Roy Thomas Baker: Robert Calvert, T’Pau, Queen

Welcome to the Album Nerds Podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don, and Dude. You down with RTB? Yeah, you know me. It's the Album Nerds Podcast. I'm Dude. I got Andy and Don with me. How you fellas doing? Andy, you ready to get into some Roy Thomas Baker? Yeah, I've been baking pretty hard since yesterday, so I got some loaves lined

up. ready to go okay was rtb the big gun and um doom that's that's the uh the bfg the bfg right yes we'll leave the acronym up to your imagination geez so yes this is the album nerds podcast we love albums the album format finding all kinds of excuses to talk about them like this for instance we've got a great show for you we're each going to bring an album to discuss that was produced by Roy Thomas Baker. See how much we want to talk about albums? It's just

crazy. Don's going to ask us a deep question. Then we're going to have some shout -outs to other albums and album -related items that we're digging. And then that wheel of musical discovery is going to get a spin, and we'll find out what we'll talk about next time. But this week, RTB for you and me. That's what I'm talking about! Renowned for his innovative production techniques and distinctive sound, Roy Thomas Baker has shaped the landscape of rock and pop music since the

1970s. He began his career at Decca Records at age 14 and later worked at Trident Studios, co -founded Neptune Productions, and signed a production deal with CBS Music. He also later in his career served as senior vice president of A &R at Electra Records. His work spans decades and genres, leaving a lasting impact on the industry through a catalog of albums that showcases unique ability to blend artistic ambition with commercial success. And today, each of us will present an album produced

by Roy Thomas Baker. Are we just going to go buy RTB the rest of the show? That's way cooler, right? Some people call it that. It's always. interesting for us to focus on a producer to group together albums to talk about depending on their interests and talents they can span lots of different genres lots of different eras sometimes there are hits there are misses there are missteps so Approaching Roy Thomas Baker,

how did you guys do? What other albums did you consider as we poured through the list before making your final decision? Well, I think I see it in the golden era of RTB in the mid to late 70s there. I listened to some lesser known projects that I wasn't familiar with. The one that stuck out to me was from a group called Man. They're a psychedelic rock group from Wales. The name of the album that RTB produced is called Rhinos,

Winos, and Lunatics. It's pretty fun. They're a five -piece, more traditional psychedelic sound, but there's also some really scorching guitar solos that made the album pretty fun to listen to. Though I would say it was a little uneven. But yeah, great 70s sound, man. He definitely had some records that filled that bill pretty nicely. How about you, Don? Well, in addition to an artist that we're going to talk about later,

he's also known for working with the Cars. So I believe he produced their first four records. Yeah. I think my favorite, I go back and forth between the self -titled debut and Candio from 1979. So one of these days I'll get around to talking about Candio. Really good record. It's got It's All I Can Do and Let's Go and Dangerous Type. Yeah. Those really car records are the

greatest hits albums. I mean, ultimately, the Cars would have been one of the best selections to make because it's among some of his best work. But, you know, in these instances, we're really trying to learn about things ourselves, explore albums we haven't done before. So for those of you out there, when you hear our picks and you go, hey, you should have done the Cars. Well, we didn't. We have done some of their albums and we will do more, I'm sure, in the future.

But the first thing that came to mind for me was an album by The Darkness from 2005. So the tail end of Roy's production career, I think, in that era. One Way Ticket to Hell and Back. It was their second studio album. I loved Permission to Land. from a couple years before, and I was very excited about this. Went and bought it the day it came out, and I didn't enjoy it as much. And I still, I tried, and I still don't love

it. I don't think Roy's to blame. I think they were, at the time, they were vocally compared to Queen to some degree. And the lead singer, Justin Hawkins, is a huge Queen fan, lifelong Queen fan. And having Roy Thomas Baker produce, I'm sure, was a huge... But it was just too polished. The lyrics doing the tongue -in -cheek funny stuff just didn't work. And it kind of fell flat.

It's not terrible, but it fell flat for me. And I just didn't think it was a great example of that really necessary, harmonious connection between producer and performer. And that's what we were looking for in our actual Ch -Ch -Ch -Choices. So why don't we get to them? You choo -choo -choose me? All right, for my Roy Thomas

Baker selection, I'm talking about Robert Calvert and his album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters. Oh, God. Yes, get ready. This is kind of a niche record here. This is the debut album for the English musician. Mr. Calvert is a poet and on and off again frontman for the Pioneer Space Rock Group. Hawkwind. You guys heard of Hawkwind before? I have now. I have, only because of reading about other artists that were part of Hawkwind at different times, but I don't think I've really

explored their discography. There's more records than I thought. Yeah, they've been around for a long time. They were sold together in some form. All right, well, this record here is a concept album. It's about a very specific concept. It's dealing with the Germany's Air Force purchase of the specific fighter plane called the Lockheed F -104 Starfighter. It's an American -produced single -engine supersonic aircraft. It was known for being particularly unsafe. Germans lost over

