Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs (London) It’s hard to believe it has been six years since the breakup of the Bangles, the pop girl group of the ’80’s. Since the breakup, Hoffs, the band’s leader, has kept a low profile. She did release a 1991 solo album, the slightly overly slick When You’re A Boy, … Continue reading
Van Halen – The Best Of Van Halen Part I (Warner Brothers) Fact: Van Halen were the best hard rock band of the late seventies and early eighties. Fact: Van Halen has sucked since 1985. It’s not a coincidence, 1985 was the year that leader David Lee Roth, metal’s sleaziest (in a good way) and … Continue reading
Marshall Crenshaw – Miracle of Science (Razor & Tie) In the five years since Crenshaw’s last album the music world has completely changed. It’s changed even more since he released his spectacular first album in 1982. He’s spent most of his career on the outside looking in, and Miracle of Science won’t change anything. Too bad because it’s … Continue reading
Dogstar – Our Little Visionary (Zoo) Okay, even though as bassist he’s really the least important cog in this machine, let’s face it, all of us are thinking of Dogstar as movie star Keanu Reeves’ band. Dogstar ends up being a pretty good band, not revolutionary – in fact, they’re a little derivative – but not … Continue reading
Sheryl Crow – Sheryl Crow (A&M) Crow’s self-titled second album seems to be a statement of purpose. Crow doesn’t like the folk-rock cover girl tag that was stuck on her with her popular debut, so she wants to rough it up a little. She has taken over the reins on this album and wants to prove … Continue reading
Squeeze – Ridiculous (I.R.S.) While Squeeze has put together a lot of great songs over the years, many of their later albums were overshadowed by the band’s superlative early albums like Cool for Cats and Argybargy. This may be the band’s best overall album since 1981’s East Side Story. Also, their style of ironic Beatle-derived pop is making a comeback … Continue reading
Jewel Portrait of a Young Artist by Jay S. Jacobs POPENTERTAINMENT.COM ARCHIVES-June 1996 We spoke with superstar Jewel Kilcher in June 1996, just as her first album Pieces of You was starting to explode. It’s a Sunday afternoon at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia. Employees are rushing around setting up for this evening’s show. This is the … Continue reading
Bryan Adams – 18 ‘Til I Die (A&M) Okay, it was kind of funny a few months ago when Metallica tried to trick us into thinking they were grunge. But I have to draw the line if Bryan Adams thinks that he can pull it off. Being grunge is more than losing twenty pounds and not … Continue reading
Tori Amos Living Well is the Best Revenge by Jay S. Jacobs Tori Amos is living out the ultimate revenge of the nerd. The self-described childhood social outcast has in the last five years become a well-known and very respected artist. From a youth of religious confusion brought about by her conflicting feelings about her … Continue reading
Passengers – Original Soundtracks 1 (Island) Remember when U2 actually recorded songs? I do, but it’s becoming hazy. Calling themselves Passengers and giving producer Brian Eno full band member status, this album eases further down the bumpy musical road that led to Zooropa. Soundtracks is a group of techno songs that were supposedly used as background music in … Continue reading
PopEntertainmentblog.com 