Guns N' Roses Month: Chinese Democracy
When Guns N Roses hit the Troubadour stage, no one imagined that the setlist could contain anything less than material from the bands classic era from 1987-1991. But fans were in for a surprise.
Read the full Guns N' Roses Month: Chinese Democracy review
Iron Maiden Live In Chicago
The album and tour follow a loose narrative which the band captured onstage with the same essence of their early career. It would be easier for the band to launch nostalgia tours year-after-year, but this has never been how Iron Maiden ticks.
Read the full Iron Maiden Live In Chicago review
Fall Out Boy: The Kids Are Alright (Live In Chicago)
In a day and age where pop music steers towards the safe rather than the adventurous, Fall Out Boy aims for the target building a pop-punk cathedral catalog that is unlike anyone else on the musical landscape.
Read the full Fall Out Boy: The Kids Are Alright (Live In Chicago) review
Tony K's Best Films of 2015
The world of cinema in 2015 was thriving and turbocharged. I cant remember a year with this many strong films. My top forty films all could have been a top ten films in different years.
Read the full Tony K's Best Films of 2015 review
Remembering David Bowie: Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Special Edition
We continue our look back on the life of David Bowie. Today we revisit Tony Ks 2010 review of the Special Edition 40th Anniversary of Bowies classic Space Oddity.
Read the full Remembering David Bowie: Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Special Edition review
Remembering David Bowie: Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town
antiMusic continues to look back on the life of David Bowie. Today we look at one of the definitive books which details his Berlin period from 1976-79: Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town
Read the full Remembering David Bowie: Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town review
We Are Infinite: Remembering David Bowie
How can someone I never met leave such a gap? His music has been so intrinsically a part of my life I cant fathom a world where there will never be another album, another video or a final concert.
Read the full We Are Infinite: Remembering David Bowie review
Best of 2015: Butch Walker - Afraid Of Ghosts
The ten songs housed on his seventh record are nothing short of a magnificent miracle. The landscapes these characters inhabit may be bleak, but their spirit is strong.
Read the full Best of 2015: Butch Walker - Afraid Of Ghosts review
Riot Fest Chicago 2015: Most Valuable Performances
Riot Fest is an independently run festival, covering three cities and delivering a bevy of acts with roots in the punk aesthetic. How did the 2015 Chicago edition fare? Pretty damn well.
Read the full Riot Fest Chicago 2015: Most Valuable Performances review
The antiMusic Interview: Joey Tempest of Europe
Watching Joey Tempest, lead singer of the Swedish hard rock band Europe, onstage at Chicagos House of Blues earlier this year was an eye-opening and enlivening experience. Check out Tonys interview with Joey.
Read the full The antiMusic Interview: Joey Tempest of Europe review
Flashback: Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run
Bruce Springsteens Born To Run was released in August of 1975 and forty years later, the eight songs that make up this rock n roll masterpiece are every bit as vital as they were in 1975.
Read the full Flashback: Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run review
Motley Crue: The Final Ride
More than an hour into Motley Crues final Chicago area show, the crowds arms are surging forward with fists full of fury as the chant Shout... shout... shout singing along to their seminal 1983 anthem Shout at the Devil.
Read the full Motley Crue: The Final Ride review
Lollapalooza 2015 Day Three: Florence and the Machine and more
One minute you are basking in the sun waiting for George Ezra to take the stage for an hour-long set and the next you are evacuating Grant Park looking for cover due to an impending storm.
Read the full Lollapalooza 2015 Day Three: Florence and the Machine and more review
Lollapalooza 2015: Day Two - Metallica, Brand New And More
Saturdays edition of Lollapalooza was another perfect summer day with a mixture of sleepy and stupendous sets. The most fierce set of the day came from a Lollapalooza veteran, Metallica.
Read the full Lollapalooza 2015: Day Two - Metallica, Brand New And More review
Lollapalooza 2015: Day One - Paul McCartney- Gary Clarke Jr.- More
What started as an alternative music fest has turned into one of the premier music festivals in the United States. While the spirit of alternative is alive within the festival, its expanded and has few musical boundaries.
Read the full Lollapalooza 2015: Day One - Paul McCartney- Gary Clarke Jr.- More review
Michael Franti and Spearhead: Once a Day Tour
Inside the friendly confines of the gorgeous Thalia Hall, Michael Franti and Spearhead matched U2 and the Rolling Stones song-for-song with a bristling catalog that confronts and comforts the listener.
Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead: Once a Day Tour review
Fall Out Boy: Boys of Zummer Tour
Fall Out Boy returned to Chicago like reigning champions and their ardent fans accepted them with open arms this past weekend on the Boys of Zummer tour which also features sets from Wiz Khalifa, Hoodie Allen, and DJ Drama.
Read the full Fall Out Boy: Boys of Zummer Tour review
U2's Set List Conundrum
The overall consensus of the tour during its first month is the staging is not just stunning, but Earth-shattering. However, many fans who bought tickets to multiple shows (including this writer) feel a bit disillusioned.
Read the full U2's Set List Conundrum review
Rush: Beyond the Arena Stage
Rush in 2015 is a band at the peak of their powers. On tour in celebration of their fortieth anniversary (R40), they flat-out delivered the goods like a band that had so much on the line.
Read the full Rush: Beyond the Arena Stage review
To celebrate the release of Cameron Crowes new film we revisit this feature from 2012 where Tony K revealed his list of Greatest Hits of songs used in the famed filmmakers movies.
- Read the full Music and Movies: Cameron Crowe's 'Greatest Hits' review
Its only the end of February, but Tony K already has his selection for album of the year honors. And he explains why in his first 5 Star review in over six and half years. Find out how Afraid of Ghosts made such an impression on him. (5 stars)
- Read the full Butch Walker - Afraid of Ghosts (Album of the Year) review
2014 was possibly the best year for film since 1997 when Good Will Hunting, LA Confidential, Boogie Nights, The Ice Storm, Wag the Dog, In the Company of Men, Titanic, Jackie Brown and The Full Monty invaded cinemas.
- Read the full Best Films Of 2014 review
Adore is a disconsolate album birthed out of incertitude and lament which is blended beautifully amongst electronic weeps and vocals so hushed that haunt you even when the music fades away. (5 stars)
- Read the full The Defining Reissue of 2014: Smashing Pumpkins Adore Deluxe Reissue review
Lollapalooza 2014 came to a climax amongst a series a pulsating rain showers which made the day a muddy mess, theres no way to sugarcoat it. Miraculously, it didnt diminish the sets of any of the performers and may have helped a few as they had to up their game to ensure the crowd wouldnt run for shelter.
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2014: Day Three review
The second day of Lollapalooza 2014 may not have reached the emotional heights of day one, but it contained the single best set I witnessed all weekend (thank you to Fitz and the Tantrums).
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2014: Day Two review
The first day of Lollapalooza 2014 was an extraordinary one, quite possibly the single greatest day of music Ive ever been witness to. For each of its ten hours, I roamed stages across Grant Park in the search of enlightenment, discoveries and surprises and I found it all.
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2014: Day One review
Metallicas landmark sophomore album Ride The Lightning celebrates its 30th anniversary this week and to celebrate we revisit Tony Ks previous in-depth look at the album that we published 5 years ago. (5 stars)
- Read the full Metallica's 'Ride the Lightning' Turns 30 review
Over the last few years Franti has managed performing shows across the globe in a variety of functions as headliner, opener, festival circuit and now his own mini yoga festival entitled Soulshine, the name taken from a song on his 2001 album Stay Human.
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead's Soulshine Tour review
Any longhaired rocker who released a record between 1985 and 1991 regrettably has the hair metal label linked to them. Some of the acts merit it, as they had limited talent relying on all style and no substance. Then there are acts like Cinderella, led by Tom Keifer. (4 stars)
- Read the full Tom Keifer - The Way Life Goes review
This is the rare summer package that offers the fans a great bang for the buck as they are given the opportunity to see two bands arguably both at the peak of their powers.
- Read the full Live: Fall Out Boy and Paramore Monumentour review
There is a reason that Shes So Unusual made Rolling Stone magazines list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and its now been remastered and reissued in an elaborate and deluxe package for your rediscovery. (4 stars)
- Read the full Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual 30th Anniversary Special Edition review
This is the quintessence of Queen and its heart is still beating loud and proud. It may be too much for you to bear to hear these songs sung by someone other than Mercury, but I hope you brave it, because Queen + Adam Lambert is pure majesty. (5 stars)
- Read the full Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Opening Night review
When Tony was told Superunknown was the first rock album ever to be mixed in 11.1 sound and it was available as an app on your phone, he just couldnt imagine how the listening experience would be overpowering.
