TOTALLY agree on the Howlin Wolf boxset. I've owned it since it came out. I've told my family to play "How Many More Years" should I ever slip into a coma, because I'm pretty sure it'll bring me out of it.
@@tomrobinson5776 Saw them in concert that year. They all had rainbow afros, and as a 10 year old, couldn't get over the precision of the colors not overlapping. Not realizing they were wigs (I wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch)
Excellent episode! I know what you mean by trying to experience catharsis after a crisis, by listening to some music. I dig a lot of the blues performers you mentioned, like Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, too. I can remember coming home from work after a hard day when I was younger, and putting on some Stones LP. It pulled me up a little, so I could face another day. Today the national news cycle seemed a bit somber and I think YT subscription notifications I received (including yours) helped me to step back and take perspective. Hope you have not been affected by any of the LA wildfires I saw on the news today.
Excellent idea Tom! "Fun house" does cure all ills - also for me🎉 Other go-to records that always work their magic are the early Surf albums by the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean, the first 4 Ramones too🎉 The Beatles' magic shines its light on A Hard Day's Night, For Sale, Rubber Soul and Pepper. In Jazz there's John Coltrane's Ole and Africa/Brass, Eric Dolphy's Out there, Miles' Sketches of Spain and the lyrical trumpet of Chet Baker on a Riverside recording from 1959 "Chet" with Herbie Mann (flute), Pepper Adams (s), Bill Evans (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Paul Chambers (b), Philly Joe Jones (dr). What a Band😊. Last not least there's always another fab Live recording by the good Ole Dead or the voice of Paul Rodgers on Songs like " Bad Company" to carry you through troubled times❤ Happy New Year Tom!
I've been a type-1 diabetic for almost 58 years and I've had some close calls with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). However, I'm so used to this way of being that I really don't need any "catharsis" from it. However, when I'm feeling all-around-miserable from whatever cause, I don't deal with it by listening to "angry" or forceful sounds. I listen to Elvis Presley, especially his early sixties period because those songs bring back sweet and innocent memories... and those sounds helps me to deal with whatever B.S. has been tossed in my face. Or The Beatles... the early albums like 'Meet The Beatles'... listened to it the other day; I had forgotten what a knock-out it was!
Glad you are feeling better Tom and Happy 2025 😊. Great topic and great picks....I especially appreciated your takes on Howlin Wolf. Spot on! My go to is The Gregg Allman Tour from 1974....or any one of a number of Allman Bros/Gregg solo albums. Also anything by Samantha Fish!
You're probably getting sick of me mentioning this album, but for me the number one is Black Sheets of Rain by Bob Mould, I just find myself getting lost in its waves of power. Anger, pathos, it has it all. Not an album, but a piece of music that channels my own emotions is the opera Il Trovatore, just the unrelenting passion of the whole thing. In fact, with its tidal wave of melodies and its rawness and its speed and intensity, its overall vitality, it might qualify as the first rock opera! If you doubt that Verdi was in fact a rocker, listen to the overture to the opera Nabucco, which features what might be the first ever heavy metal riff, from 1841 no less. But speaking of rock operas, Quadrophenia is definitely another catharsis album for me. Great video, Tom.
Some of my cathartic albums are Western Stars - Springsteen, Jethro Tull - Stand Up, London Calling - Clash, Hwy 61 Revisted - Dylan. Too many to list. The Chess Howlin Wolf box would probably be one of my all time top 5 box sets.
It doesn't get any rawer or real than Howlin' Wolf. That box set is primo with slab after slab of emotion, power and, yes, humour. I'm also with you on The Who's live comp: "A Quick One" always pumped me up en route to work. Off the top of my head, I'd add 11 by the Smithereens (total guitar attack with bittersweet lyrics) and Guided By Voices' UNDER THE BUSHES, UNDER THE STARS ("Official Ironman Rally Song" gets me every time). At the other end of the sonic scale, the debut by Kate & Anna McGarrigle (including "Heart Like a Wheel") can mend a few tears in the soul. Glad to hear you're on the mend, Tom! All the best for 2025.
Uplifting and fun music: Laura Nyro, ACDC, Doobie Brothers, and individual tracks like Pump It Up, Dont Change Horses in the Middle of a Stream, Low Rider, Mama's Little Girl (Linda George version), etc
Interesting topic, Tom. I actually don't have cathartic albums, but I do have cathartic songs -- "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton" from Bob Mould's Workbook; "Like a Rolling Stone" (live) from Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Volume 4; "Sire of Sorrows" from Joni Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo, "Midnight Blues" from Snowy White's No Faith Required; and Little Anthony & the Imperials "Hurts So Bad" (1965 live from The Ed Sullivan Show). If I need a smile, I listen to The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic" or Steve Forbert's "Romeo's Tune" from Jackrabbit Slim; for inspiration, Bobby Hatfield's "Unchained Melody" live from The Andy Williams Show; needing a good laugh, I play "Magical Misery Tour" from National Lampoon's Radio Dinner - ah, yes, "The Dream is Over." Stay healthy, Tom.
Welcome back Tom, glad you're feeling better!! Dig yer choice of Kids Are Alright, but to me the ULTIMATE version of Young Man Blues is on Isle of Wight 1970. Check it out, it freaking kills!!!❤
Cheap Thrills is one of the first things I thought of when I saw the topic -- I usually end up singing along. I've had my Stooges periods too. Usually these things come and go. Various songs by The Muffs really do it for me. Trout Mask Replica. Um, the first Generation X record, plus Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself". Iggy's New Values. The first 3 or 4 records by the band X (singing the John Doe parts). The Shangri-Las and The Beach Boys. Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, and Don Cherry. You never know what might be a trigger.
Oh yeah, oddly, Catholic Boy by The Jim Carroll Band -- I'm not catholic, or even had a religious upbringing, and I've never been on junk, but it says all the right things in the right way.
Rock n’ Roll Animal Lou Reed unquestionably for this guy. The Hunter Wagner intro leading to Sweet Jane and concluding with Rock N’ Roll. It’s allright!!!’
James Taylor One Man Dog and Geronimo's Cadillac and Cosmic Cowboy by Michael Murphy are always nice to listen to. I should mention a YT video by Chicago Mass Choir called He's Gonna Work it Out. I listen to that whenever I'm really down. It's unbelievable.
I find singing along to an 80s compilation album full of synth pop hits and alternative weirdness always makes me feel better about things. "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby. "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo."Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Bingo. Etc. This probably means that I am fundamentally a silly, shallow person, but what can I say? I want my MTV!
I just had my rent raised. Again!! Costello - Blood & Chocolate Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bullocks Massive Attack - Mezzanine *the way you describe that James Brown! I need to check that out.
The Impressions- Big Sixteen Kinks- The Kink Kronikles Who- Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy Captain Beefheart- Safe As Milk Dusty Springfield- Dusty In Memphis.............Happy New Year!
Can't go wrong with Fun House, it will cure what ails ya! Great list. I'd have to add The Replacements "Let It Be" and Rusty Willoughby "Cobirds Unite", which is a great mellow listen with perfect harmonies from Rachel Flotard from Visqueen.
Hello, I understand by "cathartic" music or records who have an effect on my mood or even my physical state. Let's go: Archie Shepp - Attica Blues, any Nick Drake records, there's not so many, Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, Burt Bacharach - Portrait in Music Vol 1&2 (compilation), Stevie Wonder - Innervison, Motörhead - Overkill and probably few others... Cheers 😉
Just about any Kinks album, Honey's Dead JMC, Otis Live at Monterrey, REM New Adventures in HiFi. For the last year and a half, everyday I listen to Rattlesnake/Honey from June12 and Hot Water/Hypertension from June 13 by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Salt Shed residency tour in 2023. Everyday. Cathartic
@@charlesandrews2360 Nice! I’m with you on The Kinks. Anything in their catalog from 66-76 is the best therapy. 😉 …and Otis at Monterey is pure catharsis. 👍
My sympathies Tom, I have similar health issues and it is NOT FUN. Like some other commenters, I focus on songs rather than albums for catharsis; the list is long. Allow me to get a bit religious with a couple: “Oh Happy Day” by the Edwin Hawkins Singers (1969) and “Bhaja Govindam” by Alice Coltrane (1977) have done me good alleviating sadness.
"Days of Future Passed" by the Moody Blues is my cathartic album when I need to decompress. It always takes me to a Zen place.
TOTALLY agree on the Howlin Wolf boxset. I've owned it since it came out. I've told my family to play "How Many More Years" should I ever slip into a coma, because I'm pretty sure it'll bring me out of it.
@@philmole1209 Ha! Very cool.
Ooh Child by the Five Stairsteps usually stabilizes me.
@@stupendous9896 Love that tune. 😊
Yeah, it's a good 'un.
@@tomrobinson5776 Saw them in concert that year. They all had rainbow afros, and as a 10 year old, couldn't get over the precision of the colors not overlapping. Not realizing they were wigs (I wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch)
Excellent episode! I know what you mean by trying to experience catharsis after a crisis, by listening to some music. I dig a lot of the blues performers you mentioned, like Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, too. I can remember coming home from work after a hard day when I was younger, and putting on some Stones LP. It pulled me up a little, so I could face another day.
Today the national news cycle seemed a bit somber and I think YT subscription notifications I received (including yours) helped me to step back and take perspective. Hope you have not been affected by any of the LA wildfires I saw on the news today.
@@kso808 Luckily my wife and I are a bit north away from where the fires are raging. This is the downside of living in So Cal unfortunately.
Excellent idea Tom! "Fun house" does cure all ills - also for me🎉 Other go-to records that always work their magic are the early Surf albums by the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean, the first 4 Ramones too🎉 The Beatles' magic shines its light on A Hard Day's Night, For Sale, Rubber Soul and Pepper.
In Jazz there's John Coltrane's Ole and Africa/Brass, Eric Dolphy's Out there, Miles' Sketches of Spain and the lyrical trumpet of Chet Baker on a Riverside recording from 1959 "Chet" with Herbie Mann (flute), Pepper Adams (s), Bill Evans (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Paul Chambers (b), Philly Joe Jones (dr). What a Band😊. Last not least there's always another fab Live recording by the good Ole Dead or the voice of Paul Rodgers on Songs like " Bad Company" to carry you through troubled times❤
Happy New Year Tom!
@@dreammachine2013 Love those two Coltrane albums you mentioned. Happy New Year! 😉
Moody Blues - Question Of Balance.
Cardiacs - Sing To God
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Soft Machine Third is good meditation therapy material. Any Ramones album will get you back to a better place if need be. Happy new year!
@@russellkroeker2822 Happy New Year 😉
I've been a type-1 diabetic for almost 58 years and I've had some close calls with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). However, I'm so used to this way of being that I really don't need any "catharsis" from it. However, when I'm feeling all-around-miserable from whatever cause, I don't deal with it by listening to "angry" or forceful sounds. I listen to Elvis Presley, especially his early sixties period because those songs bring back sweet and innocent memories... and those sounds helps me to deal with whatever B.S. has been tossed in my face.
Or The Beatles... the early albums like 'Meet The Beatles'... listened to it the other day; I had forgotten what a knock-out it was!
Glad you are feeling better Tom and Happy 2025 😊. Great topic and great picks....I especially appreciated your takes on Howlin Wolf. Spot on!
My go to is The Gregg Allman Tour from 1974....or any one of a number of Allman Bros/Gregg solo albums. Also anything by Samantha Fish!
Dig that Samantha Fish.
@@DavidSmith-ui7ub Gregg Allman’s voice always takes me to a great place. 😉
You're probably getting sick of me mentioning this album, but for me the number one is Black Sheets of Rain by Bob Mould, I just find myself getting lost in its waves of power. Anger, pathos, it has it all. Not an album, but a piece of music that channels my own emotions is the opera Il Trovatore, just the unrelenting passion of the whole thing. In fact, with its tidal wave of melodies and its rawness and its speed and intensity, its overall vitality, it might qualify as the first rock opera! If you doubt that Verdi was in fact a rocker, listen to the overture to the opera Nabucco, which features what might be the first ever heavy metal riff, from 1841 no less. But speaking of rock operas, Quadrophenia is definitely another catharsis album for me. Great video, Tom.
Thanks Chris. I need to check out that Bob Mould album. 😉
I usually listen to post 2000 music.
Quebec - Ween
After the Fall - Zero 7
Thursday Afternoon - Brian Eno
Works for me doc. I will add the kinks 'give the people what they want'.
Some of my cathartic albums are Western Stars - Springsteen, Jethro Tull - Stand Up, London Calling - Clash, Hwy 61 Revisted - Dylan. Too many to list. The Chess Howlin Wolf box would probably be one of my all time top 5 box sets.
