Music reviews and criticism

Two and a half decades on, Jawbreaker's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993-94) is the rare album to have lost none of its original loyalty, affection, and reverence.

Transformer, Lou Reed's most enduringly popular album, is described with varying labels: it's often called a glam rock album, a proto-punk album, a commercial breakthrough for Lou Reed, and an album about being gay.

Hailed as a "e;quiet masterpiece"e; upon release, Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out proposed a radical new future for rock music.

Carole King's Tapestry is both an anthemic embodiment of second-wave feminism and an apotheosis of the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter sound and scene.

In Janelle Monae's full-length debut, the science fiction concept album The ArchAndroid, the android Cindi Mayweather is on the run from the authorities for the crime of loving a human.

The Isley Brothers' 3+3, dissects The Isleys' 50-year-old undisputed masterwork, an album that firmly established their music dynasty on a global scale, as well as heralding the boldest run of genre-defiant albums of their 67-year career.

Having designed Roxy Music as an haute couture suit hand-stitched of punk and progressive music, Bryan Ferry redesigned it.

In 1958, an anonymous group of overworked and under-budgeted BBC employees set out to make some new sounds for radio and TV.

Come to My Garden (1970) introduced the world to Minnie Riperton, the solo artist.

In 1958, an anonymous group of overworked and under-budgeted BBC employees set out to make some new sounds for radio and TV.

More than 40 years after her death, the legend of Maria Callas, "e;La Divina Assoluta,"e; remains unsurpassed.

In 1991, a loose-knit collective released a record called Blue Lines under the name Massive Attack, splicing together American hip-hop and soul with the sounds of the British underground.

This is the definitive chronicle of Ministry's 1988 industrial rock release, The Land of Rape and Honey, that details the zeitgeist where post-punk, metal, funk and straight-up noise converge.

This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer.

In the '80s, the Birmingham, England, band Duran Duran became closely associated with new wave, an idiosyncratic genre that dominated the decade's music and culture.

In 1991, Metallica released their fifth studio album that would become known and beloved around the world as "e;The Black Album.

By 1976, Elton John was the best-selling recording artist and the highest-grossing touring act in the world.

The Suburbs is an incredibly sentimental and nostalgic album, which generally moved critics but was jarring to others.

Shelved for over 20 years, Sam Cooke's Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, stands alongside Otis Redding's Live in Europe and James Brown's Live at the Apollo as one of the finest live soul albums ever made.

Ian Bostridge is one of the outstanding singers of our time, celebrated for the quality of his voice but also for the exceptional intelligence he brings to bear on the interpretation of the repertoire of the past and present alike.

Black-oriented radio emerged after World War II.

Everyone wanted Madonna's 1992 album Erotica to be a scandal.

Dwight E.

Welsh post-punk band Young Marble Giants released one LP in 1980 and then, like their vanishing portraits on the album's cover, disappeared.

Following the success of their instantly iconic double LP, London Calling, The Clash set out to do something "e;triply outrageous.

Breaking the global record for streams in a single day, nearly 10 million people around the world tuned in to hear Kendrick Lamar's sophomore album in the hours after its release.

The iconic Black rock band Living Colour's Time's Up, released in 1990, was recorded in the aftermath of the spectacular critical and commercial success of their debut record Vivid.

In 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees declared 'We don't see ourselves in the same context as other rock'n'roll bands.

As immediately believable as they were cartoonish, as much an inner city cipher as a suburban boys gang, the foursome that made up the Pharcyde were the most relatable MCs to ever pass the mic.

Every now and then, a song inspires a cultural conversation that ends up looking like a brawl.

In 1991, a loose-knit collective released a record called Blue Lines under the name Massive Attack, splicing together American hip-hop and soul with the sounds of the British underground.

A discussion of White Limozeen, from Dolly's self-fashioning to a rigorous critique of her genre.

It's hard to think of a solo female recording artist who has been as revered or as reviled over the course of her career as Tori Amos.

From male bisexuality to religion in pop, Little Richard spent the 1950s pioneering ideas that are still too challenging for the mainstream.

It's hard to think of a solo female recording artist who has been as revered or as reviled over the course of her career as Tori Amos.

Britney Spears barely survived 2007.

So much, popular and scholarly, has been written about the synthesizer, Bob Moog and his brand-name instrument, and even Wendy Carlos, the musician who made this instrument famous.

For the first time EVER, global superstars One Direction are releasing their 100% official autobiography, offering a new, intimate insight into their lives as never before seen or heard!

Dwight E.

This book charts the emergence of Kate Bush in the early-to-mid-1980s as a courageous experimentalist, a singularly expressive recording artist and a visionary music producer.

Computer World was Kraftwerk's most concise and focused conceptual statement, their most influential record and crowning achievement.

Hangin' Tough, the second album by the New Kids on the Block, has sold more than seventeen million copies worldwide since it was released in 1988.

In this exploration of Cocteau Twins' quintessential album, Chris Tapley traces lines in all directions from Blue Bell Knoll to paint a revealing portrait of the enigmatic trio and their career-long struggles with self-doubt, stubborn principles, and pure experimentation.

The Wild Tchoupitoulas is a definitive expression of the modern New Orleans sound.

In 1989, Bob Mould took a left turn.

When 20-year-old Odetta Holmes-classically trained as a vocalist and poised to become "e;the next Marian Anderson"e;-veered away from both opera and musical theater in favor of performing politically charged field hollers, prison songs, work songs, and folk tunes before mixed-race audiences in 1950s coffee houses, she was making one of the most portentous decisions in the history of both American music and Civil Rights.

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility.

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility.

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility.

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility.