SPEAKER_02: 0:42

Welcome back to another Super Awesome Mix. My name is Matt Sidholm alongside my co-host and co-founder of Super Awesome Mix. Sam Abu Salbi. Sam, welcome to season six of this show.

SPEAKER_00: 0:54

Wow. I honestly can't believe it. I think I say this every single year. I think that's exactly how I start every single season. And I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_02: 1:03

We need a montage of you just being in awe of accomplishments.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09

Yeah, I told my wife, uh, she asked what episode we were recording this morning, and I told her it was our sixth season opener. She was like, wow, congratulations. And I was like, is that the word for it? I'm I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02: 1:20

Yeah, I was telling someone last night that I had a podcast, and they're like, oh, that's so cool. Are you guys just starting out? And I'm like, we're starting our sixth season. And they're like, what? And I was like, yeah, yeah, we've been doing this for a while. We've been doing this for a while. So so here's the challenge for us this year. Okay. We are going to hit episode 200 this season. And so this is where we need our listeners' help because what we want to try to accomplish, and so this is by September of 2026, is we want to be the number one music podcast on the podcast rankings. Okay. So that's where we need your help because we need you guys to leave a great review, okay? Leave a five-star review. And we need you guys to share this with your friends. Okay. So you think about it, everyone shares it with, you know, three to five friends. They share it with three to five friends. That's just sort of, you know, uh spiders out, and all of a sudden we're we're at the top of the charts. So that's where we need your help, not just this week, okay, just all season long. Keep sharing the show, keep telling people how much you love it. And uh yeah, that way by episode 200, we're the number one podcast, number one music podcast. Okay, it's gonna be hard to be number one podcast, but I think we can get to the number one on the music charts. So that that is the goal, and that's where we need all of your help out there to get us there. And you guys have been amazing to continue to listen to us, and um, yeah, we want to take it to another level this season.

SPEAKER_00: 2:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02: 2:46

Yeah, I think we might have to pivot to like a murder podcast if we wanted to be the number one podcast, but you know, maybe super awesome murder that might be something murder, conspiracy theories, and like just real hot takes about things and potentially like dubious self-help.

SPEAKER_00: 3:06

That's also like real. But but you know, we'll we'll settle for number one music for now. Um, that would be amazing.

SPEAKER_02: 3:16

Listening to this podcast, you will drop 10 pounds a day.

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

A day.

SPEAKER_02: 3:21

A day, just listening to this show. Yeah, guaranteed. Not guaranteed, but guaranteed. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 3:28

Um, no, that's awesome. Yeah, please help us out. Uh, if you are enjoying the show, we of course appreciate you listening all these years as well. Um, but certainly spread the word um and and let's achieve that goal together. That's our number one goal this year. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02: 3:43

So, yeah, we start off every season taking the gear um that we're working on and taking a look at um the albums that sort of uh match that. So in this case, it's the sixth season. So we have put together a mix of these songs from the sixth album from artists and Sam. I don't know about you, but I was kind of blown away at the like level that we're talking about here with some of these sixth albums.

SPEAKER_00: 4:10

Yeah, I mean, it's incredible. Some of these, it's like, wow, I can't believe that that was their sixth album. Like it just seems like some of the biggest songs um and just breakout hits came from literally six albums. So maybe that's also a great little portender for us this year. Maybe the sixth season really is the one where everyone just looks back and they're like, that's when that's when they made it. That was it.

SPEAKER_02: 4:32

So yes, yes. And so obviously, not all artists get to make this many albums, so it's a lot of big names on this list. And so we'll start off with your pick. Uh, it is They're There by Radiohead.

