Last month marked the end of one of the great musical feuds of the 1990s. Any Britpop fan knows you can either be a fan of Oasis or of Blur, but not a fan of both. The two bands hated each other's guts and were in constant competition throughout the decade. So all of us in the press were shocked wh ... More >>
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 >>
You might think that it's a little bit early for April Fool's, but pranks go on between musicians and bands year-round. Given that musicians are an immature, jocular sort, tied inherently to an adolescent dream of being a rock star, it should be no surprise that they get into all kinds of crazy insi ... More >>
Testament, Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam House of Blues February 6, 2013 When it comes to '80s thrash metal, there are the Big Four -- Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax -- and there's everybody else. For a good while there, it looked as if "everybody else" might not survive the grunge- and rap ... More >>
Earlier this week, we talked about all the stupid cookbooks that are out there either written or endorsed by celebrity musicians. For the most part, they were just endorsed because, and this gets down to the heart of the problem, musicians are musicians, not chefs. They don't know anything about coo ... More >>
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 >>
The following is a dispatch from San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival from our VVM Bay Area sister paper, SF Weekly. -- ed. Metallica Outside Lands Festival Golden Gate Park, San Fransico August 11, 2012 Metallica, headlining Saturday night of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden ... More >>
Forty-seven years ago this week (wow!), a '60s folk icon by the name of Bob Dylan made his third and final appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. It was a highly anticipated set -- Dylan was the de facto leader of the American folk-music revival at the time, and his folkie flock ex ... More >>
Twenty-nine years ago today, Metallica released their debut album on Megaforce Records, Kill 'Em All. It wasn't a smash success initially--Mötley Crüe were the reigning kings of metal on the West Coast in 1983, and Kill 'Em All wouldn't go gold for another six years. By that time, of course, Metal ... More >>
Rock and pop music in the United States has earned a distinguished reputation for quality protest anthems and anti-war songs, from Country Joe and the Fish all the way up to friggin' Green Day. And that's great; it really is. Not only are many of the tunes timeless, but criticism of our society's m ... More >>
The concept of "overrated" and "underrated" has always confused me. There are groups that are critically lauded, yet got little commercial love, like The Band. And then there are groups that were almost universally reviled by critics, like Journey, who consistently managed to sell out shows, sell mi ... More >>
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 >>
We're obsessed with music videos lately, and have spent almost the whole of the weekend seeking new and brilliant ones in order to feature in our weekly column. We're just so impressed with the capabilities open to modern artists at all strata of stardom, and how brilliant a piece of work can come o ... More >>
Kreepin DethMetallica recently announced that they would be releasing a film in 3D. Whether or not we're talking a concert film, something more along the lines of Some Kind of Monster, or a different approach entirely they haven't confirmed. Still, it seems most likely that they will follow i ... More >>
Sorry, Manowar, maybe next year...As we come up on the July 4th weekend, Rocks Off considered a myriad of blog ideas to commemorate the holiday. Most patriotic songs, album covers, artists? Sorry, Lee Greenwood, Richard Pryor, and Ted Nugent, but it's all been covered. On this weekend of inde ... More >>
Ed. Note: Jef With One F does not distinguish fiction from reality from video games. We let it slide because he accepts checks from the "Bank of Mordor"... we just hope it's not rubbing off on us. teecraze.comMusic is a weapon. That's what angry political bands will tell you. They'll bend yo ... More >>
Of the three bands on the bill at Sunday's Jagermeister Tour Houston stop, Anthrax is perhaps the one with the most varied reach. Sure, everyone loves Slayer, and Megadeth has a dedicated following of Mustaine-iacs, but it was Anthrax who touched the most upon hip-hop and hardcore punk. The ... More >>
Well, today is the day Twilight: Eclipse is released, and a million voices are screaming, "Honey, do we hafta?" Since Gothtopia already runs a column on vampires - and may we add that Bill Compton would put some serious maim in Edward Cullen's sparkle motion? - today we're gonna talk about w ... More >>
This video (watch it after the jump) claims to collect every single time that Metallica has mentioned death or dying in the band's music, which tallies up to 81 instances. Somehow that seems awfully low to us, being almost life-long Metallica rats, and fans of, well, death. According to the v ... More >>
He Said is going to admit right here and now that he has never been a master of the first date. True it is that we have dated some very awesome and artistic women, but we always lack when it comes to that first swing out of the box. He Said is way better at the weeks, months and years after that ... More >>
It's barely a week into 2010, and we still find ourselves writing 2009 on invoices and checks. We can't seem to shake that last quasi-awful year out of our heads. It seemed like one of the most interminable years we had ever had the bittersweet pleasure to find ourselves mired in. Little wonder t ... More >>
Time was that Tuesdays used to be the best day of the week for your average recorded-music consumer. Since Rocks Off was just a wee music nerd, Tuesdays were his favorite days of the week because it was always the universal day for all new releases to hit the stores. It started with begging our p ... More >>
When He Said began researching the music that came out the year we were born, 1983, we were taken aback by how much of this music has warped, shaped and informed our life. Pretty much all of the albums and bands that were prevalent that year are still on our turntables and playlists. Why just thi ... More >>
In a year worthy of your rage, metal delivered in spades. What with the economy circling the drain and Sarah Palin coming down from the tundra and then refusing to go back, 2008's been the kind of year that really makes you want to smash your head into walls or punch random strangers in the face. Go ... More >>
Photos by Craig Hlavaty / Click here for more Fandom is a funny thing. It can make the stodgiest businessman a KISS makeup wearing teenager from 1975. It can turn your Mom into a wannabe groupie when she gets a little too close to Steven Tyler. You yourself may wake up one tragic morn and grasp th ... More >>
No one else in thrash metal's so-called Original Top 4 (Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica) will ever be as a pleasing to the average pop fan’s palate as James Hetfield and pals. Slayer, is well, Slayer. Need we say more? Songs about blood and the Holocaust don’t really move units. The other ... More >>
Fade to Plastic via Guitar Hero III
Harp-y Metal
Locals lean on video games for instrumental inspiration
Metallica Jones
A local musician/DJ tries to give a rock star a golden shower
The rock and roll life of Jeff Bagwell
Between hard rock and a safe place, Metallica finds itself
The hopes of a dying genre chill in Linkin Park
Metallica returns with the most anticipated metal album in ages
When the concert season cools down, warm up with the latest rock and metal DVDs
Or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore Audioslave"
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