It’s hard to balance humor, educational, and entertaining. This podcast does it to perfection! Love the series. Informative, interesting , and a perfect length. Would love a similar series on the 80s and other decades.

Usually doesn't have country songs back-to-back.

How can Rob be such a brilliant prose poet, and such a trash interviewer? I listen rapt, often laughing aloud to the part where he reads the essay. Then I grit my teeth through the interview, if I don't skip it altogether. He's always hammering the interviewee with yes/no questions, like a teacher fishing for specific answers. There's often nothing easy to riff on, and you can hear them struggling. Just ask open-ended questions! Like, google "good interview questions" and copy the format. The essays are so good I'll keep listening regardless, but the interviews could be so much better!

This guy is the king of not getting to the point, ever. He’s funny, kinda, but if you’ve come here to learn something useful about music you’re better off somewhere else. Peace and love.

You must continue. Forever. Thank you.

Rob always finds something insightful to say about the songs he talks about.

I’ve lost count how many episodes I’ve listened to. I’d like Rob to narrate my book when it goes on audible, if I ever write a book. Genuinely, I think he’s one of the funniest podcasters out there, which is such a pleasant surprise because that’s not what brought me here in the first place. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I love the way he “recalls” things he’s said throughout the episode or on other episodes. It’s genius. He has true comedic talent. He also clearly just loves music. It’s so nice hearing his perspective and show appreciation for things I never thought of - especially for episodes regarding my favorite bands.

It’s one of those creative works that is so good that you will find yourself wanting to tell all of your friends about listening to Michelle Branch and flooring it in the Home Depot parking lot (or some other beautiful reflection from whatever episode you’re listening to). Absolutely brilliant! Thank you to Rob and the team!

I was listening to Rob discuss crying all night to Moby whilst seeing a review call him ‘arrogant’, and the dissonance led me here to review. Every week seeing how Rob finds his way into the material is a wonderful discovery. An experience that always energizes me, and I don’t, with all love, even like TMBG. With much less love, Is he going to like Creed?

Just wow, I don’t know how the algorithm didn’t deposit this podcast before me earlier, but I have been devouring this pod since finding it 2 weeks ago. If you were alive in the 90s, if you enjoy Beavis and Butthead and Wayne’s World References, if you like any kind of music at all, I would recommend this pod. I don’t skip any episodes, not even if I don’t remember (or think I don’t remember) the song, even if I don’t like the band. The production quality rules (ugh the tape player sounds), it’s all at once funny, smart, touching (the Whitney episode made me cry), and just a working definition of nostalgia for me. I find myself reliving specific memories of these songs that have long dropped out of my core memories, and I’m creating 90s playlists like a crazy person now. Not to mention I’ve never heard somebody describe what it feels like listening to Bjork like Rob Harvilla before, and it’s healing for my soul. Anyway, human feelings, blah blah blah, I love this show. I’m back to share my feelings about 60 Songs that Explain the 90s: the 2000s episode Feel Good Inc. What an absolutely just stellar episode for a myriad reasons, but I’ll just pick a few. One is Brak, iykyk. Another is that I’ve listened to so many (all) episodes at this point, I literally heard in my head, in Rob’s voice, “and we danced” before he said it, and then he said it. I don’t know, that’s just a transcendental experience. I could also listen to Rob (and Yasy, too, babe) go on about Oasis forever and ever. I was disappointed that when Saturday morning, cartoon commercials were mentioned that none were actually played, including the ABC commercial bumpers (🎼“After these messages, we’ll be right back”)but that’s gotta be a licensing thing so I’ll accept it. Thanks for the memories!

I recently discovered this podcast when I needed a break from the current political climate which was intruding into my other podcasts and making them too stressful. It’s a delightful distraction from heavier matters. I love the wide range of music covered with such enthusiasm. It’s also witty. I often laugh out loud while listening. Highly recommended!

