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On this episode, we discuss the fifth album by Queen, 1976’s A Day at the Races. The band blended elements of hard rock, prog rock, power pop, glam rock, and even opera into their own unique rock-n-roll stew. While this often makes Queen’s music difficult to categorize, there is little doubt that what they created was a sound that was completely and uniquely their own.

A Day at the Races was the follow-up to their previous and most well-known LP, 1975’s A Night at the Opera. With its grandiose use of multi-tracked vocals, especially on the ambitious “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen A Night at the Opera stretched studio production to the limit. It became at the time the most expensive rock album ever recorded. It's easy to dismiss A Day at the Races as more of the same; a sequel with nothing new to offer. To do so does a disservice to both the album and the band. Instated of treading the same ground, the band tones down the pomp a couple of degrees (for Queen a least). As such, the album really showcases the band. Several tunes feature Brian May's layering technique (dubbed "guitar orchestra" in the credits) and singer Freddy Mercury uses his amazing four-octave range to full effect and contains some of his most beautiful vocals. All band members contribute songs and stray from their usual instruments (drummer Roger Taylor, in fact, plays most of the guitars on one song). A Day at the Races has some of the band's most enduring tunes. It has hard rockers, gorgeous ballads, playful odes to the 1920s, and even an amazingly soulful nod to Aretha Franklin.

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This week we talk about Five Days in July, the fifth album by the Canadian country-rock band, Blue Rodeo.

Formed in 1984 by high school pals Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, Blue Rodeo became mainstays of the country and roots-rock revival in Toronto during the mid-1980s.

In 1993, the band gathered at Greg Keelor’s farmhouse to begin work on their next album, Five Days In July , which was actually recorded in five days. Bucking the trend of popular music at the time (grunge anyone?) the band made their most acoustic album to date. The lack of loud, distorted guitar didn’t seem to matter to their Canadian fans. Full of tunes about love and loss, many of of the songs on Five Days in July would become some of the band’s most adored songs. The album would end up being the band’s biggest commercial success, and cement their standing as one of Canada’s most beloved bands.

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On this week’s episode, we dig into the eponymous third album by the “Queen of Americana” 1988’s Lucinda Williams.
After a move to California, Lucinda Williams found herself in the middle of a burgeoning roots rock scene, where traditional music was being performed with a punk-rock attitude. She formed a band of ace musicians and began making a name for herself as part of the scene. Eventually signed by Rough Trade after several labels passed, Williams recorded a self-titled LP that is the work of a pioneering artist who has finally found her voice. Its a transformative album that is genre-defining; deftly blending country, blues, and folk to create a sound that is accessible and compelling. Williams' voice and songwriting are on full display here, creating songs that are personal, heartbreaking, defiant and utterly unique.

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On this week’s episode, its another “Listener Pick,” the band and LP that gave the world Glam Rock: 1971’s Electric Warrior, the second album by T. Rex.
Marc Bolan, T-Rex's charismatic front man played a pivotal role in early 70’s British rock. Forming the folk-rock duo/band Tyrannosaurus Rex, Bolan would embrace the shortened moniker “T. Rex” at the dawn of the 1970’s, as well as a more flamboyant look, attitude, and sound, essentially ushering in the Glam Rock era. Bolan and T. Rex became huge in the UK, even rivaling the Beatles in popularity.
Considered by many to be the first true Glam Rock record, Electric Warrior is the culmination of everything Bolan wanted to accomplish with T. Rex. and is lauded as one of the most iconic and influential albums of all time.

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On this weeks episode, we take a listen to the third album by Wilco, 1999’s Summerteeth.
Wilco rose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo trying to find its footing in the shadow of Son Volt, the band Jay Farrar founded. Wilco lead singer and main songwriter Jeff Tweedy had the vision of letting multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett play just about any keyboard he could get his hands on while he and the rest of the band provided strong backing that let the songs sound like pop tunes from another time, even though lyrics could be dark and, in some cases, disturbing. While a transitional album for the band that portends what is to come, it stands on its own and contains some of Tweedy’s most compelling (and catchy) songwriting.

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