116 pilots out of the... Jeez. about a thousand aircrafts that they purchased. So this album is kind of just throwing shade at this aircraft. And it's kind of odd, but I kind of liked it by the end. So let's jump in here and play. This is track six of the album. It's called The Right Stuff. Oh, the right stuff. Different right stuff. Damn it. Donnie Wahlberg does not sound well there. All right, so that's, I guess, kind of about our main character here, who is a test

pilot. He has nerves of steel, as they discuss in the song there. This album kind of is a series of political, satirical comedy sketches interwoven throughout. They tell a loose story about a general, and he's trying to buy some aircrafts, and there's

this salesman. He's trying to sell him these kind of shady... airplanes my clickbait headline for robert calvert's captain lockheed and the starfighters is strapping boys it's going to be a bumpy flight but have faith captain calvert will get us home one way or another okay if you say so might be in a body bag but we'll get there Yeah, I think it's interesting from a production standpoint when it's so theatrical and there's all this kind of spoken word passages and, you

know, the song, the more standard songs are still sometimes moments of those radio opera, you know,

moments where it interrupts. right right there's just a few albums out there that like if i'm driving around listening to it like i'll turn it down just so like people don't hear it and like wonder what the hell's going on because like like the like the the hitler sounding guy you know like right talking in german loudly you're in your car getting indoctrinated while you wait for your coffee Yeah, if you were just kind of driving by and listening to it, that

could sound a little suspicious, but if you listen closely, it's pretty funny, and they're kind of poking fun at Germany here, I would say, generally. I mean, it's also important to recognize that this is from an English -European perspective, too, so it's... Yeah. Post -World War II. It's different than the way that maybe we were raised to think about that era. It's just a very different

perspective. Yeah. Calvert, as a boy, grew up in England and dreamed of being a fighter pilot, which I'm sure was kind of tied into some of the way you were just saying there, dude. I think that's really where this album stems from, this kind of childhood fantasy of his and kind of ran with it. And I appreciate how just dedicated they are to this concept. They go all in on it. Definitely put a lot of work into it. The sketches are pretty elaborate and odd. Now, Andy, how

would you categorize this musically? Because it's really a little more sort of, to me, Frank Zappa rocky, you know, than seems like fits for some of the narration. Yeah. It has that weird Zappa quality to it that you might expect. I think this is generally classified as like an early space rock record, which is kind of like adjacent to psychedelic. rock, but maybe a little

bit more droney and jammy orientated. Yeah, I think RTB does a nice job of kind of weaving some of those disparate vocal tracks in with some of the musical tracks. It plays fairly well, though I think it maybe goes a little bit off the rails by the time we get to the end. Why don't we jump in and play one of those tracks that does have a little bit more of a focused musical element to it. This is called The Widowmaker. Yeah, you gotta watch out for those rain shakers.

What the hell's that mean? I'm not sure. I think it's, yeah, it must be, you know, pilot lingo or something. I don't know. Going through the clouds, maybe? I don't know. Here's the homework. Just see how this lands with people. So the next time you have some kind of tense moment with your wives, call her a real rain shaker and see how it goes. See how she takes it. Yeah, you try that one first, man. All right, well, The Widowmaker was co -written by Calvert and Dave

Brock. So again, you know, this Lockheed F -104 had like a sleek... dart like design that's why they called it a starfighter um so it had narrow wings which gave it like high speed performance but unfortunately it made it really difficult to control at lower speeds um and of course that's you know taking off and landing so those are pretty crucial parts i'm not a pilot but i understand that that's you know kind of the hardest part of flying we've all seen top gun right so we

know how it goes we know what's necessary so as andy alluded to before this Jet had a grim reputation, and so it became known as the Der Witwenmacher, which is the Widowmaker. So what's kind of cool about this track is, you know, I think they're actually trying to sort of capture

the sonic experience of one of these jets. you know i guess flying and then falling to disaster so there's like a distorted guitar riff at the beginning which is supposed to be like the engines and then all of a sudden it gets really punkish like the part you just heard there um and it has like that brass that kind of chaotic brass in the end and that's when i guess things go wrong on the plane i don't know why i'm laughing that's not really funny but yeah well there is

a certain monty python sort of flavor to things and maybe i'm just hearing that because it's british and i'm projecting that on there but it feels a little bit like that somehow that came to mind as well and i think that's i guess similar to monty python monty python doesn't always land with me you know like apparently yeah Anyway, my clickbait headline is Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters is a brilliant concept, but it crashes one's patience. Yeah.