SPEAKER_00: 4:46

Yeah, I got into Radiohead like really late, like literally last year, basically. Um, but I've been loving their sound, and it can't believe that it took me this long to figure out that I would love Radiohead, but it's like right up my alley. You know, it's moody, it's like rock, um, it's it's got some like sort of electronic themes to it uh as well. I mean, it's literally a hundred percent up my alley. And I think what happened to me is that I just spent so many years having heard the name but never listened to it. So it was like, you know, what we talk about all the time is sometimes you're so late to a band that you're almost embarrassed to get into it because you're just like, well, I'm I missed that boat, you know, it's never gonna happen. And then as these things occur, I was watching a reel that had a song like it was using creep, um, but it was like cut a certain way um to go along with what was happening in the video. And I was like, wow, this song actually kicks ass. It reminded me of like a Pixie song as well, you know, who I whom I really like. So anyway, so I just started a dive into Radio Headfinding. I took that as permission from the universe, and this is great. This is so great. Um, so another prolific band for sure, all of these are, but um, I love this song in particular, and I really love the outro where he's singing, We Are Accidents Waiting to Happen, which is just like a great description of humanity, of genetics, like just of everything. Like so many things in this life are just accidents, right? Like both good and bad. Um it's it's really, really interesting. I mean, like Matt and I met in a business school class, and it's like you have to wonder like if we didn't take that same class, like there would be no podcast, right? Like these are just like total happy accidents, maybe not happy in this case, but just accidents that occur.

SPEAKER_02: 6:28

Okay, we'll get to that later, listeners. Um agree with you on that line. That that is a fantastic line and very apt. You know, and I'm glad you said you just got into Radiohead last year because I have yet to get into Radiohead. So maybe this is the year I will do kind of a deep dive. I I've tried listing them. People, I I think what gets me sometimes about Radiohead is people just kind of go crazy. Uh like people are way into it, right? And like, okay, that's great. And I listen to it and I'm like, okay, this is this is pretty good, but I'm just not like just totally in love with it the way people describe it to me. And I think that's the trouble I've had with Radiohead. Um, because like I listen to a song like this, and I'm like, this sounds good, right? But I'm also like, is this the greatest song I've ever heard? I feel like some Radiohead fans approach it with just the this is gonna be the greatest, greatest song you've ever heard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:29

Yeah, no, totally. I think that's exactly what was my hesitation. I'm just like, that that just can't be true for everything. I'm sorry. Um okay, let's move on to your next pick. A very unsurprising pick. Like, okay, Matt, we get it. This guy has a lot of albums. It is Bruce Springsteen, of course. Six out of 400 albums that he's released, and this is Nebraska.

SPEAKER_02: 8:00

Okay. Um, and I think I will be, I'm pretty honest with people. As much as I like Bruce, I will say there are songs I don't like from Bruce. And there are songs that I'm like, it's not for everyone. And I've talked to you about it, and I'm like, and I think I knew when we did the intro mix for him a couple years ago, I was like, I think you're gonna love the Nebraska album out of all of them. Um now, funny timing with this show, and um, you know, most recently there was the movie that came out, um, you know, Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere, uh, just last fall. Um, now I have to confess I still haven't seen the movie, and it's partly because just based on the trailer, I I can't get into the guy from the bear playing Bruce Springsteen. Sure. Yeah. There's just sort of too big of a mismatch there for me to be like, okay, I'm I'm gonna get into this film. But it does focus on this particular album, Nebraska, which was a vast departure for Springsteen. Um, and I've talked a little bit about this album in the past, and we talked about it on the battle um season two, where we covered true crime songs, because this song in particular was inspired by the story of Charles Starkweather and the killing spree he went on in the winter of 1957. Um and you know, Springsteen recorded this and a number of other songs, and they're all about kind of people who have been forgotten in society. He he recorded it. The album version was actually recorded like from his kitchen. Um, and they could never really recapture the sound with the full band, but they finally released that album last year in conjunction with uh the movie coming out. So um anyway, this is a uh this is a great song. It's a very different sort of Bruce sounding song. If you're not, if you're only used to hearing sort of the radio songs, this will uh this will stand out. This whole album will, but it's um it's still it's a it's a great album, but it's very much um not what you would necessarily expect from him.

SPEAKER_00: 10:00

Yeah, this is a very different song for sure from him. Um I mean he sings this in like a very flat and emotionless way. Um what was funny that happened with me is of course I was reading on the background of the song, and I quickly read Charles Starkweather as Charles Skywalker, and I was like, oh, this is gonna be some cool fan fiction about a different Skywalker brother that we never knew about. And then I then I continued to read, and I was like, wait, no, this is this is so much worse than that. I was so bummed out.

