Sure, one could argue that being a household name within the music industry in any way should disqualify you from complaining. Still, there are plenty of groups out there that deserve way more appreciation than they get. Here is a list of ten groups – new and old – that we think should be talked… Read more
To have something important to say and to know how to say it – that’s the art of succeeding with your debut album. Some debut albums have such an important message that they change the world forever. Some of them are just incredibly well executed, burning with the energy of a new artist who finally… Read more
Photo Credit: Demi Lovato via Instagram At first glance, Demi Lovato’s new rock era could seem like a gimmick – the blasphemous album title, the all-caps typeface, and of course the album cover itself; which sees Lovato sporting a pixie cut while posing in bondage on a crucifix-shaped mattress. But to those familiar with Lovato’s history,… Read more
Photo Credit: Chuck Berry via Universal Attractions (artist management) “Hail, hail rock and roll // Deliver me from the days of old.” – Charles Edward Anderson Berry Rock and roll always had a problem orienting itself from the beginning. It is the musical product of a dozen styles of American music blended through time and… Read more
Photo Credit: Mikael Eriksson You have to hand it to the Swedes. They have a preternatural ability to craft pop songs, in English, across any genre you could name. This phenomenon began, of course, with Abba who was able to take the disco they heard coming out of the States and turn it into something… Read more
Photo Credit: Paige Sara Back in 1999, as we were just on the brink of the new millennium, Jack White seemingly came out of nowhere (actually Detroit) to save rock ‘n’ roll. Or at the very least, strip it down to its basics, as in his band the White Stripes he used only an electric… Read more
Photo Credit: Richard Dobson/Newspix After nearly three decades, the Foo Fighters, sometimes called “the Last Great Band,” experienced their first-ever casualty on March 25th when longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins was found dead at age fifty in Bogota, Colombia, where the band had been scheduled to play the Estero Picnic Music Festival as part of a… Read more
Mark Josephson, Executive Director of the New Music Seminar said back in 1988 that “alternative music has real strength, real quality, real excitement, and it has to be socially significant, as opposed to Whitney Houston, which is pablum.” That’s a great explanation of what started during the late-‘70s to early-‘80s as college radio features like Dead Kennedys… Read more
In the rock era alone, there have been many, many cover versions recorded and released. From live-only interpretations to deep album cuts, to #1 hits (even the Beatles, who we’ll get back to in a minute, started as a cover band). In some cases, artists’ cover songs are well-known just because the original already proved… Read more
Vans Warped Tour 2007 at the Tweeter Center Camden, New Jersey Chiodos Funeral for a Friend Killswitch Engage New Found Glory Paramore The Starting Line Photography by: Steve Trager