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Fricke's Picks: Frank Zappa Invades Carnegie Hall, 1971
January 23, 11:10 AM ET| David FrickeThe American composer and rock & roll provocateur, Frank Zappa, died at age 52 almost two decades ago, on December 4th, 1993. At the time of his passing, his official discography totaled 62 albums released under his own name and that of his landmark combo, the Mothers of Invention.
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The Dark Prince of Garage Rock: A Tribute to Sean Bonniwell of the Music Machine
January 4, 12:00 PM ET| David Fricke"It speaks of a timeless problem of teenage misunderstanding": That is how singer-guitarist-songwriter Sean Bonniwell of the Music Machine described the Los Angeles band's 1966 single "Talk Talk" to me in a 1986 interview. It was a pith worthy of the record itself, 1:57 of proto-punk severity that peaked at Number 15 in Billboard and went even higher in some markets, going Top Ten in L.A.
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The Best Under-the-Radar Albums of 2011
December 23, 1:45 PM ET| David FrickeWhen it comes to best-of-the-year album lists, there are the polls of authority, like the survey just published by this magazine – and there is everything that hit my Victrola and stuck around, from under the radar and beyond the insitutional consensus. This is some of the best of what happened to me on records in 2011.
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The Best Under-the-Radar Reissues of 2011
December 22, 11:15 AM ET| David FrickeThere were true prizes – the Beach Boys' Smile sessions unleashed; Bear Family's complete survey of country music's Ground Zero, The Bristol Sessions – among the Cadillac boxed sets that overwhelmed the end of 2011. There was great discovery in smaller reissues too, the kind that fit in the palm of one hand. The following are all solid-value history lessons that won't break your bank.
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Metallica Wrap Up 30th Anniversary Shows With Monster Sets, Special Guests
December 12, 2:20 PM ET| David FrickeSinger-guitarist James Hetfield was so impatient to get started on December 9th, the third night ofMetallica's 30th-anniversary celebration at the Fillmore in San Francisco, that he jumped behind Lars Ulrich's drum kit, hitting a chase-scene rhythm as he waited for everyone else to get on stage. "C'mon, Lars, c'mon!" Hetfield barked, apparently none the worse for wear after a four-hour soundcheck that day and eight straight hours of rehearsal on the 8th, technically an off-day.
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Metallica's Star-Studded 30th Anniversary Residency Includes Rarities, Curve Balls
"I'm digging my way/To something better," Metallica singer-guitarist James Hetfield declared early in his band's December 7th show at the Fillmore in San F... | More »December 8, 12:05 PM ET| David Fricke -
The Black Keys Show Off a Decade of Hard Work at Album Release Show
Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney of the Black Keys sealed their ten-year ascent – from a pair of hard-working aces, cutting heavy-attit... | More »December 6, 12:30 PM ET| David Fricke -
Billy Joel's Radio Days: Live on the Air in Philadelphia, 1972
"That was the one that made me the superstar I am," singer-pianist Billy Joel announced after playing the bright and frantic "Everybody Loves You Now" from his 1971 so... | More »December 2, 3:05 PM ET| David Fricke -
My Week In Rock: Foo Fighters, an Oasis Brother, a Black Crowe and John Fogerty Live
The classic rock that has always run deep and hard through Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana juggernaut Foo Fighters came out at an odd, exhilarating moment during the ba... | More »November 23, 3:25 PM ET| David Fricke -
In Memory of Duane: Derek Trucks' Allman Brothers Playlist
November 7, 10:55 AM ET| David FrickeOn October 29, 1971, Duane Allman – lead guitarist and spiritual general of the Allman Brothers Band – died in a motorcycle accident in his band's adopted hometown of Macon, Georgia. He was 24. Allman's passing and the loss a year later of bassist Berry Oakley, on his bike in a collision with a bus near the site where Allman crashed, marked the end of the group's first prime time – the Allmans had recently issued their landmark third album, At Fillmore East – but not the story.
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U.K. Punk's Dark Lord, the Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell, Brings New Aggro
"What's totem for me/Is taboo for you," Hugh Cornwell, the former singer-guitarist of British punk's charter scoundrels, the Stranglers, sang in a leathery g... | More »October 31, 2:55 PM ET| David Fricke -
'The One I Love': Radiohead's Thom Yorke on the Mystery and Influence of R.E.M.
It doesn't sound like much at first: a blurred warble, fingers idly roaming the keyboard of an upright piano. Thom Yorke sits with his back slightly hunched and h... | More »October 24, 12:55 PM ET| David Fricke -
Sinéad O'Connor, Yoko Ono and 'New Arcade Fire' Of Monsters and Men Rock Reykjavik
October 19, 11:40 AM ET| David FrickeMeet your new Arcade Fire: The longest line at the door on October 12th, the opening night of the 2011 Iceland Airwaves festival, was at the Reykjavik club NASA for a young local group, Of Monsters and Men, that has owned Icelandic pop radio for weeks and just issued its debut album.
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Bjork Premieres Multimedia 'Biophilia' at Spectacular Iceland Concert
October 13, 12:15 PM ET| David Fricke"Craving miracles," Björk sang, enunciating each syllable like an eager child, in "Thunderbolt," the first song of her remarkable opening-night show at the concert hall Harpa in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 12th.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke has more than 10,000 albums in his New York apartment. His first record review for the magazine was Frank Zappa's 'Sheik Yerbouti' (RS 290).
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