I mean, I think it's cool. I love concept albums. I mean, Andy's usually... good at bringing interesting ones to the table. I remember that Mike Watt one about sailing that was really goofy, too. Sailor man, sailor man, sailor man. So, I mean, it serves its purpose. I ended up having to read up about this failed jet and all the corruption and cover -up of the German military. So, I mean, it's a history lesson, so it works in that way. I think musically, I actually enjoyed it. I like

the sound of the songs. I don't know. It's just not like enjoyable experience i think listening to the whole album yeah they could have cut down on the theatrical you know conversation stuff that what's on like news announcements and things it's just it's kind of distracting and maybe it's because of the era of streaming and not just sitting down and listening to a record looking at the liner notes but it was very disjointed feeling, I think, because when we're listening

to music these days, we're often doing other things, and it was hard to focus. It sounds more like a radio play than an album or a podcast or something. Yeah, War of the Worlds with a little bit of backing music. Yeah, I put together a playlist of just the musical tracks. It's about 28 minutes of the 42 -minute whole runtime is just music. I think that is a little bit out of balance, to be honest. I agree with you guys.

but you know it's it is what it is it's kind of a weird oddity of its time um i appreciate it for that let's jump in here a cut towards the end of the record this one kind of fits right in that theme it's called ejection A little Steve Miller band vibe there from my perspective, you know, a little saxophone. Yeah, like, you know, I think we've pretty much said it all when it comes to the, I wouldn't say overreaching, but they really went for it here. And I wouldn't

say it's a failure. It just is more than I bargained for. And I think that's what Andy is great at finding those albums that challenge us. It's a very nice way of putting that. Especially with Roy Thomas Baker here, his involvement in this. with other albums in the same year from very different bands, and his ability to work with artists that have completely different goals. My clickbait headline to describe the album,

Aerospace, Fighter Planes, and RTB. Captain Lockheed and the album, I'm Not Cool Enough to Understand. So maybe that's what it comes down to. See, you're doing the thing where you're making yourself look cool by saying you're not cool enough to understand something that's lame. That's just your interpretation, man. So I think what's more important here is how you view me. Yeah, I mean, like I said, this was an unwelcome challenge,

but I'm glad that we were faced with it. It definitely... forced us to uh look at this producer from every direction you know and it's a good way to start this conversation yeah there's a lot of detail in here like you tell a lot of love when they're making this record and i appreciate that aspect of it i'll just mention here some of the members who played in this band so i mean hawkwind was pretty much the backing band here for Mr. Cabot. And that includes Dave Brock and Lemmy for Motorhead

on guitars. Cool. As well as Brian Eno is on synthesizers and electronical effects. That's nice. Yeah, pretty impressive collection of guys here. Yeah, so if you're looking for the definitive space rock record that explores the pros and cons of the Lockheed F -104G Starfighter airplane. Of the many that are out there, this is the best.

I think this is the one to go. with yeah sure check out robert calvert captain lockheed and the star fighters before we continue our journey with rtb aren't we here A little bit about what's going on with Friend of the Podcast, Music Notes with Jess. As our listeners know, Music Notes by Jess is Jessica Ann Katina. She does great pieces about artists on the pop charts. Jess's latest episode deals with Lady A. But yeah, so I mean, she's really good at telling the story

of these groups. And she provides a top 10 list of their best songs, which is fun. Yeah, just to show that she's, you know, doesn't focus on just one genre. Her episode before that was about Doji, who just won, I think, best rap album at the Grammys. She draws parallels with Janet Jackson. So, you know, the whole realm of pop music, you know, Jess is your source. All right. So my pick

for an album produced by the great RTB, Roy Thomas Baker. is tapow tapow tapow With their debut album, Bridge of Spies, which was released in September 1987. T 'Pau was formed in 1986 in Shrewsbury, England by vocalist Carol Decker and guitarist Ronnie Rogers. All the songs on this album were written by Decker and Rogers. And the name T 'Pau comes from Star Trek. You Trekkies out there, season two, episode one, Amok Time, the Vulcan leader, the matriarch,

her name is T 'Pau. Wow. That was one of my favorites. That's when Spock and Kirk have to fight, right? It is a good episode. Yeah. I love that music. And he, like, sabotages the course of the Enterprise to get to Vulcan because he's, like... Well, he's all horny. Yeah. Yeah, it's really a good episode. Wait, is Spock horny or is Kirk horny? Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's like a heat kind of. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Well, that's how they lose all their logic when they're supposed to go mate.

