Music Defender

The Beach Boys are known for their sunny surf hits, stadium-filling live shows, the groundbreaking album "Pet Sounds," and the many trials and tribulations of genius bandleader Brian Wilson. What they are not known for is the synth-driven 1977 LP "The Beach Boys Love You." On this episode of Music Defender, Michael sets out to change that.

Music Defender welcomes its first guest defender, Matty Conaghan, who takes on the formidable task of defending Creed's "Human Clay." It's an album that guest contributor Damon Lockett calls "Wal-Mart Alice In Chains," and the rest of the MD crew put up strong resistance to the idea that there is anything to redeem at all. Can Matty make the case and take us all higher as we look at "Human Clay" from the vantage point of 2021?

It was considered an experimental album – but many Weezer fans and music critics just thought it sucked, placing it near the bottom of the band's album rankings. In this episode of Music Defender, Kalli explains why the Red Album deserve another spin.

After the massive success of "Gish," "Siamese Dream," and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness," Smashing Pumpkins released the (relatively speaking) critical and commercial flop "Adore." Co-host Max makes the case that this under-appreciated Pumpkin is fact the ripest in the patch.

There are few bands whose public perception has swung so severely from adoration to simmering hatred as '90s pop-jam band Spin Doctors. Music Defender co-host Joe builds his patchouli-scented the defense on this episode.

On this episode of Music Defender, Max makes the case for Leonard Cohen's 1977 underappreciated, Phil Spector-produced album "Death of a Ladies Man."

Join us as Michael defends Paul McCartney's solo output (in its various incarnations) between 1969 and 1979. Can he prove Macca was superior to John? (Or George or Ringo, if you favor the Quiet One or the Comical One.) It's always a good time for a Beatle Battle!

Kalli makes the case for the awesomeness of "Stadium Arcadium," an album that's often bashed by early-era RHCP fans and purists for being overly long, dated, and scattered.

They had one of the top-selling debuts of all time, but that couldn't spare them from legions of critics who considered them corporate rock, emotionless radio fodder, and not even a real band. Our co-host Joe explains why, to the contrary, Boston may be one of the greatest American rock bands ever.

On this episode of Music Defender, Max makes the case for Meat Loaf's much maligned '70s mega-theatrical album "Bat Out of Hell." (2020 Onloch LLC all rights reserved.)