Peter Gabriel

Screw October, Revisited

Confessions of a Classic Rock Whore, or One Man’s Journey

Give Us a Hand

The Wayback Machine: 15, Ten and Five Years Ago in Houston Music

Gather Around for Storytime

Tracy Chapman

Woman Childs

Tracy Chapman

Post-Christmas Clearance

John Frusciante and Hildegard von Bingen never went to Festus, Missouri

Sparking Interest

David Rice finally throws the switch on greenelectric

The Year in Albums

David Rice finally throws the switch on greenelectric

Le Damnation de Faust

Going to hell? See who else is already there

Studemont Project, Million Year Dance, Peekaboo Theory, the Tontons

Going to hell? See who else is already there

David Rice

A songsmith picks up the pieces and returns to Houston in triumph

Musical Food Groups

If singers were cheese, what kind of cheese would they be?

Scott Faingold Listens to Everything

And comes up with a random smattering of tortured musings

Screw October

Justin Furstenfeld orders us to hate him. We obey.

Image of the Week

Cactus Music & Video

Freestyle Fellowship

Sometimes awesome live bands also make magic in the studio

Hurricane Mixtape

Music to drown by

Anarchy in da USA

Looking for the true spirit of the Ramones? Try going to an underground hip-hop show.

Erasure

Other People's Songs (Mute)

Goudie

Peep Show

OK, Maybe the Eagle Does Play Some Black People

As we usually do when we get into work, Rocks Off tuned into Dean & Rog on the Eagle and lo and behold, they were talking about our suggestions to improve the station we posted here Tuesday. D&R especially seemed to enjoy the part where we said it wouldn't kill the Eagle to play some more pe ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs for Getting It On

[Ed. Note: While we were off watching Night Ranger videos or something - which should tell you all you need to know about our own sex life at the moment - Rocks Off No. 2, Craig Hlavaty, and Web Editor Katharine Shilcutt started going back and forth about how men and women want to hear very differen ... More >>

Blind Boys of Alabama

[Ed. Note: While we were off watching Night Ranger videos or something - which should tell you all you need to know about our own sex life at the moment - Rocks Off No. 2, Craig Hlavaty, and Web Editor Katharine Shilcutt started going back and forth about how men and women want to hear very differen ... More >>

"Kill Yourself" or "Don't Give Up"? Five Possible Theme Songs for the 2009 Houston Texans

[Ed. note: Due to an editing mistake, this should have been up Friday afternoon. Apologies... we sure hope it didn't jinx the Texans or anything.] ​You may have missed it - what with there being almost no media coverage whatsoever - but football season started this week. Our own Texans are looking ... More >>

Live From ACL: Buckets of Rain, and a Bright Spot or Two

Photos by Chris GrayThis photo was NOT taken Saturday. Trust us.​ The streak is over. In eight years, Austin City Limits has seen plenty of days of unbearable heat, but hardly any rain. The most significant time was during Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' headlining 2006 set, but even that was m ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Christmas Musical Wishlists, Part 2 - LPs Nobody Can Buy

​When He Said was four years old, all he wanted for Christmas was big brown tape recorder that Play Skool put out so he could record his own imaginary radio shows and crazed ramblings about He-Man. Santa Claus brought it that year, and He Said wore that thing out over the next few months. For Chri ... More >>

What Constitutes a Killer Show? Six Personal Case Studies

​ Rocks Off is going to suck it up and go on the record as saying we had a great time at the Lady Gaga drag karaoke event last Sunday at Guava Lamp. Perhaps it was just the impaired judgment induced by the holiday cheer we'd imbibed at the Christmas party before, but the show was thoroughly enjoya ... More >>

Yeasayer

​ Rocks Off is going to suck it up and go on the record as saying we had a great time at the Lady Gaga drag karaoke event last Sunday at Guava Lamp. Perhaps it was just the impaired judgment induced by the holiday cheer we'd imbibed at the Christmas party before, but the show was thoroughly enjoya ... More >>

Top 5 Daniel Lanois Productions

​This past Saturday in Los Angeles, legendary producer Daniel Lanois, known for his trademark echo-heavy sound and work with the likes of U2 and Bob Dylan, was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Lanois was slated to soon begin work on Brandon Flowers of the Killers' solo debut and the u ... More >>

Keane

​This past Saturday in Los Angeles, legendary producer Daniel Lanois, known for his trademark echo-heavy sound and work with the likes of U2 and Bob Dylan, was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Lanois was slated to soon begin work on Brandon Flowers of the Killers' solo debut and the u ... More >>

Dave Matthews Band's Seven Best Covers

Craig Hlavaty​Tonight the Dave Matthews Band hits the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion with Austin's Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears as their supporting act. Now into their second decade of massive touring schedules, the DMB is now a cash machine on wheels - a sort of cleaner and less hairy Gr ... More >>

