Playing By Ear
Every episode of this podcast breaks an album down, track by track, to cover why it's not only worth playing, but replaying.
Displaying 3 items of Playing By Ear with the tag "1990s".
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Flesh & Blood (Poison)
February 3rd, 2026 | 1 hr 49 mins
1980s, 1990s, 80s, 90s, bobby dall, brett michaels, c.c. deville, guitar, hair metal, metal, music, rikki rockett, rock, rock and roll, rock music, songwriting
By 1990 hair metal was on the precipice of irrelevance, soon to be swept aside by grunge. Nevertheless, the genre's last big year was filled with big riffs, big beats, and big hair as Poison ripped some incredible bops (unskinny or otherwise) that we had a blast reviewing.
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Drive (Bic Runga)
January 20th, 2026 | 1 hr 45 mins
1990s, 90s, american pie, musician, new zealand, rock, rock music, singer, songwriter, songwriting, sway, vocalist
Bic Runga's debut album features beautiful, haunting vocals and equal parts soft singer/songwriter, and late 90s female-powered grunge. Does "Drive" drive, or does it just drive us crazy? We delve into this layered and complex work to peel back what makes it worth paying attention to.
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Nine Lives (Aerosmith)
October 23rd, 2025 | 1 hr 53 mins
1990s, 90s, aerosmith, joe perry, rock, rock and roll, rock music, songwriting, steven tyler
After 13 albums and a massive hit with "Get A Grip" venerable rockers Aerosmith released their follow-up "Nine Lives". Though not as successful as its predecessor, 9 Lives still stands on the solid foundation of Steven Tyler's inimitable vocals and Joe Perry's face-melting guitaring. If this one passed you by in the 1990s, now's as good a time as any to check it out.