Here's Jon going off on music in the form of album reviews, personal stories and interviews, liner notes, and the occasional assault on fellow Amazon.com customers.

We've created a separate archive below for Jon's album reviews from his early journalism days. That's a good place to find debacles from rock icons and other excesses of the 80's and early 90's.

Megadeth Unsung - The Real Greatest Hits
Jon looks at the human side of a legend and winds up with a “best of” like no other.

In Search of Tori Amos and Lost Youth
In one of his most personal essays, Jon looks back on the night he met Tori and some things that slipped away. Tori fans be warned: this piece is more about Jon than Tori.

Jon Takes on Metal's Monster Ballads
The Monster Ballads compilations, coming soon to a late-night TV commercial near you, pose a fascinating challenge: How to sort the good schlock from the bad? Jon is up to the task.

Warrior Soul: the Best Band of the '90s
Warrior Soul predicted the corporatization of rock and roll with devastating accuracy. In his annotated liner notes to the best Warrior Soul songs, Jon pays homage to one of the most underrated bands of all time.

Warrior Soul: the Best Band of the '90s, Disc Two
Jon continues his tribute to Warrior Soul with his second disc of liner notes. More classics and overlooked gems are covered.

Alanis Morissette Has Lost Her Mind
Jon uses Alanis' botched "remake" of Jagged Little Pill as a launching point for a diatribe on the relevance of rage.

How a Band Called Fancy Trash is Saving Rock and Roll
Jon's latest piece of "epic music journalism" is the story of a rising local band called Fancy Trash, in the context of a larger question: is rock and roll a dying genre?

Remembering Dieselmeat
See the piece Webmaster Rachel calls Jon's best work ever. Jon's story of his closest brush with musical greatness and how it changed the course of his life forever. A major new addition to the site, complete with photos.

Metallica Unsung: Liner Notes
In his first Metallica piece in a decade, Jon tackles Metallica's creative highs and lows, their fight with Napster and their quest for re-invention in spite of their own intolerant fans.

JR's Mixes and Liner Notes
JR rolls out his all-new section of liner notes and track listings, featuring the best overlooked music of the '80s and '90s. The first artist featured was Tori Amos, then the first of the metal mixes was posted, and now, four more annotated mixes are up – all relating to Hanoi Rocks.

Musical Sellouts: Single Song Division
JR expands his rants on corporate whores and musical sellouts with his list of the most grievous sales of individual songs in the bastard marriage of rock and commerce. He's also added his dreaded list of the All Time Corporate Song Whores.

Hanoi Rocks, Live in London:
The Story of a (Once) Teenage Hanoi Fan Who Finally Meets His Idols
Everyone dreams of meeting their idols. Here's how it happened for JR. A concert review, a story of growing up but (hopefully) not growing old, and a whole lot more.

The Life and Fast Times of Hanoi Rocks: An Interview with Dave Dickson, Music Journalist
A project that started out as a tribute to Jon's all-time favorite band, Hanoi Rocks, became something a whole lot more. This feature combines an historic interview with a series of Jon's personal writings on Hanoi Rocks and an article archive contributed by Dave Dickson himself. A must-read for Hanoi and hard rock fans, this interview's storyline of youthful glory, lost innocence, and the challenge of overcoming/living-up-to your own past might also appeal to non-fans as well.

Jerry's Dead
Jon's take on the death of an icon.

Is Metal More Subversive Than Punk?
Substance, longevity, cultural penetration, and other factors to consider.

Chris Whitley is God
A reader objects to Jon's scathing review of Chris Whitley's Din of Ecstasy.

More on Hanoi Rocks
Jon's written too much about his favorite band, so we had to create a separate page for his Hanoi work.

Undressing the Unband
Jon and the Unband discuss "gross and lewd behavior."

Interview with 4 Non Blondes' Linda Perry: No Blonde, No Hairspray
"Perry knows that all bets are still on - fate could land the band anywhere between obscurity and immortality."

Megadeth: Capital Punishment
"For Megadeth to release a greatest hits without 'Take No Prisoners,' which is not only their best song but arguably the greatest metal song ever recorded, is unforgivable."

Buffalo Tom: A-Sides
"If you are relatively new to Buffalo Tom, before you buy their A-Sides compilation you will want to know that there are two competing schools of thought on the band’s merits."

Archives: The best of Jon's album reviews

Every Dollar Tells a Story: Rod Stewart hops on the Unplugged bandwagon
"Whoever said that 'it's easier to criticize than create' must have been trying to defend Rod Stewart."

John Mellencamp - Human Wheels
"Nothing tries the patience quite like John Mellencamp's ongoing flirtation with greatness."

Paul McCartney, Paul is Live
"Misleading album titles to the contrary, Paul is dead."

Music to Grind Your Mind
"Like a fleshy scab that grows back as soon as you try to scratch it off, death metal is thriving..."

Aerosmith: Big Ones Reconsidered
"...but if the lyrics were cartoonish, they rolled off Tyler's tongue with a raunchy ease that cannot be recreated, even by him."

Chris Whitley's Din of Ecstasy
"...there is a middle ground between catering to your fans and playing with yourself."

James Taylor is (a)Live?
"Taylor never gives desperation its due, and this selective songwriting has cost him much credibility over the years."

Still Lazy After All These Years
"The Beatles and Paul Simon are the latest artists to give in to the convenience of the CD retrospective."

Neil Young - Unplugged
"Young is not afraid to pare down his songs and put the melody up to glaring acoustic scrutiny."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits
"On his Greatest Hits, Petty makes as convincing a case for rock's longevity as we're going to hear."