Today Tony K reveals his Top 10 list of Cameron Crowes Greatest Hits of songs used in the famed filmmakers movies as Tony looks at the Marriage Between Music and Movies.
- Read the full A Marriage Between Music and Movies Part III: Cameron Crowe's Top 10 Greatest Hits review
Today Anthony Kuzminski continues his countdown of Cameron Crowes Top 50 Greatest Hits with Part II counting down No 25. to No. 11 of the best songs used in Crowes films
- Read the full Cameron Crowe's Greatest Hits Part II (25-11) review
Few directors can paint pictures and weave it with music as elegantly as Crowe. He has a way of twisting the emotional tone of a single scene with a song or emphasizing a characters heightened emotions through song.
- Read the full A Marriage Between Music and Movies: Cameron Crowe's 'Greatest Hits' Part I (50-26) review
What differentiates filmmaking from novels is the ability to perfectly pinpoint emotions for which there are no words. You may not know it but Drive is more than 2011s best film, it is also the most transfixing and arousing soundtrack of 2011 as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Drive Original Motion Picture Soundtrack review
While others are trying to achieve sales plateaus, Matt Nathanson simply writes deeply personal songs and performs them with astounding conviction in concert. Matt Nathanson has achieved a level of success but he deserves more and more importantly you deserve to experience his music in your life.
- Read the full The Best of 2011: Matt Nathanson Live review
Ive been here for six weeks... where the hell were you? Morrissey crackled at the sold out crowd at the Congress Theater in Chicago. The show was originally scheduled to open his six week tour and instead, it served as the penultimate performance and what a performance it was.
- Read the full Morrissey Live at Congress Theater review
Watching this performance Rush has never been more alive or aware of their power and purpose and for this alone, Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland is an essential live music document. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Rush - Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD review
Inside Chicagos Metro nightclub a dramatic detour on the pop landscape by Patrick Vaughn Stump is taking place. Instead of the baseball cap wearing front man, were confronted with a slick and sleek sight not familiar to many. (4 stars)
- Read the full Tony K's Album of the Year Pick: Patrick Stump - Soul Punk review
The film will cover enough ground for the casual fan whereas the book is created not just for the devout believer but more importantly, to document the bands history through its first twenty years.
- Read the full Pearl Jam Twenty review
Inside The Venue, a state of the art concert complex attached to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana (just outside of Chicago) Black Label Society and Judas Priest performed one of their longest and most intimate shows of their current tour.
- Read the full Judas Priest and Black Label Society Live review
To Gabriels credit, he didnt go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefitted the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
- Read the full Peter Gabriel - New Blood review
Usually once a year someone comes from out of nowhere to remind me of why I love music and in 2011 the artists name is Jo Wymer. Listening to Jos debut CD is akin to having a cold bucket of water thrown upon you as you are in a hibernating sleep but also is as warm as a fire on a winter night. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Jo Wymer - Living With Scars review
Before there was Guns N Roses there were the Rolling Stones. Show carried a sense of treacherous exploration. The band often didnt appear on stage until hours after they were supposed to but above all else, you never knew what would occur when they did hit the stage. Surprisingly the band only toured in the US in 1972, 1975 and 1978 during the 1970s.
- Read the full The Rolling Stones - Some Girls Live in Texas '78' review
Watching the eight insanely talented current members stand shoulder-to-shoulder I immediately had a revelation hit me: this current incarnation of Guns N Roses performed the very best concert Ive seen in 2011. (5 stars)
- Read the full Guns N' Roses: The Best Concert of 2011 review
Ace Frehley is experiencing a well deserved resurgence. After leaving KISS in 2002, he vanished. He wasnt abducted by aliens and didnt take any magical pills that made him invisible; he simply turned inward, took care of himself and came out on the other side.
- Read the full Ace Frehley Live review
Watching Will Hoge on a concert stage is a visceral and divine incident. Ive been trying for the last seven years to put into words the range of emotions that can be stirred up from within watching him sing and play his guitar.
- Read the full Will Hoge Live in Chicago for Number Seven review
When Weezer did appear, Cuomo spoke to the crowd about the passing of former bassist Mikey Welsh who had eerily died earlier in the day in a Chicago hotel room. Welsh was part of the band when they found their groove again around 2000.
- Read the full Weezer Live at Riot Fest review
When Axl Rose and his new incarnation of Gun N Roses unleashed Chinese Democracy in November of 2008, instead of having people dissect and relish it everyone appeared to throw up a collective sigh. Instead of focusing on the music most of the press focused on who wasnt playing guitar, how long it took and the behind the scenes drama in bringing the album to store shelves.
- Read the full Another Look: Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy review
Tony K was on hand for Sugarlands return to Indianapolis this weekend following the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair in August where several fans were injured and seven people lost their lives when a storm caused their stage to collapse. He recounts a night of healing and a celebration of life and music.
- Read the full Sugarland: Healing Hearts review
Encompassing Danzigs whole career, the sets will include solo material, Samhain and climaxing with a Misfits set. The Danzig Legacy performance was the most anticipated one of the entire Riot Fest.
