Al Shipley

United States

Journalist and Producer at Freelance

journalist, critic, drummer, producer, songwriter, teleprompter operator [email protected] / 'alshipley' on bsky https://t.co/S7d3RH6B9E

Articles

Every Sparks Album, Ranked

4 days ago | spin.com | Al Shipley

Your average cult band might make a handful of great, overlooked albums, split up in frustration, and eventually reunite to play for big festival crowds after the world belatedly begins to appreciate their brilliance. But Sparks, the band founded by Los Angeles brothers Ron and Russell Mael in the early-’70s, has stuck it out for more than five decades without the kind of “commercial” success that usually motivates a band to stay together for half a century.
Every Album by the Who, Ranked

2 weeks ago | spin.com | Al Shipley

The Who were not the first nor the biggest of the British Invasion bands that captured the imaginations of music lovers on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-’60s. But they were the loudest of them all, and thanks to guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend, the most conceptually ambitious one as well.
Every Album by the Who, Ranked

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Al Shipley

“The world was my oyster, but when I opened it there was a turd inside… When my wife said, ‘I want half of everything,’ I said, ‘Write me a cheque for 450 grand and you can have half the debt!’” Fish on his three-decade solo careerIf you’re of the opinion that an artist needs to be put through life’s wringer in order to be sufficiently inspired, well, Fish could write a book …
The 50 Best Rap Remixes Since 2000, Ranked

3 weeks ago | complex.com | Al Shipley

Hip-hop has a rich tradition of classic rap remixes. Here are the 50 best since 2000. The rap remix has a proud tradition in hip-hop. Taking a hit song and extending its lifespan by adding guest verses, a new hook, or flipping the beat has long been a staple of the genre—and it’s one that’s still very much alive. We might be past the peak remix era of the '90s and 2000s, but remixes remain an important—if slightly underrated—part of contemporary rap music.
Eric Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ and the Peak Dad Rock Moment

3 weeks ago | spin.com | Al Shipley

“See if you can spot this one,” Eric Clapton told the small audience in a Windsor television studio in January 1992, just before he began playing a dramatically different arrangement of one of his signature songs.
Eric Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ and the Peak Dad Rock Moment

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Al Shipley

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways“See if you can spot this one,” Eric Clapton told the small audience in a Windsor television studio in January 1992, just before he began playing a dramatically different arrangement of one of his signature songs.
Eric Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ and the Peak Dad Rock Moment

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Al Shipley

NowHopefully it's not painful... Doja Cat briefly addressed experiencing a plastic surgery complication. The singer has previously been open about going under the knife, opting for a breast reduction and liposuction on her hips and thighs in 2023. When she was subsequently accused of being a poor …
Every INXS Album, Ranked

1 month ago | spin.com | Al Shipley

Andrew Farriss invited high school classmate Michael Hutchence to join his band Doctor Dolphin in Sydney, Australia in the mid-’70s. Over the next few years, Farriss’s brothers Jon and Tim joined the band along with Garry Beers and Kirk Pengilly, as the sextet changed their name to the Farris Brothers, the Vegetables, and finally the name the world would know them by, INXS. The band were still playing the Sydney pub circuit when they began opening for the city’s biggest band, Midnight Oil.
The 20 Best Rapper and Singer Duos of All Time

1 month ago | complex.com | Al Shipley

As hip-hop has grown into a billion dollar industry, hooks from R&B singers have helped rappers take over the pop charts, and hip-hop has, in turn, influenced the changing sound of soul music. Rakim’s 1989 guest verse on Jody Watley’s top 10 hit “Friends” and Rhonda Parris’s singalong hook on Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s 1988 summer jam “It Takes Two” were early demonstrations of the commercial potential of the fusion of rap and R&B.
Every Elliott Smith Album, Ranked

1 month ago | spin.com | Al Shipley

Steven Paul Smith was born in Omaha in 1969 and raised outside Dallas, moving to Portland, Oregon, as a teenager to live with his father—or perhaps more pointedly, to get away from his abusive stepfather. In high school, Smith began to go by a first name that he felt suited him more, Elliott, and recorded songs on a 4-track with his friends.