The Decemberists are a folk, sometimes folk-rock band, from Portland. In 2005 they signed with major record label, Capital Records, and followed the next year with the critically acclaimed album, The Crane Wife. This record was partly inspired by a Japanese folk story about a greedy lover.

Their next full-length album came in 2009, where Colin Meloy penned a musical play titled The Hazards of Love. This concept album rocks harder than the previous, drenched in folklore imagery. The story, simply told, is about two lovers -- William and Margret -- fighting against the disapproval of the William's forest Queen mother, who blames Margret for her other son's death. She sends a villain after them, and they escape, just to drown and revel in the peace away from the hazards of love, as it were.... or something like that. It's a lot to parse.

Rhianna, thanks in part to her beauty line,  Fenty, is the second wealthiest woman in music. Her album sales are just behind Madonna. Getting her start in girl group akin to Destiny's Child, Rhianna was plucked out of obscurity and made into one of the greatest selling artists of all time. Good Girl Gone Band is a grab bag of different experiments for who she could be as an artist, and Rated R is the crystallization of her particular sound. The lows are severely underwhelming, but the few highs are all-timers. 

For those that know of him, many see Brendan Benson as the Paul to Jack White's John in the Raconteurs. The dual frontman "super group", as they don't care to be called, features the pop sensibilities of Detroit peer, Brendan Benson.

Benson has had his own music career for quite a while. His first record in 1999, titled One Mississippi, was enjoyable but a commercial flop. Given another chance, 2002's Lapalco sold three times as many records. That was enough to earn Brendan Benson a seat at the producer's table, crafting 2005's Alternative To Love.

In this episode, we see that Brendan has what it takes to write near perfect songs. But he doesn't quite stick the landing, track after track. It can be a frustration. Yet there's something to be said about those particular moments, as we examine what it may be like to be in Brendan's position in the early 2000s.

In this episode, Greg and Tyler explore the beginnings of Linkin Park, delving into the band's first two studio albums: Hybrid Theory (2000) and Meteora (2003). We examine the history behind these iconic records and discuss the impact they've had on the music landscape - particularly their blend of hard edged misery and hip hop elements. 

Linkin Park formed in 1996, originally under the name Xero, and with a unique blend of alternative rock, nu metal, and rap. We discuss the creative process behind Hybrid Theory, which became the best-selling debut album of the 21st century, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. Then, we dive into the development and success of Meteora, which continued to build on the band's distinctive sound and sold over 27 million copies worldwide. 

Of particular interest, we discuss what makes Mike Shinoda a producer both of and ahead of his time. And how Chester Bennington was the final ingredient that made it all work. 

This week, Tyler and Greg get together in-person to discuss The Black Keys, and their 2008 and 2010 albums, Attack & Release and Brothers respectively.

The Black Keys are a Nashville-based, Akron, Ohio-founded blues rock duo, featuring Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals, and Patrick Carney on drums. Attack & Release is the band's fifth studio album, produced by Danger Mouse. It started a trend toward a more energetic, largely more welcoming sound -- something a bit more fun and less constrained by the tropes of the blues that the duo dealt in. 

While Attack & Release was the necessary first step, it was Brothers that proved them capable of radio adoption. Featuring the hit single Tighten Up, the band would continue toward El Camino and other massively adopted records. Brothers itself was a revelation for the band, albeit with one fit still stubbornly stuck behind them in their olds blues-isms laden home. Nonetheless, these are both great albums by a band that has grown a lot and earned their credibility by cutting their teeth in the industry for over two decades.

After the September 11 attacks, several songs were banned from being played on the radio by Clear Channel, now iHeart Radio, due to their lyrical content or perceived association with the terrorist attacks.

One of the most notable songs that was banned was "Imagine" by John Lennon. The song was banned because it was seen as too pacifist and too critical of the United States government's response to the attacks.

