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Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
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September 5, 2026
STORY · Alternative
108th on Billboard and Soundgarden Just Broke Grunge Wide Open
A band that spent its first album on an indie label suddenly had a sticker warning parents about its lyrics. That sticker appeared on Louder Than Love, the seco…
4 min read
Cover of “Louder Than Love” by Soundgarden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Stratovarius: The Album That Survived a Breakdown
Stratovarius released their self-titled eleventh album in September 2005 after a nervous breakdown nearly ended the band. Guitarist Timo Tolkki later disavowed the record he wrote entirely.
5 min read
Cover of “Stratovarius” by Stratovarius. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
September 3, 2026
STORY · Rock
The Curious Case of Jay 'Cone' McCaslin and Sum 41
Three numbers trail this story like a half-remembered chord progression: 3, 9, and 41. The last one sits in the band's name, Sum 41, a rock act whose catalog de…
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Mike Wengren: The Drummer Who Turned Silence Into a Grammy Nod
Mike Wengren spent over three decades as the rhythmic backbone of Disturbed. A Simon & Garfunkel cover on 2015's 'Immortalized' earned the band a Grammy nomination.
4 min read
Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
September 4, 2026
STORY · Metal
How Audioslave Made Their Final Album a Funk-Soul Reckoning
Audioslave closed their studio career with September 2006's Revelations. Tom Morello described the sound as Led Zeppelin meeting Earth, Wind & Fire.
5 min read
Cover of “Revelations” by Audioslave. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
STORY · Metal
Gary Wright: The Synth Dream That Never Faded
Gary Wright spent a lifetime refusing to be just one thing, but the paradox of his career is that one shimmering track from 1975 ultimately defined him.
4 min read
Dr Jean Fortunet, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Metal
The Book of Souls: When Iron Maiden’s Longest Album Had to Wait
A double album running over 92 minutes, yet its release wasn’t delayed by creative indecision — it was sidelined by a cancer diagnosis. Eleven years ago, on Sep…
4 min read
Cover of “The Book of Souls” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How a London Club Gig Became Dream Theater's First Live Document
In April 1993, Dream Theater recorded their first official live album at London's Marquee club. The document later became as famous for its omissions as its inclusions.
4 min read
Cover of “Live at the Marquee” by Dream Theater. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Dado Topić: When a Voice Outlives Its Band Twice
Born Adolf Topić on September 4, 1949, he became Dado — the voice of Korni Grupa and Time. He later represented Croatia at Eurovision 2007, turning 77 with a 57-year career behind him.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Steve Harwell: The Garage Rapper Who Bought a BMW at 27
Steve Harwell, the voice of Smash Mouth, died three years ago in Boise at 56. His 27-year run began in a San Jose garage with a kid who once thought his future was in hip-hop.
5 min read
Eric Liesse, U.S. Army, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
5 min read
STORY · Other
Irene Dunne: The Audition That Built a Legend
Irene Dunne trained for the Metropolitan Opera, was rejected, and instead built a Hollywood career that earned five Oscar nominations and zero wins.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
a-ha: Cast in Steel — The Album That Broke a Retirement
Eleven years ago today, a-ha released Cast in Steel — the album that reversed a very public farewell and arrived with a fixed two-year expiration date.
4 min read
Cover of “Cast in Steel” by a-ha. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Electronic
How Hildur Guðnadóttir made history with Chernobyl
The Geiger counter on the Chernobyl soundtrack doesn't just tick — it becomes a pulse, a voice, a warning. Hildur Guðnadóttir, born September 4, 1982, in Reykja…
4 min read
Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Folk
What Made Dottie West Testify Against Her Own Father?
Dottie West testified against her father at 17, sending him to prison for 40 years—and later became the first female country artist to win a Grammy.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Lucidity: The Studio Project That Refused to Be One
Delain's debut Lucidity was conceived as a one-off studio project by Martijn Westerholt, but its chart success forced the band into existence.
