Call for Papers: All Things Reconsidered [MUSIC] May-August 2024

We are seeking essays for our May-August 2024 All Things Reconsidered series. These features analyze classic albums in music history. They are indexed in the academic ProQuest database. We are seeking pitches for articles on the albums listed below, although writers may also pitch records that are not on this list.

All Things Reconsidered articles should be at least 1,400 words, although that’s fairly short for a substantial essay, and writers are encouraged to go longer. Indeed, many of these features are in-depth, written for posterity and education, and some go over 3,000 words.

In these essays, we want to address:

1. Why this album matters. How has it stood the test of time?
2. How has the perception of the music changed over time (if relevant)?
3. Where the album came from in the history of the artist’s music and the genres/scenes from which it emerged.
4. What societal trends influenced the making of the record, and what influence has it had since being released?

Tips for essays:

1. Please don’t use excessive lyric quotations unless you are doing a true literary analysis. Quotations are fine, but ideas are better.
2. Please avoid mere track-by-track run-downs of the record. The essay needs to be ideas-driven.
3. Please have a unique take on the album. Develop a central thesis to build your essay.
4. These need to be essays with original critical thinking. We don’t want just a bunch of tracks listed with pure descriptions. There must be an analysis.

Please choose from the list below, address pitches to Sarah Zupko, and enter your pitch into our Submittable with the subject of “All Things Reconsidered“.

PITCH DEADLINE: Deadline through 15 August.

ESSAY DEADLINE: The deadline depends on the album’s release month.

Note: PopMatters is a wholly independent magazine of cultural criticism, est. 1999. Our mission is to educate readers and document our period on the cultural timeline. We publish for posterity. PopMatters is a highly respected magazine because of its ideals and its fine writers and editorial staff. However, such high ideals are not monetarily rewarded in today’s publishing climate. For this reason, we can offer you an excellent publishing platform for your quality work and our social media efforts – but for now, we are unable to pay you for your articles. Even the editors are currently volunteering their time. We are presently a 100% volunteer organization, with all advertising revenue supporting our basic expenses. Writers retain ownership of their copyright on articles so that they can use them for books and other projects. Their essays are indexed in ProQuest, as PopMatters has an educational mission.

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Albums – May

You may also pitch albums not on this list.

Basement Jaxx – Remedy 1999
Beastie Boys – Ill Communication 1994
Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash 1969
David Bowie – Lodger 1979
Echo & the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain 1984
Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery 1979
Feist – Let It Die 2004
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – Winter in America 1974
Groove Armada – Vertigo 1999
Joni Mitchell – Clouds 1969
Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers 2009
My Morning Jacket – The Tennessee Fire 1999
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 1969
New York Dolls – Too Much Too Soon 1974
Patti Smith Group – Wave 1979
Pharoah Sanders – Karma 1969
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix 2009
Queen – The Miracle 1989
Sly & The Family Stone – Stand! 1969
Sparks – Kimono My House 1974
St. Vincent – Actor 2009
Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary 1994
Swans – To Be Kind 2014
The Black Keys – Turn Blue 2014
The Cure – Disintegration 1989
The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin 1999
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses 1989
The Undertones – The Undertones 1979
The Who – Tommy 1969
Tina Turner – Private Dancer 1984
Travis – The Man Who 1999
Weezer – Weezer (Blue Album) 1994
Wings – Back to the Egg 1979

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Albums – June

You may also pitch albums not on this list.

