Episode 5 — February 16, 2022
TSAR
On this episode of Abandoned Albums, I am joined by Rob Janicke in discussing the debut album by LA-based band Tsar (thanks to S.W. Lauden) with lead singer Jeff Whalen.
Tsar’s self-titled debut, released in 2000 and produced by one of the biggest selling music producers in history (130 million albums sold worldwide), Rob Cavallo, the album inexplicably fell on mostly deaf ears.
With that being said, consider yourself warned; all these years later, Whalen seems to have kept a clear head and positive attitude about the album. With good reason, it’s still a great fucking album. For real. I’m not just saying that. The more I have listened to it, the more I have come to enjoy it.
Rob and I had a great time talking with Jeff — it was a spirited and fun episode to record. Maybe someday, we’ll release the stuff that didn’t make the cut, but, ya know… editing.
Jeff was an absolute blast to speak with — again, many thanks for the time and the laughs (in the event he’s reading).
Like many of the albums we’ve discussed so far on this podcast, we could blather endlessly on why this album didn’t hit with more people. The fact remains that it didn’t. And that’s a GD shame because it’s got all the necessary ingredients:
Dynamic frontman? — CHECK
Great hooks? — CHECK
Great songs ? — CHECK
Great sound? — CHECK
Big Name Manager? — CHECK
Big Name Producer? — CHECK (Rob Cavallo)
Big label? — CHECK (Hollywood Records)
Big label support? — ehhh, maybe not so much
You’d think making a hit album with all of those mixed together (excluding the lack of label support, obviously) would be as easy (and as tasty) as making Kraft Mac & Cheese (the brand name, not the grocery store knock-offs). While delicious, the debut album by Tsar struggled to reach a broader audience.
But rather than go down that rabbit hole and slag the label, and all of those folks, and be all negative, we talk about the recording, the songs, touring with Duran Duran, and what Jeff is doing now. No spoilers, but what he’s working on right now sounds quite funny.
The good news is that the Tsar fans out there are rabid. And after spending a solid three weeks embedded with this album, I am pleased to now count myself as one of them. (insert scene from the movie Freaks — chanting: “One of us, one of us!”)
If you haven’t listened to any episode so far, listen to this one. Sure, I’m biased… but even objectively speaking, Jeff is a great interview, and this episode is loads of fun.