It doesn't get any rawer or real than Howlin' Wolf. That box set is primo with slab after slab of emotion, power and, yes, humour. I'm also with you on The Who's live comp: "A Quick One" always pumped me up en route to work.
Off the top of my head, I'd add 11 by the Smithereens (total guitar attack with bittersweet lyrics) and Guided By Voices' UNDER THE BUSHES, UNDER THE STARS ("Official Ironman Rally Song" gets me every time). At the other end of the sonic scale, the debut by Kate & Anna McGarrigle (including "Heart Like a Wheel") can mend a few tears in the soul.
Glad to hear you're on the mend, Tom! All the best for 2025.
@@DeanJonasson Thank you. Happy 2025 😉
Great subject! I'm glad that you're feeling better. Your channel is one of my favorites.
Thanks, much appreciated 😉
Uplifting and fun music:
Laura Nyro, ACDC, Doobie Brothers, and individual tracks like Pump It Up, Dont Change Horses in the Middle of a Stream, Low Rider, Mama's Little Girl (Linda George version), etc
Isn’t it interesting how both Fun House and A Love Supreme can be considered cathartic depending on one’s mood?
@@Monetize_This Indeed 😉
Interesting topic, Tom. I actually don't have cathartic albums, but I do have cathartic songs -- "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton" from Bob Mould's Workbook; "Like a Rolling Stone" (live) from Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Volume 4; "Sire of Sorrows" from Joni Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo, "Midnight Blues" from Snowy White's No Faith Required; and Little Anthony & the Imperials "Hurts So Bad" (1965 live from The Ed Sullivan Show). If I need a smile, I listen to The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic" or Steve Forbert's "Romeo's Tune" from Jackrabbit Slim; for inspiration, Bobby Hatfield's "Unchained Melody" live from The Andy Williams Show; needing a good laugh, I play "Magical Misery Tour" from National Lampoon's Radio Dinner - ah, yes, "The Dream is Over." Stay healthy, Tom.
@@keefer-k8266 Very cool. The Spoonful always puts me in a nice frame of mind. Thanks 😉
Welcome back Tom, glad you're feeling better!! Dig yer choice of Kids Are Alright, but to me the ULTIMATE version of Young Man Blues is on Isle of Wight 1970. Check it out, it freaking kills!!!❤
Oh yes it is awesome! They were really on fire on stage in that period. 😉
Glad you’re feeling better Tom, great picks as usual.
Thank you 😉
Great post Tom. I’d go with Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders or even flip it and play something like Dillinger Escape Plan.
Cheap Thrills is one of the first things I thought of when I saw the topic -- I usually end up singing along. I've had my Stooges periods too. Usually these things come and go. Various songs by The Muffs really do it for me. Trout Mask Replica. Um, the first Generation X record, plus Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself". Iggy's New Values. The first 3 or 4 records by the band X (singing the John Doe parts). The Shangri-Las and The Beach Boys. Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, and Don Cherry. You never know what might be a trigger.
Oh yeah, oddly, Catholic Boy by The Jim Carroll Band -- I'm not catholic, or even had a religious upbringing, and I've never been on junk, but it says all the right things in the right way.
@@simonagree4070 I’m with you on those first four X albums. 😉
Santana caravanserai
Thanks, Tom.
"Something Else" by The Kinks or "Idlewild South" by The Allman Bros Band or "Wired" by Jeff Beck or anything from Classical composer John Field.
Rock n’ Roll Animal Lou Reed unquestionably for this guy. The Hunter Wagner intro leading to Sweet Jane and concluding with Rock N’ Roll. It’s allright!!!’
@@casablanca2745 I agree. 👍
Blue Heron Suite by Sarah Jarosz pure music therapy. Contemplative and moody, but ultimately life-affirming.
@@floydshambles Never heard it. Now I must. 😉
Stranglers : Rattus Norvegicus! Yeah! 🥊
Yes! Singing along to "Get a Grip on Yourself" and "Hanging Around" work for me. Also, from another album, "Something Better Change."
@sherinameless1618 Ahh the album No more heroes! 👍
Awesome video Tom happy new year from Canada and also I will praying for you and your health ❤😊
@@aminahmed2220 Thanks and much appreciated. Happy New Year!
James Taylor One Man Dog and Geronimo's Cadillac and Cosmic Cowboy by Michael Murphy are always nice to listen to.