SPEAKER_02: 10:32

I do love the idea of kind of Charles Skywalker being like, you know, an accountant in the rebel force, and just be like, no, no, no, you're thinking of Luke. No, we look a lot alike. Yeah. I get that all the time. Right. Yeah, no, he's great. He's great, really. So good. No, not good about calling people back, but he's he's a great guy, sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:56

You'd be like the Arch Manning of the Manning brothers, right?

SPEAKER_02: 10:59

Like real bitter. Real bitter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:07

Oh goodness, goodness. Um great. Yeah. So this is a very different song for sure. And yeah, I mean, it's it's interesting. It's not my favorite. It's not my favorite Bruce song.

SPEAKER_02: 11:20

Um you know what? And I'm okay with that. I'm not sitting here telling you every song is the greatest thing and it's gonna change your life, right? Like that's not it's not what I do, radio head fans. Okay, so just so just dial it back, and you can maybe get someone a little more into your band. Okay. Yeah. Um, all right, this next artist uh is fantastic, and I actually picked a song off this album as well. But um, you went with TV Off by Kendrick Lamar, featuring Lefty Gunplay.

SPEAKER_00: 11:49

Yes, of course, Kendrick Lamar. Um, six album just released, you know, a couple years ago now at this point, uh, the Grand National album, which is just so I mean, like such an amazing album. I actually think Kendrick Lamar fans have the same issues Radiohead fans, where it's like you can release anything and you can listen four seconds into a song and you're like, this is the greatest song ever, like this is the best album ever. Um, you know, and and of course he played at the Super Bowl last year. Um and that was also, I mean, I feel like every single pick that they go with for the Super Bowl is is now just controversial. Like, no one you can't please everyone, right? With like a single artist headline.

SPEAKER_02: 12:29

Oh, right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:31

Um, because I think people like didn't there it was a very divisive understanding of his show, right? There were people who absolutely loved it, and there was a work of art and like just genius display. Um, there are others who just like I didn't like that, I didn't understand it, like what the heck, you know, blah, blah, blah, right? But yeah, um, I think this is a great album. I I think it's one of his better ones for sure. It's one that I've certainly had on repeat for a long time. I really love the opening lines of like all I ever wanted was a black grand national, which is a car. Um, F being rational, give them what they ask for, which I think is also a great line of our time because I think a lot of people have like fallen to that, like you know, it doesn't matter if it's rational, just give them what they ask for. Like we're in this kind of like influencer style like economy where people just do whatever you know people ask for, basically. Um when you think about like just how people become famous these days. So really great opening line. And also, this is one of the greatest clips of someone singing the word mustard like ever, right? And that became a meme for a while.

SPEAKER_01: 13:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 13:32

I don't think anyone has ever yelled mustard in with so much uh emphasis as Kendrick does on this track, which is just amazing.

SPEAKER_02: 13:41

Yeah, not even the guy who hypes up the uh Nathan's hot dog eating contest every year is yelling mustard like this.

unknown: 13:49

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 13:52

Um yeah, I love this song. Uh this is a great album. I I think I picked Luther off this, and um then I saw your mix, and you had already picked something off this album, so I changed it up. But um I love the energy here and um also love the title, you know, not a bad idea. Turn your TV off, turn your devices off. Right, just go take a walk. Right. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 14:17

We'd all be better for it. We really would. We'd all be better for it. Um, yeah, maybe go enjoy some of that purple rain outside your window, uh, which is our next pick. Um, and that of course is by Prince and the Revolution.