- Read the full Soundgarden's 'Superunknown' in DTS 11.1 Headphone: X Format review
Bruce Springsteens hit album Born in the U.S.A. celebrates its 30th anniversary this week and to celebrate we take look a back at Tony K's feature about the album from our Bruce Springsteen month in 2009.
- Read the full Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. review
With the Oscars officially over, pick up where lasts weeks best of 2013 film list left off starting with number twenty-six. Some may wonder why put any focus on these films, but 2013 was an astonishing year and every one of these are worth your time.
- Read the full The Best Films of 2013 - Part II review
The world of cinema got off to an honorably slow start in 2013. Post-summer very few films had truly shaken me to my core but then came the fall and year-end lists and as it stands right now, 2013 will go down in the books as one of the finest in the history of cinema.
- Read the full The Best Films of 2013 Part I review
The superb arena show, named The Night We Stole Christmas, featured nearly five-hours of music on the Allstate Arena stage where more than ten-thousand fans watched five of the best and brightest bands lighting up the alternative airwaves currently.
- Read the full The Night We Stole Christmas With Queens of the Stone Age and 30 Seconds To Mars review
Knowing that the end was approaching, Walker focused his time and attention on the EP Peachtree Battle in the hopes his father could hear the completed work before he passed. Big Butch died shortly thereafter but not before Walker was able to play the songs to his father holding his hand. (4 stars)
- Read the full Best of 2013: Butch Walker review
Last summer in downtown Chicago, Lollapalooza was taking place with the Cure, Mumford and Sons, Nine Inch Nails and the Killers headlining the three-day event. What no one could have anticipated was how a sixty-five year old soul crooner would steal the weekend: Charles Bradley.
- Read the full Best of 2013: Charles Bradley Live- A Spiritual Soul review
Imagine the best elements of Springsteen and KISS mashed up and you would have Pinks 2013 world tour in support of The Truth About Love, Pink may thrive on being a commercial entity, but make no mistake, being an artist comes first.
- Read the full The Best of 2013: Pink Concert Review review
Tony has seen Lauper in a wide variety of venues and shes never been anything less than spectacular, however, onstage at the Chicago Theatre for this anniversary, he can say without a doubt that shes never been better
- Read the full Cyndi Lauper She's So Unusual 30th Anniversary Tour review
Rod Stewarts 2013 Live the Life tour is quite a sight to see inside an arena. A stage wrapped in all white with towering pillars that substitute for video screens amidst a back wall video screen and one that would occasionally drop from the center of the top rig focusing on Stewarts every move.
- Read the full Rod Stewart: Grasping the Passage of Time review
During the course of our interview we discussed the current tour, All People, how he got Pink to duet with him, crafting a set list, working with the Matrix, why he admires U2, rearranging songs and how Factory Records artists New Order and Joy Division influenced his latest record.
- Read the full Michael Franti - The antiMusic Interview review
There is a dirty secret about Napster-the software was created with the intent purpose of wanting to pay artists and record labels. It has been over a dozen years since Napster has been a force, but their rise and fall is now been given a new viewpoint with great fervor in an eye-opening documentary Downloaded. (3 stars)
- Read the full Downloaded review
Michael Franti is arguably Gods greatest gift to the concert stage since Bruce Springsteen and U2. If you differ with this observation, it is most likely because you are an atheist. From the front row to the last seat in the balcony, Michael Franti and Spearhead bleed genuineness. (5 stars)
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead Live review
With the release of Save Rock and Roll Fall Out Boy did not simply reunite, they were reborn. It is arguably Fall Out Boys finest triumph, if for no other reason than its plays like a perfect old school rock record with no filler (and their shortest record at eleven songs). (4 stars)
- Read the full Fall Out Boy: Reborn with a Bullet review
Chris Wyse has worked with Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne and Tal Bachman. antiMusics Anthony Kuzminski spoke with Chris about the current Electric 13 tour with the Cult, how he came to play with Ozzy, his friend Bob Rock and his time with Mick Jagger.
- Read the full The Cult's Chris Wyse Interview review
I may have walked in seeking a peak from the past but I walked away with a vivid picture of the present and the Cult proved themselves to be more than a band looking back but one still willing to share verbal and musical allegories that penetrate not just your ears but obscured feelings as well.
- Read the full The Cult's Electric 13 Tour In Chicago review
Every summer when Lollapalooza takes over downtown Chicago for a weekend over 150 acts perform. Some are well-established artists, but many take the side stages at the festival with big dreams and open hearts. The 2013 edition was eye opening for the confounding musical endowment I witnessed.
- Read the full Twelve Greatest Discoveries of Lollapalooza 2013 review
The 2013 edition of Lollapalooza ended this past Sunday but not before it set free another ten hours of eclectic alternative music. The perfect summer day allowed one to maximize their time between the stages. Here are antiMUSICs twelve highlights from Sunday August 4th.
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2013 Day Three review
Saturday surpassed all of the other days in terms of musical performance. Several acts in their first Lollapalooza performances validated not just their spot at the festival but Lollapaloozas overall relevance in showcasing up and coming talent.
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2013 Day Two review
For the ninth straight year, Lollapalooza has called Chicago home. Amidst the most beautiful skyline in the world and in a vast park with 80,000 of your closest friends, Lollapalooza has grown into more than weekend but possibly the defining music festival of the summer
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2013 - Day One review
Walking up to a microphone with a cigarette in her hand, Courtney Love stepped in front, looked out onto the crowd and simply stated hey before she proceeded to pick up a Rickenbacker guitar to take the crowd into sensory overkill.
- Read the full Courtney Love Live review
Pearl Jam performed Friday evening at Wrigley Field in Chicago debuting two new songs from their forthcoming Lightning Bolt. The show was initially planned to stretch 40 songs however a thunderstorm made the band empty the fans on the field after only performing for 45-minutes.
- Read the full Pearl Jam Live In Chicago review
While fans have adored the heavy Beatles sets, the Wings era sadly has been overlooked on almost all tours since then, which is why the 2013 remaster of his triple 1976 live album Wings over America is such a delight to listen to. (4 stars)
- Read the full Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings over America (Reissue) review
It is not so much about dancing or the stylized moves you can make but it is specifically part of a larger community. DJs like Martin Solveig do more than merely recreate existing musical landscapes, but journey out into the unknown and reinventing it, taking us along for the ride through our fantasies, desires and dreams.
- Read the full Martin Solveig Live in Las Vegas review
Metallica has always challenged themselves with their performances, their albums and now the Orion festival by never letting go of that inner fan. From muscle cars to horror memorabilia to movies, Orion is the place for them to share these hobbies along with the music they love.
- Read the full Metallica's Orion Music + More: Day Two review
Metallica make a surprise appearance on the first day of the Orion Music + More festival and performed their debut album, Kill Em All in its entirety. And that was only part of the highlights for the first day or the festival. Tony K has a full report.
- Read the full Metallica's Orion Music + More: More Than A Festival, But A Family review
Whatever questions one may have had before the lights went out, by the time them came on over two hours later, it was apparent that Green Day wasnt just back, but had returned to the concert stage with the strength and fortitude to be as best theyve ever been.
- Read the full Green Day Live: Tour Kick Off In Chicago review
Searching for Sugar Man is a film that makes you believe in miracles, hard work and being the best at what you do because even if it is not noticed instantaneously, somewhere over time, someone will find a way to bring you and your talents to the forefront. (5 stars)
- Read the full Searching for Sugar Man Blu-ray and Soundtrack (5 Stars) review
Those who have chosen to judge a book by its cover have missed out on a deep and rich body of work that still fills theaters and amphitheaters to this very day.
- Read the full Tom Keifer Live review
If there was an overriding theme in 2012 throughout cinema, it was the search for ones purpose. The drive and desire to feel like their lives mattered drove the best flicks of the past year from CIA agents to parents in impossible circumstances to teenagers all too aware of what matters.
- Read the full The Best Films of 2012 review
As we head into Grammy weekend, Tony K takes a look back at the 25 albums that made the biggest impression on him in 2012 and the ones he thinks that deserved to be recognized and listen to!
- Read the full The Best Albums of 2012 review
Roger Ebert is a man who relishes the art of film. His reviews are like no other and hes largely viewed as the pre-eminent writer of film criticism of the not just the last century but this one as well. Despite losing his voice, hes anything but silent. (5 stars)
- Read the full Life Itself: A Memoir review
Leonard Cohen is one of the few artists capable of providing a enlightening out-of-body experience- he delivers more than a show but a masters workshop on the magnificence and menace we stumble upon day-after-day. (5 stars)
- Read the full Leonard Cohen Live: A Tower of Soul review
George Harrison: Living in the Material World is not the film fans yearned for but it is probably the one needed. It may not provide minutiae of Harrisons music, but instead affords the viewer a picture of a faulted man who did his best to find inner peace in a world with far too much distortion.