Well, yes, that makes sense. That tracks. Mating is not logical. All right. Well, wrong podcast. Let's talk about the album. Here's the big hit, at least here in the States, Heart and Soul. Heart and Soul. Heart and Soul. Heart and Soul. That's a little bit different than fighter jet drama. It's definitely drama. So, Ronnie Rogers, who plays guitar and is one of the... co -songwriters. He was actually experimenting with a new keyboard that I guess had a built -in sequencer. And somehow

he created that bass line. And so Decker just improvised a melody in the opening line, more than oceans keep us apart. So apparently they were romantically involved. And so it was sort of about her longing for him when she was out

of the country or something like that. But the song, the lyrics ended up taking on kind of a different theme of longing and emotional distance also declarations of like self -worth so it's kind of a lot of this album there's sort of a tension between I guess vulnerability and resilience but we'll get back to that I think the song is kind of known for that rap interlude Yeah. Apparently not RTB, but some guy named Andy Piercy, who I guess they brought a demo of this song to.

He pointed out that there were some kind of gaps in the arrangement. And he's the one that actually encouraged Decker to write a rap, you know, to fill in. Maybe should have left that out. This is about RTB, brother. Yeah. But Piercy doesn't get any credit at all. Well, now he did. I guess in interviews. Yeah. That's pretty unique style. That did catch on for a while, right? Or was it? Like an early use of this? Or was that pretty common at this point already? Yeah, Blondie's

Rapture kind of did that before. But what's different here is I love how it's worked under the chorus. It's not like a featured thing. It's just how it continues underneath the chorus. It's very cool. I remember at the time thinking it was actually two different people. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, we didn't know anything about what they could do in the studio at that age. But yeah, I found this a compelling pop song

at the time. I mean, I didn't go crazy for it, but if it was on the radio, I didn't turn it off. Were you breaking to it? Were you popping and locking? No popping and locking to this one. By 87, I had given up that life. Almost ready to start shopping for flannels, but not yet. No, no, no. That was a little ways off. Well, my clickbait headline is Bridge of Spies is highly illogical, Captain. Sorry. We'll keep going with the Trek stuff. Most illogical. You know, just

despite being a very. polished and processed pop album. I think that there is a lot of raw emotion in it and I wouldn't call it, you know, it's not soul and her voice isn't really soulful, but it's bold. I think when we were talking about this before, I think dude, I think you used the word sassy. Yes, I did. It's sassy. Yes. Yeah. She's got a little, little spunkiness in her voice. A little. Yeah. Yeah. She might, she might

smack you in the face. Yeah. It kind of reminded me of some other kind of British pop acts at the time. You remember Roxette? Oh, totally Roxette. Yeah. Must have been love, but it's over now. This feels, I think just because of her voice, there's maybe a little more of an edge to it. Taylor Dane kind of thing too. I'll buy that too. And of course, I mean, you know, I think the reason, you know, record labels were really leaning into some female pop groups is because

of Madonna. Right. Right. Well, let's. Let's keep moving through the record. Here's Monkey House. I mean, literally any other title and way of telling this. Because the lyrics to Monkey House critique societal conformity and kind of the suppression of individual thought under this mental hygiene that keeps being mentioned through the song. Lines like, we'll teach you how to think a clean way and now for your own good, we will take the choice away. Suggesting this

kind of enforced uniformity. Using Monkey House, you know, it's clean up the monkey house. It's like you're cleaning up poop. Like what? Why? I don't understand that choice. Mental poop. It's a metaphor. Sure. Right. I know, but you don't, the metaphor sometimes outshines the lyrical content or the music itself when I'm picturing literally people sweeping up turds. That is not the image you want. I don't think. Maybe that's what you wanted. You know, it stuck with you,

man. I mean, we're captivated by it here, so I don't know. It's a pile. That's the pile on your face. Yeah, there you go. It is a catchy tune. It is catchy. Yeah. That show would be perfect for a getting it done montage in an 80s movie. Right. Yeah, there's a lot of good montage music on this album. I mean, I was drawn to the song because when I was first listening, I'd never heard the whole album before. And I was like, did she? Monkey House? What? What are we

doing? My clickbait headline to describe the album, Tapao's Bridge of Spies, RTB's Studio Sorcery, turns hairspray into gold until the can runs dry. And I feel like Heart and Soul kind of blew the whole can of Aquanet or whatever hairspray people were using in 1987. It's a good song with really interesting production layers, and I feel like the rest of the album doesn't reach that. There's a lot of... attempts lyrically

to go deep. It sounds insincere at times, I think just because the music is not lifting those lyrics as high as they should have. Yeah, I felt similar. Some tracks just felt like so much more produced than others. And when they did have that extra level of attention, I think that they were at their best by far. Yeah, I think that was pretty common in the 80s. I feel like even the first time you heard the album and you only knew of one single, you kind of knew which ones were

going to be highlighted in the singles. Because you could tell they just put a little more time in getting them right. All right, well, let's hear one of the other singles. Here's China In Your Hand. China In Your Hand That's one of the better songs too. Yeah, that song spent five weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in 87. I read that it was based on the concepts of the Frankenstein story, you know, Mary Shelley's

