Cliff Burton

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Geddy Lee Edition

I could sit here and write paragraphs about my appreciation of Geddy Lee. He was the first true influence I had as a bass player when I was in high school. For years after, I admired not just his talent as a musician, but his ability to improve and grow. He is also underrated for how great a "rock" ... More >>

Last Night: Anthrax & Exodus at House of Blues

Anthrax, Exodus House of Blues April 10, 2013 I am going to come right out and say it: I never thought Anthrax should have been a part of The Big Four. When laying out the titans of thrash metal, the boys from New York -- a fact they never seem to want you to forget -- always seemed a bit out of p ... More >>

Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service

We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, mean ... More >>

Yes and Zeppelin? 5 True All-Star Near-Collaborations

Quick, what's your dream supergroup, living or dead? When I was a big prog nerd, mine was Peter Gabriel on vocals and lyrics, David Gilmour and Robert Fripp on guitar, Geddy Lee on bass, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Levin on Chapman stick, and Rick Wakeman on keys. Come to think of it, that still sou ... More >>

10 Heavy Metal Double Albums That Make Us Want to Buy a Turntable

This week, one of our most highly anticipated albums of the summer was released: Baroness' Yellow & Green. We were already looking forward to hearing whatever came next from the Georgia rockers after the success of their epic Blue Record in 2009, but we got especially excited when we found out that ... More >>

10 Things That Have Happened To Rock Stars' Ashes

Recently, I explored some of the strange things that musicians have been buried with. In the course of researching that article, I came across a lot of tales about the cremated remains of rock stars. Some very odd things have occurred with famous ashes, so being the resident morbid person on staff, ... More >>

Gone But Never Forgotten: Happy 50th Birthday Cliff Burton

​Today would have marked the 50th birthday of a bass guitarist named Clifford Lee Burton who played for a band called Metallica. You may have heard of them. Unfortunately, Cliff passed away in 1986 in a bus crash shortly before he would have turned 25. Of course, if you've ever had even a pass ... More >>

The Ghost of Cliff Burton Rattles its Chains on Debut Album

Editor's Note: The Ghost of Cliff Burton's Jef With One F is a regular contributor for Rocks Off and the Houston Press. When the oddball experimentalists in the Black Math Experiment went on hiatus four years ago, Houston lost a strange and unique musical voice that's been missed by many. Thankfu ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists of All Time

Me (right), God help me, and Billy Sheehan circa 1990.​Last week, Neph Basedow wrote her list of the 11 greatest female rock bass players and she took a little heat for it, including some from me. But, she also got a lot right. At the very least, she highlighted the most under-appreciated musi ... More >>

Ask Me Anything: What Would You Ask Your Favorite Artist?

"What do you love about music?" ​Part of the job here at Rocks Off - this daily Make-A-Wish kid circus - is talking to musicians and people in the musical know. One of the most fun parts of the job is booking an interview with an artist coming to town and cramming for a few days into the nook ... More >>

RIP Cliff Burton: Remembering Heaven's Favorite Bassist 25 Years Later

Cliff 'Em All​Rocks Off just acquired a four-string electric bass guitar, in the hopes that we can find some time to learn to actually use it. Our younger brother had let it collect dust in his room at home while he did big-kid stuff like start a business and get a girlfriend. After spending h ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Rocks Off's 2011 New Year's Resolutions

​Editor's Pick: To "support the scene" more in 2011. Just kidding. Marc Brubaker: Houston, I have a confession to make. As far as music writers go, this one is pretty bad, too: I have a terrible habit of sleeping on bands just because they are popular. Often, when a new band picks up a lot o ... More >>

Five Reasons Your Bass Player Hates You

​John Entwistle. Paul McCartney. Cliff Burton. Flea. John Paul Jones. Geddy Lee. Les Claypool. Geezer Butler. Lemmy. Lemmy! These are just some of the best bassists that rock and roll has ever seen. But not all is bright for these folks, thumping or picking away on their rumbling four-string ... More >>

5 Rock Deaths That Shook Us Down

​It was sometime this past Saturday night that we first heard that Ronnie James Dio was dead. It was after midnight and we had just bellied up to the Mink's front bar when we checked our Twitter feed and saw that Dio had passed on. Our body froze every metal bone in our body ached for a few minute ... More >>

Metavenge

Fahrenheit 2004

Remembering the movies that heated up cinemas this year

Head Trip

Between hard rock and a safe place, Metallica finds itself

Letters

New Bands from Old

Or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore Audioslave"

EchoBrain