Bryan Wawzenek is a freelance journalist who writes for Diffuser.fm and Ultimate Classic Rock. He learned more from a three-minute record than he ever learned in school. His mind is racing, as it always will. Don't start him talking, he could talk all night. The sunshine bores the daylights out of him. Don't touch him, he's a real live wire. Most things he worries about never happen anyway. But he's been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come.
Bryan Wawzenek
How Paul Simon’s ‘Songs From the Capeman’ Became Such a Failure
He may have put more effort into this Broadway musical than any other project in his long career.
15 Years Ago: Pearl Jam Reads the ‘Riot Act’
On the band's seventh studio album, Pearl Jam mixed melodic rockers with experimental sounds while dealing with tragedy.
In Defense of… R.E.M.’s ‘Shiny Happy People’
For years, R.E.M. has been dragged through the M.U.D. over this pop hit. We defend the song's place in the band's rich catalog.
Up Where They Belong?: How Rockers Transitioned to Adult Contemporary
The phrase “Adult Contemporary” might as well be an epithet to rock fans.
How Lou Reed Became a Top 40 Star With ‘Transformer’
If few consider this his masterpiece, it still appears in conversations of the best rock albums ever made.
When Bob Dylan Unplugged for ‘Good as I Been to You’
When the creative river ran dry, he retreated to the well.
How Steely Dan’s Darkly Humorous Debut ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ Finally Got Made
For a time, no one seemed to like the band's tunes as much as their creators.
20 Years Ago: Flaming Lips Demand Listeners’ Involvement on ‘Zaireeka’
Were the Flaming Lips about to flame out? A confluence of events in the mid-’90s made it look like the Oklahoma psychedelic rockers might be done for.
Influence and Infamy: How the Sex Pistols Impacted the Future of Music
The Pistols are a singular influence on much of what came in their wake – fellow British punks, thrash, college rock, Britpop, glam metal and grunge.
50 Years Ago: ‘Rolling Stone’ Magazine Prints Its First Issue
In 1967, rock ’n’ roll was flourishing, the hippie movement was happening and pop sensations had gone from being perceived as teen heartthrobs to experimental artists.
The Day the Beatles Made Their Television Debut
This wasn’t the band’s big break, a star-making performance or anything like that.
Michael Stipe Explores Life’s Last Moments with ‘Try Not to Breathe’
The second track from 'Automatic for the People' is the album's first one about death. But the song’s title originated with a much more innocuous statement.