Class in session
Riffology review
Rating – 
It’s been a while since I’ve done a music podcast hasn’t it? Seeing as I spend a big chunk of my free time immersed in music, I like to have a break and therefore this genre of podcast gets overlooked by me in favour of some juicy murder or creepy horror tale.
This week though I will visiting classic albums and reviewing the rather brilliantly titled Riffology podcast.
So what’s it about?
Each episode is an examination of a classic rock or metal album. You could probably have guessed that from the title, but I thought I’d clarify. The hosts Chris Baldwin and Neil Johnson started out in community radio, and over time moved their show into the podcast form we have now. Their love of rock and metal made the show an easy choice, and their love of music really shines through.
Don’t think that this is a show only geared towards younger people, there are plenty of older albums under the microscope too. The sub title “Classic album reviews” is not a lie. In their own way, these albums all shaped the musical landscape of the last 50 years. Each episode is essentially split into two halves. The first half talks about the band in general, the album in particular, and how it fares regarding sales etc. the second half is where it gets juicy. They dive into the recording process, going into detail about the equipment that got the signature sound that makes that album special.
Is it any good?
Chris and Neil are great to listen to. You can tell they are having a great time chatting about the bands. I have mentioned in previous reviews that I love more informal style podcasts. Ones that remind me of my friends and I just hanging out talking nonsense and having a laugh. This is like that.
One thing that sets this apart from other, similar, podcasts is the inclusion of full tracks from the album under scrutiny. Some shows only include snippets or even forego music altogether. Full length songs are a great introduction to bands that you have never heard about (or bands you have heard of, but never listened to *cough* Gojira *cough*). The absence of any intro or outro music (apart from the songs of the selected album) make this sound like a radio show, albeit a rather niche one).
I imagine there is a tendency with shows like this, that listeners could skip bands they aren’t necessarily interested in. I’m the same, but I have to say, this is doing the show a great injustice. I will guarantee that you will discover a new band that you will love.
If I’m being selfish, then I really wish that the episodes were longer. It seems like an hour isn’t quite enough time to cover the whole premise of the show. With both the story of the band and a dive into the recording process. Each episode could be a two parter, but then maybe they would only have half of the listens, depending on what you were interested in. Who knows?
Final thoughts
This show is a must for any rock or metal fan. The inclusion of more technical talk is brilliant for music nerds like me, and as I said above, you will no doubt find some new album to obsess over. Whether you feel the show goes in depth enough though, well that’ll be a personal opinion. I think it’s a good introduction though.
You can get Riffology here:
For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods