Go to absolutely any of the near-400 pages of The Decade That Rocked —the new coffee-table-worthy collection—and you’re sure to find one of the most vibrant, iconic images of all time, every time. That’s because Mark “WEISSGUY” Weiss (as he likes to call himself) was the photographer behind some of those legendary moments. From the zaniest Ozzy Circus covers to Van Halen’s electric prime, from Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses to Alice Cooper and Dee Snider at their most outrageous best. AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest. Bon Jovi, Danzig, Whitesnake, KISS. Skid Row, Cinderella, Ratt, Dokken — all that hair! — Peter Frampton, Led Zeppelin, Blondie and everyone else you ever wanted to meet, and those you were happy to admire from afar, all in one place. 

There will never be bands like these again, there will never be a time in music like this again. Weiss perfectly encapsulates this world in stills so vibrant they take on a life of their own.

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• YUNGBLUD Talks Aerosmith Collab On ‘Lipps Service’
• Paramount+’s Ozzy Osbourne Doc Arriving Oct. 7
• Ozzy Osbourne’s Cause Of Death Revealed

Since its June release, The Decade That Rocked is now in its third printing. On October 30th, the closing event for Weiss’s exhibition at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, New Jersey included the photographer himself dressing up—and performing—like one of his subjects: Alice Cooper. Dee Snider and Don Dokken made an appearance, too.

We spoke with Weiss about what it was like to, well, to be him.

Was choosing images hard to do?
The first hard part was to say, “Okay, I’m going to do this book.” The next hard part was to figure out what photographs I would have to leave out. I designed, along with the art director, a 600-page book that was supposed to be 300 pages. I began with the early years, setting the stage for a decade that would change my life.

I loved the flash and glitz of the ‘70s: Bowie, Queen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, KISS and Alice Cooper were my musical influences, which inspired my vision when coming into my own in the ‘80s. As I completed each chapter I realized my photographs were telling a musical tale. All I needed to do was connect the dots — or in my case, the photos. I then went back to tell the stories. The whole thing took five years to complete.

When I first took the photographs, it was such a whirlwind of excitement, with countless people being quickly whisked into my life. I honestly didn’t get to appreciate my photographs then like I do now.

How do you think digital cameras have changed rock photography?
In the ‘70s and ‘80s, when you saw a photograph on an album cover or in a rock magazine, it was an experience. The photographs were magical, there was imagination. A photo in a magazine was a moment caught in time. You had 36 tries (exposures) to get your picture before you had to put in another roll of film. So, each time you clicked the shutter there was thought put into it — was that click-worthy of the photo? As opposed to today, when you shoot hundreds, if not thousands of photos with your digital camera. Rock photography has not changed but becoming a “rock photographer” is definitely not what it used to be. That said, digital cameras didn’t change rock photography—people did. Because it’s so accessible to anyone with a phone (which is basically everyone), we all have the opportunity to become a photographer. I always encourage young photographers to find a band you like and take photos of them and grow with them. Be creative and make friends and you can’t go wrong.

Do you have a favorite Ozzy cover?
Circus asked me to shoot the cover of their 13th anniversary issue. They asked if I had any ideas, and immediately I thought of Ozzy.

Earlier in the year, Ozzy had bitten the head off a live bat onstage, which landed him in the hospital to get rabies shots. So, I had a flag made with a picture of a bat on it and arranged for him to hold it while popping out of a cake. When I arrived at Ozzy’s, the housekeeper told me to set up in the garage. Once I was ready to go, I waited. And waited. Several hours went by. Then Sharon came out with a concerned look on her face. “Ozzy shaved his head last night.” I must have looked like I had seen a ghost. I thought to myself, I’m done. Circus will be pissed at me for spending all this money on the shoot and returning without a cover. Then Sharon gave me that Sharon smile and said, “But he’s gonna do it.”

We put our heads together and came up with an idea. Sharon took out some black makeup and began applying it. Then, I taped a couple of black balloons I had for the birthday theme to his head. I knew then that we were off to a lifelong adventure of shenanigans.

Who was one of the nicest rock stars you ever worked with?
I would have to say the late, great Ronnie James Dio.

Was there a shoot that went terribly wrong — but the photos came out amazing anyway?
That would be Danzig. Not that it went terribly wrong, it just wasn’t fun. That was the first and only band I didn’t connect with. When the Danzig guys came to my studio, they weren’t exactly the friendliest bunch. There was no talking, no kidding around, no small talk. It was apparent they either really didn’t like having their picture taken . . . or they just didn’t like me. Either way, I had a job to do. I needed to produce a great band shot to be used as a gatefold photo in their album. If they wanted to be tough guys, I decided I’d just make them look like the toughest guys out there.

First, I arranged the members so that Glenn was the main person in the frame. A band photo is like a puzzle, all different shapes and sizes making one complete image. Once you have the pieces in place, your job as the photographer is to get their vibe across in a way that connects with the fan. Glenn was a bit shorter, so I brought him closer to the camera and shot him at a lower angle, making him appear taller and more dominant than the others. Without talking to him about any of this, I got it—I got him.

As the shoot progressed, I wanted to get a bit more out of the band, but things soon took a turn into more uncomfortable territory. I asked Glenn to pull his head forward and toward me. It was like talking to a brick wall; he wouldn’t budge. The other guys followed his lead and began to be uncooperative as well. I proceeded to do what I would usually do, go up to the band members and physically move them, adjusting a shoulder here, a head there. But when I got to Glenn, he just said, “Don’t touch me. Just take the photos.” I finished up the roll of film and said, “Okay, we’re done.” To my surprise, Glenn decided he wanted to do one more setup. I never expected what happened next — the whole band came out with their shirts off.

The next day, I followed up with the art director. He asked me, “What did you do to piss off Glenn? He loves your photos, but he never wants to shoot with you again.” I explained that I had moved the guys around a bit and that Glenn had snapped at me. He told me, “You never should have touched him.” I was dumbfounded. The photographs came out amazing and were used in the debut album packaging of DANZIG.

Billy Squier said that you were “aggressive” but not in a “negative way”. What did he mean by that?
I believe you should push it as far as you can. If you’re doing a photoshoot for an artist, especially if they’re paying you to create an image for them to use for their album cover or promo, it’s up to you to get it out of them. If you don’t push it, if you’re not aggressive and trying to pull something out of them maybe even they didn’t even know they had in them, you’re not doing your job. So I do push it to the limit.

What do you remember about Eddie Van Halen?
Onstage and offstage he seemed like the same person. He was always smiling. If he wanted to do something he would be smiling, and if he didn’t want to do something he would still smile and do it. He was one of those guys that made you feel really comfortable. He knew you were there for a reason and he let you do what you needed to do. When I went back into the dressing room to take some photos he would let me be a fly on the wall. I would just leave him be. We had a mutual respectful relationship over the decade.

Which rock star/group do you wish you’d shot and didn’t?
The three J’s: Jimi, Janis and Jim.

Will there ever be decades like the 70s & 80s for rock and roll again?
I feel 2020 is going to spawn some new fresh, young rock ‘n’ roll. The pandemic has been so awful and has affected so many lives. But a strength will arise from it, and I feel there will be a group of guys or girls that will tell their stories through their music, and I believe it will be rock-driven. It only takes one band to start a rock scene.

To purchase, visit thedecadethatrocked.com. 

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

In July 1985, Bob Dylan stood on stage at Live Aid and suggested a concert just for America’s farmers. Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp ran with the idea, and on Sept. 22, 1985, Farm Aid held its first concert in Champaign, Illinois in front of 80,000 people, featuring performances by its founders, as well as Dylan, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. The concert raised over $7 million. 

That’s when Willie knew he needed an executive director to keep the motor running. He chose Carolyn Mugar, a renowned activist for social issues and a driven community leader, and thirty-five-years later, Farm Aid has raised close to $60 million to keep family farmers on their land. Much more than an annual concert, Farm Aid works year-round to create more markets for family-farm food, foster a network of support services for family farms in crisis, and to fight for systemic change. 

More from Spin:

• Road Work: Farm Aid, Newport Jazz, Making Time ∞
• Farm Aid Returning To Indianapolis With Neil Young, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp
• The ’80s Music Scene? Mark ‘Weissguy’ Weiss Was There, With His Camera

I spoke with Carolyn about the last 35 years, what’s changed and needs to change, and what you—yes, you—can do to help the cause. 

Scott Streble

SPIN: Why did you join Farm Aid?
Carolyn Mugar: Because Farm Aid was an organizing effort, finding the people who were getting together and proposing and creating solutions. That’s the work I had always done as a union organizer. Willie is a listener and I tried to follow that DNA—it’s what I learned early on. John, Willie and Neil said from Day One that farmers know what the solutions are; they just need a microphone to amplify their voices and the chance to come together to build power. They knew that’s how they could be helpful, and I could too.

Why did Farm Aid begin in 1985 — what was the call to action?
Willie, traveling the backroads and highways of the country, could see that farmers were in trouble; their voices weren’t being heard and no one was speaking up for them, and Willie understood how important they are. The Farm Crisis happened because farm policy had encouraged farmers to take out as much debt as they could to grow as much as possible. But then crop prices dropped to record lows, export markets completely dried up or were shut down by federal policies (not unlike the trade wars recently started that damaged today’s export markets), and farmland values crashed. When the farm loans had to be paid back and farmers had been unable to sell their crops and their land was suddenly worthless, some lost everything. Willie, John and Neil held the first Farm Aid concert to bring national attention to these conditions, which had pushed hundreds of thousands of farmers into bankruptcy. But they didn’t stop there and farmers kept organizing. Willie and John went to Congress to testify before the Senate Agricultural Committee. Two years later, the Farm Credit Act of 1987 was passed, putting a moratorium on farm foreclosures and allowing farmers to restructure debt so they could stay on the land.

