Regarding...Series

Regarding...Series

By Chaz CharlesMusicMusic Commentary
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Regarding...Series episodes

  • S6. Episode 3. A Small Plot of Land
    A small town. A gruesome murder. A community looking for someone to blame.This week on Regarding…Outside, Chaz, Wolfie, and Mikey arrive in Oxford Town, New Jersey, where David Bowie's “A Small Plot of Land” offers another unsettling perspective on the murder of Baby Grace.And the investigation isn't getting any easier.Because this week isn't simply about a song.It's about what happens when an entire community becomes so accustomed to horror that outrage gives way to indifference.Mikey wonders whether Leon Blank has become the convenient scapegoat for a town desperate to return to normal. The gang examines the song's haunting references to a dying will to live, the futility of prayer, and the disturbing possibility that society has become desensitized to the very things that should horrify us.And then there's the music.Wolfie takes us deep into Bowie's jazz influences, from the blues and bebop to acid jazz, avant-garde experimentation, and the remarkable musicians responsible for creating a piece that sounds less like conventional rock and more like the soundtrack to a psychological nightmare.Meanwhile, a discussion of Bowie's Thin White Duke period opens an unexpectedly serious examination of fascist aesthetics, the relationship between rock stars and mass audiences, and the dangerous distinction between artistic provocation and ideological endorsement.Naturally, the conversation doesn't stay in 1995.The panel draws connections to modern anxieties, generational despair, nuclear fears, school shooting drills, and the uncomfortable question of whether we've become better at recognizing horror—or simply better at living with it.Then the investigation returns to Nathan Adler's diaries, where real-world performance art pushes the boundaries of taste, discomfort, and the very definition of art.And the Discord community joins the investigation with its own answers to a particularly troubling question: What work of art made you deeply uncomfortable but left you inexplicably drawn to it?Along the way:
    • Leon Blank becomes a possible scapegoat
    • Bowie, Lennon, and the troubling aesthetics of rock-star power
    • Wolfie unpacks the song's extraordinary jazz vocabulary
    • The gang considers whether society has become desensitized to violence
    • Nathan Adler's diary leads into the disturbing world of performance art
    • Discord contributors explore the strange attraction of uncomfortable art
    • Horror films, literature, and the enduring appeal of things we'd rather not confront
    THIS WEEK'S SONG:“A Small Plot of Land” — David BowieFINAL VERDICT:The music is unsettling.The townspeople are indifferent.And the deeper we dig into Bowie's world, the more familiar it begins to look.Perhaps the most frightening thing about Oxford Town isn't what happened there.It's how easily everyone might learn to live with it.We listen so you don't have to.Although whether you're inside, outside, or any side, you're already part of the investigation...and all that implies.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast.
    1 hr 37 min
  • S6. Episode 2. Heart's Filthy Lesson
    The investigation is underway. The detective may be compromised. And we're already questioning the evidence.Welcome back to Regarding…Outside, where Chaz, Wolfie, and Mikey continue their investigation into David Bowie's 1995 musical murder mystery. This week, the gang tackles the album's third track, “The Hearts Filthy Lesson,” and discovers that understanding the music might be considerably easier than understanding the story.But first, Professor Mikey has homework.A spirited Discord discussion about the nature of art sends the boys back into Nathan Adler's diaries, where cows, Monet paintings, and the Venice Biennale raise some uncomfortable questions about who gets to decide what qualifies as art.Then there's Leon Blank. Could those seemingly random dates from the album's opening track actually be an attempt to establish an alibi? A motion is made, seconded, and unanimously approved to revisit the evidence.Eventually, the investigation reaches “The Hearts Filthy Lesson,” a menacing collision of industrial rock, acoustic piano, electronic percussion, and unmistakable Bowie vocals.And suddenly, the questions get considerably darker.Who exactly is Ramona A. Stone? What is her connection to the murder of Baby Grace? And why does Detective Nathan Adler sound less like an impartial investigator and more like someone who might be personally involved?Along the way, the gang considers whether a detective can become so immersed in a criminal underworld that the line between investigator and participant disappears entirely.There's also room for a few digressions, including Bowie's extraordinary versatility, Tony Visconti, and the fearless artistic experimentation that defined this period of his career.THIS WEEK'S MUSIC:“The Hearts Filthy Lesson” — David BowiePlus a return visit to “Leon Takes Us Outside,” because apparently we're allowed to go backward in this investigation.FINAL VERDICT:The music is compelling. The evidence is circumstantial. The detective is suspicious.And we're only three tracks into the album.We listen so you don't have to.Although at this point, reading the case file might be advisable. You can watch the eff'ed up video for this song here.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast.