Frankenstein. It does seem to be about kind of like cautioning the listener not to push too hard or your dreams may come true and then destroy you. It seems to be the lesson. Interesting message. There's some really, I'll say bizarre, but just kind of nuanced lyrical messages here that you wouldn't maybe expect in an 80s kind of pop record. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I think the lyrics are more poetic than the music can support. Yeah. That

style, that 80s style. Yeah. I mean, at this period, your dance moves were more important than the words of music, you know? My clickbait headline for this album is, Decker gives Tapao some kapow. But Bridge of Spies is a bridge too far for this album nerd. There's definitely moments in here, like I think Dude and I were saying, where it feels like they really did add some attention and extra sauce to this to make it

feel like a really satisfying meal. But a lot of this just felt kind of cookie -cutter and a little bit less interesting to me. But there are moments. I think towards the end of the record, there's a track called Thank You for Goodbye. I really enjoyed that track. There's some nice arrangements on it. There's some horns come in. ITB is really good at kind of having each instrument

have its own space in the mix. I've been noticing that across all these albums where you really can identify what's going on pretty clearly. I do appreciate that aspect to it. Yeah, so it's cool to hear. It is a little different than I would have expected it to be. There's a little more going on. But I think maybe a little bit more time in the studio maybe would have produced a really stellar album. Was it just needed a few more minutes in the oven? Baker, yes. Yeah,

I think some of it is the era as well. I don't think it was necessarily a production issue. I think a producer takes what the band gives them and tries to sharpen it up the most that they can, get the best performances out of the band. This is just more of a taste critique, I think, than necessarily a quality critique of the production or even of the songwriting or anything else. If you compare it to its contemporaries, this is probably... pretty advanced for that

era. All right. Well, Bridge of Spies stands out among the shiny pop of the late 1980s, marrying Roy Thomas Baker's studio prowess with DePauw's thematic depth and melodic ingenuity. Check it

out. Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a few questions. All right. It's time again for Deep Questions by Don. So we're exploring the world of Roy Thomas Baker. And, you know, I think with that name comes, you know, certain expectations about what a record is going to sound like that is produced by him. What other names out there come with expectations? The Album Nerds podcast, of course. Expectation of quality and impeccable taste. Yes. I was thinking about movies mostly. So I

was like. What movies have like an iconic look to them? And some of the ones I came up with immediately were Studio Ghibli. It was like animation style. It's a very iconic style. And just like I could recognize those films just by a single frame. I don't know of any of them. Studio Ghibli? Really? Is it a cartoon? Yes. Then I avoid it. What about Pixar? I feel like Pixar has a pretty definitive or pre -recognizable visual style as well in their films. It does. I avoid that

one too, but yes. It's a good storytelling you're missing out on, man. Yeah, it's the same story over and over. Wow, yeah. But the other ones in more adult films I could think of would be Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick. I think you could really... Wes Anderson especially has such a distinct visual style. It's almost too on the nose sometimes. I got worried when you said adult films. Yeah, I got some expectations there for

sure. How about you, Dan? Yeah, I mean, certainly movies came to mind for me as well, like Tarantino and things of that nature, usually coming from the director side of things. But I also thought

about TV series. and creators of tv series and you know guys like dick wolf that have you know all those law and orders and fbi series and stuff you can go into this show that might be about different and in this case it seems like a form of policing but you kind of know what you're in for yeah vibe wise maybe even quality of you know good casting and things like that Or even Aaron Spelling back in the day with things like Charlie's Angels and Love Boat and that stuff.

