Episode #2: Our Favourite Albums of All Time

Okay, so this is a surprise, right? Normally anybody’s favourite something is revealed just before the curtain call. Normally at the end of a long countdown on Channel 4. But our favourite albums won’t necessarily be the three that sit on top of the pile when we finally finish this marathon. If we ever finish this marathon.

In fact, we came into this episode knowing full well that there’s a good chance none of them will be in the top three come that day, because the albums that are will be the ones whose quality we all broadly agree on.

That said, this episode of the Enter Sadmen podcast pits some serious heavyweights against one another. Coincidentally, and just to go a bit Statto on you, this second show repeats the trick of the first in featuring three albums from consecutive years. Totally unplanned, honest.

UFO - Strangers in the Night (1979)

Richard and Steve were probably expecting him to arrive with one of the big AC/DC albums under his arm, but in fact the record Mark would happily be trapped on a desert island with for the rest of his life is the classic double live offering from British veterans UFO.

Having heard the single Doctor Doctor in the autumn of 1981 but having no idea which album it came from (the world was a dark and bewildering place before Google), it took him a while to track it down. For several weeks it was rarely off his turntable - and even when it was, it was only to make temporary way for Rainbow’s Rising or Whitesnake’s Live … in the Heart of the City.

In this episode, we pay tribute to the towering talent that was a 24-year-old Michael Schenker and acknowledge the huge contribution that keyboard player Paul Raymond played in defining UFO’s live sound; we dance around the thorny issue of overdubs (was Mother Mary recorded in a studio with a crowd fx overlay? Did Michael Schenker refuse to overdub his original guitar work?); and we explore the band’s legendary capacity for alcohol consumption - before, during and after the show.

Van Halen - Women and Children First (1980)

One of the three VH albums Steve bought on cassette when doing his homework as the making-up-the-numbers guy on a trip to see the band on its UK tour in support of this release. This album is the one that made him a regular in the congregation at the church of Van Halen.

Thousands of albums later, this - Van Halen’s third release - remains the one that’s closest to Steve’s heart and soul, and so it becomes the second VH record to go under the Enter Sadmen spotlight in as many episodes.

In this episode we look at how the band’s confidence and the success of their first two albums left them with even greater appetite and scope for experimentation in the hands of a record label that gave them carte blanche to do pretty much whatever the hell they wanted; we talk about the influence and trust that existed between the band and producer Ted Templeman and how that added a potent kick what ended up on the master tape; and we have a lively debate about the musicality of Loss of Control. And we do mean lively.

Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)

It had to happen sooner or later, and it just so happened to happen sooner. Vying for the title of Biggest Rush Fan in the World means Richard’s nomination of the Canadian three piece for this episode was to be expected. He didn’t disappoint, and without giving too much away, neither does this album.

We all owe a debt of thanks, in one way or another, to the late, great BBC Radio 1 DJ Tommy Vance, his producer Tony Wilson and the gargantuan behemoth that was The Friday Rock Show. Show us a rocker over the age of 45 and we’ll show you someone who spent two hours of every Friday night of their formative years under the duvet listening to TV on a tranny (which meant something very different back then).

Which is exactly how Richard came to hear both Red Barchetta and Limelight - and set off on a path of loyalty that has never wavered.

For this episode we discuss the band’s relentless pursuit of technical and musical perfection; we examine the commercial transformation that Rush were undergoing as they transitioned from uber-prog artisans into mass-market entertainers; and we debate the ultimate rock dichotomy: a drummer who also happens to be the driving creative force in their band.