Bruce Springsteen has released more than 20 studio albums over the course of his 50-year career, including some of the most iconic rock and roll albums in history. We’re both huge fans of the Boss here at Prisoners of Rock and Roll, and we unfortunately didn’t get to see him this summer after he canceled part of his tour due to illness. So in this episode we are taking a close look at we think are his top five albums. We’re going to explain how we came up with the list, talk about the songs that...
Dec 04, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 74
There were several ambitious projects in the 1980s where the music industry tried to make a difference by raising money to make a difference. One of those projects happened in 1985, when dozens of musicians formed a supergroup called USA for Africa and recorded We Are the World. Written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson and produced by the legendary Quincy Jones, We Are the World included dozens of performers in a star-studded ensemble cast made up of some of the biggest names in music at the...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 3Ep. 73
There were a lot of things about the 1980s that we’d like to forget but one of the most memorable parts of the decade was the music. While artists like Madonna, the Police, Def Leppard, and Michael Jackson were popular for huge parts of the decade, the music scene of the 1980s is filled with artists who had one, and only one, hit song. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re talking about the one hit wonders of the 1980s. We’ve got a list of songs that includes some that we still li...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Season 3Ep. 72
In today’s episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re digging into some of the most scandalous moments in music history. We’ve put together a list of scandals that span nearly 70 years and cover controversies, deaths, scams, crime, and outrageous behavior that drew media attention around the world. From John Lennon saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus to Sinead O’Connor tearing up a page of the Pope on SNL. The shocking trail of abuse left by total piece of garbage R. Kelly to Ozzy biting...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 44 min•Season 3Ep. 71
In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re taking a look at celebrities who make music. Now, a lot of famous people have decided to make albums over the years. Some of them dabble in rock and roll on the side like a lot of us and use their celebrity status to get an album recorded. Others might have had gotten some misguided advice from someone in their inner circle telling them that releasing an album is a great way to increase their profile or make a quick buck. We spent a lot of tim...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 3Ep. 70
If you’re one of the thousands of people who listen to Prisoners of Rock and Roll – and shame on you if you aren’t – you know we do a segment in every episode called The Electric Chair where we kill a song for being terrible. Now, there’s a lot of awesome music out there. But let’s face it: there’s a lot of bad music too. So much bad music that this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll is volume 2 of a show totally dedicated to talking about music that sucks. We have spent hours plumbing the de...
Sep 04, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 3Ep. 69
Alright, folks, it's time to dust off those platform shoes, grab your shiniest disco ball, and get ready to debate the ultimate question: Does Disco Suck? That's right, on this electrifying episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we're diving headfirst into the glittery, dance-filled world of disco music. Now, disco, oh disco, you've been the life of countless parties, the soundtrack of Saturday nights, and the rhythm that had everyone hustling on the dance floor. But let's face it, you've also f...
Aug 21, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Season 3Ep. 68
The Beatles were one of the most successful bands of all time, and critics loved them as much as their fans. Lucky for music fans, they also kept tons of recordings in their archives. The Beatles Anthology was a multimedia project that included a television documentary series, a book, and three double albums that includes outtakes, rarities, demos, and even a couple of new tracks that Paul, George, and Ringo recorded with some unfinished work by John Lennon. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock ...
