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Phil Collins: Singles
The main question with Singles is this: does Phil Collins really deserve all the critical revilement he's gotten for decades?
22 Nov 2016
Music
Prince and Michael Jackson: The Rivalry and the Revolution
Deemed As polar opposites by the media, part of what made the Prince v Jackson rivalry so compelling was their similarities.
Joseph Vogel
28 Apr 2016
Music
Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall
Something as fresh and lively as Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall results in a rare enhancement of what you already have come to know and love.
24 Mar 2016
Books
Does Michael Jackson's Work Contain the Stuff of Genius?
Steve Knopper’s highly readable biography MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson lays out a credible case for Jackson to be considered along those lofty lines, and not simply as a supreme entertainer.
22 Nov 2015
Music
Ivy Walker: Ivy Walker
Ivy Walker's self-titled debut album is moved by a sense of nostalgia that never really recalls a specific time and place.
02 Nov 2015
Music
Is Taylor Swift the New Michael Jackson?
Is Swift’s 1989 having the biggest impact on the pop culture landscape since Michael Jackson’s Thriller?
Jon Bream
14 Sep 2015
Books
The Struggle for Literacy, the Need for Booze, the Bay Area Book Festival
As the Bay Area Rapid Transit escalator carried me upward, toward the first annual Bay Area Book Festival (6th and 7th, June), I repeated my new mantra. I would buy no books.
22 Jun 2015
Music
Queen: Forever (take 2)
Yes, this is another Queen compilation, but it's not hard to make a good case for Forever.
05 Jan 2015
Reviews
There Isn't a Single Insertion in 'There Goes Gravity' That Isn't Intriguing
An invaluable look into the lives of our most adored musicians, written with wit, humility, and vibrancy by one of our most revered music journalists.
27 Apr 2014
Film
David O. Russell Tells a Great Story in 'American Hustle'
American Hustle is not only about the awkwardly intricate and emblematic fictions designated "Abscam", but also about the stories the scammers tell themselves.
13 Dec 2013
Reviews
This Wasn't It: 'Moscow Case 1993: When the King of Pop Met the Soviets'
Having no footage of the 1993 Moscow concert, part of the Dangerous tour, to speak of, Trubnikoff can hardly concern himself with conveying quite what it was like to attend the show.
01 Apr 2013
Music
The Pop Culture Death Trap, Part 3: Grief and Immortality
Through the act of collective mourning, we elevate dead celebrities to near-divinity. The need is both a primitive and a decidedly American one: to define ourselves by something other than an alienating individualism.
20 Mar 2013
News
Randall Sullivan’s ‘Untouchable’ Book Angers Jackson Family
Chris Lee
16 Nov 2012
Music
Counterbalance No. 104: Michael Jackson's 'Off the Wall'
Keep on with the force, don’t stop. Don’t stop until you get enough of the 104th most acclaimed album of all time. Michael Jackson returns to the Great List with his 1979 breakthrough.
26 Oct 2012
Music
Easy Star All-Stars: Easy Star's Thrillah
They wanna be start’n somethin’ for sure -- but is it a dub record or a wedding dance?
10 Oct 2012
Music
Michael Jackson: Bad 25 [Deluxe Edition]
Definitively answering the age-old question of "Who's bad?"
20 Sep 2012
Music
Generation X Wants Its MTV, But It’s a VEVO World Now
Gen X’ers may still want their MTV, but the version they loved is as distant a memory as Valley Girl speak, parachute pants, and leg warmers. Wake up and smell the VEVO.
28 Aug 2012
Music
Vijay Iyer Trio: Accelerando
Pianist Vijay Iyer gave us jazz masterpieces in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Looks like this will be his year yet again.
25 Mar 2012
Music
I Heard You Missed Us (Says Van Halen and Many, Many Others) -- We're Back!
The David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen returns after a 28-year absence. Who else has made fans wait that long? Quite a few, it turns out.
04 Mar 2012
Books
Carrie Fisher Likes to Shock Herself and Her Readers in 'Shockaholic'
Shockaholic switches on and off with the distant past and more recent present, ultimately drawing conclusions about what it means to be born into celebrity and the seeming inescapability of one’s public persona.
19 Feb 2012
Music
Gleeks and Beliebers Rejoice: In Defense of Pop
Pop music makers like Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry may get the kiss off from critics, but really, what's the harm in getting your pop groove on to their style of music?
17 Jan 2012
Featured: Top of Home Page
CONTEST: Win the Ultimate Home Theater System and "Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon"
Enter for your chance to win a copy of Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon on Blu-ray along with a Blu-ray disc home theater system (prize pack valued at $375)!
08 Dec 2011
Music
Counterbalance: Year One
In this special one-year anniversary edition of Counterbalance, Eric Klinger and Jason Mendelsohn discuss their first year combing through the pop music canon (as determined by Acclaimed Music's calculations of every best-of list available), share a few favorites, and justify a couple items on their expense account.
09 Sep 2011
Music
Paul McCartney’s 69th Birthday: A Life in Videos
This Saturday marks the 69th birthday of singer, songwriter, composer, musician, author, actor, artist, and humanitarian Paul McCartney.
17 Jun 2011
Music
The Year in Music: December 2010
Continuing our look at the year’s most notable events in the world of music, here’s what happened in December 2010.
13 May 2011
Music
Counterbalance No. 27: Michael Jackson’s 'Thriller'
With over 140 trillion copies sold, it’s no surprise that Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller would wind up on Acclaimed Music’s Big List. Counterbalance’s Eric Klinger and Jason Mendelsohn would just as soon not be startin’ somethin’, but here we are.
01 Apr 2011
Events
Guessing the Grammys
Predictions on who will win what in the biggest categories, based on industry hype and a little guessing about the academy’s voters.
04 Feb 2011
Music
The Year In Music: June 2010
June 2010, the subject of our latest look at the year’s biggest events in music, was a month of successful releases and summer concerts.
03 Feb 2011
Reviews
'Michael Jackson's Vision' Into the Future
The Moonwalker's short films are brought together here in a single collection. Are you still down with Michael? Are you down? Are you bad?!
09 Jan 2011
Music
Groove Me: Looking Back at New Jack Swing
Marrying hip hop elements to high-energy compositions and carefully-crafted productions, new jack swing was the cutting edge of R&B music in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
05 Jan 2011
Music
Michael Jackson: Michael
Michael Jackson's posthumous 2010 album Michael, the first in nine years, reminds us that the best of Michael has already been released.
02 Jan 2011
Music
Mythologizing Michael Jackson
Aristotle's wisdom about these protagonists suffering irreparable loss at the hands of destiny is applicable to Jackson's journey: he suffered disproportionately more than he deserved; he was intelligent and gifted at evoking pathos in his audience; and he had influence but was in conflict with external forces and internal demons. In short: he was a flawed, tragic figure.
Karen Wink
26 Aug 2010
Music
Celebrating 68 Years of Paul McCartney
An up to date video flashback of his entire career.
18 Jun 2010
Music
We Don't Die, We Multiply: R&B Posse Tracks
Take Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You", a steamy tale of a mistress longing for romantic bliss with a married man, and imagine how it might play out with a multi-perspective delivery.
15 Jun 2010
Music
The Posthumous Sales Bump
Analyzing the phenomenon of the inevitable spike in album sales and interest of an artist after they die.
29 Mar 2010
Reviews
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