The Album Breakdown
’The Album Breakdown’ is podcast where we tell each other to listen to an album that is important to us. We go through the album talking about it from our different musical backgrounds and talk about why the album was important to us in our own musical journeys. Robert is a trained musician with a master degree in musical education and a background in multiple genres and instruments. On the other side, Wolf has no musical education to speak of, but has been in hardcore or metal bands for most of his life. Together we talk about what makes our favorite albums special and why we always want to share them.
Episodes
Sunday Jun 02, 2024
What does your leitmotif sound like?
Sunday Jun 02, 2024
Sunday Jun 02, 2024
Robert and Wolf breakdown The Dear Hunter - Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise. Robert goes in depth into how this album is performed across each song, and the interesting ways that different techniques and methods are used. Wolf tells us the story of the Boy across the album and how his poor decisions lead him into being manipulated in the end. The next episode will focus on the cinematic live performance by Tesseract titled Portals.
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Breakup albums for boys (v2)
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Saturday Apr 20, 2024
Wolf takes a stab at understanding the lyrical intricacies of Breaking Benjamin's 2006 album 'Phobia'. Our hosts discuss the shifting music scene around the time of this release, how you can frame songs depending on strengths of a band, how this album could be looked at as a concept album, the idea of a perfect album, and more. Wolf assigns Robert The Dear Hunter - 'Act Iv : Rebirth in Reprise' for the next album breakdown. Reuploaded due to audio issues.
Sunday Mar 24, 2024
A burst of static into a car crash
Sunday Mar 24, 2024
Sunday Mar 24, 2024
Robert and Wolf break down three albums recommended by members of the Anchoret; WINTERHORDE - Underwatermoon, Voivod - Dimension Hatröss, and Seven Impale - SUMMIT. The hosts discuss being in the right place and space at the right time for music, sometimes needing to digest a more complex piece of music, how different music can inspire musicians outside of their genre, and mention Imperial Triumphant half a dozen times. The next album to be broken down is Breaking Benjamin - Phobia a 2006 LP on Hollywood Records.
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
In case of moon disaster with the Anchoret
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Robert and Wolf are joined by Eduard Levitsky, Sylvain Auclair, and Andy Tillison of the band the Anchoret. Their debut album 'It all began with loneliness' came out June 23, 2023 and has been topping everyone's AOTY lists. Together with our hosts they discuss how the album came to be, working through emotions with music, how they approached recording while spread all over the world, writing while leaving room for the listener to connect with the music, what is progressive about music, and more. As they wrap up each guest recommends an album for Robert and Wolf to breakdown over the next three episodes; Winterhorde – 'Underwatermoon', Seven Impale – 'SUMMIT', and Voivod – 'Dimension Hatross.' You can catch the Anchoret preforming live at ProgPower Europe in October 2024.
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Memories of a 1998 Ford Taurus
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Wolf gets his polyrhythmic groove back while he breaks down 'Via' by Volumes, Robert teaches us how to write and structure dissonant cords into songs effectively, both guys gush over a rewind effect into a crushing breakdown, and they discuss if Djent is a genre. The podcast is excited to announce the next album breakdown is 'It All Began With Loneliness' by the Anchoret with members of the band as special guests.
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
Horse whinny breakdowns
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
The guys are back this time discussing Between the Buried and Me's 2009 classic 'The Great Misdirect." Robert tries to keep up with all the different time changes and Wolf explains the concept of the notorious Night Owls. The 'Great Misdirect' is a Victory records released that was remastered in 2019, there is also a live version of the album from their tour in 2021. The next podcast will cover 2011's 'Via' from the Djent/Progressive Metalcore band Volumes.
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
Cue 2000s Sad Boy Song
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
Sunday Dec 31, 2023
This time Robert and Wolf breakdown the albums Phenomenon by Thousand Foot Krutch and The Baring of Shadows by Kardashev. Wolf gets tries to figure out which Nu Metal group copied the other, while Robert works his way through a beautiful but at the same time brootal, or perhaps brut-eaful, 30 minutes. We cover our top albums of 23, and get ready to both cover Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect on our next show.
Sunday Dec 17, 2023
And next, we have some more weirdness
Sunday Dec 17, 2023
Sunday Dec 17, 2023
This week Robert and Wolf breakdown the albums Bloodwork by Texas in July and De-Loused in the Comatorium by the Mars Volta. Wolf gets caught up in all an album of breakdowns, while Robert finds out how may different ways you can put weirdness into a song. They also discuss some new music they have been listening to and assign next weeks albums of Phenomenon by Thousand Foot Krutch and The Baring of Shadows by Kardashev.
Monday Dec 04, 2023
We need a synonym for ethereal
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
First episode of 'The Album Breakdown' featuring cohosts Robert and Wolf. A podcast where we tell each other to listen to an album that is important to us. This week the albums being discussed are Intervals - A Voice Within and The Contortionist - Language. We talk some on new albums that just came out we are excited about and talk next weeks albums.