- Read the full Riot Fest: Danzig Legacy review
On his recent Chicago tour stop at the Double Door, Walker once again decimated the sold-out crowd with a set high on octane but as intimate as a camp fire sing-a-long. Up until now his records took on another shape in concert. His latest The Spade is every bit as revitalizing on record as it is in concert.
- Read the full Butch Walker Concert and The Spade Album Review review
As the intro music of the Beatles A Day in the Life climaxed with the renowned crushing piano chord, a single silhouette appeared with a guitar as it shred the opening chords to Put You in a Song.
- Read the full Keith Urban Live review
What differentiates Pearl Jam Twenty from other rock documentaries, is that is delves into their controversies head-on. No music documentary is worth anything if you forget about the music and here Crowe does a breathtaking job of telling their story but weaving the music into it as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam Twenty Film review
Since 2005 Riot Fest has grown by leaps and bounds in Chicago from humble beginnings to this years epic line-up covering many diverse shades of rock and punk and even had a day celebration in Philadelphia a few weeks earlier.
- Read the full Riot Fest: Social Distortion review
Duff McKagans new book is by no means a gratuitous blow-by-blow recount of his years of excess. Sadly his former rhythm partner, Steven Adlers memoir from last year fell into this trap where the glut of drug intake took on overzealous dimensions that disgusted rather than delighted.
- Read the full Duff McKagan - It's So Easy (And Other Lies) review
DiFranco is one of the most captivating and revealing artists of the last twenty years. She made her mark creating naked soul bearing records year-after-year outside of the record system at a time when no one else was doing it through her own Righteous Babe Records. Even more amazing was her success that followed.
- Read the full Ani DiFranco Live review
A central theme of the book evolves around the woman as a consumer/fan of music. Shes quick to point out how women experience music in a different perspective and despite the male dominated music industry around fifty percent of all music purchases are made by women
- Read the full Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time review
When Debbie Gibson and Tiffany appeared earlier this year in the television film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid it begged the question as to why not a single person thought to put these two together before this film?
- Read the full Debbie Gibson & Tiffany - Journey Through the 80's Concert review
Anthony Kuzminski gives us a first hand account of day two of Pearl Jams PJ20 Festival and Adam Baker shares his photos. Relive the historic event or find out what you missed!
- Read the full Pearl Jam: PJ20 Festival (Day Two) review
This was not your standard music festival or even your typical Pearl Jam show. This was more like a convention of die-hard Pearl Jam fans and music geeks gathering to celebrate the band they love dearly with the band hoping to turn their fans on to some great music in the process.
- Read the full Pearl Jam: PJ20 Festival (Day One) review
While the film flirts with greatness, it never quite reaches that level. Its an exceptionally rock-solid film that in my opinion is terribly too short but a forthcoming DVD should provide extra scenes and possibly flesh out his story even more. (3 stars)
- Read the full God Bless Ozzy Osbourne review
For Pearl Jams 20th anniversary we are taking a look back at the bands career all month long plus we will have coverage of their anniversary celebration! Today we revisit Tony Ks look at the bands debut Ten. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full 20 Years of Pearl Jam: Ten review
As I was getting ready to file this review last month, something unanticipated happened; Q101 went off the air. The station was sold to a company who chose to turn the station into a talk radio station. To those in the Chicago area, Q101 was a beacon of alternative unearthing for nearly two decades.
- Read the full Q101 Jamboree: A Final Bow - Thirty Second to Mars, Sum 41, Seether and More review
Its hard to explain the devotion certain people have for music. You see, not all of us are graced from above to create, sing, play guitar or be blessed with great rhythm. That doesnt mean were not able to take part in the sacred nature of the art.
- Read the full Air Guitar National Championships review
The events of Saturday night wont leave their memory bank any time soon. In an ironic twist of fate, I had seen the band the night before in Rockford, IL and had written my review when I received news of what happened.
- Read the full Sugarland Live review
For a band whose most popular work was slickly produced by Mutt Lange, its rather shocking to see how well they recreate these numbers on the concert stage. So why is it that their Mirrorball live record is a disappointment? (2 stars)
- Read the full Def Leppard - Mirror Ball review
Over nearly three hours and thirty-seven songs (both nights) McCartney didnt just provide a snapshot of his illustrious career but proved that despite recently turning 69, he delivers a show that in many ways is untouchable.
- Read the full Paul McCartney: Carrying the Weight (Live at Wrigley Field) review
Recorded nearly a decade apart McCartney and McCartney II represent initial stages in each of the chapters in Paul McCartneys solo career. Each feature McCartney performing all the instruments and going it alone after nearly a decade with two of the rock eras biggest bands
- Read the full Paul McCartney Reissue Series - McCartney and McCartney II review
In many ways, when we watch the four members of U2 on the concert stage, we see the best pieces of ourselves and its a reminder of what were capable of. Their music isnt merely a form of escapism but a reminder of our dreams.