Right. Sometimes you're looking for something to watch and you see one of those recognizable names as the creator of the show. It's like, I'm going to give this a shot because I like their other stuff. These prolific TV creators. Yeah. Actually, my answer comes from TV as well. Bill Lawrence, who was a creator of shows like

Scrubs, Cougar Town. ted lasso and shrinking they're all very similar and and i think what it is um i mean sometimes i mean they're all comedies and so they're funny but they do go to dark places you know and tackle some big issues but there's always like a there's just like a goodness about them or like a positive thing like i remember ted lasso kind of came out during the pandemic and it felt like a you know, just a perfect show that was like needed at the time

because of that, that goodness. Yeah. Goodness, positive attitude through adversity, being in an unfamiliar situation and finding your way through it, which, you know, people could relate to. Yeah. All right. Well, what other names come with expectations? Let us know on Instagram and Facebook or leave a comment on our website, albumnerds .com. This is the time where we pull out the

big guns for the Roy Thomas Baker. We're going to talk about a Queen album, which I think everyone probably expects. Queen being formed in London in 1970. Of course, the classic lineup, Brian May on guitar, drummer Roger Taylor, pianist and vocalist Freddie Mercury, and bassist John Deacon. Each member contributed to the songwriting in sort of a Beatles style. and they became one of the most creative and versatile bands in rock history. So Queen's third studio album, Sheer

Heart Attack, came out in November of 1974. They had been battling some serious setbacks during their U .S. tour with Mata Hoople. Mata Hoople? Mata Hoople? Yeah, Mata Hoople. Brian May was very sick and hospitalized off and on, and it was a struggle. They sort of abandoned that pure fantasy world of like Queen 2, and this brought in more humor, swagger, and speed. The album pushed boundaries, incorporating a lot of musical

styles and influences. Again, I heard in an interview where they said that kind of a Beatles approach in those Sgt. Pepper years of just really exploring different types of sounds. And it all started with the big hit single, Killer Queen. Let's give it a listen. A little chime with my wife's ringtone drives me crazy whenever I hear it. Oh yeah? So this one was written by lead vocalist Freddie Mercury. Big breakthrough for the band,

their first big hit in the United States. And it's about a glamorous and cunning woman who uses her charm to manipulate and control. It's one of Queen's best examples of their witty, narrative -driven songwriting with sharp satirical

takes on the world of power and seduction. Theatrical and the layering vocals, the layering guitars where they really start to hone this sort of jack -of -all -trades sound with all these... different influences and not being the first two albums leaned a little more hard rock and this is when i think they started to form their signature sound my clickbait headline to describe the album from multi -tracking to sonic mastery rtb guides queen's hard rock evolution not revolution

but evolution where i think they took that that sort of beatles approach to production and detail in the studio and took it into the hard rock world like they took it somewhere else that shaped the music to come including other genres so why don't we check out the opening track let's listen to Brighton Rock That track was written by guitarist Brian May during sessions for the previous album, Queen 2. It contains a three -met guitar solo right at the beginning of the album, which I

kind of love. It was ranked number 41 on Guitar World's greatest guitar solos of all time. Woo -hoo. Mm -hmm. That's a something. My clickbait headline for Queen's sheer heart attack is... As long as you're not recovering from serious injury or experiencing symptoms like dizziness or chest pain, Sheer Heart Tech gets this album nerd's doctor's seal of approval. This album kind of demands a lot of a listener, as you might

expect from a Queen album. But things really do coalesce here in a nice way, I would say, in comparison to the first two records. It kind of smacks you in the face, takes no prisoner kind of record, from my opinion. It's beautifully recorded. I think this is one of the... Probably the best examples we've heard of just the production really just sounding top notch of the three albums we talked about today. You can really hear each member clearly in the mix. They all have distinct

voices. But he does something, I don't really know what in the studio you would do to accomplish this, but he kind of swirls some of the sounds together at times and make them sound almost like the vocals and the guitar will come together and sometimes to create this sort of, I don't know, sonic... viral i don't even know how to describe it it sounds pretty cool really that that harmony i guess is what it is that's that that queen harmony just is that able to harmonize

like anything together and it works and then harmonize with themselves too with all that that layering of those harmonies it's just this beautiful like angelic type sound mixed with this hard rock experimentation and you know it one thing we should mention is queen's first album was 1973 queen to 1974 This one, 1974. Night at the Opera, 1975. This evolution was happening quickly. That's why there's so much crossover between

when they wrote. Brian wrote the song for a Queen II album, and then it makes it onto another one. The song Share Heart Attack, it's not on this album. Yeah, you just got so many songs coming out of it at this point. You can't get them on records fast enough. And Queen co -produced this with Roy Thomas Baker, which he continued to work with them on other albums in the future

as well. But this is where I feel like probably the connection he had with the Cars, where they bring out, you know, bringing out the best and the material that you're being provided to from Queen and the Cars. Yeah, it helps when you have the top -notch musicians and some of the best ever. Yes. When you have that kind of level where it's like anything is possible in this, you know, whatever the world that it lives in, let's find

out what we can do. With Brian May being out for many of the sessions too, they had to put things together and have him come in later and put the guitar in. So to me, this is, I'd say it's their second best album. The best being Night at the Opera. I really enjoy this record. It's a good one. My very favorite Queen song of all time is on it. So why don't we get into that one and let Don talk Stone Cold Crazy. Stone Cold Crazy is a rare occurrence of all four members