- Read the full George Harrison - Living in the Material World review
Rod Stewart may be the rock eras greatest interpreter of songs and yet, he has embraced so many types and genres of music, that he has left a discomforting feeling with many. There is three distinct Rod Stewarts people love and all of these personas get significant screen time in Rod (4 stars)
- Read the full Rock Reads: Rod By Rod Stewart review
For the first time, we have a chronological tale of his early bands, their members, his girlfriends, key family events and all of the fine points and grandeur of his forty-year career all housed in one book that defines Bruce Springsteen as both man and artist. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bruce review
ABCKO has put together a stunning package delivering a definitive view of the early live Stones career. While other films have been more notorious, maniacal and ego-filled, Charlie Is My Darling is the first to capture the Stones at the pinnacle of their youth. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full The Rolling Stones - Charlie Is My Darling- Ireland 1965 Box Set review
We have a in-depth documentary, a one-of-a-kind audio journey through the albums creation, a live album/DVD at Gabriels commercial peak and above all else, a spectacular remaster of one of the greatest and most significant records of the last thirty years. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Peter Gabriel - 'So' 25th Anniversary Immersion Box Set review
In the absence of a life that once was, she sought consolation in music once again and she has created her strongest album since Stiletto. On Living Like a Runaway she does not hold back and dives deep into the waters of despondency and dissolution taking us along for the rise. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Lita Ford - Living Like a Runaway review
Billy Corgan rebuilt the Smashing Pumpkins, member-by-member and turned them into road warriors and then took them into the studio and together as a band created a modern rock masterwork of estrangement in Oceania. (4 stars)
- Read the full The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania Album and Concert review
When I heard the lovelorn ballad In the Sun by Peter Gabriel in the late 1990s, I thought it was an original until I saw the songwriting credits- Written by Joseph Arthur which led me down a path to this wondrous musical genius. (4 stars)
- Read the full Joseph Arthur - Redemption City review
Everything about Rodriguez was shrouded in mystery earlier this year before the film was rolled out to cinemas worldwide. The mystery and intrigue has played a huge part of the marketing and buzz around the documentary and while I am confessing to you that he is alive, it does not mean the mystery train stopped with the revelation. (5 stars)
- Read the full Rodriguez: A Poet for the People review
Listening to Aftermath of the Lowdown, the third solo record from Richie Sambora, it is evident that life took him down unanticipated roads over the last decade. Those who view Sambora solely as Jon Bon Jovis co-conspirator are in for a revelation on Lowdown. (4 stars)
- Read the full Richie Sambora - Aftermath of the Lowdown review
Despite the fact that his current tour is behind a record more than a quarter of a century old, Peter Gabriel concerts are places we go in the hopes that when we leave, we walk away a better person with a tighter grasp on the mysteries that often keep us from attaining greatness. (5 stars)
- Read the full Peter Gabriel Live - So Anniversary Tour review
Those who are especially fond of country music as it was performed in the '60s and '70s can enjoy the special treat of touring the former Nashville homes of some of the biggest stars of the era, including those of Barbara Mandrell, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.
- Read the full Nashville Then And Now, Part 1- At Home with the Legends Road Trip article
Watching the Canadian rock band Rush perform in concert is nothing short of an astonishing miracle. Every time Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart step onstage, Rush fans are acutely aware they are witnessing something that should not be.
- Read the full Rush Live in Chicago 9/15/12 review
In listening to the new vivid remaster (done at Abbey Road Studios under the supervision of the same team who handled the Beatles remasters), its hard to imagine such an off-the-cuff and wonderfully amiable record wasnt received with wide open arms. (4 stars)
- Read the full Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram Reissue review
When the news came out that Jani Lane had died, I was stunned even though I should not have been. He was found alone in a budget hotel room with no identification other than a letter written by a friend saying, I am Jani Lane
- Read the full In Remembrance: Jani Lane 1967-2011 review
Tony K continues his in-depth coverage of this years Lollapalooza festival. Today he tells us about Day 2, including sets by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bloc Party, Calvin Harris, Franz Ferdinand, fun., JJ Grey and MOFRO, Delta Spirit, Doomtree and Laura Warshauer.
- Read the full Lollapalooza Day Two review
The third and final day of the 2012 edition of Lollapalooza occurred under ideal blue skies and just right summer temperatures. In total, I witnessed thirty-three different live acts over thirty hours of music. Is Lollapalooza worth the money to go? It is without question one of the key destination festivals in America.
- Read the full Lollapalooza Day Three review
Taking place over three days in Chicagos Grant Park, it serves up an eclectic taste of musical styles alongside tasty food choices, unlimited water and a wonderfully designed setting just off the lakefront with the worlds greatest skyline looking down on it.
- Read the full Lollapalooza 2012: Day One review
As the final notes of Paranoid wrung throughout Grant Park in Chicago at day one of the 2012 edition of Lollapalooza, the four members of Black Sabbath placed their instruments down and made their way towards the front of the stage in what should have been an eye welling moment of triumph.
- Read the full Black Sabbath at Lollapalooza review
The hard rock band Cinderella has never received the appreciation they merit. So many acts these days desperately try to rewrite the chapter on rock, but what they fail to recognize is that its all been done and those who can manage to dance close to the flame without getting burned often bring more to the table.
- Read the full Cinderella: Live in Chicago review
Up until now, the film has largely been viewed as a product of its time but author John Kenneth Muir reminds us that Purple Rain is more than a late night guilty pleasure but one of the definitive musicals of the 20th Century.
- Read the full Purple Rain: Music on Film review
The Graceland box set encompasses the albums entire journey. The demo disc captures the songs at their birth, the album, the live concert DVD where these songs find their footing and expand and the documentary Under African Skies covers the history of not just the songs, but Paul Simons journey, struggle and redemption. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Paul Simon - Graceland 25th Anniversary Box Set review
Watching Loretta Lynn on the Drury Lane stage, these songs are as alive as they were when she first wrote and recorded them. She sung about things once considered taboo and in some essence they still are.
- Read the full Loretta Lynn Live review
The lights went off and from the shadows a repeating terse series of guitar chords emanated throughout the Marcus Amphitheatre in Milwaukee. Five band members strolled across the stage and step-by-step took their places as Dave Grohl walked up to the microphone and in a whisper began to sing All my life Ive been searching for something
- Read the full Foo Fighters: Unyielding and Unrepentant review
Iron Maiden is currently on their Maiden England World Tour which is closely recreating their 1988 tour in terms of set list and stage set. Walking a line between your past and your present is a delicate one. Most artists falter in concert as their shows lean too heavily towards one or the other, but Iron Maiden appears to have found the perfect balance.
- Read the full Iron Maiden: The Golden Years review
Most acts while theoretically proficient lack this ability to want to go the distance. On stage inside 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, I watched an angel sent from above to help us make sense of the jigsaw puzzle of life and her name is Sarah Buxton. You may not know her name, but you know her.
- Read the full Sarah Buxton: An Undiscovered Soul review
Watching Willie Nelson roll through thirty songs in a mere ninety-minutes at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois was an otherworldly experience. I had parallel sensations watching Buddy Guy inside his blues club in Chicago a few years ago.
- Read the full Willie Nelson Live review
Sweetwater and the Satisfaction plans to release their self-titled debut record later this summer, but in advance of that, Tony was provided a sneak peak at three songs, one of them, Love More Than Anything he wanted to write about.
- Read the full Sweetwater and the Satisfaction - Love More Than Anything review
Without question, Moonrise Kingdom is the most distinctive and mystifying soundtrack Wes Anderson has concocted for his films to date. While it may not house forgotten favorites from the 1960s and 1970s you may have expected, its a most welcomed musical detour and one you will surely want to revisit more than once. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom review
What differentiates Radiohead from other fringe acts is the astounding size of their fan base. These are people who know every nook and cranny of their eclectic catalog which allows the band to take chances and veer the show into unforeseen territories.
- Read the full Radiohead Live in Tinley Park, IL - June 10th, 2012 review
The current tour in support of The Wall cements the albums legacy once and for all and will give the younger generation a bar for stadium performances that are unlikely to ever be topped again.
- Read the full Roger Waters: Tearing Our Walls Down Live at Chicago's Wrigley Field review
Hale does more than capture Megadeth in their infancy, he captures them onstage and off stage in an informal manner thus making many of the pictures in Megadeth: Another Time, A Different Place truly enduring.
