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“Death Magnetic” is Metallica’s creative rebirth
By Joel Francis For a band that takes five years between albums, quantity has never been an issue for Metallica. Indeed, every release for the past 20 years has clocked in at or well above the...
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New DVD Box Set Celebrates Rock Hall Performances
By Joel Francis When the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, a tuxedo-clad Mick Jagger famously announced “Tonight we’re all on our best behavior — and we’re...
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Review: Megadeth
(Above: Megadeth perform “Hangar 18″ in England earlier this year. The audio quality is pretty much what it sounded like inside the Beaumont Club as well.) By Joel Francis The Kansas City Star Blazing...
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Review – Arctic Monkeys
(Above: The Arctic Monkeys put their spin on Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand.”) By Joel Francis The Kansas City Star Five years ago, the Arctic Monkeys arrived on the music scene riding a wave of hype....
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Review: “Ripped” by Greg Kot
(Above: Author Greg Kot discusses his book “Ripped” in this 30-minute radio interview.) By Joel Francis The Daily Record When I was in graduate school I wrote my précis – an abridged thesis – on how...
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Who really got “You Really Got Me”
(Above: Metallica perform with Ray Davies at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert in New York City.) By Joel Francis The Daily Record Every great song usually inspires about a...
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Review: Rodrigo y Gabriela
(Above: Rodrigo y Gabriela bring their main set at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo., to a joyous end with “Humana.”) By Joel Francis The Kansas City Star About a third of the way through her set...
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