Skip to content

Riffology: Iconic Rock Albums

Uncover the details behind the most iconic albums ever recorded.

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • About Riffology
  • LastFM Collage Builder
  • Riffology Podcast
  • MP3 Converter
A Night at the Opera: Queen’s Iconic Album Unveiled A Night At The Opera (2011 Remaster)
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

A Night at the Opera: Queen’s Iconic Album Unveiled

Neil Johnson 18 September 2024
Introduction In the rich tapestry of rock history, few albums have achieved the legendary status of Queen’s...
Read More Read more about A Night at the Opera: Queen’s Iconic Album Unveiled
Chaos A.D. – Sepultura’s Genre-Defining Album Chaos A.D.
9 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Chaos A.D. – Sepultura’s Genre-Defining Album

Neil Johnson 18 September 2024
Introduction In the world of heavy metal, few albums have made as significant an impact as Sepultura’s...
Read More Read more about Chaos A.D. – Sepultura’s Genre-Defining Album
Unveiling Anthrax’s State of Euphoria: A Thrash Metal Classic State Of Euphoria
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Unveiling Anthrax’s State of Euphoria: A Thrash Metal Classic

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
State of Euphoria, released by Anthrax on September 19, 1988, is their fourth studio album, showcasing their...
Read More Read more about Unveiling Anthrax’s State of Euphoria: A Thrash Metal Classic
Whitesnake: The Album That Defined Glam Metal Whitesnake (30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)
10 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Whitesnake: The Album That Defined Glam Metal

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Introduction In the world of rock music, few albums have achieved the iconic status that Whitesnake by...
Read More Read more about Whitesnake: The Album That Defined Glam Metal
St. Anger: Metallica’s Raw Evolution St. Anger
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

St. Anger: Metallica’s Raw Evolution

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Metallica's 2003 album St. Anger represents a significant departure from their traditional sound, characterized by raw production...
Read More Read more about St. Anger: Metallica’s Raw Evolution
Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation: The Ultimate Comeback Permanent Vacation
9 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation: The Ultimate Comeback

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Introduction Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation stands as a landmark in the band’s illustrious career, representing a crucial turning...
Read More Read more about Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation: The Ultimate Comeback
Exploring Tool’s ร†nima: A Progressive Metal Classic ร†nima
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Exploring Tool’s ร†nima: A Progressive Metal Classic

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Tool's 1996 album ร†nima significantly impacted progressive metal with its complex arrangements, profound lyrics, and unique artwork....
Read More Read more about Exploring Tool’s ร†nima: A Progressive Metal Classic
Unraveling Slave to the Grind: Skid Row’s Metal Evolution Slave to the Grind
10 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Unraveling Slave to the Grind: Skid Row’s Metal Evolution

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Introduction In the vibrant tapestry of rock music history, Skid Row’s “Slave to the Grind” stands as...
Read More Read more about Unraveling Slave to the Grind: Skid Row’s Metal Evolution
The Making of Use Your Illusion II – Guns N’ Roses’ Ambitious Classic guns_n_roses-use_your_illusion_ii
9 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

The Making of Use Your Illusion II – Guns N’ Roses’ Ambitious Classic

Neil Johnson 17 September 2024
Introduction In the vibrant and tumultuous landscape of early 1990s rock, Guns N’ Roses emerged as a...
Read More Read more about The Making of Use Your Illusion II – Guns N’ Roses’ Ambitious Classic

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 … 30 Next

Podcast Episodes

Riffology: Iconic Rock Albums Podcast
Riffology: Iconic Rock Albums Podcast

Welcome to Riffology, where a GenX and a Millennial talk about the albums from their youth. Itโ€™s more fun than it soundsโ€ฆ

RIFF059 – Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails
byRiffology

In this instalment of Riffology, Chris arrives early and fully prepared, a development so shocking that Neil repeatedly checks he hasnโ€™t fallen into a parallel universe. They introduce Stereophonicsโ€™ second LP Performance and Cocktails, whose title came from a business card handed to the band at the bizarre New York club Shine โ€“ a haunt featuring trapeze artists wearing pigโ€™sโ€‘heads. Chris describes the record as a โ€œcomfort blanketโ€ and the pair recall it being one of the touchstones of their schoolโ€‘days, along with Eels and NOFX. They also reminisce about making tapeโ€‘deck radio shows as teenagers, a hobby that foreshadowed their current podcast.

