Dr. Dre: Hip Hop's Revolutionary and Visionary

Andre Romelle Young AKA Dr. Dre

Few people in the music industry have made an impact on a specific genre like Dr. Dre did with rap and hip hop.

His real name is Andre Romelle Young and he's the guy who brought ghetto street rap to the masses thanks to his ear and ability to produce amazing grooves.

Rap music basically hit big in May, 1986 when New York's Run D.M.C. released Raising Hell, a record that would quickly reach No. 2 on Billboard in the United States, propelled in part by Run D.M.C.'s collaboration with Aerosmith on the hit "Walk This Way".

But Raising Hell is mostly a rap record that featured the hits "It's Tricky" and "My Adidas", among others and helped put rap on the mainstream map.

Now the sound of the album is fairly bombastic, with uber producer Rick Rubin having a hand in the production. It doesn't have lots of funky grooves or harmonies. It's your basic, early rap record.

A year after Raising Hell was released, Dr. Dre was working in Compton, California with N.W.A. on their big release, Straight Outta Compton, which came out in 1988, and spawned the Gangsta Rap genre, with lyrics glorifying murder, guns, drugs and disrespect to women. It became popular and Dr. Dre began the process of honing his techniques behind the board.

It was on N.W.A.'s final release, 1991's Niggaz4life, that Dre really let the groove do the talking on the songs, adding in plenty of percussion into the mix. Just check out "Real Niggaz Don't Die". Dre also started incorporating background harmony and catchy, repetitive keyboard sounds, that had more of today's hip hop vibe.

Dr. Dre Finds Himself with The Chronic

After Dre left N.W.A. in 1991 after a dispute with Eazy- E, he went on to Suge Knight's famous label, Death Row Records and released his trademark album The Chronic in December 1992.

The Chronic is where Dre put it all together with the phenomenal grooves and a feel that took hip hop to another level entirely, while clearly defining the West Coast sound and his own G-Funk subgenre. Dre successfully incorporated massive, funky bass grooves and beats with earworm synthesizers like on "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')", all blended in with catchy harmonies. These were not elements found in old school rap records.

A listen to his collaboration with Snoop Dogg on "Nuthin' But A G Thang", with its smooth groove will quickly convert most music fans to Dre's brand of hip hop.

Kanye West said it best when he said in Rolling Stone that The Chronic "is still the hip-hop equivalent to Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. It's the benchmark you measure your album against if you're serious."

Dr. Dre: Producer Extraordinaire

With his M.O. firmly established, Dre, a six-time Grammy winner including Producer of the Year in 2001, would go on to work with some of hip hop's biggest names, putting his production talents to work. Dre is known as a perfectionist in the studio and workaholic, and his attention to detail is something that helped him produce some of hip hops biggest artsist and turn them into superstars.

Snoop Dogg

Dre produced Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle, which sold millions of copies.

Dre was also the man responsible for unleashing Eminem (also a studio perfectionist) on the world after signing the Detroit rapper to his Aftermath label in 1997. He was executive producer on Eminem's The Slim Shady LP, a record that debuted at No. 2 on Billboard and has become of the masterpieces of hip hop. Dre additionally helped out on The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse, and Recovery.

In fact, Dre met Eminem after the latter placed second in the 1997 Rap Olympics, and someone sent a copy of the Slim Shady EP to Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine, who played it for Dre. Dre recalled in Rolling Stone "In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I said, 'Find him. Now.'"

Dre has also worked with 2Pac, Mary J. Blige, Warren G, Gwen Stefani, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, and many others.

Even today, Dre still has his hand on the pulse of the music world, with his protégé Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City being one of the finest hip-hop albums of the last few years.

James Hetfield Wasn't a Fan of Metallica's Mid-'90s Look

Metallica during the Load era

When Metallica fans purchased the Load album in 1996, they were probably shocked seeing what the band looked like in the liner notes.

They went from scruffy rockers to short-haired, makeup-wearing, leather-clad rock stars. And it turns out frontman James Hetfield wasn't a fan of the short hair and makeup, either.

Hetfield told Team Rock that not only did he not like Metallica's look, but late bassist Cliff Burton would have agreed with him and fought the record company about how the band should appear.

