Certain songs are created with love, rage, and joy emotions that are eternal and universal at their core. Certain songs are more akin to their era than others; this is especially true with protest songs. Not wanting to date their music, many musicians are reluctant to write about current events. But protest music is important; … Read more
Any Pink Floyd album would normally require a small miracle to be released. Aside from the amazing progress the group achieved in their early years with Syd Barrett, his battles with mental illness and his exit from the group caused the other members of the group to struggle to find their voice on the next … Read more
2014 saw the release of Hypnotic Eyes, Tom Petty’s final studio album, a collaboration with The Heartbreakers that turned out to be his final release. Petty spent a significant portion of his final year on Earth working on a friend’s project, even though he wasn’t producing any of his work before his passing. Petty’s tragic … Read more
Renowned Beatle Paul McCartney is frequently regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, and his bass playing has impacted a great deal of other musicians. However, he is also a proficient player of several other instruments, including the piano, guitar, drums, and keyboards. This ability allowed him to record all the parts … Read more
It’s undeniable that Pink Floyd is among the most successful and influential bands in history. They have one of the most recognizable album covers ever created, have sold over 250 million albums globally, and have sold out stadiums in almost every nation on earth. Upon evaluation, there isn’t one particularly noteworthy component that explains Pink … Read more
Throughout the 1990s, Nirvana led a rock movement that helped define a new phase for music. Frontman Kurt Cobain had a deep contempt for the heavy music of the decade that had come before, and like most great bands, the Seattle grunge titans sparked an emotional reaction to the kind of performers that had come … Read more
The latter years of Elvis Presley have been extensively chronicled. Elvis Presley was once referred to as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” but these days he is a fat, dysfunctional shell of the man he once was. For a while, it seemed as though he might not live. Yet when he died in 1977, … Read more
In the early 1970s, it would have taken a small miracle for any kind of Pink Floyd to be successful. With their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the band shot itself in the foot and Syd Barrett went insane from drug overdoses and mental health issues, leaving the rest of the … Read more
Not every drummer aspires to be the world’s greatest musician. For every outstanding band that features a virtuoso percussionist behind the kit, there are just as many that can accomplish the same thing by providing a steady beat that propels the song along. Though Neil Peart believed one of his heroes became a drum god … Read more
During a segment of his podcast, “A Life in Lyrics,” Paul McCartney talked candidly about the beginnings of The Beatles song “Let It Be.” A fascinating story of how a passage from Shakespeare’s Hamlet accidentally made its way into the song’s composition was shared by McCartney during the debate. He clarified: “It had been pointed … Read more