In which The Curmudgeons take a big ol' dukey on that most prominent of rap-metal bands Limp Bizkit. The band is surely one of the worst hard-rock outfits to make it big since cranking up guitars real loud became a thing. Its plodding, uninspired riffage was eclipsed only by its misogynistic, corroded worldview and ultra-dumb lyrics. We dive into the rock's dregs here, analyzing the band's origins as well as its first four albums, all of which are awful. It all begs the question: How the heck di...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 112
In which The Curmudgeons trip out through outer space and rock out to Hawkwind, one of the most singular psychedelic rock bands of all time. And in which we do it completely sober! This band practically invented what is known as space rock, a jammy, propulsive brand of heavy metal that focuses its gaze firmly on the cosmos and all the alien beings and strange phenomena the Great Beyond can generate. We focus on this longtime, prolific band's most fruitful period, namely the 1970s, when maybe onl...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 111
In which The Curmudgeons give loud, deserved props to one of modern rock's most influential bands. Hûsker Dû started out as a revered hardcore punk band in Minneapolis in 1979, but by the mid-1980s, the band had veered toward a style that became known as punk-pop--loud and abrasive but also unquestionably melodic and heartfelt. During this episode, we extol the virtues of Hûsker Dû and what made them truly great. We discuss their six studio alums plus a rocked-out EP and a sensational live album...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 110
In which The Curmudgeons continue their exploration of the City of Angels during arguably its most fertile period, namely the decade of the 1980s. Last episode, we established that the glam metal and punk scenes gestated based on a similar us-against-the-world ethos, albeit expressed much differently from one another. By the late '80s, glam metal had become a bona fide global commodity and its punk...hadn't, morphing instead into something wholly original and awe-inspiring. Here, we tell the sto...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 109
In which The Curmudgeons travel back to sleazy, sweaty streets of Los Angeles to celebrate the music emanating from the City of Angeles. On one end, you had the burgeoning glam metal scene, a parade of excess and depravity in leather, chains and spandex--and some glorious, decadent riffage. On the other end, you had the DIY punk underground, led by hardcore punk stalwarts Black Flag and their SST label. You also had quirkier bands like The Minutemen and X lurking beneath the surface. A rockin' t...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 108
In which The Curmudgeons end their dynamic 3rd Golden Age of Rock series with a loving reexamination of the year 1980. The year stands as crucial pivot point for the development of rock 'n' roll culture. Punk and post-punk were becoming Gothic rock and New Wave. The Clash was serving as a virtual world jukebox. Talking Heads was virtually doing the same. And everyone was serving up their tunes and imagery in the year before MTV changed *everything* in 1981. We give love to these artists and genr...
Apr 09, 2025•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 107
In which The Curmudgeons honor one of hip-hop's most tragic figures. Big L was a hip-hop savant from Harlem whose flows were endlessly inventive, whose lyrics walked a fine line between pathos and shock value and whose professionalism allowed him to dominate any beat and any style. His star was on the rise in early 1999 before disaster struck and Big L was murdered. We'll closely examine his brief career and its astounding output in detail. Enjoy the music of Big L by accessing our special Spoti...
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 106
In which The Curmudgeons passionately laud, lavish and defend one of the true gentle giants of popular music--and certainly its most underappreciated. Curtis Mayfield was an absolute pioneer of soul, R&B and funk. Mayfield produced an astonishing body of work, first as the bandleader for soul trio The Impressions in the 1960s, and then as a prolific solo artist in the 1970s. He tempered the anger and rage of Black America with the temperance and observant tenderness of a preacher, and he fil...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 105
In which The Curmudgeons honor one of the most important years in all of rock 'n' roll history. Through the greatest albums and songs of 1979, we hear the sound of one decade fading and another decade splashing into full color and light. Post-punk, for instance, reached its most glorious heights, with bands like Public Image Ltd. and Gang of Four offering up a danceable yet jagged concoction. There was also the grandest statement put forth by The Clash, whose London Calling from late in the year...
Feb 25, 2025•2 hr•Ep. 104
In which The Curmudgeons examine the last great era for hip-hop, namely the years between 1999 and 2008. After the catastrophe that was the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, hip-hop could have imploded and or lost its footing--or even its respect as a genre. Instead, the movement throughout the 1990s, in which the hardcore went mainstream, carried over in the new century. In fact, hip-hop as a popular music genre exploded, becoming more successful than ever. In the process, genuine pop ...
