Poison (Band)

The 50 worst rock/pop lyrics of all time: 40-31

The countdown of total crappiness continues. Yesterday we laid out the back half of the of the top fifty worst rock and pop lyrics of all time, and today we present the other half, which is populated by Poison's "Unskinny Bop," the Rolling Stones' "Cocksucker Blues" and a bunch of other ill-conceive ... More >>

More than a fascinating piece of Smithsology, the '80s radio takeover is a story of redemption

Besides being a long, seemingly unfounded piece of local-music folklore, as well as a now well-documented and utterly fascinating part of the Smiths mythology, the story of James Kiss is a redemptive one. It's a case study of desperation, certainly, but it's also a cautionary tale of a troubled youn ... More >>

The Smiths '80s radio station takeover: What really happened according to the police report

From examining the letters he wrote to his parents, included in the original Lakewood police file, and the details of that harrowing and fateful day in the fall of 1988 from the original offense report, one thing becomes clear: James Kiss was a very troubled young man with a seemingly dastardly plan ... More >>

Here's what we're all listening to right now. What's rocking your world this week?

As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it's not surprising that the most common (and favorite) topic of conversation among us is the same: "What are you listening to right now?" Stick a quarter in us, and, boy, wouldn't you know it, off we go, on and on about t ... More >>

Backbeat writers sound off on the year's best national albums

See also: Moovers and Shakers 2012: Backbeat writers praise the year's best local albums

The five best concerts this week: October 22-26

New week, whole new batch of shows. We start off the week with an absolute bang -- Sleigh Bells tonight at the Boulder Theater -- and end it with lauded locals Big Head Todd and the Monsters playing a super intimate show at the Soiled Dove Underground to raise money to give emergency aid to those ba ... More >>

Musketeer Gripweed

Straight Razor Revival
Self released

Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction turns 25

See Also: - Remembering Randy Rhodes thirty years after his tragic death -The Beatles' Sgt Pepper turns 45 -The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street turns 40 -Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced turns 45 In the early 1980s, a red-haired, Midwestern boy named William Bailey stepped off a bus in New Y ... More >>

Tom Cruise leads an all-star sing-along in Rock of Ages

Weekend's best live music bets: Sleigh Bells, Cults, Heartless Bastards and more

TGIF! You've worked hard all week, now it's time to coast into weekend. Plenty of great music on tap to help you unwind -- or get wound-up, as the case may be. Tonight at the Ogden, Sleigh Bells assaults the senses, Mojo Nixon kicks off a two-night stand at the Lion's Lair, JJ Grey and Mofro get the ... More >>

Sleigh Bells

Friday, April 13, Ogden Theatre, 888-929-7849.

Reader: "I would rock some Poison if Teddy Ruxpin were singing it today"

Teddy rocks​Last week when we started talking about the first album that we bought with our own money, everybody had a story. Some were laudable (Ready to Die) and some were laughable (Savage Garden), but everybody had a story. And as we suspected, we weren't alone. When we asked you to share ... More >>

Confusing overnight parking meters leave drivers frustrated

Overnight parking: Have you gotten a late-night parking ticket downtown? Tell us about it!

​ In this week's cover story, "Feed Me," I tell my totally true, slightly embarrassing story of getting a late-night parking ticket in LoDo. What started as a joyful night of karaoke glory ended with an angry little yellow envelope, thanks to new city parking rules. And I know I'm not alone. N ... More >>

Top five Headbanger's Ball videos

​Headbanger's Ball started on April 18, 1987, and ran for nearly eight years. With little regard for a narrow definition of what constituted metal, the show's programmers seemed to embrace it all. So you would see a Poison video, something from Motorhead and then something from the Cult. The e ... More >>

Tonight: Locash Cowboys at the Grizzly Rose

​Self-described "funkabilly" duo LoCash Cowboys definitely have that typical Top 40 country swagger in their singing, but it is an observational sense of humor that sets them just a bit a part. Both former dancers and choreographers, Chris Lucas and Preston Brust have the kind of stage presenc ... More >>

Dave Chandler of St. Vitus on the band's early days at SST and what inspired the reunion

Tina-Korhonen​St. Vitus (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) were one of the pioneers of a style of music that took its direct inspiration from the first four, maybe even the first six, Black Sabbath albums. The band's aggressive guitar work flirted with psychedelia but was too heavy to ever be ... More >>

