Bela Fleck seemed surprised at not only the turnout, which was the biggest he said they’d ever had in Phoenix, but also the enthusiasm of the audience.

Jesus, seriously? I have a sense of humor but this is just absolute garbage. William Shatner’s 2004 project with rock piano great Ben Folds, Has Been, was actually an entertaining diversion — tongue fully in cheek, yet it had musical merit: serious fun. This is pure junk You May AlsoRead More

by Tom Johnson Somewhere out there, music fans cower in fear. The day has come again: Peter Gabriel returns with yet another album of orchestral covers! But fear not. This time he’s covering his own songs. You May Also Like: When Peter Gabriel Suddenly Decided to Open Up on ‘Us’

A bunch of cameras followed Jimi Hendrix around the festival in question — which was the debut of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the US — filming not only his performance but also a documentary about the man himself and the festival. This DVD included all of this, plus someRead More

by Tom Johnson It’s hard to believe that, in 2005, the voice of Iron Maiden was still able to pull it off. More than 20 years after joining Maiden in the wake of Paul Di’Anno’s dismissal, Dickinson was still the “air-raid siren” he had been back then — his voiceRead More

by Tom Johnson Ryan Adams regained the focus he had with 2000’s Heartbreaker and 2001’s Gold, turning out one of the strongest sets of music of his career here. What came through, even after a few spins, what grabbed me, was that behind the usual country tinges was a littleRead More

by Tom Johnson I have to be forgiven if I refer to this album as sounding like Frisell “getting back to his roots.” His roots, to me, are not necessarily his original sound but where I picked up with this great guitarist — the era in the early to mid-1990sRead More

by Tom Johnson Yep, you read that right: Dream Theater surprised their Barcelona, Spain audience in early 2002 with a song-by-song reading of the 1980s metal classic by Metallica, Master Of Puppets. You May Also Like: Metallica’s Remix of “Some Kind of Monster” Finally Fixed What’s Wrong With ‘St. Anger’Read More

by Tom Johnson A sadly overlooked band, the Trees got lumped in with the grunge movement in the early 1990s. What’s unfortunate is that, like fellow Seattlites Mudhoney, these guys were way better than what got popular. It’s a typical complaint, I know, but I dare you to listen toRead More

by Tom Johnson 2004’s Equatorial Stars seemed like a reunion after 12 years apart for these two ambient giants. After all, the last we’d heard from them was on Eno’s 1992 album Nerve Net, but little did we know that they’d been working together the entire time. This album pullsRead More