Thierry Cote (York): Celluloid Heroes: Music Movies of the Rock Era as Critiques of the Cultural Industries and Late Capitalism. From Celebrity Studies, Bethany Usher and Stephanie Fremaux (Teesside): Who Is He Now: David Bowie and the Authentic Self. Hollis Griffin (Denison): Hair Metal Redux: Gendering Nostalgia and Revising History on VH1. Rosemary Lucy Hill (Leeds): Hard Rock and Metal in the Subcultural Context: What Fans Listening to the Music Can Tell Us. Who invented “heavy metal”? Matthew Guerrieri on a new answer to how a genre got its name — and why it stuck. Richard Florida on how heavy-metal music is a surprising indicator of countries’ economic health. The Song Remains Pretty Similar: Did Led Zeppelin write the greatest song opening in rock history — or steal it? Walt Hickey on why classic rock isn’t what it used to be. Noah Berlatsky on 10 songs that disprove the rockist vs. poptimist rivalry. In defense of schlock music: Jody Rosen on why Journey, Billy Joel, and Lionel Richie are better than you think. Nico Lang on why we hate Nickelback. Prachi Gupta on the 7 most Taylor Swift-y lines in Taylor Swift’s essay about the music industry. Max Martin lyrics are silly: From Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys to Ariana Grande’s Break Free, his most ungrammatical lines. Vanessa Grigoriadis on Justin Bieber, a case study in growing up cosseted and feral. Britney Spears before auto-tune is just as bad as you imagined. Is the era of mid-2000s nostalgia already here? We all have sweet, nostalgic memories of "American Top 40" — but some Casey Kasem tributes misremember music history. Oh, you kid: Jody Rosen on how a sexed-up viral hit from the summer of ’09 — 1909 — changed American pop music forever.
