Episode 82 - Scene Of The Crime (ft. ZZ Top, Mortal Sin & Malice)
In this episode the Tico Torres Tombola of Topics and Themes set the lads the task of finding three albums or bands that were in some way linked to criminal acts. And not just misdemeanours, thank you very much - these had to be crimes for which jail time would not only be inevitable, but also very lengthy.
So, enter stage left Richard, clutching a copy of ZZ Top's Deguello (you'll have to listen to the episode to discover how it meets the brief). It marks a change of direction for the Texas boogie crew as they shifted away from their early blues and bluegrass brand of rock and roll to a more mainstream sound. 1981's El Loco would open the band up to mass awareness, and two years later the singles-packed Eliminator would become both golden goose and millstone. Welcome then to one of rock music's most significant commercial stepping stones.
Next up, Mark. 1986's Mayhemic Destruction, from Aussie thrash merchants Mortal Sin was their recording debut after solid work on the local gig circuits around Sydney and the wider locale. It also contains two absolute nailed-on thrash gems. Prepare for Steve to go into an advanced state of priapism.
Finally, Steve brought something as familiar and much loved as an old winter comforter, walking through the studio door with License To Kill, the 1987 sophomore effort from Amercian power rockers Malice. With a clutch of songs that could strip paint from the wall, this episode would get both loud ... and weird.
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Episode 81 - Have A Drink On Me (ft. April Wine, King Kobra & Thunderhead)
For this edition of the podcast the lads are being driven to drink. Not literally, because that would be irresponsible. No, this time the Sadmen had to find an album each that had a link to alcohol.
Richard travelled back to Canada to pick up Nature Of The Beast, an album thought by many to be the finest hour of April Wine.
Steve opted for the comfort of 1986 and the rock-lite Thrill Of A Lifetime by Carmine Appice vehicle King Kobra.
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Mark, ever the adventurer, went a little off-piste and turned up with Behind The Eight Ball (an Eight Ball being both a whisket cocktail and a drug cocktaIl. Apparently) from German power metal band Thunderhead.
Let battle commence!
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Episode 80 - School's Out (ft. Metallica, Triumph & Dare)
The Tico Torres Tombola of Topics & Themes handed out a banger for this episode, with Mark, Steve and Richard tasked with finding three albums released between 1970 and 1995 that had a tangible link to the subject of 'school'.Â
Steve went all Billy Bunter and drew inspiration from the1950s when teachers in English schools were still known as 'masters'. Any excuse to get messers Hetfield, Ulrich, Newstead and Hammett back on the show, right? And so the Bay Area gods' 1986 MASTERclass - and the penultimate 'Metallica album that will feature on the show - duly made its entrance.
Mark opted for something a little on the nose and mined his old timetable for some clues. After rejecting Bad English. and with the well of ideas running dry, he opted for something that was about as polar in its oppositeness to Master Of Puppets as it was possible to get. Welcome, then, Sport Of Kings from Canadian rockers Triumph - also released in 1986.
And so, to Richard, who has always had an incidental relationship with the spirit of the few rules that exist on the show. Which is why we'll leave him to explain the ludicrously tenuous link to 'school' that he managed to contrive as justification for turning up to the recording session with Dare's 1988 offering, Out Of The Silence, under his arm ...
The boys didn't have to venture too far for the latest episode of the podcast - in fact, just a short hop and skip on Eurostar across La Manche and straight on to Paris.
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Because this time the Tico Torres Tombola of Topics and Themes had tasked Richard, Steve and Mark to find something distinctly French to c state with each other.Â
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Paris wasn't a prerequisite for the show, but nevertheless that's where our plucky trio ended up. Not only that, but they all ended up with a band formed at the arse end of 1979.
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Steve and Richard went on a voyage of discovery, while Mark mined a familiar dream at the coalface of rock.Â
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The result? Nicko McBrain's old mob, Trust, with Represssion from 1981 (Mark), and a deuce from 1985 in Desir De Vampyr by Blaspheme (Steve) and Desperados from Vulcain (Richard).
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Mon Dieu! What a show ... !
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Episode 78 - 1972 (ft. Jethro Tull, A Foot In Cold Water, & Dark)
In the latest episode of the Sadmen's journey down a rock and roll highway that starts in 1970(ish) and ends in 1995(ish), the lads pull out the corduroys and the paisley shirts and head for the warm bath of psychedelic bewilderment that was 1972.
Having encountered Jethro Tull's Aqualung some 68 episodes previously, and hashed out the whole 'is it a concept album, isn't it a concept album' debate, it was time to make the acquaintance of its successor - Thick As A Brick. There were many questions to be answered, but none of them was 'Is this a concept album?' because of that, friends, there is no doubt.
The problem with the Enter Sadmen podcast is that when one of the boys goes a bit weird, the other two follow suit. It's like Pavolv's dogs. Or something.Â
Anyway, it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that getting on board with the 'out there' vibe were two more releases that are as curious as they are obscure.
From Richard, a trip back to Canada to root out the self-titled debut by A Foot In Cold Water. From Steve, a slightly less arduous journey up the M1 to Northamptonfor Dark Round The Edges, the only release by a band called Dark, and one that will set you back a cool £35,000 to buy on vinyl today. We shit you not.
About Enter Sadmen: The Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Hall of Fame
It's the world's loudest podcast as hosts Steve Davies, Richard Napthine and Mark Norman take their collective 120 years of worship at the altar of golden era hard rock and heavy metal (1970-ish to 1996-ish), cut the ribbon on their newly-built Hard Rock Hall of Fame - and debate the albums that have earned their places in its gilded rooms.
Listen to Enter Sadmen: The Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Hall of Fame, The Rise and Fall of ... and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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