Psychedelic blues rockers Dead Meadow relocated from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles last year, and their sixth album sounds reenergized by the scenery change. The…

In a nutshell: Eight dreamy, world-weary Indianapolis musicians brought together by a shared love of woodsy Americana and chamber pop. Their cello-laden debut, 2006's The…

"It's the fucking weather," says 15-year-old Black Tide lead singer/guitarist Gabe Garcia, explaining why Florida produces so many extreme-metal bands, such as Deicide and Obituary.

German filmmaker Werner Herzog makes documentaries, but he's not a documentarian per se, since he blurs what's real and fake, sometimes staging events that he…

Through four albums of dark, existential art metal, Tool have cast a spooky shadow, but the underlying truth about the band (and frontman Maynard James…

In addition to their awesome 'fros, our esteemed jurors had something else in common this year: Both took cautious steps away from the outfits that…

In hip-hop, the only thing worse than not having a hit is actually having one. Case in point: Amid the blowup of the Houston syrup…

More than a decade later, a lot of people still have a hard time getting over Beck's Mellow Gold. The latest mix of marble-mouthed rapping,…

On their fourth album and major-label debut, this metallic California quintet prune some thorns from their prickly sound, overtly moving in a more pop-savvy direction.

Ostensibly, this Michigan six-piece carries the metalcore torch lit by Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. But the band's synth-heavy sound doesn't reflexively fall back on…

Treated like deities in the U.K. but ignored Stateside (guitarist Richey Edwards' tragic disappearance before a 1995 U.S. tour was a devastating setback), Manic Street…

Part of Nirvana's greatness stemmed from their volatility. The exact opposite can be said of Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters. Since their 1995 debut,…

Era Vulgaris represents Queens of the Stone Age's most hallucinatory album since 2000's Rated R. And no narcotic assistance is required, since it legitimately recreates…

Megadeth have never adapted their razor-edged shredding to straight-up arena rock as well as Metallica, and even their most ferocious '80s efforts felt a little…

Twisted Black might be the most legit coke rapper ever -- he was recently convicted in federal court of conspiracy to distribute crack. But he's…