History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff

In Episode 383 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin celebrates the often-overlooked influence of rock and metal drummers. He explores how musicians like Neil Peart, Phil Collins, Lars Ulrich, and John Bonham shape their bands through songwriting, vocals, and their distinctive playing styles.

• Triumph – “Allied Forces”
• Metallica – “Fight Fire with Fire”
• Scorpions – “Arizona”
• Deep Purple – “Sacred Land”
• Led Zeppelin – “In My Time of Dying”

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Pantheon Media CEO Christian Swain invites you to check out the Before The Moment podcast. Legendary producer Nile Rodgers sits down with artists to explore the decisions, setbacks, and unexpected encounters that came before the breakthrough. Follow the show, you will love it!

Pantheon Media CEO Christian Swain invites you to check out the Before The Moment podcast. Legendary producer Nile Rodgers sits down with artists to explore the decisions, setbacks, and unexpected encounters that came before the breakthrough. Follow the show, you will love it!

In Episode 382 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explores rock and metal albums whose opening tracks overshadow the rest of the record in fame, heaviness, quality, or impact. Martin highlights iconic songs from bands including Kansas, The Clash, and Cheap Trick.

• Kansas – “Carry on Wayward Son”
• Uriah Heep – “Gypsy”
• The Clash – “London Calling”
• UFO – “Natural Thing”
• Cheap Trick – “Dream Police” 0:06 – 0:36

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Pantheon Media CEO Christian Swain invites you to check out the Before The Moment podcast. Legendary producer Nile Rodgers sits down with artists to explore the decisions, setbacks, and unexpected encounters that came before the breakthrough. Follow the show, you will love it!

In Episode 381 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines how legendary rock and metal bands responded to major lineup, stylistic, and production changes on the albums that followed the shakeups. He compares records by Deep Purple, David Lee Roth, and others to reveal when bands refined a new sound, played it safe, or reached new creative heights.

• Deep Purple – “No One Came”
• David Lee Roth – “Hina”
• Thin Lizzy – “Wild One”
• ZZ Top – “Planet of Women”
• UFO – “Let It Roll”

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In Episode 380 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin looks back at the modest metal victories of the '90s. From hair-metal revivals and thrash tours to underground bands earning major-label attention and surprising gold and platinum certifications, Martin recalls the excitement of championing metal during its supposedly “dead” era.

• Poison – “Sexual Thing”
• Machine Head – “Old”
• Cathedral – “Ride”
• Saigon Kick – “Freedom”
• Monster Magnet – “Powertrip”

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In Episode 379 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explores albums with unexpectedly high sales certifications. He highlights unusual successes across live albums, greatest hits compilations, soundtracks, EPs, and unconventional studio records, spotlighting artists including Cheap Trick, Kiss, and the Clash.

• Cheap Trick – “Lookout”
• Kiss – “Let’s Put the X in Sex”
• Curtis Stigers – “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding”
• Ugly Kid Joe – “Too Bad”
• The Clash – “Ghetto Defendant”

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In Episode 378 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines the many ways rock singers use falsetto. From the theatrical and expressive styles of Queen and David Bowie to the comedic, shrieking, and novelty approaches of artists including King Diamond and the Rolling Stones, Martin goes deep on this one.

• King Diamond – “Little One"
• Queen – “Cool Cat”
• Halford – “Silent Screams”
• David Bowie – “Ashes to Ashes”
• Rolling Stones – “Fool to Cry”

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In Episode 377 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines the fascinating “shared birthdays” of iconic 1970s albums. He highlights unexpected release-day pairings, musical rivalries, and the stories and connections behind these coincidental release dates.

• U.K. – “In the Dead of Night”
• Queen – “Sheer Heart Attack”
• Kiss – “I Want You”
• Max Webster – “Toronto Tontos”
• Thin Lizzy – “Emerald”

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In Episode 376 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explores the art of the album “con” by examining rock and metal records whose dramatic or intriguing covers may have overpromised the experience. Artists including Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, and the Clash teased darker, heavier, or more ambitious musical experience than the albums ultimately delivered.