Art of Noise – Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise? 1984
Bad Company – Bad Company 1974
Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs 2004
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. 1984
Captain Beefheart – Trout Mask Replica 1969
Charles Mingus – Tonight at Noon 1964
Cibo Matto – Stereo Type A 1999
Death Grips – Niggas on the Moon 2014
Deep Purple – Deep Purple 1969
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm 2009
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca 2009
Dungen – Ta Det Lugnt 2004
Everything But the Girl – Amplified Heart 1994
Faith No More – The Real Thing 1989
Gossip – Music For Men 2009
Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand 1994
Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul 1969
Jamiroquai – Synkronized 1999
Jeff Beck Group – Beck-Ola 1969
John Coltrane – Coltrane’s Sound 1964
Johnny Cash – I Walk the Line 1964
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures 1979
Killing Joke – Pandemonium 1994
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence 2014
Lush – Split 1994
Moby – Play 1999
Mos Def – The Ecstatic 2009
Nirvana – Bleach 1989
Orbital – Blue Album 2004
Pavement – Terror Twilight 1999
PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her 2004
Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain 1984
Rancid – Let’s Go 1994
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication 1999
Roberta Flack – First Take 1969
Saint Etienne – Tiger Bay 1994
Sigur Rós – Ágætis byrjun 1999
Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse 2004
Sonic Youth – The Eternal 2009
Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla 1999
The B-52’s – Cosmic Thing 1989
The Chemical Brothers – Surrender 1999
The Killers – Hot Fuss 2004
The Promise Ring – Very Emergency 1999
The White Stripes – The White Stripes 1999
Toots & The Maytals – In the Dark 1974
Tortoise – Tortoise 1994
Wilco – A Ghost Is Born 2004
Wilco – Wilco (The Album) 2009

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Albums – July

You may also pitch albums not on this list.

Alice Coltrane & Carlos Santana – Illuminations 1974
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique 1989
Elliott Smith – Roman Candle 1994
EPMD – Unfinished Business 1989
Fairport Convention – Unhalfbricking 1969
Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade 1984
Maxwell – BLACKsummers’night 2009
Metallica – Ride the Lightning 1984
Miles Davis – In a Silent Way 1969
Mr. Bungle – California 1999
Neil Young – On the Beach 1974
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps 1979
Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left 1969
Parliament – Up for the Down Stroke 1974
Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom 1974
Sade – Diamond Life 1984
Stevie Wonder – Fulfillingness’ First Finale 1974
Swell Maps – A Trip to Marineville 1979
The B-52’s – The B-52’s 1979
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night 1964
The Doors – The Soft Parade 1969
The Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat 2004
The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation 1994
The Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge 1994
The Roots – The Tipping Point 2004
The The – The The 1989
Tim Buckley – Happy Sad 1969
Yes – Yes 1969

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Albums – August

You may also pitch albums not on this list.

AC/DC – Highway to Hell 1979
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug 2009
Björk – Medúlla 2004
Blackalicious – Nia 1999
Blind Faith – Blind Faith 1969
Bob Dylan – Another Side of Bob Dylan 1964
Bob Dylan – Slow Train Coming 1979
Brian Eno & Harold Budd – The Pearl 1984
Dionne Warwick – Make Way for Dionne Warwick 1964
Drive-By Truckers – The Dirty South 2004
Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch! 1964
Frank Sinatra & Count Basie – It Might As Well Be Swing 1964
Jeff Buckley – Grace 1994
John Coltrane – Black Pearls 1964
Kool Keith – Black Elvis/Lost in Space 1999
Led Zeppelin – In Through the Out Door 1979
Leonard Cohen – New Skin for the Old Ceremony 1974
Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible 1994
Mastodon – Leviathan 2004
Meshell Ndegeocello – Bitter 1999
Michael Jackson – Off the Wall 1979
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue 1959
Minnie Riperton – Perfect Angel 1974
Oasis – Definitely Maybe 1994
Orbital – Snivilisation 1994
Portishead – Dummy 1994
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Red Hot Chili Peppers 1984
Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch 2004
Santana – Santana 1969
Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet 1994
Talking Heads – Fear of Music 1979
The Chicks – Fly 1999
The Libertines – The Libertines 2004
The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels 1989
The Stooges – The Stooges 1969
The xx – xx 2009
XTC – Drums and Wires 1979