John Cox

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Run-Around by Blues Traveler on Apple Music

Plays from YouTube. Nothing is loaded from Google until you press play.

Blues Traveler's 1994 breakthrough album Four transformed John Popper's harmonica virtuosity into pop radio gold with the hit "Run-Around," while the band balanced commercial appeal with genuine jam-band ambitions through tracks that referenced Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers influences. Despite lacking the adventurism of those predecessors, Four established itself as one of the era's defining classic-rock releases, particularly through songs like "Hook," which self-consciously examines the mechanics of mainstream success, and instrumentally rich cuts like "Brother John" and "The Mountains Win Again."

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4 No-Skip Grunge Albums Turning 35

Marking the 35th anniversary in 2026, this piece rounds up four grunge landmarks all released within months of each other in 1991 — Nirvana's Nevermind, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, Temple of the Dog's lone self-titled record, and Pearl Jam's Ten — tracing how the Seattle scene's interconnected musicians and chart trajectories turned grunge from a regional sound into the decade's defining genre. It's essentially a nostalgia/listening-guide piece, worth keeping as a quick reference on the lineage and chart performance behind that pivotal year, plus the trivia linking the bands (Vedder auditioning via Temple of the Dog, shared members, single release order).

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‘The Unforgettable Fire’: U2’s Blazing Rock Statement

Tracing U2's pivot from the muscular, anthemic rock of *War* to the atmospheric, textured sound of *The Unforgettable Fire*, this piece follows the band through 1983–85, from the live document *Under a Blood Red Sky* through the Slane Castle sessions with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois that produced the new album. It roots the record's title and inspiration in a 1974 Hiroshima survivor's drawing and the resulting art exhibit U2 visited in Japan, then charts the album's commercial triumph, the "Pride" single, and Rolling Stone's crowning of U2 as "the band of the '80s."

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Eddie Vedder sings The Beatles

Plays from YouTube. Nothing is loaded from Google until you press play.

Oh man, the "You've got to hide your love away" is great! Would've been great to have gone to this show!

Eddie Vedder solo and with Pearl Jam does a couple of Beatles covers. Hope you enjoy it.@0:00 I've Just Seen A Face@0:43 Blackbird@3:50 Rain@6:35 Her Majesty...

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The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014) | SPIN

SPIN's milestone 30th-anniversary ranking of the 300 best albums from the past three decades draws on input from over a dozen contributors to identify works deemed masterpieces, enduring pleasures, and new favorites, though the list enforces the constraint that no single artist can appear more than three times. The editors included studio albums, EPs, live records, and select compilations, with each entry accompanied by a brief critical summary explaining why the album merits its position rather than relying on plot descriptions or historical context alone.

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Ray Manzarek, founding member of The Doors, dies of cancer at 74 - Boing Boing

Ray Manzarek, the legendary keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, died of bile duct cancer at age 74 at a clinic in Germany. Beyond his iconic work with The Doors, Manzarek was also known for co-producing the first four albums of the late-'70s/early-'80s L.A. punk band X, helping establish some of the earliest vinyl punk records. The piece includes archival footage and monologues from Manzarek reflecting on his life and musical career.

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