Jul 31, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 3Ep. 67
Let’s face it. Rock and roll has always been dominated by dudes, but music is full of female trailblazers and trendsetters who rocked our world and left their mark on the industry. We’re talking about the soulful blues of Janis Joplin to Joan Jett’s punk guitar riffs. Debbie Harry embraced her hotness while leading a band that dipped into as many different types of music as the Clash, while Annie Lennox’s androgyny helped make her an advocate for gay people around the world. Tina Turner was a ro...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Season 3Ep. 66
Jazz was the soundtrack of America for decades – through prohibition, two World Wars, the Harlem renaissance, and more. From the soulful trumpet of Louis Armstrong to the haunting vocals of Billie Holiday, from the trailblazing talents of Dizzy Gillespie to the cool sounds of Miles Davis, these musicians shaped the landscape of jazz and inspired countless generations of musicians. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we're taking a look at the melodies, rhythms, and improvisational gen...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 3Ep. 65
Are you ready to crank up the volume, tease your hair to new heights, and rock out like it's the 1980s? We're diving into the glitz, the glam, and the power chords of hair metal on the next episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll. Now, let's address the elephant in the room. Hair metal often gets a bad rap, dismissed as nothing more than cheesy anthems and over-the-top fashion. But hold on as tight as a pair of spandex pants because we’re going to give hair metal the respect it deserves. Sure, the...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 3Ep. 64
Doo wop music. It’s the harmonized sound of street corner serenades and teenage romance. The irresistible sound that makes you wanna snap your fingers, sway your hips, and sing along with those timeless harmonies. This music broke down racial barriers years before the civil rights movement, as millions of kids across the country just cared about listening to great music. Some of the most popular groups of the era were Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Drifters, the Platters, Dion & The Be...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 3Ep. 63
Kid Rock. Some love him, some hate him, but everyone has an opinion. He’s been around for nearly 25 years and has sold tens of millions of albums as his sound has evolved from hip hop to nu metal to country. But does he suck? That's the question we're going to argue today on Prisoners of Rock and Roll. On one hand, he sings, he raps, he plays multiple instruments. He likes soul, country, rock and roll, and blues music. On the other hand, he’s become a caricature of himself. He's embraced a certa...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 62
If you’ve ever watched a movie, you’ve heard music from John Williams. He’s one of the greatest classical music composers of the last 100 years and one of America’s most accomplished musicians. His music has won 5 Oscars, 25 Grammys, and four Golden Globes. The only person with more Academy Award nominations is Walt Disney himself. The list of movies he’s written to the music to is practically a guide to American cinema: ET, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Home Alone, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Enc...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 3Ep. 61
Released seven years after Aerosmith and Run DMC brought rap and rock together on Walk This Way, the soundtrack to the 1993 film Judgment Night was a groundbreaking moment in the crossover between the two music genres. Every song on the album was a collaboration between an artist from each genre and it featured some of the biggest names in music at the time. Helmet, Faith No More, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam and Slayer worked with Ice-T, House of Pain, Cypress Hill, Onyx, and De La Soul. 30 years lat...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Season 3Ep. 60
It’s pretty easy to complain about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees every year – heck, we’ve done it ourselves more than once. But the nominees for the class of 2023 are out and it’s a pretty solid list. There’s a mix of artists from different eras and different genres. Some first timers and some artists that made us go “yeah, why AREN’T they in the hall of fame yet?” Still no Motorhead, Funk Brothers, or Motley Crue though. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re talking abo...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Season 3Ep. 59
Chris Cornell was one of the best rock and roll singers of the last 40 years. He had an incredible four octave vocal range that showed could be incredibly powerful and delicate, sometimes in the same song. And the music he created was as diverse as his range. He came up in the music scene in the 1990s as the front man for Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog before taking over lead vocals for Audioslave. He also released a handful of solo albums that includes singer / songwriter material with an ac...
Feb 20, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 3Ep. 58
We are heading back to 1993 to to look at songs and albums that turn 30 this year. It was a solid year for rock and roll, with Versus from Pearl Jam, In Utero from Nirvana, and Siamese Dream from Smashing Pumpkins. Debut albums from the Counting Crows, the Cranberries, Bjork, Tool, Collective Soul, Candlebox, Lenny Kravitz, Snoop Dogg, and the Wu-Tang Clan. We’ve got a lot of great music to talk about in this one – and some not so good tunes too (we're looking at you, Snow). Our show is sponsore...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Season 3Ep. 57
Live Aid was one of the biggest rock and roll concerts ever thrown. On July 13, 1985 dozens of some of the biggest acts in music performed at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia to raise money to fight the devastating famine in Ethiopia. Organized in just 10 weeks, the show was attended by 72,000 people in London and 100,000 in Philly, while another 1.9 billion people in 150 countries watched the television broadcast. 95% of the televisions on earth at the time watched that...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 46 min•Season 3Ep. 56
