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You Can Feel the Venue's Heartbeat on Every Page of 'Showtime at the Apollo'

How do we measure the status of a performer's Holy Grail like the Apollo Theater in 2019? Ted Fox and James Otis Smith's beautifully realized, updated graphic history brings this rich history to life.

Books

Prince Shall Forever Remain the Enigma: 'This Thing Called Life'

Instead of cherry-picking facts and quotes, Joseph Vogel lets Prince's legacy shine in all its vague and erratic splendor.

Books

Phil Collins: Singles

The main question with Singles is this: does Phil Collins really deserve all the critical revilement he's gotten for decades?

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

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.

Music

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.

Books

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.

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

Music

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.

Books

Queen: Forever (take 2)

Yes, this is another Queen compilation, but it's not hard to make a good case for Forever.

Music

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.

Reviews

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.

Film

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.

Reviews

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.

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.

Music

Pop Ten

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2019

The 70 Best Albums of 2019

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 1 (100 - 81)

The 20 Best Metal Albums of 2019

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

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