Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone: Free Downloads From Round Two Bands

The second round of the Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone contest is under way. After hundreds of thousands of votes were cast online, the 16 acts vying for the cover of Rolling Stone – as well as an Atlantic Records contract – have been narrowed down to a group of eight. Those bands have since gone into the studio to record two songs each with top producers, and you can now stream all of the songs in the player below and download each of them by right-clicking on the track titles.

Voting for round two will end on April 14th, and the final four contestants will be announced at the end of the month. In the meantime, please check out all of the songs and vote for your favorites.

Contest: Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone

Here's a rundown of each of the bands and what they did with their studio time.

Empires: The Chicago rock quartet recorded the hard-charging, Springsteen-ish anthems "Hard Times" and "Night Is Young" with Cobra Starship and Fall Out Boy producer Machine.

"Hard Times"
"Night Is Young"

Fictionist: The Utah quintet turned out the dramatic, dynamic "Great Escape" and the slinky rocker "Treasure These Moments" with Paramore producer David Bendeth.

"Great Escape"
"Treasure These Moments"

Lelia Broussard: The theatrical singer-songwriter aimed for an organic, rhythmic sound on "My Heart's a Cannonball" and "Satellite," the two songs she made with Espionage, the Norwegian production duo who co-wrote Beyoncé's hit "Irreplaceable."

"My Heart's a Cannonball"
"Satellite"

Mod Sun: The self-proclaimed "hippie-hop" artist recorded with Gym Class Heroes producers Sam and Sluggo to create "Forever Woodstock" and "Shaun White," a tribute to the extreme sports hero.

"Forever Woodstock"
"Shaun White"

Skyler Stonestreet: The 23-year-old Los Angeles singer-songwriter recorded two perky up-tempo pop numbers, "Crazy" and "Top of the World," with Avril Lavigne and Jason Mraz producer Peter Zizzo.

"Crazy"
"Top of the World"

Tha Boogie: The SoCal pop crew blend up-tempo Strokes-style rock and Black Eyed Peas rap-pop on their songs "Ain't No Turning Back" and "Don't Flush Me Out," which they recorded with Ali Dee, who has previously worked with a range of artists including Shakira, Busta Rhymes and the Jonas Brothers.

"Ain't No Turning Back"
"Don't Flush Me Out"

The Romany Rye: The Los Angeles quintet cut the Wilco-esque "True North" and the defiant country rocker "New King of the Mountain" with Train producer Gregg Wattenberg.

"True North"
"New King of the Mountain"

The Sheepdogs: The Canadian roots rockers laid down the groovy stoner boogie tunes "How Late, How Long" and "Who" with Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlessinger at his studio in Manhattan.

"How Late, How Long"
"Who"

RS Cover Contest: Round 2 Songs by Rolling Stone

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

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