After Frances the Mute, I honestly wasn’t sure if I particularly cared where the Mars Volta was going next. I found the album completely misguided — or maybe unguided is a more fitting word — and a sonic mess, as if the band simply threw together every chord progression andRead More

Lou Reed’s recent collaboration with Metallica found its share of detractors, and that criticism was apparently hard for the veteran rocker to absorb. You May Also Like: Lou Reed Head Faked His Fans Once Again With ‘Animal Serenade’ Metallica, “Hardwired” from Hardwired … to Self Destruct (2016): One Track Mind

The Dutch quartet Talking Cows never take themselves too seriously — see video below — but the non-nonsense modern jazz they make is no joke. Admirers of The Netherlands’ great jazz icon Misha Menglelberg, Talking Cows uses strong melodies that often masks the intricacies happening underneath, and an energetic, pliableRead More

It’s the emptying of a soul on a personal level. Or is it the soul of a nation, pleading to its citizenry? You May Also Like: Night Songs by Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, others: Odd Couples Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’

David Lee Roth has described Van Halen’s music as “whiskey in a paper cup,” recommending “short doses and not every night — please!” Now, he’s ready to go in depth on what makes their sound so special. You May Also Like: How Van Halen’s Jaw-Dropping First Album Ruined My SexRead More

Legendary Cream bassist Jack Bruce is part of a new supergroup, this one featuring Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid. Check them out here! You May Also Like: Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski, John Scofield – Hudson (2017) Tomeka Reid Quartet – ‘3+3’ (2024)

Styx fans remember well the year 1979 and Cornerstone, an album that began a decisive turn away from prog rock for the band — with its capstone moment being the epic ballad “Babe.” From there, it seems, the group was on a collision course You May Also Like: No relatedRead More

Brian Eno’s first vocal, “pop”-based album since 1990’s overlooked classic (in my opinion) Wrong Way Up with John Cale and also to Nerve Net, Another Day On Earth found Eno in much more ambient territory than one might expect from the description. Comparisons to 1992’s Nerve Net are likely moreRead More

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to ubiquitous sideman Kenny Aronoff You May Also Like: John Fogerty, LPT, Alan Parsons Project + Others: Five for the Road

My first thought upon listening to Warm Winter by Memories Of Machines was that it’s very similar to Steven Wilson’s softer side. My second thought was that the vocalist sounds an awful lot like Wilson’s old No-Man partner Tim Bowness. Turns out, it IS Tim Bowness singing. He formed thisRead More