I Pity the Country.

Presenting my 2021 Album of the Year.

Swear Eternal Devotion

Heavy is people.

Between Wrath and Mercy

Hayley Williams’ solo debut is an experimental triumph.

Potential Realized

It took a few tries, but the Haim sisters struck gold on their latest album.

Play Me a Song

Bob Dylan picked a good time to put out his best new music in many years.

Satan’s Coming ‘Round the Bend

Tribute albums are so overdone that it takes an extremely special one to command my attention, let alone buy. Especially a tribute to Black Sabbath. The Nativity in Black tribute albums in the 1990s really kicked the metal tribute album fad into high gear, and anyone attempting to pull off a similar tribute album now […]

Shut Up, Already. Damn!

As ubiquitous as Prince was in the 1980s (you could not escape the reach of his brilliant songs if you tried) I’ve always been a little behind the rest of the crowd when it comes to fully appreciating much of his work. I had 1999 on cassette back in 1984, I thought it was pretty […]

The 2019 Album of the Year

Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (Polydor/Interscope) Back in the mid-2010s I attended a panel discussion whose topic was something to the effect of, “Why are there no classic albums anymore, and what makes a true classic album?” There was a lot of good discussion, but the conversation kept drifting away from the crux of […]

The Best Tracks of 2019, #2

2. Lana Del Rey, “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – but I Have It” From the very beginning – that being “Video Games” – Lana Del Rey crafted one of the more unique styles of the decade, but although my admiration for her has been steadily growing over […]