Neil makes the case that Performance and Cocktails is โ€œone of the greatest sounding records.โ€ It is both huge and warm, can be cranked up in a car yet still reveals breathy nuance through headphones, and somehow remains coherent despite being recorded in multiple studios. The album was released on Richardย Bransonโ€™s V2 label, runs a lean 50ย minutes with thirteen tracks, and was produced by Steve Bush and Marshallย Bird. It sold 1.7ย million copies even as Napster ushered in the age of free downloads and propelled the Welsh trio from club dates to arenas. The hosts note how Kelly Jonesโ€™ gritty vocals, Richard Jonesโ€™ bass and Stuartย Cableโ€™s drumming are augmented by producer Marshallย Birdโ€™s keyboards and Astridโ€™s backing vocals. They also relay how Scarlet Page shot the cover photograph beneath Londonโ€™s Westway, with model Lucy Joplin posing after a long night of absinthe and opium.

As usual, the conversation meanders. Between facts, Chris and Neil ponder why Radioย 2 suddenly plays Ozzy Osbourne, debate whether โ€œpostโ€‘Britpopโ€ is an actual genre, and recall how Napster made everyone stop paying for music. A midโ€‘show tangent sees them visit Yorkโ€™s Jorvik Viking Centre to admire a fossilised human poo in a glass cabinet and discuss the educational merits of taking their children to train museums. Later they imagine a future AI scraping their podcast and mistaking their nonsense for historical fact. The episode ends with some gentle ribbing about their blog, the smell of the Northern Line and whether the Hyperloop will ever rival 1990s tiltโ€‘trains. Dry humour and affectionate digressions keep the tone light while the hostsโ€™ admiration for the album remains clear.

RIFF059 – Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails
Episode play icon
RIFF059 – Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF058 – Carcass – Heartwork
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF057 – Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF056 – Oasis – Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF055 – Terrorvision – Formaldehyde
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF054 – Feeder – Polythene
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF053 – Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF052 – Ash – 1977
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF051 – The Wildhearts – Earth Versus The Wildhearts
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF050 – Gun – Gallus
Episode Description
Search Results placeholder

Mailing List

  • The Making of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac - Monday 27th January 2025

1975 1979 1980 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2024 2025 Alice in Chains Anthrax Entombed Green Day Iron Maiden Korn Led Zeppelin Linkin Park Megadeth Metallica Ozzy Osbourne Pantera Pearl Jam Pink Floyd Podcast Queensrรฟche Radiohead Sepultura Skunk Anansie Slayer Slipknot The Smashing Pumpkins Tool

Archives

  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024

Categories

  • Album Deep Dive
  • Feature
  • News
  • Podcasts
  • Review
  • Tech

You may have missed

Foo Fighters
12 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Podcasts

The Making of Foo Fighters by Foo Fighters

Neil Johnson 1 August 2025
Performance And Cocktails
13 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

The Making of Performance and Cocktails by Stereophonics

Neil Johnson 26 July 2025
carcass-heartwork_(ultimate_edition)
12 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Podcasts

Heartwork: Carcass’s Pioneering Melodic Metal Journey

Neil Johnson 19 July 2025
(What's The Story) Morning Glory (Deluxe Remastered Edition)
12 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

The Making of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis

Neil Johnson 7 July 2025
  • X
  • Blue Sky
  • Facebook
  • IG
  • Discord
  • Apple
  • Spotify
Copyright © All rights reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.