And "Citadel", which is so chaotic and aggressive that The Damned and (IIRC) Red Kross were both inspired to cover it.

I think the point was just to see if anyone was paying even the slightest bit of attention to the lyrics, and if they were, whether they cared at all.

I'd argue that '71 was the first year they all coexisted, but '73 was when they truly converged. Think about it - "Berlin" was a half-orchestral concept album by a proto-punk legend. "A Wizard/A True Star" was soft rock on speed and acid. "For Your Pleasure" was a perfect synthesis of glam, psychedelia and minimalism.…

It's all about the phrasing and the absolutely perfectly balance of EQ and super-dry distortion. The way it snaps and bleats around like a pissed-off rubber snake.

"Widely imitated" and "generic" are not exactly the same thing…..

The Mellow Mafia presence on Zevon's albums is sort of akin to the regular people in "Borat", in a way…..

"Studied" and "rudeness" going together is a flashback to another age now - Rudeness is basically default human behaviour now, but its a cheap, oblivious knockoff of the truth-in-your-face defiance from whince the concept originates.

Right, the band that intentionally played R&B busier and denser than necessary invented punk, as opposed to, I dunno, its exact opposite?

How White People Invented Black People

And punching women.

The Flamin' Groovies! Basically half of CSNY's "Deja Vu"!

It always amazes me how much more generous critics are willing to be in their assessment of The Stones' respect for what they were doing at the time when it comes to country than psychedelia. You can argue that parts of TSMR simply don't work very well, but that's not the same as being insincere. As someone who…

I'm just going to take this opportunity to post my favorite throwaway joke I've ever written with the intention of sticking it into any context I can figure out how to make it work in: "Brought to you by Kellogg's Clash Flakes - "The Only Bran That Matters!" Part of this complete control!"

I have the musical ear of a golden retriever on acid and I still don't buy this myth about the fidelity of that first record being a distraction. All you need to make it sound amazing is a good turntable, a good pair of speakers, a good space and a bad attitude.

Oh no, I fully intended that as a serious catalyst for further thought-provoking discussion. The same way the guy from Taxi Driver apparently cares deeply enough about me and all of us to provide his eloquently worded and totally on-topic insights here as well. But…..hey, I guess I pulled a Homer on this one…..

I mean, unless you're just "in character" like cookie monster or somebody, then I guess it's cool. Just make sure you don't, you know, inspire somebody to assassinate St. Vincent or something……

You know, I could almost see myself apologizing and saying something diplomatic about differences of opinion and moderation and not letting one's private insecurities spill over into public discourse, but…..nnno, you're still harder to take seriously than me here. I sincerely meant to delete that comment, but my…

No it doesn't. I have met dozens of people in real life who are college students, but look exactly like eight-year-old girls, including at college. This may have something to do with the fact that I was studying animation. There seems to be a connection between quiet, private, nerdy professional vocations and people…

If you listen to Mike Reiss' commentary on anything ever, you want to scream "JUST TAKE A FUCKING ALLEGRA ALREADY!!!" after about five seconds.

"The Dr. Colossus bits - which are really Family Guy-style humour except not as funny".