- Read the full U2: Dreaming Out Loud - Live in Chicago 2011 review
These three bands are possibly the best known and in the case of Motley and the Dolls, most influential glam rock bands ever. Recently in Milwaukee, all three bands gave the crowd a show they wont soon forget.
- Read the full Motley Crue, Poison and New York Dolls Live review
Its hard to believe but back in 1979, Ozzy Osbourne had been fired from Black Sabbath and no one seemed to care. Who could have imagined that he would one day reinvent himself into an industry all unto himself?
- Read the full Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard and Diary 30th Anniversary Editions review
The death Clarence Clemons is the end of an era. It saddens me my daughter will never get to see him in concert and witness not just the music prowess of the band but their camaraderie as well. With Danny Federici and now Clemons gone, the E Street Band we grew up loving may go on, but it will never be the same.
- Read the full Remembering Clarence Clemons review
Anthony Kuzminski tells us how 30 Seconds to Mars made him a true believer in their music. Check out his in-depth feature to find out how they turned his skeptical mind around.
- Read the full 30 Seconds to Mars: A Cinematic Call to Arms review
This is a band with more than a few good song, theyre a band in the truest sense of the form where they come into battle together as one. Their combined presence wont just impress you, it will move you.
- Read the full Airborne Toxic Event Live review
Its a monumental task to try and summarize over thirty years of history in a few hundred pages, but Wall has a firm grasp on the Metallica story without missing any key moments or stories.
- Read the full Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica review
Howie Epstein of Tom Pettys Heartbreakers died 8-years ago (February 23, 2003). It was something many people saw coming and yet when Epstein passed onto another world, it was an incalculable loss.
- Read the full Howie Epstein: Gone But Not Forgotten review
Inside the United Center on an early spring evening, under a set of psychedelic lights, BU2B, one of Rushs new compositions, explodes off the stage with metal riffs amidst the marvelous musicianship of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.
- Read the full Rush Live in Chicago April 12, 2011 review
To see 20,000 people from the front row to the nosebleeds dancing the night away is still a sight few acts can capture for their entire set, but Bon Jovi makes it look so easy.
- Read the full Bon Jovi: Stealing Pieces of Time Concert Review review
Today Tony K concludes our two part special Tag Team review coverage of the brand new vs & Vitalogy 3-CD Deluxe Edition from Pearl Jam which is part of the bands 20th anniversary celebration. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam - vs & Vitalogy Deluxe Edition: Tag Team Pt II review
On the surface Faith may appear as a collection of songs complimented by a series of radio friendly melodies, but its so much more, its a passionately striking testimonial from a then 24 year old who appears to have been in absolute and total control (4.5 stars)
- Read the full George Michael - Faith Remaster review
The Pogues and the Dropkick Murphys took to the stage at the Congress Theatre in Chicago in the weeks leading up to St. Patricks Day and I was on hand to witness (possibly for the last time) the jaunty jigs of the Pogues.
- Read the full The Pogues: Last Call review
Tony K estimates that he caught over 200-films in 2010 and to celebrate the Academy Awards, Tony presents his top 35. This was a year full of great films and you cant go wrong seeing any of the films on Tonys list.
- Read the full Oscar Weekend: The Best Films of 2010 review
Berry is a one-of-a-kind a musical pioneer. I cant say his Congress Theater performance was legendary, not by a long shot, but without question it was memorable.
- Read the full Chuck Berry: You Never Can Tell - Live in Chicago Jan 1, 2011 review
Writing for antiMusic has its perks and among them was the steady stream of new music exposed to me over the last year. I estimate I received on average one new album a day sent to me via snail mail or via MP3 from PR agencies. I wont lie, some days it was downright maddening.
- Read the full Tony K Picks The Best Albums of 2010 review
Frightened Rabbit have done more than inspire, theyve struck a chord with an ever widening audience. This may have been the bands first sell out in a major venue in Chicago but as without question, wont be their last.
- Read the full Frightened Rabbit Live: Hearts on Fire review
John Mellencamps latest concert tour is full of American fools, dreamers, saints, sinners and above all else survivors. For over two hours, Mellencamp shined a light on these characters in what is more than his best concert tour in nearly two decades, but without question, the best concert I experienced in all of 2010.
- Read the full Best of 2010: John Mellencamp Live in Chicago review
The world is full of experiences that must be seen in the flesh where no picture, film or story can measure up to. The Sistine Chapel, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and while were at it, lets add seeing J Roddy Walston and the Business to that list.
