Caroline Sullivan
Caroline Sullivan (pictured with a thrilled-looking Shakin' Stevens) started at Melody Maker and currently writes for The Guardian. Caroline also occasionally appears on TV and various outposts of BBC Radio. She has also written for The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph and various women's magazines.
Caroline Sullivan on the RBP podcast
597 articles
List of articles in the library
Boomtown Rats: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 March 1985
IT'S INTERESTING to speculate how responsible Geldof's recent visibility is for landing the Rats two sold-out nights at this 2,000-seater. ...
Boyd Rice, Frank Tovey, Sonic Youth: Sonic Youth/Frank Tovey & Boyd Rice
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, New Musical Express, 30 March 1985
AAAAH! CATHARSIS time again! ...
Stewart Copeland, The Police: Stewart Copeland: The Rhythm Method
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 25 May 1985
STEWART COPELAND has been using his holiday from The Police to go exploring in Africa and make a video and LP called The Rhythmatist. Caroline ...
Agnes Bernelle, Elvis Costello: Agnes Bernelle: Cabaret in Exile
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 1 June 1985
The first time AGNES BERNELLE met Elvis Costello she thought he was an accountant. She's also met Marlene Dietrich and Adolf Hitler, nearly. Now, at ...
Marilyn: Despite Straight Lines (Mercury)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
Praying for sunshine ...
'Til Tuesday: Voices Carry (Epic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 June 1985
THE PRECISE analogy for 'Til Tuesday eludes me, but stating that I thought that this sort of album only got an American release should convey ...
George Clinton, Thomas Dolby: George Clinton and Thomas Dolby: The Nut & The Nerd
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 20 July 1985
We're known as The Nut and The Nerd say George Clinton and Thomas Dolby, now together as DOLBY'S CUBE. Caroline Sullivan met this unlikely pair ...
Samantha Fox: The Best Girls Are Always In The Maker!
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 20 July 1985
Dumb blonde or shrewd businesswoman? Whatever your viewpoint, you've got to envy Sun Page Three girl SAMANTHA FOX. Still a teenager, she stands to earn ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 24 August 1985
At last AMAZULU have a hit. But can they hang on to their sanity? Caroline Sullivan talks to Claire and Nardo ...
Sheila E.: Sheila E: Romance 1600 (Paisley Park/WB)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 September 1985
Fun and games ...
George Clinton: Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (Capitol)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985
The joke's on you ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 21 September 1985
Fat is a feminine issue ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 September 1985
"WHAT KIND of strings do you use on your axe, man?" ...
Julie Burchill: The 'Sweetest Girl'
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 November 1985
JULIE BURCHILL has torpedoed more sacred cows than a pop star has brain cells, though she likes (among other things) Sade and the Maker. Caroline Sullivan ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 11 January 1986
THE MANDATORY credit to God is featured in the small print on the sleeve of Cameo's eleventh album and, when you consider how many cruddy ...
Ozzy Osbourne: The Ultimate Sin (Epic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 22 February 1986
WHEN I MET the editor of Kerrang! the other week, I asked him why he liked heavy metal, assuming that here, at last, was someone ...
Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction: Gossips, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 19 April 1986
MIND BENDERS ...
Imagination: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 June 1986
FOR ME, the high point of the set by this precision-dancing disco collective was the moment when Leee slipped off his gold lame jacket to ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 August 1986
BLACK 501s and Joseph sweatwear. London popsoul that sounds kinda like latter-day Animal Nightlife or early Wham! or one of those other clubland consortiums. A ...
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Glamour Pussies
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 9 August 1986
Just when you thought the charts revolved around aging old crones, and the drab indie circuit offered the only alternative, along come CURIOSITY KILLED THE ...
Debbie Harry: Rockbird (Chrysalis)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986
FIVE YEARS is nigh on an eternity in pop, and Debbie Harry has returned to a changed world — a world in which the Lower ...
Womack And Womack: Starbright (Manhattan)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 10 January 1987
Rhyming Couplets ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 31 January 1987
ANITA BAKER, the new queen of soul, discusses the dos and dont's of the bigtime with a sympathetic Caroline Sullivan. ...
The Judds: Give A Little Love (RCA)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 February 1987
GIVEN THE choice between listening to a country LP — any country LP — or one by some exceeding obscure indie outfit who are distinguished ...
Luther Vandross: The Language of Love
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 February 1987
So what does LUTHER VANDROSS, sex god to millions, do on a date? Does he even date at all? And what the hell happened when ...
Swing Out Sister: It's Better To Travel (Phonogram)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
HOW DELICIOUS that a wee sleakit trio like Swing Out Sister can elicit such rage from the young sociologists of rock criticism. And for what? ...
Cookie Crew, The Three Wise Men: The Three Wise Men, Cookie Crew: Rhythm and Bruise
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987
SOMETHING IS STIRRING IN DEEPEST SOUTH LONDON IN THE SHAPE OF RHYTHM KING RECORD LABEL ARTISTS THE COOKIE CREW, WHO FORM THE FEMALE HIP-HOP ASSAULT ...
The Fat Boys: Crushin' (Urban/Polydor)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
EVEN IN their days as a one-gag band, playing Sham 69 to Run DMC's Pistols, the Fat Boys were immensely (and I do mean immensely) ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
THEY'VE CONQUERED THE WORLD BUT STILL CAN'T WOO THE CRITICS. INXS ARE AN ENIGMA. CAROLINE SULLIVAN PONDERS THE RIDDLE WITH MICHAEL HUTCHENCE,'THE SEXIEST MAN IN ...
Marc Almond: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988
WHERE HAVE these vulpine goths acquired their taste for this Brechtian melodrama? A brush with The Collected Isherwood? ...
Scarlet Fantastic: Phantasmagoria
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 January 1988
ARE SCARLET FANTASTIC LEADERS OF THE NEW GLAM MOVEMENT OR MERELY HIPPIES DRESSED IN SATIN AND SEQUINS? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SEPARATES THE MAGIC FROM THE MANIFESTO. ...
Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, MC Shan: Cold Chillin' Records: The Big Chill
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 April 1988
COLD CHILLIN' HAVE COMPILED A ROSTER TO CHALLENGE DEF JAM'S HIP HOP SUPREMACY. CAROLINE SULLIVAN MEETS A TRIO ON THE WAY TO THE TOP ...
Fairground Attraction: The Human Touch
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
WITH THEIR DEBUT SINGLE, 'PERFECT', STORMING INTO THE CHARTS, FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION AREN'T QUITE THE OVERNIGHT SENSATIONS THEY MIGHT APPEAR. CAROLINE SULLIVAN CHARTS THEIR PROGRESS ...
Voice of the Beehive: Girls at our best
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988
IF VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE ARE THE LAST WORD IN GIRLY POP, HOW COME THEY CALL EACH OTHER RAY? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SETS OUT TO SCRAP ...
Ofra Haza: Yemen They Couldn't Hang
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 14 May 1988
AFTER ERIC B AND RAKIM ABDUCTED HER EXOTIC VOICE FOR THEIR HIT SINGLE 'PAID IN FULL', EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT OFRA HAZA SOUNDS LIKE. CAROLINE SULLIVAN ...
Bros: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
"I NEED a drink," my fellow Brosette whimpers urgently. It's the deafening interval 'tween set-end and encore. For an hour he'd gamely stood his ground, ...
Was (Not Was): Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 16 July 1988
TWO JEWISH comedians backed by the JBs. There — that's as close as anyone will ever come to describing the Wases in seven words. Unless ...
Wet Wet Wet: The Memphis Sessions (Phonogram)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 12 November 1988
IN A RECENT Wx3 feature in The Observer's Section 5, Simon Reynolds concluded that the Wets' perpetuation of soul music's traditional values is "an unhelpful ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 17 December 1988
THURSDAY, A PACKED Marquee. Onstage, four anoraky boys with jangling guitars. Mick Mercer's idea of Nirvana; my idea of no good reason to miss Neil ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
POOR LITTLE PUP. So keen to please, yet so reviled by the over-15's. Some bleak midnights, he must wonder: "What did I ever do to ...
Hot House: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 18 March 1989
THERE ARE, oh, a thousand or so people in London who know that Hot House have nothing to do with Chicago, or with Liam O'Maonlai ...
Swing Out Sister: Dog Day Afternoon
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 1 April 1989
TWO YEARS AGO THEY HAD TWO TOP 10 SINGLES AND A NUMBER 1 ALBUM. THEN THE TRIO OF SUAVE POPSTERS DISAPPEARED. CAROLINE SULLIVAN REPORTS ON ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
THE NEWS Of The World was uppermost in my mind as a deafening, amphetamined version of the Batman theme presaged Yazz's arrival. Did you see ...
Bonnie Raitt: Nick Of Time (Capitol)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
BONNIE RAITT was a compatriot of Janis Joplin's; the pair were the Sixties' premier hard-drinking, hard-loving white blues chicks. Raitts's music has continued in this ...
Dolly Parton: White Limozeen (CBS)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 29 July 1989
IF YOU NEED proof that we're dealing not with a mere singer, but a legend — nay, an icon — here it is: thrashy Class ...
Wendy And Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Satisfy Yourself
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 5 August 1989
AFTER THEIR JUICY FRUIT AT THE BOTTOM LP GOT THE ECSTATIC REVIEWS IT SO RICHLY DESERVED, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE WENDY AND LISA ...
Bros, Debbie Gibson: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 26 August 1989
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT ...
Grace Jones: "Born To F*** — I should get a tee-shirt saying that"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 April 1990
THE ICE QUEEN MAY BE MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO MELT HER IMAGE AND BECOME MORE FEMININE, BUT SHE WAS STILL HARD ENOUGH TO BURY ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Short Back and Asides
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
SALT 'N' PEPA are about to curl up and dye. The first of their chain of Salt 'N' Pepa beauty salons will soon open at ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 2 May 1990
TYPICAL SO-called "raves" (i.e. those massive dance parties held in cornfields off the M2S) don't usually start 'til gone midnight. Energy, which bills itself as ...
Bobby Brown: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 June 1990
Coming over lewd and clear ...
Bananarama: Girls Together Outrageously
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 July 1990
Ten years on from their ramshackle beginnings, BANANARAMA are the most successful female pop group in the world. They've got wit, flair and great shoulders. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 19 September 1990
THE FINAL date of Erasure's world tour, "The Wild Party", takes place on a windswept grassy slope so the atmosphere's not especially "partylike", but everyone ...
Jason Donovan: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 1990
IT MUST have been sheer devilry that inspired someone to play Prince over the PA directly before Jason Donovan came on stage. Even Jason, awaiting ...
Monie Love: Down To Earth (Cooltempo)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 17 October 1990
RAPPERS ARE always rambling on about themselves in their songs — how completely "slammin'" they are and how laughably "wack" everyone else is. How pleasant, ...
Big Fun, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, New Kids On The Block: Kylie Minogue et al: Mild at heart
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 October 1990
Today's pop idols seem so insipid that fans are turning to turtles for thrills. Caroline Sullivan on the Kylie/Jason phenomenon. ...
Depeche Mode: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 25 December 1990
A "STOCKY" BLOKE in white jeans and perv-o-sparkle glitter jacket! A fright-wigged blonde bloke in a chain-mail mini skirt! A bespectacled bloke who stands grimly ...
Belinda Carlisle, The Go-Go's: Belinda Carlisle!
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 23 January 1991
• She used to live in the untidiest house in Hollywood!• She plays music to her plants!• She's had about half an hour's holiday to ...
Unsound Moves in the Print Trade
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 April 1991
Caroline Sullivan investigates the long-standing malaise afflicting the weekly music press after last week's closure of Sounds and the merger of Record Mirror with Music ...
Alexander O'Neal: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 1991
ALEXANDER O'NEAL'S last British tour was famed for the moment during the concert when a double bed was wheeled on stage and a young laydee ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 May 1991
In the precious and profitable world of pop, how you look, it seems, is more important than how you sound, Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Vanilla Ice: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 June 1991
THE TOUTS on Empire Way were peevish. Entire blocks of seats for Vanilla Ice's London debut were still empty and no one was buying. Much ...
Vanilla Ice: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 July 1991
WHAT IS IT that makes Vanilla Ice simultaneously a great among pop's icons and one of its classic punchlines? I suspect it's the Robert Van ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 10 July 1991
THIS ALBUM, earthlings, is one exhausting experience. ...
Deee-Lite: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 July 1991
LAST YEAR, Deee-Lite's fusion of hip-hop beats and hippy good vibes supposedly presaged a kinder, gentler era in pop. Nothing much changed, but Deee-Lite still ...
Milli Vanilli: The Award Sinners
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 August 1991
The Milli Vanilli affair rocked the secretive world of pop. CAROLINE SULLIVAN on the scandal of stars who don't sing — and the judge with ...
Voice Of The Beehive: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 September 1991
Bumble Bees ...
Wet Wet Wet: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 November 1991
FOR WET Wet Wet's first British date for two years their record company was taking no chances. An audience of Radio One competition winners was ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 December 1991
MEN, ACCORDING to the rapteuses, Salt 'n' Pepa, are good for one thing. "And sometimes they're not even good for that," Salt observed, on stage ...
Cookie Crew, Salt-N-Pepa, Sister Souljah: Sisters Are Rapping It For Themselves
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 January 1992
In the misogynistic world of rap, anybody who's not one of the boys is a whore or more genially a bitch. But even the female ...
Daisy Chainsaw, The Nymphs, Shakespears Sister: Rock's Savage Sorority
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 February 1992
Caroline Sullivan on how women are using music to cope with rape, abortion, drugs. ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 March 1992
Lurve and kisses: Caroline Sullivan on the night Barry White made the earth move ...
Lisa Stansfield: Soul of Discretion in a Hotel Laundry
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 March 1992
'If I've a hole in my tights, I'll sew it up. You can wear them under trousers.' Caroline Sullivan on Rochdale's most ordinary export, Lisa ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 March 1992
IS TOM PETTY thrashing out a mid-life crisis or has he always been this way? His current show certainly leaves you wondering. American rock is ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 28 March 1992
BARRY WHITE has based an entire career on his notion of himself as a 100-horsepower love machine. ...
Curve, Primal Scream: Curve: Town and Country Club; Primal Scream: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 March 1992
THE TRADITIONAL concert is being supplanted in some surprising quarters by the rave — anything from an all-nighter in which the group are just one ...
Julian Lennon: Kensal Dock, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 April 1992
IT IS DIFFICULT to contain a sneaking compassion for Julian Lennon. Unwelcome comparisons, rarely in his favour, continue to dog his career. They surfaced even ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 April 1992
L7: THE FIRST artistically-credible female heavy metalists, or rock vixens with more decibels than sense? The question divided the electorate at Thursday's sold out show. ...
Desmond Child, Diane Warren: Tracks Of Their Tears
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 May 1992
Caroline Sullivan hunts down the US songwriters responsible for the junk ballad ...
Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole: Natalie Cole: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 May 1992
'UNFORGETTABLE', Natalie Cole's "duet" with her father, Nat "King", cleaned up this year's Grammy awards. The song, wherein Natalie's voice was grafted onto Pop's 1951 ...
Erasure, Right Said Fred: When the flirting stops
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 July 1992
Sex is back in the charts. But it doesn't seem to be using a condom. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Throwing Muses: Kristin Hersh: Tortured by the Muse
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 September 1992
Caroline Sullivan on the nightmare illness which drives singer-songwriter Kristin Hersh ...
ABBA, Bjorn Again: ABBA: The High Priests of Euro-naff
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 September 1992
The sateen-flared Swedes are back again. Caroline Sullivan on Abba — The Revival ...
Happy Mondays: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 October 1992
THESE ARE troubled times for the Happy Mondays. Their new album, Yes, Please!, reputedly went over budget and has not had the sales to compensate. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 October 1992
BARELY six months old, Suede are attracting extravagant hyperbole. The London foursome have been deemed the best British guitar band since the Smiths, and their ...
Bon Jovi: Search for a New Faith
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 November 1992
Jon Bon Jovi jumped off rock's roller-coaster and started to look around. What he saw has changed what he is ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 November 1992
Most senior citizens hate pop. But a few still thrill to the sound of a synthesiser ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 December 1992
TOKYO APPARENTLY has a flourishing indie scene, and female trio Shonen Knife are its stars. Their popularity certainly emphasises the cultural gap between East and ...
Boney M: The Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 January 1993
WHAT MIXTURE of whimsy and misanthropy persuaded Arista Records to release a "Boney M megamix"? It appears to be part of a bizarre masterplan to ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 February 1993
Airy melodies and nightmare lyrics make Belly a surprise hit ...
Profile by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 March 1993
He's armed and he's dangerous: Ice Cube's lyrics are about race hate, the Los Angeles gangs and the glory of the gun. He's America's worst ...
Apache Indian, Cornershop, Fun-Da-Mental: Real Lives: Rock of Asians
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 March 1993
Britain's Asian community has long hosted a thriving pop scene, operating in a lucrative parallel universe to the chart mainstream. Now, CAROLINE SULLIVAN reports, radical ...
Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear: University of London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 March 1993
RIOT GRRRL, a radical feminist frock movement originating in Washington state, is generating much controversy in the US. Even the New York Times has published a chin-stroking ...
Arrested Development: Town and Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 March 1993
ATLANTA hip hoppers Arrested Development are the very antithesis of Ice Cube, whose tour they follow by just a few days. They counter Cube's scatter-gun ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 March 1993
Take the in-yer-face spirit of punk, add a dash of Mom's best feminist cant. Born in the USA, now raising hell here, Riot Grrrls are ...
The Auteurs: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 March 1993
Bound for a kind of glory Caroline Sullivan joined the crush to hear The Auteurs ...
The Lemonheads: National Ballroom, Kilburn, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 April 1993
Pop's tangy new taste ...
The Orb: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 April 1993
PIONEERS OF neo-progressive pop or appalling hippy throwbacks? That both descriptions apply to the Orb indicates the scale of the changes occurring in rock music. ...
PJ Harvey: Rid Of Me (Island CID8002/514 696-2)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 1993
Somerset psyche ...
Sounds of Blackness: The Sounds of Blackness: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 1993
IT WAS hard to believe that a gospel choir spawned the lubricious soulster, Alexander O'Neal, until you saw the ensemble in question. Minneapolis's 40-piece Sounds ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 May 1993
New Order have overcome the collapse of Factory Records and leapt into the charts with a number one album ...
Guns N' Roses: Chopper rock — Guns N' Roses: National Bowl, Milton Keynes
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 May 1993
Guns N' Roses, high on attitude, bring their macho moves to Milton Keynes ...
Bros, East 17, Let Loose, Take That, Worlds Apart: Pop Goes The Bubblegum
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 June 1993
Teenybopper bands were once besieged by fans wherever they went. The new generation's tame in comparison. Why? ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 June 1993
Lenny Kravitz brings a dash of sixties to the nineties at the Brixton Academy ...
Prince: My name is Prince (well it was)
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 1993
To criticise Prince is to reveal yourself as a musically illiterate Jason Donovan fan. But who is this workaholic, whose band call him 'sir' and ...
Prince & the New Power Generation: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 July 1993
Funked up: The new PC Prince starts his British tour in fine style in Birmingham ...
Madonna: The Entertainer — Madonna: Wembley Stadium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 September 1993
Despite attempts to write her off, Madonna's spectacular costume cabaret proved that she's not dead, just feverish. ...
PJ Harvey: Good golly, Ms Polly
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 October 1993
Screeching harridan? Feminist heroine? One thing's certain: Polly Jean Harvey's tortured song-tantrums are a far cry from Captain Beefheart. ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 October 1993
Mojo, a glossy monthly aimed at ageing rockers, is the latest in a long line of minutely targeted music magazines ...
Dina Carroll: Dina delivers the soul — Dina Carroll: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 November 1993
A triumphant London debut for Dina Carroll at the Hammersmith Apollo ...
Michael Bolton: The One Thing (Columbia 474355 2)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 November 1993
THIS IS the album Meat Loaf would make if his taste ran to easy-listening pop rather than gothic rock. He and the astonishingly coiffed Bolton ...
Paul Weller: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 November 1993
ANYONE WHO doubts that a little fatherhood can be a dangerous thing should have been at the first of Paul Weller's two sold-out London gigs. ...
Sister Sledge, Tammy Wynette: Sister Sledge: Forum, London; Tammy Wynette: Palladium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 November 1993
Standby your sisters: Revived seventies disco queens Sister Sledge and the First Lady of country music Tammy Wynette woo London ...
Diana Ross: Miss Ross the Boss
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 December 1993
Singer, actress, businesswoman — Diana Ross has always been in control in 30 years of show business ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 December 1993
TWO DIFFERENT versions of the art of gangsta rap. Twenty-one-year-old Los Angeleno Snoop Doggy Dogg is about to make history by having his debut album ...
Pansy Division, RPLA, Sister George, Tongue Man: Queer to the core
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 December 1993
The pop establishment has always had a handful of gay stars — colourful, eccentric, lovable. But now there's 'queercore', a radical gay music movement with ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice hits meltdown — Ice-T & Body Count: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 December 1993
Macho rapper Ice-T goes all soft and squishy at Brixton Academy ...
The Cranberries, Elastica: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 January 1994
AS LIMERICK pop quartet the Cranberries might warn London pop quartet Elastica, beware the tag Next Big Thing. The Irish band basked in that title ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Cocking a Leg at Society
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 February 1994
To Snoop Doggy Dogg, the hard man of rap, women are 'bitches' and 'niggaz with attitude' like him pack a pistol. CAROLINE SULLIVAN talked to ...
R Kelly: R. Kelly: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 March 1994
WITH RAP the genre of choice of so many young American black musicians, traditional soul looks endangered. Twenty five-year-old R Kelly offers one answer to ...
Marvin Gaye: The Ostend of the Road
Film/DVD/TV Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 March 1994
Arena's vivid documentary evokes Marvin Gaye's final years ...
Credit To The Nation: Rapped by Rappers
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 April 1994
Matty Hanson — aka Credit To The Nation's MC Fusion — has come under fire for his views on the values of gangsta rappers. Is ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 April 1994
The Charlatans and Pulp play the opening night concert at Sound City in Glasgow ...
Primal Scream: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 April 1994
Retro-rockers Primal Scream play Brixton ...
Hole: Live Through This (City Slang EFA 04935)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 April 1994
Love 'em or leave 'em ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 1994
After several false starts, Blur have got it right with their album Parklife, which is set to leap into the charts at number one. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 May 1994
Snoop Doggy Dogg comes over like a pup at the Brixton Academy ...
Bikini Kill: Bikini Kill/Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Kill Rock Stars KRS204)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 May 1994
THE BIGGEST act on this Washington label is these founding riot grrrls, whose first two mini-albums are re-released as a single tape/CD. The 32-minute running ...
Billy Joel: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 May 1994
BILLY JOEL'S break-up with model Christie Brinkley has received more media coverage than anything he has done since he married her, so it was predictable ...
The Auteurs: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 May 1994
THIS TIME last year, the pop press were grooming the Auteurs to be the next big thing. It didn't quite happen, and now, a good ...
The Stone Roses: Stone Roses, phone home
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 May 1994
Their debut LP was one of the eighties' finest. Yet five years on we're still waiting for the follow-up. Whatever became of the Stone Roses? ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie work if you can get it
Profile by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 June 1994
After years in the doldrums the Beastie Boys are back-and packing out the Astoria ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 June 1994
Diana Ross returns to celebrate a half-century, and a mysterious 30th anniversary, at Birmingham NEC ...
Johnny Cash: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 July 1994
"CAN YOU name anyone in this day and age who is as cool as Johnny Cash?", Rolling Stone magazine rhetorically asks. No one at this ...
Paul Oakenfold: Pick and Re-Mix
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 1994
Paul Oakenfold's new record has only his name on the cover. But he isn't a musician. He's the emperor of DJs ...
Chaka Demus and Pliers, General Levy: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 July 1994
THE RANKS of policemen who materialise outside Brixton Academy during shows by black artists were absent Friday night. Clearly, they had been informed that no ...
House Of Pain: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 August 1994
Pain, but no gain ...
Oasis: The Boys Are Back In Town
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 August 1994
Trashed hotels, fist fights, easy sex — Oasis have rediscovered rock's roots. They've also found the time to knock out a great tune ...
Prince: Come (Warner Bros 9362-45700-2)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 August 1994
WE COULD be forgiven for assuming that Prince — or The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, as he's officially titled — is uninterested in subjects ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 September 1994
From wholesome soap star to scantily clad sex kitten — Kylie Minogue has changed her image more times than she might care to remember. But ...
Blur, Pulp: Bedsitters' night out — Blur, Pulp: Alexandra Palace, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 October 1994
Minimalist pop has its day as Blur and Pulp share the bill at London's Alexandra Palace ...
East 17, PJ & Duncan, Shampoo, Take That: The New Bottom Line
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 October 1994
There was a time when sex in pop meant a shuttlecock down the jeans. The days of innocence are over. The steam age has begun. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 October 1994
US band Green Day sing of misery and hatred but, live at the Astoria, it's just one big party ...
Madonna: Not CD of the week: Madonna: Bedtime Stories (Maverick 9362-45767-2)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 October 1994
"MAKING THIS album was a test of my sanity and stability," Madonna writes in the sleevenotes, admitting for the first time that she's not always ...