SPEAKER_02: 14:31

I was blown away that this was the this was Prince's sixth album because it's just obviously his most notable album. Um and amazing, again, timing-wise, from a pop culture standpoint. I mean, I mentioned the Nebraska album earlier. Um, any Stranger Things fans out there would um have seen this song featured in the finale. Uh, I don't think that's a spoiler that if a Prince song shows up, but anyway, it has some emotional resonance there in that. Uh, the album's incredible, includes When Doves Cry, um, and then Let's Go Crazy. Let's go crazy is permanently on like any pure joy mix I would mix, I would make, right? Love that song. But um, yeah, I mean, Purple Rain. Geez, just that just that beginning intro just sucks you in. It's so memorable. The guitar work, his vocals. I mean, I I don't know. I don't I don't think I'm gonna add anything to the discourse on this song that people haven't already said, but it's incredible and also just blown away that this is album number six for him. Um, and probably the high point to to be perfectly honest. I think the albums after this, you know, never never hit the heights of this one, but um still a lot of good tracks off that. So, you know, we can explore that in later seasons. But um, yeah, I mean, Purple Rain had to be included.

SPEAKER_00: 15:52

Yeah, I mean, this is um obviously, I mean, he was such a prolific artist, producer. Um, had no idea this was his sixth album either. It's just incredible. I'd never actually listened to this whole song. Um, and part of the reason is because I didn't realize until like, you know, sitting through it is a nine-minute song. This is one of those ones where you're like, oh my god, I'm gonna be here for a while. But um, it's it's really good. I mean, it's obviously there's like a million interpretations about this song. I think this really is the first time I've ever sat there and listened to it start to finish, but yeah, it's incredible. I mean, he was just he was truly a force of talent um in the music industry for a long, long time. So uh really incredible song. And I agree, I don't think it's a spoiler that you mentioned that it's at the end of Stranger Things, but apologies to listeners if suddenly that just ruins your expectations of of the show. I feel like so.

SPEAKER_02: 16:45

I feel like if you're away into Stranger Things by by by the time we're recording this in January and releasing this episode, like that's fair.

SPEAKER_00: 16:52

You've probably watched it, you've probably watched the finale, but yeah, and you were probably expecting some number of pop songs from you know from this era uh to appear. Um so that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_02: 17:04

Yeah, that's fair. Um, all right, your next pick, and this was another match, like not just artist and album, but act exact song in this case. Um, so I feel like I got a seventh pick on this mix because you had picked this one. Um, but it is formation by Beyoncé.

SPEAKER_00: 17:21

Yeah, I mean, unbelievable song. Again, I couldn't believe that she's A, that she was already six albums into um music career at this point, which is like that's wild. Um, B, that this song in particular was off of this because obviously one of her largest songs. Um, you know, the line that I've always loved is got hot sauce in my bag, which is a great line. And I always thought that was kind of silly, but as I've gotten older, I can appreciate it because there's just certain foods that's like, unless you've got hot sauce coming out with the plate, like I'm sitting there waiting to get the waiter's attention and be like, no, I need some hot sauce. Like I'm not eating like a breakfast sandwich without some hot sauce, you know, like these eggs need some pepper to them.

SPEAKER_02: 18:05

What's interesting is I feel like in New York and in on the East Coast, you kind of have to request that. Yes, a lot of places in Texas, it's just on the table.

SPEAKER_00: 18:14

Right. You're right. Yeah, I'd never really thought about that, but you're right. Like it's just yeah, it's assumed that it's there, which is why I think now I'm like, you know what? I might actually start walking around with some hot songs. Um, but yeah, I I really, really like this song. It's incredible, amazing bass line, you know, hard-hitting song. I also had a remix of this that I used in my spin classes, which um was like a class favorite, of course. Um, just super high energy, really, really easy to do dance moves on the bike, too. So incredible song and another incredible artist.

SPEAKER_02: 18:50

Yeah, I mean, I'm with you. I couldn't believe that this was album number solo album number six, right? So think about that. Like you had Destiny's Child and everything before that, and uh, and then this is the sixth solo album. So I was kind of blown away by that. It was definitely a double check on my research to be like, are we sure this is this is accurate? But yeah, such a such a monster uh album for her. And then yeah, we end up picking the same song because I was just like, man, the the energy on this song is just incredible. And I mean, if you're a longtime listener to the show, you know how much I love that. So um, yeah, no, incredible.

SPEAKER_00: 19:27

All right, this next pick is actually a favorite of mine from the band The Beatles, and this is Michelle.