I should mention a YT video by Chicago Mass Choir called He's Gonna Work it Out. I listen to that whenever I'm really down. It's unbelievable.
@@charlesandrews2360 I’ll have to check that out. 😉
And I hope you feel better!
@@brbertram Thanks, much appreciated 😊
Prayers. Nothing easy about dealing with an autoimmune process.
@@nimishpatel8572 Thank you 😉
Too many to choose from Tom. I wouldn't know where to start ! Happy New Year to you !
@@jackwezesa1081 Happy New Year 😉
I find singing along to an 80s compilation album full of synth pop hits and alternative weirdness always makes me feel better about things. "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby. "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo."Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Bingo. Etc. This probably means that I am fundamentally a silly, shallow person, but what can I say? I want my MTV!
She Blinded Me With Science! ✨ so great
@anabltc Science!
I just had my rent raised. Again!!
Costello - Blood & Chocolate
Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bullocks
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
*the way you describe that James Brown! I need to check that out.
@@kevtruth It’s really incredible. You must hear it. 😉
Thank you for your interesting posts even tho I only share 50% of your taste.
The Impressions- Big Sixteen
Kinks- The Kink Kronikles
Who- Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy
Captain Beefheart- Safe As Milk
Dusty Springfield- Dusty In Memphis.............Happy New Year!
@@Rosyglowofchristmas Nice! Happy New Year 😉
Can't go wrong with Fun House, it will cure what ails ya! Great list. I'd have to add The Replacements "Let It Be" and Rusty Willoughby "Cobirds Unite", which is a great mellow listen with perfect harmonies from Rachel Flotard from Visqueen.
@@senatorjimdracula1603 Can’t go wrong with The Mats. 😉
Hello, I understand by "cathartic" music or records who have an effect on my mood or even my physical state. Let's go: Archie Shepp - Attica Blues, any Nick Drake records, there's not so many, Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, Burt Bacharach - Portrait in Music Vol 1&2 (compilation), Stevie Wonder - Innervison, Motörhead - Overkill and probably few others... Cheers 😉
Nice! Cheers 😉
For me, a bunch of Todd Rundgren's best deep cuts.
Hermit is one of my go to albums
@@charlesandrews2360 Mine as well. A perfect album.
Just about any Kinks album, Honey's Dead JMC, Otis Live at Monterrey, REM New Adventures in HiFi.
For the last year and a half, everyday I listen to Rattlesnake/Honey from June12 and Hot Water/Hypertension from June 13 by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Salt Shed residency tour in 2023. Everyday. Cathartic
@@charlesandrews2360 Nice! I’m with you on The Kinks. Anything in their catalog from 66-76 is the best therapy. 😉 …and Otis at Monterey is pure catharsis. 👍
Tom Waits- Bone Machine
My sympathies Tom, I have similar health issues and it is NOT FUN.
Like some other commenters, I focus on songs rather than albums for catharsis; the list is long.
Allow me to get a bit religious with a couple:
“Oh Happy Day” by the Edwin Hawkins Singers (1969) and “Bhaja Govindam” by Alice Coltrane (1977) have done me good alleviating sadness.
@@John-n9m7r Nice! Always loved Oh Happy Day. Very uplifting.
This was a great idea! Any more in the pipeline?
@@54macdog Oh yes, plenty 😉
Piper shynes. I have ADD and hvto look up the word!
I'm a bit out of the subject but yeah Iggy, any is usually very therapeutic, I like Lust 4Life esp.
Sea Change Beck
Tim Buckley - Lorca
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Nirvana - From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah
Lorca. Nice
Are you out of the fires path Tom, stay safe Man.
Yes, we are safe. Thanks 😉
All of it. It's all carharthis.
@@trentrevis2758 Indeed 😉
did you get our Christmas card?
@@fizzlebomber674 I did not..
Wrong End of The Rainbow by Tom Rush.
Tom, do you have any appreciation for Chicago from their first album to their seventh? I don’t think you care for them…
@@deadfdr Love the first 2 albums, especially the first. A tour de force! Terry Kath was incredible.
@ Jimi said he had nothing on him!
Stop Making Sense (of course)
Optimo by Liquid Liquid
Motherfckers GmbH & Co by Xhol
stay healthy
@@anabltc I got a girlfriend with bows in her hair
And nothing is better than that.
@@anabltc Thank you 😉
Costello is obnoxious
Sometimes, but so are my bad feels.