I was a huge fan in the beginning but I find that you can easily tire of Rob’s arrogance. I think many of us listen because we just love music and the decades of our youth but he really is a lot with which you must deal. Also the schedule by which they release episodes show total disdain for fans. Sometimes a week, sometimes several months. Find another show.

Very enjoyable. Can I have your thoughts on Primus and Morphine next!

My absolute favorite podcast. I love that it’s still going with the 2000’s.

l've never had so much love for someone's writing prose. Rob is hilarious, a brilliant story teller, and extremely thoughtful/intelligent with his takes. He understands music and music history and is able to make connections between them in ways that are both clever and educational. I Cannot say enough positive about the guy. He is criminally underrated, and this podcast is just delightful

Can an entire decade be explained in a mere 60 songs? According to this delightfully meandering podcast series from the Ringer, no. Five stars

As a Columbus resident and big AIC fan - obsessed with your opening monologue for the “Would” episode. I was hooked after that. Smart, funny, well researched and thoughtful.

Rob is one of my favorite monologists — deeply personal, heartfelt, and knowledgable. The king of idiosyncratic self-deprecation. It’s a voice that you find yourself mimicking without being aware that you’re doing so (or maybe that’s just me). Rob gives the gift of music appreciation in a way that feels like a lesson about life and everything worthwhile in it. Shoot, I’m mimicking Rob again. Thank you for this show, Rob. Okay enough now…HIT IT!

Love the podcast! Takes me back to my childhood!!! Keep up the good work!!

Hands-down, my favorite podcast. If I need to forget about the dumpster fire of this planet that is currently going on, I turn to Rob. Thank you

Rob… yours the best!!! I appreciate all that you are and all that you do! This show is so fantastic! My salvation from “ the storms”. Thank you thank you May this show reign supreme for a long time .. you are a pro and thank you for being so super ( dryly ) funny

Why did you do this to us Rob. (Go Blue Jackets)

This show is a work of art that perfectly captures what it means to care about music.

I eagerly await every new episode - even for songs I don’t like BECAUSE of Rob. I have not enjoyed most of the interviews at the end of each episode, sadly. I’ve gotten to the point that I just skip them now.

If you’re willing to forgive how many times he says “earnest” and “ostensibly”, this is the best podcast going. Funny, thoughtful, and maybe a bit rude at how much it reminds me that I’m kinda old now. I’m glad I can know I’m old while laughing and learning more about the music I didn’t appreciate enough in the moment.

Rob is a True Champion… but these intros need to somehow be connected to the song. It’s almost like two podcasts, and the first isn’t always good. Second is always good (about the song)

Seriously, give this guy a medal. The monologues are some of the best writing anywhere. It's thoughtful, sad, clever, joyful, and regularly very funny. It's a weekly joy to listen.

Used to love this podcast even tho it always felt a little grandiose with the host. Deep dives into every detail of his teenager years etc. it’s like yeah dude we all have these memories lol. Now the episodes are 90 MINUTES long??? Ummm editing?

C’mon, kids - let’s go skinny dipping in the musical maelstrom that was the 90s and 2000s (DO NOT SAYS “AUGHTS”!) This show delivers the goods. Rob takes us on a guided tour of that times than manages to be fun and philosophical all at once. Do a bong rip and let’s go!

I need to know if Rob released the Jimmy Eat World episode this week on purpose, or if it was serendipitous… actually, I don’t need to know. Exactly what I needed this week, Rob. Thank you. And thank you, Jimmy.

Thank you for making this show, which is a nice little treat for me every week.

Harvilla evokes all the emotions connected to love of music. He is endearing, a best buddy/little bro who has a knack for rambling and reminiscing. Thank you, Mr. Harville, for taking me on this journey back to my formative years, and for marrying this to the journey into adulthood with “It’s good to be king.”

My all time favorite podcast is back and solid as ever! Woohoo! If you like your music podcasts to include rabbit holes, nostalgia with honest reflection and the a ridiculous ability to connect anything to everything, this is the one for you.

