the one after the big one

Sophomore slumps disappoint for any number of reasons, but perhaps mostly because he or she who does the slumping had raised expectations too high, expectations that the follow-up in question could not meet, to the disappointment of all involved. Rickie...

In 1976, David Bowie was on a commercial roll, particularly in the U.S., where in the short span of two years he had placed three studio albums and one double live record into the Top Ten (including STATION TO STATION...

In the late '80s and early '90s, a cloud of uber-Sincerity (with a capital S) wafted into the pop consciousness and conscience. It was a big cloud—some of the biggest artists in the pop pantheon were not content to merely...

It is almost certain that Led Zeppelin did not know when they recorded LED ZEPPELIN IV (or ZOSO or UNTITLED or THE ONE AFTER LED ZEPPELIN III or whatever you want to call it), that they were making a set...

Aretha Franklin had some modest success as a singer of standards and torch songs, during her tenure with Columbia Records in the early- and mid-'60s, but it wasn't until she signed with Atlantic Records in 1967 that she found her...

Long considered one of the most innovative and critically acclaimed American bands, Talking Heads also became among the most popular, with the commercial breakthrough of 1983's SPEAKING IN TONGUES and the tour that supported it (captured on the STOP MAKING...

In her earliest days as a performer on a national stage, Emmylou Harris cast her lot with hippie cowboys like Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, performers who had both a reverence for tradition and the propensity for discarding...

The things that distinguished Stone Temple Pilots from their grunge brethren were two-headed song- and riff-writing monster known as the DeLeo brothers (bassist Robert and guitarist Dean) and the magnetic allure of charismatic front man Scott Weiland. The band's debut...

Among the arena rock monsters who did the Godzilla stomp across the U.S. in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Foreigner had two formidable powers. Guitarist Mick Jones, whose gift for melody and cool riffs powered songs that remain on...