The resurgence of the horror genre was in full swing by 1981, and the slasher subgenre led the way. It was also a prime time for sequels, and the first one for Friday the 13th came out that spring. This time, however, it wasn't Mrs. Voorhees who was stalking the sex-crazed, heavy partying camp counselors,... Continue Reading →
Van Halen’s ‘Fair Warning’: A Track-by-Track Guide
According to the most hardcore of Van Halen fans, the fourth album, Fair Warning, is unquestionably their best. It's pretty safe to say I fall into that lot, so it only made sense for me to do a track-by-track of the record for Ultimate Classic Rock. The piece can be found here, but it's worth... Continue Reading →
Portrayal on The Simpsons Has Morrissey Furious
It’s typically an honor to be parodied in one way or the other on The Simpsons, but legendary alt-rock moper Morrissey thinks otherwise following the long-running cartoon taking deep aim at his career, beliefs and lifestyle this past Sunday. It’s made for one of the most controversial episodes in the program’s history. For those unfamiliar,... Continue Reading →
25 Years Ago: How ‘Humans Being’ Spelled Disaster for Van Halen and Sammy Hagar
It was really going downhill in early 1996 for Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, and the drama surrounding "Humans Being," a song they initially did for the soundtrack to the film Twister, was the final straw for the second era of the band. Over at Ultimate Classic Rock, I did a deep dive on just... Continue Reading →
Roundtable: The Last Great, Last Good and First Bad Iron Maiden Album
Iron Maiden are one of the most consistent bands when it comes to putting out solid albums, but they've had some that weren't quite top shelf and others one could consider straight up clunkers. Earlier this week, over at Ultimate Classic Rock, a group of us got together to put forth our thoughts on the... Continue Reading →
Master of ‘Is This Reality?’ Interviewing Tony Iommi
It's not every day you get to interview a veritable music legend, but that's what happened this week when I got the chance to sit down with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. One of the things I've not been doing lately is taking on that many feature assignments due to the tight deadline of my... Continue Reading →
Girl Smashes Guitar on Live Television and the Internet Loses Its Mind
Making her debut as the musical act on Saturday Night Live last weekend, Phoebe Bridgers has spent recent days since facing a public skewering that would be laughable if it weren’t so misplaced and wildly off base. The Grammy nominated singer-songwriter raised the ire of many for committing what they saw as a cardinal sin... Continue Reading →
What Exactly Were Def Leppard Going on About in the Song ‘Rocket’ Anyway?
Whether you love or hate Def Leppard, there's no denying how huge they were for a stretch beginning in the mid-80s through the early 90s. And never were they more popular than with the release of the 1987 album Hysteria, which spawned an impressively ridiculous seven singles. The final one, "Rocket," came out in January... Continue Reading →
Grammys Reschedule Likely a Sign of Things to Come
It was announced this week the 63rd annual Grammy Awards would be shifting its ceremony scheduled for later this month to the middle of March. While the move isn’t completely unexpected, given the ramped up spread of Covid-19 in Los Angeles where the event is set to take place, it may very well be a... Continue Reading →
Class of 1981: 81 Albums Turning 40 in 2021
Anniversaries are nothing new when it comes to music writing. It helps quite a bit during dry times when there isn't much else happening in the industry. That's been the case over the past several months due to the pandemic, and it will be for many more to come unfortunately. The silver lining is there's... Continue Reading →