Sometimes the only truth that really matters is that the truth and genuine nature of a record may never be known. Particularly when a band gets as big as Nirvana did with the release of Nevermind in 1991, it's very tempting to obscure truths, events and plans because they're inconvenient; at a certain level, everyone wants to believe in inevitability, if only to validate their own view. Some of the facts about Nirvana's debut album have never been disputed or...

It's nice to know that, sometimes, old ideas and ways of working in the music business are still upheld by some bands. In the last fifteen years particularly, most music groups that are impatient to make an impact have embarked upon a standardized, accelerated growth curve but, perhaps because of that increased pace, fall apart or burn out faster too. Even as early as 1995, the question of over-ambitious creative over-reaching was being asked as Smashing Pumpkins released a sprawling...

The nature of fame, and the desire for it, has changed dramatically over the span of the last century. Once, professional artists in general, but musicians in particular were regarded as something special; they were viewed as having a unique talent that people were fascinated by – that they were able to coax something grand out of themselves that others felt but weren't necessarily able to articulate to their own satisfaction was viewed as a gift. In the twenty-first century...

It has been said that, after one has made his or her mark upon the world, all that can be done thereafter is either live up to it or try to live it down – depending on the impact that said mark made. In Norah Jones' case, she actually made her mark on her third album, Not Too Late, when the singer shucked all songwriting assistance and penned the whole record herself. Jones got personal lyrically and musically threw everything...

In spite of the fact that the very appearance of a new Creed album now – five years after the band's original dissolution and following the abysmal receptions of both Scott Stapp as a solo artist and Alter Bridge as an autonomous, creative entity – fairly smacks of an earnest attempt at career salvaging at best and bank account padding at worst, at least the band has the common decency to not coast or revisit “old glories” on Full Circle....

Anyone familiar with the arc that Pussy Galore/Blues Explosion/Heavy Trash frontman Jon Spencer's career has taken over the last twenty-four years will recognize the shape of, and get excited by, Midnight Soul Serenade – the guitarist's third full length release with Matt Verta-Ray as Heavy Trash. Both the album and the sound of it are familiar turns to the well-seasoned ear. For those that don't know, look at it this way: when Spencer's main squeeze Pussy Galore ended in 1990,...

Some moments are special for a select group of people because they just happened to be in the right head space to appreciate them when those events played out. Sometimes the combination of people, psychology and events just come together by chance; there's no possible way of knowing when that will happen. Some call it luck, others call it a curse but, either way, it changes all of them. One such occurrence was the rise and fall of Nirvana; even...

While almost everyone on the planet was able to catch the Pixies reunion on their “The Pixies Sell Out” tour, some of us (cough, me) weren’t able to. So, imagine my surprise when one of my favorite bands on the planet not only launched another tour, but a tour playing the entirety of Doolittle, arguably their greatest album. The catch with nostalgia tours, however, is that you never quite know what you’re going to get. Is it going to be...

Hello readers, It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I started listening, and enjoying, hardcore music. Though I’ve been listening to (mostly) punk rock for more than ten years, the hardcore element is a rather new addition…which is a bit odd when you think about it. After all, it’s a thin line between skate punk and hardcore… Whatever the case may be, I do know that bands like Minor Threat and F-Minus had a lot to do with the...

Conventional wisdom dictates that imitation is the highest form of flattery but, in the music business, such conduct is more likely to get you sued. Happily though, while Danish pop act The William Blakes may have dedicated their new album to Flaming Lips frontman and mastermind Wayne Coyne (in the liner notes, the dedication reads, “These are the songs we wrote for you. They are about you. All of them.”), the dozen songs comprise Wayne Coyne won't initiate legal action...