What has changed since 1985—for better and for worse?
For worse, we have fewer farmers each year, and the ones that remain get larger and larger by the year. That’s a result of corporate power and consolidation, and it means our food comes from a smaller number of larger farms. But for better what has changed is peoples’ consciousness. There is an incredible movement of people who are more actively informed and involved in the food system, and who understand the links between our food system and some of our biggest challenges, like climate change and systemic racism and inequality. There’s power in those numbers.

Why is music historically so often the means to start important movements, like Farm Aid?
Music is a common language—a cultural touchpoint we all share. In the case of Farm Aid, music is the reason many people first connect to our mission. They come in the door for the music, and they go back to their communities having met farmers, eaten family farm food, listened to artists and gained inspiration for making changes in their own lives. These changes can be as simple as visiting their farmers market the following week or getting to know a local farmer. They’re small changes with the potential to make big change.

Are small, family-owned farms at risk of disappearing? What is the impact if they do?
Willie has a good line about his own life, growing up picking cotton. He says once he knew how hard it was to farm, he knew he wanted to be a musician! Being an independent farmer in our country shouldn’t be as hard as it is, especially considering how crucial farmers are for our survival. But our systems are set up for it to be like that. Our current Secretary of Agriculture described the kinds of policies we’ve had for decades when he recently declared, “The big get bigger and the small go out [of business].” But striving to be the biggest and most efficient is no way to operate our food system. We learned that when COVID-19 hit this spring and our corporate food system broke down, with farmers forced to plow under their crops and euthanize their livestock, and people going hungry. In that moment of crisis, that’s when you saw local and regional food systems thrive! Farmers jumped into action to feed their communities. We need systemic change—in our policies, in our markets, in our laws—to make it possible for farmers to make a fair living growing good food for us. What’s at risk is ourselves.

Farm Aid

What’s the most common misconception people have about farming in America?
That farming is a monolith—that all farmers think and act and vote the same. Our 35 years of work with people all across this country — in so-called red states and blue states — tells us otherwise. The people who grow and raise our food and fiber are much more diverse than we are led to believe. And they are resilient and engaged in the work to protect their farms and our soil and water. We work with farmers and ranchers who have fought to protect our land from oil pipelines, who have traveled to the villages of their workers to understand how they can better support migrant farmworkers, who lead volunteer teams to monitor water quality near factory farms to do the regulation their states should be doing to ensure safe drinking water. Farmers are critical natural resources for all of us.

How can an average person become a community activist?
I always point to the example of John, Willie and Neil: When they decided to take a stand for farmers, they did what they could, from their place, to participate. For them, that was playing music, bringing people together, and using their platforms to share information and engage people. They didn’t need to be experts in farming or farm policy. They merely needed to feel something was wrong and offer what they do best in service of that. We all have that power within us.

What can be done to create the greatest long-term impact for America’s farmland?
Farm Aid’s vision is a future where farmers and eaters are partners in creating a thriving system that benefits all of us. That’s going to take each of us realizing and supporting the incredible contributions that farmers make—not just in bringing food to our tables, but in caring for our soil and water, strengthening our communities, fighting climate change, bolstering our health, and more.

To learn more or to donate, visit farmaid.org.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

Let’s face it: With most “Best Albums” lists, you know the broad strokes of the ranking before you even click.

Part of that predictability is understandable: Most iconic records earn their reputation. But these rankings shouldn’t be fossilized, and a shit-ton of amazing LPs have been shoved aside in the pursuit of maintaining the status quo.

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• How a Still-Defiant Shepard Fairey Turned Punk Rock Attitude Into 30 Years of Activist Art
• Wayne White’s ‘Appalachian Soul Stew’
• With Thom Yorke Ailing, Radiohead Postpone Copenhagen Gigs

We didn’t ignore the unimpeachable on our list — you’ll see plenty of the staples you’ve come to expect. But we also hope we’ll spark your curiosity and encourage you to hunt for a title you may have missed over the last 35 years.

35. Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love (1987)

How does one follow up a rock album that recalibrates stadium sound systems and offers a stark look at hard times in America? With love songs, of course. Such a boss move by the Boss. Tunnel of Love — released three years after Born in the U.S.A. (and two years after getting married) — is more pop than rock, but it still hinges on the harshness of Springsteen’s classic rasp. He sings about the emotional roller coaster from being in love to figuring out how to find it. In the title track, he makes you second-guess if going through the tunnel of love is a drive worth taking. Even the cover art is a change from Springsteen’s rugged persona: He trades in his worn-in blue jeans and back-pocket red hat for a black suit and bolo tie. Love, it’s powerful. – Jason Stahl

34. The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) 

The true progressive rock of the post-classic era usually raises an eyebrow or pisses someone off — like guitarist-composer Omar Rodríguez-López and singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala accomplished with their head trip debut LP, De-Loused in the Comatorium, a twisted concept album more of feeling than linear story. The duo maintained the surrealist snarl of their previous post-hardcore act, At the Drive-In, while weaving in feral psychedelia, Latin groove and Zappa-like virtuosity. It’s the purest prog imaginable — no record before or since has sounded quite like it. – Ryan Reed

33. Sigur Ros – Ágætis byrjun (1999) 

Iceland’s Sigur Rós made a seismic shift with Ágætis byrjun, evolving from the disjointed ambience of 1997’s Von into a fluid, grandiose collision of dream-pop (“Svefn-g-englar”), orchestral balladry (“Starálfur”) and twinkly post-rock (“Olsen Olsen,” the one full track here sung in a phonetic gibberish widely known as “Hopelandic.”) – R.R.

32. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987) 

Guns N’ Roses’ deliciously grimy debut LP oozes hits like pus from a wound — and it sort of feels like an oozing wound, in the best way possible. Axl Rose’s nasal hooks are melodically infectious, but they also feel like they could infect you with a disease. Appetite for Destruction is one of the best-selling albums of all-time for a reason: The wicked riffs of “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine” were built to demolish arenas, and they still get the goddamn job done. – R.R.

31. k.d. lang – Ingénue (1992) 

After chasing the spirit of classic country on her early albums, k.d. lang leaned into her artful side with the impressionistic Ingénue. Largely co-written with her longtime collaborator Ben Mink, the collection ambles into cabaret grace, using an array of lap-steel guitars, tuned percussion, strings, keyboards and accordions. Those expanded arrangements reframe her voice, which gleams like pure sunlight on the blissful “Save Me” and “Constant Craving.”
– R.R.

30. The Waterboys – This Is the Sea (1985)

For a while it seemed like the Irish folk rock group the Waterboys floated above all other bands. I’m not saying they were better than everyone else — they were better than most — but they somehow were less bound by gravity. Their sound was ethereal but still solid, they weren’t the Cocteau Twins for instance. This was their third album and band leader Mike Scott, then in his 20s, said it was the culmination of everything he wanted to achieve as a young musician. He wrote the anthemic and enduring “Whole of the Moon” to impress his then girlfriend, who asked him if songwriting was easy. “Yes it is!” he exclaimed, and, showing off, wrote the immortal lyric “I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon” on the spot.

I think it’s one of the great songs of all time, and it’s not even the best song on the album — “This is the Sea” is even more stirring and beautiful and lifts you, weightless, into the sky with its simple guitar strum, string and wind instruments, and lyrics that must have sat Dylan down for a bit:

These things you keep,
You’d better throw them away.
You wanna turn your back
On your soulless days.
Once you were tethered
And now you are free.
Once you were tethered
Well now you are free.
That was the river,
This is the sea!

– Bob Guccione, Jr.

29. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)

Kendrick Lamar wove together timely social commentary with his acclaimed third LP, exploring subjects like institutional racism and police brutality. He created a topical tapestry with a poem that traipses through all 16 songs, ending with the revelation that he’d read the words to late rap legend 2Pac, for whom the project was originally named. But the record — which earned 11 Grammy nominations in 2016, winning Best Rap Album — was also thrilling on a sonic level, with Lamar injecting jazz, spoken-word and vintage funk into his malleable sound. – Mary Elisabeth Gibson

28. Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994) 

We should all be outraged that generic dramedies and police procedurals have turned Jeff Buckley’s godly rendition of “Hallelujah” into a soundtrack cliché. Luckily, that famed Leonard Cohen cover is only one-tenth the brilliance of Grace, the songwriter’s lone studio album. For one, people tend to forget that Buckley, a famed Led Zeppelin fan, liked to get loud: “Eternal Life” conjures that band if they lingered into the era of grunge and funk-metal. But his delicacy was equally devastating: It’s hard to believe a flesh-and-blood human being created the high falsetto that closes “Corpus Christi Carol,” a finger-strummed cover of that traditional hymn. – R.R.

27. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004) 

The first cut has it all: the raw nerve emotion in Win Butler’s vocal and lyric, the tasteful grandiosity in the arrangement. “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” opens with a chiming piano and palm-muted slow-burn guitar before a ramshackle disco beat breaks the whole thing open — and so we go, dizzy from the glorious twists and turns. Just like Alexander, the “older brother” mentioned in “Neighborhood #2 (Laïka),” we “set off for a great adventure.” Arcade Fire grew even more ambitious after their debut, but all the magic and wonder of their music was there from the start. – R.R.