Feb 12, 2025•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 103
In which the Curmudgeons know it's going to be a long, long time before the heavens produce a young man as preternaturally gifted as a songwriter and performer as Elton John proved to be back in the early 1970s. John's output during the early part of that fabled decade was routinely incredible, possessed with both a swagger and a tenderness that shone through in gorgeous melodies and the often profound lyrics of collaborator Bernie Taupin. We revisit a period when virtually no one else in all of...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 102
In which the Curmudgeons revisit the underrated yet crucially important year of 1978. Punk rock had gone mainstream in the two years prior to '78, and true to the restlessness that defined the genre, the music was ready to morph into post-punk and New Wave. We marvel at the movement this pivotal year brought in this episode. We cover albums by Elvis Costello, Public Image Ltd., Patti Smith, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Talking Heads, Devo, The Cars and more. Enjoy all of this great music from 1978...
Jan 13, 2025•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 101
In which each of Yours Truly Curmudgeons offers our list of the ten best albums we consumed over the past 12 months. This was a surprisingly strong, deep year for new music releases...something exemplified by the fact that our lists share five entries in common. Here's a sneak peek: The top album on both of our lists is one of the greatest and most beloved superstars of all time. Shocking, but true: A pop goddess delivered a masterpiece. Find out who we're talking about and enjoy the rest of our...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 100
In which The Curmudgeons shout before all the human race like we'll never lose. Yup, we're discussing the mighty, mighty Queen on this episode, focusing on the band's undeniable greatness from their beginnings all the way through 1980, when they peaked commercially with "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." The band managed to be unapologetically campy and occasionally naughty while more than occasionally rocking harder than just about any other band on the planet. W...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 99
In which the Curmudgeons continue to revisit the fertile fields of the late 1970s and land on 1977, one of the most explosive years in rock history. It's when the Sex Pistols dropped their album Never Mind the Bollocks, here's the Sex Pistols and set off a punk revolution. It's also when Fleetwood Mac, Kraftwerk and Bob Marley dropped genre-defining masterpieces. And that still only runs to the surface of what 1977 produced. From David Bowie and Iggy Pop to Pink Floyd and Rush to Al Green, it wa...
Nov 25, 2024•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 98
In which the Curmudgeons dive into the little bit of the third installment of Neil Young's Archives that we can. The full 17-CD, five-Blu Ray Archives Vol. III is available for roughly $450, but only for 5,000 lucky customers willing to spend a small fortune. The rest of us get an album Young refers to as "Takes," which contains a 16-song sampling from The Neil Young Archives Vol. III. We describe the individual albums contained within this mammoth boxed set, and Christopher O'Connor, our reside...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 97
In which The Curmudgeons worship at the altar of the mighty, mighty Led Zeppelin. With scorching guitar licks, torpedo-heavy drumming and sex-god screamer vocals, this band epitomized the sensuality and the swagger of rock 'n' roll, and in presenting their take on the genre, they helped create what we now call heavy metal. During this episode, we counter some unfair myths this band has saddled with over the years and pour over its incredibly rich catalog of music with love and respect. Enjoy our...
Oct 30, 2024•2 hr 14 min•Ep. 96
In which The Curmudgeons kick off its latest Golen Age series of episodes by revisiting the seminal year of 1976. It was a year that saw both The Ramones and The Sex Pistols break out. To say punk was the thing that year was an understatement. It was also was vital year for arena rock, as Boston and The Eagles both dropped classic albums. We also pay tribute to work from Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, among many others. Enjoy the awesome music of 1976 by accessing our special Spotify ...
Oct 14, 2024•2 hr 13 min•Ep. 95
In which The Curmudgeons shake, shake, shake that booty and revisit one of popular music's most unfairly maligned genres. Disco was essentially funky orchestral music--grand, reverb-heavy, maximal, showy, dramatic. Yet it was also energetic and fun as hell. Here, we explore disco's birth as a movement of freedom and uninhibited expression in Black and Hispanic gay nightclubs and how, once a production house in Philadelphia put an official musical sheen on the proceedings, it erupted into the mai...
