In this very special (and somewhat long) episode, hosts Jon and Chris take a fond and sentimental look back at their favorite Christmas music of all time, and each of them count down their top five Christmas carols. The duo also discuss their December 1985 acting debuts in a third grade production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in which Jon portrayed The Ghost of Christmas Present and Chris had a three-line 'cameo' as Boy With Turkey.
By the mid-1970s, Fleetwood Mac were a well-established blues/rock band with a cult following and a revolving door of guitarists. Widespread commercial success, however, had eluded them. That would all change in 1975 with the addition of a brilliant young guitarist and singer, Lindsey Buckingham, and his incredibly talented on-again/off-again girlfriend, Stevie Nicks. This would catapult Mick Fleetwood and company into superstardom, and their incredible songs and behind-the-scenes drama would make them one of the most successful and endearing bands of the 1970s and 1980s.
Forty-five years after its release, Jon and Chris look back at this landmark album's mostly exceptional eleven tracks, Buckingham's guitar virtuosity, and the band's secret weapon: Christine McVie.
Though it had been fifteen years since their debut, Genesis released their eponymous album in the fall of 1983. This was a fitting move, as the album signaled both a change in the group's songwriting process, and also a move toward a new, more accessible pop/rock sound with traces of their progressive roots interspersed periodically. Across the course of nine well-crafted tracks, Phil Collins and company tackle a garden-variety of strange topics on the album, including a haunted seaside cottage, illegal immigration, and a visit to a Cuban brothel. Genesis guitarist and bassist, Mike Rutherford, considers this 1983 effort to be one of the band's finest, and so do Chris and Jon. Take a listen as the co-hosts fondly look back on this catchy, schizophrenic, and at times demented album.
Rock and Roll can often times be a bit of a soap opera, and the circumstances surrounding the making of this landmark album were no exception. Addicted to heroin, drinking heavily, and obsessed with a gorgeous blonde model (who happened to be married to his best friend, George Harrison), a young Eric Clapton assembled a stellar line-up of musicians to create one of rock's most intense and harrowing albums. This line-up included an up and coming Southern rock guitar virtuoso and an accomplished drummer who also happened to be a deranged madman. Add lots of whisky and cocaine to the mix, along with a young Rita Coolidge, and the writings of a 12th century Persian poet, and you have the makings of one insane rock and roll experience.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its release, Jon and Chris celebrate this heart-wrenching and bluesy magnum opus from Eric Clapton and company.
The 1990s were quite the decade for U2. They reinvented their sound and style with the daring album, Achtung Baby, and then quickly released the equally impressive follow-up album, Zooropa, less than two years later. But 1997s Pop proved to be a commercial and critical disappointment, and left many wondering if Bono and the boys were starting to run out of ideas. And then they made a triumphant return to form in 2000 with All That You Can't Leave Behind, an upbeat and often uplifting album that proved to be the perfect soundtrack to the optimism associated with the dawn of the 21st century. The album would also later provide the songs that would help a bruised and bloodied world begin to heal in the days and weeks immediately following the September 11th attacks.
On the twentieth anniversary of it's release, Chris and Jon look back at the milestone album that would mark the beginning of the third chapter in the story of one of rock music's most important and successful groups. The duo also discusses a wide array of topics oddly related to their memories of this album including different types of cheese, a late night drunken pizza bender in Hartford back in June of 2001, and Kaiser Soze.
Released nearly five years before their commercial blockbuster, Brothers in Arms, made them MTV superstars, 1980s Making Movies is considered by most critics and fans to be Dire Straits' true masterpiece. Though it contains only seven tracks, each of them tell a spectacular tale (from star-crossed lovers, to a sultry girl on roller skates, to the leather-clad homosexual Berlin underground from days of yore) and are expertly crafted and perfectly played and by the great Mark Knopfler and company (featuring the E Street Band's Roy Bittan on piano and keyboards).
On the 40th anniversary of its release, Jon and Chris take a look at this landmark album from a legendary group.
When it was released in the summer of 2004, Hot Fuss- the debut album from the Vegas-based band, The Killers- took America (and eventually the world) by storm. Chock-full of catchy, anthemic songs and a synth-laden sound that calls to mind the best of 1980s New Wave, Hot Fuss went on to become one of the most well-received albums of the new millennium, and is considered to be one of the most successful debut albums of all time. It also solidified The Killers' place in the annals of modern rock.
Listen as Jon and Chris finally embrace 21st century music (Chris boldly proclaims The Killers to be his favorite band of the 21st century) and do a deep dive on this monumental and incredibly infectious album.
From his early days as the frontman for the pioneering art-rock band, Roxy Music, right up until present day, the great Bryan Ferry has crafted both a sound and style that has been imitated countless times, but never quite duplicated. In honor of this suave and dapper crooner and songwriter's 75th birthday on September 26th, Jon and Chris take a look at his 1987 solo effort, Bete Noire. And while the two have a heated disagreement regarding the album's nadir, they both agree that the album is Ferry's undisputed solo masterpiece, and that gender reveal parties are one of the most asinine trends in modern society.
His upbeat and snappy 1988 solo debut, Faith, made him an unexpected global superstar and- in his own words- ‘every little hungry schoolgirl’s pride and joy.’ But with his 1990 follow-up, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, the late George Michael did an about-face and released a stripped-down, deeply personal collection of songs that reflected his own struggles with both fame and his private life. Critics and fans (and, in particular, his record label) were left perplexed and even a bit disappointed. But the album grew in popularity over the years, and on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary, Jon and Chris examine this milestone achievement from an immensely talented singer and songwriter.
There isn't much to be said about the 1976 masterpiece from the Eagles, 'Hotel California,' that hasn't already been said. And yet, in the Season Two premiere of Listen Closely with Jon & Chris, the two manage to devote an entire hour to the album. Featuring their trademark polished harmonies, Hotel California also includes some of the finest work that Don Henley and Glenn Frey ever turned out (and a stellar songwriting cameo from then Eagles newcomer, Joe Walsh). With a long and weird summer quickly coming to a close, and a season of uncertainty looming on the horizon, Jon and Chris discuss how this groundbreaking album is the perfect soundtrack to paradise lost, to the summer that slipped away, and- as Chris put it- to dashed dreams.
