What the heck is this site?
Glad you asked. This site includes lengthy, humorless reviews of about 5,000 records, with separate pages on several hundred artists. They are
mostly the fault of John Alroy (JA) and David Bertrand Wilson
(DBW). Jed Leigh
Mosenfelder also contributed pages on the
Meat Puppets and Sonic Youth. CLIFFE helped
with the graphics.
New features gives the full rundown on all our latest record reviews. Here are some
highlights: Our 2009 Year In Review
page shows us up for the out-of-touch dweebs we are. We've got a
list of artists we haven't reviewed, and
why. You can cut to the chase and find out our top recommendations
on our Five-Star Records page. And who says
we're narrow minded? Our newest record review pages cover
everything from Hollies to the Clash to Janelle Monáe to Gary Numan. If
anyone can see a coherent theme in that little list, we'd love to hear
about it.
Ready for one big whopping pile of record reviews? Check this out:
Just goes to show you what a pair of rock 'n' roll super-dweebs we are... despite all of this reviewing mania, we inexplicably believe that there's more to life. Like Top 20 lists. Here are some of our other pages:
- Year-by-year reviews are linked to the decade summary pages (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s).
- A concert review page, which should prove that Wilson & Alroy do get out of the office sometimes.
- A page of book reviews - we figured we just had share our vast knowledge of music biography with everyone. Let no one say we haven't done our homework...
- Then there's our editorial rant and rave page. Current (or not-so-current) topics: Sophomore Slump, and The Great Recording Artist Draft, or, What Do I Have To Do To Hear A New Angela Winbush Record?
- You might be amused by Alroy's lists of 20 essential rock records, favorite musicians, and assorted manias, but he's no David Letterman.
- Wilson's list of 20 records that define rock and roll - it is more up-to-date, but only slightly so.
- Our exhaustive (exhausting?) page of session musican cross-links should prove our theory that pop music is one big incestuous conspiracy.
- A 60s rock overview and a guide to the roots of 60s rock, which should help the benighted web surfer wade through our endless pronouncements.
- An endless blow-by-blow timeline of 60s rock, which should prove how truly crazy we are.
- We don't just split hairs when it comes to the 60s.
We also shout at each other over whether "80s alt rock" and "90s indie rock" are genres or ad campaigns.
Let Google be the judge...
- A summary ranking of pop artists in each of four major periods from the 60s to the present. We just couldn't resist making this thing up; after all, it just took adding up the ratings we handed out.
- But our mania doesn't stop there. We figured that our hordes of Top 20 fans would want to see year-by-year composite ratings - just so you can prove to everyone that 1966 was the greatest year in rock history. The page also lists our favorite picks year-by-year between 1963 and 1995.
- Wilson slaved over head-to-head-to-head comparisons of Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick in our
Diva Demolition Derby. Jeez, guy, get a life.
- Let's pretend Wilson never even wrote the pseudo-academic "Toward A Technical Analysis Of Song Lyrics."
- Lyrics? Who cares about lyrics? The only thing that matters is cool-looking guitars, and Alroy's got the scoop on the Guitars of the Stars.
- We're serious about the guitars. So serious it's putting us in serious debt. The whole sordid saga of Alroy's Amazing Out-Of-Control Guitar Collection will make you think twice about letting your kids cruise eBay.
- No one's safe as we put the "anti-social" into "social media" on Twitter and Facebook.