- Read the full Megadeth: Another Time, A Different Place review
Its been twenty-five years since Huey Lewis and the News had their last number-one album and single, but that hasnt stopped them from being one of the most consistent and best bands touring today.
- Read the full Huey Lewis and the News: The Kids Are All Right review
This is the first full fledged tour in more than thirty years to include Brian Wilson as a major contributor. Further, the set list consisted of forty-three songs. Let me repeat that- forty-three songs. Knowing they cynics would be out in full force, the band set out to blow all expectations out of the water.
- Read the full The Beach Boys Live at Chicago Theater May 22, 2012 review
We all dream about seeing a band with a mammoth stage presence inside the intimacy of a club. Chicagos wish was granted when the English band the Kaiser Chiefs took to the House of Blues stage on a stop in between their two performances at Coachella
- Read the full Kaiser Chiefs Live review
Quadrophenia has never sounded more pristine and the extras included within the box set place the album in a wholly new light. If anything, it further demonstrates the brilliance of Pete Townshend and his manic mastery of the studio. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full The Who - Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut review
Their portraits of unfulfilled desires paired with an insatiable yearning to be heard. Whether its their debut record, their follow-ups records, a covers record or under the lights of a concert stage the Counting Crows sincerely liberate themselves and their fans a rigorous set of high octane rock n roll delivered with blissful conviction few can match.
- Read the full Counting Crows: Still Burning When the Bar Lights All Go Out review
The All-American Rejects may not make any year-end critics lists, but watching the crowds collective retorts song-after-song made me realize this is a band bigger and better than anyone other than their fans gives them credit for.
- Read the full The All-American Rejects: Songs To Save Your Life By review
From the Sky Down isnt so much about the making of Achtung Baby as it is about four friends who managed against all odds to retain their friendship and conquer the world not once, but twice while doing it as a democracy. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full U2 - From the Sky Down review
The Ting Tings took a rapturous crowd and super-charged it in a concert that was nothing short of magnificent as they captured the audiences imagination better than most acts could with a three-hour set.
- Read the full The Ting Tings Live review
This concert is a prelude to pizza, Ryan Adams told in a wry deadpan manner to the sold-out Chicago crowd on a wintry December evening. Right from the introduction, Adams appeared to be in high spirits which he channeled rapaciously through his voice and guitar.
- Read the full Ryan Adams Live review
Despite concert tours by Van Halen, the reunited Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters in 2012, let me state that the Kelly Clarkson and Matt Nathanson package currently touring is one of the best of the year.
- Read the full Kelly Clarkson and Matt Nathanson Live: More Than Meets The Eye review
Bruce Springsteens widescreen vision of America on Wrecking Ball is filled with terror, tension, tenacity and above all else, triumph which may not replenish your bank account, but it will replenish your soul. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball review
With a new album in tow, Van Halen has hit the road once again and while on paper it has much in common with the 2007-08 tour, this time around the band has coalesced into an unyielding band of brothers ready to slay anyone in their path.
- Read the full Van Halen Live in Chicago 2012 review
2011 was a great year for movies. As always, there were many disenchanting films but the high points of the year are marvelously high and there seemed to be an underlying theme of redemption in all of them.
- Read the full Tony K's 52 Best Films of 2011 review
As the film industry celebrates their picks for the best films of 2011, Tony K takes a look at his favorite eleven albums of this past year as well as some honorable mentions that cross many genres and helped keep music alive and well for another year.
- Read the full Tony K's Favorite Album's of 2011 review
Today Tony K reveals his Top 10 list of Cameron Crowes Greatest Hits of songs used in the famed filmmakers movies as Tony looks at the Marriage Between Music and Movies.
- Read the full A Marriage Between Music and Movies Part III: Cameron Crowe's Top 10 Greatest Hits review
Today Anthony Kuzminski continues his countdown of Cameron Crowes Top 50 Greatest Hits with Part II counting down No 25. to No. 11 of the best songs used in Crowes films
- Read the full Cameron Crowe's Greatest Hits Part II (25-11) review
Few directors can paint pictures and weave it with music as elegantly as Crowe. He has a way of twisting the emotional tone of a single scene with a song or emphasizing a characters heightened emotions through song.
- Read the full A Marriage Between Music and Movies: Cameron Crowe's 'Greatest Hits' Part I (50-26) review
What differentiates filmmaking from novels is the ability to perfectly pinpoint emotions for which there are no words. You may not know it but Drive is more than 2011s best film, it is also the most transfixing and arousing soundtrack of 2011 as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Drive Original Motion Picture Soundtrack review
While others are trying to achieve sales plateaus, Matt Nathanson simply writes deeply personal songs and performs them with astounding conviction in concert. Matt Nathanson has achieved a level of success but he deserves more and more importantly you deserve to experience his music in your life.
- Read the full The Best of 2011: Matt Nathanson Live review
Ive been here for six weeks... where the hell were you? Morrissey crackled at the sold out crowd at the Congress Theater in Chicago. The show was originally scheduled to open his six week tour and instead, it served as the penultimate performance and what a performance it was.
- Read the full Morrissey Live at Congress Theater review
Watching this performance Rush has never been more alive or aware of their power and purpose and for this alone, Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland is an essential live music document. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Rush - Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD review
Inside Chicagos Metro nightclub a dramatic detour on the pop landscape by Patrick Vaughn Stump is taking place. Instead of the baseball cap wearing front man, were confronted with a slick and sleek sight not familiar to many. (4 stars)
- Read the full Tony K's Album of the Year Pick: Patrick Stump - Soul Punk review
The film will cover enough ground for the casual fan whereas the book is created not just for the devout believer but more importantly, to document the bands history through its first twenty years.
- Read the full Pearl Jam Twenty review
Inside The Venue, a state of the art concert complex attached to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana (just outside of Chicago) Black Label Society and Judas Priest performed one of their longest and most intimate shows of their current tour.
- Read the full Judas Priest and Black Label Society Live review
To Gabriels credit, he didnt go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefitted the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
- Read the full Peter Gabriel - New Blood review
Usually once a year someone comes from out of nowhere to remind me of why I love music and in 2011 the artists name is Jo Wymer. Listening to Jos debut CD is akin to having a cold bucket of water thrown upon you as you are in a hibernating sleep but also is as warm as a fire on a winter night. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Jo Wymer - Living With Scars review
Before there was Guns N Roses there were the Rolling Stones. Show carried a sense of treacherous exploration. The band often didnt appear on stage until hours after they were supposed to but above all else, you never knew what would occur when they did hit the stage. Surprisingly the band only toured in the US in 1972, 1975 and 1978 during the 1970s.
- Read the full The Rolling Stones - Some Girls Live in Texas '78' review
Watching the eight insanely talented current members stand shoulder-to-shoulder I immediately had a revelation hit me: this current incarnation of Guns N Roses performed the very best concert Ive seen in 2011. (5 stars)
- Read the full Guns N' Roses: The Best Concert of 2011 review
Ace Frehley is experiencing a well deserved resurgence. After leaving KISS in 2002, he vanished. He wasnt abducted by aliens and didnt take any magical pills that made him invisible; he simply turned inward, took care of himself and came out on the other side.
- Read the full Ace Frehley Live review
Watching Will Hoge on a concert stage is a visceral and divine incident. Ive been trying for the last seven years to put into words the range of emotions that can be stirred up from within watching him sing and play his guitar.
- Read the full Will Hoge Live in Chicago for Number Seven review
When Weezer did appear, Cuomo spoke to the crowd about the passing of former bassist Mikey Welsh who had eerily died earlier in the day in a Chicago hotel room. Welsh was part of the band when they found their groove again around 2000.
- Read the full Weezer Live at Riot Fest review
When Axl Rose and his new incarnation of Gun N Roses unleashed Chinese Democracy in November of 2008, instead of having people dissect and relish it everyone appeared to throw up a collective sigh. Instead of focusing on the music most of the press focused on who wasnt playing guitar, how long it took and the behind the scenes drama in bringing the album to store shelves.
- Read the full Another Look: Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy review
Tony K was on hand for Sugarlands return to Indianapolis this weekend following the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair in August where several fans were injured and seven people lost their lives when a storm caused their stage to collapse. He recounts a night of healing and a celebration of life and music.
- Read the full Sugarland: Healing Hearts review
Encompassing Danzigs whole career, the sets will include solo material, Samhain and climaxing with a Misfits set. The Danzig Legacy performance was the most anticipated one of the entire Riot Fest.
- Read the full Riot Fest: Danzig Legacy review
On his recent Chicago tour stop at the Double Door, Walker once again decimated the sold-out crowd with a set high on octane but as intimate as a camp fire sing-a-long. Up until now his records took on another shape in concert. His latest The Spade is every bit as revitalizing on record as it is in concert.
