Shawn and Craig return for Round 14 of the Vinyl 4 Podcast, facing another heavyweight bracket pulled from Rolling Stone’s Top 500. With 16 albums spanning decades, genres, and creative extremes, the margin for error continues to shrink.

This round invites comparisons across wildly different musical worlds — from the emotional pull of Talking Book to the raw tension of The Downward Spiral, from the timeless songwriting of Simon & Garfunkel to the fearless experimentation of The Mothers of Invention. Along the way, touchstones of ’90s alternative, classic soul, and genre-defying pop shape the debate without making the decisions any easier.

As always, the fellas battle it out, narrowing the field to four survivors and pushing the Vinyl 4 journey one step closer to its endgame.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig return for Round 13 of the Vinyl 4 Podcast, facing another deep and diverse field of 16 albums as they battle their way toward this week’s Vinyl 4.

This round lives in contrasts and collisions — think confessional songwriting, street-level grit, and late-night soul sharing space in the same bracket. Along the way, the discussion draws energy from artists like Joni Mitchell, Funkadelic, Raekwon, and The Pogues, while albums that feel intimate, rebellious, and timeless all vie for survival.

It’s a round where emotion matters just as much as influence, and where tough decisions come fast. Sixteen enter, four advance — and the Vinyl 4 journey presses on.

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Shawn and Craig are back with Recap #3, taking a deeper dive into the winners from Rounds 9 through 12 as the Vinyl 4 field tightens and the stakes continue to rise. With four full brackets now in the books, the conversation shifts from rapid-fire decisions to reflection, context, and why certain records continue to stand the test of time.

This stretch of the bracket evokes everything from The Clash to Nick Drake, from landmark albums like Rubber Soul and Voodoo to genre-spanning touchstones that echo across decades. Along the way, sounds associated with psychedelic rock, neo-soul, and alternative rock weave in and out of the discussion — sometimes where you least expect them.

It’s a thoughtful checkpoint in the journey, revisiting the albums that advanced, unpacking the debates that shaped them, and setting the tone for what lies ahead as the Vinyl 4 grows ever more formidable.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig are back for Round 12 of the Vinyl 4 Podcast, staring down another heavyweight set of 16 albums as they battle their way to this week’s Vinyl 4.

This round defies easy categorization. Picture ambient jazz tension, hardcore punk urgency, and classic soul storytelling colliding — then throw in curveballs inspired by artists like Led Zeppelin, Dr. Dre, and Simon & Garfunkel (though not in the ways you might expect).

As genres blur and assumptions get challenged, the fellas debate, dissect, and ultimately narrow the field down to four finalists — proving once again that context, contrast, and conversation matter just as much as legacy.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig return for Round 11 of the Vinyl Four Podcast, diving into another loaded bracket pulled from Rolling Stone’s Top 500. Sixteen albums enter the arena, and after plenty of debate, only four survive.

This week’s matchups span a wide emotional and stylistic range — from the hushed intimacy of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon to the raw, arena-shaking power of Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction. Along the way, genre-defining classics like Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and the art-rock urgency of Gang of Four’s Entertainment! keep the bracket unpredictable and the conversations lively.

With tough calls at every turn, the fellas narrow the field to the next Vinyl 4, setting the stage for what’s to come without giving away all the magic.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig enter Round 10 of the Vinyl 4 Podcast, and the bracket has officially reached “no easy choices left.” This week brings another powerhouse set of 16 albums — a mix of groundbreaking classics, cult favorites, and genre-defining masterpieces.

The lineup includes Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model, D’Angelo’s Voodoo, The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, and Pixies’ Doolittle — plus Kiss, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys (twice!), Richard & Linda Thompson, Graham Parker, Jay-Z, Kanye West, TLC, Sinead O’Connor, Peter Wolf, and EPMD.

It’s soul vs. hip-hop, punk-pop vs. folk-rock, ’60s sunshine pop vs. ’90s alt-rock — and somehow it all fits into one brutal bracket. Shawn and Craig debate, dissect, and eventually narrow the field down to 4 survivors.

📩 Subscribe and follow on your favorite podcast platform to keep up with the brackets.
🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig dive into Round 9 of the Vinyl 4 Podcast, taking on another wildly eclectic set of 16 albums pulled from Rolling Stone’s Top 500. This week spans blues legends, rock icons, hip-hop pioneers, and avant-pop innovators — all battling for just four coveted finalist spots.

The lineup includes John Mayall with Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead, The Clash, Derek and the Dominos, Al Green, Buddy Holly, Run-DMC, Black Sabbath, Madonna, Frank Sinatra, Tom Waits, Outkast, Hole, The Magnetic Fields, Eurythmics, and more.

It’s blues vs. metal, punk vs. soul, hip-hop vs. classic pop, and everything in between. The fellas keep the discussion moving briskly this week, narrowing the field down to 4 — and skipping their usual “should’ve made the list” picks to keep the pace tight.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.
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Shawn and Craig return for Episode 10, the second recap installment of the Vinyl Four Podcast. This time, the guys revisit the winners from Rounds 5–8 — the next four brackets — which together form the newest Sweet 16.

It’s a heavyweight spread: the soul and genius of Ray Charles, the stadium punch of U2, the rootsy warmth of The Band, the thunder of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, and the legacy of John Lennon. Add in the atmospheric depth of Radiohead and Portishead, the timeless songwriting of Carole King and Elton John, and the emotional fire of Pearl Jam, plus folk-rock icons The Byrds and the legendary Bob Dylan & The Band — and you’ve got a truly stacked lineup.

The fellas revisit each matchup, share surprises from the past four rounds, and set the stage for what’s next as the march toward the ultimate Vinyl Four continues.

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🎶 Got your own picks or snubs? Drop us a line at vinylfourpodcast@gmail.com.

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