The LNBE Podcast
Mike Rispoli presents: The LNBE Podcast—"Literally Nothing, But Everything."
It’s a mix of personal stories, life lessons, and hot takes, all told like you're on the phone with your most unfiltered friend.
No experts. No advice. Just vibes, opinions, and faith-based curiosity.
The LNBE Podcast
Episode 69 - Nothing but Slept-On Bangers
Mike runs his mouth about the bands you forgot you loved, the covers that hit harder than the originals, and why glam, grunge, and post-grunge all deserve a second listen. From 3 Doors Down and Nickelback to Emphatic, Black Stone Cherry, and rock covers of Adele — it’s a chaotic tribute to riffs, nostalgia, and the anthems that still slap.
If you would like to share your opinion, send an email to lnbemedia@gmail.com and don't forget to follow me on Instagram and TikTok @thelnbepodcast.
All right. So last week's episode was pretty heavy Serial killer groupies, broken men, false accusations it was just a lot. So this week we're going to keep it simple Nothing but music this week. All right. But with that said, I got to say we're going to start off with some tough news Brad Arnold, the lead singer of Three Doors Down. He recently announced that he has stage four cancer. So prayers up to Brad.
Mike:And if you're sitting there like wait, who the hell's Brad Arnold? He's the voice behind Kryptonite, a karaoke classic and the unofficial anthem of dudes who peaked in middle school. And while Kryptonite might have been their biggest hit, it's not even close to the only banger that they had They'd hear Without you. When I'm Gone, let Me Go. Even their newer stuff, like In the Dark, all bopsops. And if you stop listening to them post 2010, do yourself a favor and dive back in, because they do have some good stuff that they came out with a few years ago or maybe 10 years ago.
Mike:At this point I have no idea. I have no concept of time. Dude, fucking work has been kicking my ass. But honestly, a lot of those post-grunge bands they all still kind of slap like. Take nickelback, for example. I don't care what anyone says, I love that band.
Mike:Everyone just jumped on the hate train because it's the first big internet meme. But think about it. I think part of the hate was that people said that their songs all kind of sound the same. But then you got ACDC. That's been cranking out the same three riffs about sex for 50 years and no one gives a shit about that. Well, some people do, but I don't, because I love them and I mean, hey, they must have been doing something right, because they got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2003. Then again, the Rock Hall's a bigger joke than this podcast. So back in 2003. Then again the Rock calls a bigger joke than this podcast. So do what you will with that. And I think I said this in one of my earliest episodes.
Mike:But ACDC's got two songs called Shoot the Thrill, and If you Want Blood, you Got it, and they're the exact same guitar riff. But I do have a theory on that, because the album Back in Black, which Shoot the Thrill was on. You have a theory on that because the album back in black, which shoot to throw was on, was in honor of bon scott, so angus and malcolm probably recycled the riff on purpose, I don't know. But if acdc can get away with having the same songs over and over again, then why can't nickelback and honestly, figure you out how you remind me burn it to the Rain Bottoms Up. These songs all sound nothing alike, even seeing Quentin and Side Of A Bullet go friggin' hard and if I'm not mistaken, I think Side Of A Bullet was actually a tribute to Dimebag Daryl and it's way more metal than people give them credit for. And whoever their guitarist is, he actually, I think, also does a little bit of a tribute to Dimebag with a solo. So if you haven't heard that, give that one a listen.
Mike:But I also saw this interview recently with john resnick from the google dolls I think that's how you say his last name and he was talking about chad kroger from nickelback, and john resnick pretty much just straight up said that chad is just a hit machine like the dude, writes three hooks in every song and is a brilliant songwriter. So maybe the internet just needs to kind of chill a little bit and maybe it's time that we stop roasting Nickelback just because it's trendy and start admitting that photograph hits harder than most of our childhood memories. But I gotta say I don't think post-grunge bands really got the love that they deserve, because everyone's either obsessed with the real grunge era or they jump straight to the pop punk stuff like Blink-182. But there's a whole pocket of music from 2003 to like 2011 that absolutely holds up. Bands like Trap 12, stones, default Red, even Hinder oh my god Hinder. Everybody knows Lips of an Angel, which is like the ultimate cheating song. But you guys gotta check out some of their other stuff, like Another Way Out, get Stoned and Burn it Down. They even did a rock cover of Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf and the cover is actually freaking fantastic. They also did a collab with a band called no Resolve and did a version of Unstoppable that honestly hits harder than the original Sia track.
Mike:But you know what? Speaking of underrated, let's talk about a group called Emphatic. If you've never heard of them, don't worry, I don't think most people have. But they were just this raw post-grunge band that rebranded as a new group called Through Fire, and Through Fire leans a little bit more metal. To me. They kind of sound a little bit more in the realm of Skillet, but the first time I heard Through Fire I was driving home from work one day and their song Stronger popped up on the radio and this is back in the mid-2010s and once I heard that that song just became my go-to gym anthem and honestly it still is.
Mike:But once I heard that song I kind of dug into their catalog a little bit like who the hell are these guys? And the more I dug into them that's when I realized that they were actually originally called emphatic. So then I started listening to that stuff and I was like holy crap, this stuff is great. Like they got a song called tonight low-key, it's a great wedding song but you also might cry out your demon with frosted tips. And then they also have a song called bounce, which I don't know how the hell this hasn't made the strip club circuit because it's literally about bouncing on a dick. But you can also hear hints of where they're headed with their song called another life. It's not as metal, but it was definitely a stepping stone towards their through fire sound.
Mike:But you know what, since we brought up some covers earlier with the band no resolve, modern bands have been turning pop and country songs into straight up rock anthems, like no resolve has a cover of easy on me by Adele and I actually like that version more than the original. And don't get me started on their version of Last Night by Morgan Wallen. I'm not even kidding. Their version of Last Night makes the original sound like a pregame for a church service. Sorry, I'm also still dealing with this fucking cough. But then there's another band called State of Mind and they covered God's Country by Blake Shelton and let me tell you it sounds like that song was meant to be played in a truck that's on fire, driving through a tornado. And their version of Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan. It's gritty and haunting in all the right ways, like state of mind covering God's Country or Something in the Orange. It's like those songs were supposed to be metal all along. It's kind of like if someone asked what would this pop hit sound like if it was played at oz fest? But it fucking works.
Mike:And while we're talking about country and rock crossing paths, how about this? Did you know that the song stay? Yeah, that big florida georgia line hit it's actually a blackstone cherry original. Yeah, my friend told me that they were a band that I might like. So I looked into them and I heard that song. I was like why the hell do I know this? And then it clicked like holy shit, this is a Florida Georgia Line song. But then when I looked up who did it first, florida Georgia Line put their version out a year after Blackstone Cherry's version and of course, their version blew up because in 2010, slapping a country accent on anything was the musical equivalent of printing money. But Blackstone Cherry's version is actually so much better and they weren't a one-hit wonder either. They have tracks like Me and Mary Jane Blame it on the Boom Boom White Trash Millionaire that I swear they just read about Jordan Belfort and was like, yeah, there's a song in here somewhere. But they weren't trying to reinvent the wheel, they just made sure the damn thing steamrolled over you. Plus, they also have an awesome cover of what's Love Got To Do With it that they put out in tribute to Tina Turner when she passed away. So give that a listen if you haven't, because it fucking slaps.
Mike:But speaking of modern artists, don't sleep on what the old heads are still doing, because slash had a solo album back in 2010 and did a track with fergie called beautiful, dangerous, and we saw that combo live. If memory serves me right, it was when the Packers and the Steelers were playing in the Super Bowl that year and Black Eyed Peas did the halftime show and then they brought Slash out. I remember being at my buddy's Super Bowl party back then. He was just like why the hell is Slash here? And then they went into Beautiful, dangerous. And it wasn't until a couple years after where I actually heard the song. I was like, oh, now that tracks, but that super bowl performance. That's when we also found out yeah, fergie is beautiful but her singing is dangerously horrible. Like that man deserves a grammy and a patience award. Like, how do you make somebody who sings like a malfunctioning car alarm and still drop a banger? But still, slash made it work and just like ACDC still makes it work. Sure, every song is about sex and sounds the same, but how many times have you screamed? You shook me all night long on karaoke night, exactly.
Mike:Hair metal kind of gets clowned now, especially nowadays, because you got those old acts still running around on stage in leather pants trying to be like how they were in their like what? Early the mid-20s and it just doesn't work nowadays. I mean vince neal trying to belt out girls, girls, girls. Dude's got to change his name to Vince Meele. I mean, my God, that dude just cannot seem to get his weight under control. Holy hell, he should just change his name to Vince Meele, because food apparently has become his newest addiction. Even David Lee Roth I don't know if you guys saw that video of him singing after being dormant for five years, but he probably should have stayed that way. I mean, he hasn't had a voice in like 30 years, but he himself had an eye for talent, even if his lacked, because he found guys like steve vai and on his solo album a little ain't enough in 91. That's when you could kind of hear that his voice was starting to go. But he found a guitarist named jason becker who could shred like hell, but sadly that was before he was tragically diagnosed with ALS. So that was the one album that he did with David Lee Roth.
Mike:Sorry, I'm like all over the place here, guys. I'm sorry. I've just been working so much lately at the new restaurant that I just haven't really had much time to think of this stuff. So this is what you're getting this week. But since I brought up motley crew, I also just got to say this I think there was a better band out there called rat that really didn't get the love that they deserved. I mean, warren de martini is probably one of the most underrated guitarists I've ever heard and that dude just never gets his love. But I also think that rat were much better musicians than motley crew, like motley crew had the image in the chaos but rat could actually play round and round, lay it down. They've got a great song called dance which I feel like should be at every dive bar staple. Even their stuff in the 90s like love and use, a dirty job or all or nothing. Those songs are fucking bops. Like they weren't just power chords and pyrotechnics. That band had actual chops like yeah, motley crew might have partied harder but rat played tighter and if you listen back it kind shows.
Mike:And a lot of those bands might sound cheesy now but they did lay the groundwork for what the hard rock, post-grunge and even some alt-metal acts are like today, like people clown on glam for its image. But they forget that a lot of it was just blue-collar guys playing loud music about sex, drugs and escapism, which is no different than half the rock coming out today. All of those songs from the 80s like Girls, girls, girls or Lay it Down laid the groundwork for songs like Figure you Out by Nickelback, or Crazy Bitch by Buck Cherry, or Love is a Gun by no Resolve. Yeah, they got their own songs too, not just covers. And that's what I kind of like about those early 2000s bands is they had the sound of the grunge, like that darker, heavier sound, but they kind of had the themes or the lyrics of those fun 80s songs that everybody used to party hard to like. I don't know what happened in the 2000s, but everybody was just so tired of being so depressed. So they're like hey, maybe we keep the heavier sounding music, but let's make the lyrics a little bit more fun here.
Mike:Unless you were a group like stained, I mean, aaron lewis just didn't get the freaking memo here. Unless you were a group like stained, I mean, aaron lewis just didn't get the freaking memo. But again, even he went country and his country song slap. I actually think he did it as a joke. I could be totally wrong about this, but he wrote one of the best country songs I've ever heard called granddaddy's gun. Like go check that song out. Like all these rock country crossovers are freaking awesome.
Mike:But then even those really heavy metal acts of the 80s and 90s. Like Metallica, pantera, dream Theater, tool. They were even kind of inspired by different branches of that same tree, because I think Metallica initially started because they hated glam metal and they were like where's the punk aspect to metal that we seem to have lost? So they brought it back. So, arguably, without hair metal or glam metal, whatever you want to call it, we don't get Metallica.
Mike:So there we go, but all of those bands influence modern bands, getting all the love nowadays like sleep token Okay, I could clearly go on about this for hours, so I got to make like a condom and wrap it up. Go listen to something that slaps. Tell nickelback that you're sorry for all the hate and if you've only heard back in black because of your dad's truck radio, go educate yourself. Stop sleeping on older bands, stop ignoring the newer ones, trying to keep the spirit alive and, for the love of God, stop acting like you're discovering rock through TikTok. All right, that's all I got. If you like this episode, share it with a friend. Tell them to follow the pod on Spotify, apple or wherever they listen to podcasts. Check out my socials @thelnbepodcast, on TikTok and Instagram and send me an email with to lnbemedia@ gmail. com. All right, have a great week and we'll catch up next time.
