Track Reviews

Lost On the River – “Nothing To It” Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Back in 1998, Wilco and Billy Bragg had the rare opportunity to turn some long-lost Woody Guthrie lyrics into a newly recorded set of songs, and the resulting...

Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off” Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5) When Taylor Swift teamed up with Swedish producer Max Martin in 2012 for the massive single “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” the young singer-songwriter signaled a dramatic change....

If an artist is fortunate and talented enough, there will come a moment in their career when a significant portion of their intended audience is listening intently for the music they are about to release. All ears are on...

Tweedy “Summer Noon” (from the album Sukierae, out September 23) (dBpm) 3 out of 5 stars Wilco hasn’t played anything resembling country in a long time. Since the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 12 years ago, they’ve wavered between lightly psychedelic experimental rock...

When was the last time Ryan Adams really rocked? Was it 2010's Orion, a collision of sci-fi plot lines and heavy metal riffage that was well-intentioned but somewhat hard to take, especially when the album had Dungeons & Dragons...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Before announcing the details of his new album Hypnotic Eye, Tom Petty told Rolling Stone, “I knew I wanted to make a rock ‘n’ roll record.” That’s pretty much what Tom Petty’s been doing...

Ed Sheeran "Sing" Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars Pharrell Williams is pretty much everywhere these days. He sang on two tracks on Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories last year, produced a track on Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz, appeared on Beyoncé’s recent self-titled...

Written by Rick Nielsen The concept of wild, reckless teenagers rebelling against their dull, joyless parents has served as the impetus for many a great rock and roll song since the inception of the genre. Cheap Trick’s enduring 1978...

Jack White “High Ball Stepper” Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Blunderbuss might be the best thing to ever happen to Jack White. Let me clarify: I don’t mean that it’s the best album he ever released, that’s probably (definitely?) White Blood...

Nostalgia might not be the right word, but the pomp and celebration surrounding the recent Winter Olympic Games in Moscow provided a benign perspective for reexamination of a time when the Cold War was at its iciest and the...