Where it started, where it went and how the hell did it end up there
Why are The Strokes making life hard on themselves? Doesn’t Julian Casablancas want to cash in on indie rock nostalgia and appease rock critics in the process? The New York band in 2026 is a more provocative and divisive force than ever in its career, even as the “indie rock sleaze revival” has become a dominant subcultural trend.
Foo Fighters have beaten the odds. The Dave Grohl-fronted post-grunge band has faced personal loss and controversy in recent years. But in 2026, they have a new album out and are back touring as one of the biggest rock groups in the world. But why isn’t the group likely to break out songs from its new album too often, and why is this a bad thing for the whole economy of stadium rock touring?
“Good Vibrations” was the most expensively assembled and expansive rock single of the 1960s. Made decades ago, it still sounds like music of the future. This is why it’s one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
The greatest rock singers possess, essentially, the courage of lion tamers, the sensitivity of romantic poets, not to mention pipes that would distress dogs in a nearby city. Rock singers are a special breed in themselves. And, while there have been plenty of great ones over the years, today I am looking at the very greatest rock singers.
“A Day in the Life” happens to be one of the scariest, but also one of the most pleasingly melodic songs by The Beatles. It’s a real rock masterpiece, one of the greatest songs of all time and a sign of the darkness that was to follow the idealistic 1960s. But what does the song mean?
Progressive-rock’s never really gone away. Instead, it has retreated underground where, to be fair, it’s always been more comfortable even back in heady days when the likes of Yes could headline arenas on the back of 30-minute, highly complex compositions.
There are those who work for once glossy New York City music mags who would say that “Like a Rolling Stone” is the most important rock song ever created. Stats and numbers aside, I think that there’s an element of truth to that.
“Stairway to Heaven” is, likely, the most famous rock song ever produced, to the point where Robert Plant has stopped singing the song or taking questions about it decades ago. This is Led Zeppelin’s masterpiece but, also, one of the most misunderstood songs to have ever existed.
There are those who claim that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the greatest songs of all time and that, for all intents and purposes, everything about it altered the trajectory of pop music for at least a century. And there are those who hate it and, frankly speaking, are wrong.
The greatest rock bands and artists of all time all have their mythology. There are so many incredible stories about them that I sometimes doubt that they were ever real. But then I remember the songs, the albums, the posters on the wall.