- Read the full J Roddy Walston and the Business Live review
I understand sincerity was the quote John Hammond used to justify his signing of Bob Dylan to Columbia Records in 1961. The above quote can sum up virtually every legendary musician who has ever touched your soul. Trends come and go, but a song is forever. So is Bob Dylan. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos review
Michael Franti and Spearhead have achieved romantic nirvana with The Sound of Sunshine where they avoid the trappings of success and thrillingly rely on heartfelt passion to get their points across. It is an intoxicatingly joyous record showcasing Franti and Spearhead at the crest of their powers (4 stars)
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead - The Sound of Sunshine review
There has been so much written about Dylan in his six decades as an artist, one has to wonder what anyone else could add to his legacy. Wilentz proves up to task and takes the reader on a journey not just through Dylans music, but American history as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Bob Dylan in America review
Great music deserves debate and a deeper look into how it came to be. Although the considerable Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage being released earlier this year, this installment in the Classic Albums series offers a more detailed look into what are arguably the two best records Rush ever created. (4 stars)
- Read the full Rush Classic Albums: 2112 and Moving Pictures review
Life, love, war, injustice, internal examination above all else hope were all on display throughout the two-hour show. With the release of The Sound of Sunshine and this recent performance it fully demonstrates that Franti and Spearhead continue to hurtle towards greatness with hypnotizing focus.
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead Live: Everything Is Possible review
Without Varg Vikernes Norwegian black metal wouldnt be the same and this is why he is in a twisted sense, the hero. He is also among the most dispassionate and inhuman figures I have ever laid eyes on. He evokes absolute evil. (4 stars)
- Read the full Until the Light Takes Us review
James is at the very top of their game live and on record at this moment in time. Instead of calling it in with monotonous performances or living off their legacy, theyre fighting for their lives on the concert stage. It may only be clubs and theaters but they perform like they are in stadiums.
- Read the full James Live in Chicago review
If youve only acquainted with the Rolling Stones of the last few decades, then Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones will do the impossible, it will make you feel as if youre seeing and hearing the Rolling Stones for the first time. (5 stars)
- Read the full Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones DVD review
The Morning After The Night Before is not a step forward or backward, but the band flexing their muscles amidst a flurry of musical styles showcasing the more off-the-cuff writing side-by-side with their collaborative musical efforts. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full James - The Morning After the Night Before review
In the annals of rock n roll history on television, theres only one date you should concern yourself with: February 9, 1964. From this moment on, everything changed. (4 stars)
- Read the full The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles review
One album that always seems to appear on anyones top 5 Bowie list is 1976s Station To Station. Despite the cosmos iciness to the albums six songs, its without question not just one of his most heralded works, but possibly his best.
- Read the full David Bowie - Station To Station Remaster review
Anyone can read this book and within a few pages with be fully fluent in the language of Rob Sheffield. It perfectly captures precisely why music is an emotional experience that cant be taught but only experienced. (4 stars)
- Read the full Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut review
Watching the Arcade Fire in concert reminds me of watching the end of a kids birthday party after the food has been eaten, presents have been opened and the sugar from the goody bags and cake is rushing like a fighter plane through their veins and giving them a rush thats downright euphoric.
- Read the full Arcade Fire at Madison Square Garden review
Twenty years ago, Robert Knight was the only photographer to show up and shoot the second Eric Clapton show at Alpine Valley. He caught the whole show including opener Stevie Ray Vaughn and the legendary jam that concluded the show with Robert Cray, Clapton, and Vaughns brother Jimmy. (3 stars)
- Read the full Rock Prophecies DVD review
Instead of following trends or chasing hits, to put it simply, Crowded House creates great music. If this wasnt enough, their concerts are like family affairs, where the walls between the crowd and the band dissipate and they become one.
- Read the full Crowded House Live review
Towards the end of the bands 140-minute set in Chicago, I couldnt help but admit to myself that Ive never seen KISS call it in. Their summer 2010 tour which is featuring the longest show of their career and to top it, theyve sprinkled it full of songs not just from their make-up years, but from all eras of the band
- Read the full KISS: Devilish and Determined review
The lights dimmed, wails discharged, the Stooges instigated Raw Power and from the shadows of the stage comes a sprinting and shirtless Iggy Pop in skin-tight pants. He proceeded to whip the Chicago crowd into a 75-minute rage in an exhibition of audaciousness few could imagine without bearing witness to.
- Read the full Iggy and the Stooges Live: Powerfully Raw review
Despite the influence and sales of the early 1970s work, it is David Bowies late 70s work that may be among the most notable and crucial of his career and possibly the most influential music of the last four decades. For the first time, one book covers this period of Bowie history in its entirety. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town review
While Mellencamp stretches back to the depression era folk aesthetic of the 1930s he also is able to emulate the 1950s Sun Studios joie de vivre and encapsulate it all with a current day outlook. But instead of living in the past, he merely evokes the aural aesthetic and throws himself into the songs. (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - No Better Than This review
Thrash metal has always been widely misconstrued by the masses. However, in a perverse position of paradox, 100-years from now, it is doubtful that other non-metal genres of music will be able to fill stadiums across the world.
- Read the full American Carnage Tour: Slayer- Megadeth-Testament review
Songs that just a few days earlier wouldnt have even evoked a reaction from me now seem luminal. In fewer than two-hours they swiftly execute the Rush story with not just care but most importantly with heart as well. Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage turns the music of Rush from mere entertainment into a creed.
