Feels a Bit Stuffy: Blindfold Test #12

This may hold the distinction of being the most “mid” batch of blind items yet, as the kids might say. Well, I’m not sure they’d say “batch,” but you get the idea — No grades above 7.5. or below 5, and seven ranked at either 5 or 5.5. Still, I’ll try my best not to…

150 Best Albums of 1990

In 1990 I turned 30, and 30 tends to be a major road-bump in many rock critic trajectories, the age when people who write about music start to wonder whether they’re in it for the long haul or they should switch to a more grown-up profession. I clearly chose the former, but not without the…

150 Best Albums of 1986

I know it’s the equivalent of rock bands whining about how tired they are of always playing their biggest hit (“No way will I do that bloody wedding song!,” a solo-tour-prepping Robert Plant once promised me about “Stairway to Heaven”), but boy oh boy do I wish I’d meet somebody vaguely familiar with my writing…