There's a certain irony in the fact that, in recent years, the musical genre least toyed and tampered with, rearranged or otherwise altered and mutated has been pop. Seriously – pop has historically been the most conventionally accessible of any music but, now, the kid gloves immediately go on to ensure that pop tarts reign unchallenged at the top of the media exposure food chain. The upside to that for those who aren't huge on what is generically known as...

The psychology behind a musician's “second time around” band is always a capricious beast. When a player (or singer) who already cut his teeth or made his name in another band that enjoyed some fame strikes out on his own, he's left with a choice of how he wants to approach his music: he can hedge his bets and play off the strengths he established in the public eye before, or he can try and throw some distance between himself...

Where does the line between 'art' and 'farce' get drawn? That might sound like a cynical or priggish question, but it becomes perfectly valid when one considers the idea of side project endeavors made by the members of an established band. The question is further legitimized when the number of side project releases exceeds the number of proper full-length albums that a band has released, and even further still when members previously relegated to the position of “sidemen” follow suit...

It sounds contrary to contend this, but some musical mixtures are more easily imagined than executed and, most often, the simplest and most straightforward combinations are the most troublesome to successfully carry off. A perfect example of an idea that seems simple in theory but proves not to be so simple in practice is the mixture of rock, punk and soul. Sure – lots of bands have tried to make such a mix work, and occasionally they're able to pull...

Hey there alla youse, So I was gone for a week and I think it's showin' on ya a bit – yer lookin' like you've got that itch, junkie. How ya feelin'? Didja miss me? Ya need yer fix? 'At's what I thought – I figured if I went away, you'd start feelin' it. Don' worry, I didn't do it to make a point, I was just on vacation. When I got back from my holidays inna sun, I found...

The frustrating thing about semantics is that, as clear and straightforward as one might try to be, it may still be taken the wrong way. As an example of just how a term may be misunderstood, take the phrase 'classic rock record.' For some readers, seeing the words 'classic rock record' will call to mind images and thoughts of Led Zeppelin IV, Harvest Moon by Neil Young, “The White Album” by The Beatles, Exile On Main Street by The Rolling...

A month ago I listed the artists I thought were the most overrated in rock music. Among the many responses I got to that were a number of people who wanted to know what I thought were the most underrated artists. The problem with attempting to compile such a list is that there are just too many to choose from. Every band which I love and you have never heard of (and believe me, there are plenty) is, almost by...

A month ago I listed the artists I thought were the most overrated in rock music. Among the many responses I got to that were a number of people who wanted to know what I thought were the most underrated artists. The problem with attempting to compile such a list is that there are just too many to choose from. Every band which I love and you have never heard of (and believe me, there are plenty) is, almost by...

Remember when, about seven years ago, Yellowcard decided to take songs-about-girls punk the extra mile, added a violinist as a full-time member of the band and made all the 'tween punks in training bras a little misty? It was fantastic timing and Yellowcard lived high on the hog for a little while. The Yellowcard phenomenon was interesting to watch for a minute but, after their fans reached/finished puberty, it was all over; Yellowcard lost all of its' market presence and...

Some questions simply require answers – no matter how hard people contemplate them. Like, doesn't everyone want to know what purpose Stonehenge serves? Doesn't everyone want to know if we're alone in the universe? Is there a god? What happens to us when we die? All of those are perfectly valid questions, but my own most pressing question at the moment regards where the value lies in pressing music into just one side of a record and leaving the other...