The Top 10 Rock-Musician Film Scores

​David Fincher's Facebook creation tale The Social Network has been the No. 1 film in America the past two weekends, and no doubt it will continue that streak this weekend, barring an assault by Jackass 3-D which comes out today. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone is already hailing Network as a ... More >>

Ten Videos That Will Creep The Hell Out Of You (NSFW)

"This was the first time we realized we were scared of needles being shoved into our faces..." ​Craig's Hlist has spent the past 27 years of our life mired in music videos. The family got cable at the exact same time that MTV was hitting its stride, so you could say that our first babysitter ... More >>

First SXSW 2011 Bands Announced: Uh Oh

A Place to Bury Strangers​It's here, folks. And not a moment too soon. Not even a month after ACL, and before Thanksgiving, the folks at from South by Southwest sent out there first missive detailing the 2011 event, scheduled for March 16-20. Rocks Off is shuddering already, but in a good way. ... More >>

106.9 FM Gets In The Zone, Misses The Point?

​Another Houston radio station has changed formats, or "flipped," although early reaction from some listeners is that the change is so slight it's hardly a change at all. Cox Communications has rechristened its property at 106.9 FM from "The Point" to "The Zone." It's not a sports station, al ... More >>

What Is Classic Rock Today?

​What is classic rock in 2010? 15 years ago, it was was the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, anything Eric Clapton touched and every band your dad played in his car while he was making out with the girls he met before your mom. That's how we know classic rock: Big riffs, big voices, in ... More >>

Guns N' Roses, Rolling Stones, Prince Coming In 2011?

Sind Axl und Slash wieder Freunde geworden?​Rocks Off is in the concert business for all intents and purposes. We scour Pollstar and other Web sites and almost hourly looking for new shows and tours to tell you about around the clock. In the span of writing this introduction we just listed Luc ... More >>

Peter Gabriel Coming To Houston June 16

​It's been eight years since former Genesis front man and mainstream avant-garde pop artist Peter Gabriel has performed in Houston, and on June 16 he will remedy that with what is sure to be a sold-out affair at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Last Saturday on his official Web site, Gabr ... More >>

Lyrical Advice For The Class Of 2011

"Move back in with your parents! Let them worry about you!"​There will be no guitars and Marshall stacks at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend, just "Pomp and Circumstance." As the Class of 2011 walks across the stage soon to be occupied by Peter Gabriel, Widespread Panic and Ki ... More >>

Peter Gabriel & the New Blood Orchestra

"Move back in with your parents! Let them worry about you!"​There will be no guitars and Marshall stacks at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend, just "Pomp and Circumstance." As the Class of 2011 walks across the stage soon to be occupied by Peter Gabriel, Widespread Panic and Ki ... More >>

The 25 Most Influential Music Videos Of All Time

​It's hard to fathom a time before music videos, and it's even sadder to remember when channels like MTV and VH1 were wall-to-wall music videos. In between there was a golden age, when with every clip that you watched could spark a revolution in you, or at least change your fashion sense. It's ... More >>

Last Night: Peter Gabriel At Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Jay Lee​Peter Gabriel Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion June 16, 2011 Rock writers right now - hell, everyone with a musical soul - are living in the most interesting of times. No, it's not because we can pull any album we want down out of the sky at any time of day. It's because we g ... More >>

25 Essential Eponymous Albums

​Eponymous: (of a literary work, film, etc) named after its central character or creator: The Stooges' eponymous debut album. On this day in 1983, a young woman from Michigan who had recently given up on a career as a hard-rock singer released her first album of electronic dance-pop, an album ... More >>

Ben Sollee

​Eponymous: (of a literary work, film, etc) named after its central character or creator: The Stooges' eponymous debut album. On this day in 1983, a young woman from Michigan who had recently given up on a career as a hard-rock singer released her first album of electronic dance-pop, an album ... More >>

Five Songs For Congo's Independence Day

​Rocks Off remains fascinated with obscure holidays like World Rabies Day. Usually we focus on either lesser-known American holidays, or international holidays endorsed by the United Nations. Today though, we decided to branch out to other countries and wish a happy Independence Day to the cit ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs Rush...Again

Photo by Jeff Balke​A couple years ago, I was sitting on the back porch at the Continental Club talking music with a fairly well known music writer who seemed to believe that anything with a big hook or the slightest inkling of musicianship beyond the garage band aesthetic was utter garbage. I ... More >>

Aftermath: Our Favorite Shows of 2011

Photo By Craig HlavatyRex's War Face: The crowd's at June's Free Press Summer Fest were feral and friendly. ​This week we asked our pool of Rocks Off writers what their favorite shows of 2011 were, the ones that brought joy to their hearts to attend and helped them make magic with a keyboard h ... More >>

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

​1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguab ... More >>

La La Love You: Top Ten Cheesiest Love Songs For Valentine's Day

www.cheese-burger.net​It's that time of year again. Everything is red and full of hearts. Chocolates and roses are marked up. Couples are showing off and singles are desperately searching online dating services for a quick set-up to give them their own special day. That's right, it's about to ... More >>