• 8 Albums That End With Instrumentals: Tom Waits, Hüsker Dü, And More

    A well-constructed album should flow a lot like a film or a novel, with an engaging opening, rising action, and a satisfying conclusion. Some albums even come with a dénoument or epilogue, an instrumental closer that follows the climax. Here are eight albums that close with instrumental tracks.

  • 6 Albums That Sound Totally Different From Their Predecessors: Springsteen, Blur, and more

    Most artists worth listening to tend to slightly change up their style with each release, and sometimes this results in the artist sounding completely different today than it did when it first started (hello, Radiohead). However, some artists forego this gradual transformation and instead entirely change their sound with just one album. Here are six albums that sound totally different from the one that came before it.

  • 10 Great Albums With Semi-Title Tracks: The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, And More

    The last time I wrote about title tracks, I mentioned songs that were left off of the albums that bore their name. Though these ten songs were placed on the correct albums, their titles are actually slightly different, which means they're technically not title tracks. Here are ten great albums that have semi-title tracks.

  • Seven Great Albums Recorded by One Person: Prince, Paul McCartney, and more

    Typically, when an artist puts out a “solo” album, they usually just sing and play one instrument (if that) while every other part is filled out by their band members or session musicians. While there’s nothing wrong with making an album that way, there are other artists who insist on controlling every aspect of their albums, even if it means playing each and every instrument on their own. Here are seven great albums that were created almost entirely by a single person.

  • 8 Artists Who Would Make For Interesting Musicals: Springsteen, Bowie, and more

    Even though a musical based on his songs is probably the last thing he ever wanted, the music of Kurt Cobain is coming to Broadway, apparently. Nirvana's music is excellent, but if I were in charge of selecting a catalog of songs to adapt into a musical, Nirvana would be towards the bottom of my list. Here's who would be at the top:

  • 12 Days of Christmas: 11 Best Versions of 'Sleigh Ride'

    For day two, we'll continue the countdown to the happiest day of the year with the classical wintery piece "Sleigh Ride." Originally composed by Leroy Anderson in 1946 recorded as an orchestral piece, complete with horse clop sound effects and that wonderous "clap!", the song first got a classical recording in 1950. The year before, 1949, the song was given the vocal treatment the followingyear by The Andrews Sister. Though not technically a Christmas song, it's hard not to associate this snowy track with the holiday season.

  • The Roots play with Big Daddy Kane, Raekwon, Sufjan Stevens and many others

    The Roots really went for it this year with the annual holiday jam session, also known as the OkayPlayer's Annual Holiday Party at Brooklyn's Brooklyn Bowl. It marked the fifteenth anniversary of the OkayPlayer website, which Questlove helped to found, and the show delivered by offering appearances from Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, beat-boxing mastermind Rhazel, and an unannounced appearance from Sufjan Stevens.
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