Magazines – Rolling Stone August 2022

Rolling Stone 08/2022: The 30 best MTV Unplugged albums, Kate Bush, Dirty Dancing & exciting newcomers

It's well known among music magazine aficionados that Rolling Stone is very progressive and forward-looking, consistently featuring artists who aren't yet familiar to a wider audience. Some of these artists develop into true gems, while others painfully learn that their musical performances don't appeal to the tastes of mainstream audiences, and they are denied breakthrough and success.

However, in addition to its talent scouting, Rolling Stone always offers a wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and information for the less well-versed music aficionado. This is also the case in the current issue from August 2022 (number 334).

The cover itself hints at the 30 best unplugged albums. The occasion: 30 years of MTV Unplugged , and—by chance or design—the 12-page article also starts on page 30. Although the music format was introduced in 1989, it only became a household name, a brand name, in 1992, thanks to Eric Clapton . Anyone who owns an MTV Unplugged album or two on their CD shelf can look here very reliably and competently to find recordings they can enrich their collection with. Besides Clapton and Nirvana , many other artists have already demonstrated their acoustic prowess on MTV. It's positive to note that Rolling Stone hasn't succumbed to the temptation to create a hit list, counting down from 30 to 1. The cover, fitting the theme, doesn't feature a star, as is usual, but simply an acoustic guitar. Perfectly chosen!

Other well-known artists in this issue include Gilbert O'Sullivan in a Q&A session, a history of the 35th anniversary of the dance film Dirty Dancing , and a guide to the great work of Kate Bush . The English singer is currently hugely popular after the TV series Stranger Things used her 1985 hit " Running Up That Hill. " And—on top of that—July 30th has been designated " Wuthering Heights " Day worldwide for years. People dressed in red meet up and imitate Kate Bush 's dance from her 1978 hit. In modern parlance, this is called a flash mob . Perfect timing!

Finally, let's take another look at the "newcomers" in the current issue of Rolling Stone. Of particular interest here is Avriel Benjamin "Avi" Kaplan , who earned his first musical merits with the a cappella group Pentatonix (now a three-time Grammy winner). In addition to his guitar playing, his bass voice is particularly impressive. It will be very interesting to see what Avi's solo career will become. For that reason alone, it's exciting to read the article in Rolling Stone!