Month: November 2015

Elvis Presley not only changed the course of American music but of American culture as well. He did not invent rock and roll, but he helped to bring it into the mainstream. During his lifetime, he released 24 studio albums. This may seem like a small number, but it excludes his two dozen or so soundtracks and various compilation releases. To further complicate matters, his early albums did not contain any of his hit singles. Songs such as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” and “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” were saved for his series…

Fountains Of Wayne’s back catalog really isn’t big or broad enough for a rankings list—or at least, that’s the premise that kept me away until now. But when a group is so talented they can literally write a Top Ten-worthy single about nothing at all—the melodic earworm “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart” is 3:54 of random, novelistic non sequiturs clustered around a fragmentary chorus (“Someone’s gonna break your heart / One cold grey morning”)—it’s hard to resist any opportunity to talk about them. From the strip malls of New Jersey FOW emerged in 1996 as wise-cracking suburban songwriting savants. Chris…

Perfect Beings: Johannes Luley, Chris Tristram, Jesse Nason, Dicki Fliszar, Ryan HurtgenThe next wave of progressive rock is here, and Perfect Beings is among the acts riding it like a champion. Based in Los Angeles, but with roots all over the map, the quintet made one of the notable prog albums of 2015 in their sophomore album II, melding classic prog influences such as Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis with a diverse sonic palette encompassing and embracing jazz, hard rock, and even a touch of flamenco. The resulting music is dynamic, engaging, and often compelling.The roots of Perfect Beings trace…

This is a big one, in more ways than one. In addition to being one of the most significant figures of the rock era, and one of my favorite artists of all time, Bruce Springsteen has a substantial catalog to cover, and one that has been written about extensively over the years. In addition to revisiting some old friends, while developing this column I also found myself thinking often about the tendency for the best-known tunes on these albums—both singles and long-popular album tracks—to overshadow less well-known songs on each release. As a result, I’ve added notes to each capsule…