Rolling Stone's List of Meltdowns and Blowups

Along with all the lists of the top songs and albums of the decade, Rolling Stone has made an entertaining list of artists' shenanigans that stood out the most over the past 10 years. The list is long (surprised? of course not), but here are my personal favorites:

• Ashley Simpson's lip syncing on Saturday Night Live and avoiding an awkward moment by doing a jig

• Madonna adopts an orphan that wasn't really orphaned

• A bald Britney Spears attacks a papa-paparazzi car with an umbrella-ella-ella

• Brett Michaels gets nailed by part of the stage set during a performance at the Tonys. I'm wondering why he'd be so upset and embarrassed by that after Rock of Love one AND two.


• Metallica sues Napster

• Mariah Carey pops in on TRL and goes a little nuts with an ice cream truck.

• Madonna and Brittney girl-on-girl and Adam Lambert's boy-on-boy award show performances


• And of course, the Kanye vs. Taylor incident. He appeared on the Jay Leno Show afterward, where Leno asks him what his mother would think if she were with us - a little harsh, even for Kanye.


What would we do without entertainers?

-Erin

Rolling Stone's List of Meltdowns and Blowups

Rolling Stone's Best of the Decade

With the end of the decade upon us, comes the recap on all the great things that happened. The Rolling Stones new issue is all about The Bests of the Decade including: 100 greatest guitar songs, 100 greatest singers, 500 greatest songs, and 500 greatest albums. Rolling Stones will be unveiling more special decade-end features in the days to come before the New Year.

For all of you who’s memory is as terrible as mine this is a must have issue. Here is a sneak peak of Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of the Decade:

9. M.I.A. – Kala
8. Bob Dylan – Modern Times
7. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP
6. Arcade Fire – Funeral
5. The White Stripes – Elephant
4. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
3. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. The Strokes – Is This It
1. Radiohead – Kid A

And where my favorite albums showed up:

17. Beck – Sea Change
26. Cat Power – The Greatest
42. Elliott Smith – Figure 8
47. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
50. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
61. The Shins – Oh, Inverted World
92. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

As I read through the list I am reminded of all the great albums in the past ten years. I feel like I have re-discovered my iTunes playlist and I need to go back and listen to all of these songs again. Bands like Kings of Leon, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, and The White Stripes show up more than once in this list and I would have to agree that these bands made a significant impact on the music industry in the past decade.

-Annie H.

Rolling Stone's Best of the Decade

The Rise of the EP

When is the last time you bought an actual CD? Or even an entire album from iTunes? It's interesting to note that these days, it's far more common for people to just pick and choose the songs they like from the 30 second previews or just buy their favorite new single on the radio instead of going for the entire package. This is yet another example of how iTunes and digital media have changed how the music industry operates. Instead of taking years to put together new material in the form of a complete album, artists have turned more to the EP format to get new material out there faster. EP's, or Extended Play albums, usually have four to eight new songs - just enough to be more than a single, but not enough to be a full album.

This switch can be attributed to two things: the freedom that comes with iTunes' option to buy songs individually as well as full albums, and our generation's growing lack of attention span. It is rare at a college campus gathering to hear one song in its entirety, let alone an entire album. Also, we're impatient. We can't wait for our favorite artists to come out with new material, and they have recognized that.

This change is not necessarily good or bad. In fact, it seems to have more pros than cons for everyone involved, both the fans and the artists. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins said he was never comfortable with the album format because it felt forced. "It was obviously an economic decision made by others and not an artistic decision made by creators." He also points out, "It can be draining to record 15 songs over a six-month period." And as the same article article accurately points out, "Who cares, I'm only going to put a few songs on my iPod anyway."

-Erin

The Rise of the EP