- Read the full Butch Walker Concert and The Spade Album Review review
As the intro music of the Beatles A Day in the Life climaxed with the renowned crushing piano chord, a single silhouette appeared with a guitar as it shred the opening chords to Put You in a Song.
- Read the full Keith Urban Live review
What differentiates Pearl Jam Twenty from other rock documentaries, is that is delves into their controversies head-on. No music documentary is worth anything if you forget about the music and here Crowe does a breathtaking job of telling their story but weaving the music into it as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam Twenty Film review
Since 2005 Riot Fest has grown by leaps and bounds in Chicago from humble beginnings to this years epic line-up covering many diverse shades of rock and punk and even had a day celebration in Philadelphia a few weeks earlier.
- Read the full Riot Fest: Social Distortion review
Duff McKagans new book is by no means a gratuitous blow-by-blow recount of his years of excess. Sadly his former rhythm partner, Steven Adlers memoir from last year fell into this trap where the glut of drug intake took on overzealous dimensions that disgusted rather than delighted.
- Read the full Duff McKagan - It's So Easy (And Other Lies) review
DiFranco is one of the most captivating and revealing artists of the last twenty years. She made her mark creating naked soul bearing records year-after-year outside of the record system at a time when no one else was doing it through her own Righteous Babe Records. Even more amazing was her success that followed.
- Read the full Ani DiFranco Live review
A central theme of the book evolves around the woman as a consumer/fan of music. Shes quick to point out how women experience music in a different perspective and despite the male dominated music industry around fifty percent of all music purchases are made by women
- Read the full Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time review
When Debbie Gibson and Tiffany appeared earlier this year in the television film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid it begged the question as to why not a single person thought to put these two together before this film?
- Read the full Debbie Gibson & Tiffany - Journey Through the 80's Concert review
Anthony Kuzminski gives us a first hand account of day two of Pearl Jams PJ20 Festival and Adam Baker shares his photos. Relive the historic event or find out what you missed!
- Read the full Pearl Jam: PJ20 Festival (Day Two) review
This was not your standard music festival or even your typical Pearl Jam show. This was more like a convention of die-hard Pearl Jam fans and music geeks gathering to celebrate the band they love dearly with the band hoping to turn their fans on to some great music in the process.
- Read the full Pearl Jam: PJ20 Festival (Day One) review
While the film flirts with greatness, it never quite reaches that level. Its an exceptionally rock-solid film that in my opinion is terribly too short but a forthcoming DVD should provide extra scenes and possibly flesh out his story even more. (3 stars)
- Read the full God Bless Ozzy Osbourne review
For Pearl Jams 20th anniversary we are taking a look back at the bands career all month long plus we will have coverage of their anniversary celebration! Today we revisit Tony Ks look at the bands debut Ten. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full 20 Years of Pearl Jam: Ten review
As I was getting ready to file this review last month, something unanticipated happened; Q101 went off the air. The station was sold to a company who chose to turn the station into a talk radio station. To those in the Chicago area, Q101 was a beacon of alternative unearthing for nearly two decades.
- Read the full Q101 Jamboree: A Final Bow - Thirty Second to Mars, Sum 41, Seether and More review
Its hard to explain the devotion certain people have for music. You see, not all of us are graced from above to create, sing, play guitar or be blessed with great rhythm. That doesnt mean were not able to take part in the sacred nature of the art.
- Read the full Air Guitar National Championships review
The events of Saturday night wont leave their memory bank any time soon. In an ironic twist of fate, I had seen the band the night before in Rockford, IL and had written my review when I received news of what happened.
- Read the full Sugarland Live review
For a band whose most popular work was slickly produced by Mutt Lange, its rather shocking to see how well they recreate these numbers on the concert stage. So why is it that their Mirrorball live record is a disappointment? (2 stars)
- Read the full Def Leppard - Mirror Ball review
Over nearly three hours and thirty-seven songs (both nights) McCartney didnt just provide a snapshot of his illustrious career but proved that despite recently turning 69, he delivers a show that in many ways is untouchable.
- Read the full Paul McCartney: Carrying the Weight (Live at Wrigley Field) review
Recorded nearly a decade apart McCartney and McCartney II represent initial stages in each of the chapters in Paul McCartneys solo career. Each feature McCartney performing all the instruments and going it alone after nearly a decade with two of the rock eras biggest bands
- Read the full Paul McCartney Reissue Series - McCartney and McCartney II review
In many ways, when we watch the four members of U2 on the concert stage, we see the best pieces of ourselves and its a reminder of what were capable of. Their music isnt merely a form of escapism but a reminder of our dreams.
- Read the full U2: Dreaming Out Loud - Live in Chicago 2011 review
These three bands are possibly the best known and in the case of Motley and the Dolls, most influential glam rock bands ever. Recently in Milwaukee, all three bands gave the crowd a show they wont soon forget.
- Read the full Motley Crue, Poison and New York Dolls Live review
Its hard to believe but back in 1979, Ozzy Osbourne had been fired from Black Sabbath and no one seemed to care. Who could have imagined that he would one day reinvent himself into an industry all unto himself?
- Read the full Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard and Diary 30th Anniversary Editions review
The death Clarence Clemons is the end of an era. It saddens me my daughter will never get to see him in concert and witness not just the music prowess of the band but their camaraderie as well. With Danny Federici and now Clemons gone, the E Street Band we grew up loving may go on, but it will never be the same.
- Read the full Remembering Clarence Clemons review
Anthony Kuzminski tells us how 30 Seconds to Mars made him a true believer in their music. Check out his in-depth feature to find out how they turned his skeptical mind around.
- Read the full 30 Seconds to Mars: A Cinematic Call to Arms review
This is a band with more than a few good song, theyre a band in the truest sense of the form where they come into battle together as one. Their combined presence wont just impress you, it will move you.
- Read the full Airborne Toxic Event Live review
Its a monumental task to try and summarize over thirty years of history in a few hundred pages, but Wall has a firm grasp on the Metallica story without missing any key moments or stories.
- Read the full Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica review
Howie Epstein of Tom Pettys Heartbreakers died 8-years ago (February 23, 2003). It was something many people saw coming and yet when Epstein passed onto another world, it was an incalculable loss.
- Read the full Howie Epstein: Gone But Not Forgotten review
Inside the United Center on an early spring evening, under a set of psychedelic lights, BU2B, one of Rushs new compositions, explodes off the stage with metal riffs amidst the marvelous musicianship of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.
- Read the full Rush Live in Chicago April 12, 2011 review
To see 20,000 people from the front row to the nosebleeds dancing the night away is still a sight few acts can capture for their entire set, but Bon Jovi makes it look so easy.
- Read the full Bon Jovi: Stealing Pieces of Time Concert Review review
Today Tony K concludes our two part special Tag Team review coverage of the brand new vs & Vitalogy 3-CD Deluxe Edition from Pearl Jam which is part of the bands 20th anniversary celebration. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam - vs & Vitalogy Deluxe Edition: Tag Team Pt II review
On the surface Faith may appear as a collection of songs complimented by a series of radio friendly melodies, but its so much more, its a passionately striking testimonial from a then 24 year old who appears to have been in absolute and total control (4.5 stars)
- Read the full George Michael - Faith Remaster review
The Pogues and the Dropkick Murphys took to the stage at the Congress Theatre in Chicago in the weeks leading up to St. Patricks Day and I was on hand to witness (possibly for the last time) the jaunty jigs of the Pogues.
- Read the full The Pogues: Last Call review
Tony K estimates that he caught over 200-films in 2010 and to celebrate the Academy Awards, Tony presents his top 35. This was a year full of great films and you cant go wrong seeing any of the films on Tonys list.
- Read the full Oscar Weekend: The Best Films of 2010 review
Berry is a one-of-a-kind a musical pioneer. I cant say his Congress Theater performance was legendary, not by a long shot, but without question it was memorable.
- Read the full Chuck Berry: You Never Can Tell - Live in Chicago Jan 1, 2011 review
Writing for antiMusic has its perks and among them was the steady stream of new music exposed to me over the last year. I estimate I received on average one new album a day sent to me via snail mail or via MP3 from PR agencies. I wont lie, some days it was downright maddening.
- Read the full Tony K Picks The Best Albums of 2010 review
Frightened Rabbit have done more than inspire, theyve struck a chord with an ever widening audience. This may have been the bands first sell out in a major venue in Chicago but as without question, wont be their last.
- Read the full Frightened Rabbit Live: Hearts on Fire review
John Mellencamps latest concert tour is full of American fools, dreamers, saints, sinners and above all else survivors. For over two hours, Mellencamp shined a light on these characters in what is more than his best concert tour in nearly two decades, but without question, the best concert I experienced in all of 2010.
