ever. Andrew and Diamond discuss why the album is so vital and how they each wish they found it sooner!

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