Sounds of CineMcCollough

Still wading through double album reviews on season 2 of Sounds of CineMcCollough... tonight Butch is going for a band that has one of the most unique sounds from the era - Boston's own band The Cars, with their debut 1978 eponymous album and also their monster smash hit "Heartbeat City" from 1984.

The Cars are one of those rare bands that we have done now that is no longer with us in any form - with the passing of Ric Ocasek (and Benjamin Orr several years before) we no longer have The Cars around to go see, but that is OK because giving a spin to either of these great albums will put you right back into that era.

Listen in to see what Jay and Rob have to say - which album do we like best of the two? How do they rank compared to the others we have done? Push play and find out for yourself!

TRACKS: 9 (The Cars) and 10 (Heartbeat City)
RUNTIME: 35: 20 (The Cars) and 38:41 (Heartbeat City)
CERTIFICATION: 6x platinum (The Cars) and 4x platinum (Heartbeat City)

And next up is the episode that would, eventually, spawn Season 3 of the Sounds of CineMcCollough... as Jeremy made TWO fateful decisions -- first, he picked two albums, both from 1976, by one of his all-time favorite bands, KISS -- and second, he invited one of our high school classmates - Jim Perry - to join us in this double-album review. Eventually Jim will join as a full-time member of the Sounds of CineMcCollough - but for now, he and his son Joel join our usual trio to talk some KISS.

It is safe to say that KISS had a very good year in 1976, in fact they were almost certainly hitting their peak that year, having released one of the best-known and most influential live albums the year before, "KISS Alive" (1975). They followed that up with two smash albums in the bicentennial year - first up was "Destroyer" which has arguably the band's best known songs, and its follow-up, "Rock and Roll Over."

Listen in as a crowded (virtual) recording studio gives you all the details on both albums, and welcome in "Cold Jim" Perry for his Sounds of CineMcCollough debut!

TRACKS:10 (Destroyer) and 10 (Rock and Roll Over)
RUNTIME: 34:28 (Destroyer) and 32:38 (Rock and Roll Over)
CERTIFICATION: 2x platinum (Destroyer) and platinum (Rock and Roll Over)

Rob begins round four of the double-album review era on Sounds of CineMcCollough by diving in head-first into the 21st century with a pair of alt-rock/stoner-rock albums by California's own Queens of the Stone Age - the 2002 album "Songs for the Deaf" and the follow-up studio album "Lullabyes to Paralyze" (2005).

Given that his last pick was Alice in Chains, Rob is definitely sticking to the same vein, if you will, of rock music by going with QOTSA, as both bands are fully entrenched in the lower depths of society, miles away from the sunshine and cleanliness of 80s pop. The question, however, is whether Butch will be able to survive TWO STRAIGHT ALBUMS of these guys before pulling out his last couple hairs.

TRACKS: 14 (Deaf) and 14 (Lullabyes)
RUNTIME: 60:53 (Deaf) and 59:26 (Lullabyes)
CERTIFICATION: gold (Deaf) and no rating (Lullabyes)

Here on Sounds of CineMcCollough, Butch has had enough of dank and dark and sweaty rock and decided to take us to warmer climes for his third pick in the double-album season two - electing to go to the pop-rock early 1980s for two Duran Duran albums - their breakout smash hit "Rio" (1982) and the follow-up from the next year, "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" (1983).

Duran Duran was definitely churning out the chart hits during that era, but more importantly they were one of the most influential groups on MTV with the new video format that was conquering the music world at the time. Boyish good looking British bandmates made for teen heartthrobs on both sides of the pond, and generated millions of album sales, singles plays, and inspired all sorts of new fashion statements.

Give us a listen as Rob and Jeremy weigh in on Butch's pick with their rankings and analysis.

TRACKS: 9 (Rio) and 9 (Tiger)
RUNTIME: 41:49 (Rio) and 34:36 (Tiger)
CERTIFICATION: 2x platinum (Rio) and 2x platinum (Tiger)

After our last episode, where we stuck our collective toes into the deep waters of the early 1990s alt-grunge movement, we pull back just a bit for an earlier part of that same transition, in the form of an edgy British rock band and their third and fourth albums - The Cult "Electric" (1987) and "Sonic Temple" (1989).

Turns out The Cult is one of our co-host's (Rob's) favorite band, but it was Jeremy who picked them this time through the order for a double-album review and comparison. That should make for an especially interesting dive in, especially considering that our third host, Butch, is essentially a Cult newbie, only being familiar with two of their radio hits.

So settle in, get those headphones on nice and snug, and join us for The Cult.

TRACKS: 11 (Electric) and 10 (Sonic Temple)
RUNTIME: 38:51 (Electric) and 52:23 (Sonic Temple)
CERTIFICATION: platinum (Electric) and platinum (Sonic Temple)

Rob's next up on the double-album review selection for the Sounds of CineMcCollough, and is going back to the 1990s and Seattle for a second dip with two albums by Alice in Chains - their debut album "Facelift" (1990) and their biggest album, "Dirt" (1992).