Oct 02, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Ep. 94
In which The Curmudgeons know you wanted the best so we're giving it to you. Long live KISS, whose live act and meaty, ferocious riffs are both legendary. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss understood that rock 'n' roll, at the end of the day, is all about the show. And KISS, nearly 50 years ago, put on the greatest show on the rock 'n' roll earth--leather, makeup, fire, blood, explosions, lightning and seven-inch platform boots. It was a show that the world was so fond of i...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 93
In which The Curmudgeons discuss the awesome power and influence of one of the innovators of the Southern thing, as The Drive-By Truckers refer to it. Lynyrd Skynyrd remains one of the most underrated rock bands of all time, a condition that is partially its own fault, given how it has tied itself in its most recent form to the worst of old Southern stereotypes. But there's no denying that the band's patented three-guitar assault, soulful songwriting and penchant for being the thinking man's red...
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 92
In which the Curmudgeons end their epic series of odes to the music of a nine-year period that transformed everything--and then some--in popular music. By 1972, the hangover from the revolutionary vibes of the 1960s had subsided, and that era's outgrowth of freedom and experimentation truly started to blossom. The Rolling Stones filtered American roots music through a dirty, sweaty prism to create a true rock masterpiece. David Bowie perfected glam rock and intergalactic theater to create a mast...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 91
In which The Curmudgeons stand up to the man and deliver the best of the best of a special era for both cinema and music, when African-Americans anti-heroes lit up the screens and imaginations of a generation of young Black people. And also young Black artists, who cranked out stunning funk, soul and disco anthems to accompany these films. Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and The Staple Singers were among the legends who contributed to this electrifying canon. We enter o...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 90
In which The Curmudgeons revisit an era where the streets soared to the top of the charts...and then unleashed their danger on hip-hop's finest artists. The success of Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic ushered in an era where cursing, threatening lyrical opponents with violence, drug use and other chicanery became acceptable fodder for the radio dial. And it gave artists who might not otherwise have enjoyed a broad-based platform an opportunity to shine--including a couple of guys named Tupac Sha...
Jul 23, 2024•2 hr 57 min•Ep. 89
In which The Curmudgeons explore one of the most extraordinary years for rock music of all time. We won't call it the greatest, because we don't really believe in such a superlative. But, still, 1971 was pretty freakin' great. Patheon albums from Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and The Who; stone-cold masterpieces from Carole King and Joni Mitchell; and classics by Funkadelic, David Bowie, Santana and many others hit the shelves. We revisit it all with fondness and a romantic sense of history. ...
Jul 02, 2024•2 hr 14 min•Ep. 88
In which The Curmudgeons celebrate the music and indelible legacy of one of the 21st Century's smartest, most vital rock bands. When The Black Keys first hit in 2002, comparisons with The White Stripes were inevitable. After all, they were a duo that blasted forth with just a guitar and drums. But that's where the fair comparisons ended. The Black Keys offered up lean, mean, reverent blues rock with dashes of soul and psychedelia. After self-recording their first four albums--and mostly doing so...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 87
In which the Curmudgeons hammer one of the most perplexing "it" bands of the entire 21st Century. Arcade Fire stormed out of Montreal in 2004 with Funeral, a debut album that captured the imagination of throngs of unimaginative indie hipster d-bags. Whereas their fans and a whole bunch of fawning rock critics heard glorious art in all the band's maximal grandiosity, we just heard...noise. Lots of it. A pulverizing wave of annoyance after annoyance. And the annoyance has yet to stop. Let us tell ...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 86
In which the Curmudgeons continue their romp through rock's second golden age by revisiting perhaps the age's most underrated year. There were a ton of great albums released in 1970, as we discuss at least half-a-ton of those albums during this episode. It was a year when the rock 'n' roll generation started to mature and grow more varied in its tastes and its demands. The Beatles split up that year, and its core members all released solo albums in 1970. There also was the "soft-rock" movement, ...
May 21, 2024•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 85
In which The Curmudgeons straight cold rock a party and revisit hip-hop's greatest, most electrifying, most unendingly thrilling period, which stretched from 1986 to 1991. We tear through 12 brilliant albums and dozens of awesome singles that taught all the MCs and producers that followed how it should it be done--and how it would be done from here on out. We cover Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, Schooly D, Ice Cube, 2 Live Crew, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, The Beastie Boys...
May 08, 2024•2 hr 16 min•Ep. 84
In which The Curmudgeons marvel at the trainwreck that the career of a pretty fabulous rock 'n' roll singer became. Rod Stewart's gravelly, soulful voice was the engine for a series of great ramped-up yet mostly acoustic albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, all of which cemented a solid legacy for the singer. And then Stewart became beholden to a rock-star, sexy-man persona that craved relevance more than integrity. Starting in 1975, his career descended into a series of schlocky, cheesy si...
Apr 23, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 83
