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

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.

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.

Gives me a WHOLE bunch of music wormholes to go down. And a full 5% of episodes don’t even mention Nevermind at all!

I was looking forward to the No Doubt episode SO much and he failed miserably. If you want to hear a dude spend more than 25% of the episode talking about other dudes in the ska genre who he thinks are better than Gwen, then go for it. The other 75% is him just $hitting on the actual band and making fun of them.

The confusion that was hers belongs now to the baby down the hall

This is my favorite podcast. If you are interested in music and grew up in the 80s and 90s, I can’t imagine you not liking this podcast. it does take the host a little while to get to his topic, but the anecdotes about growing up are honestly my favorite part of the show. Rob is hilarious and a wonderful writer. Sad that the show is ending but looking forward to whatever he does next.

Mr. Robert Harvilla invited us in. He curated a 60 son…I mean a 90 so…what’s that now..? We’ve got a 120 song playlist? Alright, hit the deck! A full 120 player’s playlist. What a treat. What a gift. Rob helped us listen to the ‘90s again. He showed us the way. That way remains here—follow the breadcrumbs. You should go home, but you can also stay here. This guy’s a keeper, folks, and we’re lucky to have him. Press play. Click. Tape hisssssss….(may it go on forever).

Dumb.

I had absolutely no idea who Rob Harvilla was before I started this podcast. 120 episodes later I consider him vicariously through this pod a great friend. It not because of how much you learn about him as a person (which you do learn exactly what a wonderful human Rob is through his biography of a decade through music), but his delightfully weird and hilarious takes on the decade I truly grew up in. It is a must listen, not only for the music education but for the soul. You will never not feel good listening to this pod. Thank you Rob.

One thing Mr. Harvilla has over his fellow midwestern, dadcaster, Steven Hyden, is that his podcast jumped the shark with a Courtney Love appearance. Over the course of an hour, Courtney makes the case, badly, that Kurt’s draft lyrics to Teen Spirit are, in fact, superior to the recorded lyrics. Courtney’s 90’s soundbites are snappier than the tweets of any professional rock critic working now. That Harvilla couldn’t wrestle anything more interesting out of her than a sales pitch demonstrates the problem with this podcast. When he doesn’t stray too far into He-Man footie pajama navel gazing, Harvilla can offer real insight across winding monologues. However, he is not a deft interviewer, and the second half of the program is often a slog; usually amounting to nothing more than pop culture commentariat back slapping. As a whole, the podcast rates a solid 3.5 - 4 stars, the most recent episodes a mere 2. The most insightful of the new episodes punctuates wistfulness for a teenage crush, Matthew Sweet, and The Replacements reissues with a discussion of The Goo Goo Dolls. To quote Charlie Brown, aaugh!

If you love music, this is for you. If you love clever humor, this is for you. If you love hearing hosts tell self deprecating stories, this is for you. This is one of my favorite podcasts. I laugh, I learn, I listen to the each song as soon as the episode ends. I’m about the age of the host and it’s a great walk through my middle school and high school years. I always learn interesting tidbits and info with each episode. I came to the party late so I’m working my way through all the episodes. I’m super bummed that it’s coming to an end. Believe me, though, I’ll listen to anything that Rob does. He’s hilarious and affable, knowledgeable and entertaining.

Man, it bums me out any time I stub my brain’s toe unnecessarily on what proves a fundamental oversight on my part. To whit, knowing about this podcast forever but continually back burnering it because “it’s just about a handful of 90s songs” (that’s my dumb brain speaking of course). This podcast is ostensibly about that, yes, but Rob roves far and wide across the cultural landscape to make connections the average bear just never would. He starts an episode about Lenny Kravitz with a deep dive into John Mellencamp, then seamlessly connects the two via—wait for it—Meshell Ndegeocello, with an altogether hilarious aside thrown in about bass players that make Rob sad. It’s brilliant, it’s thought provoking, Rob brings the perfect edge and sass to his delivery, and it tells you much more than you thought you knew about a time you lived through, you 45+ year olds. Pure gold!

Don’t stop at 120 Rob.