- Read the full Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage DVD review
There are stories from our past, our present and hopefully our future on this solemn yet heart-tugging collection of tunes. However, its the opening cut that has stolen my heart; Save Some Time To Dream.
- Read the full John Mellencamp - Save Some Time To Dream review
Throughout the 158-pages in the book, you have an overriding feeling that youre looking at things never meant to be seen by anyone. However, the lack of specifics, omitted details and dozens of side stories that appeal to no one culminates in a crash landing that it cant recover from.
- Read the full Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi review
The mix, the aural aesthetic and the performances are all top-notch making this the best Southside Johnny record since 1991s Better Days. Long standing piano/keyboard player Jeff Kazee leads the charge and is responsible for making the most strapping and strident Southside Johnny record to date. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - Pills and Ammo review
J-Roddy Walston and the Business just released self-titled debut album on Vagrant Records conjures up the same feeling of ecstasy as the band welcomes you into the worlds largest piano bar. This self-titled record is a testament to the rebellious spirit of rock n roll. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full J-Roddy Walston and the Business review
Despite the hundreds (if not thousands) of subgenres within metal, virtually all of them stand up and give a tip of the hat to what is known as The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Genres and styles may come and go but the Big Four are forever.
- Read the full The Big Four Cinema Simulcast: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax review
Courtney Love strutted onto the stage in the Vic Theater with a cigarette dangling in her hand. She waved to the crowd, pulled a guitar over her shoulder, placed one bent leg on her amplifier and proceeded to deliver a piercing 90-minute set
- Read the full Hole Live review
What makes Lady Gaga such an anomaly is that in a society so splintered, no one person should have a grasp on the population as a whole, but she does. From eight-year-olds to eighty-year-olds, everyone is aware of Lady Gaga.
- Read the full Lady Gaga Live review
Their latest DVD release, Live At Madison Square Garden was filmed over two nights at the worlds most famous arena in July 2008 and it captures Bon Jovi at the peak of their powers. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bon Jovi - Live At Madison Square Garden DVD review
Watching Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is more than uplifting but a reminder of the instinctual power of rock n roll and how it can speak to us. Of the classic rockers out there who have toured the last few years only U2 has a more sundry audience.
- Read the full Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Live at Summerfest review
Ive seen Hoge in every venue imaginable but this was a transfixing performance no one will soon forget. Once again, he has proven that he always has a few aces up his sleeve, proving that on any given night, you may see one of the best rock n roll shows around.
- Read the full Will Hoge Live at Space review
Each song and note sung is drained from his veins and utilizing a guitar instead of a syringe, he re-injects it to those in need. This isnt a man of the people trying to relate to his audience because he doesnt have to; he is already one of us.
- Read the full Michael McDermott Live review
To the cynical obsessive fan, this DVD may be too brief, but in time, theyll return to it as the band lowers the sheets and lets us into their bed. The film may not be definitive in its lore of legend, but thats part of the point. Some legends are better left unspoken.
- Read the full Rolling Stones - Stones In Exile DVD review
Patty Griffin may not be a household name, but chances are you know her work. She has written for the Dixie Chicks (Let Him Fly), Solomon Burke and more recently Kelly Clarkson and Crystal Bowersox have covered Up To the Mountain on American Idol.
- Read the full Patty Griffin & Buddy Miller Live review
On a windy fall Chicago night, Ruby James revealed life anecdotes and the inner workings of her artistry over drinks and cheeseburgers. Over the course of the conversation, she spoke of her trials and tribulations like a survivor who is better for the obstacles she has had to endure. (4 stars)
- Read the full Ruby James - Happy Now review
John Mellencamps new box set puts his ever reaching scope and talent into widescreen view. Its a unique animal as it houses few hits, a smattering of outtakes, but largely consists of underrated album cuts sequenced in a way that highlights John Mellencamp, the songwriter, over the last three decades. (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - On the Rural Route 7609 Box Set review
Youve seen her on tour with Sheryl Crow and Bon Jovi along with dozens of television broadcasts with everyone from Pearl Jam to Michael Buble to John Mayer. Shes also a session musician who has worked with Fall Out Boy and producer Tony Visconti. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Lorenza Ponce - Soul Shifter review
Hoge is no newcomer to the industry, but despite his magnetic stage performance and soul-searching records, many are still unaware who he is. But there he stood, front and center with an acoustic around his neck bringing the proceedings to a rousing conclusion
- Read the full Heart Songs: Will Hoge - Washed By The Water review
What can be said of Judas Priests British Steel? Its more than a seminal metal record, but arguably one of the greatest metal albums ever made. There are other records from the 1980s that drastically outsold British Steel but how many will be still be studied and listened to a hundred years from now?
- Read the full Judas Priest - British Steel (30th Anniversary Reissue) review
One of the enduring components to The Rolling Stones on-going success is their ability to branch out and fashion music thats based on more than Chuck Berry riffs. Theres something outright enlightening about a swaying ballad by the Rolling Stones that only they can pull off.
