Review: '501 Essential Albums of the '80s'

Late last year we got a swollen tome determined to canonize 501 albums from the 1990s. Alas, such a project was doomed to frustrate because by the 1990s pop music had wandered off into such disparate directions that simply enjoying nineties music in general signals a lack of personal taste instead of broadmindedness. In other words, anyone who'd go straight for the entry on Exile in Guyville could only suppress their barf reflex when seeing that Baby One More Time followed several pages later. In other other words, in attempting to please everyone the book seemed aimed at no one.

Review: 'Eternal Flame: The Authorized Biography of The Bangles'

The Bangles phenomenon was the perfect storm for getting under the skin of serious musicians. The serious musicians in question were sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson, who started jamming and writing songs out of a serious love for UK and LA rock of the sixties. Enter Susanna Hoffs, who shared the Peterson's adoration of sixties rock and musical talents but radiated star-power a little more radiantly and was more malleable in her definition of artistic integrity. 

Review: 'Ladies and Gentlemen... The Bangles'

The Bangles were the only band to climb out of LA's sixties-fetishizing Paisley Underground to become zillion-selling pop superstars. However, when they hit big in 1986 with Different Light, there was a mere dusting of paisley atop the drum machines, synthesizers, and other heavy-handed eighties production strokes. Sure, "Manic Monday" was a really good record, but the original fans The Bangles had won by doing time on the Sunset Strip were probably left wondering what happened to the organic, no-frills band they loved.