of the band receiving songwriting credit. It's actually among the first compositions the band performed together, dating back as far as 1970. Apparently, the original version had a different structure and tempo. Mercury had written some lyrics with his previous band, Wreckage, and according to May, the initial rift was kind of soft. He felt that the frenetic nature of the lyrics deserved equally energetic music, and so that's how we end up with this version. They

delivered. Yeah. So, you know, fast tempo, heavy guitar distortion. And some people will claim

that this is kind of the birth of thrash. i think you know i saw may sort of like poo -pooing that idea but you know i definitely hear bits of of what iron maiden and saxon and bands like that were doing a couple years later in this so i bet it was some inspiration i don't necessarily it doesn't mean that they invented thrash metal but certainly inspired somebody else with a guitar to move forward with it yeah And Roger Taylor sounds really good on this track. I mean, you

know, the drumming is really incredible. And the lyrics just seem to deal with the gangsters. You know, there's like an Al Capone reference. I guess they're stone cold. So my clickbait headline is sheer heart attack is a royal celebration of the rock riff. Yeah, it's royal. But yeah, I mean, the riffs here are great. And I do think this maybe paves the way for that British wave of heavy metal, maybe a little bit. Yeah, it paves the way for a lot of things. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, this sounds like a dual guitar attack when it's one guitar. True. And that's part of what became a signature piece of that thrash sound and stuff. He had one guitar! Sorry. That's Foreigner. Well, Foreigner. Yeah, well, Roy Thomas Baker did produce a Foreigner album as well. Lyrically, it's kind of hard to piece some of these tracks together. There's not really a theme or concept or anything, literally, to tie these songs together literally, right? I don't think

so. Yeah, this is more one of the things I read was that they get more into the real world on this album, where the songs are about vignettes in life or real things that are occurring, like the track Now I'm Here. There's that line down in the city, just Hoople and me, mentioning that time they spent together touring. And then Roger Taylor singing on Tenement Funster, punk -inspired track. And yeah, there's a little bit of everything

here. It's that beginning of that ability, that smorgasbord of providing folk and everything else you could possibly hear, like bring back that Leroy Brown. I mean, what the hell is that? Yeah, who is that? What do you guys think of In the Lap of the Gods? That vocal approach at the beginning with that distorted sort of deep

voiced Freddie. Yeah. I think that that kind of risk taking, I mean, the whole, the band was built on his soaring vocals and for him to test the waters of all these different tones and styles and vocally dance with the instruments is just what makes it so amazing. I mean, this album wouldn't have been as good if I produced it.

you know i'm not i'm no roy thomas baker but it would still have been pretty damn good because it's a band that's true that's true they're they're one of those like we've talked about the who led zeppelin where everybody in it is is a virtuoso and offering something new to the sonic palette well said So Roy Thomas Baker, who in many ways, this collaboration made his bones and helped

him put a stamp and a foot in the industry. And it's been really fun exploring all of it and especially listening to a bunch of Queen albums. So go check out Sheer Heart Attack and all the rest while you're at it. Can you dig it? Can you dig it? All right. Well, it's been a week

of Roy Thomas Baker. Did you take a break from him at any point and try to dig anything else?

I got a couple of things here hidden behind my... careful suspicious sunglasses that i wear indoors okay all right first one up is from saxophonist from my neck of the woods in buffalo new york james brandon lewis he has a new album out called apple cores so you got away from roy thomas baker but had to find a three -named person jbo yep yep you got it 16 studio album first release on anti records this is prince eugene Why does that sound naughty? How's that possible? Sounds

like someone's up to something. You're naughty. I don't even know where to go with that. All right, well, that's a very kind of groovy, unconventional jazz record. Some really interesting melodies he explores on there. Number 11 on my 2025 list. Oh, yes. Just like taunting you guys with those numbers. And the last one for me is from a singer -songwriter from Newcastle, England, Richard Dawson. Survey says... What's going on? That was the original host of The Family Feud. Oh

my gosh. Richard Dawson. Over my head with these dated references. The album is entitled End of the Middle. It's about family and passing things down from generation to generation. On this good quote here, he says, the characters do have a lot of sadness, but I hope each one in every song is having a moment where they are somehow breaking that cycle or at least starting to shake the spiral. Let's play a little bit of Gondola. Gondola I'm still picturing the game show hosts

singing. Yeah, me too. With his checkered suits. Oh, that guy. That's a really intimate, dark, kind of sometimes funny at times record. Number 20 on my list. What you been digging on, Don? Well, I... Discovered a band called Wet Leg. Actually saw them on the Tonight Show. It's a British indie rock group from the Isle of Wight founded in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. They have an album coming out July 11th called Moisturizer. And here's a song called