Suede: Effete of Clay — Suede: City Hall, Hull
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 1994
Brett Anderson forsakes camp as Suede struggle to impress in Hull ...
Blur, Elastica: Blur: Blurred Vision
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 November 1994
They are the names on everyone's lips, the pop heroes from Essex. Blur are being mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles, and yesterday ...
Guide by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 November 1994
Feeling brazen? Ready to crawl? Caroline Sullivan offers the definitive guide to bum-rushing the show ...
Gene, Salad: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 1994
AT LEAST one man at this long-sold-out gig was there because he believed Gene's frontman, Martin Rossiter, to be the late actor Leonard's son. He ...
Bjorn Again, The Bootleg Beatles, Gary Glitter: Hark! The Faded Popsters Sing
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 December 1994
As Christmas approaches, turkeys aren't the only ones preparing to hop into the silverfoil. Ageing pop stars too come out but once a year ...
Manic Street Preachers: Bible Of Hate: Manic Street Preachers: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 December 1994
SINCE achieving cult fame in 1990, the Welsh quartet have preached nihilism juiced up with arty quotes from the Situationists and literary figures. The not-entirely-novel ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 January 1995
Hot crotch buns ...
Lisa Germano, Sarah McLachlan, Saint Etienne: Stalkers: Ever-Present Possessive
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 January 1995
Business is booming in the protection business. Now many of those being protected are women pop stars targeted by dangerous stalkers ...
Bettie Serveert, Jeff Buckley: Jeff Buckley, Bettie Serveert: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 January 1995
WHEN JEFF Buckley's debut album, Grace, was released last year, it received ferocious acclaim and spawned a resurgence of interest in Jeff's folk singing father, ...
Barry White: Rising to the big occasion — Barry White: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 March 1995
Seventies legend Barry White has them swooning in the Wembley Arena aisles with his unique brand of bedroom soul ...
Janet Jackson: Platinum bland — Janet Jackson: London Arena, Millwall
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 April 1995
Janet Jackson's voice may be average, but her dancing is that of a well-drilled athlete ...
Jimmy Nail: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 April 1995
THIS ISN'T Jimmy Nail's First crack at rock stardom. In the seventies, the glowering Geordie was lead vocalist of a deservedly obscure punk group called ...
Warren G: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 April 1995
OF THE adjectives applied to gangsta rappers, "endearing" is way down the list. Warren Griffin, the latest sensation from the wrong side of Long Beach, ...
Hole: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 1995
In the name of Love: Caroline Sullivan on a stunning start to Hole's tour in Wolverhampton ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 May 1995
THE TEENY horrors' recent attempts to grow up have been partially successful; the newly-acquired dreadlocks are frightening rather than alluring, but their third album is ...
Renegade Soundwave, Tricky: Tricky, Renegade Soundwave: The Grand, Clapham, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 May 1995
Cool, calm and very, very strange: Caroline Sullivan is haunted by Bristol rapper Tricky ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 June 1995
Jon Bon Jovi was once the king of hairspray and spandex. Now he wants to be taken a lot more seriously. The hell-raising days are ...
Blur: Boys will be lads — Blur: Mile End Stadium, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 June 1995
A right old knees-up with Blur and their guests at Mile End ...
The Rolling Stones: Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 July 1995
Charlie upstages ye olde rock stars ...
Marianne Faithfull: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 July 1995
Better class of icon defies the years ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 July 1995
Invalids losing their direction ...
Take That: Then There Were Four — Take That: Manchester Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 August 1995
Caroline Sullivan on how a Robbieless Take That fare at Manchester Arena ...
Cynthia Plaster Caster: Come Up And See My, Er...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 August 1995
Caroline Sullivan meets the woman who persuaded Jimi Hendrix to dip his erect member into a jar of gooey pink dental mould. ...
Blur: Time for the Blur to Fly — Blur: NEC Arena, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 November 1995
Blur a flagging, studenty band? Those memories are now long gone as screaming teenyboppers everywhere fight to hear their heroes ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 January 1996
Gangsta takes rap to new level ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 January 1996
Monster made mellow: Caroline Sullivan wonders if mean rocker Henry Rollins can possibly be related to the loveable raconteur performing at the Forum ...
Melissa Etheridge: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 1996
Perky pioneer lacking magic ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 February 1996
A LITTLE gender-uncertainty never hurt any band, and it might prove the making of Placebo. The Swedish-American trio is fortunate in boasting a singer, Brian ...
Pulp: Sorted for Kids — Pulp: Brighton Centre, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 February 1996
In a police station one night, on stage the next, and the Pulp fans have never been happier. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Supergrass: Bald truth, hairy moments — Supergrass: Apollo Theatre, Oxford
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 February 1996
Supergrass were named best new band at last week's Brit awards — but why? Noisy they may be, but subtle they're not. Caroline Sullivan went ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 1996
She has been described as Naomi Campbell crossed with Tank Girl, but is there more to the singer with Skunk Anansie than just good cheekbones? ...
k.d. lang: Academy, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 April 1996
A big-boned gal among friends ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 1996
Oasis promoted to relegation spot ...
Chris de Burgh: Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 June 1996
Chris de Burgh's banter saves the day at Hampton Court Palace, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Damon Albarn, Blur: Blur: Meet Damon, The Poet
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 July 1996
Blur's Damon Albarn tells CAROLINE SULLIVAN he is tired of being a star, tired of Yob Pop and tired off feuding. That's why he's reading ...
Gary Barlow, Take That, Robbie Williams: Gary Barlow: Gary Takes it All
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 1996
The least fancied member of smash-hit boy band Take That was the one with the bona fide music training. Now, Gary Barlow is writing songs ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Girls Just Wanna Be Loaded
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 July 1996
LAST WEEK, the world was as it should have been. Gary Barlow was number one, the summer's foreign novelty hit, 'Macarena', was panting just behind ...
The Divine Comedy: York Hall Leisure Centre, Bethnal Green, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 August 1996
Divine, darling, simply Divine ...
Charlatans, The (UK), Oasis: Blue Tones — The Charlatans: Knebworth, Herfordshire
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 August 1996
The Charlatans must have dreamt of upstaging Oasis. At Knebworth, they almost did. But it came at a horrible price, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor (Island) **** £9.99
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 August 1996
BRITISH SOUL stars are invariably compared to some American counterpart. Mark Morrison is derided as an R Kelly imitator and Seal as a composite of ...
Michael Jackson: Look Who's Wearing Stalin's Shoes
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 September 1996
He's Bad, he's Dangerous, he's History... Wacko Jacko is invading Eastern Europe and showing what capitalism can do when it comes to the cult of ...
Johnny Mathis: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 September 1996
Play Misty for us again, ole buddy ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 September 1996
After Britpop, C96. Caroline Sullivan runs a marathon of new music in north London. ...
The Fugees: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 1996
Incredibly hiphop: If the Fugees were any bigger, they'd explode. Caroline Sullivan finds out why ...
The Beautiful South: Zipless anoraks — The Beautiful South: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 November 1996
Their new album may have screamed in at number one but The Beautiful South are lousy live, says Caroline Sullivan ...
The Lightning Seeds: Ian Broudie: Number One Seed
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 November 1996
Ian Broudie is responsible for some of the most enduring pop music of the decade. So what's his excuse for making that football record, asks ...
Neneh Cherry: Cherry Picker — Neneh Cherry: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 December 1996
Caroline Sullivan on the sultry charms of Neneh Cherry at Shepherds Bush Empire ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 December 1996
They're mad, bad and dangerous to know, and the apple of their mothers eyes. Caroline Sullivan examines the closest of all relationships... ...
Kula Shaker: Abandon dope all ye who entertain
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 January 1997
Toff rockers Kula Shaker got away with telling fans to take lots of drugs; East 17's Essex boy Brian Harvey was crucified. That's pop, says ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 March 1997
Boys enjoy early night ...
Peter Andre: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 March 1997
And it's one for the tummy Caroline Sullivan gets all worked up about Peter Andre ...
The Divine Comedy: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 March 1997
Kitschy coup: Few pop musicians could carry it off, but Divine Comedy's orchestral manoeuvres impress Caroline Sullivan ...
Jonny Lang: Hanson: The little brat pack
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 May 1997
They're too young to drink at their own gigs. But Hanson are coming, and so is a new wave of pubescent poppers. Caroline Sullivan meets ...
David Bowie: Hanover Grand, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 June 1997
Bowie wants to meet his public so he plays a small London club – heaven or what? Some fans paid 100 pounds for a ticket. ...
Soul Coughing: Fleece and Firkin, Bristol
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 July 1997
Mr Weird and Mr Wonderful Caroline Sullivan chills out with the coolest singers from the States ...
Soul Coughing: Irresistible Bliss (London) £14.99 *****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 August 1997
Caroline Sullivan is completely blissed out ...
Paul Weller: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 August 1997
Pub rock without the pub ...
Morrissey: Maladjusted (Island) ** £14.99
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 August 1997
Nine self-pitying, lachrymose albums in a row — isn't it time Morrissey grew up? ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 August 1997
Bono and Co go big, only to come up with a lemon ...
Oasis: Westpoint Arena, Exeter
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 September 1997
Radical move to symbolism-uh! as Oasis tour goes Pink Floyd ...
The Fall: Mark E. Smith: By Gum, it's Mr Grumpy
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 September 1997
He's getting old and his teeth are falling out, but The Fall's Mark E. Smith is as fresh as ever, says Caroline Sullivan. ...
Portishead: Dread again — Portishead: Portishead (Go! Beat) *****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 October 1997
If Portishead's first album spooked you out, their second one will really get to you, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Robbie Williams: The Show-Off Must Go On — Robbie Williams: The Waterfront, Norwich
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 October 1997
Robbie Williams doesn't need to get his kit off to impress, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Whitesnake: End of an earache — Whitesnake: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 October 1997
Hang up your air guitars: Whitesnake will rock no more. Caroline Sullivan is oddly moved ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 October 1997
She is currently the UK's most successful female singer, she has been voted one of the sexiest women in the world, she even has a ...
Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Abdi İpekçi Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 October 1997
Oriental Spice: Sponsor power, not bazaars, draws the Girls to Turkey ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 October 1997
You've never heard of Five. The Spice Girls' inventors will make sure you do. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Jewel: Daddy cruel — Jewel: Bloomsbury Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 1997
For a while on stage, Jewel exudes vulnerability. Then she tells you she wants to bash her father's teeth in. CAROLINE SULLIVAN reports ...
Peter Andre: Putting Away the Six-Pack
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 1997
With his doe eyes and firm stomach, Peter Andre was a classic teenybop chart success. Now he's set on R&B cred, and has some impressive ...
Spice Girls: The new product — Spice Girls: Spiceworld (Virgin) ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 1997
Between the T-shirts, mugs, movies, dolls and video games, the Spice Girls have put out a new album. Caroline Sullivan didn't hate it... ...
Björk: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 November 1997
Iceland's icon scares the hell out of Caroline Sullivan at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: From the Bronx to the Big Time
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 November 1997
Caroline Sullivan has an audience with Mary J Blige, queen of hip hop soul ...
M People: Just Pedestrian — M People, Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 November 1997
M People may do a lot for Peugeot, but Caroline Sullivan is not moved ...
Jamiroquai: Battersea Power Station, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 December 1997
ON THE face of it, Jamiroquai are an unlikely group to excite the passions they do. Singer Jason "Jay" Kay is the only member familiar ...
Spice Girls: Spice: The Final Frontier
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 December 1997
The tabloids have turned on them, their fans are leaving them — even Smash Hits readers voted them Worst Group. Is this the end for ...
Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Take That, Robbie Williams: Take That: That Was Then, This Is Now
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 January 1998
Two years after the split, the Take That boys are more famous than ever — and no longer just for the excesses of Robbie Williams. ...
Barry Manilow: Barry Glitter — Barry Manilow: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 January 1998
Could it be magic? When Mr Manilow sings, grannies swoon, moan, even storm the stage. Caroline Sullivan knows just how they feel ...
Bernard Butler: Upstairs at the Garage, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 March 1998
Young pretender goes it alone ...
Kylie Minogue: Kylie Minogue (deConstruction) *** £15.99
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 March 1998
Caroline Sullivan on the latest from the former pop kitten who's moving ever closer to that elusive musical maturity ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 March 1998
'Ere, ducks, give that girl an Oscar ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 March 1998
Jarvis Cocker, latter-day folk hero, talks to Caroline Sullivan ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 1998
'Only Happy When It Rains', 'Queer', 'Subhuman'. And those are just the titles of Garbage's harrowing songs. Caroline Sullivan on a band with a troubled ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 May 1998
What's next for the Irish boy band now that their main heart-throb has got married? Caroline Sullivantalks to Ronan Keating about pop, faith and a ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 May 1998
Choking on his own venom ...
