I never felt the need to read anything beyond The Devil and the White City, as the dual narratives didn't work for me. As it turned out, the lurid, serial killer story was thin, because Larson didn't apparently have a whole lot of material to work with on the historical record, while the World's Fair half was…

My years in retail music coincided with hair metal's peak. Almost every band had one song doctored single that was listenable, but most of that music was so dire. The one thing I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around is Motley Crue getting even one ounce of respect. They were one of the worst, as any band with…

Really nice essay. Just a side note — I took a seminar class on racism in various cultures, and actually read The Clansman, a repulsive piece of work. The Birth Of A Nation is quite toned down compared to the source novel, just to give you an idea of how terrible The Clansman is.

This song is basically Reunion's "Life Is A Rock" using historical events rather than pop artists for lyrics. It's a terrible song (and recently, I think Billy may have acknowledged that in concert) undeserving of this piece of hagiography.

No, they don't — the whole notion of a one hit wonder is one solitary hit. And there are many, many examples of that.

FWIW, Katrina and the Waves weren't a one hit wonder — they had three Billboard pop Top 40 hits, with "Do You Want Crying" hitting number 37 and "That's the Way" hitting number 16. That may not make Ms. Leskanich's album essential, but it makes the headline inaccurate. And none of this, "they only had one hit that…

Really nice piece. A lot of this show, which was my favorite show when I was 10, hasn't aged well, but the comic energy and likeability of the performers is still evident.

Great to see Thurston giving some love to J. Geils Band.

It's just great to read a new Noel Murray piece on music in the A.V. Club. And very nice to see some love for Brian Wilson's first solo record, which is chock full of gems (such as the Jeff Lynne collaboration "Let It Shine" and the achingly beautiful "Melt Away"). It's a shame his subsequent solo albums haven't been…

The grade is a B, but the text of the review seems better suited for a higher grade. And this episode does deserve a higher grade. As noted in the review, this ep blends the approach of the first two eps, melding specific and universal. This was the funniest of the three episodes by far. And I also want to note that…

I think Let It Be was a great album, and Christgau really hit upon what made it great — the band wasn't putting on airs, just doing what felt right, which encompassed such a wide range. But in attempting to make the record into a grander statement than it was ever intended to be, the writer here grasps at a number of…

Actually, Bobby Moynihan is a good comparison point to Bryant. Rarely do they get inside their characters, instead preferring to mug their way into the audience's heart.

The opening sketch was very poor. Bryant's delivery was poor and the whole bit was not well conceived. I don't understand the kind words for her — she is one of the those performers who is just begging for laughs instead of getting into character. B- is overly kinds for this episode.

Glad to see that someone else thinks The Bone Clocks may be better than Cloud Atlas. Cloud Atlas is a great book, but it threatens to dwarf Mitchell's other achievements, as his last three novels have all been great too.

Many years ago, WBBM TV in Chicago would do a Sunday night Chicago Bears highlights show and the music bed for the intro was Didjits' "Under the Christmas Fish", which was perfect to accompany a montage of hard hits. It would also be great entrance music for a closer in baseball. http://www.youtube.com/watc…

"Under Pressure" was a stand alone single that was later tacked onto Hot Space. Great to see a piece on a band that still doesn't get the critical respect it deserves. I'd place The Game right after A Night At The Opera in the Queen canon — an amazing pop album. And I'd rank some of their later work a bit more kindly…

Big Star was influential on power pop, but since they were so unsuccessful in their time, their initial influence is overstated in comparison to acts like The Raspberries, who actually charted. Indeed, although Big Star rocked in spots, they didn't really have down the '60s pop influence/heavier guitar and rhythm…

Mott The Hoople had some cool self-referential songs, such as "The Ballad of Mott The Hoople" and "Hymn For The Dudes".

Listened to the first three tracks of this LP last night on a stream — don't get the Morrissey comparisons at all. Just sounded like generic pop-punk.

Just looked at the nominees in both categories — wow, you are so right. Apparently that was a poor year for originality?