- Read the full Best of 2010: John Mellencamp Live in Chicago review
The world is full of experiences that must be seen in the flesh where no picture, film or story can measure up to. The Sistine Chapel, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and while were at it, lets add seeing J Roddy Walston and the Business to that list.
- Read the full J Roddy Walston and the Business Live review
I understand sincerity was the quote John Hammond used to justify his signing of Bob Dylan to Columbia Records in 1961. The above quote can sum up virtually every legendary musician who has ever touched your soul. Trends come and go, but a song is forever. So is Bob Dylan. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos review
Michael Franti and Spearhead have achieved romantic nirvana with The Sound of Sunshine where they avoid the trappings of success and thrillingly rely on heartfelt passion to get their points across. It is an intoxicatingly joyous record showcasing Franti and Spearhead at the crest of their powers (4 stars)
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead - The Sound of Sunshine review
There has been so much written about Dylan in his six decades as an artist, one has to wonder what anyone else could add to his legacy. Wilentz proves up to task and takes the reader on a journey not just through Dylans music, but American history as well. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Bob Dylan in America review
Great music deserves debate and a deeper look into how it came to be. Although the considerable Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage being released earlier this year, this installment in the Classic Albums series offers a more detailed look into what are arguably the two best records Rush ever created. (4 stars)
- Read the full Rush Classic Albums: 2112 and Moving Pictures review
Life, love, war, injustice, internal examination above all else hope were all on display throughout the two-hour show. With the release of The Sound of Sunshine and this recent performance it fully demonstrates that Franti and Spearhead continue to hurtle towards greatness with hypnotizing focus.
- Read the full Michael Franti and Spearhead Live: Everything Is Possible review
Without Varg Vikernes Norwegian black metal wouldnt be the same and this is why he is in a twisted sense, the hero. He is also among the most dispassionate and inhuman figures I have ever laid eyes on. He evokes absolute evil. (4 stars)
- Read the full Until the Light Takes Us review
James is at the very top of their game live and on record at this moment in time. Instead of calling it in with monotonous performances or living off their legacy, theyre fighting for their lives on the concert stage. It may only be clubs and theaters but they perform like they are in stadiums.
- Read the full James Live in Chicago review
If youve only acquainted with the Rolling Stones of the last few decades, then Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones will do the impossible, it will make you feel as if youre seeing and hearing the Rolling Stones for the first time. (5 stars)
- Read the full Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones DVD review
The Morning After The Night Before is not a step forward or backward, but the band flexing their muscles amidst a flurry of musical styles showcasing the more off-the-cuff writing side-by-side with their collaborative musical efforts. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full James - The Morning After the Night Before review
In the annals of rock n roll history on television, theres only one date you should concern yourself with: February 9, 1964. From this moment on, everything changed. (4 stars)
- Read the full The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles review
One album that always seems to appear on anyones top 5 Bowie list is 1976s Station To Station. Despite the cosmos iciness to the albums six songs, its without question not just one of his most heralded works, but possibly his best.
- Read the full David Bowie - Station To Station Remaster review
Anyone can read this book and within a few pages with be fully fluent in the language of Rob Sheffield. It perfectly captures precisely why music is an emotional experience that cant be taught but only experienced. (4 stars)
- Read the full Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut review
Watching the Arcade Fire in concert reminds me of watching the end of a kids birthday party after the food has been eaten, presents have been opened and the sugar from the goody bags and cake is rushing like a fighter plane through their veins and giving them a rush thats downright euphoric.
- Read the full Arcade Fire at Madison Square Garden review
Twenty years ago, Robert Knight was the only photographer to show up and shoot the second Eric Clapton show at Alpine Valley. He caught the whole show including opener Stevie Ray Vaughn and the legendary jam that concluded the show with Robert Cray, Clapton, and Vaughns brother Jimmy. (3 stars)
- Read the full Rock Prophecies DVD review
Instead of following trends or chasing hits, to put it simply, Crowded House creates great music. If this wasnt enough, their concerts are like family affairs, where the walls between the crowd and the band dissipate and they become one.
- Read the full Crowded House Live review
Towards the end of the bands 140-minute set in Chicago, I couldnt help but admit to myself that Ive never seen KISS call it in. Their summer 2010 tour which is featuring the longest show of their career and to top it, theyve sprinkled it full of songs not just from their make-up years, but from all eras of the band
- Read the full KISS: Devilish and Determined review
The lights dimmed, wails discharged, the Stooges instigated Raw Power and from the shadows of the stage comes a sprinting and shirtless Iggy Pop in skin-tight pants. He proceeded to whip the Chicago crowd into a 75-minute rage in an exhibition of audaciousness few could imagine without bearing witness to.
- Read the full Iggy and the Stooges Live: Powerfully Raw review
Despite the influence and sales of the early 1970s work, it is David Bowies late 70s work that may be among the most notable and crucial of his career and possibly the most influential music of the last four decades. For the first time, one book covers this period of Bowie history in its entirety. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town review
While Mellencamp stretches back to the depression era folk aesthetic of the 1930s he also is able to emulate the 1950s Sun Studios joie de vivre and encapsulate it all with a current day outlook. But instead of living in the past, he merely evokes the aural aesthetic and throws himself into the songs. (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - No Better Than This review
Thrash metal has always been widely misconstrued by the masses. However, in a perverse position of paradox, 100-years from now, it is doubtful that other non-metal genres of music will be able to fill stadiums across the world.
- Read the full American Carnage Tour: Slayer- Megadeth-Testament review
Songs that just a few days earlier wouldnt have even evoked a reaction from me now seem luminal. In fewer than two-hours they swiftly execute the Rush story with not just care but most importantly with heart as well. Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage turns the music of Rush from mere entertainment into a creed.
- Read the full Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage DVD review
There are stories from our past, our present and hopefully our future on this solemn yet heart-tugging collection of tunes. However, its the opening cut that has stolen my heart; Save Some Time To Dream.
- Read the full John Mellencamp - Save Some Time To Dream review
Throughout the 158-pages in the book, you have an overriding feeling that youre looking at things never meant to be seen by anyone. However, the lack of specifics, omitted details and dozens of side stories that appeal to no one culminates in a crash landing that it cant recover from.
- Read the full Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi review
The mix, the aural aesthetic and the performances are all top-notch making this the best Southside Johnny record since 1991s Better Days. Long standing piano/keyboard player Jeff Kazee leads the charge and is responsible for making the most strapping and strident Southside Johnny record to date. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - Pills and Ammo review
J-Roddy Walston and the Business just released self-titled debut album on Vagrant Records conjures up the same feeling of ecstasy as the band welcomes you into the worlds largest piano bar. This self-titled record is a testament to the rebellious spirit of rock n roll. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full J-Roddy Walston and the Business review
Despite the hundreds (if not thousands) of subgenres within metal, virtually all of them stand up and give a tip of the hat to what is known as The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Genres and styles may come and go but the Big Four are forever.
- Read the full The Big Four Cinema Simulcast: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax review
Courtney Love strutted onto the stage in the Vic Theater with a cigarette dangling in her hand. She waved to the crowd, pulled a guitar over her shoulder, placed one bent leg on her amplifier and proceeded to deliver a piercing 90-minute set
- Read the full Hole Live review
What makes Lady Gaga such an anomaly is that in a society so splintered, no one person should have a grasp on the population as a whole, but she does. From eight-year-olds to eighty-year-olds, everyone is aware of Lady Gaga.
- Read the full Lady Gaga Live review
Their latest DVD release, Live At Madison Square Garden was filmed over two nights at the worlds most famous arena in July 2008 and it captures Bon Jovi at the peak of their powers. (4 stars)
- Read the full Bon Jovi - Live At Madison Square Garden DVD review
Watching Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is more than uplifting but a reminder of the instinctual power of rock n roll and how it can speak to us. Of the classic rockers out there who have toured the last few years only U2 has a more sundry audience.
- Read the full Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Live at Summerfest review
Ive seen Hoge in every venue imaginable but this was a transfixing performance no one will soon forget. Once again, he has proven that he always has a few aces up his sleeve, proving that on any given night, you may see one of the best rock n roll shows around.
- Read the full Will Hoge Live at Space review
Each song and note sung is drained from his veins and utilizing a guitar instead of a syringe, he re-injects it to those in need. This isnt a man of the people trying to relate to his audience because he doesnt have to; he is already one of us.
- Read the full Michael McDermott Live review
To the cynical obsessive fan, this DVD may be too brief, but in time, theyll return to it as the band lowers the sheets and lets us into their bed. The film may not be definitive in its lore of legend, but thats part of the point. Some legends are better left unspoken.
