The Preacher’s Wife is the ideal Whitney Houston album, ticking off many sides of the diva’s talents while marrying her commercial side with her sacred roots
In a brave and subversive move that appealed to mainstream audiences yet was undeniably queer, “AIDS film” Parting Glances used barbed comedy to convey tragedy.
The Kinks’ landmark album Muswell Hillbillies turns 50 and endures as a prophetic masterpiece that anticipates our messy political moment.
On her last truly great album Hejira, Joni Mitchell designed a travelogue, awash with lush textures, and explored the implications of her lifelong itineracy.
Kate Bush’s 50 Words For Snow is a jazzy wonderland of mystical creatures and fleeting romance with nuanced themes of impermanence and ephemeral love.
Losing Streak is the best recording of Less Than Jake’s full-on ska-punk days. It has the feel of a time capsule from that brief mid-’90s period.
Belle and Sebastian’s 1996 showpiece If You’re Feeling Sinister balanced poignance and exuberance with its character-driven stories and became an indie-pop classic.
In 1991, U2 risked tearing down the structure they built in the 1980s with the release of Achtung Baby and made a phoenix-like return to rock god status.
In a career defined by musical makeovers, Evita represented Madonna’s most extreme and conservative musical guise in the Andrew Lloyd Webber kitschfest.
Considering Susan Sontag’s “The Imagination of Disaster” and modern apocalyptic narratives, are sci-fi and horror still “inadequate responses” to our world?
Japan’s Tin Drum serves as a lasting document of a band ahead of their time and one that rises far above the pretensions of their contemporaries.
