Various artists We Will Follow: A Tribute to U2 (Cleopatra) The Friar’s Club couldn’t have concocted a better roasting for U2 than this tough-love fest. Don Rickles calling Bono a hockey puck somehow doesn’t even come close to demeaning the group’s early catalogue like having The Electric Hellfire Club’s singer…
Chris Hillman knew Gram Parsons perhaps better than anyone, or at least as well as anyone could know a wealthy young man dedicated to living fast, loving hard, dying young, and leaving a beautiful memory. It was Hillman who brought Parsons into the Byrds in 1968; and it was Hillman…
Branford Marsalis calls exactly at the appointed time, 3 p.m., despite a schedule that should not allow for such promptness. He is on a cellular phone, sitting on the front stoop of his 13-year-old son Reese’s piano school on White Plains Post Road in Eastchester, New York. Branford does not…
Blur 13 (Virgin Records) In the end, “Song 2” meant nothing. It was Britpop masquerading as Seattle rock, a hit single that was all release and no tension. How very American of a band that, until 1997’s self-titled fifth record, kept everything obscured behind wily working-class-hero lyrics and rock-but-not-rawking music…
Before the interview is to begin with Knack front man Doug Fieger, the man would first like to ask his own question. “I was wondering, why do you want to do an interview with me?” he says, his voice full of anger and confusion. Because, I tell him, I love…
As The Apostle’s title character, E.F. “Sonny” Dewey, writer-director Robert Duvall never stops moving and never speaks in a voice lower than a roar. He runs in place, dances when standing still, hollers even when he whispers; he vibrates. Sonny’s a true tent-revival preacher, spitting brimstone threats and heavenly promises…
The Beach Boys The Pet Sounds Sessions (Capitol Records) A few weeks ago, VH1 aired a documentary on the making of some Fleetwood Mac record–it was either Tusk or Rumours; it hardly matters which. Lindsey Buckingham sat behind the console, fiddling with knobs and dials until he managed to separate…
By its very definition, a thriller should, you know, thrill. It should not only scare its audience with a quick jolt, that sudden noise in the dark that comes from nowhere and fills everywhere, but with its slow burn. It’s not enough for a thriller to tell its story, to…
Howard and Emily’s wedding is the talk of Greenleaf, Indiana, a small town idyllic enough to repel Norman Rockwell. The town has waited three years for the couple to make it official–and slimmed-down Emily (Joan Cusack) has waited three long years for Howard (Kevin Kline) to consummate their relationship. She’s…
It was due in stores by July, but a lifetime of memories does not come easy to a man whose first hit came 41 years ago, when he was a member of a Sun Records roster that included Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and a boy named Elvis. So the…
In the middle of answering a question, Mark Eitzel notices a jacket worn by one of the Warner Bros. Records publicists who are hanging around his hotel room. He forgets what he’s saying–something about why he doesn’t really hate people, he just likes when they ain’t around–when he sees the…
Guided by Voices Mag Earwhig! (Matador Records) “Earwhig” is British slang for that loudmouth guy at the end of the bar who thinks he’s the world’s greatest storyteller and just won’t shut up. There’s a metaphor here for Guided by Voices’ way-beyond-prolific leader, Robert Pollard. Sure, he may have labored…
Paul McCartney Flaming Pie (Capitol Records) A mere eight years ago, Paul McCartney seemed relevant, viable, still alive–not just an old man coasting on history but a singer and songwriter worth listening to, no matter the resume. Working once more with a partner his equal (and maybe then some), McCartney…
It lasted a mere four seasons, but thirtysomething lives on. Its legacy began the moment the show went off the air in 1991: The yuppie-angst fantasy created by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick continues to spawn even now, its children looking almost exactly like the parents. First came My So-Called…
Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape (Roswell/Capitol) Slight expectations are easy to meet. Who knew that Dave Grohl wrote songs before the Foo Fighters’ 1995 debut? And what a pleasant surprise Foo Fighters was, proof that Nirvana’s pop-punk glory didn’t die with Kurt Cobain. “I’ll Stick Around” and “This…
The Jayhawks Sound of Lies (American Recordings) It was the perfect setup, at least on the exterior: They shared songwriting credits, shared lead vocals, shared the stage until it was difficult to discern just who brought what to the party. With their old buddies in Uncle Tupelo, you could easily…
During the first few minutes of Howard Stern’s romp through his inexplicable life, he spells out his mission: Private Parts will both convert the nonbelievers and entertain the cult. Stern wants to give you plenty of hot lesbian action (and freed from FCC restrictions, he takes real pleasure in saying…
The most obnoxious man alive suddenly, for a rare moment, is calm and contemplative. “I don’t know,” says Howard Stern, his familiar voice unfamiliarly soft. “I don’t know why.” Those are words Howard Stern doesn’t say very often. He, after all, knows everything, and he’ll remind you of that on…
Bruce Cockburn The Charity of Night (Rykodisc) L. Ron Hubbard should be as cult an artist as Bruce Cockburn. Cockburn’s only “hit” singles are diametric opposites–1979’s “Wondering Where the Lions Are” was a jaunty bit of religious poetry, while 1984’s “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” threatened to blow up…
Aphex Twin Richard B. James (Sire/Elektra) Moby–who just yesterday was the poster boy for the ensuing techno revolution–is going mortal while everyone else goes dancing. Turning his back on techno, Moby now embraces Mission of Burma and speed metal and Public Image Ltd. as though he knew them all along…
It could have been any town in America, and it often was: Athens, Georgia; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Minneapolis; Austin, Texas. Seattle was just another stop on the A&R Express, another destination where the gold-card crowd could run up their expense accounts while they looked for the Next Big Thing…
Johnny Cash Unchained (American Recordings) Just when his myth was in danger of being destroyed by too many mediocre albums–and too many wonderful albums underpublicized by uncaring labels and ignored by country radio–Johnny Cash was rescued from the country-music trash heap and restored to the sort of honorary status afforded…