- Read the full The Rolling Stones - Following the River review
In the early hours of a spring morning in Chicago, a bevy of lost souls sought guidance from a renegade rocker. We may have come seeking mere entertainment but in the end, the show was so much more, Butch Walker and the Black Widows brought us and our dreams to the road to redemption.
- Read the full Butch Walker: The Road To Redemption review
The tone of Nobodys Daughter is geared more to the mainstream than the unorthodox gloom of Live Through This, which virtually every reviewer to date has compared Nobodys Daughter to, but before you do, ask yourself this one question- Are you the same person you were in 1994? (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Hole - Nobody's Daughter review
A Reality Tour finds Bowie and his meticulous and magical band at the peak of their powers. The album is the best and most potent live document the uninhibited artist has ever released. Never before has Bowie sounded so confident and at ease with his delivery, arrangements and his legacy.
- Read the full David Bowie - A Reality Tour review
The 40th Anniversary reissue covers all of the bases with everything one could imagine in terms of extras. The whole package elevates the legacy of Space Oddity as more than a cutout bin record with one great song, but the new special edition will provide this record not just another life, but another chance to be studied.
- Read the full David Bowie - Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Special Edition review
Capping the first leg of his tour in support of his fourth studio record, Battle Studies (forty-seven dates in all), John Mayer and his band performed for well over two-hours at the United Center breaking curfew and delivering a show no one will soon forget.
- Read the full John Mayer: Wisdom and Warfare review
The music here is more discreet as it allows it to be experienced. These arent mere pop musings, but confessionals. She found a way to write prayers to herself as a way of making it through the trauma she experienced.
- Read the full Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room review
Anvil!: The Story of Anvil is more than a great film, but a great book as well. I cant recommend it highly enough. If you hold no interest in metal or even music, you should still seek it out because I cant see how anyone could not be moved by the triumph over tragedy that is the story of Anvil.
- Read the full Anvil!: The Story of Anvil review
2009 saw the Verve Pipe reunite and they did more than just reform for reunion shows, but recorded a new record. Bridging middle ground between Sesame Street albums and the Beatles, the Verve Pipe has created a record that both children and parents can listen to and enjoy. (3 stars)
- Read the full Verve Pipe - A Family Album review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 25-1 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 50-26 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 75-51 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 100-81 review
Forget the Oscars. Check out Tony Ks picks for the best films of 2009 as we kick off his special film week!
- Read the full The Best Films of 2009 review
Despite his incessant forward thinking, never relying on his past for a paycheck, he did something quite remarkable at his shows in Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta- a fan request show.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Fan Request Show review
A less aware individual would follow the lead of an A&R rep and create something as familiar as his previous music, but Walker, once again, has opted for the road not taken. This release contains such an onslaught of influences- its dizzying to see him meld them through these eleven songs with ease. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Butch Walker and The Black Widows - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart review
The two previous shows found Walker reaching to his past in different chapters of his life, but on this evening he merely paged back a few pages instead of chapters and the emotional weight could be felt.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Sycamore Meadows Live review
In a day and age of musical surplus, if an album doesnt connect it might not get the same number of spins it would have two decades ago. As a result, The Rise & Fall never made an overpowering impression on me and was a record I admired more than loved. That changed at Schubas.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker Live review
Arriving on stage in a hat, flannel shirt and jeans, Butch Walker began his four night stand at Schubas night club in Chicago. This is something the core fans salivate for and Walker is doing it with great imminence but even better, hes conveying the songs with intense believability.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Live Letters review
Two men are hovering over the body of Sue Mansour, lead singer of Soraia. One is panicked while the other is holding her lifeless body as tears stream off his face dripping onto her cold lifeless skin as a needle, which provided a potent shot of cocaine to her right arm, lies next to her motionless body.
- Read the full Soraia: The Road Not Taken review
If you love earsplitting guitars, bleeding drums and a bass line with enough rhythm to make a white man blush, then you will love Steve Conte & Crazy Truth. Conte has made a name for himself as a gun slinging guitar god (especially as the lead guitarist of the New York Dolls). (3 stars)
- Read the full Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth review
Growing up, I loved watching all award shows. I would root for my favorite actors, directors and music stars to win. Sometimes in the 1990s I stopped caring. I realized that awards are hollow, unmemorable and that its the music that lives on.
- Read the full Even If It Breaks Your Heart review
If you are wondering if the band are similar to the personalities we came to love and cheer for in the film, the answer would be a resounding yes. There was no ego involved here, I found three guys extremely grateful for this rebirth which is a glorious resurrection that is unparalleled in the annals of music.
- Read the full Anvil: Defying the Odds review
This past holiday season the public at large missed out on one of the most ingenious and charming films of the year- Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop motion animation film directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums). (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Fantastic Mr. Fox Soundtrack review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We conclude the special today with his picks for No 25 to [drum roll please!!!!!] No 1!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 25-1 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We continue the special today with his picks for No 50 to No 26!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 50-26 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We continue the special today with his picks for No 75 to No 51!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 75 - 51 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We kick off the special today with his picks for No 100 to No 76!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 100 - 76 review
Tony J writes of his Artist of the Decade pick: As I looked back upon this decade, I found this artist to have more songs that spoke to me than any other artist. More importantly, his collected body of work, for better or worse, will stand the test of time. His legend will only grow with time. Who is it? Find out here.
- Read the full Tony K Names the Artist of the Decade review
2009 wasnt a great year for albums. I didnt award a single album I heard all year four-stars. Considering I had a five-star and a few albums that earned 4.5 stars in 2008, this is a bit of a letdown. Despite this, Id be lying to you if there werent a number of great albums that I heard this year
- Read the full Tony K's Top Albums of 2009 Special review
Anthony Kuzminski has been to countless concerts during 2009. Some blew him away, some left him disappointed. But as the dust settles on 2009 and he reflects back on the dozens of shows hes been to over the past twelve months, which show stands out the most? Find out here! (5 stars)
- Read the full Tony K's Best Concert of 2009 Pick review
Its stunning to realize that it took Mellencamp 33-years after his debut record to release a live recording that was something more than a few B-sides. The performances housed on the live EP Life, Death, Live & Freedom feature Mellencamp at his most severe and sincere (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Live and Freedom review
While others were rushing to get the reviews of these remasters out in record time, I couldnt do that, I had to listen to every last song on a CD player no less allowing me to revel in the brilliance of the Fab Four.
- Read the full A Buyer's Guide to the Beatles Remasters review
Neil Zlozower has been a staple of the LA music scene for over three decades. Besides capturing many of the biggest 80s stars of the Sunset Strip, he also has some of the most legendary pictures of Van Halen, for which he compiled into a book, something he has done once again for Motley Crue.
- Read the full Motley Crue: A Visual History, 1983-2005 (Neil Zlozower) review
To this day, I cant go to a Springsteen show without someone telling me a tall tale about how they saw Springsteen play an eight-hour show
and then he took out a broom and swept the floor of the club. Its almost laughable, but understandable.
- Read the full Rock Reads: Bruce Springsteen: The Light in Darkness review
Urban kicked it all off with an intimate full band performance for a few hundred fans at Joes on Weed Street in Chicago. He brought the tour full circle with a one-off acoustic/ Q&A performance for a mere 300-fans once again at Joes.
- Read the full Keith Urban Live in Chicago Nov 2009 review
Arriving in Chicago for their first show in a half decade, and the bands first performance at the United Center, it was like a entering a time machine back to the 1970s where KISS ruled arenas.
- Read the full KISS Live in Chicago Nov 2009 review
Flexing a range of musical styles and perfect pacing, Kelly Clarkson did everything right. She is someone who through her enthusiasm and fortitude has become more than a television star, but someone who is without question, a truly significant artist. (5 stars)
- Read the full Kelly Clarkson Live October 2009 review
Bon Jovis eleventh studio record, The Circle is an enticing enigma. Playing to their strengths with a sound ready-made for arena bombast, its immediately alluring and entrancing, but is this a positive or a negative is the question at the tip of everyones tongue? (3 stars)
- Read the full Bon Jovi - The Circle review
This book is a standalone entity and while it shares its name with the title of a new song and their documentary, its more or less a collection of pictures and stories celebrating the bands quarter of a century together. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Rock Reads: Bon Jovi - When We Were Beautiful review
This was Will Hoges first plugged-in full band show in Chicago in nearly a year-and-a-half. Arriving on-stage in a shirt, tie and a vest looking like a consummate professional, Hoge and his band shred through a 100-minute set that elated the Chicago crowd.
- Read the full Will Hoge: Highway Wings and Harrowing Hearts review
Finding middle ground between the E Street Band and Social Distortion, Lucero delivers a two-hour plus show nightly where the band tears through nearly thirty songs, through a melding of influences, proving they are a force to be reckoned with.
- Read the full Lucero Live review
Taking a page from the rock eras great singer-songwriters, McDermott has a penchant for making you believe that hes in the throes of war in each of his songs as he exerts himself to the point where your speakers will tower over from the avalanche of emotions. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Michael McDermott - Hey La Hey review
Sadly many people only know of Europe from the hits from the The Final Countdown record, which is a misfortune because theres more to them than meets the eye. I know what youre thinking, but stay with me. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Europe - Last Look At Eden review
Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoges fifth full length record The Wreckage finds broken souls questioning everything as the their walls close in on them. The eleven songs that encompass The Wreckageare drenched in melancholy. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Will Hoge - The Wreckage review
Anvil! The Story of Anvil is more than a momentous music documentary, or even an indispensable documentary; it is simply one of the best films of 2009. I have yet to meet someone who hasnt been overwhelmingly moved by the film. (5 stars)
- Read the full Anvil! The Story of Anvil DVD review
How would the entire Born To Run album performed in sequence within the larger scope of a show? Springsteen and the E Street Band hushed the cynic in me with a tense and telescoping performance of eight of the greatest songs to ever be assembled and sequenced on a circular piece of vinyl.