I like the content. Host is full of himself and has some annoying quirks: takes weird pauses btwn words during his monologue like he’s doing a poetry reading, laughs at inappropriate moments during the interviews, talks about himself in a faux-self-deprecating way. But he’s smart and knows his music. Interview guests are always great.

The rambling and the resetting and the childlike, repetitive rhetorical structure… topped off with the confident reuse of the same superlatives. Deeply strange writing for an adult human.

The host of this show tells you more about his life and his whatever and in the process explains nothing. I’m currently an hour and ten minutes into the Mr. Brightside episode and the song has been discussed for maybe ten minutes that time if I’m being charitable. A great concept for a show ruined by a godawful host.

You can skip the first 30-40 minutes of each episode and not miss anything. He opens up with what he thinks is a joke, but it’s not funny. He then proceeds to repeat the same joke for the next 10-15 minutes. It doesn’t get funnier with repetition. He then rambles about his youth like Grandpa Simpson, where he keeps talking, without making a point. But once he starts talking about the actual song, he brings up some good insight.

I have been searching for a good podcast about music and based off the titles I had high hopes but after 10 min I could take anymore. The actual song in the title is talked about for 5 minutes out of the whole hour. He tries to hard to dress up his words but really doesn’t say anything of value when he does. Tell me how the song came about, the deeper meanings of the songs, the reason for the band /artist writing it or how it affected or changed culture. Instead he spends too much time dancing around word play nonsense.

One the best retrospective podcasts on 90s, and now 2000s, music out there.

To say this podcast is a deep dive is beyond an understatement. The Killers episode is my new favorite. Thank you for mentioning Brandon Flowers’ second solo record. It is so bombastically good and no one ever talks about it. It was gratifying to hear it get a shout-out. I’m not even a huge Killers fan, but this episode just hit me hard.

When the announcement came that Rob was doing it all over again for the 2000s, my elder millennial heart was so full

I wish I could forget the first 15 minutes of the Celine Dion episode. So I could listen to it again and be just as delighted as the first time I heard it.

One of my top favorite podcasts ever. Rob is a treasure.

This show is a mix of brilliant insights about some of your favorite songs/bands and terrible hipster rants by Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity… about some of your favorite songs/bands. That’s most music criticism. It’s a good podcast. Give it a listen even though it will drive you crazy at times.

As others have mentioned, he spends the first 30 mintutes or so talking about random topics that have no connection to the song that is supposed to be discussed. We he does finally get to the song, he hyper focuses on one particular aspect of the song rather than explore other things about the song. For example, the vast majority of the Natalia Imbruglia “Torn” episode is about how the song is a cover. Ok, we got it. Can you move on from this please?

Like others, I wish I'd discovered this podcast earlier. Working my way through all the episodes and I can't wait for more. It's a real treat and also a pleasure to go backwards in time and review the music that shaped my youth. Whether I liked the music in the moment is no longer relevant. There are so many pictures that pop up in my mind when I listen in and I hum along in total bliss. PRICELESS!

This podcast connects so many dots in my life. It illustrates how in the dark I was on music (and many things) pre-smart phones. I didn’t have cable either. And, I really got to enjoy the music back then. Every song covered has factored in my life in some way. I wasn’t aware of how broad my music tastes were, but I can see it while binging this pod.

I tried to listen to two episodes, based on the titles of said episodes. Do the titles not match the song being discussed?

Nostalgia + Rob = Comfort and Joy

Man, every time I find a new podcast I enjoy it has just ended. I love Rob’s maze of personal experiences before he talks about whatever song the episode is on. I feel like I’m listening to someone else reading a choose your own adventure book. Once Rob gets to the song of topic, it’s like I just finished a 1000 piece puzzle. That satisfaction washes over me to the point that I don’t even know if I care about the topic song anymore, but I still do. Rob is also in the top tier of podcasters who have potent pronunciation. He strikes the ear, pulls you in, and proves he has a point. I appreciate that. I appreciate the show. I appreciate the ‘90s even though I was born in ‘97.