Album A Day: Bruce Springsteen – Human Touch AND Lucky Town

Hey gang, TJ here. When I decided last week that this week’s Album A Day was going to be dedicated to Bruce Springsteen, two thoughts went into my head. One was that I needed to figure out what albums I was going to do, since the man has a million of them. The other was, [...]

Album A Day: Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.

Artist: Bruce Springsteen Album: Born in the U.S.A. Release Date: June 4, 1984 Allow me to present a relatively unpopular opinion; I’m not a fan of Born in the U.S.A.. Sure, by standard accounts of albums sold, hit singles and cultural significance, the album is huge, and I certainly understand why that is. For all [...]

Tuesday Night Roundup: Foo Fighters, 30 Seconds to Mars, and More

Welcome to another new and (maybe) continuing segment on Viva La Mainstream entitled Tuesday Night Roundup. This segment is born from the fact that I work from 10PM to 2AM in my college’s library, and I decided that this period of time is perfect for catching up on ideas for posts that fall through the [...]

Album A Day: Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska

Artist: Bruce Springsteen Album: Nebraska Release Date: September 30, 1982 I am a sucker for demos, acoustic versions of songs…versions of songs that aren’t the final cut that make it onto the album intrigue me. I love to learn all the gritty details behind a song’s birth, and how it grew or evolved into a [...]

Album A Day: Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town

Artist: Bruce Springsteen Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town Release Date: June 2, 1978 If Born to Run was Bruce Springsteen’s Pablo Honey, it could be said that Darkness on the Edge of Town is his The Bends (Yes, I’m well aware of the anachronistic nature of that statement, but work with me here, [...]

Album A Day: Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

Thus begins a week of Album A Day blogs dedicated to The Boss himself. I’ve been plotting an all-Springsteen week since sometime in May, but finally the resources and real-life events collided in such a way that this week felt like the right time to do it. Artist: Bruce Springsteen Album: Born to Run Release [...]

Muse Overpower With A Sweeping Resistance

In the months leading up to the release of Muse’s fifth studio album, no one was 100% sure what the album was going to sound like. In interviews lead singer Matthew Bellamy suggested that the album could be anything from a 50-minute symphony to a steady trickle of singles to a straightforward album featuring a [...]

Album A Day: Tokio Hotel – Scream

Artist: Tokio Hotel Album: Scream Release Date: June 1, 2008 (USA) But seriously, folks: What the hell is up with Bill Kaulitz’s hair? Friends, Readers, Countrymen, lend me your ears (er…eyes). I come to bury Tokio Hotel not to praise them. I made the mistake of buying into the hype of Tokio Hotel being the [...]

Moment of Zen: Courtesy of My Roommate

Just when I thought I had seen and heard it all, my roommate introduces me to a new genre; pirate death metal. Here it is, your Moment of Zen: …I got nothin’… ==TJ==

Leak Alert: Pearl Jam’s Backspacer Misses Target, Lands On a Hard Drive Near You

A few hours ago I got a very exciting tweet informing me that Backspacer, the eighth studio album from Pearl Jam, had leaked about a week ahead of its Target-only release date next Sunday. Just when I was about ready to call BS on the whole thing, a link to the album reared its head, [...]