Beastie Boys as a rap act started out as parody (with "Cookie Puss"), and fairly quickly morphed into something more real — an affectionate piss-take ("Rock Hard" and "She's On It") that added rock elements that were also in Run-D.M.C. pre-Rick Rubin, but much more steeped in rock tradition. Licensed To Ill was a…

I just wish that this interview could have covered more songs. HEAVN is such a great album (or mixtape, I get confused sometimes what to call it).

The first one that comes to mind for me is Spike Lee's use of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" in Malcolm X, as Malcolm is walking to the scene of his assassination.

Movie I'm most surprised to see on here: Burn After Reading, a really uneven film.
Movie I'd rate much higher: Ghost World. One of the best movies of any genre since 2000. A truly incisive take on the impact of consumerism on humanity.

I think The Cable Guy's biggest problem is that, despite its interesting concept, it wasn't consistently funny. But Carrey and crew deserved credit for trying something different.

My favorite hidden Monkees' gem: "P.O. Box 9847", a Boyce & Hart song that appears on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees. Great Mickey vocal.

I'd go a bit lower down the literary food chain than Mr. King, but that's a really good analogy. Schon, Perry and company were certainly master craftsman. Probably the most successful Journey wannabes were Survivor, who started off more as a power pop act (their self-titled debut foreshadowed the hits band leader Jim…

I can buy that Journey had some good songs, and pros like Schon and co. were certainly blessed with craftsmanship. But claiming that Journey was in any way touched by greatness would be like arguing that McDonald's makes great food, because it's still so popular years down the road.

Wow — based on that statement, I'd be curious to know what rock music/artists you like. Just for the sake of context.

I feel like there may be one missing piece is this pretty darn good essay. There have always been artists who the rock critic orthodoxy just missed. For example, the first Rolling Stone Record Guide (red cover) totally slagged bands like AC/DC and Black Sabbath and gave the first Clash LP 3 stars, with a dismissive…

Always nice to see a piece celebrating Cheap Trick, but this could use some severe editing. There are lots of nagging little mistakes, critical inconsistencies (ex. — if All Shook Up is a disappointing album, why is it represented by three cuts on this list?), and leaves out facts that could make this more interesting…

1. All four members of the classic lineup of Sweet sang lead on various songs — Brian Connolly was the lead singer, but both guitarist Andy Scott and bass player Steve Priest would get a turn now and then. And after Connolly was booted from the band, drummer Mick Tucker got a couple of turns at the mike, while Scott…

I think that the consensus is that Ace's album was the best of the bunch. I haven't listened to it in ages, but I recall it being a solid rock album with abysmal lyrics. It definitely was the only one to get good reviews at the time of its release.

A better Randy Newman choice would have been his Electric Light Orchestra take down, "The Story of a Rock 'n' Roll Band".

Great piece. If folks would like a slightly more accessible entry point to Game Theory, Omnivore also reissued the earlier The Real Nighttime, the band's first album, which is also pretty great.

About all that Girl on a Train has in common with Gone Girl is both novels have Girl in the title. Girl on a Train is a rather poorly conceived mystery, with, admittedly, a great set up, grounded in an annoying protagonist who is as stupid or smart as the narrative demands at the time, with a resolution that is…

Riptide's a decent album, but not really Palmer's artistic peak. Sneaking Sally Through the Alley is probably the best of his early albums, and what immediately preceded Riptide might be his best — Clues, where he began to work with electronic instrumentation, and the follow up Pride, are both terrific albums.

The final Harvey Danger album, Little By Little, is really good, highlighted by the excellent "Little Round Mirrors": https://www.youtube.com/wat…

Back when Dave Kehr was the film critic for the Chicago Reader, he wrote about The Producers, "not only the first picture [Brooks] directed, but evidently the first he'd ever seen." Many people cite The Producers as a classic, but like Kehr, I find the movie to be a poorly directed, overly amped (acting-wise)…

In addition to the cast mentioned in the review, Sparks appears and performs a song called "The Final Derriere".