How long has it been since Depeche Mode released an album that you happily told people was essential listening, dear reader? For me, it has been fifteen years; for me, the last truly inspired moment that Depeche Mode enjoyed was the moody, gothic assault of Ultra. On...
The hardest albums to review are the ones which are only “half good.” Trying to critically evaluate an album that goes completely in one direction or the other ('good' or 'bad') is always preferable because there's an economy in it; if...
Happy Easter, ya egghead junky! How's da holiday treatin' youse? Things're great down onna street junky. I scored a buncha new tunes fer youse ta sample – now howzat fer some sweet Easter eggs? Awright, so le's get ta the SWAG. Ya know that reckid...
Even the most steadfast and true followers in Trent Reznor's fan base have to admit that Nine Inch Nails records were beginning to get formulaic and samey toward band's (first) end. The Slip and Ghost I-IV exemplify the fairly static turn that the music had...
Alabama Shakes – “I Ain't The Same” – https://groundcontrolmag.com/music/SWAG134Alabama_Shakes-I_Aint_The_Same.mp3 Allen Stone – “Contact High” – https://groundcontrolmag.com/music/SWAG134Allen_Stone-Contact_High.mp3...
What do Marquee Moon, Horses and The Doors all have in common? They are all first albums released by the artists who composed them. They're also all on my personal list of Top Ten Albums of All Time. Okay, it was a trick question. I didn’t really expect you...
It took a while to get everything (labels, band members, guest musicians, everything else one could possibly imagine) in line, but the Zero Hour is finally upon us; it was announced this morning that Queens Of The Stone Age's sixth full-length album will be...
Let it never be said that it doesn't feel good when a plan comes together. When The Headstones reconvened a couple of years ago for a string of concert dates, the band discovered just how much they were missed when venues sold out in advance and the press raved...
Before preparing this review, I revisited Hayden's output from 2001's Skyscraper National Park through 2009's The Place Where We Lived and must preface this review by noting that doing so was a huge mistake. In itself, Us Alone is a good listen; it provides...
If history has proven anything, it has proven that David Bowie has been most regularly at his best when he's rocking out a grand statement and challenging what his fans expect of him musically. This trend has been the rule for decades; every time Bowie has changed...