- Read the full Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band -The Born To Run Concert review
This Is Thirteen feels like an ageless metal record- it isnt death metal, speed or thrash metal, but simply a distinguished metal record cut from the cloth of their classic past where they embrace all of the elements that made them so influential in the first place. (3 stars)
- Read the full Anvil - This Is Thirteen review
Pearl Jam at their best is an arena rock band who creates anthems to be sung and screamed with tens of thousands of other fans. Through the towering crowd and visceral reactions, we discover unheralded gems, hear favorites in an entirely distinctive light.
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Live In Chicago Night 2 review
Riot Act is still a very crucial record with illuminating lyrics many choose to overlook. However, its also deemed to be the bands least sonically rewarding. Records live inside of you and despite some of their faults; a song like this can appear out of nowhere and just reinvigorate you
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Riot Act review
Backspacer is a quintessential Pearl Jam record it whips past you in a mere 37-minutes. Im not going to tell you this is a return to form or their best since Vs., but its an unbelievably resilient record that continues to disclose harmonious wonders with every listen. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Backspacer review
Early on in U2s second 360 Tour show at Soldier Field in Chicago (their second North American show) Bono told the crowd Weve got new songs, weve got old songs, weve got songs weve never played before. It was an ostentatious proclamation that could have meant several things
- Read the full U2 Live in Chicago Night Two (With Photos) review
Four songs into U2s opening night of their US tour, the bands more prevailing side shined through as the Magnificent lifted off like a rocket ship into space. The latest stage by U2 is the most mammoth, audacious, and insane playground ever designed for a rock show.
- Read the full U2 - Opening Night of US Tour review
One of the twentieth centurys greatest inventions was the electric guitar and over the course of 100-minutes, three guitar gods from different generations (The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White) try to define and express what this instrument means to them. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full It Might Get Loud (Film Review) review
Bon Jovi - We Weren't Born To Follow (single review)
Bon Jovi - These Days Part II (A Personal Journey)
Pearl Jam Live In Chicago Aug 23, 2009
What John Hughes Means To Me
Rock Reads: So What! The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly: The Official Metallica Illustrated Chronicle
Metallica's Hall of Humanity
Metallica's Ride the Lightning... Twenty-Five Years Later
Rock Reads - To Live Is To Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton (5 stars)
Michael Jackson: The Curtain Has Fallen on an Icon
Soraia: The Real Thing
The Return of Will Hoge (5 stars)
Britney Spears Live: Sequin, Sex & Spectacle
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: 2008's Most Disappointing Albums
The Top 20 Concerts of 2008
The Top 25 Albums of 2008
Michael Franti & Spearhead: A Triumphant Tonic For Tragic Souls
Paul Stanley - One Live KISS DVD (3.5 stars)
Tina Turner Rolling and Rocking
Butch Walker: The Phoenix
James - Hey Ma (Album of the Year) (5 stars)
John Mellencamp: No American Fool
Will Hoge & Jason Isbell: Rising Above It All (5 stars)
The Beatles 'Love' (5 stars)
Madonna: What It Feels Like For A Fan
The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (IMAX) (5 stars)
Boss Live: Springsteen in Omaha
REO Speedwagon: Finding Their Way Home
Wilco
Live
Buddy
Guy & Robert Randolph: Carrying The Weight of the Blues
Bon
Jovi Shelter From the Storm (Live Chicago Feb 2008)
U2
3D
Good
Charlotte Live - Blissful and Buoyant In Brussels
Amy
Winehouse: Back In Black at the Grammys
The
Screen Door Best of 2007 Special
The
Swell Season: A 'Once' In A Lifetime Concert
Keith
Urban: Like A Rolling Stone
We
All Shine On: The Legacy of John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell
John
Mellencamp Live
Alice
Cooper: Between High School & Old School
Bruce
Springsteen and the E Street Band Live
Album
of the Year: Will Hoge's Draw The Curtains
Richie
Sambora: "The Answer" Is In the Question
Allman
Brothers Band Live
Van
Halen - Everybody Wants Some
Keith
Urban Live
Poison
Live
The
Police: In Violation of Sucking
Ryan
Adams: Reborn
Paul
McCartney at Amoeba Music
Jesse
Malin: Guitar Redemptions and Connections
Bon
Jovi - (You Want To) Make A Memory
Pussycat
Dolls & Danity Kane: Atrocity at the Allstate
Snow
Patrol - Chasing Hearts and Dreams
Farkus:
Chicago's Forceful and Fresh Foursome
Bon
Jovi: 52,612 Fans Can't Be Wrong
Will
Hoge: Letting It Loose
25
Best Albums of 2006
Pearl
Jam: Band of The Hour
Rock
Star Supernova - Super Disaster
Nancy
Wilson: A Marriage of Music and Film
U2:
Swinging To The Music
Will
Hoge: The Redemption of Rock N Roll
Bruce
Springsteen: Rising Up Out of the Darkness
Half
Way There: The Best Albums of 2006
So Far
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