Top Artists

Of Monsters And Men

Artist, Contributor

Of Monsters and Men are a rousing, coed Icelandic folk-rock sextet mixing gentle indie delicacy with arena-rock grandiosity.

Bring Me The Horizon

Artist, Contributor

Dubbed deathcore though they’re more complex, these Brits have been taking cues from American hardcore and metal since 2004.

Hans Zimmer

Artist, Contributor

Zimmer is a composer who went from collaborating with the Buggles to scoring successful Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks.

Demi Lovato

Artist, Contributor

Demi Lovato is a rock-tinged pop singer who got her start with Disney, starring with the Jonas Brothers in Camp Rock.

Little Mix

Artist, Contributor

This sassy UK quartet is an r&b-lovin’ pop band with a deep debt to classic girl group sounds.

Antonio Vivaldi

Artist, Contributor

Vivaldi was most influential for his development of the concerto, a work for orchestra that features a solo instrument.

Top Works

The Chronic

Dr. Dre

With its stylish, sonically detailed production, Dr. Dre’s 1992 solo debut, The Chronic, transformed the entire sound of West Coast rap. Here Dre established his patented G-funk sound: fat, blunted Parliament-Funkadelic beats, soulful backing vocals, and live instruments in the rolling basslines and whiny synths. What’s impressive is that Dre crafts tighter singles than his inspiration, George Clinton — he’s just as effortlessly funky, and he has a better feel for a hook, a knack that improbably landed gangsta rap on the pop charts. But none of The Chronic’s legions of imitators were as rich …

Medicine At Midnight

Foo Fighters

Right before its release in early 2021, Dave Grohl called Medicine at Midnight the Foo Fighters’ “Saturday Night party album” — a self-evaluation that turns out to be pretty accurate. It also functions as an acknowledgment of an open secret within the band’s catalog: for all their attributes, the Foos have rarely been “fun.” Foo Fighters fix that deficit by diving head on into disco and dance, the syncopations and polyrhythms so dominating Medicine at Midnight that the four-on-the-floor rock & roll ravers almost seem diminished in comparison. Dance-rock isn’t necessarily the height of exploration — …

Control

Janet Jackson

Although Janet Jackson had released two records in the early ’80s, they were quickly forgotten, and notably shaped by her father’s considerable influence. Janet’s landmark third album, 1986’s Control, changed all that. On the opening title track, Jackson, with passion and grace, declares her independence, moving out of the gargantuan shadow of her brother Michael and on to the business of making her own classic pop album. The true genius of Control lies in the marriage of her extremely self-assured vocals with the emphatic beats of R&B production wizards Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The …

Customer Reviews