SPEAKER_02: 19:33

Yeah, a little bit of a vibe shift here on the uh on the mix, uh, sandwiching this one between um your next two, your your previous pick and your next pick. But uh, our friends at the Ranking the Beatles podcast put this one at number 136 of all time Beatles songs, and it's from their sixth album, Rubber Soul. And Rubber Soul also includes Drive My Car, Nowhere Man in My Life. Um, but it's funny that this kind of is a vibe shift within the mix because it was very much a vibe shift for the Beatles. Um, definitely a different sounding uh album for them. And so it's just kind of interesting exploring you know albums this far along in people's career because they do get to the point where they maybe want to reinvent themselves or do something a little different after so many albums. Um, but I I do love in this one how it kind of vacillates from from English to to French and and back, but it's also um, as Paul McCartney would describe in a wing song, a silly love song. Um, and he's he's just trying to say, I love you, to this woman who doesn't speak English well, but the only French he knows is these are words that go together very well.

SPEAKER_01: 20:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 20:44

Which he then repeats in English, and it's just I just love that, right? Like it's just so funny um and and even relatable, I think, today. Although we have Google Translate, so it'd probably be infinitely easier to get it done.

SPEAKER_00: 20:58

Yes. And like live translate now too is AirPods, which is just so wild. It's so crazy. Um I love this song in particular because my first, and I'm gonna put air quotes here if you're watching this on video or or listening on audio, girlfriend. Her name was Michelle. Um, the quotes are very important because I I think that in reality the relationship, again, air quotes, uh, only lasted like three weeks, you know. But in my head, as a ninth grader, I was like, I've got a girlfriend, we're gonna get married, like I'm gonna buy, I'm gonna start house shopping.

SPEAKER_02: 21:30

This is it. This is it.

SPEAKER_00: 21:32

Yeah, this is it. I met my my high school sweetheart early and uh I'm good to go. Which again, to be fair, in Texas, I feel like is our is a is a thing, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 21:42

Like I will say, yes, people get married very young here. I've definitely got friends my age who are like, no, all the kids are out of the house. Uh I'm a grandfather. And I'm like, wait, what? I have a third grader. What is happening?

SPEAKER_00: 21:58

I know totally. Yeah, I'm gonna be like 120 by the time I'm a grandfather. Um, but yeah, so I really loved the song because since her name is Michelle, I think I literally went on Napster and searched for the name Michelle, and like of course a Beatles song popped up and um and I really liked it and it and it worked out. So yeah, um great song, great song.

SPEAKER_02: 22:23

All right, your next pick. Uh, this is 03 Bonnie and Clyde by Jay-Z featuring um Beyoncé. How about that?

SPEAKER_00: 22:33

Yes, of course. Um, so Beyonce on this album, um, you know, singing about his girlfriend, which is appropriate because obviously they're like a famous couple power duo now, but this is Jay-Z's sixth album, not Beyonce's sixth album. Um, and yeah, like this is just an incredible song. I listened to this in high school all the time. Another like perfect bass beat on this one. Um, this is apparently a riff on Tupac's um or Tupac's me and my girlfriend, which I think in that case was about his gun. Um, but this one's literally, he's just like, nope, like my girlfriend Beyonce, you know, like she's she's actually my girlfriend, and I'm not singing about a weapon. So that's that's nice. It's sweet. It's a sweet song in that way. That is sweet.

SPEAKER_02: 23:14

That is sweet. Um, yeah, this is also kind of funny in contrast to you know your Beyonce pick, because here, oh three, they're just this happy dating couple, and he kind of has the songs a shout out to her, and then by Beyonce's sixth album, which was Lemonade, maybe not so happy as a couple.

SPEAKER_00: 23:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 23:36

So funny how the sixth albums intersect in this particular case. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 23:43

All right, your next pick, number eight, that is Walt Grace's submarine test in January 1967 by John Mayer.

