• Music Times 10 Best Albums of 2014; St. Vincent, The War on Drugs, Jack White & More...Who Takes No. 1?

    Glares were exchanged. Words were said that can't be taken back. Punches weren't quite thrown, although two Music Times editors (that won't be named) did engage in a karate chop battle reminiscent of the Clark Griswold vs. Plastic Lawn Reindeer battle of '91. When all was said and done however, the staff had managed to narrow a list of 943 albums down to a mere 10. Old standards like Jack White and Beck proved that their status within the music community was intact, and newer, much buzzed about acts including Sturgill Simpson proved themselves worthy of consideration during the previous 12 months.

  • 10 Artists to Watch in 2015: Ryn Weaver, Vince Staples, Years & Years and More

    Can you believe it? 2014 has come and gone just like that, and that means another year of music is in the books. We have recapped the year with a bevy of lists, and now it is time to look ahead to what 2015 has in store for us. It is impossible to predict everything that is going to happen in 2015 and all of the viral trends that seem to pop up out of nowhere — "NaeNae," "Selfie," "Shmoney Dance" — but we can look into our crystal balls to see who is set to be successful in 2015. Looking toward the halfway point of this decade, we tab 10 artists who are poised for a breakout year in 2015. Some are hot, up-and-coming names like Goldlink, ZHU and Kygo, while others you may not know just yet. These are in no particular order.

  • Music Times 25 Best Songs of 2014: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, St. Vincent & More

    2014 was the year of a thousand controversies: Taylor Swift pulled all of her music from Spotify, Sun Kil Moon started a feud with The War On Drugs, Jack White accused The Black Keys of ripping him off (again), and almost nobody went platinum. When you put all of that aside, however, what you're left with is a bunch of incredible songs, which is really what it's all about. Here are the 25 best songs from 2014, as determined by Music Times writers Ryan Book, Caitlin Carter, Joey DeGroot, Kyle Dowling, and Carolyn Menyes.

  • 6 Biggest Drops in Quality Between Albums: Bob Dylan, Prince and More

    Following up a great album is always a daunting task for a musician, and though plenty of artists managed to do this successfully, (Radiohead's Kid A, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet), many others have fallen completely short. Here are six of the biggest drops in quality between albums.

  • 8 Artists Who Hated The Production On Their Own Albums: Nirvana, Oasis, And More

    Making albums is almost always a collaborative process between the artist and their producer, which means that egos often clash and ideas are often compromised. For these eight artists, however, these compromises apparently didn't work out in their favor. Here are eight artists who hated the production on their albums.

  • Best Original Holiday Songs That Fit an Artist's Style Perfectly: Mariah Carey, Joni Mitchell, Queen and More [LISTEN]

    I wonder if when Irving Berlin finished writing "White Christmas" he knew he had created a timeless classic. Holiday music has become its own little business, with artists often taking time out of their recording schedule to put together an album of covers and originals. It has become a bloated industry — every pop star and washed-up rock band has a holiday record. Sometimes they are really just mailing it in for a payday. Other times, though, they create something special. Mariah Carey, Tom Petty and Queen all have original Christmas tunes that fit right into their musical styles.You have to give props to those artists who dare to pen a Christmas tune. It is easy to just put a signature spin on something like "Blue Christmas" or "The Christmas Song." Those are already accepted by throngs of holiday shoppers who hear them every year. But what about Billy Squier thumping on "Christmas Is the Time to Say 'I Love You'"? Or Joni Mitchell's heartbreaking anthem "River"? You certainly hear those ones less than Frank Sinatra singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" while you are driving to work in December.These tunes are significantly younger than most holiday standards, so perhaps one day they will be thought of as classics. Until then, we will just call them good songs.

  • Eddie Vedder: 7 Best Solo Tracks for the Pearl Jam Frontman's 50th Birthday [LISTEN]

    Eddie Vedder will forever be linked to one of America's greatest bands - Pearl Jam. He's been fronting the Seattle alt-rockers since 1990, when the members - Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and a slew of drummers (currently Matt Cameron) - were just kids leading the then new movement called grunge. Vedder was angry, confused, conflicted and often poetic in the early days. Today (Dec. 23) marks his 50th birthday, and the singer is still at the top of his game vocally and politically.

  • Remembering Austrian/German Pop Star Udo Juergens in Five Hit Songs: "Merci, Chérie," "Buenos Aíres, Argentina" and More

    The nation of Germany, and the pop music industry in general, got a bit of tough news today when it was announced that performer and songwriter Udo Juergens had passed away from heart failure at the age of 80. He was one of those performers who was an absolute smash in Europe, selling more than 100 million records across the continent—particularly in Germany and his homeland of Austria—but unfortunately his fame never caught on quite so well in the United States. If you're not familiar with his body of work, let Music Times give you a quick trip through is biography in five recordings.
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