Category: Rock
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Liberty ‘N’ Justice is a Christian hard rock/heavy metal band formed in 1991 by Justin Murr and Patrick Marchand. They released four albums as a band, but in 2002 the group broke up. Only Justin Murr, a bassist and songwriter, decided to keep Liberty ‘N’ Justice going by enlisting a who’s who of hard rock…
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Spacehog’s last album was 2001’s Hogyssey, a criminally under-rated album. But, then, if you ask me, all of Spacehog’s albums have been criminally under-rated. Their 1995 debut, Resident Alien, sold very well, but it really only spawned one hit, “In The Meantime,” which also happens to be their only U.S. hit ever, so, sadly, they…
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I don’t know why singer (and famous actor) Jared Leto and company decided to spell the word Thirty instead of simply using the number 30 this time around. Perhaps it’s an attempt to put some distance between this and their previous albums? But one wonders why they would do that when their last two albums…
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FACT released their self-titled major label debut in Japan in 2009 — a decade after they were formed in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture — and quickly gained a strong national and international following. They have since become one of Japan’s biggest and most-loved rock bands of the decade. In fact, their first two albums reached the…
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It’s hard to get inside my ears; it’s even harder to get inside my brain. If anything I have ever written for Love is Pop consists in pure, unaltered fangasm or clearly a cry for help, sometimes, it feels good to focus on someone with talent, who sends you music just because they can, that…
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The Joy Formidable’s “A Minute’s Silence” was released on vinyl on Record Store Day this year. An exquisite piano ballad, it doesn’t have any percussion or guitars, but it’s easily one of their very best songs to date. The melody is beautiful but melancholic and the piano is rather dark. The song also uses keyboards…
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This might be one of the most anticipated releases of 2013. The National’s sixth studio release is a beacon of what Brooklyn-based indie rock can offer: it features appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Following 2010’s highly praised High Violet, Trouble Will Find Me has slowly leaked through…
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Today, Bono turns 52. Today, the world finds out that Jack White’s cover of Love Is Blindness is part of The Great Gatsby’s soundtrack. Today, I need to revisit a few of my basic rules. Achtung Baby is unequivocally one of the most visited and revisited U2 albums, considered a landmark in alternative rock and…
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It’s funny that the opening track on this album is called “Sacrilege” because that’s what I initially felt about this album. Oh, like the rest of the world, I thought “Sacrilege” was a fantastic track. It’s truly amazing, the way it builds and builds, becoming something greater and more emotive as it goes on, and…
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Bradenton, Florida’s finest are back with a red hot new single every bit as infectious as past hits like “Secret Valentine,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Party, Fun, Love & Radio,” and “Friday is Forever.” It begins with twinkly guitars then the drums and vocals kick right in and immediately hook you. “I’m all alone / holding…
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Although many of the songs were in English, Iggy Pop’s last two albums, Preliminaires and Après, were essentially French pop albums. Iggy is a national icon in France, arguably as popular as Elvis is in the States, so I’m sure one of the reasons he made those albums was to thank his devoted French fans.…
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Every minute or so, a new EP from an emerging folk/punk band is released in the universe. Thanks to the global availability of Pro-Tools and the ever great equalizer that is iTunes, everything is out there, everything is downloadable, listenable, accessible, and purchasable. Every single guitar chord is out there, even that ear-bleeding rendition of…
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Patti Smith is a living legend and “Because The Night” is one of her most popular and beloved tracks. It’s such a classic that covering it would seem to be pointless because you couldn’t possibly live up to the original and to even try to would almost be an insult to Smith. Meanwhile, you’d just…
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Phoenix — the cool cats of Versailles — had probably given up on the idea of ever becoming popular in the States by the time they released their fourth album, 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. But, to everyone’s surprise, the album became an enormous success here. Its blend of irresistible pop hooks and sophisticated art rock…
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The Joy Formidable’s proper full-length debut album was called The Big Roar and roar it did. They were all about the roar, singer/guitarist Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan mad like a rabid wolf, howling in the night. On the cover of their new album, Wolf’s Law, the wolf is dead and has flowers growing out of it.…