Shirley Bassey: A Real Big Splendour — Shirley Bassey: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 June 1998
Only one woman can out-oomph Diana Ross. Caroline Sullivan salutes Shirley Bassey ...
Overview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 June 1998
They maybe rock icons, mad, bad and dangerous to know. But somewhere, some long-suffering woman remembers them in nappies. Caroline Sullivan on that great institution, ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 June 1998
Teen hearts throb with teen music ...
Dana International: (Wo)man of the Summer: Dana International
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 June 1998
Caroline Sullivan gets past the girl talk with Eurovision winner Dana International ...
Glastonbury: Pop Feast Kicked Off By Football
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 June 1998
Caroline Sullivan sorts fab from drab ...
Tupac Shakur: Afeni Shakur: The Kick Inside
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 July 1998
It is two years since gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur's short life ended in a hail of bullets. Caroline Sullivan talks exclusively to his mother about ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 July 1998
Sick of introspective rock? Pining for the time when hip-hop was fun? So are the Beastie Boys. Caroline Sullivan fights for her right to party ...
Whitney Houston: Nynex, Manchester
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 July 1998
This town ain't hot enough... ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 July 1998
"IS THIS the way they say the future's meant to feel?" asked Jarvis Cocker as his hands, seemingly independent of the rest of his body, ...
The Divine Comedy: Funny peculiar
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 August 1998
Neil Hannon, aka the Divine Comedy, belongs in the last century, says Caroline Sullivan — the man who penned the Father Ted theme tune is ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 1998
The Artist Formerly Known As Prince did his best to stop Caroline Sullivan seeing his Wembley gig. When she sneaked her way in, this is ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 October 1998
The Music Of Black Origin awards are now pop's trendiest bash, reflecting the dominant R&B influence in the charts. ...
The Cure, Hole: Hole, The Cure: The Forum, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 October 1998
WELL, IT'S one way of getting a rock critic out of the house. Just tell her a big band is going to make a secret ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 October 1998
GOING BY the number of teenage lovelies in the Civic Hall ladies' loo, Ash are hot with the girls of Guildford. Maybe it's just that ...
Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby (Skint)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 October 1998
Big beats, monster choons — Norman Cook refuses to alter a chart-busting formula, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 November 1998
Now Rolan Bolan is making his own bid for fame. Caroline Sullivan met him ...
Sepultura, Slayer: Metal mickey — Slayer, Sepultura: Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 November 1998
Sepultura and Slayer? Caroline Sullivan can't take it seriously ...
Massive Attack: London Arena, Millwall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 December 1998
Chilled-out prog hop struggling in a massive arena ...
Mercury Rev: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 January 1999
IF YOU'VE chanced upon the term 'post-rock' and wondered what it meant, refer to Mercury Rev, who — at a guess — are the very ...
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The great pretender — Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Water Rats, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 February 1999
Caroline Sullivan knows one thing about Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. He's common ...
Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 February 1999
When Lauryn Hill played Brixton, it looked like the venue was braced for a riot. But the only rampaging mob was on stage. Caroline Sullivan ...
Robbie Williams: Sheffield Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 February 1999
If the flat cap fits: is Robbie Williams the new Arthur Askey, asks Caroline Sullivan ...
Catatonia At The Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 March 1999
'EVERY MORNING when I wake up, I thank the Lord I'm Welsh,' sings Catatonia's Cerys Matthews, and 3,000 people sing it back to her, voices ...
Martine McCutcheon, Barbara Windsor: Albert Square dancing
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 March 1999
EastEnders is having a right old knees-up at the moment. Caroline Sullivan talks to Martine McCutcheon about her million pound record deal and, below, finds ...
S Club 7: Warning: They're Part Spice Girl, Part Monkee...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 April 1999
Seen the show, read the book, got the T-shirt? You soon will have. Caroline Sullivan prepares for S Club 7, coming to your TV screen ...
The Cranberries: Why, why, why, Dolores? The Cranberries: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 April 1999
Sure, Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan has a great voice — but that's no reason to marginalise the rest of the band, says Caroline Sullivan ...
All Saints: Saints Preserve Us
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 1999
All Saints keep marching on as Girl Power's most credible models. They talk to Caroline Sullivan about the good side of being bad ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 April 1999
It is ten years since Suede released their seminal debut album. Caroline Sullivan meets one of the most influential bands of the nineties ...
Ike Turner, Ike & Tina Turner: Ike Turner: What Love Had To Do With It
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 May 1999
Ike Turner last spoke to his ex-wife Tina in 1986. Since then, he tells Caroline Sullivan, he's taken too much flak ...
The Bay City Rollers: Standing the Butt-Test of Time
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 May 1999
The Bay City Rollers were the Boyzone of their day — only bigger. And their fans, including Caroline Sullivan, still pay homage ...
Catatonia: Glowing In The Dark
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 May 1999
RED DRAGON flags, rugby shirts and the strains of 'Road Rage' drifting across the moist night air — it could only be Wales's second-biggest band ...
Backstreet Boys: Earl's Court, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 June 1999
IT'S A DEPRESSING thought, but the Backstreet Boys have a strong claim to being the most popular group in the world right now. Although no ...
Gary Barlow: Stronger, Faster, Better — and Taller
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 July 1999
Gary Barlow may have been upstaged by the success of his former Take That colleague. Then again, says Caroline Sullivan, Robbie can't fly ...
Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin: Ifs and Butts: discs from Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 July 1999
As Latino pop looks set to take over the charts, Caroline Sullivan is only mildly impressed by the two artists leading the charge ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 July 1999
Famous for 10 minutes ...
Belle and Sebastian: Nobodies? Perfect
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 July 1999
Belle and Sebastian may not court fame, but they've sure found success. ...
Ben Christophers: Kashmir Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 1999
THE UK music business is amply stocked with Wellers and Hucknalls, and even the Williams slot is filled. What it has lacked, though, is a ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 July 1999
IF YOUR NAME WAS CONRAD, why would you change it to the even less euphonious Merz? There's a story behind it, as there is to ...
Destiny's Child: The Writing's on the Wall (Columbia)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 July 1999
THEIR HIPPYISH name apart, there's nothing about these Texas teenagers that hasn't been calibrated to comply with laws governing female R&B groups. ...
All Saints, Bananarama, Spice Girls, The Supremes: Girl Groups: Smash Hits
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 August 1999
So Mel C thinks Geri H is untalented, does she? When girl bands break up, says Caroline Sullivan, the pops get personal ...
Mark Morrison: How to beat a bad rap
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 August 1999
The baddest boy in pop is out of jail. But behind Mark Morrison's hard facade Caroline Sullivan finds a big pussycat who wants nothing more ...
Bros, Five, Spice Girls: Bob Herbert 1942-1999
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 August 1999
BOB HERBERT, who has died in a car crash aged 57, didn't invent the idea of the packaged pop group, but, as the man responsible ...
Bernard Butler: He Won't be Suede
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 September 1999
Since leaving Suede in 1994, Bernard Butler has taken the battering of his life just for being "different and eccentric". But the strong and silent ...
The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: Definitely Not Admitting Defeat Yet
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 1999
"I THINK GOOD manners will come back. In America, kids saw punk rock as a licence to be as rude as possible. I didn't like ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 October 1999
"WE," DECLARED the blonde girl in the DJ booth, "are the Moloko sound system." This was bad news indeed. Every band currently has what it ...
Christina Aguilera, BreZe: Life in Plastic, It's Fantastic
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 October 1999
Who are all these new singers who go straight in at No 1? Caroline Sullivan on the rise of the boil-in-the-bag pop star ...
The Bay City Rollers: My tartan heart
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 October 1999
Caroline Sullivan reflects on the life and love of a teenage Bay City Rollers fan ...
Gabrielle: Sunshine After Rainy Days
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 October 1999
After what she's been through, who'd begrudge Gabrielle her success? Not Caroline Sullivan. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 October 1999
Don't wait until next year for Oasis or Radiohead — the debut album from Merz is here now, and it will leave you bewitched, says ...
Shack: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London — Fine songs, poor show
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 November 1999
TO LOOK AT THE QUARTET of off-duty plumbers who comprise Liverpool's Shack — which you can't do on their current album, HMS Fable, as it ...
Foo Fighters: At the Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 November 1999
The number of rock drummers who've realised they were destined for headier things at the front of the stage can be counted on two fingers: ...
Marc Almond, Labelle, Dusty Springfield: Vicki Wickham: Ready, Vicki, Go!
Retrospective and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 November 1999
She's managed stars from Dusty Springfield to Marc Almond and has just won an award for her lifetime's work in the music industry. But outside ...
George Michael: Even older, but no wiser — George Michael: Songs from the Last Century (Virgin) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 December 1999
He has fought for credibility since his Wham! days — now he's blown it for ever, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 December 1999
Stiff competition: Caroline Sullivan checks out the latest from two late rappers ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 January 2000
Caroline Sullivan is not convinced by the comeback single ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 March 2000
THE STORY GOES that west London teenager Shola Ama was singing to herself at Hammersmith tube station one day when, in true pop-legend fashion, a ...
Kirsty MacColl: Tropical Brainstorm
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 March 2000
Kirsty MacColl's first album since 1994 sees her flirting with Latin rhythms and cliched tourist-brochure lyrics. But, says Caroline Sullivan, it's better than you'd think ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 April 2000
GIRL POP has rarely been less prepossessing. The choices these days boil down to factory-farmed mannequins like Atomic Kitten or fourth-generation copies of Hole that ...
Buena Vista Social Club, Omara Portuondo: Omara Portuondo: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 2000
Cuba's Edith Piaf ...
Pearl Jam: Wembley Arena — Forever grunge
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 May 2000
IN THE US, Pearl Jam are held up as everything a big rock band should be: unswervingly dedicated to their brooding art, with a complementary ...
Girl Thing: No more girl power
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 July 2000
Girl Thing were meant to be the new Spice Girls. But the public had other ideas. Caroline Sullivan reports ...
Jason Donovan: Jason gets sorted
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 October 2000
Jason Donovan was the golden boy of soap and pop 10 years ago. Then he went bald and it all fell apart. Now he's reinvented ...
Placebo: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 November 2000
IT'S HALLOWEEN, so it's fitting that the evening's main attraction is a petulant succubus wearing a tight purple suit and nail varnish. If you hadn't ...
Spice Girls, Westlife: Battle of the blands: Westlife versus the Spice Girls
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 November 2000
It was the biggest chart clash since Blur versus Oasis: Westlife versus the Spice Girls. What does that tell us about today's music business, asks ...
Cradle of Filth: Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 December 2000
AND A SATANIC Merry Christmas from Cradle of Filth, nice Ipswich boys whose idea of a great night is quaffing freshly-drawn virgin's blood to rev ...
All Saints: When The Saints Go Marching Out
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 January 2001
THEY'VE BEEN on the verge of it before, but this time it looks as though All Saints are finally splitting up. Caroline Sullivan laments the ...
Fun Lovin' Criminals: Loco (Chrysalis)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 February 2001
Felonious funk: Caroline Sullivan enjoys the wiseguy Lotharios of New York ...
Gay Dad: "We're back. Don't tell your friends"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 March 2001
TWO YEARS AGO, when Gay Dad were at their most hyped, lead singer Cliff Jones predicted that his band's name would be remembered as "either ...
Nerina Pallot: Borderline, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 August 2001
AS NERINA PALLOT OBSERVES, radio seems to get behind just one female singer-songwriter a year, making the odds against success about the same as winning ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 December 2001
ALTHOUGH VIRTUALLY unknown here, this Florida post-grunge trio sold nearly 1m copies of Weathered in its first week of American release. Something in singer Scott ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 December 2001
WITH ROCK'S CURRENT favourite flavour being the three-chord thrashing of the Strokes and White Stripes, the Hives couldn't have picked a better moment to offer ...
Mary J. Blige: "My Boyfriend Was Trying To Kill Me. There Were Weapons."
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 February 2002
THE WORLD LOVES a troubled diva, and for 10 years Mary Jane Blige has provided her public with a continuous flow of what her friend, ...
Ike Turner: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 February 2002
IF YOU didn't know Ike Turner was 70 before this show, you certainly did within minutes of his swaggering entrance. ...
Gwen Stefani, No Doubt: Gwen Stefani: "We'll make one more album, then I'll get pregnant"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 February 2002
Gwen Stefani and No Doubt are back. But maybe not for very long. She talks to Caroline Sullivan ...
Ali G: The joke's on you: Ali G's 'Me Julie'
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 March 2002
This week Ali G releases his first single, 'Me Julie'. Caroline Sullivan wishes he wouldn't. ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 March 2002
Sheryl Crow tells Caroline Sullivan about Britney, Beyoncé and the state of rock'n'roll — 'I worry about how these girls are sexualised at such a young ...
Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 April 2002
THE SONGWRITERLY BENT of the latest signing to Madonna's label will draw comparisons with Maverick's star turn, Alanis Morissette. The fundamental difference between the queen ...
Lisa Lopes: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 April 2002
Rebel hit singer notorious for breaking the old R&B rules. ...
The BellRays: Meet the BellRays
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 May 2002
POPTONES' last major release, the Hives' debut, was titled Your New Favourite Band, and it obligingly became the label's biggest seller to date. Prudently, the ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 May 2002
"IF YOU LOOK right through the centre of the Pyramid stage," says Michael Eavis, waving at the steel framework that squats surreally in the middle ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 August 2002
TOPLOADER HAVE "good-time band" imprinted on their DNA. ...
The Crescent at 100 Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 September 2002
THE BUBBLING Liverpool scene has produced the weird (the Coral), the weirdly named (Hokum Clones) and the weirdly good (the Bandits). And then there are ...
Avril Lavigne: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 September 2002
IT IS EASY TO SEE why Avril Lavigne was snapped up by a major label before she was old enough to drink at most of ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 October 2002
In it for the fame, the manufactured popstars didn't have so much as a slogan to fall back on when the going got tough. Caroline ...
Robbie Williams: Robbie's £80m deal puts EMI on new path
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 October 2002
Record giant's move into entertainment business on wider front highlights changing situation at a time when classical market is faltering ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 October 2002
Caroline Sullivan is left breathless by Tom Jones's hip-hop makeover ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 October 2002
BY THE END of 2001, Welsh rock mid-tablers Feeder had quietly amassed 14 top 75 singles, only one of which, 'Buck Rogers', was familiar to ...
Justin Timberlake: Justified (Jive) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 November 2002
SOME SAY in all seriousness that this album of generic R&B crotch-grabbing will establish Britney's former squeeze as the new Michael Jackson. ...
Blue (England): Blue: One Love
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 November 2002
BLUE'S MELANCHOLY All Rise, probably the only hit of 2001 to feature accordion as lead instrument, was such a sterling example of what thoughtful production ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 November 2002
NEVER MIND the oak salt cellars and carved ashtrays in Paul Burrell's loft — it was Diana's CDs that give us the real measure of ...
Girls Aloud: Females with Attitude
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 December 2002
Despite the hype, could reality TV's Girls Aloud be the first girl band to matter since the Spice Girls? ...
Groove Armada: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 December 2002
AT FIVE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT, two stiletto-booted teenage girls were scurrying toward Brixton Academy, clutching each other's hands, as if Nonentity from Pop Idol awaited ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 January 2003
DOES HIP-HOP glamorise gun culture? It depends who you ask. Guns have been part of the baggage of hip-hop since 1988, when Los Angeles's NWA ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 January 2003
TAKE THREE FORMER MEMBERS of politically correct punk-rappers Rage Against the Machine and add the singer from proto-grungists Soundgarden, and you have got the first ...
Hell Is for Heroes: The Neon Handshake
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 2003
NAMED AFTER A 1962 STEVE MCQUEEN war film, this London "post-hardcore" five-piece sound authentically irritated. Is it because their skater-boy wallet chains are slapping against ...
The Bay City Rollers, Courtney Love: Courtney Love: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2003
I WISH I'D saved the emails. There were eight, spanning December 1999 to April 2002, all written in unpunctuated lower-case. ...
Turin Brakes: Ether Song (Source) ****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 February 2003
THIS MERCURY- and Brits-nominated duo have a patina of hipness, but their appearance on the launch night of BBC3 unmasked them as aspiring David Grays, ...
Har Mar Superstar: Notting Hill Arts Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 March 2003
IF THE EXHIBITIONIST known to his mother as Harold Martin Tillman is, as yet, a superstar only in his own mind, it's not for lack ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 March 2003
NOT TO BE CONFUSED with the Thrills, the Kills emanate a frigid stylishness that dares anyone to scoff at their ludicrous stage names (somehow, it's ...
David Gates: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 April 2003
THOUGH GENERALLY OVERLOOKED in polls of top soft-rock songwriters, the former Bread frontman David Gates merits a place up there with Bacharach and the Bee ...
The Mars Volta: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 April 2003
NO MUSICAL GENRE unites generations in revulsion quite like prog-rock. Decades on, it remains the pariah of pop, the only 1970s style that has never ...
Cradle of Filth: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 2003
Can a "black metal" band be properly satanic if the bassist is called Dave? This is one of several contradictions posed by the genre's only ...
Beck: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 2003
AS A PROFESSIONAL ENIGMA, Beck Hansen has a reputation to maintain, and it is tiring work. He feels compelled to stay one step ahead of ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 April 2003
S Club are mystified as to how they only made £400,000 each to their manager's £50m. It's called talent. ...
The Dandy Warhols: Dandy Warhols: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 May 2003
WELL, HERE'S A THING. An Oregon band best known for adopting the Spinal Tap adage "Have a good time all the time" are enchanting an ...
Good Charlotte: Astoria, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 July 2003
THE MALADJUSTED young of the 1980s looked for comfort to the Smiths, whose main role was to assure British youth that, no matter how miserable ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 July 2003
THIS FORMER TEEN R&B SENSATION has spent the five years since her last album "dealing with my own development" — showbiz-speak for "pondering ways of ...
Kings of Leon: Electric Ballroom, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 July 2003
THE SUREST SIGN that Kings of Leon are having a moment is the 180 requests for this show's 40 press tickets. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 July 2003
KOSHEEN'S AMIABLE TRIP-HOP ticks all the Espace generation's boxes: the Bristol trio have been endorsed by Ronan Keating and nominated in the watered-down dance category ...
Seal: Linbury Studio Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 August 2003
SEAL'S GOLDEN VOICE is the stuff of which summer weekends are made, so he has missed a trick by scheduling his new album for September, ...
The Rapture: A New York State Of Mind
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 September 2003
Out of time, ahead of fashion – the Rapture are the real sound of New York. If they can make it there, says Caroline Sullivan, ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 September 2003
LIKE ALL PROPER Dave albums, Bowie's 26th has at its core a concept, around which 11 songs uneasily cluster to articulate the master's daft vision. ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 September 2003
Juggling a baby and a career is difficult enough for anyone – but how do you manage it when you're a pop star? Caroline Sullivan ...
Jamie Cullum: Bright Young Thing
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 September 2003
At 24, Jamie Cullum has a £1m record deal and a Mobo nomination. He talks to Caroline Sullivan about Nirvana, Prince William, and his mission ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 October 2003
Fannypack are young, smutty and fresh — and they might just make hip-hop fun again. Caroline Sullivan meets them. ...
The Electric Soft Parade: The American Adventure
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 October 2003
THIS BRIGHTON brother-act have survived a Mercury prize nomination (for last year's debut, Holes in the Wall), a Q award for best newcomer and a ...
Sugababes: Wanna be in our gang?
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 October 2003
Sugababes were 15 when they released their first single. Three years and one line-up change later, they are the coolest, smartest girl band in the ...
Thea Gilmore: "It's sad the lengths girls go to, pouting on the cover of their CD"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 October 2003
Thea Gilmore has released five albums, received rave reviews and turned down endless offers from major labels. And she's still only 23. She talks to ...
Hot Hot Heat: The Next Skinny Thing
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 November 2003
They're polite, prefer video games to groupies - and they're Canadian. Can Hot Hot Heat really be the new Strokes? Caroline Sullivan meets them. ...
Kylie Minogue: The Butt Stops Here
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 November 2003
So she's 35, but does that really mean Kylie should cover up, asks Caroline Sullivan ...
Last Christmas, I gave you my chart
Column by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 November 2003
Caroline Sullivan is appalled by this year's efforts for the Chrismas No 1, but finds some consolation in the thought that next year the singles ...
Stellastarr*: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 November 2003
TO HEAR THE GOTHY GUSHINGS of the current intake of New York art-rockers, you'd think the decade that inspires them, the 80s, began and ended ...
Wyclef Jean: "I preach to the streets"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 November 2003
Why did Wyclef Jean help Tom Jones do hip-hop? Why has he got 62 guns? And what's he doing with 20,000 songs on a Dictaphone? ...
Amy Winehouse: Bush Hall, London ***½
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 2003
YOU WAIT ALL millennium for a commercial but unembarrassing British female singer, then two come along within weeks of each other. ...
Michelle McManus: The stars in our eyes
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 December 2003
Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus may claim to be happy with her size, but pop's obsession with image could well put an end to that, ...
My Chemical Romance: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (Polydor) ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 April 2004
ALTHOUGH My Chemical Romance have tried to spice up their image by nicknaming their patch of suburban New Jersey "the Crimezone", it would be surprising ...
Jolie Holland: Bush Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 May 2004
AMY WINEHOUSE happened to be playing around the corner when Jolie Holland was making her London debut, a fact worth mentioning because both singers are ...
Earl Okin: The Unluckiest Man In Pop
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 May 2004
After 35 years in the business, Earl Okin is about to release his first album. He tells Caroline Sullivan why it's taken him so long ...
Jesse Malin: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2004
JESSE MALIN'S THROUGH-A-BEER-GLASS-DARKLY take on American rock wouldn't be nearly as fashionable if it was sold under the name John Mellencamp. It just goes to ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 June 2004
AS HIS FIRST NAME SUGGESTS, Devendra Banhart's parents were "alternative" types. He has certainly done them proud, growing up into a folk-hippy with a beard ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 June 2004
THE OLD Rock Stars' Home that is Sanctuary Records has a new resident in the former James singer, and on his first solo album he ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 June 2004
This Swedish eight-piece is half band, half cottage industry: they design their own sleeves, direct their own animated videos and, for good measure, are sending ...
The unfortunate incident of the log in the night-time: Glasto on the box
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 June 2004
Caroline Sullivan will be enjoying Glastonbury from the safety of her sofa. She explains why she's delighted ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 July 2004
THIS VENUE has recently hosted a succession of newish female songwriters — Polly Paulusma, Jolie Holland -—who are doing a good job of making Dido ...
Dogs Die in Hot Cars: Please Describe Yourself
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 July 2004
Shame it's too late to change their terrible name, because Dogs Die in Hot Cars will find it splashed all over the place if their ...
Joss Stone: The Guardian profile: Joss Stone
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 July 2004
WITH HER ASTONISHINGLY MATURE, emotive black soul voice the Devon teenager is an R&B sensation in the US and a talent that knocks "reality-pop" for ...
Girls Aloud: How I Became a Girl Aloud
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 September 2004
Caroline Sullivan spends a week in the shoes — the very painful shoes — of the UK's number one girl band ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 October 2004
"SOME GROUND RULES", says Electric Six's Dick Valentine, by way of introduction. "If you touch me, I'll kill you. If you're a homo and you ...
Handsome Boy Modeling School: White People
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 November 2004
IF THE IDEA OF HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL doesn't annoy, it should. An R&B prank comprised of two US rap producers using pseudonyms and famous ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 November 2004
Generally described as "cinematic" — code for "prone to moroseness; just add muted horns" — the Dears are more a horror double-bill tonight. As Montreal's ...
Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 November 2004
A GENUINE CHARACTER — which immediately distinguishes her from 90% of other successful pop females — Gwen Stefani has made a solo debut that's as ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 January 2005
Hanson want to be taken seriously as an alt-rock band. But will anyone forgive their teeny-bop past? By Caroline Sullivan ...
A Single-Minded Pair: Rescuing Radio 1's Official Chart Show
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 February 2005
Tuned-in kids are turning off Radio 1's chart show. Can a new double act help it shake off its staid image, asks Caroline Sullivan. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 March 2005
"YOU ROCK!" SQUEALED AN AMERICAN VOICE, in a fit of either delusion or rank flattery. What this country-influenced LA quartet notably don't do is rock. ...
Nas: Hip-Hop Violence: Pop Goes The Weasel
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 March 2005
FOR THE RECORD: guns don't go bang but pop, a noise a lot like a jumbo bottle of champagne being opened. As this was a ...
Black Eyed Peas: Brixton Academy, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 May 2005
ALMOST ALONE among hiphoppers, the Black Eyed Peas have a sense of humility, so they must cringe at their label's hype. Whoever decided this amiable LA fourpiece ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 May 2005
DESPITE THE INADVERTENT HILARITY France is likely to contribute to Eurovision, it has been unfashionable for several years to accuse the French of pop ineptitude. ...
Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Roisin Murphy: Her Time Is Now
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2005
When Moloko split up, Roisin Murphy found herself without a band, a plan or a partner. She tells Caroline Sullivan how half an hour of ...
Live8: Just Another Gig – With Added Feelgood Factor
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 June 2005
NEARLY EVERY A-lister worth the name is doing their bit, making Live8 the first truly all-star charity show since Live Aid. Madonna! U2! Coldplay! You ...