Hard rock, alt-rock, grunge rock - whatever you call it - a new style of music that was antithetical to the heavily-produced and clean 1980s sound was emerging in the early 1990s, and would soon take over the world for a few years. Suddenly, Seattle and the West Coast were at the center of the music universe - taking all sorts of up-and-coming bands for the ride.

It was a ride destined not to last, however, as the creative forces that gave birth to the movement also took the lives of many of its purveyors, including Alice in Chains' Layne Staley and Mike Starr.

But while the candle was lit, boy did it burn. Listen to Rob, Jay and Butch give you their impressions and rankings.

TRACKS: 12 (Facelift) and 13 (Dirt)
RUNTIME: 54:02 (Facelift) and 57:37 (Dirt)
CERTIFICATION: 3x platinum (Facelift) and 5x platinum (Dirt)

Butch keeps the early 80s pop-rock train a'rolling with his double-album pick this week, selecting the Aussie band Men at Work for the Sounds selection of their first two albums - "Business as Usual" (1981) and the follow-up "Cargo" (1983).

The pick was a natural follow-up to last time's Huey Lewis and the News selection by Jay, as Butch's first concert was going to be the double-bill of Huey Lewis with Men at Work opening for them in the summer of 1984, but his parents moved him cross country before the show.

Men at Work is not only a band from two hemispheres away, it is also very much a product of its era, and a quintessential example of the sound of pop music from their era. It is also two disks with catchy musical hooks and interesting lyrical narratives.

But as usual, the three of us DO NOT agree when it comes to musical analysis. Give us a listen to see what we all think and how we rank these two albums!

TRACKS: 10 (Business as Usual) and 10 (Cargo)
RUNTIME: 38:00 (Business as Usual) and 42:23 (Cargo)
CERTIFICATION: 6x platinum (Business as Usual) and 3x platinum (Cargo)

Our next pair of albums for the Sounds of CineMcCollough comes from Jay-Dawg, who has once again taken a right turn and gone for something a little less hard-edged, picking two number one albums from the 1980s by Huey Lewis and the News - their huge smash album "Sports" (1983) and their follow-up album "Fore!" from 1986.

While Huey Lewis and company had had a couple hit songs prior to 1983, it wasn't until their poppy, throwback sound merged with the MTV effect to really launch them into stardom, as Sports put them into football stadiums (coincidentally) for their concert tours. In between they contributed songs to one of the biggest movies of the decade, "Back to the Future" - which combined with Sports to really set up expectations for their next album, which delivered in a lot of ways.

But enough typing about the albums, let's talk about them!

TRACKS: 9 (Sports) and 10 (Fore!)
RUNTIME: 37:46 (Sports) and 37:53 (Fore!)
CERTIFICATION: 7x platinum (Sports) and 3x platinum (Fore!)

Rob makes his second round double-album pick in season 2 of Sounds of CineMcCollough, and goes to one of his all-time favorite bands, Living Colour, with their debut 1988 album "Vivid" and the follow-up from 1990, "Time's Up."

Living Colour is a hard-rock band that broke the stereotype with elements of soul and jazz infused into their heavy guitar-oriented sound. They also brought in a social and political viewpoint that was generally not associated with hard rock music, and achieved a unique sound.

You are probably familiar with at least one of the songs you'll hear us talk about here, but give these albums a listen and then check out our podcast and see if you agree.

TRACKS: 11 (Vivid) and 15 (Time's Up)
RUNTIME: 49:09 (Vivid) and 57:55 (Time's Up)
CERTIFICATION: 2x platinum (Vivid) and gold (Time's Up)

With the dawn of the double-album-review era on Sounds of CineMcCollough, it was only a matter of time before someone picked an artist that only HAD two albums to review - but who knew it would be so soon? Turns out Butch had a hankering for some supergroup albums and went straight to the most super of all super groups - The Traveling Wilburys!

Featuring five members on their first album (George Harrison of The Beatles, Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan), the Traveling Wilburys all but assuredly have the strongest collective pedigree of hitmaking in the history of super groups. They produced their debut 1988 album almost on a lark, starting off with a desire to make George Harrison single and having so much fun that they decided to spend a week and record an entire album. The follow-up Volume III two years later was minus Roy Orbison, who had passed away soon after the first album's release.

Listen - as great as they are, the Traveling Wilburys are not everyone's cup of tea. And it is hard to do a career retrospective of a super group as it is, let alone one with just two albums - but the work product is just so darn interesting, how are you going to resist?

TRACKS: 10 (Vol I) and 11 (Vol III)
RUNTIME: 36:22 (Vol I) and 36:13 (Vol III)
CERTIFICATION: 3x platinum (Vol I) and platinum (Vol III)