SPEAKER_02: 23:51

Yeah, shout out to John Mayer Superfan and super awesome mixed sister Jen Tully, who introduced me to this song. It's from his sixth album, Born and Raised, which came out in 2012. Um, you know, this album, Born and Raised, had a much, you know, obviously John Mayer's a great uh guitar player. And on this particular album, he went a little bit more country with some of his offerings. Um, and this song in particular is kind of what Jen introduced me to this album with. And I I just love the storytelling and the songwriting in this one, and this guy who builds a homemade submarine and then just takes it out on a journey, and he just becomes this local legend that people talk about. Um, and the story's sort of left open-ended that they don't really tell you like did does he make it or not, which which I also love because um, I don't know, it doesn't matter, right? It's like it's kind of mission accomplished in a lot of different ways. And um yeah, I don't know. This is just a great song. The the whole album's really cool and and kind of a cool departure for for John Mayer doing something that's um, you know, like like I said, a little more country-ish than what he'd done up to this point.

SPEAKER_00: 25:04

Yeah, I I did not know it was John Mayer when I was like just first kind of running through the playlist. Um, it honestly sounded like something that would come off of like a Sufian Stevens album, you know, like had especially the opening notes. Um, you know, after what happened in the news, was it last year or the year before? I I don't recommend making your own submarine. I think uh let's leave that together.

SPEAKER_02: 25:26

Well that was a submersible, like a lot of I mean, maybe overly engineered, but it was not anyway. I think there's still an investigation pending. Okay, let's not let's not make any assumptions there.

unknown: 25:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 25:43

Plus, homemade submarine makers are are actually in a an abnormally large part of our audience, so we don't want to we don't want to insult those folks.

SPEAKER_00: 25:51

You're right, you're right. I'm so sorry, everybody. It's a it's a strangely large demographic that we um I do like this song though. I like the sentiment of this person who just basically wants to disappear from everyone, build a submarine, and then just leave. You know, I I I feel that sometimes. I feel that sometimes.

SPEAKER_02: 26:16

But but we'd still do the show, right? Sure. Absolutely. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 26:23

Just text me anytime. I'd be available. I love it.

SPEAKER_02: 26:25

I love it. Excellent. Uh all right, track nine, your next pick. It is I need my girl by the national.

SPEAKER_00: 26:32

Yes, it's funny that I had two songs that ended up just being literally about like very very clear lyrics of like, you know, me and my girlfriend, and this one is I need my girl, because he's just like basically missing his wife and his daughter. Um, and you know, but I I imagine that someone could, as is always the case with lyrics, like listen to this and be like, nope, this is about his love of Bitcoin, you know, like a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02: 26:54

It's just songs are open to interpretation, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 26:59

They are, they are, they absolutely are. Girl is probably some kind of a bitcoin out there, you know. You could G R L, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 27:06

No, it is. Um we are partnering them right now, okay? It's only worth three ten thousandths of a cent right now. But I think if we all get on board, we can take this, take this to another level.

SPEAKER_00: 27:20

It's got meme stock written all over it. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. Thanks to the national. Um, yes, I really, you know, I love the national. I got into them a couple years ago because of this podcast, which has been really fun actually, when I reflect back on on all the fun things that have happened of us doing this recording for six years now, is just being introduced to so many cool bands that um I normally like never would have sought out because we tend to just listen to the same music over and over. It's a very natural human thing to do. So um, National is one of the ones that I got an intro to that I've been sticking around with. And um, you know, I love Matt Berenger's voice. Like, he's just such a such a particular kind of deep voice that is like soothing to listen to. It's really interesting. Um, and so I just always really enjoy their music. I almost put it in the same category as like Mumford and Sons. I feel like those two guys like have a similar like vibe, and these two bands could very easily go in the same mix. So yeah, off of their six albums.

SPEAKER_02: 28:19

Yeah, I'd agree with that. All of that. I think uh yeah, the National is definitely one of those bands I came into because of this show, um, which is really cool. And I think they kind of work well with with me because they're they they do a lot of storytelling in their songwriting, which which I love. It's not just about kind of a vibe. Um in this one in particular, I love the line um, I know I was a 45%er then, you know, and just the idea that it's like, yeah, I kind of half-assed this thing, and like, no, no, no, I'm really gonna try now.

