It's really interesting to read a discussion about Tug Of War without much mention of what an abominable song "Ebony and Ivory" is, which is exacerbated by how killer "What's That You're Doing" is. Noel's take on Tug of War is interesting, because when it came out in high school, my reaction then was somewhat akin to…

I like the album — the best songs have some smart arrangements and they use dynamics creatively. It does get a bit samey, and their next assignment is learning how to vary up tempos a bit more and build up their hooks even bigger.

I was really underwhelmed by their set at Pitchfork — Mayberry had great energy, but the songs did not stand out. But I'll check the album out based on this review.

Alexakis was talented, but wrote his lyrics in the same cadence on every song, so what was fresh soon became the same thing over and over and over. This has diminished the impact of Sparkle and Fade for me over the years, even though I recognize its quality.

When John Hughes came to prominence, I had just graduated from a high school in a tony suburban Chicago neighborhood. Most of his movies always seemed to be lacking something to me — I always felt that they came from an adult who still secretly wished he was one of the popular kids. I remember loathing The Breakfast…

I thought Cleveland's solo/Sandcastles' effort was uneven, but her guitar playing was a highlight, so it's no surprise it's being cited here. I need to check this record out.

I had never really paid attention to the lyrics of this song until my wife pointed them out to me. Since then, I have been unable to listen to the song. I don't think there is any ambivalence to the lyrics, particularly with the "like a black girl should" chorus line (and Jagger later added to this with the line about…

I'm a little unclear how the headline fits the piece, which doesn't really make the case for the song being secretly influential, but just tells the story of New Radicals.

Not quite — it has some recordings for private release albums he did for Meher Baba, which were being bootlegged. So Track Records asked him if they could release those. Instead, he took some of those recordings, some demos for Lifehouse songs that didn't make Who's Next and some other material, and that became Who…

It should be noted that Pete Townshend's first solo album was Who Came First, not Empty Glass. As Keith Moon was sliding downhill, his drumming was less central to The Who, as evidenced by the Who Are You album. I'm not sure if Face Dances would have been much different had Moonie still manned the kit. It's a solid…

Hopefully, all the time away has recharged his creative batteries as Outland and Opus were both pretty dire.

Oops — think I was going to type "was doing," changed it to "did" and failed in fully editing myself.

This has been a great year for music already. This summary names a bunch of records I really enjoy (and some to check out), and doesn't include terrific albums from Jessica Pratt, FFS, Ryley Walker, Gaz Coombes, Bill Fay, Courtney Barnett (most surprising omission), Disappears, Motor Sister, Songhoy Blues, Van Hunt…

Neil was did the reggae "Red Red Wine" on his 2012 tour too.

While "Love to Love You Baby" was groundbreaking, it still worked what were already familiar disco elements. "I Feel Love" is far and away Moroder's most important single record. It's the record that inspired Ron and Russell Mael to collaborate with him. Brian Eno heard it and told David Bowie he had heard the future…

The album sounds much better if you listen to it on a Pono player.

Actually, two songs written after Send (I overlooked "In Manchester", a real highlight on the new album) — Changes Become Us is all songs written in the late '70s.

For a band that allegedly is still making music that lives up to its past, it's interesting that the only post-Send song to make this list is a song written in the '70s. I think ever since Gilbert has left, Wire has become a lesser version of itself, pleasantly evoking its past without ever equaling it. Wire is at its…

Into The Unknown was the first Bad Religion album I ever heard, back in college. It's a fun record. I rediscovered the band with No Control, which is a pretty awesome album. Overall, a good piece, but I'm not keen on the whole "Brian Wilson harmonies" thing — BR has fine harmony vocals, but nothing that comes close to…

After the terrible job Jack White did producing Wanda Jackson, I think he shouldn't be allowed to produce any legends for a while. That being said, I thought that last ZZ Top album was very good — their best since Eliminator — and on par with White's two solo records.