Does knowing an artist's biggest hit mean you really know the artist?

In Episode 40 of Dave's Side One, Dave makes Musical Argument #2: the deep cut may tell you more about a band than the hit.

Using Styx's Styx II and the familiar landmark of “Lady,” Dave asks what happens when we temporarily remove the famous song and pay attention to everything around it.

The episode also introduces The Deep Cut Test: remove your favorite band's three biggest songs and then choose the track you'd play to explain why that band matters to you.

The hit may provide the introduction.

The deep cut starts the conversation.

Side One Spin: What deep cut would you play to explain your favorite band?

Dave’s favorite song on Steve Miller Band’s Book of Dreams is “Jungle Love.”

But he still would not move it to Track One.

In Episode 39 of Dave’s Side One, Dave begins Seven Musical Arguments by asking what an opening track is actually supposed to accomplish.

The album begins with “Threshold” leading into “Jet Airliner,” an opening sequence that Dave sees as a doorway into the record.

The episode also includes a personal memory: in the summer of 1978, Dave loaned his first copy of Book of Dreams to a friend who left it in his car, where the heat warped the record beyond use.

Dave also introduces The Side One Test—listen to the entire first side without skipping or shuffling and ask whether those songs belong together in exactly that order.

Today’s Side One Spin: What album contains your favorite song somewhere other than Track One—and would moving it improve or damage the experience?

Blue Öyster Cult’s Mirrors arrived in 1979 with a new producer and a noticeably different sound. Tom Werman replaced longtime producer Sandy Pearlman, bringing sharper production, larger backing vocals and a more accessible presentation.

Some longtime fans heard the album as an attempt to move away from the band’s darker identity. Dave hears a varied nine-song record that retains Blue Öyster Cult’s guitars, literary imagination, multiple voices and willingness to move between hard rock, pop, fantasy and science fiction.

The episode explores “Dr. Music,” “The Great Sun Jester,” “In Thee,” “Mirrors,” “Moon Crazy,” “The Vigil,” “I Am the Storm,” “You’re Not the One (I Was Looking For)” and “Lonely Teardrops.”

Today’s Side One Spin: Does Mirrors deserve more credit, and which song makes the strongest case?

America’s Harbor arrived in 1977 after a run of albums associated with major songs such as “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Sister Golden Hair” and “Today’s the Day.” Unlike those records, Harbor did not produce another enduring radio standard.

In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave remembers finding the album at a kiosk outside a shopping plaza and revisits its 12-song sequence, beginning with Gerry Beckley’s atmospheric “God of the Sun.”

Produced by George Martin, Harbor features songs written by Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek and became the final studio album recorded by America’s original trio.

Today’s Side One Spin: What is the best song on Harbor, and is it America’s most overlooked album?

Monolith entered the world after Leftoverture and Point of Know Return, two records that had created an extraordinary standard for Kansas.

In today's Dave’s Side One, Dave remembers buying the album during release week at Raspberry Records near Cottonwood Mall in Salt Lake City and explores why it has continued growing in importance over time.

The episode revisits the album’s striking Bruce Wolfe artwork, its more reflective mood and songs including “On the Other Side,” “People of the South Wind,” “Angels Have Fallen,” “A Glimpse of Home” and “Reason to Be.” Kansas’ official discography dates the album to May 1979.

Today’s Side One Spin: What is the best song on Monolith, and does the album belong inside Kansas’ classic run?

Did Boston ever make a truly bad studio album?

In Episode 200 of Dave’s Side One, Dave examines the six albums in Boston’s official studio catalog: Boston, Don’t Look Back, Third Stage, Walk On, Corporate America and Life, Love & Hope.

The debut remains the band’s defining achievement, but that extraordinary beginning may have created an impossible standard for everything that followed.

This episode revisits the classic first three albums, Fran Cosmo’s role on Walk On, the expanded direction of Corporate America and the multiple voices heard on Life, Love & Hope.

Today’s Side One Spin: What is Boston’s weakest studio album, and what is the best song on it?

Stereotomy is not another Eye in the Sky—and that is exactly why it deserves another listen.

In today's episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave explores the album’s colder production, its themes of pressure and control, and the different voices contributed by John Miles, Chris Rainbow, Gary Brooker and Graham Dye.

The album’s nine-track sequence also includes extended instrumentals and recurring title material, giving the record the structure of a complete sonic world rather than a collection of obvious singles.

Today’s Side One Spin: What is the most overlooked Alan Parsons Project album, and which Stereotomy track would you recommend first?

Mention Styx’s Cornerstone, and many listeners immediately think of “Babe.”

In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave looks beyond the album’s biggest hit and revisits songs including “Lights,” “Boat on the River,” “Borrowed Time,” “Eddie” and “Love in the Midnight.”

The record reflects the competing musical personalities of Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw and James Young. Those contrasts can make the album feel divided, but they also capture one of the qualities that defined Styx.

Today’s Side One Spin: What is the best song on Cornerstone besides “Babe,” and has the hit helped or hurt the album’s reputation?

How do you follow an album like Hotel California?

In today's Dave’s Side One, Dave begins a new week called Albums That Deserved Better by reconsidering the Eagles’ The Long Run.

The album is frequently remembered as uneven, difficult and evidence of a band approaching its breaking point. Yet it also contains “Heartache Tonight,” “I Can’t Tell You Why,” “In the City,” “Those Shoes,” “King of Hollywood” and “The Sad Café.”

The question is not whether The Long Run equals Hotel California. The question is whether it deserves to be heard as an album with its own identity.

Today’s Side One Spin: Is The Long Run underrated, and which song deserves more attention?

Dave already knew and loved Van Halen’s debut. The search for an early pressing was not about gaining access to the music; it was about finding a physical copy connected to the period when the album first arrived.

In this episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave looks at the label, catalog number, runout information, jacket and condition of the copy that ended his search. He also explains why pressing details should add context to a record’s story rather than replace the music as the reason for collecting it.

Today’s Side One Spin: Which album made you search for a specific pressing or edition?