    1 hr 20 min
  • S6. Episode 1. Leon Takes Us Outside / Outside
    Kicking off Season 6 with David Bowie's OutsideThe ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast.
    1 hr 27 min
  • S5. Episode 11. I
    The Fellowship assembles one last time before the final curtain.Not for a quiet conversation.For war.This week on Regarding Music from The Elder, Chaz, Wolfy, Scott D. Monroe, Corey Morrissette, Laura Morrissette, Sean McGinity, Debbie and Michael Pastore, Dan and Pang Papathopoulos—and even virtual appearances from Heath McCoy and Kevin Brown—return for the largest panel in the series as Scott unveils the penultimate chapter of his screenplay.What follows is the most ambitious chapter yet.Corey awakens blind after destroying the mysterious orbs, only to discover he has begun seeing the world in an entirely new way. Heroes race through collapsing caverns while "Escape from the Island" becomes the soundtrack to their desperate flight. The Cat discovers that loyalty has consequences. Terminus Village reveals its tragic past through Sypha's memories. Allies fall. Hidden powers awaken. Philosophies collide. And Mr. Blackwell returns more terrifying—and more unstable—than ever before.Meanwhile, the panel digs into KISS's exhilarating instrumental "Escape from the Island," compares cover versions, discusses the band's late-career what-ifs, and marvels at how an album once dismissed as an infamous misfire has somehow become the foundation for an unexpectedly compelling fantasy epic.
    Along the way:
    • The largest cast ever assembled for a Regarding season 5 episode
    • Corey loses his sight... and gains a different vision
    • The Cat's shocking fate
    • Sypha's heartbreaking return to her childhood village
    • The Fox's final stand—and the ideas that die with him
    • Mr. Blackwell arrives like a force of nature
    • A screenplay racing toward its final confrontation
    This Week's Song:Escape from the Island — KISS
    FINAL VERDICT:Every great adventure reaches the point where escape is no longer the objective.The only way out......is through.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast.
    1 hr 53 min
  • S5. Episode 11. The Warped Wrap
    Chaz and the assembled Order of Mildly Concerned Scholars (Wolfy, Scott D. Monroe, Corey Morrissette, Laura Morrissette, and special guest Seb Hunter) gather one last time beneath the shadow of the Rose Citadel.Not to begin another adventure.To discover whether the one they've been living was worth the journey.Because this week isn't really about the finale of Music from The Elder.It's about what happens after the last page is written.What unfolds is less a season finale than a long walk home. Scott finally closes the screenplay that has quietly become the beating heart of the season, Seb Hunter lends his voice to the mysterious Elder, and the Fellowship gathers for one final reckoning as heroes are tested, sacrifices are made, old beliefs collapse, and the story KISS never quite finished is finally allowed to find an ending of its own.Then something unexpected happens.The conversation slowly leaves the Rose Citadel behind.The panel reflects on the songs that surprised them, the screenplay that grew into something far larger than anyone anticipated, the friendships forged over eleven episodes, and the strange realization that somewhere along the way......they stopped trying to fix The Elder.They simply learned how to live inside it.Along the way there are callbacks, laughter, future podcast plans, heartfelt thank-yous, a passing of the torch toward Regarding Slang, and—because no Boneless season is permitted to end with complete dignity—a spirited detour into the culinary significance of Flamin' Hot Boneless Wings.Featuring:
    • Scott D. Monroe bringing his screenplay to its long-awaited conclusion
    • Seb Hunter returning as the voice of the Elder
    • Final reflections from Chaz, Wolfy, Corey, Laura, and the Fellowship
    • Looking back on one of the most unexpectedly ambitious seasons in the history of the Regarding...Series
    • Boneless Wings receiving the finale they probably always deserved
    FINAL VERDICT:What began as an attempt to give an infamous album a fair hearing...became proof that unfinished stories sometimes don't need to be rewritten.They simply need people willing to believe there's another chapter waiting to be found. And someone who knows where the car is parked...The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast.
