Maybe because it’s the first Pink Floyd-related solo album I ever bought, but also because it came between two Roger Waters-heavy releases (Animals and then The Wall), this has always been a sleeper favorite for me. It’s a loose record, with some interesting instrumentals, never didactic — and anything butRead More

My favorite period of Genesis’ history — the years just after the iconic Peter Gabriel had left the group, when the band shouldn’t have been able to be a success, but drummer Phil Collins stepped up the mic and brought his own brand of iconic, if short, stature to theRead More

From its first dramatic rat-a-tat, this undulating rhythm signature that plays off a driving acoustic riff, “Northern Lights” moves with a persistent ardor. Alex Wand’s vocal runs in tandem, even as the drums recede into the background, until he has finally, definitively captured the center of the song. It’s onlyRead More

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Toto co-founder and legendary sessions guitarist Steve Lukather. He provides insight into “I Won’t Hold You Back” and “I’ll Be Over You,” You May Also Like: Steve Lukather, “Someone” from ‘Bridges’ (2023): OneRead More

by Tom Johnson I am convinced that Wainwright is this generation’s finest melodist. I can’t think of a single young artist who so beautifully crafts vocals in such a way that it simply doesn’t matter what he’s singing about: You just want to hear the melody he’s singing. And thereRead More

Steve Lukather discusses the complicated history of Toto’s lead singers, and why he still keeps a copy of ‘Meet the Beatles’ in heavy rotation – even today.

If “Past, Present and Future” from drummer/composer Aaron Comess, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated, 10-million album-selling Spin Doctors, sounds like two people talking at once, that’s kind of the point. You May Also Like: Zig Zag Power Trio, Aaron Comess, Sofia Trio + Others: Five for the Road MarkRead More

by Tom Johnson It’s hard not to wonder how bassist Gerard Smith’s fight with cancer during the recording of Nine Types of Light affected the group. After all, the end result is a decidedly different affair than past TV On The Radio efforts, sounding all the more mature and, admittedly,Read More

I don’t know how many Steely Dan fans are also into country music, but “Brooklyn” showed the two seemingly opposed passions could co-exist quite nicely.

by Tom Johnson Aimee Mann, the former ‘Til Tuesday frontwoman, turned in yet another amazing performance, this time in the form of a concept album centered on boxing as a metaphor for relationships. Or something like that. It doesn’t really matter; what matters was that Mann’s songcraft is once againRead More