// Category Archive for: Issues

Underappreciated Album: Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack

By Christian Lipski

At first glance, Sheer Heart Attack‘s only claim to fame is that it’s the album with “Killer Queen” on it, which may even come as a surprise to people who thought that that was Greatest Hits I. But the album goes quite a bit deeper, and is one of my favorite complete albums from Queen, even above A Night At The Opera or News Of The World, both very popular albums. Sheer Heart Attack was Queen’s third album, and the first one to really peek its head out from the progressive-rock mire that the previous two had been firmly entrenched in. There were still some elements of fantasy and nods to prog rock, but they were kept at a tasteful level. What you got was a selection of catchy rock songs of the pop-, hard-, and arena- varieties.
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The Decline of Disney

By Maureen

They don’t make ’em like they used to: the nature of Walt Disney productions has changed. In the mid-1990s, the success of Toy Story brought the new (and previously untapped) market of computer animation into the picture. Disney’s computer-animated films have become very popular, and there are some quality movies affiliated with Disney. Recently, both WALL-E and Up have received critical and financial success. As Disney has begun to adapt their technology and marketing to the computer age, the overall tenor of their animated films has monopolized the genre.
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Still Tuning In After All These Years: Why I Love Radio

By Jesse Roth

On an otherwise normal Sunday night a couple months back, I found myself sitting alone in my car, mourning the loss of what can best be described as a fair-weather friend. 94.7 The Globe, a mediocre but mostly listenable attempt to resurrect the hallowed progressive rock station WHFS , was echoing its long-departed cousin by playing Jeff Buckey’s “Last Goodbye.” Following a minute of dead air, the station would transition to yet another bland adult contemporary wasteland, a now-familiar occurrence on the radio dial.
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Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications

By Ann Clarke

I’m rather surprised Jarvis Cocker has already released another album since his self-titled one really wasn’t out that long ago. He must be on a creative spurt lately, since he’s been all over like the place like horseshit during a parade! Check out his five-day stint at a Parisian art gallery. He and his band exhibited themselves playing music under many different guises.
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Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson

By Brenna Chase

Rather than keep your eyes glued to your favorite news channel for the latest intrusive development or read another biased career retrospective on the recently deceased King of Pop, ponder these conundrums, posed by a true (frustrated) fan who pays attention to what’s really important.
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Don’t Touch That Dial: TV That Shaped My Musical Tastes

By Jesse Roth

Like many members of my generation (and those of the previous one), I received a decent yet incomplete music education via the radio, MTV, and my parents’ eclectic record collection. By the time I hit high school however, I was quickly seeking new avenues for discovering music.
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Don’t Fall Into The Pit: Parks And Recreation

By Lisa Anderson

A network TV season has ended, and as usual, the battlefield is littered. Some shows have been renewed, some have been axed, and some have found homes on other networks. One survivor among new shows was Parks and Recreation, a sitcom co-produced by and starring Saturday Night Live alum Amy Poehler.
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I Just Can’t Stop Loving You

The reaction to Michael Jackson’s death surprised me. I can’t pretend to be like the true hardcore Michael fans; I have always hovered on the edges of the fandom and kept it to myself, too much perhaps. For years I have kept quiet about loving him, even as part of a music fandom where coolness doesn’t really matter. There has just been so much wrong with loving him—truly and wholly—in the eyes of the world for so long.
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Soundtrack For The Perfect Girl

By Jim R. Clark

Why do you insist on listening to music that you don’t even like? Is it because you’re afraid what the others will think of you? Them, and their damned taste police. No? Well, I know the real reason. Really, I do. Listen, I’m going to tell you what’s going on inside your head. Consider this a free counseling session.
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Cheap Trick, The Latest

By Less Lee Moore

I haven’t bought a new Cheap Trick album since their 1997 self-titled release on the then soon-to-be-defunct Red Ant label. Now that I’ve copped to this embarrassing admission, the next one should be easier. I hate writing record reviews. That old chestnut comparing the ridiculousness of music writing to “dancing about architecture” worms its way into my brain and I start to panic. Panic turns to dread as deadlines quickly approach.

Look, it’s not that I don’t love the latest release from Cheap Trick (cleverly titled The Latest), it’s that I don’t know if I can properly convey how much I love it, or perhaps more succinctly, I don’t know if I can convince you to love it as much as I do.
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