    58 min
  • S5. Episode 10. Escape From The Island
    Chaz and the assembled Order of Mildly Concerned Scholars (Wolfy, Scott, Corey, and returning guests Heath McCoy, Laura Morrissette, Debbie Pastore, Michael Pastore, and Dan & Pang Pappathopoulos) arrive at Terminus Island expecting a rescue mission.Instead......they're invited to dinner.Because this week isn't really about "Escape from the Island."It's about what happens when the hero finally reaches the villain... only to discover the villain has already set the table.What unfolds is less another chapter of Scott's ever-expanding Elder screenplay and more a psychological chess match disguised as a fantasy adventure. Corey and his companions battle a crystal-powered war wagon, survive an underground labyrinth, and descend into a cavern so impossibly vast it feels like the album itself has finally become a location.Meanwhile, Mr. Blackwell isn't waiting on a throne.He's waiting with a goblet.And manners.There are flashbacks revealing the terrible truth behind Mrs. Blackwell's death.There are creatures pouring from fractures in reality.There is a warhorse with a change of heart.There is a fox serving bitter wine mixed with crow's blood because, at this point, subtlety has officially left the island.And hovering over everything is the growing realization that Blackwell no longer sees himself as the villain.He sees himself as the only adult left in the room.There is action.There is tragedy.There is a battle wagon that somehow feels perfectly reasonable by Episode 10.And somewhere beneath Terminus Island, Corey begins asking the most dangerous question of the entire season:What if saving Mr. Blackwell... is no longer possible?
    Featuring:
    • Heath McCoy embracing his inner Macho Man for a rap performance nobody saw coming
    • Laura Morrissette, Debbie Pastore, Michael Pastore, and Dan Papathopoulos returning as the Fellowship pushes toward the finale
    • A battle wagon armed with purple lasers, flaming wrecking balls, and one very angry cat
    • A dinner invitation that somehow feels more threatening than the battle
    • Mr. Blackwell proving that the most dangerous villains are often the most polite
    THIS WEEK'S SONG:"Escape from the Island" — KISS
    FINAL VERDICT:Sometimes the hardest part isn't escaping the island...It's escaping the story waiting for you when you get there.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    1 hr 15 min
  • S5. Episode 9. Mr. Blackwell
    Chaz and the assembled Order of Mildly Concerned Scholars (Wolfy, Scott, Corey, and returning guests Heath McCoy, Laura Morrissette, Debbie Pastore, and Michael Pastore) set out this week expecting to discuss "Mr. Blackwell."Instead, they find themselves attending his funeral.Not literally.Emotionally.Because this week isn't really about the song.It's about what happens when the villain finally gets a chance to explain himself.What unfolds is less a chapter of Scott's ever-expanding Elder screenplay and more a direct transmission from a past nobody was expecting to feel sorry for. The armies vanish. The battlefield falls silent. The purple lightning takes the night off.And standing where the monster used to be......is a father.A grieving widower trying to protect his daughter.A man desperately looking for purpose after loss.A future tyrant who, disturbingly, sounds an awful lot like a hero.Laura Morrissette returns as a young Sypha and immediately steals the episode, while Heath McCoy takes on a younger Mr. Blackwell—a version of the character who still believes the world makes sense, the Elders can be trusted, and promises actually mean something.Meanwhile, Scott continues constructing a mythology that becomes more complicated every time someone tries to explain it.There are sacred groves.There are magical oaths.There are mysterious ceremonies that become increasingly difficult to distinguish from recruitment into an extremely powerful fantasy cult.And hovering over everything is a growing realization that Cornelius and Blackwell may not be opposites at all.They may simply be standing at different points on the same road.There is sympathy.There is suspicion.There is the uncomfortable sensation that the story has quietly shifted beneath everyone's feet.Because once you've seen the man before the fall......it's a lot harder to cheer for the fall.Featuring:
    • Heath McCoy becoming Young Mr. Blackwell and somehow making him "relatable" (woah yeahhh)
