Rock criticism in 2015 is in the crosshairs of forces beyond its control: of editorial dictates and the power of mass condemnation,of a type of music -EDM, that lends itself to technical jargon, and of an underpaid and undernourished set of writers that falls back fast on 21st century chitter chatter, of a social media filled world happy to attack at the slightest provocation, and an overwhelming humorless 2015 air of defeated populism
It takes ruthlessness to own a successful magazine, and that is an absolute truth, it takes layoffs, it takes cutting expenses, but there are places where she just don’t do it. Among them is the face of Rolling Stone rock criticism who has been with you for decades. C’mon, for a coupla grand? For a coupla grand you leave one of your top writers without a weekly paycheck? I don’t get it. It makes no sense, even if you have no moral compass whatsoever, the public relations black eye is too big. It isn’t worth the hit.
But the real problem here isn’t that people of good faith disagree but that Rolling Stone have no good faith worth disagreeing about. Their taste is suspect not because they have bad ears (or not solely because they have bad ears) but because they are liars.
The rag kicked off its new venture with, of course, a list. The website trumpeted loudly this week – “The Greatest 100 Country Songs of All Time.” The specific country was not designated.
Music critics will never be objective, it’s impossible, any music review is an opinion piece, and just an opinion at the end, but famous blogs and magazines all have an agenda. Time is the best critic, let’s read any review written today in 20 years and let’s have a good laugh
Tthe list clearly shows that the quality of Springsteen’s work has declined since the 1990s. Maybe he established a standard that was impossible to maintain over time, but here are the stats: 72% of the list is from the ‘70s and ‘80s; 80% of the Top 50 are pre-90s; and a whopping 88% of the Top 25 precede the Clinton era
hy teenage girls, why not middle aged men? Why pinpoint your dislike at the heart of the very people who love you most. His writing is getting worse, the last two times I saw him live he wasn’t very good, and he has a nasty fucking attitude. Conor wants to be alone and if he continues like this he will certainly get his wish.
Rolling Stone endorsed or not, this video really mocks the wannabe superstar DJs, the owners of the nighttime,… and honestly it’s refreshing to watch this when EDM has become so fashionable
The current issue of Rolling Stone was better. I can’t express my admiration for Weiner’s writing in the current Rolling Stone highly enough. The Lorde interview was good, nothing wrong with it, but the Paul McCartney interview was simply magical
‘It was more like calling someone a bitch or a punk or asshole. So that word was just thrown around so freely back then. It goes back to that battle, back and forth in my head, of wanting to feel free to say what I want to say, and then [worrying about] what may or may not affect people.”