"I would certainly think that the ‘Load’ and ‘Reload’ [era], I would have had an ally that was very against it all – the reinvention or the U2 version of Metallica," said Hetfield, adding he wasn't comfortable during the Load-Reload era but liked the music. "There’s some great, great songs on there."

Indeed. Despite how the band looked and their more hard rock vs. thrash sound, some of Metallica's best tracks including "Bleeding Me", "Outlaw Torn", and "Thorn Within" are on those albums.

Hetfield added if Burton were still alive back then (he died in a bus crash in 1986), things probably would have been different with how the band sounded.

"Well, I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure," said Hetfield, who also hated both the Load and Reload covers. "I think Cliff would have probably interjected some different stuff, getting his bass heard and some more musically challenging things, probably."

"But my opinion is that all of the imagery and stuff like that was not necessary. And the amount of songs that were written was… it diluted the potency of the poison of Metallica. And I think Cliff would have agreed with that," Hetfield noted.

Certainly, many Metallica fans jumped off the bandwagon in anger when Load was released, but at the same time, they captured new fans with their look and grungier sound.

With their 10th studio album, Hardwired ... To Self Destruct set for release on Nov. 18, it sounds like James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo are getting back to their earlier roots from the mid 1980s, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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Check Out The Top 5 Metallica Songs Cliff Burton Co-Wrote

Five of the Saddest Songs Ever Written

Elton John famously sang that "Sad songs say so much" and it's true, even though that song is too chipper sounding to make this list. When you're down or unhappy, a sad song can sound so good and speak to what you're feeling. Many of the most famous songs of woe include lyrics about a real-live event or tragedy, which make them even more poignant. Check out our list of five of the saddest songs:

"Everybody Hurts" - R.E.M.

R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" is a song urging someone not to commit suicide, backed by mournful verses, strings and an organ that sounds straight out of a funeral parlour. While the overall tone of the 1992 track is desperately depressing, the chorus is one of hope and inspiration. As guitarist Peter Buck said of the song, the lyrics are very straightforward because they wanted the song to resonate with teenagers - the group that has the highest suicide rates. This amazing track was used in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.

"The Grace" - Neverending White Lights (Vocals by Dallas Green)

Written by Canadian Daniel Victor and sung by fellow Canuck Dallas Green, "The Grace" is another song about taking one's own life. The narrator has lost hope in life and love, and begins wondering if dying is a positive thing given all the negatives surrounding him. It's a sorrowful song where the narrator does end up committing suicide. Green's vocal performance is nothing short of stunning. He adds the perfect inflection to the lyrics, as if he wrote them himself.

"All of My Love" - Led Zeppelin

Taken my most to be a love song, "All of My Love" from 1979's In Through the Out Door is in fact a tribute to Robert Plant's son, Karac, who died in 1977 when he was just five years old. He likely dies of stomach enteritis. Knowing the song's subject matter turns it into a father mourning his dead son and the lyrics take on a new life. Plant, in interviews, calls the song one Led Zeppelin's "finest moments".

"Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)" - Elton John

"Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)" deals with the 1980 murder of John Lennon, who was good friends with Elton John and Bernie Taupin, who wrote the song's lyrics. John was even named godfather to Lennon's son, Sean, in 1975. The melancholy music is perfectly suited to the words of the song as Elton struggles to comprehend the suddenness of Lennon's passing after being murdered by crazed superfan Mark David Chapman. Over the years, John has rarely played this song live because the memory of Lennon's death is too painful.

"Tears in Heaven" - Eric Clapton

"Tears in Heaven" is a Clapton acoustic ballad about the death of his four-year-old son after falling from the window of a New York high rise in 1991. It was co-written with Will Jennings. Clapton, who said writing the song helped him heal, wrote the words for the first verse, and urged Jennings to come up with the release ("Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees ..."). The track was featured in the 1991 movie Rush.