- Read the full Rolling Stones - Stones In Exile DVD review
Patty Griffin may not be a household name, but chances are you know her work. She has written for the Dixie Chicks (Let Him Fly), Solomon Burke and more recently Kelly Clarkson and Crystal Bowersox have covered Up To the Mountain on American Idol.
- Read the full Patty Griffin & Buddy Miller Live review
On a windy fall Chicago night, Ruby James revealed life anecdotes and the inner workings of her artistry over drinks and cheeseburgers. Over the course of the conversation, she spoke of her trials and tribulations like a survivor who is better for the obstacles she has had to endure. (4 stars)
- Read the full Ruby James - Happy Now review
John Mellencamps new box set puts his ever reaching scope and talent into widescreen view. Its a unique animal as it houses few hits, a smattering of outtakes, but largely consists of underrated album cuts sequenced in a way that highlights John Mellencamp, the songwriter, over the last three decades. (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - On the Rural Route 7609 Box Set review
Youve seen her on tour with Sheryl Crow and Bon Jovi along with dozens of television broadcasts with everyone from Pearl Jam to Michael Buble to John Mayer. Shes also a session musician who has worked with Fall Out Boy and producer Tony Visconti. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Lorenza Ponce - Soul Shifter review
Hoge is no newcomer to the industry, but despite his magnetic stage performance and soul-searching records, many are still unaware who he is. But there he stood, front and center with an acoustic around his neck bringing the proceedings to a rousing conclusion
- Read the full Heart Songs: Will Hoge - Washed By The Water review
What can be said of Judas Priests British Steel? Its more than a seminal metal record, but arguably one of the greatest metal albums ever made. There are other records from the 1980s that drastically outsold British Steel but how many will be still be studied and listened to a hundred years from now?
- Read the full Judas Priest - British Steel (30th Anniversary Reissue) review
One of the enduring components to The Rolling Stones on-going success is their ability to branch out and fashion music thats based on more than Chuck Berry riffs. Theres something outright enlightening about a swaying ballad by the Rolling Stones that only they can pull off.
- Read the full The Rolling Stones - Following the River review
In the early hours of a spring morning in Chicago, a bevy of lost souls sought guidance from a renegade rocker. We may have come seeking mere entertainment but in the end, the show was so much more, Butch Walker and the Black Widows brought us and our dreams to the road to redemption.
- Read the full Butch Walker: The Road To Redemption review
The tone of Nobodys Daughter is geared more to the mainstream than the unorthodox gloom of Live Through This, which virtually every reviewer to date has compared Nobodys Daughter to, but before you do, ask yourself this one question- Are you the same person you were in 1994? (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Hole - Nobody's Daughter review
A Reality Tour finds Bowie and his meticulous and magical band at the peak of their powers. The album is the best and most potent live document the uninhibited artist has ever released. Never before has Bowie sounded so confident and at ease with his delivery, arrangements and his legacy.
- Read the full David Bowie - A Reality Tour review
The 40th Anniversary reissue covers all of the bases with everything one could imagine in terms of extras. The whole package elevates the legacy of Space Oddity as more than a cutout bin record with one great song, but the new special edition will provide this record not just another life, but another chance to be studied.
- Read the full David Bowie - Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Special Edition review
Capping the first leg of his tour in support of his fourth studio record, Battle Studies (forty-seven dates in all), John Mayer and his band performed for well over two-hours at the United Center breaking curfew and delivering a show no one will soon forget.
- Read the full John Mayer: Wisdom and Warfare review
The music here is more discreet as it allows it to be experienced. These arent mere pop musings, but confessionals. She found a way to write prayers to herself as a way of making it through the trauma she experienced.
- Read the full Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room review
Anvil!: The Story of Anvil is more than a great film, but a great book as well. I cant recommend it highly enough. If you hold no interest in metal or even music, you should still seek it out because I cant see how anyone could not be moved by the triumph over tragedy that is the story of Anvil.
- Read the full Anvil!: The Story of Anvil review
2009 saw the Verve Pipe reunite and they did more than just reform for reunion shows, but recorded a new record. Bridging middle ground between Sesame Street albums and the Beatles, the Verve Pipe has created a record that both children and parents can listen to and enjoy. (3 stars)
- Read the full Verve Pipe - A Family Album review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 25-1 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 50-26 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 75-51 review
We continue our Movie week with Tony Ks look back at the best 100 films from the past decade.
- Read the full The Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009): 100-81 review
Forget the Oscars. Check out Tony Ks picks for the best films of 2009 as we kick off his special film week!
- Read the full The Best Films of 2009 review
Despite his incessant forward thinking, never relying on his past for a paycheck, he did something quite remarkable at his shows in Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta- a fan request show.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Fan Request Show review
A less aware individual would follow the lead of an A&R rep and create something as familiar as his previous music, but Walker, once again, has opted for the road not taken. This release contains such an onslaught of influences- its dizzying to see him meld them through these eleven songs with ease. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Butch Walker and The Black Widows - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart review
The two previous shows found Walker reaching to his past in different chapters of his life, but on this evening he merely paged back a few pages instead of chapters and the emotional weight could be felt.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Sycamore Meadows Live review
In a day and age of musical surplus, if an album doesnt connect it might not get the same number of spins it would have two decades ago. As a result, The Rise & Fall never made an overpowering impression on me and was a record I admired more than loved. That changed at Schubas.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker Live review
Arriving on stage in a hat, flannel shirt and jeans, Butch Walker began his four night stand at Schubas night club in Chicago. This is something the core fans salivate for and Walker is doing it with great imminence but even better, hes conveying the songs with intense believability.
- Read the full Butch Walker Week: Live Letters review
Two men are hovering over the body of Sue Mansour, lead singer of Soraia. One is panicked while the other is holding her lifeless body as tears stream off his face dripping onto her cold lifeless skin as a needle, which provided a potent shot of cocaine to her right arm, lies next to her motionless body.
- Read the full Soraia: The Road Not Taken review
If you love earsplitting guitars, bleeding drums and a bass line with enough rhythm to make a white man blush, then you will love Steve Conte & Crazy Truth. Conte has made a name for himself as a gun slinging guitar god (especially as the lead guitarist of the New York Dolls). (3 stars)
- Read the full Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth review
Growing up, I loved watching all award shows. I would root for my favorite actors, directors and music stars to win. Sometimes in the 1990s I stopped caring. I realized that awards are hollow, unmemorable and that its the music that lives on.
- Read the full Even If It Breaks Your Heart review
If you are wondering if the band are similar to the personalities we came to love and cheer for in the film, the answer would be a resounding yes. There was no ego involved here, I found three guys extremely grateful for this rebirth which is a glorious resurrection that is unparalleled in the annals of music.
- Read the full Anvil: Defying the Odds review
This past holiday season the public at large missed out on one of the most ingenious and charming films of the year- Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop motion animation film directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums). (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Fantastic Mr. Fox Soundtrack review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We conclude the special today with his picks for No 25 to [drum roll please!!!!!] No 1!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 25-1 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We continue the special today with his picks for No 50 to No 26!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 50-26 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We continue the special today with his picks for No 75 to No 51!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 75 - 51 review
Tony K picks his favorite 100 albums from the decade! We kick off the special today with his picks for No 100 to No 76!
- Read the full Tony K's Best Albums of the Decade 100 - 76 review
Tony J writes of his Artist of the Decade pick: As I looked back upon this decade, I found this artist to have more songs that spoke to me than any other artist. More importantly, his collected body of work, for better or worse, will stand the test of time. His legend will only grow with time. Who is it? Find out here.
- Read the full Tony K Names the Artist of the Decade review
2009 wasnt a great year for albums. I didnt award a single album I heard all year four-stars. Considering I had a five-star and a few albums that earned 4.5 stars in 2008, this is a bit of a letdown. Despite this, Id be lying to you if there werent a number of great albums that I heard this year
- Read the full Tony K's Top Albums of 2009 Special review
Anthony Kuzminski has been to countless concerts during 2009. Some blew him away, some left him disappointed. But as the dust settles on 2009 and he reflects back on the dozens of shows hes been to over the past twelve months, which show stands out the most? Find out here! (5 stars)
- Read the full Tony K's Best Concert of 2009 Pick review
Its stunning to realize that it took Mellencamp 33-years after his debut record to release a live recording that was something more than a few B-sides. The performances housed on the live EP Life, Death, Live & Freedom feature Mellencamp at his most severe and sincere (4 stars)
- Read the full John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Live and Freedom review
While others were rushing to get the reviews of these remasters out in record time, I couldnt do that, I had to listen to every last song on a CD player no less allowing me to revel in the brilliance of the Fab Four.