26. R.E.M. – Automatic for the People (1992) 

Athens’ finest leapt into the cinematic with their eighth record, a mostly mid-tempo meditation on melancholy themes. Sure, tracks like the motormouthed “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” and cowbell-pulsed “Ignoreland” are nominally rock. But Automatic for the People feels most alive in its somber acoustic spaces, like the piano ballad “Nightswimming” and folky waltz “Try Not to Breathe.” Sadness rarely sounds so comforting. – R.R.

25. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica (2000) 

Modest Mouse signed to a major label, Epic, for their third LP. But instead of aiming for radio, the trio targeted outer space: The Moon & Antarctica is their psychedelic epic, the indie-rock Dark Side of the Moon — pairing Isaac Brock’s philosophical musings with layered electric guitars that seems to contain the universe. – R.R.

24. OutKast – Stankonia (2000) 

OutKast demolished any sense of genre boundary on their maximalist fourth LP, mingling Dirty South rhymes with smooth R&B-funk choruses (“Ms. Jackson,” “So Fresh, So Clean”) and euphoric beat-psychedelia. Working primarily with co-writer/co-producer David Sheets (Mr. DJ), Big Boi and André 3000 exponentially amplified the yin-yang balance they achieved on 1998’s Aquemini: “B.O.B.” is the pinnacle, contrasting the former’s effortless cool with the latter’s hyper freakiness. – R.R.

23. Enya – Watermark (1987) 

The Irish singer’s second LP was an unexpected U.K. and U.S. hit, anchored by the wave-swept regality of “Orinoco Flow” — the catchiest song ever associated (accurately or not) with the New Age genre. But with Enya’s lavishly overdubbed voices and atmospheric keys, Watermark is much more than that famous “Sail Away” chorus. – R.R.

22. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005) 

Sufjan Stevens once (perhaps facetiously) pledged to record an album inspired by the characters and landmarks of all 50 U.S. states. He only recorded two, and he really only needed one: Illinois is a serpentine symphony of heartbreaking folk balladry (“John Wayne Gary, Jr.”), carnivalesque prog-pop (“Come On! Feel the Illinoise!”) and orchestral ambience — a nation of ideas unto itself. – R.R.

21. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

“May I have your attention, please? Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?” Eminem’s darker alter-ego certainly did on his second album, which amplified the “horrorcore” shock value of his 1999 debut. The Marshall Mathers LP drew controversy for lyrics widely deemed misogynistic and homophobic. But Eminem charmed hip-hop fans with his rapid-fire rhythmic prowess, topping the Billboard 200 and winning a Grammy for Best Rap Album. Juxtaposing the vivid with the unsettling helps make The Marshall Mathers LP one of the greatest albums of all time. – M.G.

20. John Mellencamp – The Lonesome Jubilee (1987)

This was Mellencamp’s ninth record, the one following his breakout success Scarecrow, and the first under his real name — without fanfare he finally exorcised the “Cougar” that had karmically been a drag on his career up until this point. And that uncoupling was appropriate because this record was a revelation — a departure from not only his sound, but any rock ‘n roll record at the time. It was fresh and exciting and gave as much a sense of a place as anything Springsteen achieved.

The sound was created by merging conventional rock with Appalachian string instruments, which Indiana-moored Mellencamp grew up on and appreciated for their melancholy and exuberance, like the hammered dulcimer, steel guitar, banjo and accordion, plus the gorgeous violin playing of Lisa Germano, who made the instrument’s sound spiral into the sky like a Roman Candle. The songs were narratives of small town reality, of him getting his ass kicked for stepping out of line on “Cherry Bomb,” and one day suddenly realizing you’ve grown up:

17 has turned 35
I’m surprised that we’re still livin’
If we’ve done any wrong
I hope that we’re forgiven

“Paper in Fire”, the album’s first single and a big hit for him, was partly inspired by the Bible (“For a fool’s compliment is as quickly gone as paper in fire, and it is silly to be impressed by it,” from Ecclesiastes, since you asked) and partly by the Steve McQueen movie Hud, where the lyric “we keep no check on our appetites” comes from. The Bible and a Steve McQueen movie as muses — that neatly sums up the wide peripheral musical vision of John Mellencamp. “Rooty Toot Toot” was a nursery rhyme he made up for his daughter, which one of his musicians suggested might make an uplifting song. And it did. – BGJ

19   Radiohead – Kid A (2000) 

I’ll never forget my first listen of Kid A — mostly because it felt like mourning. After driving 30 minutes to buy the CD from Sam Goody, I unwrapped the plastic and plopped the disc into the car stereo — only to hear a fuzzy electric piano, thumping digital kick and Thom Yorke’s squashed, disorienting voice. “What the fuck is this?” I asked myself, expecting the triple-guitar sprawl of their previous LP, OK Computer. By the time I reached my driveway, I’d hurled the case on the backseat in disgust. By the end of the night, I was converted. Radiohead’s fourth record is electronic, sure: the title-track’s digital pulse, the crackling programmed insanity of “Idioteque.” But it’s also more adventurous than the billing implies, drawing on krautrock, jazz and eerie orchestration. It challenged Radiohead fans — and Radiohead themselves — as it kicked open doors we all assumed would stay shut. – R.R.

18. Pearl Jam – Vs. (1993) 

Pearl Jam’s grunge credentials were mostly superficial: the flannel, Seattle, the Singles soundtrack. And they proved it on Vs., the weirder, edgier sequel to their blockbuster debut, Ten. The band’s classic rock guitars still roar on anthems like “Dissident” and “Rearviewmirror,” but the record’s DNA lies in the experiments and detours: the creepy funk of “Rats,” the manic punk twang of “Glorified G,” the folk serenity of “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.” – R.R.

17. Peter Gabriel – So (1986)

Peter Gabriel dabbled in radio-friendly fare in his pre-So days — from the fairytale-like zest of Genesis’ “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” to the mechanical Fairlight synth rush of “Shock the Monkey.” But he leaned into a chorus-first approach on his fifth LP, embracing starry-eyed duet ballads (“Don’t Give Up,” with an angelic Kate Bush), horn-propelled Stax soul (“Sledgehammer”) and worldbeat uplift (“In Your Eyes”). – R.R.

16. N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton (1988) 

“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge.” The famous, often imitated warning that opens N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton was well-earned. The following hour of music startled a national audience, put the budding subgenre of gangsta rap on the cultural map and established a new bastion of hip-hop on America’s West Coast. Over the driving samples curated by Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, the tracks are swarmed by the group’s three emcees: the booming Ice-Cube, the clever MC Ren and leader Eazy-E, whose gun peers down at you on the album’s cover. Their world is the streets of Compton, and every verse is another hustle, another fight picked at a party, another slew of insults and bullets, another boast to a world that had previously ignored them. It’s poetic justice that the album’s first two songs shocked the group into the public eye: The title track is a perfect series of introductions, establishing each member’s signature timbre, flow and attitude. “Fuck tha Police” turned this audacity towards the conversation of state violence, and it’s remained an anthem ever since. With Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. set new standards for rap music and changed the genre’s geography in the process, solidifying their city’s legacy alongside their own. – Tomas Miriti Pacheco

15. Kate Bush – Hounds of Love (1985) 

If Kate Bush’s early albums are enchanted fairy tales, Hounds of Love is a refined fantasy novel. Over seven years removed from her pirouetting breakout single “Wuthering Heights,” she blossomed here into her era’s definitive art-pop artist — flaunting sturdier melodies; more accessible, Fairlight-fueled arrangements and a voice deepened in both physical and emotional range. The record’s unconventional split structure is part of its splendor: The first half bundles all the hooks: the glassy synth climb of “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God”), the euphoric surge of “Cloudbusting”; the second simmers into an atmospheric concept suite called The Ninth Wave. Hounds of Love perfectly illuminates both of these creative poles: the songwriter and the sorceress. – R.R.

14. Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988) 

It’s not quite right to say no one had heard anything like Tracy Chapman before, when in 1988 she ignited like an exploding sun on the horizon of alternative music’s cresting and our parents’ rock music setting. In the ‘70s there had been the exquisite and punishing Joan Armatrading, another Black songstress and aching social conscience. Society wasn’t ready to permanently embrace Armatrading’s raw, penetrating lyrics and pain-communicating voice and make her a lasting superstar. But a little over 10 years later, Tracy Chapman did get universal recognition and vast commercial success — although she too, surprisingly, more or less disappeared from public view, dissolving over time into the background despite releasing albums until 2008.

Her self-titled, edgy debut album, which sold an astonishing 20 million records — astonishing for a folk album, edgy or not — produced two of the best songs of the last several decades, “Fast Car” and “Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution.” Reviews were mostly positive although a couple took issue with the worn leftist trail of talking about a revolution. Except, 32 years later, aren’t we still? – BGJ

13. Soundgarden – Superunknown (1994) 

Everything before Superunknown was a warm-up. On their fourth LP, Chris Cornell and crew built upon their ultra-heavy sound by getting darker, catchier and more psychedelic: The Grammy-adorned “Black Hole Sun” is structurally closer to McCartney than Mudhoney; “My Wave” is a mutating, detuned monster set largely in 5/4, with perhaps the gnarliest wah-wah bass sound ever recorded; and “Spoonman” is somehow the most obvious single on the album, even as it shifts through time signatures with prog-like glee and weaves in a legit spoon solo. – R.R.

12. Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)

Dr. Dre changed hip-hop forever with The Chronic, his first post-N.W.A. solo project, making Death Row Records one of the most influential labels in the industry. It set a benchmark for all future rap albums — though few compare. Lead single “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” introduced the LP’s smooth style, perfect for cruising with the top down or enjoying a piece of that “funky stuff.” The album is filled with marijuana references, making euphemisms like “chronic” part of the rap lexicon. (You know you wanted to be a contestant on the $20 Sack Pyramid.) It also introduced the world to artists like the Lady of Rage, Warren G., Nate Dogg and a little-known emcee from Long Beach named Snoop Doggy Dogg. In 2020, The Chronic was selected to be preserved at The Library Of Congress because of its “cultural, historical and aesthetic importance” — making it only the sixth rap album added to the registry. No matter how many times you listen to The Chronic, you realize you’ve still never been on another “ride like this before.” – J.S.

11. Metallica – Metallica (1991) 

Metallica’s fourth LP, …And Justice for All, developed their formative thrash metal into a more progressive style, flaunting complex arrangements and track lengths that occasionally swelled to around the 10-minute mark. But the quartet realized they’d perfected their own progginess and wisely scaled back for their multi-platinum sequel, best known as ‘The Black Album.’ Working with producer Bob Rock, who’d recently helmed Mötley Crüe’s blockbuster Dr. Feelgood, Metallica labored through rigorous sessions and wound up with tighter, catchier songs that didn’t sacrifice a scrap of heaviness. “The Unforgiven” is the ultimate metal ballad, with James Hetfield alternating his signature growl with the sweetest vocals of his career; the similarly tender “Nothing Else Matters” wraps its clean guitars and harmonies around an unobtrusive string arrangement. And the horns-up hits — “Enter Sandman,” “Sad But True,” “Wherever I May Roam” — are forever embedded in the metal canon. – R.R.

10. Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (1987) 

Translated as The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices, sung by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir, this album — launched in America in 1987 by perennially interesting label Nonesuch — had actually been first released, to almost no fanfare and very little notice, in 1975 in Europe. It mutated into a cult recording, with a several-generations-removed-from-the-original cassette eventually landing in Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy’s lap. Entranced, he took them to a British label friend, Ivo Watts-Russel, who tracked down the Swiss musicologist who had first compiled the tracks, by both recording the singers himself and taking existing songs from the archives of Radio Sofia, and licensed them.

It was an unexpected sensation in America. The album is mostly acapella and the singing is exceptionally, mystifyingly accomplished. This was no novelty record. This wasn’t William Shatner sings the Rolling Stones or anything like that — musicians from Jerry Garcia and David Bowie to Linda Ronstadt and Kate Bush were besotted with it, and echoed sentiments like Graham Nash’s “every musician… should rethink everything he knows about singing.” Astonished converts insisted their friends listen to the ethereal and moving collection of 13 traditional Bulgarian folk songs somewhat jazzed up — but not too much — by the all-women TV ensemble. Each of us in turn proselytized to someone else, enchanted and insistent.  – BGJ

9. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes (1992) 

It’s tough to imagine the musical world before Little Earthquakes, or before Tori Amos, for that matter. Though not her first album, and after an essential lifetime of playing professionally, it was Little Earthquakeswith its furiously stunning piano playing, a singing voice embodying all of the great goddesses of mythology, and lyrics that cut through every woman’s soul—the combination came just in time. The result is an album that some will claim have actually saved their life. The chorus for its first single “Me and a Gun”—It was me/And a gun/And a man/On my back—isn’t the stuff of the predicable Top 40 necessarily, but it’s infinitely much more important and impactful. It set the tone for Tori’s career of speaking for every woman who didn’t have a voice of her own. Though the album peaked at No. 58 on Billboard, all we have to say is—forget the charts. From its opening track “Crucify” through “Silent All These Years,” “Winter” and “China,” Tori launched a musical crusade to speak for the Everywoman. And with Little Earthquakes she was just getting started. – Liza Lentini

8. Madonna – Like a Prayer (1989) 

Stop what you’re doing right now and give thanks and praise to Madonna. Yeah, yeah, you might think her cross-dressing, crotch-grabbing, pointy-bra act is old hat now, but her willingness — and perhaps, desire — to shock and get banned is what made us want more. Importantly, for the landscape of women in music, she lit a blowtorch and poured taboo-based gasoline on restrictions for women in music. And she lit that baby up. Just mere months after ultra-conservative Ronald Reagan passed the Presidential Republican torch to George H. W. Bush, Madonna released her fourth album, Like a Prayer. Its first single, the title track, continued her long-standing blond ambition of pissing off the Catholic Church, its video banned by just about everyone with the short-standing power to do so. Follow-up single “Express Yourself” became an eternal anthem for women everywhere. The sweet sound of “Cherish” came after that, proving that if there’s one thing you can count on with Madonna, it’s unpredictability. Like a Prayer hit No. 1 in most countries, including the U.S. It was dedicated to Madonna’s mother, who passed when Madonna was a little girl. – L.L.

7. U2 –  The Joshua Tree (1987) 

By 1987, U2 had already stampeded into the U.S., evolved from the wide-eyed post-punks of Boy to the political rebels of War and become rock radio mainstays with “Pride (In the Name of Love).” But they had an even bigger, grander vision with The Joshua Tree: Fascinated with the concept of America (in particular the concept versus reality, hence the album’s working title The Two Americas), Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. teamed with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to capture a cinematic snapshot the country. Writing staples like “Where the Streets Have No Name,” the gospel-tinged “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “With or Without You,” U2 weren’t just setting out to conquer America, but also the world. Impressively, Bono managed to tackle a mining strike, heroin, Central American conflict and biblical references in one project. And he did so on a career-defining album that remains one of the best in rock history. – Daniel Kohn

6. Nirvana – Nevermind (1991) 

As grunge emerged in the Pacific Northwest, one momentous album brought it to the world. Nirvana became a regional favorite with 1989’s Bleach, touring on the strength of that cunning LP. But when Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic joined forces with their fifth drummer, Dave Grohl, that potential bloomed into a pinnacle of music history. Hunkering down at Sound City with producer Butch Vig, the trio recorded 1991’s Nevermind, one of the most vital works of the past 30 years. Balancing fury and sensitivity, vulnerability and disenchantment, the trio jump from the distorted anarchy of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to the dreamy desolation of “Something in the Way.” They tackle heavy themes: religion and suicide (“Lithium”), disgust with rape culture (“Polly”). But despite its darkness, Nevermind is deeply melodic — few, if any, have made feeling bad sound so good. – D.K.

5. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

Public Enemy were at their most explosive on It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. The combo of Chuck D’s thundering poetics and Flava Flav’s unchecked adlibs over DJ Terminator X’s wild scratching lifts you into a new state of mind. This is their mission after all: Songs like “Bring the Noise” and “Rebel Without a Pause” open with the voices of Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson, before the sampling cuts out and another wave of blaring, horn-backed lessons crashes in. “Night of the Living Baseheads” is a masterclass of metaphor, and “Channel Zero” makes a brain-rotting conspiracy out of network television. Through all these truth-bombs, It Takes A Nation finds its greatest strength in its own self-awareness: As a sophomore album, it saw the potential in the group’s debut, Yo! Bum Rush The Show and knew the only thing to do was turn up the volume. – T.M.P.

4. Sinead O’Connor – The Lion and the Cobra (1987)

This album, as the cliche invariably goes, came out of nowhere — at least in America no one had ever heard of Sinead O’Connor before this unique, first record filtered into our consciousness. It was certainly not on trend — it wasn’t rock, and it wasn’t “alternative.” It was sort of Irish folk-pop, made by Irish musicians, sonically mining their Celtic heritage, led by an Irish singer the likes of which no one had ever heard before, and no one has equaled since. Sinead’s voice was incredibly powerful and had the range of a ballistic missile. The emotionality in her singing was literally breathtaking — you didn’t breathe listening to some of her lines, as if your breath would interfere with her delivery. “Troy,” her first single from the album, rises and falls like the arc of a Greek tragedy, and the way she sings the lines “There is no other Troy /For you to burnnn” swooshes into your chest and mind and stays there.

Every track on the record is astounding, but “Troy,” an anguished song about her mother, is one of the most beautiful and saddening ever written. From any era. “Drink Before the War” is captivating and seductive. “Mandinka,” her second single, and “I Want Your (Hands on Me)” are famous as a hit (the former), and, the latter, as a track in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street 4. “Jackie,” the first cut on the album, is a haunting love song of unrelenting loss (I presume, unless she really did know someone who sailed the seas for a hundred years); it alone could have made Sinead a star. In the era of MTV and mass radio station programming, there wasn’t one iota of commercial consideration in the making of this record. It was just pure, sincere, magnificent music — and for all the troubles Sinead has endured in her life and career since, nothing can take that away. – BGJ

3. Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)

After the death of Rush drummer-lyricist Neil Peart, Billy Corgan wrote on Instagram, “His influence on the Smashing Pumpkins is inedible: giving us wings to soar with and a road map to ultimately find our own way.” For whatever reason — maybe Corgan’s abrasive vocal style, maybe the distortion — people have never really recognized that influence. But Siamese Dream is the greatest prog-rock album of its generation: meticulously layered, full of dramatic shifts in tone and texture, flaunting chops as fitting for a conservatory as an alt-rock club. Jimmy Chamberlin’s jazz flair and finesse propels the heaviest and spaciest sections alike (both encapsulated on the epic “Geek U.S.A.”), and Corgan could flip effortlessly between guitar hero and hook-writer (“Mayonnaise,” “Today”) — usually in the same song. – R.R.

