Trainwreckords
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Trainwreckords is a show by ToddInTheShadows where he looks at the career-ruining albums from various artists.
Episodes start with a summation of the artist's position in the pop scene leading up to the subject album.
Todd then walks through the album's contents, starting with a lengthy analysis of the lead single, then following that up with a look at the overall thoroughline of the album interpolated with reviews of the followup singles, as well as a variable number of album cuts. For albums by bands, interpersonal relations between the members are also run through, since fallouts between them tend to be factor in the album's failure.
Unlike Todd's other series, his piano playing is placed at the end of every episode, over "The End"/"Thanks to my Patrons" cards; usually the most famous song from the album reviewed (although there are a few exceptions).
Episodes[]
№ | Title | Year | Description | Released |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | 0304 by Jewel | 2003 | New series! In this show, we'll be looking at the records that ended thriving careers, and we're starting with the album that turned Jewel Kilcher from folksinger poet to poor man's Britney Spears | October 20, 2017 |
02 | Kilroy Was Here by Styx | 1983 | Domo Arigato, Cheese-rock Roboto! | December 16, 2017 |
03 | The Funky Headhunter by MC Hammer | 1994 | MC Hammer goes gangsta. You can't touch this. Nor should you. | March 19, 2018 |
04 | Be Here Now by Oasis | 1997 | Today is gonna be the day that we look at the album that killed Britpop and made Oasis has-beens overnight! | June 17, 2018 |
05 | Van Halen III by Van Halen | 1998 | Van Halen's third incarnation! Featuring new singer Gary Cherone, the guy from Extreme! And it was Extremely bad. | August 11, 2018 |
06 | Mardi Gras by Creedence Clearwater Revival | 1972 | There was a bad moon rising over Creedence in 1972, when John Fogerty made the rest of the band do the writing, and the result ain't no fortunate one. | September 23, 2018 |
07 | Cyberpunk by Billy Idol | 1993 | 1993 was not such a nice day to start again for Billy Idol, when he released his bizarre concept album about cyborgs and virtual reality! | October 31, 2018 |
08 | MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 by Lauryn Hill | 2002 | Lauryn Hill was miseducated even worse than we realized, as she demonstrated with her legendary public breakdown disguised as an Unplugged special. | April 3, 2019 |
09 | American Life by Madonna | 2003 | The Material Girl becomes... The Political Girl?? Madonna brought one of the longest winning streaks in pop music to a sudden, ignominious end in 2003 with her little-loved dip into politics. | August 1, 2019 |
10 | Paula by Robin Thicke | 2014 | I know you want it? No, no one wanted it. Robin Thicke's desperate attempt to save his marriage instead sends his personal and professional life plummeting into disaster. | September 1, 2019 |
11 | Cut the Crap by The Clash | 1985 | Here's a tip, if you're going to make one of the worst-sounding albums of all time, don't make it easy for the critics by putting the word "Crap" in the title, like The Clash did with their career-ending final album. | October 31, 2019 |
12 | Fairweather Johnson by Hootie & the Blowfish | 1996 | Sometimes they wondered if it would ever end, and whoa buddy did it ever. Hootie & the Blowfish's rushed second album ended Hootiemania just as suddenly as it started. | November 19, 2019 |
13 | Summer in Paradise by The Beach Boys | 1992 | The Beach Boys' endless summer had an ending after all, when they tried to capitalize on "Kokomo" and instead brought their comeback to a crashing halt. | March 20, 2020 |
14 | Zingalamaduni by Arrested Development | 1994 | Gangsta rap is so violent! Why can't all those rappers just sing about nice things?? Arrested Development showed why in 1994, when their weirdly-named follow-up to their acclaimed debut took a shot to the dome. | May 2, 2020 |
15 | Two the Hard Way by Gregg Allman & Cher (Allman & Woman) | 1977 | Doomed couple Cher and Gregg Allman made a doomed collaboration album, a teamup that went about as well as mixing toothpaste and orange juice. | June 30, 2020 |
16 | Funstyle by Liz Phair | 2010 | Oof, this one is nuts. Indie rock royalty Liz Phair made a pop album and got called a sellout left and right, so instead she made a baffling, bizarre shitpost of an album to destroy her image once and for all. | October 22, 2020 |
17 | St. Anger by Metallica | 2003 | It's one of the most legendary bombs of all time -- the biggest rock band in the world turning in a tuneless blast of cacophonous trash-can banging. How did the much-maligned "St. Anger" turn Metallica from gods of metal to rock-and-roll punchlines? | March 24, 2021 |
18 | Crash by The Human League | 1986 | The Human League recruit Janet Jackson's producers and try to get funky. Yes, the "Don't You Want Me" band. Yes, it's as awkward as it sounds. | April 30, 2021 |
19 | Turn It Upside Down by Spin Doctors | 1994 | If you want to destroy your career with a obnoxious terrible second album, just go ahead now. The Spin Doctors kicked off the '90s jam band explosion but fell behind when they decided tunelessness was their path to cred. | July 2, 2021 |
20 | Passage by Carpenters | 1977 | Calling occupants of interplanetary what? Faced with falling sales and a sinking profile, '70s soft rock superstars the Carpenters tried everything to revive their careers: jazz, country, showtunes, and... aliens. Seriously, aliens. | August 18, 2021 |
21 | Mission Earth by Edgar Winter & L. Ron Hubbard | 1986 | This is what Scientologists actually believe. Just kidding, even they didn't want '70s rocker Edgar Winter's musical adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard's best-selling (?) sci-fi book series. | October 17, 2021 |
22 | Witness by Katy Perry | 2017 | How could Katy Perry's woke period have collapsed her career so quickly? | February 22, 2022 |
23 | Lost and Found by Will Smith | 2005 | Almost 20 years ago, Will Smith warned you not to mess with him, and it didn't go well then either. | April 25, 2022 |
24 | American Dream by Crosby Stills Nash & Young | 1988 | CSNY almost cut a triumphant comeback record, but then their wooden ship got wrecked by the '80s. | June 22, 2022 |
25 | Generation Swine by Mötley Crüe | 1997 | Can Motley Crue, the defining hair metal band, remake themselves for the '90s? The answer will not shock you! | September 6, 2022 |
26 | Crown Royal by Run-D.M.C. | 2001 | Can Fred Durst, Kid Rock and the guy from Third Eye Blind save Run-DMC's career? It's tricky... | May 1, 2023 |
27 | Ringo the 4th by Ringo Starr | 1977 | What does Ringo sound like without a little help from his friends? | June 21, 2023 |
28 | No Fixed Address by Nickelback | 2014 | How can the most hated rock band in the world turn it around when the world has turned against rock? | November 18, 2023 |