Soundgarden Were Popular Heroes of the Video Game Age
Screaming Life was the authentic sound of grunge and set Soundgarden on course to become the Led Zeppelin of the video game age.
Jeremy McDonagh
I live in the UK and particularly enjoy listening to and writing about British rock, 1960s jazz, and 1980s hip hop. I've written about the golden age of British rock music between the first and second British Invasion, choosing to write about and compare albums which I think are representative of a time and/or a place, even when the artists have quite separate fandoms.
The Style Council’s Café Bleu and David Sylvian’s Brilliant Trees at 40
With Café Bleu and Brilliant Trees, Paul Weller and David Sylvian looked forward to jazz as a renewed source of inspiration; but was their pop music still pop?
Robert Fripp and Gary Numan’s Journeys into Post-Punk
In the post-punk era, progressive rock figurehead Robert Fripp and synth pop pioneer Gary Numan would shape the future sound of alternative rock and metal.
50 Years On: Roxy Music and Robert Palmer Transcended Fashion
In 1974, Roxy Music and Robert Palmer transcended changes in musical fashions not only in terms of their influence but without sacrificing their artistry.
60 Years On: The Animals, the Hollies, and British Beat
As these 1964 albums from the Animals and the Hollies show, the music of the beat boom was characterized by excitement, reverence, and sound.
Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Then Play On’ and Humble Pie’s ‘Town and Country’ 55 Years On
Fleetwood Mac and Humble Pie were a part of the progressive 1960s ethos that carried successfully into the 1970s and beyond. These 1969 albums tell the story.
Sheila Jordan’s ‘Portrait of Sheila’ at 60
The DNA of jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan’s Portrait of Sheila can be heard in so much popular music of the intimate, dreamlike, and nocturnal kind across genres.
Raps From the Golden Age: Jungle Brothers’ Straight Out the Jungle at 35
Jungle Brothers’ 35-year-old Straight Out the Jungle shows cerebral rapping, experimentation, and African rhythms. It was the first Native Tongues hip-hop LP.
Traffic’s Free-Flowing British Soul Masterpiece at 55
No British album better synthesized the warmth, energy, and funkiness of New Orleans R&B, Southern soul, and rock better than Traffic’s 1968 self-titled LP.
Soundgarden’s ‘Ultramega OK’: Now With More Ultramega at 35
The fundamental building blocks of Soundgarden and Nirvana’s sounds could be found in their debut LPs, which foreshadowed alternative rock’s commercial breakthrough.