Catch These Fists. Called Wet Leg and they have an album called Moisturizer. Yeah. Okay. Feeling some of that little Riot Grrrl vibe there with some more pop, I think. Riot Grrrl meets Blondie. There it is. I like that. All right. And another one, there's a group called Animal Liberation Organization, abbreviated as ALO. They have a new album called Frames, kind of a jam band. They actually have like 11 studio albums at this point. They're from Saratoga, California. There's

a song called Black Canvas. It sounds like country music with the wrong music. Right? There's something in the delivery that sounds like a country song, but then the music doesn't really match. Kind of like a Jack Johnson vibe maybe or something. Yeah, I could see that. Supposedly the album explores themes of finding balance amidst the rapid pace of modern life and emphasizes the importance of reflection and connection in the space between frames. That's why it's called

Frames. Nice. What are you digging, dude? I went with something from 2024 that I missed. Too late. Never too late. It's never too late for now. Chain Saint is the band. Blindside is the album. Chain Saint's a teenage thrash band from South Florida. Their debut album, Blindside, came out in August of 2024. They are all teenagers, and it was produced by William Duvall, the co -lead singer of Alice in Chains. It recorded entirely to analog tape, preserving a natural, unpolished

sound. Let's check out a little bit of animosity. I wonder what band they like. Definitely some heavy -duty Metallica vibes there, which is what I like about it. You know, young people playing that kind of music, hopefully they'll continue to develop, add new flavors to that sound, and do something interesting with it. So these young metal bands, that's what I'm hoping for. They start by sounding like they're heroes, and then hopefully they turn it into something more. Yeah.

Good to know that sound is carrying on. And then next up is from my vinyl collection. I was talking to my wife about seeing Stone Temple Pilots back in 2008 or so, and the opening band was Rose Hill Drive, and I bought their album Moon is the New Earth right there on the spot. And I hadn't listened to it in a while, so pulled it off the shelf, and let's give it a listen now. Let's hear a little bit of Sneak Out. I've got

a little love to give, wait and see. So this is Roundabout, behind that Black Keys blues rock revival, a little mini blues rock revival thing. And this was a three -piece band. I was just really impressed with them, enough so to pick up their record. But it's a fun listen. It's not a world beater necessarily, but it's fun to go through your collection and find these moments of time. I picked it up because I was impressed. If you're feeling plucky, go check

out Rose Hill Drive. They're still touring. Well, what are you digging? Let us know. Join us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram, and threads. Also on our website, albumnerds .com. It will be a discovery of extraordinary value. Well, it's about that time on the show when I'm reminded of the great English record producer, Roy Thomas Baker. Wow. Never heard of him. Yeah. You guys not familiar? I haven't said it 50 times today. Well, he had something to say, and I thought

I'd quote it here. He said, Freddie Mercury taught me three things. Don't take anything too seriously, have fun, and always fly first class. With that in mind, let's bring up my friend and yours, Wadbot, to see what we'll be talking about on next week's episode. Sometimes the best creativity happens outside the spotlight. Next time, you will be exploring side project albums, where artists stepped away from their main gigs to explore new sounds, fresh ideas, and unexpected

collaborations. On the side. Down low. We were on a break! Yeah, so those other projects that musicians might work on when their band's on a break. This should be interesting. A lot to sift through. Yeah, little tendrils going off the main roots. Yeah, and even sometimes they outshine the original band. Maybe, right? Sometimes. It's like our podcast side projects. Oh, yeah? You got a side piece here, Don? Stay tuned. Oh. Yeah, it's just a series of deep questions that

Don asks himself. All right. Well, what's your favorite side project? What else are you listening to? Email us at podcast at album nerds dot com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram threads and blue sky at album nerds and visit album nerds dot com to suggest topics for the show. Peruse the Hall of Fame and listen to all two hundred and eighty six episodes. And the best way to support the show is to share it. Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast app.

Thank you, as always, for joining us here on the Album Nerds Podcast. We'll catch you next time. See what happens during those breaks. But we're not on a break. See ya. Thanks for listening, everybody. See you next week. She's a killer. I can't find the key. Duh. Queen gunpowder gelatine. Dynamite with a laser beam. Why? Why wouldn't you go for tapow or something that is within your grasp, at least? Give a little bit of honey.

That didn't help. At least you're reinforcing the great talents of the artists that we talked about. That's what I do. We need RGB in there, so smooth things out, maybe. Cool. It'd be a lot of speckle.