The ‘90s saw music videos elevated to an art form. In the previous decade, artists were mainly focused on eye-candy – performance footage, silly antics and video vixens were some of the most common tropes during the ‘80s. But the ‘90s saw an evolution, as emerging auteurs recognized music videos as a new artistic canvas […]
A downtown Los Angeles building once made famous on the cover of a Doors album caught fire Thursday (Dec. 26) and needed over 100 firefighters to contain the blaze. The site was famously captured for the cover of The Doors’ Morrison Hotel album, which was released in 1970. On the cover, the band’s members are […]
James Mangold, director of Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, has detailed the moment he pitched the film to the legendary singer. Inspired by 1984 movie Amadeus, which explored the life and times of 18th-century composer Mozart, Mangold wanted to examine the nature of people dealing with someone who’s a genius, and the challenges they […]
Can’t we all just rock out and get along? No, we can’t. Like most sections of the entertainment industry – or frankly like any other professional setting – there is sometimes beef between parties. In the world of rock ‘n’ roll, this often relates to matters like song sampling, songwriting credits, royalty percentages, etc. And unless […]
I once did a brief Bob Dylan impression at one of my neighborhood bars in New York City. The bartender, with his back to me, didn’t turn around to ask, sincerely: “Are you doing the Swedish Chef?” I was going for a string of jumbled words spoken with enough bounce to be convincing as Dylan, instead I […]
Personal conflicts and health issues led some of rock’s biggest bands and artists to break up, change lineups or retire in 2024. The award for most violent public breakup goes to Jane’s Addiction. Less than four months after the band’s classic lineup finally reunited, it all went to hell again on a Friday the 13th […]
Some of the biggest rock stars in history happen to be Jewish, either by birth or conversion. Given the rich musical tradition of the Jewish people, this should hardly come as a surprise. Songs are used in celebration, in times of happiness and in times of sorrow. Holy scriptures are shared out loud in a […]
Paul McCartney reflected on the fact that the current lineup of his solo band has been together longer than the Beatles and Wings added together. The musicians who recently completed his Got Back world tour – guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and keyboardist Wix Wickens – have been working as […]
In December 2024, Gene Simmons opined, quite matter-of-factly, that rock was dead. The artists comprising our Top 30 Rock Songs of 2024 would like a word. As the year draws to a close, UCR looks back fondly on another 12 months of heavyweight rock songs that reaffirmed our faith in the genre. This year saw thundering releases from […]
L.A. Guns have announced a slate of 2025 tour dates in support of their upcoming album Leopard Skin, which will arrive in April. “In support of our new record Leopard Skin we will be touring heavily next year,” the band wrote on Instagram. “Here is the first leg of the tour dates. Album will be released […]