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There are countless lyrics that sound totally idiotic when spoken instead of sung, but sometimes a songwriter will come up with some lyrics that can’t really be pinned onto to a melody. Here are seven great songs with spoken word lyrics. -
7 Classic Albums That Are Way Too Long: The Notorious B.I.G., Fleetwood Mac, and more
An album should ideally be no longer than 50 minutes, but artists regularly push this boundary and give us albums that are well over an hour long. There are some instances where this works (somehow, all two hours of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is worth hearing), but most of the time, these albums are simply too long. Here are seven classic albums that should have been much shorter. -
6 Artists Whose Sound Doesn't Match The Place They Came From: Thin Lizzy, CCR, and more
With many artists, there’s absolutely no mystery as to where they hail from. The Beach Boys are quite obviously from Southern California, and Bruce Springsteen has made a career out of being a New Jersey native (at least, he might be). These six artists, however, sound as if they came from one place, but are actually from somewhere else entirely. -
Six Lead Vocalists Who Don't Write Their Own Lyrics: Ozzy Osbourne, Roger Daltrey, and more
It's totally reasonable to assume that each member of a band writes his or her own parts: the guitarist writes the guitar parts, the bassist writes bass lines, and the vocalist writes the lyrics. However, there are some rare cases where someone in the band other than the vocalist writes the lyrics. Here are six examples of bands whose vocalists don't write their own lyrics. -
Six Famous Songs Written by People Outside the Band: Elvis Costello, the Eagles, and more
It's well known that many famous musicians don't actually write their own songs, but sometimes, even musicians who do write their own stuff are given songs by other songwriters. Here are six famous songs that were written with outside help. -
8 Albums Missing from Rolling Stone's Best of '94: Morrissey, Pulp and more
Rolling Stone recently wrote a list of the 40 best alternative albums of 1994, and while they included a ton of excellent albums (Parklife, Weezer’s Blue Album, Dookie), I also noticed that a ton of classics were missing as well (and replaced by Korn and Bush, for some reason). Here are eight great albums from 1994 that Rolling Stone must have simply forgotten to add to their list. -
6 Artists Whose Second Band Was Superior: Jimmy Page, Ian MacKaye, and more
When a musician is kicked out of a high-profile band, or if that band breaks up, they can usually be expected to start another band soon afterwards. While these bands are rarely better than the old ones (see: Wings, Big Audio Dynamite), sometimes the new band is actually better. Here are six artists whose second band was better than their first. -
6 Bands That Began as Solo Projects: Grizzly Bear, Foo Fighters, and more
Unless they're singing folk songs like Bob Dylan, solo artists are rarely "solo" in the most literal sense of the word, typically employing a backing band to play along with them on record and during concerts. However, just as some artists leave their bands in pursuit of a solo career, some solo artists feel more comfortable playing music within a band environment. Here are six great bands that began as solo projects for one of the members. -
6 Reasons Why Basement Shows are Better Than Venue Shows
I've written some reviews of basement shows for Music Times, and the more often I go to them, the more I'm convinced that they're superior to big venue shows in almost every way. Here are some reasons why. -
6 Artists Who Sound Totally Different Now Than When They Started: Radiohead, Of Montreal and more
Artists who tend to repeat their own work over and over again usually aren’t worth following (see: Oasis), but there are some artists who have shifted their sounds so radically that they’ve become virtually unrecognizable to their former selves. Here are six artists who sound totally different from when they started. -
5 Reasons Why "Illmatic" is the Greatest Rap Album Ever
I hold the very uncontroversial opinion that Illmatic, the debut album by Queens rapper Nas, is the greatest rap album ever made. In celebration of Illmatic’s 20th birthday today, here a couple of reasons why it’s truly the greatest ever, just in case you’re unconvinced (or if you’ve never heard it before). -
10 Musical Compositions Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez: Radiohead, Shakira and more
Gabriel García Márquez, 87, died yesterday (April 17, 2014) from lymphatic cancer at his home in Mexico City. The worlds and characters he created have also spawned musical works. In a testament to his legacy, here are 10 songs that were inspired by Garcia Marquez's life and works.
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