Honest & Unmerciful Record Review Podcast
Hey, look at you! You made it to the Honest & Unmerciful Record Review Podcast. Your hosts Pete and Brian are musicians, music fans, and long-time collaborators ready for lively discussion and debate on an eclectic mix of albums and genres. We’ll chat about classics, personal favorites, records you may know well or may be new to you. We’ve got two words for you: ”honest” and ”unmerciful” - what works on these albums, what doesn’t, and viewed through the prism of time, how do they hold up today? Each record is ranked on our world-renowned scale of 5 warm, tasty burritos. Maybe you’ll agree with us, maybe not, but it’ll be a fascinating and fun journey...so put on your headphones and enjoy the show!
Listen on:
Episodes
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Join Pete and Brian for an Honest and Unmerciful discussion of "Stop Making Sense" by Talking Heads. Widely regarded as one of the greatest live concert films, but how does the energy and creativity of this unique performance translate to the record? What does a live album represent or accomplish without its strong visual component and in the career of an extremely creative band? Tune in to find out!
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Join Pete and Brian for an Honest and Unmerciful discussion of Death Cab for Cutie's 2003 conceptual, emotive breakthrough album, "Transatlanticism"! This record is all about the feels, introspective and clever lyrics, and explores themes of movement and distance, emotional and physical. But do earnest sentiments and pleasant alt-rock carry an album? And how does this move the band's career forward? Tune in and find out!
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Join Pete and Brian on this "secret journey" into The Police's 1981 classic transitional album, "Ghost in the Machine". Get ready for virtuoso guitars, inventive drumming, sturdy basslines and...synths! And horns, too! Explore the sound of a band approaching their creative and commercial peak, balancing atmospheric pop-rock with some reggae-lite sonic excursions. As always, our verdict will be honest and unmerciful! Episode originally published 31 Dec 2020.
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Pete and Brian offer up diverse perspectives (um, disagreements?) on The Black Keys' 2004 lo-fi blues-rock classic album, "Rubber Factory". Is this a consistent, solid album exploring a variety of tones, or is it stuck in a muddy groove? We'll give our honest and unmerciful summaries of a selection of tracks and the album's overall legacy...don't miss it!
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Pete and Brian dive into the fascinating samples and diverse influences that make up Beck's landmark 1996 album, "Odelay". Overrated? Underrated? Just right? Listen in as we weigh in on some classic tracks, deep cuts, and give our honest and unmerciful ratings in this, our debut episode!
Originally released: 11 December 2020.