Les Claypool is a musical mad scientist and one of the weirdest musicians to have commercial success in rock and roll. He’s best known for his amazing bass playing and quirky sense of humor in leading the band Primus (and for doing the theme for South Park), but he’s also put together a handful of other really cool projects that made other types of music. Including Oysterhead, the funk jazz supergroup with Trey Anastasio from Phish and Stewart Copeland from The Police. The Duo de Twang country m...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 49 min•Season 3Ep. 55
The Prisoners of Rock and Roll 3rd annual Christmas special. This year, we’ve decided to fill up the punch bowl, bake some cookies, and have a very special musical Christmas party. We’re opening up the studio and inviting artists who have recorded some of our favorite Christmas songs to stop by for some festive cheer. We’ll be spending time with Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Darlene Love and Elvis. Dean Martin and…Lemmy from Motorhead? AC/DC and Henry Rollins? Dee Snider Kermit the Frog? I be...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 48 min•Season 2Ep. 54
Heavy metal music is usually about speed or power, or speed and power. It’s an incredibly diverse genre of music: two metal fans can have a conversation at a bar about music and quickly realize that there aren’t any bands that they both like. The lines between metal and hard rock and roll are blurry – Encyclopedia Britannica says Aerosmith is a heavy metal band. Do they belong in the same category as Slayer or Sabbath? There’s no simple definition of what heavy metal is but wethink those rock an...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 2Ep. 53
We recently realized that we’ve been doing this show for almost two years and have rarely talked about modern rock and roll. That got us thinking – is rock and roll dead? The airwaves and Billboard charts are dominated by hip hop and country artists. The biggest draws on the concert circuit are older acts. So in this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re going to talk about the current state of rock music and ask ourselves if rock and roll matters any more? We’re going to play some songs ...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 52
Music is a huge part of any sporting event. Teams and stadiums use it to get crowds fired up and into the game, so much so that there are certain songs that you automatically associate with sports. In honor of the World Series, the Prisoners of Rock and Roll are holding our own music pep rally and talking about the best music to hear at a sporting event. Nothing gets a crowd fired up like Thunderstruck by AC/DC or Seven Nation’s Army by the White Stripes. And who hasn’t been at a game where they...
Nov 07, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 2Ep. 51
Music is awesome. Have you ever had one of those moments where you start a song over at the beginning because you were doing something else and didn’t get to hear the whole thing? Or have you heard a song and are immediately transported back to some moment in time you associate with it? We have. And that’s why we love doing this show for the last two years. . In episode 50 of the Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re taking a look at the Prisoners of Rock and Roll! We’re jumping in our Magical Myste...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Season 2Ep. 50
The Beastie Boys are so important to music because they never stopped evolving. They started as a hardcore band before putting down their instruments and becoming part of the golden age of hip hop. After being one of the first and most successful acts on Def Jam, they split with the label and took creative control of their music and their image. They picked up their instruments again and built a new sound on a foundation of dense samples and parts of rock, hip hop, jazz, funk, a sense of humor a...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 45 min•Season 2Ep. 49
There’s no debate that Led Zeppelin is one of the most powerful heavy, blues, rock and roll bands of all time. But what IS up for debate is their originality. Several of their biggest hits borrow (or steal) from songs that came before them, mostly from African American blues singers who already sang the blues because they were getting shafted by society. They’ve been sued almost a half a dozen times for copyright infringement and have made a career of taking songwriting credits for stuff they ju...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Season 2Ep. 48
The Sex Pistols were one of the pioneers of the music, fashion, and attitude of the punk rock movement. They were only together for about 2 ½ a half years and released just one album. But over that period, they were just as famous (or infamous) for their behavior as they were as for their music. They didn’t care what you, the music industry, or society thought about them. Led by frontman Johnny Rotten and an illiterate guitar player named Steve Jones who stole one of his first axes from David Bo...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 46 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Woodstock was an important moment in pop culture, music, and the hippie movement. The organizers of the event originally planned it as a way to raise money so they could build a recording studio in New York. They sold tickets in advance but decided to let people in for free when nearly half a million people showed up at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York over the course of three days in August during the summer of love in 1969. The people in attendance were hammered by a massive rain st...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Season 2Ep. 46
The drum is the world’s oldest instrument. Drummers can use their kit to lay down the back beat and help the rest of a band keep time, or they can use it in solos just like a guitar. In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re taking a look at the best drummers in music history. We’re starting with the big band drummers Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, who put the spotlight on their instruments and paved the way for modern drummers for generations. Then we’re covering legends like Bonzo and K...
Aug 08, 2022•2 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 45