    • Laura Morrissette returning as Sypha, future heartbreaker of podcast listeners everywhere
    • Debbie and Michael Pastore reprising Sarah and Thane as the Fellowship of Mildly Injured Heroes continues its journey
    • Morpheus presiding over an oath ceremony that raises significantly more questions than answers
    • The Elder somehow becoming even less trustworthy than they were last week
    THIS WEEK'S SONG:"Mr. Blackwell" — KISSFINAL VERDICT:Not the story of a villain.The story of how a hero becomes one.That feels much closer to the established Regarding Elder house style.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    1 hr 14 min
  • S5. Episode 7. A World Without Heroes
    This week on Regarding Music from The Elder, Chaz, Wolfy, Scott, Corey, and special guests Dan & Pang Pappathopoulos stumble headfirst into “Dark Light”—where the screenplay somehow becomes more unhinged, Mr. Blackwell starts sounding like a cosmic war prophet, and absolutely nobody can agree whether the Elder are enlightened guardians… or interdimensional HR managers from hell.Meanwhile:
    • Corey discovers the Order of the Rose may have built its entire business model on manipulation and disposable messiahs
    • A creepy fox-man appears out of nowhere singing Ace Frehley lyrics like a haunted alley goblin
    • An owl creature eats multiple soldiers onscreen
    • Sypha drops a revelation massive enough to shatter the whole mythology
    • Heath McCoy accidentally channels Randy Savage hard enough to threaten reality itself
    And through it all, the panel continues the impossible task of adapting Music from The Elder into an actual coherent cinematic universe… one cease-and-desist at a time.
    THIS WEEK’S SONG:“Dark Light” — KISS(with unexpected assistance from Ace Frehley, alleyway goblins, and purple lightning)FINAL VERDICT:Not a rock opera anymore.A full-blown fantasy franchise fueled entirely by commitment to the bit.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    1 hr 20 min
  • S5. Episode 7. The Oath
    Chaz, Wolfy, Scott, Corey, and special guest Heath McCoy return once more to the crumbling, smoke-covered battlefield of Regarding Music from The Elder—this time under the banner of “The Oath.”And fittingly, absolutely nobody emerges emotionally intact.What begins with discussions of “minimal editing,” accidental hot mics, and Boneless-grade production recklessness quickly spirals into one of the season’s most cinematic chapters yet: a full-scale supernatural reckoning involving telekinetic executions, airborne corpses, emotionally compromised heroes, collapsing belief systems, and enough purple energy blasts to bankrupt a mid-1980s special effects department.Scott unveils the latest section of the ever-mutating Elder screenplay project, pushing the story fully into dark fantasy opera territory as Mr. Blackwell unleashes absolute devastation across the battlefield while Corey—bloodied, broken, and spiritually unraveling—comes face to face with the horrifying realization that maybe the Order of the Rose isn’t quite the noble institution everybody hoped it was.Turns out “The Oath” may not be about loyalty at all.It may be about what happens after loyalty curdles into resentment, manipulation, sacrifice, and generational trauma.Fun stuff.Meanwhile, Heath McCoy settles comfortably into the chaos as the panel collectively realizes they are no longer “doing a funny podcast about a weird KISS album.” They are now actively constructing a sprawling metaphysical war saga where Gene Simmons has somehow become a grief-stricken telekinetic warlord delivering Shakespearean monologues through clouds of black smoke.And then…because this season refuses to obey natural law…Kevin Brown materializes out of nowhere.What follows is one of the most unexpectedly beautiful moments of the entire series as Kevin delivers a theatrical reinterpretation of “A World Without Heroes,” transforming the panel from wisecracking commentators into genuinely stunned spectators. Comparisons fly somewhere between Daryl Hall, Broadway rock opera, and “the version KISS maybe should’ve recorded in the first place.”Naturally, this leads directly into debates about Tommy, Quadrophenia, The Wall, theatrical ambition, and the creeping realization that Music from The Elder might actually have worked if the band had leaned harder into the weirdness instead of recoiling from it in terror.Because if “The Oath” teaches us anything, it’s this:Once you swear yourself to the bit…there is no safe way back out.
