“Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was a Top 5 hit in part because Steely Dan didn’t cut corners – especially when it came to the drummer.

Supertramp was many things over its too-brief period of hitmaking — art-rockish proggers, post-Beatle popsters, kinda-classical rockers, memory-defining radio monoliths. There was much to love as they moved, over the course of the early-1970s to the early-1980s, from the esoteric to the very top of the charts You May AlsoRead More

by Tom Johnson It had been four long years since Ween graced us with a new album of weirdness. In that time, they did slip out the fantastic Shinola Vol. 1, a collection of odds and ends that includes their Pizza Hut jingle that apparently didn’t go over so wellRead More

As I drove down the hill into our town last night, I looked up at the horizon to see the mountains, usually nice and green, wrapped in an odd haze of gray. At 7PM, it was still 90 degrees. You May Also Like: How Beach Boys Found the Sun AgainRead More

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Steve Smith, who’s had memorable tenures with Journey and Jean-Luc Ponty and now leads the fusion jazz group Vital Information. You May Also Like: When Jean Luc Ponty Made a Triumphant Return WithRead More

Natural History, out now on eOne Music, is just the the second J.D. Souther solo effort in 25 years — following 2008’s If The World Was You. That curious quietude from such a talented creative voice has only deepened Souther’s essential anonymity You May Also Like: JD Souther – ‘IfRead More

Steve Smith discusses the anniversary of his jazz band Vital Information, and an amazing career that includes stops with Journey, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ronnie Montrose and the Buddy Rich Big Band.

by Mark Saleski Ron Wood was still a member of The Faces when he put out I’ve Got My Own Album To Do. This live recording (and DVD) is from that tour, featuring Wood on guitar, Faces buddy Ian McLagan, and even an appearance by Rod Stewart. Future Rolling StonesRead More

by Tom Johnson I like to think of Isis as the band that Tool wishes it could be. Call me jaded, but by this time, Tool had become entangled in plots created to baffle and obfuscate rather than intrigue and draw listeners in, being what they think is clever butRead More

I wrote a Friday Morning Listen that was a mashup of Joe Jackson, Bruce, Clarence, and Fellini. I was nervous about a bunch of things that day, not the least of which was the health of Clarence. You May Also Like: Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and theRead More