On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, listen to Bell's next pick, Nick Hakim's WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD. Released in 2020, it is his second studio album. The album touches upon issues such as climate change, the use of medication in children and the loss of friends. Hakim judiciously layers different sounds throughout the album, often as if the album is in multiple genres at the same time. Critically, the album received better than average reviews, with some reviews pr...
May 21, 2023•36 min
On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Plouffe, Bell and Jamie discuss albums released in their birth year. Up first is Bell's pick, Nas' Illmatic from 1994. His debut album, it was released to universal acclaim among critics, and has been hailed as a landmark in hip hop. Next, is Plouffe's pick, The Traveling Wilburys' The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, from 1990. A supergroup featuring the likes of Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and prior to his death in 1988,...
May 14, 2023•1 hr 22 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, listen to Plouffe's next pick, System of a Down's Toxicity. Released in 2001, Toxicity was their breakthrough album and contained four successful singles. The album that spans both the nu-metal and alternative metal genres, and also contains elements of jazz, folk, Armenian and Greek music. Two singles from the album - Aerials and Chop Suey! - were nominated for the Grammy award for Best Hard Rock and Best Metal Performance, resp...
May 06, 2023•51 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, listen to Jamie's next pick, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here . Released in 1975, Wish You Were Here was the follow up album to 1973's Dark Side of the Moon , the band's big breakout album. While less commercially successful than Dark Side of the Moon, the album has been warmly received retrospectively, having been named both the #4 progressive rock album and variously the 209th, 211th and 264th greatest album of all time ...
Apr 30, 2023•49 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, listen to Bell's next pick, The Barenaked Ladies' Gordon . Their debut album, Gordon was produced after the band won a contest with a $100,000 prize at the Toronto radio station, CFNY. Gordon was released in 1992 and sold 80,000 copies in its first 24 hours of release, and then proceeded to chart in Canada for 8 consecutive weeks. Consisting of 14 tracks - 6 of which had appeared in forms on their previous demo tapes, reviewers d...
Apr 23, 2023•58 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, are joined by Luke Lafreniere to talk about his pick, Tiger Army's self titled debut album. Released in 1999, Tiger Army comes in at a brisk 32 minutes, 33 if you round up. At the time of recording, the only actual member of Tiger Army was Nick 13, the alias of Kearney Nick Jones, the only constant member of the band through its 27 year existence. Nick 13 was joined in the studio by Rob Peltier on bass (originally from the band The Q...
Apr 15, 2023•56 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe, listen to Plouffe's next pick, DANGERDOOM's The Mouse and the Mask . Released in 2005, this was the only full length album released by the duo of producer Danger Mouse and rapper MF DOOM. Consisting of fourteen tracks that are interspersed with clips from Adult Swim shows such as Perfect Hair Forever, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, the album stands as a tribute to a partic...
Apr 09, 2023•41 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. His fifth studio album, this was his breakout album in both the US and UK, catapulting him to stardom. Initially giving it a lukewarm review, Rolling Stone later named the album number 6 on their list of the 100 Best Albums of the Last 20 Years in 1987 and later named it the 35th (later 40th) best on their 500 Greatest Albums ...
Apr 02, 2023•39 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Woodkid's The Golden Age . Snippets of the album were teased in singles from 2011, 2012 and 2013, with the final release coming in February 2013. The single Run Boy Run has been used in over 80 advertisements, movie trailers, films and TV shows, and its music video was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Most reviewers agreed that the music feels powerful, expansive and ...
Mar 25, 2023•42 min
On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell and Jamie have teamed up to pick two albums from Plouffe's collection! Bell picks Summer Salt's Happy Camper, their album from 2018. Jamie picks Primus' Frizzle Fry, released in 1990. The albums could not be more polar opposite! Will this be a rare occasion where the whole crew likes albums that Plouffe owns? Will we say Primus Sucks multiple times this episode? Come along and find out!
Mar 18, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Quick content warning: Plouffe notes at the beginning of the episode that the lyrical content of the album features talk of sexual assault and suicide. On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, The Distillers Coral Fang . Their third studio album, and only major label release, Coral Fang came out in 2003 to positive critical reviews. Stradling the line between punk and grunge music, the album produced three singles, two of which charted. The t...
Mar 12, 2023•39 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, S U R V I V E's MNQ026 ( HD015 for the vinyl release). S U R V I V E is a electronic band from Austin, Texas, formed in 2009. Two of their members, Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon went on to do the soundtrack score for the Netflix series Stranger Things . Completely instrumental, MNQ026 is made up of two parts spooky ambient sounds, one part space robot jams. Jamie has frequently teased the Vinyl Verdict crew abo...
Mar 05, 2023•32 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, MGMTs Little Dark Age. Released in 2018, it is the band's fourth studio album. After their second and third albums were released to lukewarm receptions, the band took some time off and came back with the single for the track Little Dark Age in October 2017, releasing further singles up until the release of the album in 2018. The band stated that the album title was a response to the political and social climate...
Feb 26, 2023•31 min
Content warning for this episode: we talk about hate crimes, sex crimes and spousal abuse. We also left the swears in. Come back to us next week for a not as spicy episode if any of that sounds rotten to you. On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about albums in their collections from artists who have bad things . Bell's pick, Kids See Ghost's only album, features notorious rapper Kanye West. Plouffe's pick is Queens of the Stone Age's Villains . Jamie's pick is Br...
Feb 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Steve Hiett's Down on the Road by the Beach. Steve Hiett started off as a concert photographer for such greats as Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and The Beach Boys, and then graduated to being a fashion photographer for publications such as Vogue. Along the way, it was requested that he write and perform an album of music to go with an exhibition of his art. The resulting album and exhibition was titled Down on the...
Feb 12, 2023•42 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Led Zeppelin's Untitled Fourth Album . Commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV , it was released in 1971. After reviews of the band's third album were lukewarm at best, Led Zeppelin sought out to make an album and give it no title, instead representing it by three hand drawn symbols by each member of the band. While this move was opposed by the record company, they eventually relented and released the album. S...
Feb 04, 2023•34 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Green Day's American Idiot . Released in September 2004, American Idiot was somewhat of a departure for the band in that it was their first album that sought to tell a whole story, rather than just be a collection of songs. The album was an overwhelming success, spawning five singles that received a good amount of radio airtime and later, a musical based on the songs and characters of the album. The album later...
Jan 28, 2023•51 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about their favourite live albums. Bell and Plouffe bring two albums from the MTV Unplugged series - Courtney Barnett's Live in Melbourne, released in 2019 and Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged, released in 1996. Changing up series and sounds, Jamie's pick is Sam Cooke's Live at the Harlem Square 1963, released in 1985. Join the boys as they discuss all three albums - what they like about them, what they look for in a live album and whe...
Jan 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Aesop Rock's The Impossible Kid . His seventh album, it was released in 2016 to overwhelmingly positive reviews. Aesop Rock is known for using deep wordplay in his lyrics, where the listener is left to decide what the meaning is and many publications noted that this trend continued, but in a more introspective and personal direction. Despite being released independently, the album was a commercial succ...
Jan 15, 2023•50 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, ZZ Top's Eliminator . Their eighth studio album, Eliminator was released in 1983 and marks a departure from their earlier blues influenced sound to something very in keeping with the 80s. The album featured the use of drum machines and synthesizers, with guitarist Billy Gibbons saying he took inspiration from bands such as Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark for this change in their sound. The a...
Jan 09, 2023•49 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Ween's The Mollusk. Their sixth album, The Mollusk was the first album done in a traditional recording studio and with an expanded lineup, adding a drummer in place of a drum machine used on previous albums. Like the Audioslave album we covered a couple weeks back, the album cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson, who had previously done album covers for bands such as Pink Floyd. The album was a great influence...
Dec 31, 2022•38 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about their favourite holiday records! Plouffe and Jamie bring two Christmas classics with Bing Crosby's Merry Christmas and Percy Faith's Music of Christmas . Bell brings a Hannukah themed album with the soundtrack to Eight Crazy Nights . Along the way they discuss holiday memories such as "having the tree". What does that mean? Come along and find out, and Happy Holidays from the three of us at Vinyl Verdict!...
Dec 25, 2022•57 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Audioslave's Audioslave . Like the self-titled release from Boston we covered a few episodes back, Audioslave came out of the gate hot. Made up of Chris Cornell from Soundgarden on vocals, and everyone who isn't named Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave was one of the 21st century's first supergroups. The album spawned five singles, propelled by the loud and often weird guitar sounds f...
Dec 17, 2022•42 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Miles Davis' Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet. Recorded in two sessions in 1956, Workin' is part of a series of albums - Workin', Steamin' Cookin' and Relaxin' . All four albums are considered staples of 50's jazz and are widely regarded as some of the best jazz albums of all time. Will the boys discover that jazz is around every corner? Come along and find out!...
Dec 10, 2022•36 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Begonia's Fear. Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Begonia was formerly a member of Juno Award winning band Chic Gamine, before starting a solo career in 2017. Her first album, Fear , was shortlisted for a Juno Award. Will the boys fear this album, or will they be living on the ceiling after listening to it? Come along and find out!
Dec 03, 2022•38 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe are joined by Adam Sondergard to talk about his pick, Sleep's Dopesmoker . Their third record, Dopesmoker was recorded in 1996 and was supposed to be their major label debut, but it all went wrong. When the band presented this as their album, London Records balked at releasing an album that was a single long song. It went unreleased until 1999, when Earache Records released it as Jerusalem in a slightly different configuration. This...
Nov 26, 2022•45 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, The Mars Volta's The Mars Volta . Their seventh studio album, The Mars Volta represents somewhat of a clean slate for the band and a clear departure from their earlier, more progressive rock sound. Released to critical acclaim, the album reached #6 on the Billboard Alternative chart. Will the boys also critically acclaim the album? Will Jamie finally enjoy anything by the Mars Volta? Come along and find out!...
Nov 21, 2022•38 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Boston's Boston . Their self titled debut album, Boston marks the culmination of years of home recording by Tom Scholz, the lead guitarist and founder of the band. Recorded in both Scholz' basement, and in Los Angeles, the album was released in August 1976 and became an overnight hit. It was first picked up by a single radio station in Cleveland, and then the following week had made it to 392 stations througho...
Nov 12, 2022•32 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Radiohead's In Rainbows. Their seventh studio album, In Rainbows was originally released as a digital download with the payment of any amount getting you a copy of the album. It later received a worldwide release on CD and vinyl. Spanning several genres including Art Rock, Alternative and Electronica, In Rainbows was named as one of the best albums of 2007, and later one of the best albums of the 00's. In 2020,...
Nov 05, 2022•35 min
On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about their favourite singles. Jamie brings a bucket of singles to share with the boys, before getting into his single - Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". Plouffe brings his beloved single by Takako Mamiya "Love Trip" and discusses the mystery surrounding the artist. Wrapping the episode, Bell talks about Kero Kero Bonito's "Flamingo" and how much fun it is. If you wondered what our favourite singles were - or whether Jamie knows how t...
Oct 30, 2022•36 min