• Alice Cooper – “I’m the Coolest”
• Uriah Heep – “Out on the Street”
• Jethro Tull – “Watching Me Watching You”
• Michael Schenker Group – “Systems Failing”
• The Clash – “Cool Under Heat”

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In Episode 375 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin contemplates the gritty, rebellious, swaggering, often dark and unapologetically uncommercial album that stands apart in a band's discography, including Van Halen, Pink Floyd, and Ozzy Ozbourne.

• Van Halen – “Loss of Control"
• UFO – “Makin’ Moves”
• Accept – “Demon’s Night”
• Pink Floyd – “Sheep”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Demon Alcohol”

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In Episode 374 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines how bands such as the Pixies, Queen, and Black Sabbath use dramatic shifts between quiet and heavy passages to create tension, surprise and impact.

• Pixies – “Tame”
• Queen – “Death on Two Legs”
• Opeth – “Heir Apparent”
• Black Sabbath – “Orchid”
• Roger Waters – “Deja Vu”

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In Episode 373 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin celebrates underrated singing guitarists, exploring how artists including Brian May, Ted Nugent and Jerry Garcia are often overshadowed as vocalists by their reputations as guitarists, frontmen and songwriters.

• Steve Hackett – “Strutton Ground”
• Queen – “Sail Away Sweet Sister”
• Ted Nugent – “Crave”
• Gary Moore – “Enough of the Blues”
• Y&T – “Hell or High Water”

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In Episode 372 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin looks back at the tragic stories of rock and metal legends who died from alcohol-related illness and substance abuse. He including several musicians he personally interviewed, while reflecting on booze as the music world’s often-overlooked “silent killer.”

1. The Stooges – “T.V. Eye” 0:23 – 0:53
2. Fear of God – “All That Remains” 2:37 – 3:07
3. Bruford – “Hell’s Bells” 1:51 – 2:21
4. Rory Gallagher – “Shadow Play” 0:17 – 0:47
5. Children of Bodom – “Mask of Sanity” 0:50 – 1:20

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In Episode 371 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explores why some of rock and metal's greatest albums save their strongest statement for last. Closing tracks from Ozzy Osbourne, Metalllica and others prove the final song can be the album's most memorable, ambitious, and powerful moment.

• Ozzy Osbourne – “Diary of a Madman”
• Yes – “Heart of the Sunrise”
• Metallica – “Metal Militia”
• Alice in Chains – “Would?”
• Kiss – “Black Diamond”

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In Episode 370 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines why so many classic rock and metal bands, from Def Leppard to Rush and Iron Maiden, have debut albums that sold surprisingly poorly compared to their blockbuster follow-ups, despite often being fan favorites and essential parts of their catalogs.

• Def Leppard – “Satellite”
• Rush – “Finding My Way”
• Twisted Sister – “Run for Your Life”
• Slayer – “Die by the Sword”
• Iron Maiden – “Phantom of the Opera”

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In Episode 369 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin argues how rock bands from the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin to Fleetwood Mac and UFO escaped the creative limits of the British blues boom. He posits that their willingness to evolve into hard rock, heavy metal, prog, and pop ultimately defined their greatest successes.

• The Rolling Stones – “Street Fighting Man”
• Status Quo – “Oh Baby”
• Black Sabbath – “Hand of Doom”
• Aerosmith – “Woman of the World”
• UFO – “Rock Bottom”

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In Episode 368 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explains how replacement guitarists can become welcome or unwelcome distractions by transforming a band's sound, identity, songwriting, or fan perception. He highlights memorable examples from acts like Yes, Whitesnake and Fleetwood Mac.

• Yes – “Changes”
• Whitesnake – “Slip of the Tongue”
• Dio – “Big Sister”
• Fleetwood Mac – “Second Hand News"
• Thin Lizzy – “The Holy War”

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In Episode 367 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin dives into why 1991 stands as one of rock's most transformative years. He traces the remarkable flood of landmark hard rock, metal, grunge, and more that redefined the music landscape in just a few extraordinary months.

• David Lee Roth – “Baby’s on Fire”
• Van Halen – “Runaround”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Desire”
• Soundgarden – “Face Pollution”
• R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion"

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