Over time, most of these bans were lifted, and the songs were once again played on the radio and TV. No one seemed to know what to do, but in retrospect, many of the excluded songs were done so brashly. Of 164 songs banned songs, we chose to talk about these:

1. AC/DC, "Safe in New York City"
2. Louis Armstrong, "What A Wonderful World"
3. Bush, "Speed Kills"
4. Blue Oyster Cult, "Burnin’ For You"
5. Slipknot, "Wait and Bleed"
6. Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young"
7. Korn, "Falling Away From Me"
8. U2, "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
9. Savage Garden, "Crash and Burn"
10.  all of Rage Against the Machine

"Britney" is the third studio album by Spears, released in 2001. The album features a mix of pop and R&B tracks, with themes centered around growing up and out, often toiling in the awkward I'm Not a Girl, But Not Yet a Woman phase of Britney's life. This album was a pseudo-companion to the film starting Britney, Crossroads, a coming of age road trip film. The lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U," was a hit and marked a departure from Spears' earlier teen pop image and made the sexuality on display more overt in the music. The album received mixed reviews from music critics but was commercially successful, selling over four million copies in the United States and over ten million copies worldwide.

"In the Zone" is the fourth studio album released in 2003. This marked a further departure from Spears' earlier pop-forward approach. The sexual come ons hit in full stride here, despite Britney's insistence in interviews that her art is motivated by a love of fun and dance. But we are no prudes, and we have nothing to moralize. Unfortunately, this is just an even less interesting or well-constructed record. If nothing else, this record has Toxic -- perhaps the best song on offer in Britney's oeuvre.

All in all, the Britney Spears story is a once in culture type of history. She's an incredible performer. While her way too prolonged conservatorship is the center point of discussion these days, it's worth taking a look back even further to see how she became one of the biggest stars of all time.

In this week's podcast episode, Tyler and Greg provide a comprehensive analysis of Interpol's debut and sophomore albums: 2002's Turn On The Bright Lights and 2004's Antics. We delve into the elements that contributed to the band's defining sound and the impact these records had on the indie rock scene. We'll discuss the atmospheric sound that characterizes Interpol's style. Gain insight into the  themes, standout tracks, and the lasting influence of these albums. 

This week, we return to our roots, revisiting Bright Eyes just a little over a year since our first episode. While the first episode reviewed a double release, --2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn -- we are reviewing two albums that are as opposed to each other but from different times in that decade. 2006's Noise Floor is a collection of "B-sides and rarities." Despite being a grab bag, this record has meaningful standouts for Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and company. It is emblematic of the bedroom records era of Bright Eyes, soaked in mundane, personal mellodrama. 2007's Casadaga leans further into lush country and folk production. Closer to I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning yet eclipsed by that album's legacy, Casadaga is a gem to rediscover.

This week we discuss the soundtracks to Sam Rami's Spider-Man 2 & 3. Spider-Man 2002 was a huge hit and proved that comic book movies could be culturally ubiquitous. As we know now, they're inescapable. Nonetheless, Spider-Man 1's breakout track Hero by Chad Kroger of Nickelback paved the way for Sony to treat the Spider-Man films as an opportunity to feature and uplift artists in the zeitgeist.

The tracklists are as follows:

Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack
 
1. "Vindicated" (Dashboard Confessional)
2. "Ordinary" (Train)   
3. "Did You" (Hoobastank)
4. "Hold On" (Jet)
5. "Gifts and Curses" (Yellowcard)
6. "Woman" (Maroon 5)
7. "This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)" (Taking Back Sunday)
8. "Give It Up" (Midtown)       
9. "Lucky You" (Lostprophets)
10. "Who I Am" (Smile Empty Soul)   
11. "The Night That the Lights Went Out in NYC" (The Ataris)
12. "We Are" (Ana)     
13. "Someone to Die For" (Jimmy Gnecco featuring Brian May)       
14. "Spidey Suite" (Danny Elfman)
15. "Doc Ock Suite" (Danny Elfman)

Spider-Man 3 Soundtrack

1. "Signal Fire" (Snow Patrol)
2. "Move Away" (The Killers)
3. "Sealings" (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
4. "Pleased to Meet You" (Wolfmother)
5. "Red River" (The Walkmen)
6. "Stay Free" (Black Mountain)
7. "The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love" (The Flaming Lips)
8. "Scared of Myself" (Simon Dawes)
9. "The Twist" (Chubby Checker)
10. "Sightlines" (Rogue Wave)
11. "Summer Day" (Coconut Records)
12. "Falling Star" (Jet)
13. "Portrait of a Summer Thief” (Sounds Under Radio)
14. "A Letter from St. Jude" (The WYO's)
15. "Small Parts" (The Oohlas)