SPEAKER_00: 28:52

Yes, I love that. And I love that he chose 45%, like not even half, right? Not even half, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 29:00

This was definitely not my best effort.

SPEAKER_00: 29:02

Exactly. Yeah, I think that that's great. Um, and I again, yeah, we all have those moments in relationships where you kind of look back and you're like, yeah, I wasn't showing up in the way I should have. So I think he he sings that so well there. All right, number 10. And this one, honestly, I was like amazed that this was the sixth album, just amazed. Um, but this is Billy Jean by Michael Jackson.

SPEAKER_02: 29:21

Yeah, okay. So this is off the thriller album. There are nine tracks um on the thriller album. Okay, there's Billy Jean, Thriller, Beat It, Wanna Be Starting Something, PYT, Human Nature, and The Girl Is Mine. That's seven of the nine tracks that I guarantee you've heard of.

SPEAKER_00: 29:39

Yeah, incredible. I mean, so much talent in one album.

SPEAKER_02: 29:44

It's it's insane. And uh, yeah, so I I pick Billy Jean just because similar to Purple Rain, the beginning of this song is one of my my favorite sort of beginnings to songs and and how it just sort of sucks you in and you know makes you want to just stick around. Um, obviously, Michael Jackson, there's been a lot of controversy surrounding him personally, you know, both before his passing and then even since his passing. Um, but man, this thriller album's incredible and and he made so much great music. And I mean, I would say similar to Purple Rain, I mean, I don't think he ever hit the heights of this particular album, although he did put out quite a few great songs even after this one.

SPEAKER_00: 30:24

Yeah, absolutely. Um, shout out to the Free Willy song. I'm blanking on the name, but he he did that one. Will you be there? Oh my gosh, I love that song.

SPEAKER_02: 30:32

Yeah, so good song that's sneakily nine minutes long if you listen to the full thing.

SPEAKER_00: 30:40

Oh, it's so good though. What a great song. We might just need a mix dedicated to that song. We'll just talk about it 12 times in a row.

SPEAKER_02: 30:47

Um, I think the mix that goes with that is is great soundtrack, bad movie, maybe.

SPEAKER_00: 30:55

Oh, yes, right. I think we've talked about that before. We should do that.

SPEAKER_02: 30:59

That's got to be on the list, I think, for this year, because there's been a couple others that have come up in my mind.

SPEAKER_00: 31:03

Totally agree. Yeah, let's do it. It's happening.

SPEAKER_02: 31:06

All right, your last pick. Uh, and no surprise here. Obviously, I was gonna include Springsteen, and you were going to include Foo Fighter. In this case, it is The Pretender by Foo Fighters.

SPEAKER_00: 31:16

Yeah, I mean, this is one of my all-time favorites of them. Um, just an amazing song. Uh, the music video is also, I think I've talked about this song before on the show. The music video is incredible. Um, another just high-energy classic Foo Fighter sound. Um, you know, you've got kind of Dave Grohl building and building and building, and then just like the shouting part at the end. Like, I run to this all the time, or you can work out to this. It's just a great song to kind of get into that headspace of like, I'm gonna do hard stuff and I'm gonna just feel awesome doing it. So uh certainly one of my favorite songs of theirs, and also just a real solid album as well. Um, it's just so interesting to me, like how yeah, like just something magical just must happen when you reach this point, you know. I think even more so than like the fifth album or even the fourth album, like you're you're around just long enough that the bands that make it this far all of a sudden just hit this like inflection curve of like, here's you know, we have arrived, and like we're gonna really maybe they just feel more comfortable to kind of like push themselves or their art is finally like refined. I don't know, but I really believe like this is one of the the best Foo Fighter songs um out there. And yeah, I listen to it all the time.

