Classic Spins with KOSM's Erik Leonhard

KOSM

Once again, we speak with KOSM's Erik Leonhard.

They've been good to check in with us several times now, so it's time we allow them to talk about the one thing everybody in music, except Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, love.

Music!

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. 

Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. What's your favorite one and why?

Given that our debut album Cosmonaut is a concept album, it shouldn’t be any surprise that we’re all pretty big fans. 

My favourite concept album has got to be Crack the Skye by Mastodon. That album is such a great combination of music, story and artwork. 

More than anything, Crack the Skye is what inspired me to begin writing the concept that would eventually become Cosmonaut.

2. My very first album was Live Evil b Black Sabbath. Since then I've had a strong affinity for the live record, even if they're a bit fake. KISS set the bar with Alive!. Surely, it was fake, but it's got the best concert feel of any one. 

Tell me about your favorite live record?

My favourite live record is probably Live at Grand Olympic Auditorium by Rage Against the Machine. 

While I’m a big fan of RATM, I always felt like their studio albums lacked a certain “umph”. With their live record I feel like you really hear the songs the way they’re meant to sound. 

RATM just have this power live that I’ve never heard captured in studio.

3. There are a great number of records I've turned to for my moods. What do you listen to when you're angry? Sad?

To be honest, I normally don’t even listen to music when I’m angry or sad. Music is something I really get into when I’m happy and energetic. 

I know a lot of people will listen to the hardest stuff they have when they’re mad or upset about something, but it’s sort of the opposite with me. 

I listen to bands like Nails or All Pigs Must Die when I’m in an awesome mood.

4. One of my friends laughs at me, routinely, for loving the Misfit Toys of albums by major bands. Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed, Carnival of Souls by Kiss, Diabolous En Musica by Slayer, etc. 

What's the strange one that you love?

This probably won’t fit in well with the examples you noted, but I really like Cold Dark Place by Mastodon. I think Cold Dark Place was well received, but it’s definitely an unusually soft record for a band so synonymous with heavy riffs. 

Even though it’s got to be the band’s least aggressive release, I still think it’s by far the strongest thing they’ve put out since Crack the Skye.

5. It's almost fashionable to release live versions of albums or re-record the old ones. King Diamond is releasing a concert with Abigail front to back. Roger Waters has done The Wall twice. 

Which ones do you have in your collection?

I really like Meshuggah’s rerelease of Nothing. Meshuggah seem to raise the standard for their guitar tone with every album, so it’s really cool to hear them make a second pass at some older material. Those older songs with a more polished guitar tone sound awesome.

Another one I really appreciate is the remastered version of Alexisonfire’s debut. While I always liked the songwriting, I could never get past the way the bass sounded on that record. 

In the remastered version, it seems like they fixed whatever it was about the bass that rubbed me the wrong way. Just goes to show the importance of little details in a record.