    Featuring:
    • Mr. Blackwell going full cosmic vengeance demon
    • Corey enduring approximately seventeen separate emotional breakdowns
    • A battlefield sequence with enough destruction to qualify as progressive rock Braveheart
    • Kevin Brown unexpectedly stealing the entire episode with one song
    • Heath McCoy calmly observing the collapse of reality in real time
    THIS WEEK’S SONG:“The Oath” — KISS
    FINAL VERDICT:Not a discussion of The Elder.An oath-bound descent into full-blown mythological podcast theater.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    1 hr 3 min
  • S5. Episode 6. Seb Hunter And His Elder Movie (Trailer...)
    Scott and the assembled Order of Mildly Concerned Scholars (Wolfie… and special guest Seb Hunter, emerging from the fog like a man who’s seen what lies beyond the fourth gate of The Elder) convene for what was supposed to be a routine episode and instead becomes something far stranger: an encounter.Because this week isn’t just about Music from The Elder.It’s about a man who looked at that album—its ambition, its confusion, its audacity—and decided the real problem wasn’t that it failed…it’s that no one had finished the job.What follows is less an interview and more a careful excavation of a long-dormant creative experiment. Scott and Wolfie guide the conversation as Seb Hunter recounts, with equal parts clarity and disbelief, how a throwaway idea—“what if someone actually made The Elder into a movie?”—mutated into a full-blown production effort:
    • A screenplay written in earnest
    • A trailer shot with real actors and real intention
    • A grassroots network of collaborators, fans, and the occasional internet wildcard
    • And a persistent awareness that somewhere, possibly, Gene Simmons could shut the whole thing down with a single phone call
    Seb is reflective, candid, and occasionally amused by his past self—the version of him who thought, quite reasonably at the time, that you could just… make a movie. The hosts, for their part, oscillate between fascination and the dawning realization that they are speaking with someone who got closer to solving The Elder than anyone ever should.There is talk of ambition.Of creative delusion (the productive kind).Of the brutal math of filmmaking—where passion is abundant and money is not.Because if The Elder taught KISS anything, and if this project teaches us anything now, it’s this:You can build the world.You can write the script.You can even gather the fellowship.But eventually…someone has to pay for the horses.The ShowIn this season of Regarding…, the panel tackles KISS’s Music From The Elder one song at a time—testing whether its epic ambition holds up under scrutiny. Alongside the analysis, Scott D. Monroe’s original screenplay tries to turn the album’s abstract mythology into an actual story.Ambition meets accountability.
    GO BONELESSCertified boneless in the state of Ohio by the Boneless Podcasting Network. Go Boneless. Boneless Makes a Better Podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    1 hr 6 min

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Season 3 - Welcome to the ultimate rediscovery of Van Halen’s most controversial album.  At the outset, we represent a good spectrum of views: Wolfie is 100% no opinion on the album; Scott leans…