SPEAKER_02: 32:29

Um, I I think you're right. I think there's probably a little a level of freedom at this point when you're making your sixth studio album that you probably didn't have before, even though it sounds crazy to say they've put out five studio albums, right? But I I think you're right. There's probably a level of comfortability here where they can try new things and just sort of put it out there and and probably worry less about acceptance, where on your first album you really are trying to find something that's just gonna hook into people and really make sense. And can we get to that second album type thing? So yeah, I think you're right. And and I think also, I mean, I love this song, I think we've talked about it before, but it's also wild to think about Dave Grohl made, I don't know, three albums with Nirvana, and like this is only the sixth album with Foo Fighters, like there are albums after this, right? And uh it's just crazy to think that he's got so much more music after that, and yet like Nirvana is still as big as they are.

SPEAKER_00: 33:28

Right. Yeah, no, it's so true. I think about that too with the Beatles. I think at some point, like or like many, many years ago, knowing how large the Beatles are in the like the music world, right? I researched like how long were they playing? Because in my head, I was like, they must have been playing for like decades, you know, like 10, 20 years. And it was like three or four years, right? Or whatever it was. It was so short. And you're like, wow, what like an outsized kind of impact, like this couple of years have had from a group.

unknown: 33:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 33:58

Well, and and the Beatles played in an era where they came out with albums all the time. So if you go through their catalog, it's like they have a ton of albums, but it was also because there was this constant pressure to just okay, let's put out another album, let's put out another album, which which doesn't exist now.

SPEAKER_00: 34:13

Right, exactly. Like bands can sometimes go years, sometimes 10 years between albums, even uh, we've seen that as well. So really interesting. Um, all right, a just another amazing, amazing group, and this is uh the last track of the mix, We the People by a Tribe Called Quest.

SPEAKER_02: 34:32

Okay, so this is Tribe Called Quest's sixth album. It came out in 2016, and this is their final album, as it was called. Um, and so speaking, you know, we're just talking about the frequency of album creation. I mean, Tribe Called Quest was around for I don't know, 35, 40 years, and they made six albums.

SPEAKER_00: 34:51

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 34:52

Um, and so I wanted to include this one also because it's their last album, and so this is the last year they would even qualify for this type of mix. Like next year and the years after, we would not be able to include anything from a Tribe Called Quest because there is no subsequent album. Um, but this is this the album was called We Got It From Here. Thank you for your service, um, which I also think was appropriate for a final album. Uh went with this song because as a Cowboys fan, they they name dropped Tony Romo and Jason Witten. Jason Witten likely going into the Hall of Fame here uh pretty pretty soon this year. But um, I mean, where else am I gonna find a song that name drops those two, right? Like, and those were, you know, at times better times for Cowboys fans. So I was like, yeah, I I gotta go with this, gotta go with this album for the last one. Uh, but go back and I think all six albums are definitely worth listening to. There's also an incredible documentary out there that Michael Raffenport did that um is also worth checking out about a tribe called quest.

SPEAKER_00: 35:53

That's awesome. Um, just a real quick aside. This is the first year that I actually genuinely felt bad for the Cowboys. Like I I normally just think like I normally just think they're kind of like an absurd team because they have so much talent and then they just like fall flat on their face in the playoffs. But this year I just I I genuinely just wanted to give the team a hug and just be like, you know, I see you guys trying. I I I felt bad. I felt bad.

SPEAKER_02: 36:21

Well, thank you. Thank you. On behalf of the Dallas Cowboys and their fans, that thank you for that that proverbial hug. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 36:30

Um, I mean, just an amazing song, obviously a very political song. Um, you know, and I just I always shout out Q-tip's rapping voice, and I will again, because it's just so good and it's so unique. And anytime I get to listen to him sing, I'm I'm just full of joy. So um this is just an amazing, amazing track and an amazing band, absolutely, through all those years.

SPEAKER_02: 36:53

All right. Well, there you have it. Our first new mix for 2026 songs from Artist Sixth Albums. Remember, in our sixth season, as we head towards episode 200, we want to become the number one music podcast in the world. So that's where we need your help. Check out at super awesome mix on Instagram and threads as well as YouTube. Share with your friends, leave us a review, and let's keep building towards that goal. Um, but of course, while we're building towards that goal, we're gonna keep putting mixes together. So we will continue that work. And for Sam, this is Matt.