2. Prince – Sign o’ the Times (1987) 

Sign o’ the Times opens with its unnerving title track, an incriminating list of social ills — drug addiction, the AIDS epidemic, the Challenger explosion — that Prince pulls from the world around him. Sharply relevant upon its 1987 release, Prince’s heartfelt cries of “oh, why?” echo just as loud through the great uncertainty of 2020. However, the album was not only a testament to a moment in history, but also a phenomenon in and of itself. Prince’s original vision for the project was massive: a triple-album that Warner BroS. forced him to reduce to 16 tracks — an omen of a rift soon to form. Despite the drama, Sign o’ the Times was an astounding feat: Leaping between pop and rock, between funky grooves and high-flying soul, he crafted classics like “Adore” and “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker.” Even the album’s remastered reissue is revelatory, filled with previously unheard songs from his Vault — allowing us to peer further into Prince’s original concept, and then outward, with lessons for a turbulent world. – T.M.P.

1. Radiohead – OK Computer (1997) 

Kid A is the most innovative Radiohead album, their most startling technical achievement. But Thom Yorke’s songwriting reaches an impossible-to-duplicate pinnacle on OK Computer, blooming far beyond the triple-guitar alt-rock of The Bends. The frontman’s angst and paranoia form a thematic glue, a perfect companion for the unnerving soundscapes of “Climbing Up the Walls,” frazzled ballad beauty of “Karma Police” and volatile art-rock suite “Paranoid Android.” But through the darkness and complexity, these are also Radiohead’s most melodically satisfying songs: “Let Down” is a legitimate tear-jerker, climaxing with a tangle of clean electric guitars and one of the most perfect falsettos ever recorded. The twinkling “No Surprises” is like the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” after a psychedelic sedative. OK Computer inspired dozens of copycats — some bands based their entire careers on single choruses. None of them even flirted with this level of majesty. – R.R.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

For a band to “make it,” it takes a lot of luck, timing, and in some cases, a village. Even then, success isn’t guaranteed. On the other side of that equation, is 99.999999% of everyone else who tried but didn’t “make it.” That doesn’t mean they weren’t good or worthy of massive success, but for one reason or another, it just didn’t happen. That’s why we’re here. Since there are so many great bands, singer-songwriters and everyone in between you may not have heard of, we tapped a select group of famous musicians to highlight their favorite lesser-known musicians. You didn’t ask, but my favorite lesser-known bands are the Rhythm Warehouse and Novaflow. -Daniel Kohn

More from Spin:

• The ’80s Music Scene? Mark ‘Weissguy’ Weiss Was There, With His Camera
• Farm Aid at 35
• Birthday Boy

Slash (Guns N’ Roses) on Rocco DeLuca

The first person that comes to mind is a guy I worked with on my first solo record [Slash] back in 2010, Rocco DeLuca. He sang on a song called, ‘Saint is a Sinner Too.’ He was phenomenal and he’s definitely somebody who’s not on everybody’s radar.

“When I met him, he was out doing a solo acoustic kind of thing in all sorts of dive bars around the country. I think he had a percussionist with him. I went and saw him a couple of times in, like, real old-school, maybe 75-person capacity bars. And he would do these sort of almost beatnik-type sets. It was really cool. He might still be out there doing something similar to that, but I’m not totally sure. I still hear from him once in a while though. But he was great when we worked together—really down to earth and just super, super talented and unique.

Laura Jane Grace on Andrew Falkous (Mclusky, Future of the Left, Christian Fitness)

Starting out in 1996 with Mclusky to his work with Future Of The Left and then presently to Christian Fitness–with songs like “Lightsaber Cocksucking Blues,” “Beneath The Waves An Ocean” and “Your Favourite Band Wants You Dead”– Andrew Falkous has never lost an ounce of his uniquely acerbic wit or a volt from the manic current of energy that powers his music. Almost like the Fall, almost like Shellac, but completely like nothing else at all. Both recorded and live, his bands always take you on a ride and leave you feeling challenged and expanded. No one makes being fucking pissed off sound so smart. If there was an originator to the sound that the band Idles have become popular for then Andrew Falkous is that originator.”

Chuck D on Daddy-O

Daddy-O has recorded six albums in the past four years on his Odad Truth Label, a subsidiary of my Spitslam Record Label group. The co-founder of legendary hip-hop group Stetsasonic, Daddy-O and I started out together, touring in 1987. Everything I’ve done in my career, Daddy-O has equally done, if not better. He is the flawless epitome of the 55+ vet MC and his latest works and output rival any era and anybody, mic for mic. Truly a genius paving the path for many to follow, @ProfessorDaddyO is a Hip Hop God.”

John Mellencamp on Chris Whitley

Chris Whitley was one of the most-overlooked artists of the ‘90s. He made one of the best albums, Big Sky Country. You could listen to that entire record front to back and enjoy every song you heard. Columbia dropped the ball on this one. Chris died in 2005, but we have this wonderful album to remember him by.

Steven Van Zandt on Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts

It’s a combination of his work ethic, his high standards, and his enthusiasm. Not to mention his imagination. When writing about a divorce and looking for a metaphor, who comes up with Jesus and John Lennon?

Ann Wilson of Heart on Mouth Music

One of my favorite lesser-known bands is Mouth Music. They are from Scotland. Their album Mo di was the first one I heard and I loved how different it was; using great vocals, percussion and programming to make a sound that’s completely original. GREAT for movement! It’s as good to dance to as it is to listen to. You might think this music is from Africa until you hear some of the lyrics in Gaelic… A VERY unusual mix and completely original.

Their follow up album, Shorelife, is just as imaginative, but a touch softer. It uses all those gorgeous vocals and programming ideas to create an album that’s completely out of the box.

Mouth Music is not Rock as we know it in the U.S., nor is it pop, hip-hop, rap or any other commercial designation. It’s got its own identity and is a total breath of fresh air!

Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse) on Joel R. L. Phelps

His lyrics are intense and thoughtful — not your typical topics. He’s one of the most stylish humans around Seattle: quiet and funny. He got me into ELO. I looked up to him. He was a bit older and cool, you know? And he actually became a friend.

Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins) on Crywolf

This is some of my favorite stuff of this era. My daughter, Audrey, actually turned me on to Justin Taylor Phillips, and I’ve been a fan ever since. I love the vibe, music, and the drum arrangements are next level!

Pete Yorn on Penix

I have no idea who these people are but their record D.U.I.U.D. (2020) is genius and hilarious at the same time. It explores many musical genres and I highly recommend the song “Smooth Glovin.’”

The Hives’ Howlin Pelle on Reigning Sound

It has to be Reigning Sound. To me, it’s like a grab bag of pretty much every good style of classic American music from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Shooter Jennings on Dax Riggs

Dax Riggs is the last man alive that can sing about Satan and sorcerers convincingly.

Brian Fallon (Gaslight Anthem) on Leatherface

They were like the actual punk rock version of the Police with lyrics that Nick Cave or Shane McGowan might’ve been proud to have written.

Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips) on the Hostages

A group we saw in Oklahoma City in 1981. The lead singer is a lesbian and she wears an all-black beekeepers suit and sings through a distortion box. The bass player and drummer are gay brothers. And the bass player plays distortion bass and the drummer doesn’t know how to play drums, but he’s the drummer. And we would play shows with them and we would just simply play shows with them to watch them play. You know, it was insane.

Peaches on Electrocute

Electrocute was a duo lead by Nicole Morier that I love because of their bubble gum sarcastic swagger, and their lo-fi rock electro vibe that fused the Cramps and Suicide attitude.

The Avalanches on DJ Soju Gang

Soju gang’s sets are sure to get you off your ass and on the floor. The best party DJ going around Melbourne town with sublime skills on the decks. Check her out on Soundcloud.

Thurston Moore on Trash Kit

Trash Kit are a UK punk feminist trio of guitarist/vocalist Rachel Aggs, bassist Gil Partington and drummer/vocalist Rachel Horwood – they’ve been together since 2008 and each musician plays with a host of other bands. With a rousing, stomping hi-life guitar shred dancing to tribal conscious rhythms and lyrics embracing themes of true queer and mixed-race realities they continually raise the roof with joy and intellect.

Jeremiah Fraites from The Lumineers on Andrea Laszlo De Simone-Conchiglie

I hear all too often that people are tired of new music and they wish something new would come along to inspire, which this artist does to me every time I listen to him: think Italian Sufjan Stevens meets Dr. Dog meets himself.

Joan as Police Woman on Krystle Warren

Most stellar voice, tender and strong in equal measure with a range nothing short of miraculous. Incredible writer of songs, the type of which used to get written and go on to become classics. Exquisite live performer in the way you forget completely where you are and what’s happening in your life.

Tanya Tucker on Reverie Lane and Layla Tucker

When I think of up and comers who are raising the bar and don’t sound like anything else out there, it’s gotta be Reverie Lane and Layla Tucker. My daughter Presley and Spencer Bartoletti’s vocals soar together in Reverie Lane and Layla just signed a record deal with Fantasy Records. Both of my daughters are vocal stylists and they’re equally talented songwriters!

Steve Gorman (Triggy Hippy, Black Crowes) on Government Cheese

They blasted out of Bowling Green, Kentucky in the mid-’80s, careening wildly from gig to gig with enough energy to power a small city. For the uninitiated, just imagine a four-piece buzzsaw that was equal parts Jason and The Scorchers, early R.E.M., and Bill Hicks.

Dan Wilson of Semisonic on The Tropicals

This alternative guitar-pop duo taught me so much about songwriting, and their best songs — “I Bicycle Miles,” “It’s Mr. Time,” “We’re The Tropicals,” “Wild Life” — still break my heart and blow my mind today.