5 min read
Cover of “Lucidity” by Delain. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
5 min read
STORY · Classical
How Albert Schweitzer Made Bach's Organ Music Speak Again
Albert Schweitzer, born 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, spent his days treating patients in Lambaréné. His evenings were devoted to reimagining how Johann Sebastian Bach's music should sound.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Metal
System of a Down's Toxicity at 25: Sitar, Prison Cells
System of a Down's Toxicity turns 25 this September. A seven-times platinum album that topped the Billboard 200 with sitar drones, banjo lines, and lyrics about CIA operations and prison overcrowding.
4 min read
Cover of “Toxicity” by System of a Down. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · World
Ariel Ramírez: The Teacher Who Lasted Two Days
He walked into the classroom, faced the students, and within forty-eight hours the whole experiment was finished. Ariel Ramírez, born 4 September 1921 in Santa …
4 min read
Anatole Saderman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How Blackie Lawless Walked Away from His Own Anthem
Blackie Lawless, the architect of W.A.S.P.'s shock rock empire, turned seventy today, having spent the back half of his life systematically dismantling the monster he created.
5 min read
Jonas Rogowski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
5 min read
September 3, 2026
STORY · Metal
Roll the Bones: The Rush Album That Dared to Rap
Rush's fourteenth album Roll the Bones arrived on September 3, 1991. It cracked the Billboard top five and went platinum despite a rap interlude no sensible band would attempt.
3 min read
Cover of “Roll the Bones” by Rush. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
42 Years Later, an Iron Maiden Album Broke a Dave Murray Streak
When the letters 'WOTW' turned up on a European tour poster in April 2021, Iron Maiden fans went straight to work. No press release, no official word — just thr…
4 min read
Cover of “Senjutsu” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Classical
Eduard van Beinum: The Conductor Who Said No to the Nazis
In 1943, a charity concert in occupied Amsterdam came with a condition no musician could ignore — and one conductor chose to reject it outright. Eduard van Bein…
4 min read
Koos Raucamp / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Classical
Locatelli: The Virtuoso Who Walked Away from the Court
A teenage virtuoso from Bergamo, Pietro Locatelli conquered Rome and the courts of Europe. Then he walked away from all of them to spend thirty-five years in Amsterdam.
4 min read
Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Iza: The Ad Executive Who Sang Beyoncé Into a Record Deal
Iza spent her twenties torn between an advertising degree and a Warner Music Brasil contract. She built a pop career from YouTube covers of Beyoncé and Rihanna.
4 min read
Humor Multishow, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Tinkara Kovač: Flute Player Who Sings With Led Zeppelin
A classically trained flautist trading riffs with Ian Anderson on a European tour shouldn't make sense, yet it defines Tinkara Kovač. Born 3 September 1978, she turns forty-eight today.
3 min read
Andraž Blaznik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
How Jason McCaslin Became Sum 41's Backbone
Jason McCaslin got his nickname in an Ajax high school cafeteria. He became the bassist who held Sum 41 together through platinum records, lineup changes, and a quarter-century of pop-punk history.
4 min read
007master, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Lordi: The Man Without a Mask, the Band Without a Face
Before the masks and Eurovision, Tomi Putaansuu shot a bare-faced video for his 1993 demo Napalm Market — the only time the public would see him that way.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · World
How Peter Fox Became Berlin's Reggae Truth-Teller
In a Kreuzberg apartment, a French horn gathers dust beside gold records. The man who once played it hasn't picked up the instrument in decades, but the discipl…
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Tomo Milicevic: From Sarajevo Violin to Arenas
Tomo Milicevic spent fifteen years as the lead guitarist for Thirty Seconds to Mars. His story begins at age three with a violin bow in Sarajevo and a family flight to Michigan before the war.
5 min read
AI-generated illustration
5 min read
STORY · Pop
44 Years and Three Pianos In, Andrew McMahon Still Moves
From a Bexley living room to three distinct musical identities, Andrew McMahon turns 44 in 2026 with a memoir and a decade of solo work behind him.
4 min read
Unugunu / Unugunu at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read