If there were any truth to the myth that suffering breeds fine music, this would be it. For starters, band co-founder and lead guitarist Hillel Slovak had recently died of a heroin overdose. To make matters worse, drummer and co-founder Jack Irons had quit. It seemed as if Hillel Slovak’s death had taken the Red…
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When Green Day started in the 90s they were a group of dirty punks from California. Most people probably didn’t think the band would hit commercial success, much less stay together. In 2004, however, the band pulled a 360 and churned out the best album of their career. American Idiot took the concept album to…
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By the time 1987 began, Athens, Georgia-based band R.E.M. already had four albums underneath their belt. As one of the hardest working bands of the 1980s, they had already reached some success, particularly via the college radio circuit. But it was in this year where R.E.M. reached mainstream success with the release of their fifth…
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From the opening track to the throwaway epilogue of “Married with Children” – with perhaps the greatest comment on the music they were replacing: ‘your music’s shite, it keeps me up all night’ – Definitely Maybe is a chin-out strut down the alleyways of Britain’s rock heritage. Much was made of the band’s love of…
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Portishead, a Bristol-based band fronted by Beth Gibbons, released their debut album Dummy in 1994. During this time, England was facing a resurgence of Britpop due to Blur and Oasis both releasing critically acclaimed albums. In the U.S., grunge had reached its peak with alternative rock being one of the biggest genres in the nation….
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