A year and a half ago, I bought Clutch’s Blast Tyrant album on CD. Immediately, something seemed…off. I am still new to the audio nerd scene, and was newer then, and I could not place the weirdness.
Later, I read a couple articles in Guitar World about recording music – especially hard rock and metal – and the author discussed mixing and mastering. Also, in reading up on the loudness wars, I became more and more attuned to the concept of over-compression. As I listened to Blast Tyrant more, it seemed …

The movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon is set to open in theaters on June 29th, 2011. The soundtrack is already available. Included on the movie soundtrack are performances by Linkin Park, Paramore, Staind, and the Goo Goo Dolls. See complete soundtrack list.
Last week Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls had a private performance for Starwood Preferred Guests (view video) at the W Hotel in NYC’s Union Square. Below are photos of the event. We’ve also included the Youtube video of the Goo Goo Dolls new single “All …

American alternative rock band R.E.M. was formed in 1980. Since then, it has gone on to reach a popularity level that challenges the word “alternative”, especially after they made the albums Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992).
With only the departure of one member, the band has managed to preserve its original line-up over 3 decades. Given that REM released their 15th studio album this year, it is time we wrote a tribute for this band. Below are 15 R.E.M facts. Enjoy!

Songs that feature a person’s name can sometimes take on a special meaning when you can relate to both the name and a situation with that person that reminds you of the song. In some cases, it’s almost as if the song was custom written for you. I would share my personal favorites but that would be sharing too much. Instead I’ll leave you with these:
4 Songs with a Person’s Name in the Title: featuring CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Aerosmith, Three Dog Night & Jon Bon Jovi

Psychedelic rock is one of the better known rock sub-genres. This genre’s popularity rose in the 60s and 70s, where many rock musicians and band members were experimenting with different types of drugs, and using their “high” state of minds to write songs. The genre gets its name from the meaning of the word psychedelic, which means soul-manifesting. The term was coined in 1957, in order to name the effects of LSD (which is the short for lysergic acid diethylamide).
While many bands were users, not all of them contributed to …