"Bombs Away" once again exploits the group's trademark tension between an upbeat, island sunsplash melody and a much darker lyric, with its prophetic "Unpaid bills/In Afghanistan hills." And not only d …

Virtually everyone has heard Janis' version of "Me and Bobby McGee," which is a prime example of how she could brand a song with her distinctive stamp (for comparison, listen to versions by Gordon Ligh …

The cover of his sophomore album, Hot Buttered Soul, said it all: Isaac Hayes was an entirely new breed of soul man who wasn't about to rehash the three-minute soul-pop singles that owned the ch …

Everything about Isaac Hayes exuded deep, which makes our Deep Cuts an extra-essential component of our extra-Essential artist. Here's where you'll wrap your heart, mind, and soul around the bre …

With the feistiness of a bantamweight merchant mariner (which he was), Woody Guthrie personified a breed of patriot now virtually extinct. A radical socialist who'd seen as many people robbed by banks  …

Hailing from the suburbs of Mexico City, CafT Tacuba is one of the rare convergences of art and commerce in the Latin music world. Tacuba's music has been heavily influenced by Mexico's indigenous popu …

Irish folk rock, 1984: a sad state of affairs. The country's leading trad-inspired bands, Horslips and Planxty, had broken up, and the Chieftains hadn't yet learned how to import rockers onto their alb …

The Eagles soaked up the country-rock of cult hero Gram Parsons and his Flying Burrito Bros., the mellow singer-songwriter sounds of early-'70s L.A., and the foot-stomping shuffle of heartland rockers  …

A major part of the Eagles' mythos as world-beating country rockers was their California-cowboy image as rock 'n' roll outlaws, and they had plenty of pistol-packing, ten-gallon tunes to back it up. Th …