The Beatles Transformed with a Little Help From Their Friends
This music is a testament to the pleasures of pop, where the Beatles’ peerless melodies shine through in every number, making for very entertaining listening.
rock
The Trey Anastasio Band Shine a Guiding Light
Trey Anastasio’s music might not be able to save the world per se, but it shines a light that provides spiritual sustenance for fans.
The Best Music of 2025/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks
The 30 Best Rock Albums of 2025
This was another noteworthy year for the best rock music. Some artists followed a debut with a stunning second LP and mainstays showed a return to form or evolved.
Elton John’s Best Album ‘Captain Fantastic’ Is 50
A well-curated reissue celebrates Elton John’s best album, Captain Fantastic, a half-century after its release.
Rock of Pages: The Literary Tradition of 1980s Heavy Metal (excerpt)
In this excerpt of Rock of Pages, Jesse Kavadlo shows how heavy metal, literature, and the Cold War were bonded from the beginning.
Southside Johnny: Bluesman, Soul Shouter, Moving Balladeer
Southside Johnny was a link to American pop music from the 1940s to the ’80s, when blues, soul, jazz, and garage rock created a new pop culture.
Oliver Ray Gets Darkly Political in “Black Budget”
Oliver Ray’s “Black Budget” is neither cheap nor chintzy but rather apocalyptic.
Gen X’s Nostalgia for 1980s Music Is a Memory Problem
Gen X nostalgia for 1980s music like Starship’s “We Built This City” and Toto’s “Africa” is built on old forgotten words and ancient melodies – and faulty memory.
OutKast’s ‘Stankonia’ Uses Mirrors and Oppositions
OutKast’s Stankonia is a diptych that opposes and mirrors the duo; creating a stylistic reverence for an inimitable vision.
Music/All Things Reconsidered/Feature Sub Head/Features/Interviews/Music Features/Pop Past/Pop Past Music
Chubby Checker’s Unexpected Journey Into Psychedelia
Chequered! is an obscure, long-out-of-print “psychedelic” album from 1971 by the most unlikely musician: Chubby Checker, the man behind the 1960 hit “The Twist”.
Bob Dylan Rings in His Ears
Music theorist Steven Rings helps readers understand Bob Dylan the performer, not the lyricist or songwriter, in a welcome and indispensable addition to Dylan scholarship.
Tommy Talton’s Posthumous Southern Tales
These are the last songs of a dying man, Tommy Talton, joined by his peers. He’s just doing what he loves one more time with his friends.