Niki D'Andrea

It might be easy for some people to dismiss Weird Al Yankovic as an '80s relic/Dr. Demento ripoff — if it weren't for the fact that since he started his comedic music career in 1976, he's sold more than 12 million albums and performed more than 1,000 live shows. Most...

Looking at rapper DMX's life is like watching someone punch himself in the face repeatedly. One can easily picture a cherubic white angel sitting atop one of the big black guy's shoulders, telling him not to snort that line of coke or skip that appointment with his probation officer. But...

Metal-core band Bullet For My Valentine takes the best of British heavy metal (tap-frenzy twin-guitar harmonies, rapid-fire rhythms) and combines it with the worst of American emo (harmonic choruses that border on whininess). We'll forgive them because a) they're British; b) they don't wear girls' jeans; and c) new album...

The holidays are a time of family, schmaltzy Christmas commercials that somehow make you cry and, for music journalists, list-making. Lots and lots of list-making. Over the past few years, the availability of year-end critics' lists has multiplied faster than the worry lines on Ben Bernanke's brow. Mark our words,...

Otep Shamaya says "Art is war." The singer for her namesake L.A.-based metal fusion band considers herself a revolutionary, and makes artistic catharsis via visceral screams and songs that sear into the ears like hot grease. Her lyrics are laden with apocryphal poetics about religion, politics, love and loathing; she's...