Tanita Tikaram: "I Was An Odd Kid"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 June 2005
SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, during her first flush of success as a precocious young songwriter, Tanita Tikaram was lampooned by 'Smash Hits'. Under a photo of ...
Damien Rice: Palladium, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 June 2005
THE MANY superlatives dished out to Damien Rice stem primarily from his ability to wow live crowds. ...
James Blunt: I was Blunt’s instrument
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 2005
"DOUBLE WHAMMY for Blunt," says a headline in this week's issue of trade magazine Music Week, acknowledging the fact that songwriter James Blunt is at ...
Madeleine Peyroux: "I'm an outcast"
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 August 2005
Madeleine Peyroux could be the new Norah Jones – if she didn't find the idea insulting. She tells Caroline Sullivan about walking out on her ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 August 2005
Once upon a time the Dandy Warhols lived a spartan existence, struggling from gig to distant gig. Then someone made an unflattering documentary about them. ...
Laura Veirs: Bush Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 September 2005
THE RECENTLY COINED "AMERICANA" GENRE that Seattle songwriter Laura Veirs inhabits is underpinned by a yearning to reconnect with the land. In Veirs's case, this ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 October 2005
Why insist on 50 minutes of music when you could have a perfect 10 — or better still, a single? ...
Guillemots: Madame Jo-Jo's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 October 2005
THIS WEEK'S BAND-OF-THE-MOMENT make an entrance that can be classified as either an exciting piece of theatre or a takeover of the venue by a ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 November 2005
When You Can't Really Function You're So Full Of Fear, A Digital Downloader Is Something To Be ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 December 2005
WITH ALMOST NO INFORMATION supplied by Adams, the advance publicity for 29 — the rootsy crooner's third album this year — amounted to a hotchpotch ...
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever They Say They Are, That's What They Are
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 January 2006
EARLIER THIS week, the Times dealt the Arctic Monkeys the backhanded compliment of labelling them "spotty poets". It's the "poets" that concerns us here. ...
Isobel Campbell: Bush Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2006
As an ex-member of the potentates of twee, Belle and Sebastian, singer/cellist Isobel Campbell can't be expected to stride across the stage like a rock ...
Isobel Campbell: Bush Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2006
AS AN ex-member of the potentates of twee, Belle and Sebastian, singer/cellist Isobel Campbell can't be expected to stride across the stage like a rock ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2006
REARED WITH THE USUAL HIP-HOP CV ("the projects", spells in the slammer), Jaheim Hoagland was so precociously naughty that, by age 16, he was already ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 March 2006
EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO, Embrace made the decade's least expected comeback when their aptly titled fourth album, Out of Nothing, reached number one. Their reappearance, after ...
Nada Surf: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 March 2006
OCCASIONALLY, an unknown band will be booked into a support slot months in advance, have a hit in the meantime and on the night find ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 April 2006
No one expected the Zutons to make it big - least of all themselves. Caroline Sullivan meets the best sci-fi trash-rock band in Britain. ...
Hilary Duff: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 2006
ALL EXCEPT PUBESCENT GIRLS are entitled to ask: "Hilary who?" This 18-year-old actor/singer is a massive star in the eyes of Sugar magazine readers, but ...
Bic Runga: Today New Zealand, tomorrow the world
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 June 2006
Is Bic Runga the next great chanteuse? Caroline Sullivan finds out. ...
The Dixie Chicks: Dixie Chicks: 'We Had A Song At No 1. The Next Day It Was At No 70'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 June 2006
NATALIE MAINES has a little cluster of black teardrops tattooed on her lower leg, trickling from her ankle down to her foot. Dixie Chicks' poised ...
Lostprophets: Liberation Transmission
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 June 2006
THEY'RE FROM SOUTH WALES and lumber songs with titles such as 'A Town Called Hypocrisy' and 'Always All Ways (Apologies, Glances and Messed-up Chances)', but ...
Justin Timberlake: Hammersmith Palais, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 2006
WHEN Janet Jackson's bosom slipped out mid-song at the 2004 Super Bowl, only one person came out of the affair unscathed. ...
The Costa del Sol: Elvis Has Left The Cantina
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 2006
ELVIS PRESLEY is having a grand time. He is cuddling up to tipsy girls and giving them individual verses of 'Return to Sender' as they ...
Christina Aguilera: Koko, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 July 2006
MAKING AN ENTRANCE worthy of Kylie, Christina Aguilera looks stunning. Having reined in her penchant for leather and cleavage and adopted a look inspired by ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 July 2006
For Peaches, the famously X-rated rapper, the personal has just got political. Caroline Sullivan hears about her beef with Bush ...
Ice Cube: Respectability? It Can Wait
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 2006
He went from gangsta notoriety to Hollywood stardom. Now Ice Cube has returned to the studio – to show today's rappers where they've gone wrong. ...
Metric: King's College, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 2006
FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, the 20-strong music factory known as Broken Social Scene has been Canada's wellspring of all things indie. Metric are ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 September 2006
LIKE MOST American singers of her magnitude, Beyoncé speaks in life-coach soundbites that portray recording an album as a spiritual rite of passage. ...
India.Arie: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 September 2006
INDIA ARIE is so personable that, on meeting her a few years ago, Nelson Mandela began the conversation by asking if she had a boyfriend. ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 September 2006
THE THREE GIRLS on the south London station platform couldn't have been more than 13, and as they waited for the train, they were singing, ...
Amy Winehouse: Bloomsbury Ballroom, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 September 2006
WHILE AMY Winehouse has been off making the follow-up to her 2003 Mercury-nominated debut album, Frank, her role as the new kid on the block ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 September 2006
THERE'S NO DISPUTING Jamelia Davis's ability to turn out a fantastic single: her last album contained three of the best of that year in 'Superstar', ...
Lupe Fiasco: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 October 2006
LUPE FIASCO'S DEBUT LONDON HEADLINER was originally booked for the Scala, but transferred to the sterile Islington Academy after an unrelated shooting at the original ...
Razorlight: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 November 2006
EVERY BUDDING BRITISH ROCK STAR fantasises about the night he or she will be able to say the three little words that mean they have ...
My Chemical Romance: Brixton Academy, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 November 2006
AT 9:45 ON SUNDAY MORNING, it wasn't surprising to see a queue already straggling down the side of Brixton Academy. ...
Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape (Polydor) ****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 December 2006
THE NO DOUBT SINGER'S solo output should be the blueprint for any aspiring pop star who doesn't want to sacrifice credibility for the sake of ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 February 2007
"THE BIGGEST MIDGET IN THE GAME," all 5ft 1in of her, is no longer the gauche grime-girl from Wembley. Dropping in for one UK show ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 March 2007
IT IS A TRIBUTE to Conor Oberst's force of personality that the name Bright Eyes is now associated with him rather than with the rabbit-eulogising ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 March 2007
KATE NASH could not be more "now" if she had been invented by MySpace geneticists. Her vintage dresses, breathless blog and peevish tunes are so ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 May 2007
TALK ABOUT ADVANCE WARNING — the first three songs of their set are called 'Bones', 'Bullets' and 'Blood', so nobody can claim to be surprised ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 June 2007
Calvin Harris had a solid career in fruit and veg to look forward to. Then the charts, fame and Kylie Minogue got in the way. ...
Elvis Perkins: All About My Mother: Elvis Perkins
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 June 2007
Elvis Perkins tells Caroline Sullivan how the tragic deaths of his famous parents have shaped his melancholy pop. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 June 2007
THINGS HAVE COME to a pretty pass when the Feeling are influential enough to have spawned a genre of their own. ...
Grant-Lee Phillips: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 August 2007
THE CALIFORNIA SONGWRITER who shares his first name with America's two main civil war generals is anything but combative. Given to gentle jokes mid-performance, the ...
Scouting for Girls: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 August 2007
IF SCOUTING FOR GIRLS turn out to be notable for nothing else, they have at least saved the name Roy from extinction. But Roy Stride, ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 September 2007
Scissor Sister Ana Matronic idolises Siouxsie – so we brought the two together to discuss punks, parents and the male ego. By Caroline Sullivan ...
KT Tunstall: Wilton's Music Hall, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 September 2007
KATE TUNSTALL uses her initials for the same reason Joanne Rowling became JK — she thought a female name would generate preconceptions. Her music also ...
Erasure: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 September 2007
THE UK TOUR that ended with this Albert Hall show saw Erasure touch down in Preston and Grimsby – towns at the bottom of most ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 November 2007
ROBYN’S WEBSITE makes the contentious claim that the Swedish singer is the "most killingest pop star on the planet", which will be news to, say, ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 November 2007
... and Lily, and Kate: there's a new star in town. Adele Adkins is only 19, but her voice has bewitched everyone from Jools Holland ...
George Pringle: The Social, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 November 2007
"JUST WAIT till my husband gets out of prison," sulks the skinny girl, poking a pinky into her mound of frothed hair. The audience titter ...
Ida Maria: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 December 2007
IDA MARIA IS LIKE A CHILD in charge of a bucking bronco — the bronco being her unique voice. It's an ululating yelp speckled with ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 2007
CANSEI DE Ser Sexy (as they initially were until they gave in to the English-speaking world's lack of enthusiasm for other tongues) have already grasped ...
Sia: King's College, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 December 2007
A GOOD HALF-DOZEN VOCALISTS have passed through the career-development lab that is Zero 7 (the dance act also known as producers of soft-furnishings pop to ...
Adele, Duffy, Laura Marling: Adele, Duffy et al: This Year's Vintage
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 January 2008
Caroline Sullivan on 2008's big female voices ...
The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls: Is radio whistling the right tunes?
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 January 2008
Things are changing on the airwaves. Caroline Sullivan finds Radio 1 ditching rock for "pop". ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 February 2008
"THERE'S A LOVELY Welsh word, cynefin, which means 'habitat'. It's the idea that there are factors in your environment that have an influence on you ...
The Fratellis: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 April 2008
SECURE IN HIS STANDING as one of rock's greats, the Who singer Roger Daltrey, organiser of the annual week of Teenage Cancer Trust gigs, was ...
The Long Blondes: Forum, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 April 2008
WINNING THE NME RADAR award for best new band in 2006 wasn't quite the turning point Sheffield's Long Blondes were entitled to expect. Their first ...
Girls Aloud: Brighton Centre ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 May 2008
GIRLS ALOUD long ago ceased to be a guilty pleasure, and are now just a pleasure. It defies the laws of reality TV that they're ...
Essay by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 May 2008
THE HYPING OF HER FIRST RECORD seemed a step too far. Can a new album restore this singer's popularity? ...
Kiss: Overblown, Overpaid And Over Here
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 May 2008
For the headliners of Download heavy metal festival, there are millions to be made, fans to ogle (and sometimes sleep with), and platform boots to ...
The Fratellis: "We don't want to be a pop band"
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 June 2008
IT'S LATE AFTERNOON outside Amsterdam's Paradiso club, and the small group of teenagers hanging around on the steps have just seen something to get excited ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 July 2008
The biggest-selling artist in Britain this year? That would be Wales' Aimee Duffy, sales of whose Rockferry album passed the million mark a few weeks ...
Katy Perry: Water Rats, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 September 2008
KATY PERRY has found the best way to ensure her debut UK gig is a sellout. Although she has had the No. 1 single for ...
The Dears: Porchester Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 2008
A WEST LONDON HALL that advertises itself as the ideal spot for weddings and birthday parties is a perverse place to find the Dears, a ...
Kaiser Chiefs: The Forum, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 October 2008
IN 2005, Kaiser Chiefs squeezed into a pop scene that was fixated on arch art-rockers. Today, the band are a neo-Britpop fixture, seemingly sent to ...
Hot Chip: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 November 2008
"WELCOME TO the Hot Chip show," shouts guitarist Al Doyle, as if priming the crowd for a Vegas cabaret act rather than five Londoners whose ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 November 2008
REMEMBER THE days when boy bands were 10 a penny and schoolgirls would wage war over whether Take That or East 17 were more luscious? ...
Ryan Adams: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 November 2008
DESPITE WHAT Ryan Adams tells us tonight, it wasn't true that this was the first time he had ever played London "without being chemically challenged". ...
Live Music: Is This The End Of The Road?
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 November 2008
Gigs have been shoring up the ailing music industry – but they're not as popular as they once were. Caroline Sullivan reports on growing anxiety ...
Taio Cruz: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 December 2008
TAIO CRUZ HAS BEEN DESCRIBED as a British cross between Timbaland and John Legend — "British" being the operative word. A privately educated Londoner, Cruz ...
Lady Gaga, La Roux: Slaves To Synth
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 December 2008
The male guitar band is dead. The future is electro, female, DIY – and very in your face. Caroline Sullivan talks to the solo acts ...
