Posts

,

Cheap Trick- Essential- Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander

On a maximum scale of five stars, the 1977 debut by Cheap Trick  receives AllMusic.com's highest rating. And the even more melodic, better sounding  sophomore effort "In Color" in the same year earns 4 1/2 stars. Then Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos wrote and recorded the  masterpiece "Heaven Tonight" in May 1978, yet again scoring a critics' perfect five star rating. So in hindsight it would appear that recording the Rockford IL quartet's set while performing the strongest material from these three killer studio albums, in front of an adoring audience in one of the world's premiere venues, would be as obvious as a sumo wrestler in your shower stall.
,

Rush- 2112: Early Best 45th Anniversary- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson

"2112"  by Rush was an amalgam of hard rock, progressive rock, science-fiction and Ayn Rand socio-economics right about the same time that The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Ian Dury and the Blockheads were singing "Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll". So things were about to get interesting in 1976. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush join me here In the Studio
,

Doobie Brothers- Takin’ It to the Streets- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald

The fact that the Doobie Brothers reinvented themselves for their March 1976 album "Takin' It to the Streets"  is quite widely known, but the reasons for the musical shift, and the manner in which they made it work so successfully, is a fascinating back-story worthy of an HBO mini-series.. On the album's 45th anniversary, Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, & Michael McDonald are all here In the Studio to recall how it really went down.
,

Phil Collins- Face Value

Of his cinderella  first solo album "Face Value" forty years ago, Phil Collins recalls the real-life betrayal and heartbreak which inspired "In the Air Tonight", "I Missed Again"; and why he did not include another original, "How Can You Sit There?", on Face Value nor it's follow up, Hello I Must Be Going, but opted instead to give it to the soundtrack of the 1984 movie Against All Odds, going on to become Phil Collins' first #1 hit.
,

ZZ Top- Rio Grande Mud- Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, the late Dusty Hill

Their much-improved second album,"Rio Grande Mud" in 1972, with Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and the late Dusty Hill who passed away in July 2021 following hip surgery.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer- Tarkus

Listening now to the epic title song to "Tarkus", the second studio album in June1971 which followed quickly after their stunning 1970 debut, with Greg Lake's voice delicately yet nimbly bounding along to Keith Emerson's piano runs, it's clear that Emerson Lake and Palmer were much  less "Be Bop a Lula" in their melodic grandeur and much more "Andrew Lloyd Weber". Here In the Studio is the story in their own words of progressive rock's first supergroup.
,

More Heavy Metal History- Black Sabbath, Metallica, Scorpions, Queensryche

The godfathers of hard rock Ozzy Osbourne, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Klaus Meine from Scorpions, David Coverdale from Deep Purple and Whitesnake, and Queensryche co-founders Geoff Tate and Chris Degarmo rip through some seminal hard rock including the late Ronnie James Dio fronting Black Sabbath all "In the Studio" for Heavy Metal History
,

Beatles- #1- Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney retraces the Beatles #1s with Redbeard from Liverpool to the top of the charts, writing music history with every #1 song. Also you'll hear Redbeard's rare interviews with the late George Harrison.
,

Rush- A Farewell to Kings 45th anniversary- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson

A Farewell to Kings, as well as to Rush drummer/ lyricist Neil Peart, with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson In the Studio.
,

Queensryche- Promised Land- Chris DeGarmo, Geoff Tate

Former members Geoff Tate and Chris DeGarmo take you to “ Promised Land”, their best seller, In the Studio on the album’s 25th anniversary.