Royal Blood
The 50 Best Rock Bands Right Now
First, let’s take care of the obvious. Despite the still-persistent narrative that such music is “dead,” there are way more than 50 excellent rock bands out there. And there’s no exact science to scooping the cream of the crop. Our list includes arena-packing veterans but also semi-obscure indie acts who’ve barely escaped their basements. There are no hard rules here. Our methodology was simple: ask our writers and staff which rock bands feel worthy of recognition right now. But we did aim for a wide scope — throughout, you’ll find flavors of psych, post-punk, hardcore, metal, even country. If it feels like rock, it’s on the table. Consider SPIN‘s 2021 roundup — just like last year’s — a thermometer, taking the temperature of modern rock in all its various mutations. Altın Gün Ho...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
30 Artists Reflect on Metallica’s Black Album Turning 30
These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything from the shortened song lengths to James Hetfield’s lyrics to uber-producer Bob Rock’s framing of their heavy metal hellions. Back then, insufferable customers got their cash refunds while others continued to bitch like mad with the subtext that “maybe it would grow on me.” Now 30 years and approximately 35 million sales later, the Black Album is downright canonical. Sure, the Bay Area thrash-metal mavericks were indeed architects (alongsid...
Run the Jewels Enlist Royal Blood for ‘The Ground Below’ Remix
Run the Jewels have shared a new remix that was done by British rockers Royal Blood for “The Ground Below,” which hails from the duo’s RTJ4 album. Featuring a smattering of guitars that are far heavier than the original sample, the “Royal Jewels” remix version features vocals from Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr. Listen to the remix below. [embedded content] It’s been a big year for Run the Jewels. RTJ4 was released in June (you can read our review here). Last month, the duo unveiled their video for “No Save Point” during the Adult Swim Festival. In October, Killer Mike and El-P performed their new album in full as part of their Holy Calamavote special on Adult Swim (it was the first-ever music broadcast on the network). From RTJ4, they’ve shared a video fo...
Royal Blood Return With First Song Since 2017
Royal Blood have returned with their first song since 2017’s How Did We Get So Dark? — “Trouble’s Coming.” Bringing a blend of hard rock and danceable grooves, the song is the band’s first taste of what’s to come on their upcoming third album, which they’re planning to release in spring 2021. “It was the moment something started to click — where we started playing over those much more rigid dance beats,” singer and bassist Mike Kerr said in a statement. “The breakthrough was realizing that there was real common ground between that and what we’d done before. It’s that AC/DC aspect: where the quality that makes the riffs seem so cutting is because of that beat. Although on the surface we were stepping outside what we’d done before, it didn’t feel at all unnatural; it felt like we were return...