The Ting Tings: The Day-Glo Duo: The Ting Tings
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 February 2009
"ALL I'VE BEEN thinking about," says Jules De Martino, the male half of the Ting Tings, seated in a swish Manchester restaurant, "is steak and ...
John Legend: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 March 2009
AS befits a singer who decided that his original surname, Stephens, didn't capture his essence, John Legend precedes his entrance with black-and-white footage of himself ...
Jason Mraz: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 April 2009
WHILE THE WORLD has been going about its business, Jason Mraz has quietly sold 3.5m copies of his Grammy-nominated 2008 album, We Sing, We Dance, ...
The Enemy: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 April 2009
ANYONE WHO THINKS "the kids" are an apathetic lot who would rather vegetate in front of their Xboxes than start a revolution should see the ...
Lady Sovereign: 5 Cavendish Square, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 April 2009
LADY SOVEREIGN operates on hip-hop time, so it's compulsory for her to be an hour late for this low-key comeback show, at — oddly enough ...
Taylor Swift: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 May 2009
COSY PLACES SUCH AS the Shepherd's Bush Empire can't figure much in Taylor Swift's schedule these days — the US's top-selling artist of 2008 must ...
Faith No More at The Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 June 2009
FAITH NO MORE's first gig in 11 years starts on a promisingly high note. A keyboard tinkles a lullaby melody, a spotlight picks out singer ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 June 2009
The self-styled King of Pop, whose musical gift was overshadowed by his private life ...
Sugababes: 'We Took Our Eye Off The Ball'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 July 2009
After a brush with self-doubt, the Sugababes are back on form. Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range talk about their new album, Get Sexy ...
Coldplay, Jay-Z: Coldplay/Jay-Z: Lancashire Cricket Club, Manchester
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 September 2009
THERE ARE only a few bands big enough to ask artists who are at the very top of their own genres to work as their ...
Spandau Ballet's Reunion: Once More With Girdles
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 October 2009
With 10 top 10 hits, Spandau Ballet were the epitome of 80s pop. After much bitterness and a court case, the band are reunited again ...
Dizzee Rascal: Roundhouse, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 October 2009
"DIZZEE RASCAL for prime minister, yeah?" As if to emphasise that he is more than just an east London grime MC these days, Rascal ended ...
JLS: 'We Became An Unshakable Force'
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 October 2009
X Factor runners up don't usually win Mobos — but JLS were always meant for more than talent shows ...
Bon Jovi: Alan McGee meets Jon Bon Jovi
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 November 2009
When Creation boss and Oasis mentor Alan McGee confessed his admiration for veteran rocker Jon Bon Jovi on a Guardian blog, we just had to ...
Just Jack: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 November 2009
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT if Jack Allsopp had picked a stage name with a bit more brio — Barnstorming Jack, say — he might have fulfilled ...
Newton Faulkner: Union Chapel, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 November 2009
NEWTON FAULKNER seemed a whimsical choice to headline the final night of the annual Mencap Little Noise series — previous shows had featured more obvious ...
Travis: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 December 2009
GLASGOW FOLK-POPSTERS Travis named themselves after the psychotic Robert De Niro character in Taxi Driver, but anyone chancing on them halfway through their sold-out Christmas ...
Lostprophets: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 February 2010
THE SINGER WEARS A CHANEL WATCH and dates TV presenters, his bandmates have the angular facial planes of male models, and you can bet they ...
Rock Journalist Carol Clerk Broke the Mould
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian Unlimited, 19 March 2010
Former Melody Maker news editor Carol Clerk, who died last week, was a role model for female music writers. She loved old-school rock – and ...
The Cranberries: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 April 2010
BANDS GIVE ALL sorts of reasons for reuniting, but the Cranberries' must be the most novel: in 2009, after five years apart, they decided to have ...
The Duke & the King: Union Chapel, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 April 2010
"AIN'T NO DUST CLOUD from heaven can keep us from our congregation! Can I get an 'amen'?" demands the Duke & the King's leader, Simone ...
LCD Soundsystem: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 April 2010
HAVING VOWED to disband LCD Soundsystem when he turned 40, James Murphy – who reached that milestone in February – is currently on his (presumably) ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 May 2010
HOOKING UP with Jay-Z for 'Empire State of Mind' has elevated Alicia Keys to a level of stardom where it will no longer do to ...
Mystery Jets: Somerset House, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 July 2010
FOUR YEARS AFTER THEIR FIRST ALBUM, Mystery Jets must be resigned to the knowledge that, unless the music world tilts on its axis, their quirky pop ...
Erykah Badu: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 July 2010
THE LOT OF AN ERYKAH BADU fan isn't always a happy one. In the long queue outside Brixton Academy, two women are indignantly discussing the ...
Lady Antebellum: Shepherd's Bush Empire
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 August 2010
THE GULF BETWEEN UK AND US MUSICAL TASTES is epitomised by Nashville's Lady Antebellum. Back home, the trio's emollient country-pop — which, to British ears, ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 September 2010
IT'S DARING of Belgian rapper Stromae to give his first album a title that encourages gags about it being a load of fromage, and equally brave to ...
Rumer: Bloomsbury Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 September 2010
RUMER'S PRISTINE VOICE — a dead ringer for Karen Carpenter's — is best suited to the kind of luxurious easy-listening treatment that sold millions of ...
Mark Ronson and the Business Intl.: Hackney Empire, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2010
IT'S NO LONGER UNUSUAL for producers to become artists in their own right, but Mark Ronson looks like he hasn't quite thought the whole thing ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 November 2010
THEY'VE HAD A NO 1 ALBUM with Brand New Eyes and have sold out their UK arena tour, but Paramore aren't on the musical radar ...
The Bravery: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 February 2011
THERE WAS A TIME, back in 2005, when it looked as if the Bravery would overtake the Killers as the US's premier purveyors of synthy, ...
Justin Bieber: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 March 2011
JUSTIN BIEBER fans will tell you there are two only kinds of people in the world: "Beliebers" and the rest of us. For those who ...
Katy Perry: Hammersmith Apollo, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 March 2011
KATY PERRY is strutting across the stage, a giant spray of feathers fanning out from her tiny backside, and she's singing, "I wanna see your ...
R Kelly: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 April 2011
IT HAS been more than a decade since R Kelly, the self-proclaimed King of R&B, last passed through London – time enough for his original ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 2011
IT'S NOT HARD TO GUESS that Katy B, for all her success in taking her personable version of UK funky into the Top 10, isn't ...
Wild Beasts: Sex-Obsessed and Scrupulously Polite
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 May 2011
ON A BALMY APRIL MORNING in east London, Hayden Thorpe is remembering the night last September when Wild Beasts failed to win the Mercury Prize ...
Friendly Fires: Heaven, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 May 2011
DESPITE A GOLD DEBUT album and Brit and Mercury nominations, Friendly Fires are still a long way from household-name status — something the St Albans ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 2011
MANCHESTER ELECTRO-DUO Hurts are so in thrall to new-romantic stylishness that one review of last year's debut album, Happiness, suggested that even their gigs were ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 July 2011
Singer with a soul-steeped voice whose instantly successful Back to Black album reflected her tormented experience of love ...
Florence and the Machine: Hackney Empire, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 October 2011
PARENTS WHO worry that their teenage daughters have few pop role models other than the intemperately sexual Rihannas of the world should be pleased that ...
Ryan Adams: Union Chapel, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 November 2011
WHAT DOES A HELLRAISER DO when he reaches 37 and finds little hell left to raise? For Ryan Adams, whose unpredictability has kept fans enthralled ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 November 2011
LANA DEL REY may become the most recognised stage name since fellow New Yorker Lady Gaga, but it's just as possible it will end up ...
Jill Scott: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 December 2011
"I HAD AN album out this year," Jill Scott informs a chokingly full Brixton Academy. The congratulatory bellows have hardly faded before she tartly adds: ...
One Direction: Hammersmith Apollo, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 January 2012
"SCREW BIEBER FEVER," tweeted a fan on the afternoon of this boy band's first London headline gig, "I've got a One Direction infection." ...
Boyz II Men: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian Unlimited, 29 January 2012
"I'VE NEVER HAD to say this to a crowd before," says Shawn Stockman, the tenor who puts a great deal of the quivering oomph into ...
Gym Class Heroes, Stooshe: Koko, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 2012
THE ONLY GIRL BAND tipped in the BBC Sound of 2012 poll, Stooshe have been excitably described as "Salt-n-Pepa meet Odd Future". But the comparison ...
Beth Jeans Houghton: Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 February 2012
IT'S NO surprise to learn that Beth Jeans Houghton has synesthesia, a condition that causes her to "taste" colours (red is just like Safeway crisps, ...
Snow Patrol: The O2, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 February 2012
WHEN SNOW PATROL released Fallen Empires, the 2011 album that comprises a substantial part of this gig, singer Gary Lightbody revealed that the new record ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 February 2012
Superstar singer credited as the first 'pop diva', whose compelling talent was lost to drug addiction ...
Marina and the Diamonds: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 February 2012
MARINA "AND THE DIAMONDS" DIAMANDIS is about to release the follow-up to 2010's top-five debut album The Family Jewels, but there's something so exuberantly off-kilter ...
Sinéad O'Connor: "I define success differently"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 March 2012
From her public search for a husband to attempted suicide and hospitalisation, the Irish singer has had a turbulent year even by her own standards. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 March 2012
THEIR ONE-ALBUM ALLIANCE with Johnny Marr ended last year, but if the Jarman brothers from Wakefield, who comprise the Cribs, never repeat the Top 10 ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 March 2012
WHO COULD HAVE predicted not one but two X Factor boybands would exceed their allotted 15 minutes? The onus is now on JLS to out-dazzle ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 April 2012
EVEN ON HER FIRST HEADLINING TOUR, Cher Lloyd isn't constrained by lack of confidence: she wants nothing less than for fans to feel that "this is ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 April 2012
"THE MADONNA OF THE MIDLANDS", as Nottingham singer/producer Ronika Sampson has been unenviably labelled, is having an intriguing effect on a quartet of young women ...
Happy Mondays: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 May 2012
IF YOU DISCOUNT HIS PROPENSITY for using the f-word, you could call Shaun Ryder a solid citizen these days. The Happy Mondays' leader is slim, ...
Rumer: St James's Church, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 May 2012
"I SPOKE TO PF SLOAN himself on the phone the other night, and he said, 'I'm praying for you.'" It's three songs into Rumer's set, ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 June 2012
ONE OF POP'S great delights is its unpredictability: a month ago, who could have foreseen an unknown Cambridge art-rock quartet landing in the top 20 ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: Kiss (Polydor) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 September 2012
THIS Canadian Idol runner-up's super-hit 'Call Me Maybe' — the UK's second-biggest single of 2012 — was a polarising experience. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 October 2012
A RECENT bit of rebranding has seen Cheryl Cole styling herself as just "Cheryl", the inference being that she's reached a level of fame where ...
Chilly Gonzales: Barbican, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 2012
"HARMONY'S FRENCH, but the melancholy melody's so Slavic," raps Chilly Gonzales, words tumbling out in a Canadian-accented torrent. "Whether I rap fast or slow, the ...
Lady Antebellum: On This Winter's Night
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 December 2012
A CHRISTMAS ALBUM by America's unfathomably all-conquering Lady A? Why didn't they think of it before? In fact, they almost did — six of the 12 tracks ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 December 2012
NEW ZEALAND SONGWRITER Kimbra Johnson was the sinuous star turn on Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used to Know', and the exposure sent this solo debut into the ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2013
ASH HAVE BEEN rock stars for 12 years and four albums, yet, as singer Tim Wheeler has noted, they're still younger than some of the ...
Modestep: Evolution Theory (Max)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 2013
IF PENDULUM rule the teen-rave market, Modestep seem destined to reel in their little brothers and sisters. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 February 2013
ONE THING IN HURTS' FAVOUR is that they're no bandwagon-jumpers — here's one band who will never sully their glaciated synth-pop by lobbing in a ...
Frightened Rabbit: Concorde 2, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2013
UNTIL RECENTLY, Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit were best-known for being bigger in America than at home. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2013
IF SIMON COWELL is in the house tonight as One Direction start their first UK arena tour, he might have to conclude that his earthly ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 March 2013
AS ADAM ANT ONCE SAID, ridicule is nothing to be scared of — words Hurts should take to heart, as their second album will provoke ...
Chvrches: Village Underground, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 2013
SEEING CHVRCHES (pronounced "churches") live is akin to discovering a 1980s edition of Top of the Pops, in which Clare Grogan of Altered Images has teamed ...
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: How we made: Jiggs Chase and Ed Fletcher on 'The Message'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2013
The producer and MC of the hip-hop classic recall trying to persuade Grandmaster Flash to grow a social conscience. ...
