The Manics’ seventh studio album is apolitical and reflective for a very good reason, as the horrors of the world at the time of its arrival were so turbulent to make an articulate comment on.
Read moreGreen Day’s ‘American Idiot’ Turns 20 | Album Anniversary
Green Day’s seventh studio album proves that music and art are great places to grow a political conscience, inspiring bigger movements and educative means that can have an impact.
Read moreManic Street Preachers’ ‘The Holy Bible’ Turns 30 | Album Anniversary
Despite its dour worldview, antagonistic posture, and, at the time of its release in the summer of 1994, quite poor sales, ‘The Holy Bible’ has been recast as a triumph of extreme art.
Read moreAnxious Bouts of Nervous: The Mars Volta’s ‘Octahedron’ Turns 15 | Album Anniversary
‘Octahedron’ is a Mars Volta record that yields a more refined enjoyment. Whilst it offers adventurism, it also offers restraint.
Read moreNo Recess: Nirvana’s Debut Album ‘Bleach’ Turns 35 | Album Anniversary
On their debut album, the band buries the pop sensibilities underneath feedback wails, chainsaw-like guitars, and Kurt Cobain’s more exaggerated vocal performances.
Read moreGoodbye California: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Californication’ Turns 25 | Album Anniversary
The distance in time between ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ (1991) and ‘Californication’ (1999) is a mere eight years, but the artistic jump the band achieved during this period feels extraordinary.
Read moreHope In A Hopeless Place: Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ Turns 15
A strange, though welcome, anomaly of an album, ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ sits more as an isolated artistic act in the band’s catalog than a proper record.
Read moreThe Offspring’s ‘Smash’ Turns 30 | Album Anniversary
It’s worth revisiting The Offspring’s third album for its instant pop/punk kicks, its defiance, and to see where the pointers lay for all the lesser bands who followed after.
Read moreCentral to Nowhere: John Frusciante’s ‘The Empyrean’ Turns 15 | Album Anniversary
Worth considering as the accumulation of Frusciante's solo work up to this point, his eighth solo album is a fine example of his work ethic and creative philosophy.
Read moreNone Too Fragile: Pearl Jam’s ‘Vs.’ Turns 30 | Album Anniversary
With the hefty weight of expectations in the wake of their breakthrough debut LP ‘Ten’ (1991), Pearl Jam released their follow-up effort, an intriguing yet imperfect affair overall.
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