by Mark Saleski MTV Unplugged. It was an interesting show (heck, it was an interesting network, back when the ‘M’ actually stood for “music”). Can an artist/band deal with going ‘naked,’ the protective cover of studio sheen stripped away? You May Also Like: How Seals and Crofts’ Heartfelt Stand onRead More

by Mark Saleski I pride myself on knowing a fair amount about music. Of course, what this really means is that I’ve spent way too many hours sitting around listening to records — while no doubt thumbing through some rock publication … Rolling Stone, Creem, etc.) What you might notRead More

by Tom Johnson It’s not so difficult to imagine Skinny Puppy continuing to exist through the mid-90s – most of the solo output of the members over that period actually sounded more like Skinny Puppy than the band’s own “final” album You May Also Like: Why Pop Will Eat Itself’sRead More

by Fred Phillips In the circle of music fans that I normally find myself in, mentioning Poison is usually not a good idea. Bands with poof hair and makeup — unless, of course, it’s corpse paint — will usually get you laughed out of the conversation. You May Also Like:Read More

by Mark Saleski Smack in the middle of the initial Norah Jones explosion (remember? When it seemed like the radio was tryin’ to brainwash you by playing “Don’t Know Why” every 20 minutes or so You May Also Like: How Norah Jones Examined a Deep Hurt on ‘… Little BrokenRead More

by Mark Saleski Superfluous. Meaningless. Pointless. Redundent. Obligatory. No, I haven’t been playing with my thesaurus. These are just some of the words that are often used to describe live recordings. You May Also Like: Classic Rock Songs Sung by the Other Guy: Gimme Five How Tesla’s ‘Real to Reel’Read More

by Tom Johnson I am fully prepared to admit that I am wrong when I am wrong. I’m just not wrong that often, not about music. But, in this case, I’ve been wrong about John Mayer. You May Also Like: Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile – Continuum (2016) Thom Yorke – SpittingRead More

by Something Else Reviews It’s true, as Randy Newman once impishly sang, they were six fine English boys who knew each other in Birmingham. After that, things got tricky for the Electric Light Orchestra. Despite an impressive string of 1970s hits, they became an easy target. People knocked the strings.Read More

by Something Else Reviews Call them a guilty pleasure. (We have.) But the truth is, there’s more to Hall and Oates than the sum of their blow-dried caricature. So, we set about looking for tunes that made some points: That they brilliantly connected the dots between new wave and andRead More

by Something Else Reviews We attempted to give ourselves some cover by assuring one another that Spyro Gyra started out more in the vein of Weather Report than, say, David Sanborn. We really did. But, after pulling out the actual albums, it didn’t take long to see how baldly ridiculousRead More