• 7 Artists Who Changed Their Names (After Becoming Famous): Dinosaur Jr., Animal Collective, and More

    Today, Long Island band Twin Sister announced that it would be changing its name to Mr. Twin Sister. Though it's not at all uncommon for a band to change its name a couple of times when starting out (I've been in bands that went months without a name at all), once the band starts releasing music and gaining an audience, like Mr. Twin Sister, changing names becomes tricky. Here are seven artists that have also changed their names after becoming famous.

  • 6 Albums Recorded Without the Entire Band: The Beach Boys, Smashing Pumpkins

    When you see an album by a solo artist like Michael Jackson or Tom Waits, nobody actually expects them to be the only musician performing on the album (unless they’re Prince). The same thing goes for some albums by bands. Just because the name of the band is on the front of the album, it doesn’t mean the entire band actually performed on the album. Here are six albums recorded without the entire band.

  • 8 Great Punk Covers of Classic Songs: Minor Threat, Big Black, and more

    If an artist does a cover version of a song, but doesn't really change anything about it, then there's not really a point in doing it at all (listen to Seal's version of "Let's Stay Together" and tell me why it had to be made). However, these eight bands took songs by non-punk bands and put their own noisy punk spin of them.

  • 6 Incredible Songs with Bizarre Song Structures: The Beatles, the Smiths, and more

    If you listen to a lot of pop and rock music like I do, you've probably noticed that most songs are similarly structured. They more or less go verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus, and in three minutes, you're out. A million great songs have been written this way, but some artists like to explore alternative song structures, often with great success. Here are six great songs with bizarre structures.

  • 9 Great Songs That Sound Out of Place On Their Albums: Nirvana, PJ Harvey and more

    Though an album where every song is pretty much the same won’t be very good (unless you’re the Ramones), the songs on an album should at least feel like it they all came from the same place. These nine songs, however, sound like they were placed on the wrong album entirely. Here are nine great songs that sound out of place on their albums.

  • 7 Songs Written About Ex-Bandmates: Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and more

    Being in a band can be stressful work. Sometimes this can lead to vicious disputes between bandmates or untimely departures from the band, and because these are musicians we're talking about, songs are inevitably written about these tensions. These seven songs were written about estranged or long lost bandmates.

  • 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.

  • Six Classic Albums from the ‘80s That Don’t Sound ‘80s: Slayer, Nirvana, and more

    Though each musical era has its own peculiar trends, no decade can compete with the ‘80s when it comes to bizarre, distinctive record production. Anyone can identify a ‘80s song immediately: chorus on the guitars, reverb on the drums, cheesy synths, and a cold atmosphere. Virtually every album released during the decade succumbed to this style, with these notable exceptions…
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