Episode #4: Calling Cards (Part 1)

Once upon several times, a long, long time ago, Led Zeppelin were an unsigned band trying to make it, Malcolm Young spotted AC/DC on a vacuum cleaner label and decided it would be a good name for a band he was starting and Lars Ulrich was going to be a pro tennis player.

Jesus Christ, even before he was a twinkle in Samson’s eye, Bruce Dickinson was called Paul and his younger sister Helena was better known than he was.

Everyone starts somewhere. And for this edition of the podcast, the boys decided to look at debut albums by bands that ultimately had something to say about the way in which the rock scene would evolve and change.

So, in an episode notable for its eclectic subject matter and reflecting rock across three decades, each of our trusty rankers (that’s not rhyming slang, by the way, although it could be) picked the calling cards for three bands that would go on to make a big splash.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd) (1973)

It came as a shock to absolutely no one that Mark opted for an album that is as deeply rooted in the 1970s as it’s possible to be, a bit like he is. Just how old this album is can be determined from the ‘Newly Formed Bands’ list in the Wikipedia entry for heavy metal music for the year. Among them? AC/DC and a little known band called KISS.

The fact the band felt compelled to use the title of their calling card album to explain how fans who didn’t already know them should pronounce their name shows just how new to the world they were.

But anonymity would be short-lived. Track 8 would see to that …

Ratt - Out of the Cellar (1984)

Okay, so purists would probably cite their 1983 EP as their debut release, but it’s our Hall and our rules, and we decided right at the start that only full albums would be considered for admittance. And while that’s a shame when you consider it means the likes of You Think You’re Tough, Tell the World and Walking the Dog will never have their moment in the Sadmen sun, it does mean Steve’s choice for this episode is a little lace-covered belter.

Which of our troopers confessed to wanting to be a roadie for the band just to be near Stephen Pearcy? Who rolled his eyes as two of his co-hosts went full fanboy on him? And what piece of Robbin Crosby memorabilia did Steve walk away with after the band’s Hammy Odeon show in 1986?

More importantly, was the lyrical wax oozing into the episode enough to see the album challenge the grown-ups for a place in the top 10 in the Hall of Fame?

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)

Richard is nothing if not provocative and his choice for this episode was no exception. The expletive-ridden lyrics of Zack de la Rocha made this the first Enter Sadmen episode to come with an ‘E’ (Explicit) rating and prompted a curled lip of distaste from Mark who owned up right at the start to ‘not liking’ RATM at all (with the possible exception of Killing in the Name).

So, how would de la Rocha’s full-on angry vocal assault and the rest of the band’s thumping and intricately assembled protest soundscape go down with his compadres? Would Mark be able to see beyond his initial prejudice that this was ‘just shouting set to music’? And would Steve be able to get Ratt’s album cover girl Tawny Kitaen out of his head long enough to concentrate for the last half an hour of the show?