What Came Next...

Episode 10: The Residents - Commercial Album

After giving up on their reel-to-reel video movie Vileness Fats and spending a good portion of the 1970s working on the album Eskimo, the Residents had found some critical and cult acclaim.  During that time they had released a 7-inch EP called Duck Stab! and, as they were working on Eskimo, came up with a similar EP called Buster and Glen.  Rather than release it on its own, it was combined with Duck Stab!, and the resulting collection of songs remains one of their most popular releases to date.  Expanding on that, in 1980, instead of another huge concept album, the Residents released Commercial Album, which consisted of 40 one-minute songs.  The result was some of the most memorable music of their career. 

Episode 9: Alice Cooper - Alice Cooper Goes to Hell

After Welcome to My Nightmare, and especially a hit single with "Only Women Bleed", Alice Cooper as a solo artist was continuing the same success as he had with the band called Alice Cooper.  The problem was that success was catching up with him in the form of alcoholism, sapping both his health and his creativity.  Still, guitarist Dick Wagner and producer and keyboard player Bob Ezrin managed to keep Alice going through the end of the '70s.  A second ballad, "I Never Cry", kept him on the charts, even if his second solo album was a warning of things to come. 

Episode 8: Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters

While Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was definitely the album that solidified Dead Kennedys' spot in hardcore punk, I have always felt their sophomore effort, Plastic Surgery Disasters, was the stronger of the two albums.  It sees them start to move away from the conventions of punk music while remaining true to the spirit, both in the aggressiveness of the music and in their politics.  

What Came Next...: Episode 7 - The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

After the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles released a series of singles with a related sound to the album throughout 1967, without releasing any songs from the album as actual singles.  Toward the end of the year they planned a double-disc E.P. release of newly recorded soundtrack music for a one-hour BBC Boxing Day special, Magical Mystery Tour.  While the film itself was one of the first major stumbles the band did, most of the music on the E.P. reflected further expansion on the sound of Sgt. Pepper.  In the United States, however, the singles were combined with the EP to make a new Beatles album. 

Episode 6: Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans

Yes had achieved chart success in the U.S. beginning with their third LP, The Yes Album.  Original keyboard player Tony Kaye would be let go after that album, with former Strawbs keyboard player Rick Wakeman joining in mid-1971.  Both the albums Fragile and Close to the Edge would be considered both fan and critical favorites, with a successful tour a triple-album live album and concert film in Yessongs.  However, during that tour drummer Bill Bruford left for King Crimson and was replaced by Alan White, and Jon Anderson and Steve Howe began working on new music that would become one of the band's most controversial albums - Tales from Topographic Oceans. 

Episode 5: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - !!Going Places!!

Most of Herb Alpert's albums are thrift store mainstays, with Whipped Cream and Other Delights being the most recognizable.  However, the reason there are so many is because the music, unlike a lot of easy listening at the time, was enjoyable to a wide arrange of listeners and of consistent quality from album to album.  Still, 1965 seemed like one of the best years for Alpert, as his band, originally session musicians, became an actual unit.  !!Going Places!!, Alpert's second release in 1965 and follow-up to Whipped Cream, is one of the best examples of his sound and managed keep those hits coming. 

Episode 4: Kate Bush - The Sensual World

Recently Kate Bush's 1985 single "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" has gained renewed attention due to the show Stranger Things.  It was, in fact, her only top 40 hit in the United States, and the album it came from, Hounds of Love, was also her highest charting here as well.  In the UK it spawned three other singles that made the UK top 40 as well.  After a compilation album, a duet with Peter Gabriel and a song for a John Hughes film, Bush came back in 1989, this time prepared to take over the American alternative charts with The Sensual World.

Episode 3: Aerosmith - Draw the Line

Aerosmith, in the mid-1970s, was hated by critics and loved by their loyal fans, the Blue Army.  They were one of the biggest hard rock acts of the time, selling millions of records and having back-to-back platinum albums with Toys in the Attic and Rocks.  Unfortunately, not only was success going to their heads, but plenty of other things were going into their veins and up their noses.  As a result, Draw the Line would be a laborious recording process, and almost the end of the band. 
Background music: "Organ" by Eric Fourman
Album Art: Photograph of my copy of the U.S. version of the album. 

Episode 2: Accept - Metal Heart

Accept was one of the most popular heavy metal bands in Europe, and in fact the world, and they remain so today.  There is one major exception: the United States.  Balls to the Wall went Gold in the U.S., and with Accept pursuing a decidedly more commercial sound, 1985's Metal Heart should have pushed them over the top.  Instead, despite being one of the band's favorite albums, it pushed them toward their initial breakup. 

Episode 1: AC/DC - For Those About to Rock We Salute You

After weathering the death of lead vocalist Bon Scott and releasing one of the biggest selling albums at all time, AC/DC were at the top of their career.  So, what came next?  
 
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Background Music: "Organ" by Eric Fourman