James Stafford
Six Years Ago: The Black Keys Rediscover the Blues With Their Mainstream Breakthrough ‘Brothers’
Two years after their trippy 2008 album with Danger Mouse, the Black Keys went back to basics and released their self-produced, blues-fueled breakthrough.
10 Years Ago: Arctic Monkeys Debut With ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’
Intrinsically millennial and unapologetically fun, the Arctic Monkeys' debut album exceeded the British outfit's considerable (and deserved) hype.
20 Years Ago: Tori Amos Offers Up ‘Boys For Pele’
After enduring intense heartbreak, Amos exorcised her personal demons with a dark and dense confessional recorded from within an Irish church.
Happy 69th Birthday, David Bowie
The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust was decades ago and Aladdin Sane is hardly a lad anymore, but postmodern icon David Bowie gave us all a gift for his 69th birthday.
Cover Stories: The Flaming Lips, ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’
Who's the genius behind Yoshimi's brilliant cover art? Here's a hint: there's probably paint all over the hamster ball.
30 Years Ago: Minutemen’s D. Boon Dies in Tragic Van Accident
He was one of the most talented guitarists of his generation, but one split second cut short the life of Minutemen's D. Boon.
10 Years Ago: Ryan Adams Releases ’29,’ His Third Album of 2005
Although Ryan Adams might have been running out on fumes by the time he recorded '29,' the underrated album contains at least two legitimate classics.
23 Years Ago: Nirvana Turn Piles of Demos and Outtakes into ‘Incesticide’
This 1992 compilation proved that even Nirvana's outtakes were far more interesting than a lot of the best studio efforts by their peers.
Cover Stories: The Subway-Inspired Artwork for Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘Fever to Tell’
There's a great story about ascending New York's punk underground buried within the cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut and it has nothing to do with the band.
35 Years Ago: Germs Frontman Darby Crash Dies of an Intentional Overdose
He was southern California's version of Sid Vicious: a drug-addicted, self-destructive punk icon who became a legend in the worst way.
15 Years Ago: Rage Against the Machine Make Their Own Mixtape With ‘Renegades’
Rage Against the Machine's farewell gift to fans in 2000 was a covers album filled with a dozen disparate and classic songs filtered through their own distinct prism.
Throwback Thursday: That Time Johnny Rotten Was on ‘Judge Judy’
Where does the frontman of the Sex Pistols go when he's looking for justice? To the syndicated television chambers of Judge Judith Sheindlin, of course.