- Read the full A Buyer's Guide to the Beatles Remasters review
Neil Zlozower has been a staple of the LA music scene for over three decades. Besides capturing many of the biggest 80s stars of the Sunset Strip, he also has some of the most legendary pictures of Van Halen, for which he compiled into a book, something he has done once again for Motley Crue.
- Read the full Motley Crue: A Visual History, 1983-2005 (Neil Zlozower) review
To this day, I cant go to a Springsteen show without someone telling me a tall tale about how they saw Springsteen play an eight-hour show�and then he took out a broom and swept the floor of the club. Its almost laughable, but understandable.
- Read the full Rock Reads: Bruce Springsteen: The Light in Darkness review
Urban kicked it all off with an intimate full band performance for a few hundred fans at Joes on Weed Street in Chicago. He brought the tour full circle with a one-off acoustic/ Q&A performance for a mere 300-fans once again at Joes.
- Read the full Keith Urban Live in Chicago Nov 2009 review
Arriving in Chicago for their first show in a half decade, and the bands first performance at the United Center, it was like a entering a time machine back to the 1970s where KISS ruled arenas.
- Read the full KISS Live in Chicago Nov 2009 review
Flexing a range of musical styles and perfect pacing, Kelly Clarkson did everything right. She is someone who through her enthusiasm and fortitude has become more than a television star, but someone who is without question, a truly significant artist. (5 stars)
- Read the full Kelly Clarkson Live October 2009 review
Bon Jovis eleventh studio record, The Circle is an enticing enigma. Playing to their strengths with a sound ready-made for arena bombast, its immediately alluring and entrancing, but is this a positive or a negative is the question at the tip of everyones tongue? (3 stars)
- Read the full Bon Jovi - The Circle review
This book is a standalone entity and while it shares its name with the title of a new song and their documentary, its more or less a collection of pictures and stories celebrating the bands quarter of a century together. (4.5 stars)
- Read the full Rock Reads: Bon Jovi - When We Were Beautiful review
This was Will Hoges first plugged-in full band show in Chicago in nearly a year-and-a-half. Arriving on-stage in a shirt, tie and a vest looking like a consummate professional, Hoge and his band shred through a 100-minute set that elated the Chicago crowd.
- Read the full Will Hoge: Highway Wings and Harrowing Hearts review
Finding middle ground between the E Street Band and Social Distortion, Lucero delivers a two-hour plus show nightly where the band tears through nearly thirty songs, through a melding of influences, proving they are a force to be reckoned with.
- Read the full Lucero Live review
Taking a page from the rock eras great singer-songwriters, McDermott has a penchant for making you believe that hes in the throes of war in each of his songs as he exerts himself to the point where your speakers will tower over from the avalanche of emotions. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Michael McDermott - Hey La Hey review
Sadly many people only know of Europe from the hits from the The Final Countdown record, which is a misfortune because theres more to them than meets the eye. I know what youre thinking, but stay with me. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Europe - Last Look At Eden review
Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoges fifth full length record The Wreckage finds broken souls questioning everything as the their walls close in on them. The eleven songs that encompass The Wreckageare drenched in melancholy. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Will Hoge - The Wreckage review
Anvil! The Story of Anvil is more than a momentous music documentary, or even an indispensable documentary; it is simply one of the best films of 2009. I have yet to meet someone who hasnt been overwhelmingly moved by the film. (5 stars)
- Read the full Anvil! The Story of Anvil DVD review
How would the entire Born To Run album performed in sequence within the larger scope of a show? Springsteen and the E Street Band hushed the cynic in me with a tense and telescoping performance of eight of the greatest songs to ever be assembled and sequenced on a circular piece of vinyl.
- Read the full Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band -The Born To Run Concert review
This Is Thirteen feels like an ageless metal record- it isnt death metal, speed or thrash metal, but simply a distinguished metal record cut from the cloth of their classic past where they embrace all of the elements that made them so influential in the first place. (3 stars)
- Read the full Anvil - This Is Thirteen review
Pearl Jam at their best is an arena rock band who creates anthems to be sung and screamed with tens of thousands of other fans. Through the towering crowd and visceral reactions, we discover unheralded gems, hear favorites in an entirely distinctive light.
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Live In Chicago Night 2 review
Riot Act is still a very crucial record with illuminating lyrics many choose to overlook. However, its also deemed to be the bands least sonically rewarding. Records live inside of you and despite some of their faults; a song like this can appear out of nowhere and just reinvigorate you
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Riot Act review
Backspacer is a quintessential Pearl Jam record it whips past you in a mere 37-minutes. Im not going to tell you this is a return to form or their best since Vs., but its an unbelievably resilient record that continues to disclose harmonious wonders with every listen. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full Pearl Jam Month: Backspacer review
Early on in U2s second 360 Tour show at Soldier Field in Chicago (their second North American show) Bono told the crowd Weve got new songs, weve got old songs, weve got songs weve never played before. It was an ostentatious proclamation that could have meant several things
- Read the full U2 Live in Chicago Night Two (With Photos) review
Four songs into U2s opening night of their US tour, the bands more prevailing side shined through as the Magnificent lifted off like a rocket ship into space. The latest stage by U2 is the most mammoth, audacious, and insane playground ever designed for a rock show.
- Read the full U2 - Opening Night of US Tour review
One of the twentieth centurys greatest inventions was the electric guitar and over the course of 100-minutes, three guitar gods from different generations (The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White) try to define and express what this instrument means to them. (3.5 stars)
- Read the full It Might Get Loud (Film Review) review
Bon Jovi - We Weren't Born To Follow (single review)
Bon Jovi - These Days Part II (A Personal Journey)
Pearl Jam Live In Chicago Aug 23, 2009
What John Hughes Means To Me
Rock Reads: So What! The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly: The Official Metallica Illustrated Chronicle
Metallica's Hall of Humanity
Metallica's Ride the Lightning... Twenty-Five Years Later
Rock Reads - To Live Is To Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton (5 stars)
Michael Jackson: The Curtain Has Fallen on an Icon
Soraia: The Real Thing
The Return of Will Hoge (5 stars)
Britney Spears Live: Sequin, Sex & Spectacle
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: 2008's Most Disappointing Albums
The Top 20 Concerts of 2008
The Top 25 Albums of 2008
Michael Franti & Spearhead: A Triumphant Tonic For Tragic Souls
Paul Stanley - One Live KISS DVD (3.5 stars)
Tina Turner Rolling and Rocking
Butch Walker: The Phoenix
James - Hey Ma (Album of the Year) (5 stars)
John Mellencamp: No American Fool
Will Hoge & Jason Isbell: Rising Above It All (5 stars)
The Beatles 'Love' (5 stars)
Madonna: What It Feels Like For A Fan
The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (IMAX) (5 stars)
Boss Live: Springsteen in Omaha
REO Speedwagon: Finding Their Way Home
Wilco
Live
Buddy
Guy & Robert Randolph: Carrying The Weight of the Blues
Bon
Jovi Shelter From the Storm (Live Chicago Feb 2008)
U2
3D
Good
Charlotte Live - Blissful and Buoyant In Brussels
Amy
Winehouse: Back In Black at the Grammys
The
Screen Door Best of 2007 Special
The
Swell Season: A 'Once' In A Lifetime Concert
Keith
Urban: Like A Rolling Stone
We
All Shine On: The Legacy of John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell
John
Mellencamp Live
Alice
Cooper: Between High School & Old School
Bruce
Springsteen and the E Street Band Live
Album
of the Year: Will Hoge's Draw The Curtains
Richie
Sambora: "The Answer" Is In the Question
Allman
Brothers Band Live
Van
Halen - Everybody Wants Some
Keith
Urban Live
Poison
Live
The
Police: In Violation of Sucking
Ryan
Adams: Reborn
Paul
McCartney at Amoeba Music
Jesse
Malin: Guitar Redemptions and Connections
Bon
Jovi - (You Want To) Make A Memory
Pussycat
Dolls & Danity Kane: Atrocity at the Allstate
Snow
Patrol - Chasing Hearts and Dreams
Farkus:
Chicago's Forceful and Fresh Foursome
Bon
Jovi: 52,612 Fans Can't Be Wrong
Will
Hoge: Letting It Loose
25
Best Albums of 2006
Pearl
Jam: Band of The Hour
Rock
Star Supernova - Super Disaster
Nancy
Wilson: A Marriage of Music and Film
U2:
Swinging To The Music
Will
Hoge: The Redemption of Rock N' Roll
Bruce
Springsteen: Rising Up Out of the Darkness
Half
Way There: The Best Albums of 2006�So Far
