What Came Next...

Episode 40: The Ramones - End of the Century

After four albums that are now considered classics but didn't spawn any hits in the U.S. the Ramones gave into management and agreed to record with producer Phil Spector.  The sessions didn't go well and the resulting album was not one of the band's favorites.  Despite the initial thought that they should be a good match their recording and production styles clashed throughout, and a set of mostly tired and forgettable songs didn't help. 

Episode 39: INXS - X

INXS's 1988 album Kick was one of those '80s albums that kept delivering the hits over a year later.  That gave the band some time to rest after their tour and regroup, releasing X in 1990.  Since the previous hits made it feel like they never left the new songs helped them stay on the charts as they molded their slick dance pop into something that resembled the alternative scene at the time. 

Episode 38: Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

Violator was Depeche Mode's international breakthrough after spending the latter part of the 1980s on the verge of worldwide success.  The album didn't depart much from their style, but a surprising element was the inclusion of guitars and other traditional rock instruments along with the usual synth sounds.  In 1993 the band went all in with Songs of Faith and Devotion, creating a recording now regarded as one of their best, but at the cost of a founding member. 

Episode 37: King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon

After the revolutionary In the Court of the Crimson King in 1969 King Crimson did a tour behind the record, which was a hit in the UK and a cult favorite in the U.S.  Problem was, by the end, Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield were the only full-time members left in the group.  Fripp was able to talk Greg Lake, Michael Giles and Peter Giles to return to record In the Court of the Crimson King, but the tour would lead to a new lineup.  Meanwhile, their second album became their highest charting in the UK, and was a sign of things to come. 

Episode 36: Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining

After achieving international success with the 1987 Diesel and Dust and a hit single, "Beds Are Burning", Midnight Oil could have decided to go mainstream pop and capitalized on their success.  Instead, they stuck by their guns, something they have done throughout most of their career, and delivered an even more pointed and political album, Blue Sky Mining, in 1990. 

Episode 35: The Georgia Satellites - Open All Night

After scoring a number two hit with "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" in 1986 the public were quick to write off the Georgia Satellites as a one-hit wonder novelty act.  There was much more to them, as evidenced on their 1988 album Open All Night, but the ran into typical audience and radio indifference to their sound. 

Episode 34: Arch Enemy - Anthems of Rebellion

Arch Enemy's addition of Angela Gossow on vocals for their 2000 album Wages of Sin was revolutionary at the time.  No other death metal band had a female singer, and Gossow certainly proved that she could scream and growl with the best.  Problem is, although she contributed, Arch Enemy is the baby of guitarist Michael Amott, and when he finds something that works he is more than happy to keep going back to the well. 

Episode 33: Kansas - Monolith

Kansas, after working hard for years, finally had a top-five hit with "Dust in the Wind" from their 1977 album Point of Know Return.  Thinking it was time to move away from the progressive sound they had nurtured over the course of their career, they went about producing Monolith themselves, pursuing a more commercial sound.  

Episode 32: The Cars - Candy-O

The Cars was a successful debut album, containing a list of songs that played like a new wave best-of.  Candy-O, the follow-up, sold even more, despite not all the songs being up to the same level as the debut.  They still managed to turn out a solid second record, something few new wave and punk bands were able to do. 

Episode 31: Rush - A Farewell to Kings

2112 proved to be the album that Rush needed to save their contract with Mercury Records.  The follow-up, A Farewell to Kings, was even more ambitious.  Challenging themselves in different ways and fully integrated synthesizers into their sound, the Canadian trio produced one of their most complex, but overlooked, albums.