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
Exploring the Impact of Tragic Kingdom: No Doubt’s Breakthrough no_doubt-tragic_kingdom
10 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Exploring the Impact of Tragic Kingdom: No Doubt’s Breakthrough

Neil Johnson 29 August 2024
Introduction Released on October 10, 1995, Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt stands as a monumental work in...
Read More Read more about Exploring the Impact of Tragic Kingdom: No Doubt’s Breakthrough
Beneath the Remains: Sepulturaโ€™s 1989 Breakthrough, Revisited in Depth sepultura-beneath_the_remains
21 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Beneath the Remains: Sepulturaโ€™s 1989 Breakthrough, Revisited in Depth

Neil Johnson 28 August 2024
1) A world on the brink: setting the stage for Beneath the Remains (1989) By 1988โ€“1989, extreme...
Read More Read more about Beneath the Remains: Sepulturaโ€™s 1989 Breakthrough, Revisited in Depth
Exploring Dizzy Up The Girl: A 90s Rock Phenomenon the_goo_goo_dolls-dizzy_up_the_girl
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Exploring Dizzy Up The Girl: A 90s Rock Phenomenon

Neil Johnson 28 August 2024
Introduction Released in the twilight of the 1990s, Dizzy Up The Girl by The Goo Goo Dolls...
Read More Read more about Exploring Dizzy Up The Girl: A 90s Rock Phenomenon
The Making of Definitely Maybe – Oasis’s Iconic Debut oasis-definitely_maybe
10 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

The Making of Definitely Maybe – Oasis’s Iconic Debut

Neil Johnson 27 August 2024
Introduction In the annals of rock history, few debut albums have had the seismic impact of Oasis’s...
Read More Read more about The Making of Definitely Maybe – Oasis’s Iconic Debut
Exploring Meliora: Ghost’s Metal Evolution ghost-meliora
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Exploring Meliora: Ghost’s Metal Evolution

Neil Johnson 27 August 2024
Introduction In the realm of contemporary rock and metal, few albums have made as profound an impact...
Read More Read more about Exploring Meliora: Ghost’s Metal Evolution
Unveiling the Legacy of Songs for the Deaf queens_of_the_stone_age-songs_for_the_deaf
10 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Unveiling the Legacy of Songs for the Deaf

Neil Johnson 25 August 2024
Introduction In the pantheon of early 21st-century rock albums, Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the...
Read More Read more about Unveiling the Legacy of Songs for the Deaf
Dirt by Alice In Chains: A Grunge Landmark Explored alice_in_chains-dirt_(2022_remaster)
8 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Podcasts

Dirt by Alice In Chains: A Grunge Landmark Explored

Neil Johnson 24 August 2024
Introduction Released on September 29, 1992, Dirt by Alice In Chains stands as a monumental achievement in...
Read More Read more about Dirt by Alice In Chains: A Grunge Landmark Explored
The Impact of Napalm Death’s Harmony Corruption napalm_death-harmony_corruption
7 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

The Impact of Napalm Death’s Harmony Corruption

Neil Johnson 23 August 2024
Introduction Few albums have had the seismic impact of Napalm Death’s Harmony Corruption. Released on 1 July...
Read More Read more about The Impact of Napalm Death’s Harmony Corruption
Inside British Steel: Judas Priest’s Metal Revolution judas_priest-british_steel
12 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Inside British Steel: Judas Priest’s Metal Revolution

Neil Johnson 22 August 2024
Judas Priest’s “British Steel” is a landmark album that reshaped the landscape of heavy metal. Released in...
Read More Read more about Inside British Steel: Judas Priest’s Metal Revolution

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 … 31 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

RIFF067 – Tool – Undertow
byRiffology

Two nerds, a laminator, and an extremely long โ€œwarm wormโ€ somehow lead to a deep dive into one of the darkest, driest, and most hypnotic debut albums of the โ€˜90s. Undertow wasnโ€™t just Toolโ€™s arrival โ€” it was a statement: no gloss, no funk, no flannel. Just tight, menacing precision and the kind of sonic control that made everything else in โ€™93 sound like it was recorded in a gym hall.

Neil and Chris get into Sylvia Massyโ€™s production magic, the infamous piano-and-shotgun session that birthed โ€œDisgustipated,โ€ and why Undertow still feels so unsettlingly alive today. They unpack the censored artwork, the Lollapalooza breakthrough, and what makes this record sound dangerous even three decades later.

If you like your riffs dry, your rhythm sections ritualistic, and your frontmen just a little terrifying โ€” this oneโ€™s for you.

Timestamps

00:00 โ€” Warm-up chaos: โ€œwarm worm,โ€ laminator drama, and remembering to actually start the show.
00:04 โ€” Why Undertow and not Lateralus (yet). Toolโ€™s shift from soundscapes to surgical precision.
00:07 โ€” Setting the scene: 1993โ€™s heavy landscape and why Tool went against the grain.
00:10 โ€” Comparing Undertowโ€™s live-band energy to A Perfect Circleโ€™s layered polish.
00:14 โ€” The dry, claustrophobic mix and why it works.
00:15โ€“00:19 โ€” Who is Sylvia Massy and why her production mattered.
00:19โ€“00:22 โ€” The piano + shotgun recording session and how it became โ€œDisgustipated.โ€
01:05 โ€” CD quirks, hidden tracks, and Floodโ€™s strange indexing.
01:08 โ€” โ€œTurn it upโ€: why the album rewards volume.
01:11 โ€” The censored cover art and mail-in reveal.
01:14 โ€” Lollapalooza โ€™93: the moment Tool broke through.

Listen & follow
โ€ข Blog & show notes: https://riffology.co/2025/10/05/the-making-of-undertow-by-tool/
โ€ข Main site: https://riffology.co/podcast
โ€ข Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/riffology-iconic-rock-albums-podcast/id1691556696
โ€ข Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LIU9mein7QMw346q20nyy
โ€ข Email: [email protected]
โ€ข X: https://x.com/RiffologyPod
โ€ข Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/riffology.co
โ€ข Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riffology

RIFF067 – Tool – Undertow
Episode play icon
RIFF067 – Tool – Undertow
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF066 – A Perfect Circle – Mer De Noms
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF065 – Deftones – White Pony
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF064 – Anthrax – Sound of White Noise
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF063 – Anthrax – Persistence of Time
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF062 – Soulfly – Soulfly
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF061 – Sepultura – Beneath the Remains
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF060 – Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF059 – Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails
Episode Description
Episode play icon
RIFF058 – Carcass – Heartwork
Episode Description
Search Results placeholder

Mailing List

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

1975 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2007 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 Slayer The Smashing Pumpkins Tool

Archives

  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • 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

tmpcn7rfxas
5 min read
  • Album Deep Dive

Para Bellum by Testament – album review

Neil Johnson 13 October 2025
Undertow album cover by Tool
21 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Podcasts

Undertow: Tool’s Breakthrough Album Unveiled

Neil Johnson 5 October 2025
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts - Troubled Paradise - Artwork
4 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Review

Troubled Paradise by Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts – album review

Neil Johnson 30 September 2025
Mer De Noms - A Perfect Circle Album Art
25 min read
  • Album Deep Dive
  • Podcasts

A Deep Dive into A Perfect Circleโ€™s Mer de Noms

Neil Johnson 29 September 2025
  • X
  • Blue Sky
  • Facebook
  • IG
  • Discord
  • Apple
  • Spotify
Copyright © All rights reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.