Ke$ha: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 July 2013
AS YOU will grasp from her Twitter handle — @keshasuxx — Kesha Sebert likes to think of herself as mad, bad and dangerous. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 August 2013
SUNNY DISPOSITIONS and chirpy tunefulness saw Rizzle Kicks achieve a double-platinum debut in 2011. ...
Caro Emerald: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 September 2013
POST-WINEHOUSE retro-jazz singer Caro Emerald already has a No 1 album under her belt, and even wider fame looks likely ...
Justin Timberlake: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 September 2013
His ex-boyband DNA compels him to give the footwork as much prominence as the songs ...
Dizzee Rascal: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2013
Beyond the celeb-friends roundup, Dizzee's agility and cheery-badman appeal is undeniable ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 2013
The blues guitarist turned rock star surveys his discography for a tame but well-crafted show. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 2013
WHEN A label announces that one of its major autumn pop releases contains "no obviously constructed singles", it usually signals that the artist has lost their mojo. ...
The Jonas Brothers: Why the Jonas Brothers were doomed from the start
Essay by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 October 2013
THE TRANSITION from boyband to adult musician is — whisper it — harder if you are in possession of a Y chromosome. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 November 2013
'ROCK'N'ROLL', 'Here's to Never Growing Up', 'Bad Girl': the titles on Avril Lavigne's fifth album are self-explanatory. ...
Ariana Grande: "I'm not comfortable being forwardly sexual"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 November 2013
She got her big break on a children's TV show, is adored by legions of teenage fans, and now she has released an album — ...
Crystal Fighters: Brixton Academy, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 November 2013
If you thought this sextet could only evoke Vampire Weekend and CSS, then think again: live, their passion can't be faulted ...
Mary J. Blige: "Whitney Houston's funeral freaked me out"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 November 2013
The queen of hip-hop soul on giving up alcohol, getting fit and cutting out the drama in her life. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 November 2013
Pop's nearly woman evokes Kylie and Lady Gaga, but ultimately brings a wide-eyed intensity all her own ...
Childish Gambino: Because The Internet
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 2013
CHILDISH GAMBINO, the creation of US actor/standup Donald Glover, was initially seen by some as too plugged in to media circles to be persuasive as a rapper. ...
Palma Violets: Concorde 2, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 December 2013
The London foursome are living the indie-god dream, mixing ramshackle punk-garage with irresistible visual appeal. ...
Suede: "Who says you can only do great stuff if you're damaged?"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 Fall 2013
Good news for beautiful, conflicted outsiders: after 11 years, Suede are back – with an album that's as sharp as their singer's cheekbones. ...
Metronomy: Old Market, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 January 2014
The band makes a euphoric homecoming loaded with new material that twitches and percolates like nu-rave Sly Stone ...
Rudimental: Academy Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2014
Joined by a robust supporting cast — including Prince's new BFF Lianne La Havas — the London quartet deliver a ramshackle yet oddly cohesive sold-out ...
Clean Bandit: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 May 2014
This chart-topping dance/classical outfit create some genuinely unusual hybrid sounds, and they're consistently entertaining, if occasionally a bit daft ...
Mavis Staples: Union Chapel, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 June 2014
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME," Mavis Staples sings vampily. "How old am I? Sixteen years old." In fact, she turned 75 today, but 16 feels about ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 July 2014
ENCOURAGED BY THE SUCCESS of his 2011 album, Playing In The Shadows, singer/rapper Example plumped for an experimental, guitar-accented follow-up in 2012, only to find ...
Lostprophets, No Devotion: Lostprophets: "He Said He Was Innocent"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 July 2014
When lead singer Ian Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 child sex offences, his former bandmates went into a state of shock. Now, still angry and ...
No Devotion: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 July 2014
FOR A NEW STARTUP, the Welsh-American sextet No Devotion come with disproportionate baggage. Five were members of Lostprophets, whose name became tarnished when singer Ian ...
5 Seconds of Summer: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 September 2014
THE SYDNEY FOURSOME 5 Seconds of Summer aren't just a boyband, they want us to know. Check the cover of their globally successful debut album: ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 2014
"I'M A FEMALE rebel," insists Miley Cyrus's disembodied voice, piercing the opening song of Alt-J's show. Stripped of twerking and tongue associations, the sampled line floats in ...
Jessie J: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 2014
Naff, good-hearted and prone to motivational guff, Jessie J has a big-sister kindliness that gets the fans bouncing ...
Ed Sheeran: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2014
Choirmaster builds to a climax... but keeps his shirt on. The multimillion-selling star stretches English self-deprecation to the limits while creating a whole band's worth of ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 October 2014
Is the surprise megahit really a dig at thinner women? No way, says the singer, it's about loving and rocking whatever you've got ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 October 2014
THE FIRST TIME Culture Club played this basement nightclub, Smash Hits' reviewer Neil Tennant didn't see much of a future for them. ...
James Bay: The new noise bubble: are critics' choice awards for new artists a blessing or a curse?
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 January 2015
Awards such as the BBC's Sound Of 2015 can be vital in helping new artists break through and get noticed by fans — but can ...
Fall Out Boy: American Beauty/American Psycho
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 January 2015
"THIS IS A really important record," Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz says of their sixth album. That's less self-aggrandising than it appears: he meant only that the long-serving ...
Hozier: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 February 2015
THE CRASHING DESOLATION of Andrew Hozier-Byrne's debut single, 'Take Me to Church', makes for a perversely delectable earworm. One of the most-streamed songs of last ...
Lionel Richie: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 March 2015
With the stamina of a performer half his age, the veteran soul star swings between raucous R&B and sweet ballads to the delight of an ...
Charli XCX: Concorde 2, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 March 2015
"BRIGHTON, put your fucking middle fingers up!" are Charli XCX's first words as she launches her first UK tour as headliner. Brighton needs no encouragement: ...
Brandon Flowers: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 May 2015
THE KILLERS frontman delivers a buzzy rock'n'synth solo show — rounded off by a duet with Chrissie Hynde — but he can't shake his nice-guy ...
Jungle: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 June 2015
JUNGLE'S SHOW begins as more gigs should: with a terrifyingly poised eight-year-old breakdancer spinning on her head, effortlessly eclipsing the adult musicians behind her. Having ...
Taylor Swift: Apple royalties U-turn: is Taylor Swift the most powerful woman in music?
Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 June 2015
Viewed as an advocate for artists and a game-changer, almost no other pop star could have made the corporate behemoth roll over. ...
Nick Jonas: Islington Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 July 2015
THE FORMER TEEN STAR has shaved his head, picked up a guitar and is covering Outkast. But while his talent is undeniable, he needs to ...
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 October 2015
DROPPING THE SYNTHS for Soulsavers' beefed up guitars, Basildon's Elvis is too charismatic to blend in with the band ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: Islington Assembly Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 December 2015
'The Call Me Maybe' singer infuses her 80s-textured pop with believability and uses her underdog status to win over the audience ...
Dua Lipa: Hope & Ruin, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 19 January 2016
She invites comparisons with labelmate Lana Del Rey, but the young Londoner's lack of audience interaction make her seem as if she has nothing to ...
Alessia Cara: "Social media is like a fake reality and it's hard to block things out"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 March 2016
She's struck pop gold in the US and has befriended Taylor Swift and Drake – despite describing herself as an 'antisocial pessimist'. And then there's ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 March 2016
IT WOULD BE HARD TO FIND a less weird girl group than Little Mix, which makes the question posed on a screen — "Are you ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 March 2016
LUKAS GRAHAM FORCHHAMMER, to give this Danish songwriter/frontman his full name, has scored the biggest hit of 2016 so far with '7 Years'. ...
The Lumineers: O2 Academy Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 April 2016
LIKE MUMFORD & SONS, the Lumineers have adopted a strand of rootless country-folk that has no geographical connection to Nashville. Founding members Wesley Schultz and ...
The 5th Dimension: Elegant Pop Crooners Who Wowed The Mainstream
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 June 2016
MY PARENTS owned only two albums that weren't folk or opera. One was the original Broadway cast recording of the musical Hair, which was famous ...
Jesca Hoop, Iron & Wine: Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop: Union Chapel, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 September 2016
The voices of Iron & Wine's Beam and Californian singer-songwriter Hoop pool mellifluously together until they seem made for each other. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 September 2016
BEING HIGHLY successful seems not to have figured in frontman Dan Smith's aspirations for Bastille, whose 4m album sales have triggered ambivalence and self-doubt. ...
Sean Paul: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 September 2016
The sparky showboater's glory days may be some way behind him, but his rueful rhythms haven't just aged well over the years – they carry ...
Angel Olsen: Concorde 2, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 October 2016
ANGEL OLSEN'S BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM, 2014's Burn Your Fire for No Witness, brought the St Louis-born songwriter into contact with those she calls "weirdos" — people ...
Mary J. Blige, Maxwell: Mary J. Blige/Maxwell: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 October 2016
Blige commands the stage with raw rage and consciousness-raising while neo-soul pioneer Maxwell melts the room with trademark loose grooves. ...
Julia Holter: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 November 2016
The singer-songwriter cast a spell over the crowd with her cherished characters and carnival of sounds – but an industro-rock climax proved too much for ...
PWR BTTM: West Hill Hall, Brighton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 4 December 2016
IF QUEER PUNK finds its commercial feet in 2017, it will be largely thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of PWR BTTM. On their debut UK ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 January 2017
AFTER 10 YEARS OUT the singer is back, singing about depression, defiance and desire in a voice that skims from delicacy to sledgehammer vehemence. ...
Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Navigator
Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 March 2017
"I FEEL THAT the soul of New York is under attack," Americana songwriter and Bronx native Alynda Segarra recently said. Her sixth album as Hurray ...
Dua Lipa: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 April 2017
"THIS IS CRAZY," asserts Dua Lipa, which may be exaggerating the situation a bit. Being able to sell out the 2,000-capacity Shepherd's Bush Empire will ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: Kew Gardens, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 July 2017
PERFORMING AMID amid a messy divorce, Mary J Blige delivers a hugely emotional set, her voice both racked and silky as she rebukes men for ...
Feist: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 July 2017
The Canadian indie-folk star transforms the sparse songs of recent album Pleasure into luminous ballads and splenetic blues-rock shredding. ...
Niall Horan: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 September 2017
FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPENT TWO NIGHTS camping on the pavement outside the Shepherd's Bush Empire, 18-year-old India Rain Harrison and her mother, Christine, are ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2018
Vulnerable but resolute, the singer pursues her "truth" in an affecting and revelatory show. ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 January 2018
LEAD SINGER of the Cranberries whose startling, steely voice enchanted audiences on hits such as 'Linger' and 'Zombie'. ...
5 Seconds of Summer: Heaven, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 April 2018
SYDNEY'S GUITAR POPSTERS nakedly woo their young female fans but cut the flirting as they pitch for the crossover adult market. ...
Natalie Prass: Bush Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 April 2018
The Virginia songwriter has added funk and soul to her swooning ballads and '60s pop, fired up by "all the crap that's going on in ...
Frightened Rabbit: Scott Hutchison, 1981-2018
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 May 2018
SINGER AND WRITER of emotionally raw folk-rock songs that attracted a wide following for his band, Frightened Rabbit. ...
Janis Ian: How we made 'At Seventeen'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 May 2018
Janis Ian, singer and songwriter ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 September 2018
"WHERE SHOULD WE START?" asks Ariana Grande, intimating that this unadvertised finale of a mini-tour called the Sweetener Sessions is to be a democratic affair. ...
Davido: O2 Arena, London — Afrobeats' alpha male takes Nigeria to the world
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 January 2019
Aided by Idris Elba and Popcaan, the Nigerian singer underlines his global credentials by tying together US rap and African pop ...
Marina and the Diamonds: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 May 2019
THE FAMILY IS OUT FOR Marina Diamandis tonight — not just the blood relatives, a dozen of whom have turned out to cheer on pop's ...
Ed Sheeran: No. 6 Collaborations (Atlantic)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Metro, 15 July 2019
OTHERWISE known as Pop's Insanely Successful Mr Average, Ed Sheeran rouses many people to eye-rolling disbelief: four albums in, how can Ginger Ordinaire still be ...
Roxette: Marie Fredriksson obituary
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 13 December 2019
COMMANDING FEMALE VOCALISTS were never more popular than in the late 1980s, and for a time Marie Fredriksson, whose voice could blister paint or seduce ...
Marc Almond: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 February 2020
Singing of Italian horror films and Hollywood cemeteries, Almond is on magnificently melodramatic form. ...
Alanis Morissette: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 March 2020
Morissette's acoustic outing for her smash-hit album's anniversary proves these songs are as lacerating as ever ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 July 2021
The soul-jazz star's sold-out performance is unabashedly mainstream, but has real emotional heft. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 March 2022
After the baffling flop of her single 'Black Hole', the pop singer-songwriter is still ready to reach for the stars in this breezy, funny show ...
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