RZA of Wu-Tang Clan on The Reverend Willy Burke

He’s one of the few MCs that could have bridged the gap between classic hip hop and modern trap hop.

Donita Sparks of L7 on FuckEmos

They were one of Austin’s finest with heavy, hooky riffs, absurdist-demented lyrics, and highly original lead vocals.

Blag Dahlia from The Dwarves on BIRDCLOUD

A couple of years ago we played with an acoustic duo from Nashville called BIRDCLOUD. This band is hilarious, very politically incorrect and a pleasure to ogle as they openly mock their audience and everything else. Viva Jasmin and Mackenzie! Highly recommended!

Rufus Wainwright on Krystle Warren

Krystle Warren’s voice and performance style seared an indelible mark on me years ago when she joined Martha and I on tributes to our mom Kate McGarrigle in both London and New York. Her haunting interpretations, vocal timbre and singular look completely devastated all present, and soon after I had the honor of taking her out on the road with me. Be it covers, her own material or harmonizing with others, she is a true musician and should be considered an international treasure.

Sheila E on Ace of Cups

Rock and Roll is for everyone. Ace of Cups are awesome musicians, and it just so happens, the gift is that they’re women.

Slug from Atmosphere on Sa-Roc

Sa-Roc is everything I want from a lyricist in 2020. The chemistry between Blimes & Gab is a punch to the face pick-me-up, that punches me again, picks me up again, repeat.

Darius Rucker on Joel Crouse

Joel Crouse has a sense of melody like no one I have been around. I think that comes from having such a unique voice, it’s so original. He’s had to come up with things that were different because he sounds different.

Frank Turner on John K Samson

John K Samson first came into my world as the bass player in Winnipeg’s ferocious Propagandhi, the one who wrote the weird gentle and introspective songs. A few years later he quit to form the Weakerthans, a poetic country indie band, and most of the punk world was just confused. I fell in love though, and over the years, through that band and his solo work, he’s consistently been my favorite songwriter, and a friend to boot. His poetry and delicacy are unmatched, and it constantly blows my mind that he isn’t as well known as Leonard Cohen.

Jason Lytle of Grandaddy on Malojian

Malojian from Northern Ireland grew up scrappy like me and now makes weird and pretty music like I do…so I very highly recommend his new album Humm.

Alice Cooper on The Electric Six

A band from the ‘90s from Detroit. You have to see the videos to believe it.

Melissa Etheridge on Celisse Henderson

When it comes to overall raw talent, no one has this woman beat. Voice, guitar, keys, songwriter. She does everything and blows it away.

Bootsy Collins on Smalltown DJs

They take a dance groove and kill it, in a good way.

LP on Tamino 

Tamino is an artist who is not known as much as he should be or rather, as much as he will be. He’s our new Jeff Buckley so it won’t be long. He was the last show I saw before quarantine and I consider myself lucky to have seen him in such a small place.

Zach Carothers of Portugal. The Man on The Dig

We’ve toured with The Dig several times. Their talent and knowledge as musicians is unbelievable. They are the best dudes and their songs are so good. The band is impeccable.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

When Micheal Somersel was 8 years old, his Brooklyn, NY birthplace led the city in murders; 125 killed within the 75th police precinct. Gangs, drugs and an intersection once known as “the four corners of death” was his home turf, off the Van Siclen stop on the C and 3 subway trains. Over the decades, notable nearby neighbors ranged from mob boss John Gotti to rapper Uncle Murda – who, in 2008, was shot in the head in the neighborhood. 

Success statistics don’t favor young black men in East New York. But Somersel bucked the stats in a big way, the product of a poignant immigrant success story. 

More from Spin:

• The ’80s Music Scene? Mark ‘Weissguy’ Weiss Was There, With His Camera
• Farm Aid at 35
• The 35 Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years, Picked by 35 Well-Known Artists

Born March 19, 1985, a Tuesday, the same day SPIN went on sale for the first time, Somersel was the youngest of seven children, six boys and one girl. There are 18 years between Somersel and his eldest brother.

Micheal was the first – and last – of his siblings born in New York; the rest of the family are from Guyana. His mother came to the States on her own, working unceasingly to save enough money to bring her six children and husband to the U.S. They joined her in 1984, and Micheal refers to himself as the happy product of their reunion. 

“I’m continually astounded by her,” Somersel says of his mother, speaking by phone from his New Jersey condo. “My mom did many, many, many things. She was a housekeeper by day. She also did some seamstress work. She did catering. She has always, since I was born, been a minister and has led a small faith community.”

The family was strong and striving, but insular, just 10 miles away from the bustle of ‘80s Manhattan. The peep shows and tarnished theaters of Times Square and the fur-clad socialites strolling Fifth Avenue held no allure.

As SPIN was putting Madonna and Talking Heads on its first and second covers in 1985, and writing about then-nascent Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Somersel family were attending church, part of a tight community that instilled a sense of faith and duty. 

All seven kids graduated college, and his parents have been married 54 years, living in Queens since 1994. Micheal found out recently his mother was working on her GED while he was a baby at her feet.   

His earliest memories include “hiding under tables and chairs as the [church] services were going on, and the smell of incense and eventually participating and being an altar boy for the church.”

Homework and hard work were cornerstones of his life; even now, as a private school math teacher in New York City, they’re both in play. Thoughtful, quiet and in control, Micheal is very much who he is because of and for his mother. He believes in a combination of nature and nurture, of being of service, and when opportunities arose, he decisively took them. 

In 1999, thanks to the Better Chance program (a resource for “identifying, recruiting and developing leaders among young people of color throughout the United States”), Micheal was accepted into several boarding schools. He chose one of the most prestigious in the world: New Hampshire’s ultra-tony Phillips Exeter Academy.

The public-school black kid from the wrong side of the Brooklyn tracks headed north, approaching the elite boarding school with gravitas and focus. He eschewed partying. “I didn’t leave my room, besides to go to class and to eat,” he says without regret. It took until he was a sophomore to have a social life. 

And music was a part of that. Like most of his generation, he was an MTV kid. “Everyone was in love with the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, and of course, we all loved ‘I Want it That Way.’” 

Alicia Keys became popular during his freshman year of high school, and Timberland, Missy Elliott and Q-Tip also provided a soundtrack to his life. 

Magazines and comic books weren’t a big part of Micheal’s formative years. “I think my own personal awareness of music started in those middle school years. Things like Dawson’s Creek, at the end of the show they’d say, ‘You’ve heard music by these artists,’ like Paula Cole and Heather Nova.” His first concert was John Mayer, the Heavier Things tour in 2004. 

“My eldest brother was very into soca and calypso music that he brought back with him from Guyana,” Micheal remembers. “My second eldest brother was really into jazz, and because of him, I have an affection for Sting and his music. My third eldest brother was really into reggae and hip hop. My sister, who probably had the biggest influence, introduced me to Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Dave Matthews Band. And honestly, those are the ones that I keep going back to.”

He recalls going back for his five-year high school reunion and his best friend saying “honestly, you were kind of the Black kid that just hung out in the corner.”

“I was there strictly for the academics,” he admits. “I was gonna make it through, not letting anybody down.” He didn’t. He went to Cornell University as a dance and psychology major, and received an M.S. in Mathematics Education from St. John’s University.

He was spared any major anxiety about coming out gay thanks to his older gay brother laying the groundwork within the family.

“I think it was a lot simpler and easier than I imagine it being for most,” he admits. “Oddly enough and funny enough, Dave [his fiancée] is the only boyfriend. I actually didn’t really have many interpersonal romantic relationships growing up. I was very, very focused on education, graduating, getting my degree, and getting a career that would support me and that I would be a good fit for.”

First extreme weather and then the pandemic impacted Micheal’s planned wedding. “We had the date set in St. Martin in 2017. However, Hurricane Irma came through and did a number on the island and the airport and the resort.” 

Next date? Summer 2020. We know what happened there. “We’re pretty much married in our hearts and our minds.” 

This year has been one of social unrest, and while Micheal casts his mind back to him and his mom being detained for suspected shoplifting when he was a boy, he doesn’t have many overt racist experiences. 

“I think being a Black male, there’s a lot of cultural and historical Civil Rights and fights that have been laid and had before where I am now.”

He adds, “but even to this day, the Duane Reade I’ll enter, magically I see the security guard very close to my location as I make my way around the store. So it’s all relevant and prevalent.” 

He learned perspective early thanks to his mother and family. As a boy, about 7 or 8, he and his mom traveled to Guyana to visit family. “It was astonishing and amazing that we were one of the few families who had indoor plumbing,” he recalls. “And my aunt sold ice. We were one of the few families who had a freezer.”   

At 35, Somersel is technically a Millennial, one of approximately 72 million born between 1981 and the mid-‘90s. But he doesn’t define or align himself with any particular group. “I think intersectionality is where I exist.” 

His social media presence is minimal, though dedicated digging can find one guerilla dance performance online. After receiving general questions via email for this interview, he wrote down his responses. 

“I’m a Black, gay, American, Christian man with Caribbean/South American cultural heritage. I have a diploma from a prestigious high school and an Ivy League undergraduate education, a master’s degree. With all of that, I’m glad, again, to be of service. I’m glad to be able to help others grow comfortable and confident in themselves and in their voice, particularly from the math perspective, but as a teacher.”

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

For many, Nirvana were the voice of Generation X. And with good reason. Kurt Cobain’s lyrics reflected elements of alienation and angst of the post-Boomer generation, while their incredibly melodic music powered by Krist Novoselic’s booming bass and Dave Grohl’s tenacious drumming took what was going on underground and brought grunge and alternative to the mainstream and blew the then-ruling hair metal away. 