Bonus: "Nutshell" - Alice in Chains

When an artist foretells his or own death in a song, it really hits home after the fact. That was the case with Alice in Chains' "Nutshell" and vocalist Layne Staley, who died of a heroin overdose in 2002. Not only is the tone of the song about as sombre as it gets, lyrically Staley warns of fighting "this battle all alone. No one to cry to, no place to call home." He sticks to the song's mantra that "if I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead." And that was the case with Staley, who slowly became more and more reclusive after Jar of Flies was released in 1993 until he was found dead in his Seattle apartment.

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A Look at Powerage - AC/DC's Most Underrated Album

With a vast catalogue of 17 studio albums, AC/DC's Powerage is a record that goes largely unnoticed. It certainly doesn't get the accolades of Highway To Hell or Back in Black, but when you look at the Aussie rockers' body of work, Powerage stands out in a big way.

In fact Powerage, released in 1978, is the record that made people, including AC/DC's record label, Atlantic, stand up and really pay attention to the grubby misfits. Because after Powerage gained the band more attention and sales in the U.S., Atlantic executives got AC/DC to bring in uber producer Mutt Lange for the follow-up, and we all know how good Highway To Hell is, thanks in large part to Lange's work in the studio.

For Powerage, which was hot on the heels of 1977's Let There Be Rock, the band used the same producers, Harry Vanda and George Young, older brother to Angus and Malcolm Young.

But, unlike its predecessor, which is a phenomenal, raw record, Powerage brings an entirely different feel to it - a warmer sound thanks to a better mix. The band spent three months in the studio (one more than they did for Let There Be Rock) recording and mixing, and the extra time really paid off.

Powerage was the first AC/DC album featuring bassist Cliff Williams, who replaced Mark Evans after he was fired in May, 1977. However, Evans has said publicly some of his bass playing is on the album.

AC/DC had vibe in studio on Powerage

Atlantic Records promo shot

According to Williams, a big reason why the album is so good is the vibe the band had recording it, which was pretty much live in studio.

"The guys had already been in the studio for a while and we went in to do what turned out to be the Powerage album. Great work environment. Albert Studios there in Sydney was a great little rock and roll room...Great producers," said Williams in a Bass Frontiers interview. "Obviously a lot of chemistry there being brothers. Just a real fiery, energetic work environment. It was really a tremendous experience."

The album opener, "Rock 'N' Roll Damnation" shows the band flexing their muscles in a new way with a heavy dose of maracas providing the extra feel.

Then there's "Gone Shootin'", a slower tempo track where the band lets the fantastic groove do the talking.

You'll notice "Up To My Neck in You" sounds more like the songs on "Let There Be Rock" and that's because it was started during those recording sessions.

"Gimme A Bullet" and "Down Payment Blues" are two of the best songs AC/DC have ever recorded, but like the rest of the album, they are definitely underrated in the canon of the band's legacy.

Heck, the album even got a ringing endorsement from Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards, who said it's his favourite AC/DC record.

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Top Five Feuds Between Rock Band Members

Much like a family, members of rock bands don't always see eye to eye and often aren't shy about venting their feelings and frustrations towards each other. Since the late 1960s, there have been plenty of in-band feuds that have gained headlines. Here are the top five feuds between members of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger

Jagger and Richards have been at odds since the mid 1970s, but things really came to head in the 1980s when the Glimmer Twins barely talked to each other and the Rolling Stones nearly broke up for good after releasing Dirty Work in 1986. That's because Mick reneged on his promise to tour behind the album, angering Richards. At the time the two didn't share the same vision for the direction of the Rolling Stones, especially Mick, who wanted to distance himself from the band and focus on his solo work and touring.

Richards was pissed Mick wanted to become a pop star outside of the band, and did some solo work of his own, taking shots at Jagger in the process with a song off his Talk Is Cheap record called "You Don't Move Me" with lyrics directed squarely at Jagger. But the two, for the greater good of the band and no doubt the money, got it together to record and tour for 1989's Steel Wheels album. Interestingly, on "Mixed Emotions", Richards maintains he sings "Mick's Demotions" during the chorus.

And, just when the two had been regularly recording and touring, the dormant feud erupted again when Richards took a shot at Jagger's "tiny dodger" in his 2010 memoir Life. Mick wasn't amused and demanded - and got - an apology from Richards. In that same book, Richards sums up his long relationship with Jagger: "How can you describe a relationship that goes that far back? Best friends are best friends. Brothers fight."

