3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

It's a story as old as time itself: Lead singer of a band, for whatever reason, leaves the band to strike out on his/her own. Slightly younger than time itself is the idea of said band moving on with a new singer. But rarely do you hear about a backing band simply making a record without their main guy. In 1980, Elvis Costello's backing band, the Attractions, did just that. While they'll probably never get much credit for Costello's success, there's no denying that Bruce Thomas' melodic bass-playing, Pete Thomas' propulsive drums, and Steve Nieve's whirly organ/piano helped define and drive his nervy new wave pop sound. In later years, the Attractions would show themselves to be gamely adept at keeping up with Costello's genre-bending ways. But Mad About the Wrong Boy shows little evidence of that diversity of skill, instead focusing on the new wave punch of Get Happy and This Year's Model ( Armed Forces ' sophistication is only slightly ...

12 by... aims to summarize an artist's career in 12 songs. This one features ... Tom Petty already has a definitive best of. In fact, the classic 1993 Greatest Hits album has been re-released in an improved 2008 edition. The cover art is better and the band wisely replaced the cover of " Something in the Air"  with the initially criminally omitted  "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."   One might also argue about the still unrectified omissions of " Rebels" and " Southern Accents ," but those are minor complaints, since they weren't really hits. My purpose here is to focus on Petty's post '93 career. Some may complain that he has lost his fire, but take a listen to these 12 and I think you'll agree that quality and consistency have yet to lag.   1. You Wreck Me (found on Wildflowers , 1994) An open-road-foot-on-the-pedal anthem if there ever was one. Check that solo by Mike Campbell and tell me what really differentiate...

"12 by..." aims to summarize an artist's career in 12 songs. This one features artists covering ... If there's any doubt about how influential The Beatles are in pop music, one only needs to look at the long and ever-growing list of covers that have been done of their songs. Like the young painter who recreates a masterpiece or a budding film director who breaks down their favorite movie shot-by-shot, musicians can't resist trying to recreate on the sublime compositions of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison.  What's amazing is that The Beatles inspired cover versions not only by those artists that came after, but by their contemporaries and predecessors as well. The best cover versions are the ones that the artists make their own, the ones that sound like they were written for or by that artist. So, behold, the 12 best covers of Beatles songs!   1. Vince Guaraldi and Bola Sete -  "I'm A Loser"  (from Live At El Matador , 1966)  Two dominant forces ...

Pop music is built on the unexpected. Superstar artists and hit songs come out of seemingly nowhere, established bands reunite long after their fans have given up on the idea, band members die, careers turn on a single bad album or public incident, and some artists have fluke hits or make spectacular albums many many years after the height of their popularity. The one thing you can say about music is that there's always a second, third, forth and fifth chance waiting. Perhaps more than any other artist, British "heavy new wave folk" band Refrigerated Love has taken advantage of this. If a cat has nine lives, then RL represents approximately 2 1/2 cats. If you need proof, please read the history and discography I typed up a few years ago, then take a look at my review of their last album, 1999's We're Actually Serious, Really . Most onlookers thought Refrigerated Love were gone for good after that effort, which was well-received but not well-purchased. Howeve...

Now we conclude our journey through the back catalog of a little-known '60s band I've recently discovered. This is it kids, The Beatles' final album. They gave it a good six year run, but it seems the years of hard work with little acclaim or monetary compensation had finally taken their toll on this little band. To their credit, they go out with what I believe is their finest achievement. Unlike their previous album, The Beatles , there's a unified feel, not only in the performances, but in the sound of the songs themselves - bluesy and American - despite the fact that all four members were composing individually. For all of its appeal, Abbey Road is actually quite a strange album. No other Beatles album - not even The Beatles - contains such a mixture of standout classics and obscure curiosities. In the former category, we have two songs that have nearly become standards. They're also the first two songs on the album. One is John Lennon's Come Together ,...

175. Sloan: Parallel Play (2008) The album's name comes from the developmental stage wherein children will play in proximity, but not interact with one another. It's a cute title, but doesn't quite work as an analogy for the band, despite the fact that all four members write and sing their own songs. That's because there's too much synergy and collaboration going on, and after 9 great albums together, that's what you'd expect. Here Patrick, Andrew, Jay, and Chris add a few more masterpieces to their portfolio, including Burn For It , Witches Wand , Cheap Champagne , and All I Am Is All You're Not . Sloan are one of the few bands that might not be capable of making a bad album. Grade: A- Fave Song: Witches Wand 176. Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha (2008) Do yourself a favor and seek out the newest effort from one of Britpop's most enduring and consistently surprising bands. Following 2006's contemplative Road to Rouen , Diamond Hoo Ha returns a s...

"12 by..." aims to summarize an artist's career in 12 songs. This one features... Jay-Z may have a lot of nice houses, but he's not content to just stay there. He likes to go visit his friends too. Here are the 12 best songs featuring Jigga as a guest. As I did with my 12 by Jay-Z feature, I'm going to let the man speak for himself.   1. Foxy Brown - I'll Be (found on Ill Na Na , 1996)  "Will tears fall to your ears if I don't stop?"   2. Notorious B.I.G. - I Love the Dough (found on Life After Death , 1997)  "And tell me you won't ball every chance you get / and any chance you hit, we live for the moment / Makes sense don't it? Now make dollars"  3. Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker (found on Rainbow , 1999)  "She call me heartbreaker / When we apart it makes her wanna piece of paper / Scribble down 'I hate ya!'"  4. Beyonce - Crazy in Love (found on Dangerously in Love , 2003)  "Young Hov, y'all kn...