“We had a pretty good time [as they shot to fame],” Novoselic tells SPIN over the phone. “But we really didn’t even know what was going on. We were doing these tours at this point in relatively small places. We heard we were on heavy rotation on MTV and these label guys would show up and it would be like ‘Oh okay.’ Just working hard and trying to play good every night.”

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That sharp focus is what thrust Nirvana into the spotlight, but, the thing about Nirvana that people always forget beneath Cobain’s dark brilliance was their sense of humor. 

Novoselic recalls a show in 1989 somewhere in Massachusetts [attended by SPIN’s Byron Coley] with only “five or six” people in attendance.

“We had a show the night before and Kurt smashed his guitar, or just didn’t have a guitar, probably smashed it, had problems with it or it conked out,” Novoselic explains. “Since we had Jason Everman as our other guitar player, Kurt was going to be our frontman for the show. He hams it up and is jumping around, the frontman with just a mic. So he jumps on me and I pick him up and I lift him by his ankles [Laughs]…and start shaking him off the edge of the stage. All of this change then comes pouring out of his pocket. There’s like quarters and nickels and dimes, pennies…and now that I think about it’s probably all the money he had in the world at a time.”

Not too long after that, Cobain, Novoselic and the band’s fifth drummer Grohl wouldn’t have to worry about losing all their money on-stage.

We know what happened next. Nevermind turned them into international superstars, In Utero was a gritty follow-up and then it was over. Cobain died on April 5, 1994. But in five short years from the release of 1989’s Bleach through Cobain’s death, Nirvana transformed the music world and left almost everything they had out there — literally. 

As the trend of massive reissues and mining of artists’ unreleased material steadily becomes the norm, don’t expect to hear any new Nirvana songs anytime soon. “You Know You’re right,” which was released in 2002, was the last song the band recorded together. While Cobain was a prolific artist in terms of quality, there aren’t many (if at all) loose songs or demos that are lying around in a vault waiting to be dusted off. Some of the ones from early 1994 — which consisted of Novoselic and Grohl jamming together — became Foo Fighters songs. “I don’t know what happened to that stuff but I have to go in the vault before the tape falls apart!” Novoselic quips.

But “You Know You’re Right” almost didn’t make it, had it not been for a trusty airport security guard.

“We recorded that on a 24-track and I had that reel-to-reel in my basement for years,” Novoselic says of the song. “It was like ‘What am I doing with this?’ So in 2000 or 2001, I had to go to L.A. so I flew down there with the tape to get it mixed [by Adam Kasper].

“I walked up to the X-ray machine [and had the reels in hand] and was like ‘Oh gosh, I better not pass this through,’” he remembers. Fortunately, an accommodating security screener allowed the magnetic tape holding the session to bypass the X-ray machine. 

“We just busted it because we’d love playing together. That was our glue and we had this language and conversation,” he says. “It’s just this total Nirvana song that has the bass driving and a big chorus, BIG chorus then it goes back down, which was kind of our formula. I’m really glad we caught that one. I wish we would have done more, but we didn’t.” 

Nearly two-and-a-half decades after they played their final show, Nirvana remains relevant. Earlier this year, Post Malone announced he’d be performing an entire set of Nirvana covers. He surprised many by stampeding through a 75-minute set and doing the songs justice, to the surviving members’ and Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, approval. He’s not the only one to reference Nirvana and Cobain. 

“It’s the individual connection [to the music],” Novoselic says. “I still get fan mail and when I used to go out in public, people would tell me how Nirvana changed their lives. Something about the music just connects with people, and it’s very personal to this day. It’s not really up to me to define what that connection is because it’s literally on a case-by-case basis. It’s the energy and the honesty. Kurt would say ‘I like cryptic lyrics’ and he’d say that he wasn’t really out for big messages or anything. But that left it open for interpretation and maybe that’s one of the keys to how individuals connect with it.”

But, he says, it’s something that even Cobain would have appreciated if he were still alive today.

“He had a big heart and he was a sweetheart.,” Novoselic says. “He could connect and empathize with people. Those kinds of things would affect him. But he had this voice inside of him that could speak and keep speaking. There’s so many people that make that connection and it’s just an amazing talent.”

That’s why going to a place like the Museum of Pop Culture in the band’s adopted hometown of Seattle is such a trip for the bassist. He marvels when he heads to the Nirvana exhibit and sees all of the memorabilia from the band’s brief time. “I’ve been in there a few times and it just…God it weighs on me. Like, it’s my life, right?” he says. “It’s Nirvana Disneyland.”

Thinking back, Novoselic isn’t so sure how things would have gone if Cobain were still alive. He points to the success of the Guns N’ Roses’ reunion tour as to how things can turn for a band.

“You just don’t know,” he says. “Dave is making heavy rock, I’m doing this country, Americana rock. That really doesn’t matter — the tragedy is that Kurt died so young and was a sweetheart person and is very missed.”

Looking back, 26 years after Nirvana effectively ended when Cobain died, Novoselic appreciates the ride and how they “just burned so bright for such a short time.”

“Maybe I was just being silly for the sake of being silly,” he says. “I can’t speak for Dave or Kurt, but our mission was to have as much fun as possible and our statement was made on the records.”

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

As part of our 35th anniversary, we’re naming the most influential artists of the past 35 years. Today, we’ve finally reached the top spot. From Seattle, Washington, here is Nirvana.

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The hero’s journey has been told time and time again. Hero leaves small town, battles along the yellow brick road and ultimately finds success. In this case, the hero was a blonde kid from the small riverfront town of Aberdeen, Washington, who defied the odds and changed the course of music. Kurt Cobain was everything: Feminist. Outspoken. Sly. Snarky. Hilarious. Intelligent. Intuitive. Forward-thinking. Genius. 

Teaming up with bassist Krist Novoselic and (four drummers later) Dave Grohl, Cobain kick-started a sonic revolution, bursting eardrums and revolutionizing a sound and underground movement that had been bubbling for decades. Punk broke, grunge was formed, alternative rock became a commodity. 

The band, and Cobain in particular, was always taken seriously. Cobain’s lyrics reflected the anxiety and alienation that Gen X found relatable. The angst of the Reagan era was reflected in the burgeoning hardcore scene, while on college campuses, radio stations would play bands like Sonic Youth and R.E.M. in heavy rotation. Nevermind was the melodic melding of punk, college rock. Combined with the growing behemoth that was MTV along with tensions that accompanied the George H.W. Bush presidency, the moment was ripe for the underground to rise up.

Nirvana’s rebellious streak and dark sense of humor were always on display. In 1992, “Weird Al” Yankovic called the band ahead of a Saturday Night Live performance to ask permission to parody “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Cobain’s response? “Is it going to be about food?” At that year’s VMAs, MTV insisted the band play “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” They wanted to perform the newly-written “Rape Me.” A subsequent spat over the song selection almost got them booted from the show. So what happened? Nirvana gave music’s most influential TV network the middle finger.  Cobain opened the performance with a few lines from “Rape Me” before launching into “Lithium,” and Novoselic nearly knocked himself out with a bass toss. Not enough drama for one night? They almost got into a backstage brawl with the then-rulers of the rock world: Guns N’ Roses.

If Nevermind paved the way for the grunge rush, In Utero reflected Nirvana’s sludgy, punk roots. The sound was harsher thanks to producer Steve Albini, but it also retained the same qualities that made Nirvana so important in the first place: hooky melodies, powerful rhythms and poetic lyrics that would be best expressed on the band’s 1993 MTV Unplugged session. Throughout the 14-song set, the crowd sat in stunned silence, hanging on to Cobain’s every word as if he were a prophet — something the singer knew but couldn’t quite comprehend.

In his suicide note, Cobain infamously wrote Neil Young’s words from “My, My, Hey, Hey”: that it’s “better to burn out than to fade away.” Perhaps he was right. We’ll never know what a middle-aged Cobain would have been like. We’ll never know how much great music Nirvana had in them after such a madcap start to their career. Could Grohl have become a successful frontman in his own right, taking over duties for Cobain? Would Cobain have allowed Grohl to take on such a role? These are just some of the great what-ifs, and they ultimately don’t matter.

After they smashed through the door, labels searched frantically for the next Nirvana. The labels did their best, but there was only one Nirvana. Why would someone pay $6 million for Cobain’s used Unplugged guitar? These days, you’d be hard-pressed to find a rock band or any modern artist — that’s not inspired in some way by that rowdy trio from Seattle. That, my friends, is influence. 

Read our interview with Krist Novoselic about the band’s lasting legacy here.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

“They say you’re always chasing it, and realistically I don’t think I’m ever gonna be like ‘I made it.’ When I can nail the balance of being happy and releasing music that, to me, would be the ultimate goal. Which I haven’t done yet, but I’m hopefully on my way.”

And CXLOE is. 

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Real name Chloe Papandrea, CXLOE already has over 22 million streams, been featured on prominent playlists such as New Music Friday on Spotify and A-List Pop on Apple Music, and her writing credits include working with Ross Golan (Ariana Grande), Justin Tranter (Julia Michaels) and The Futuristics (Selena Gomez). Her debut single “Tough Love” came out in 2017 and since then has released a steady surge of successful singles, such as “Devil You Don’t” and “Between Our Hearts” with electronic trio Cheat Codes, released earlier in 2020. 

