Guides

  1. Why Rock And Politics Matter More Than EverRock has always carried a charge beyond guitars, drums and volume. From protest anthems to records that quietly document working lives, the genre gives public…
  2. The forgotten rock stars who now run small music storesBefore streaming turned every back catalogue into background noise, a rock musician could disappear in stages. First came the cancelled tours, then the quiet…
  3. How a Five-Second Guitar Riff Took Over RockSome guitar parts need a full verse to make an impression. Others arrive in a handful of seconds, using a few blunt notes, a dark tone and enough space to make…
  4. When harmonicas turn rock songs sidewaysThe harmonica rarely arrives in rock as a polite decoration. It wheezes, snarls, trembles and occasionally sounds like a train disappearing into the night. In…
  5. Review: The Long Way Home Takes Rock Across Open CountryThe Long Way Home is a concept album about a cross-country road trip on a motorcycle, but its real subject is the emotional distance between leaving and…
  6. Why 1980s Rock Power Ballads Still Rule Wedding PlaylistsSome wedding songs arrive with a built-in emotional charge. The opening piano, the carefully delayed guitar solo and the singer reaching for an impossible high…
  7. The Most Creative Ways Rock Musicians Have Used Feedback And NoiseFeedback is usually treated as a mistake: a shriek from an overloaded amplifier, a microphone pointed the wrong way, or a rehearsal-room blast that sends…
  8. The Night Rock Music Met an Active VolcanoA rock band, a volcanic crater and a night sky make the sort of image that feels designed for a music documentary. Amplifiers glow against black stone, the…
  9. A Guide to the Most Historic Rock Music Landmarks in the SouthwestThe American Southwest is where rock history often feels physical: a faded club sign, a desert road, a rehearsal room preserved behind glass, or a canyon that…
  10. Why the 1990s Grunge Movement Was More Than Just Flannel and AttitudeGrunge is often reduced to a costume: checked shirts, battered Converse, greasy hair and a permanent scowl. That shorthand misses the deeper force of the…