Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4 in Magazine Subscriptions
- Formats: Magazine Subscription, Print
Product Description
This magazine is edited for young adults who have a special interest in popular culture. Its regular features include state-of-the-art audio and electronics columns, record reviews, reader correspondence, interviews and photojournalism features.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
273 of 318 people found the following review helpful.
Not As Good As it Used to Be
By The Groove
I have been a faithful subscriber to RS for almost twenty years, and I have witnessed the magazine slowly transform from a credible rock and roll journal to the music equivilent of Tiger Beat. In the 1980s, Rolling Stone's passion was music, and it often gave well-deserved nods to artists that were on the cutting edge: U2, Prince, REM, the Smiths, and so on. These days, its attempts to sell copies are getting more desperate as they feature people like Britney, NSYNC, and BSB on their cover sometimes as much as twice a year. I have nothing against teen pop; after all, RS gave Duran Duran a cover story in the 1980s. But it's troubling to see a magazine follow trends when they used to create them.
The record reviews are, for the most part, dubious. Rob Sheffield is one of the usual suspects. Three-and-a-half stars for Britney and Destiny's Child? More trustworthy critics include longtime writer David Fricke, Anthony DeCurtis, and Barry Walters. These guys seem to know what they're talking about when they review records.
The only section of the magazine worth reading is the movies section by Peter Travers, a critic I may not always agree with but one I do respect. Travers has enough heart to go against the grain of public opinion by trashing shallow, self-important, corporate driven, Holllywood movies. It really seems that he is criticizing the very hype machine the rest of Rolling Stone seems to embrace.
All in all, RS has its moments, but its getting disappointing within recent years. Here's hoping it can regain the edge it once had back in the 1970s and 1980s.
35 of 40 people found the following review helpful.
Everything changes so why should RS be any different?
By Steve
Many reviewers slam RS for slipping away from the cutting edge but let's face it, that happened a long, long, long time ago when rock and roll itself stopped being cutting edge. If nothing else, Rolling Stone magazine precisely mirrors rock's co-opting with corporate America. Furthermore, in this day and age there is no shortage of available magazines, blogsites, websites, etc. for one to subscribe if they care to avoid what they perceive as blatant commericialism, so why slag off a magazine that has simply followed the path of the music form that spawned it?I took a long time off from reading it because I too thought that RS has long since ceased to be worthwhile and it wasn't until I decided to browse some issues that I thought I'd give it another try. Since that time, I've dropped nearly all my subscriptions (too much money and not enough time in the day to read them all!!) and I'm glad that RS covers many of those various interest areas for me. I get political coverage that I generally agree with provided you understand their strong left leanings, movie reviews to keep up with what's out, solid music reviews that at least make you aware of who is releasing what, the old stand-by Random Notes, and the interviews. I still enjoy reading about rock performers and since I started back up half a year ago, I've seen enough of the older artists to satisfy my particular interests. Another good thing about it is that I can stay abreast of new acts and keep my own music collection fresh.Yes, there are way too many ads, yes their incessant 'Top Whatever' lists are little more than reasons to get hate mail to print in their letters section, yes it is a corporate rag, yes it sucks at the teat of pop culture way too much, and yes it is too middle of the road to ever satisfy those who seek a bit more cojones in their periodicals, but it is bathroom reading at its best, it keeps me informed, keeps pressure on Washington, and still shines enough light on the dinosaurs I enjoy. When you consider that they practically give the magazine away in subscription form (versus the staggeringly high newsstand rate), it won't be a waste of your money to buy a subscription and give it a chance.
130 of 159 people found the following review helpful.
I cancelled my subscription after 18 years - RS is dead
By fair_deal_guy
You might as well read Vibe, People or Spin--they're all the same editorially as the current shell that is called Rolling Stone. The quality that used to define RS as a distinguished platform for thoughful cultural reflection is gone.
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