The Sydney, Australia native changed her given name so slightly so that she can turn off her artistry when she wants to. An alter ego of sorts, CXLOE is the more dramatized version of the understated Chloe, complete with costumes, makeup and special lighting. “I wanted to keep [Chloe] close to me but also add a bit of a twist to it so I can switch off from having it be every aspect of my life.” she said. “It can get quite overwhelming, and it’s hard putting yourself out there all the time.” 

The dark pop songstress’ journey began with her posting covers on YouTube as a teenager before taking her first venture overseas after graduating high school. She arrived in Los Angeles at 18 to follow her dreams, but was unfortunately met with a difficult start. “It was hard getting in any writing sessions because I wasn’t anyone and no one knew who I was. No one wanted to write with me,” she says. Eventually, after flying back and forth between the U.S. and Australia, and with much perseverance, she finally found her management team and label. 

Fast forward to 2019 and CXLOE is the opener for Maroon 5’s Australian leg of their Red Pills Blues tour. “I just blinked and it was over,” she said about the shows. “It was such an out-of-body experience. I tried to be as present as I could, but it was just so much like ‘what is happening!?’ It was the first arena tour I’ve ever done and the scale of it was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. But it was so much fun and the boys were so sweet, they made it a really enjoyable time for me. I had the time of my life.”

Now, as 2020 comes to a close, CXLOE, 26, is running at full speed. She released Heavy, a 6-track EP in October. Her specialty of dark synth beats are paired with equally dark subject matters from addiction to bipolar mood swings and self-sabotage. One of the album’s most notable songs is “12 Steps,” a reference to the 12 step program used in Alcoholics Anonymous. This is CXLOE’s way of delivering a message about a personal matter. “Addiction runs in my family and I’ve always wanted to tell my story in a way that felt comfortable to me and those around me. The song mirrors the steps of the program through the eyes of a toxic relationship. I’ve spent time over the years becoming familiar with the program and think it is as important to treat unhealthy, toxic relationships with the same attention. Whether the addiction is to alcohol, food, shopping or a person, it all comes back to pain. And that’s something I can relate to. Seeking something or someone to mask pain.”

And addressing mental health issues, CXLOE has made starting the hard conversations her mission. “For as long as I can I’m going to keep trying to get that conversation going. Because it’s way more normal and it’s happening more than we think, which is scary.”

The hard topics addressed on Heavy are part of the reason so many of her fans love her. Many people have reached out to her to thank her for singing about such taboo subjects, which she plans to continue singing about, with the goal of making these subjects less taboo, specifically in the music industry. 

She also wants the music industry to evolve into one that’s much friendlier for artists. Citing her own journey as one that was “tough” and full of her chasing the wrong things, she wants independent artists or artists on the rise to not feel like they have to sell their souls, that they can find success without being tied to a label. “When I started trying to make music, all I wanted was a record deal because that’s all I heard about, but I wish that I didn’t have that headspace then. I’m so happy for the people I know starting out now because there are other options and it’s really exciting to watch. I hope the climate keeps changing and evolving for the better.” 

As far as herself, CXLOE hopes her future looks a little more domestic. She wants to get married and have a  family, as well as a piece of music. “I don’t know how long I can be doing the artist thing for but I hope that I do it long enough where I feel fulfilled and that I’ve done what I needed to do. I hope music is still a part of my life but I hope that I’m just happy, content and healthy. It’s pretty cliche, but that’s all I really want.”

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

As part of our 35th anniversary, we’re naming the most influential artists of the past 35 years. Today, we’re at #2. From Minneapolis, Minnesota, here is Prince.

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Prince Rogers Nelson’s kingdom was a soulful, revolutionary world without boundaries. His lust for sex and sultry guitar licks birthed a sound that has traveled long past his personal expiration date. Every step of the Purple One’s career is worthy of its own book, even though no one could possibly tell his story with the kind of flair that he could.

Garnering many aliases over his lifetime, Prince developed into pop’s most enigmatic figure. He emerged unassumingly in 1978 as a perverse, funky virtuoso writing straight from the loins and playing every instrument. Early singles like “Soft and Wet” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover” kicked off a run of classic baby-making music that set the stage for future rebirths — taking sounds of the time and bending them to his will.

If any decade could be considered his “classic” period, it was the ‘80s, the apex of his critical and commercial success. This iconic streak began with 1980’s Dirty Mind and continued through Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain — the list goes on. The songs he gave to other artists, like “Manic Monday” for The Bangles, became instant hits. He mastered the art of looking forward while honoring legends of the past, penning tunes for Miles Davis (exemplified on the electrified jazz/funk bop “Can I Play With U” on 1987’s Sign O’ the Times). Even a faithful cover had the power to go platinum, evidenced by Sinead O’Connor’s somber rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U.”  And as “Bat Dance” from the original Batman album can attest, his reign even extended into the soundtrack realm. 

Somehow his second act was even more salacious: In 1991, he brought his version of a “Moon Man” to the MTV Music Awards, performing “Gett Off” in his infamous assless leopard pants. By this point, Prince had already left behind the Revolution, his scorching backing band, and started another: the New Power Generation. Despite the shift, Prince continued to churn out anthems like “Diamonds and Pearls,” “7” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” — further widening his palette of soul. 

Even so, Prince refused to sit still. In the late ‘90s and 2000s, he released music at a feverish pace, toured the world, went to war with his record label and changed his name into an unpronounceable symbol, adding more intrigue to his vaporous mystique. Later in his career, he continued to record albums like Musicology, 3121 and Art Official Age that doubled as art pieces — without restraint and full of forward-thinking ideas. 

Though it’s a little too long-winded to make a list of superstars influenced by His Royal Badness, artists like D’Angelo, Justin Timberlake, Janelle Monae, Frank Ocean and the Weeknd wouldn’t be the same without his existence.

Prince’s death in 2016 created a chasm that no one can fill — only now, in his absence, is the world closer to comprehending his once-in-a-lifetime artistry. With a reported 15,000 unreleased songs and snippets in his vault [that are only now trickling onto posthumous releases], Prince was always creating.  We often laud artists who define a generation, but Prince’s legacy was defying definition.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

There are a number of pre-pandemic luxuries that Laura Jane Grace misses during these precarious times. But the glaring absence of live shows – and the resulting human connection – has left a particularly large hole in her bleeding singer-songwriter heart.

“I miss it a lot,” the Against Me! singer tells SPIN from her snowy Chicago apartment. “I miss so many different aspects of it. I just miss being part of a team…I miss the group spirit of my band, whether that’s all of us on a bus or all of us in an airport waiting for a plane, or loading in in the morning or loading out – the group experience.” 

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The story of Against Me! is a dramatic and inspiring one, perfectly summed up by the crowds of their memorable live shows, where you can rub shoulders with both punks and rock listeners who fell in love with “Thrash Unreal” on local radio — including fans who identify as trans or somewhere along the vast non-binary gender spectrum. 

This tale continues with Grace’s excellent solo LP Stay Alive, swiftly recorded in early July with Steve Albini at his Chicago studio. Written over two years and recorded over two days, this album holds a very simple yet powerful theme. 

“There is no metaphor, and there’s no hidden message in the title…it’s completely meant to be taken at face value,” she says of the bare-bones record, which highlights her songwriting skill and underrated voice. “A lot of making this record was about simplicity and of doing the least complicated thing.”

She laughs.

“I asked myself, ‘What is going to be the least stressful and least complicated approach to making this record?’ Because there’s really no ability to go beyond that right now. So that simplicity extended to even the title — I wanted to create the most straightforward title that can get the message across. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic, and the message I would like people to hear is to stay alive.” 

That message may be simple, but Grace’s schedule has stayed busy. In addition to releasing a 14-track album, she’s been writing, working on the soundtrack for HBO docuseries Equal, laying down a new cedar floor and sound-proofing one of her rooms for a makeshift writing studio. She’s also been regularly running the Windy City’s streets to clear her mental cobwebs and train for the now-delayed Chicago Marathon, which she planned to conquer for charity.

“I was so disappointed. I was really looking forward to the experience. But even though it was canceled, I’m just like, ‘Fuck it…I’m still going to go running and keep going,’” she says. “I’ve just been trying to stay busy, help my daughter with her school work, playing music…and staring into the abyss. To call it strange times is an understatement.”

Grace is writing with a clearer head, having rid her life of anything mind-altering to focus on parenthood and music. (The cover of her new album showcases what remained from her last bag of weed.) But with this clarity, Grace has not lost her endearing candor, particularly when she describes growing up as an idealistic “teenage anarchist” in Naples, Florida — including her fond memories of discovering SPIN. She says some of those SPIN covers, including one with Marilyn Manson, “were impactful and helped inspire what I do today.”

“I was a big fan of [SPIN],” she remembers. “South Florida was so isolated and the only glimpse of outside culture that you could get was MTV or magazines like SPIN at fucking Barnes and Noble or whatever book store you had. I remember specifically when Rancid was on the cover, and that blew my mind when the worlds collided.”

A pivotal Against Me! release was 2007’s New Wave, which we named our Album of the Year. That record anchors the band’s discography as a bold political, social and personal statement — accessible, riling protest music that resonates the novel energy of earlier bands like the Clash. Since then, they’ve released three memorable albums, including 2016’s Shape Shift With Me. 

Some fans within the punk community criticized the band around New Wave for signing with a major label. But Grace says she “honestly [doesn’t] fucking care anymore” about that criticism — recording a new album during a pandemic has gifted her with valuable perspective. 

“I just hope there’s a scene left when we come out of this,” she says. “I’m just hoping there’s a venue left after this pandemic. It puts everything in a way where you realize how fragile everything is — and that everything we had, in terms of a touring scene or a music scene, was built on the backs of each other.”

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.