I don't find the whole album as consistent as Accelerate, but "All the Best" is certainly among the best farewell songs ever. Then again, not many bands go into their final album knowing it'll be a final album or inclined to acknowledge it as such.

The songs are entirely wrong for the period (early '60s), since the Cruisers sound simply couldn't have come into being without the DNA that mid/late-70s Springsteen was able to mine from the British Invasion, etc. Eddie's supposed to be forward-thinking for the time, but, as weird as it sounds, it might have made…

The songs are entirely wrong for the period (early '60s), since the Cruisers sound simply couldn't have come into being without the DNA that mid/late-70s Springsteen was able to mine from the British Invasion, etc. Eddie's supposed to be forward-thinking for the time, but, as weird as it sounds, it might have made…

Isn't Maureen's performance art supposed to be insufferable, though? Performance art is seldom depicted onscreen as anything but self-indulgent silliness, and the same goes here, I think—I can't imagine Larson intended this "cow jumped over the moon" stuff as genius. The main disconnect is that, in this case, her…

Isn't Maureen's performance art supposed to be insufferable, though? Performance art is seldom depicted onscreen as anything but self-indulgent silliness, and the same goes here, I think—I can't imagine Larson intended this "cow jumped over the moon" stuff as genius. The main disconnect is that, in this case, her…

My first, too, but that was mostly a matter of timing (it was new at the time).  It's good, but I'd give the edge to Shoot Out the Lights or I Want to See the Bright Lights as the best starting album.

I found Murder Ballads (along with Live Seeds) to be a pretty good place to start, as well.

Probably not.  As mentioned in the article, copyright protects expression, not ideas.  From the U.S. Copyright Code:

Considering Brownstein was talking about The Clash and not, say, Earthquake Weather, if you adjust for decades accordingly, shouldn't that be more like "Do you think some dumb kid is thinking that he needs Sleater-Kinney now as much as we needed Joe Strummer in 1990?"

I believe Reynolds includes that definition (or an etymology - I can't remember right now) early in the chapter, but in all fairness to Rizov, Reynolds jumps around a lot. When he gets to that throwaway line about Thurston Moore, it's not entirely clear that his problem is the one that you point out. I like your…

Yeah, I wondered how he, as a rock historian of sorts, squares his own participation in this recycling process. He acknowledges his complicity in the introduction and does attempt to set some parameters around the concepts of "retro" and "nostalgia."

Yeah, Magic and Loss was a beauty - a quality continuation from New York and Songs for Drella. Weirdly, it's not just the last Lou Reed album I loved, but the last Lou Reed album I even remotely liked.

On one episode of Spectacle from last season, Mary Louise Parker played "host" to "special guest" Elvis Costello. It was a little Chris Farley Show in execution, since she's obviously a big fan, but it wasn't bad.

My college band opened for Reigndance once in 94 or 95, and they sounded quite a bit different than they did on the show - a lot more Soul Asylum/Jayhawks. Nice guys, actually. The first thing Andre did when he got to the bar was request that the "Featuring Andre from The Real World" banner be taken down. He and…

If you think the name is what's stopping Fucked Up from reaching a broader commercial audience, you either haven't listened to Fucked Up or haven't listened to any commercial rock ever. Sure, the music might be straightforward, but Abraham's vocals will always limit their listenership way more than their name will.

Thompson made the right move in recording Dream Attic in front of a live audience, since the stage brings out his best, but 9th and F is right: he hasn't released a totally solid album of originals since Mock Tudor. The best Thompson releases of the past 10 years have been the big, live box set (mostly older stuff),…

Similarly, due to lyrics that are a lot more "boy with girl trouble" than "rainbows and happiness," I'd be inclined to put the Left Banke/Montage in more of the baroque pop category with Odessey and Oracle. But I acknowledge the distinction is pretty arguable, since the music still sounds pretty sunny (as Noel…

I've talked to other folks about this and it seems that Crying barely ever works its magic on the first read. You have to let it wash over you and go back in to pick up the plot. Luckily, it's just barely novel length.

Portrait of the Artist is the more important preparatory text for Ulysses, character-wise, since the Dubliners characters who recur in Ulysses are in very minor roles, but Stephen's one of the main characters.

But sometimes I go by "Thierry."