Mile Highlights: Shows announced/on-sale this week, local radio playlists and top local sellers

​ Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week. On the concert front: The Fox Theatre and Boulder Theater are hosting the first annual Boulder Blues and Roots Summit. Bad Brains is coming to the Summit Music Hall in August and Blues Traveler is coming back to Red Rocks for its annual Fo ... More >>

Tonight: Steel Panther at the Bluebird

​What if, in a perfect world, the music genre you love the most was the only one in existence and lived on forever? Steel Panther imagines this to be true, and tonight the glammish four-piece brings a full-on heavy metal throwback show to Denver. The best part? Steel Panther isn't just a tribu ... More >>

Asstastic: 10 album covers celebrating the gluteus maximus inspired by Born This Way

Gaga's nostalgia-inducing butt.​Although physical albums are on there way to being rendered completely useless, there was a time -- believe it or not -- back when telephones still had curly cords, that all recordings were only available in a tangible form. As such you developed attachments to ... More >>

Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells talks about past, his creative partnership and the artwork for Treats.

Sleigh Bells is Derek Miller (from left) and Alexis Krauss​ So the story goes: Derek Miller met Alexis Krauss one day when he was serving her and her mother at a restaurant, and Krauss's mom pushed her into working on music with Miller. Until a few years ago, Miller had been living in souther ... More >>

Sleigh Bells

Saturday, October 23, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Erykah Badu offers a window seat to her soul at the Fillmore

​ Erykah Badu • Janelle Monae 06.16.10 | Fillmore Auditorium Before Erykah Badu's set, a DJ was spinning and doing live mixes of pop hits of yesteryear, stopping or slowing down the music every now and then to let the crowd enthusiastically fill in the blanks. During "Poison" by Bell Biv D ... More >>

Rightfully Accused

Ready or Not
Self-released

This Just In: Ratt at the Ogden, the Scorpions at 1st Bank and Bret Michaels at the Grizzly Rose -- wait, what year is this again?

​ Okay, so I'm not sure why you, me or anyone else, frankly, would remotely give a crap -- or ahem, a Ratt's ass, if you will -- but Ratt evidently has a new album out. It's called Infestation (of course it is), and for whatever reason (ennui? morbid curiousity?), I'm sitting shotgun in the w ... More >>

Phil Collins is okay by me.

Just take a look at me now. ​It's not everyday you're struck with eternal truth while watching a sitcom, but it does happen. And while watching a rerun of 30 Rock the other day, it happened to me when one character offered to make another a mixtape and asked, "You like Phil Collins?" and was a ... More >>

Take an end-of-the-summer road trip down Colorado, Denver's boulevard of dreams

Live Nation offers two-for-one ticket special tomorrow

On Wednesday, July 22, Live Nation is offering buy one, get one free lawn tickets for Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre shows including Creed, Crue Fest II, Def Leppard with Cheap Trick and Poison, Toby Keith with Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley with Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne, and Rod Stewart. The two-fo ... More >>

Atmosphere, Bat for Lashes, Brad Paisley shows announced

After a killer two-night stint at the Ogden Theatre last year, the hip-hop duo Atmosphere returns will return to these parts Friday, August 15, when the pair headlines Red Rocks. The British group Bat For Lashes, who mezmorized folks at the Larimer Lounge in 2007, will play the Bluebird this time ar ... More >>

Q&A with Kevin Devine

Photo by Denny DoesKevin Devine. Singer-songwriter Kevin Devine, the subject of a profile in this week's Westword advancing his Sunday, May 24 gig at the Marquis Theatre with Miniature Tigers, The Rouge and Brian Bonz, is the rarest of interview subjects: a guy who listeners carefully to every ques ... More >>

Let your hair down at Eck's

Black Kids' Reggie Youngblood is a product of his contradictions

Tavern 13

How to get chicks, in one easy lesson.

Mini Reviews

The Beatdown

Atlantic Records may be a major fable, but it knows Vaux is the real deal.

The Beatdown

If Nina has anything to say about it, this story will have a happy ending.

Letters to the Editor

From the week of September 26, 2002

Bite Me

Out of the Bleu.

Backwash

If this summer’s concert season has an encore, we’d rather skip it.