In our third installment of Surviving the 90s, we’re revisiting one of the arena rock powerhouses of the late '70s and early '80s — Foreigner. Known for a string of massive hits like "Cold as Ice," "Hot Blooded," "Urgent," "Juke Box Hero," and the chart-topping ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is," Foreigner dominated radio and MTV in their prime. Albums like Double Vision, Head Games, and 4 went multi-Platinum, cementing their legacy. But as the musical landscape shifted in the 90s, the band faced lineup changes and a changing industry. Though new material was scarce, they continued touring and remained a fixture on classic rock airwaves. We revisit their biggest hits, their activity in the 90s, and try to determine: did Foreigner thrive, adapt, or fade during the decade?

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Feels Like The First Time

30:29 - Headknocker

34:03 - Blue Morning, Blue Day

47:29 - Double Vision

50:52 - Moment of Truth

56:34 - Lowdown and Dirty

1:10:54 - Big Dog

1:19:35 - White Lie

Outro - Juke Box Hero

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An Eye For A Brow, A Tooth For A Pick, the 2006 debut album by Australian band Ground Components, blends elements of garage, punk, and soul that fits in nicely with the garage rock revival of the early '00s. Featuring a mix of aggressive punk-ish guitar riffs, driving and boogie rhythms, and horn arrangements give the album a unique sound compared to contemporaries. All that is a playground lead for lead singer Joe McGuigan, who yelps and screams with soulful veracity throughout the record.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Hands In The Air

15:27 - Stale Thoughts

20:43 - On Your Living Room Floor

28:01 - Head In The Sand

38:23 - Fistful of Dallas

Outro - Coming In from All Angles

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While their debut album tagged them as Dinosaur Jr Jr thanks to loud guitars and J. Mascis behind the board, Buffalo Tom's second album, Birdbrain, builds on the raw, guitar-driven sound of their debut but with more mature songwriting and production. Produced again by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. with Sean Slade, the album emphasizes emotional intensity over polish, with songs like "Birdbrain" and "Enemy" showcase the band’s knack for combining distorted guitars with introspective lyrics. Though not a commercial hit, the album helped solidify Buffalo Tom’s place in the early '90s indie rock scene and shows a significant step in the band’s evolution toward the more refined sound of their later work.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Fortune Teller

17:23 - Birdbrain

23:07 - Crawl

26:26 - Heaven

29:40 - Skeleton Key

Outro - Guy Who Is Me

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Uisce (pronounced "ish-ka," the Irish word for "water") is the sole full-length album by Australian band Non-Intentional Lifeform (N.I.L.), released in 1997 by Roadrunner Records. Formed in Perth in 1995, N.I.L. was known for their eclectic fusion of hard rock, thrash metal, post-punk, rap, and funk. Energetic and unpredictable, the album is an inventive blend of genres anchored by stellar musical performances that sound like a bridge between rap-rock pioneers Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More, and late 90s alternative and nu-metal of System of a Down and Incubus.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Living or Existing

21:36 - Farm Animals

23:37 - Sister Julienne

33.22 - Spilling All Over The Floor

Outro - Living or Existing

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A fusion of punk, garage, and noise rock, the 1996 album Blastronaut by The Lee Harvey Oswald Band is a bombastic, high energy record drawing upon 70s David Bowie, classic rock, and the Stooges. Confrontational and darkly humorous, the band leans into a satirical, sometimes absurdist tone, reflecting a punk ethos while incorporating elements of Southern culture and psychedelic weirdness. The alias-driven mystique and off-kilter presentation of the band begets an aggressive, theatrical style that may have been out of touch with the mid-1990s, but is worth revisiting.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Rocket 69

12:27 -The Greatest Man Who Ever Walked the Face of the Earth

16:50 -Green Like the Color of Blood

18:59 - Panic in Hanoi

32:37 - Brontosaurus

35:14 - The Scorpio Letter

Outro - Morphodite

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The 1990 self-titled album by Social Distortion marked a significant turning point for the band, showcasing a more refined and mature sound compared to their hardcore roots. Frontman Mike Ness emerged from a turbulent period in the 1980s, including a stint in rehab that deeply influenced the album’s themes of struggle, redemption, and personal reflection. The album saw the band evolve from hardcore beginnings into a more melodic blend of punk rock infused with rockabilly, country, and roots rock. Tracks like “Ball and Chain” and their cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” highlighted this shift, combining punk’s edge with a distinctly American roots sensibility. The album's lyrical content often reflected Ness’s battles with addiction and the search for meaning, giving it a gritty authenticity that helped the band reach a larger audience and keep them on the charts throughout the 90s.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Sick Boys

19:35 - Ring of Fire

29:10 - Ball and Chain

35:00 - Story Of My Life

40:49 - Drug Train

Outro - She's a Knockout

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Canadian electro-industrial band Front Line Assembly, led by Bill Leeb with longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, released their eighth album Hard Wired in 1995. The album blends harsh electronic beats, cinematic synth textures, distorted vocals, and heavy guitar riffs, all characteristics of the industrial and cyberpunk aesthetics of the mid-'90s (think Hackers, Strange Days, Johnny Mnemonic). Lyrically and thematically, Hard Wired explores dystopian, technological, and transhumanist topics, reflecting fears and fascinations with the digital age, surveillance, and the loss of humanity in a mechanized world. Polished yet gritty production, mixing cold mechanical rhythms with a dark, atmospheric intensity, the album bridges the gap between their earlier EBM (Electronic Body Music) roots and a heavier, more industrial rock-influenced style.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Neologic Spasm

33:47 - Condemned

40:12 - Modus Operandi

50:29 - Infra Rec Combat

1:01:52 - Circuitry

Outro - Barcode

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Kill Holiday, formed by members of San Diego hardcore band Unbroken, made a surprising shift from aggressive post-hardcore to dreamy shoegaze with their 1999 album Somewhere Between the Wrong and the Right. Released on Revelation Records, the album channels British influences like Ride and The Stone Roses, with shimmering guitars and laid-back, melancholic melodies. Despite its shoegaze and Britpop sound, the album resonates with the emotional core of the emo genre, more in feeling rather than form, standing out as a reflective, genre-crossing record from a label known for hardcore.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Somewhere Between the Wrong Is Right

11:49 - Someday You Will Lose and I Will Win

18:21 - Know You Your Friends Are

Outro - In Closing (Memorial Day)

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