Liam and Noel Gallagher

Feuding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher

The English brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher have no doubt been at each other's throats since they were kids, but as members of Oasis from 1991-2009, they engaged in one of the nastiest, most physical feuds ever by band members, most of them alcohol fueled. On their first tour of the U.S. in 1994, band vocalist Liam got a kick out of changing various song lyrics so they were derogatory to both Americans and his brother. This didn't sit well with Noel, who tossed a chair at his brother after one concert and a major brawl followed.

Then, while recording their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, the brothers got involved in another brouhaha, this time with a cricket bat being used as a weapon after Liam invited everyone from the pub back into the studio while Noel was trying to work. This became the norm for the feuding siblings until 2009, when Noel finally had had enough. After yet another physical altercation with Liam, the band cancelled a show at the last minute on Aug. 28, 2009 in Paris. That night, Noel confirmed he was leaving the band because he "simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."

Roger Waters and David Gilmour

Roger Waters and David Gilmour

Far more tame physically than the Gallagher brothers' feud, the animosity between Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour was more a beef about power within Pink Floyd than anything else. After reaching the top of the mountain with "Dark Side of the Moon", Waters began to take more control in terms of the band's songwriting and indeed, wrote most of the material from Animals, The Wall through The Final Cut. In the process, Water was writing darker, more political material. Waters argues Gilmour wasn't bringing any songs to the table, so he wrote the tracks, getting publishing royalties in the process - more than Gilmour was taking in.

The band broke up after the Final Cut and, in 1985, Waters famously declared Pink Floyd was a "spent force creatively" and left the band. Gilmour, who wanted to keep Pink Floyd going, won a lengthy legal battle (Waters wanted to completely dissolve the band) to carry on under the Pink Floyd brand, releasing two so-so albums 1987's Momentary Lapse of Reason and 1994's The Division Bell.

Axl Rose and Slash

Axl Rose and Slash

The two most prominent members of Guns 'N Roses have mended their fences for the current reunion tour, but there was 20 years of animosity between the two after Slash left the band in 1996. In his 2007 biography, Slash stated he left Guns 'N Roses because of Rose's constant lateness to concerts, the alleged legal manipulation Rose used (since denied by Rose) to gain control of the band, and the departures of original drummer Steven Adler and guitarist Izzy Stradlin.

For his part, Rose stoked the fire with some nasty words in a 2009 interview, saying "Personally I consider Slash a cancer and better removed, avoided — and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better." No doubt Rose knew Slash had lost his mother to cancer and the comments didn't sit well with the guitarist.

Rose also told Billboard in 2009 (when there was talk of a GNR reunion back then): "What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."

Looks like a lot of dollar bills have soothed any lingering acrimony between Slash and Rose. We'll hold our breath as to whether or not they record another GNR record together.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

The two best known members of the Beatles saw cracks in their writing partnership emerging after Beatles manager Brian Epstein died suddenly in 1967. After that it was a slow dissolution of the Lennon/McCartney partnership that included Lennon feeling like his songs weren't getting their due over McCartney's tracks. McCartney noted he and Lennon were openly critical of each other's songs around the Abbey Road sessions. Also McCartney wanted to tour with the band again, but Lennon wanted none of it and he was tiring of McCartney's bossiness in the studio. These things, and others (Yoko Ono), created friction that ended with Lennon leaving the band in 1969.

But the Lennon/McCartney feud didn't end when the Beatles broke up. They wrote songs on their solo albums taking jabs at each other.

Lennon's Imagine album has a song called "How Do You Sleep?", which is directed squarely at McCartney with lyrics like "You live with straights who tell you was king. Jump when your momma tell you anything. The only thing you done was yesterday. And since you’re gone you’re just another day. A pretty face may last a year or two. But pretty soon they’ll see what you can do. The sound you make is muzak to my ears. You must have learned something in all those years."

McCartney took a shot at Lennon and Yoko Ono on the track "Too Many People" from the Ram record. The lyrics "Too many people preaching practices" and "You took your lucky break and broke it in two" are directed at Lennon.