What makes a truly awful metal album? It’s not just a lack of riffs, awful production, or quarter-assed vocal takes. Most of these records suffer from overdosing on compromise, whether it’s hopelessly chasing a trendy sound or a failure to age gracefully; others have visions more realized yet too noxious to raise the horns with […]
Looking back at 1982 in music, the headline is obvious: Thriller Sells A Bajillion Copies, Becomes World’s Biggest Album. But is it the year’s best album? Funny enough, Michael Jackson‘s sixth LP hardly even affected the charts that year — it snuck out in late November, just as Men at Work’s 1981 blockbuster, Business as […]
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame traditionally announces its annual slate of nominees in October and narrows it down to a set of official inductees in December. But like just about everything else, the Rock Hall’s schedule was disrupted last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the May induction ceremony concert delayed and downsized […]
Among the 16 nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021 are some rock heavy hitters, including Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, the Go-Go’s, Rage Against the Machine, Devo, New York Dolls and Todd Rundgren. Rounding out the nominees are Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Tina Turner, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool […]