Twisted Sister

Pope Francis Who?

Five who might have inspired the name.

Pope Francis I: Who Could The Name Really Be Honoring? Five Possibilities

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio surprised a lot of people yesterday when he chose the name he'd be using as leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Francis I. As the "I" indicates, he's the first to ever use Francis, and there have been a hell of a lot of popes before him who could have done so. About ( ... More >>

Ten Musicians Who Did Time On Broadway

Broadway has been known to make both actors and singers into legends. However, due to what is known as stunt casting -- which is essentially gimmickry in order to gain ticket sales -- some musicians have headed to Broadway, if only for a short period of time. Here are some of the musical artists fro ... More >>

Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

This past Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Paul Greenberg where the author explained how important the Beatles were to music and pop culture to his five-year old son. The child didn't know that the band had albums, but only knew the Fab Four from iTunes playlists. "When the Beatles record ... More >>

The 10 Most Rocking Songs In Children's Entertainment

Here's the thing about children's entertainment, it's designed to appeal not only to the lowest common denominator, but the toughest audience known to man. Don't believe me? Try playing your favorite song to a toddler, even something that is an acknowledged classic like the Pretenders' "I'll Stand ... More >>

Parental Advisory! Another Look at the PMRC's "Dirty 15"

In 1985, the Parental Music Resource Center was formed as basically a watchdog group over popular music. Essentially, their goal was censorship. However, there was one big problem: The group was made up of the likes of Tipper Gore (wife of then-Senator and future Vice President Al Gore), Susan Bake ... More >>

Turn The Radio On: Top 10 Musicians Who Should Be DJs

A few years ago, Van Halen front man David Lee Roth filled in for Howard Stern on his nationally syndicated radio show. Roth also served a stint as a deejay for New York's 92.3 Free FM. This is nothing new, because many artists have at some point served as DJs, such as Greg Kihn of the Greg Kihn ba ... More >>

Readers Poll: The Best Third Albums Ever

This week in 1980, Van Halen released their third album Women And Children First, which contained the hits "And the Cradle Will Rock...," "Everybody Wants Some!! and fan favorite "Romeo Delight." It's not the best VH album ever, but it was, in fact, their third album. Most VH super-freaks I know an ... More >>

Is Dave Grohl Rebooting Probot With Hair Metal Kings Ratt? Maybe So...

Dave Grohl and Ratt team up​When Dave Grohl released his Probot project in February 2004, it opened a whole new world of metal to a new legion of kids whose only exposure to the hard stuff may have been whatever was on MTV or VH1 Classic. Here was Grohl teaming up with crusty scumlords like Le ... More >>

Hail, Santa: The Top 10 Metal Christmas Carol Covers

​Rocks Off likes to believe that Christmas is such a merry holiday, even some of Satan's most stalwart servants can't help but get into the act. Of course, it could be that heavy metal musicians record Christmas music for the same reason as Mariah Carey: Because there's a crapload of money to ... More >>

Walk on the Wild Side

One tour unites three very different faces of glam-rock.

Last Night: Rock of Ages At Hobby Center

Ed. Note: This is the second half of Rocks Off's "reviewer exchange program" with Art Attack. Dan Lippitt/Theatre Under the Stars​Rock of Ages Hobby Center June 7, 2011 Hair metal makes for great show tunes. That's what we left with last night when Rocks Off went back to a "sexier time" of " ... 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 >>

Rock of Ages

Rock Of Ages: Big Hair, Big Fog, Big Cliches

Ed Note: Rocks Off and our sister blog Art Attack are conducting a "reviewer exchange program" for the '80s musical Rock of Ages. One of our "rock and roll" people will review the show soon, but the visiting team bats first. Dan LippittThe cast of Rock of Ages​The Setup: '80s Sunset Strip roc ... More >>

Top 10 Louisiana Bands Of All Time

​Pardon the geographical pun, but besides Texas, our neighbor to the east may be the most musical state in these United States. And in terms of per capita, Louisiana, which ranks 25th in population to Texas' second, is probably second to none. Outside Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, the program m ... More >>

Slim Thug: Now Tweeting Church!

Aren't we all, Slim?​Welcome to another fabulous edition of Magnolia City Mixtape. Rocks Off doesn't want you to miss even a smidgen of news from Houston's music scene, so we mine the Internet, sifting through Twitter feeds and Facebook profiles and harvesting every piece we can find. So witho ... More >>

Ten Songs We Are Sick Of Hearing At Football Games

Take that Crazy Train right on out of here, Ozzy. Thanks.​That sound you heard Sunday was the collective shattering of the playoff hopes of thousands of Houston Texans fans as the team suffered yet another home loss, this time against the hapless San Diego Chargers, bringing their record to 4- ... More >>

Top 10 Last Words By Famous Musicians

​Musicians tend to be a mouthy lot. It takes a certain kind of soul to want and express your own inner world to the outer world at large. So when the time comes for them to shuffle off this mortal coil, they often have some very interesting exit lines... 10. Ludwig Van Beethoven, "Friends a ... More >>

What Do YOU Want To Do With Your Life??: Bad Dads In Music Videos

Sorry ladies, he's taken. By my mom.​This weekend is Father's Day, a holiday in which fathers all over the Hallmark Empire receive cards and gifts ranging from power drills and bourbon to celebrate them sticking it out for the duration of your ragged existence on earth. Craig's Hlist and hi ... More >>

Dancing With the Stars: Go Home Already, Irvin

A heated competition where anything's possible and the winners are usually juicing: That's right, folks, it's the seventh week of Dancing With the Stars. Let's do it! This week saw another double-dance night -- one individual, one team -- to be followed by another double elimination. And I know ... More >>

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Tragic, hilarious and maybe the sweetest rock doc ever made.

Rock the Bayou…Can You Handle It?

Rock the Bayou Preview: Bret Michaels Talks About Wrecking His Ferrari, C.C. DeVille, the "Bang Bus" and More

Don't Make Labor Day Weekend Plans...

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

Our top DVD picks for the week of June 28

The Golden Boy

Producer-remixer Jake Childs wants to turn Houston's house scene upside down

Hip to Be SquarePants

There's nothing absurd about the appeal of SpongeBob's first movie

Songs Of Freedom

Perhaps the candidates running in the 2004 election could use some help selecting their campaign music

Shred-heads

Grind transforms formula into freestyle fun

Glamorous Youth

Sharon Osbourne put the local kids of Pure Rubbish in front of millions on MTV. Then things fell apart.

Hail to the '80s

A rash of new compilations makes a case for the Me Decade's place in rock history