Disappointing Rolling Stone Covers

Let me premise this blog post by saying that I am a major fan of Rolling Stone. I look forward to every month's magazine because it offers the best, most interesting articles on pop culture. I am blown away by every magazine I get, hands down. But, in the past few months, I have to admit how disappointed I am with their choices of covers.

Every month, I slowly turn the cover over to reveal who is on the front. For the past few months, I have found myself extremely disappointed, even making faces and asking myself, "Really?" Come on now.

I understand that Rolling Stone likes to catch new and taw talent, and even cover older acts that are still hot (like the recent Bob Dylan cover), but I really don't agree with some of the recent choices.

The Hills. This looks like a different kind of magazine... And why would Rolling Stone back this kind of reality television series? It's trashy. It's MTV. It's disappointing.



The Jonas Brothers. I couldn't believe they chose to cover these guys. They are teeny boppers. They don't even have musical talent. Their songs are pop and predictable. They are lame and way too catchy. I don't see why Rolling Stone backed them. It's disgusting and appalling.



I'm sick of the Bush attention. I know that he wasn't a good president at all, but he's out of office. Great. I'm sick of hearing about him. Enough is enough!



In March, Taylor Swift. I know she's breaking records and she's young and new, but I've heard her music, and I don't find it at all impressive.



Then, horrifically, Gossip Girls. This was just as bad, if not worse, than when they featured The Hills stars on the cover. This looks like a dirty magazine, not a critically acclaimed one. Yuck.



Lil Wayne. I know he sold an unbelievable amount of records, and even though I don't like his kind of music, I don't respect him as an artist. You can still respect talent even though you don't like the genre. He was the most selfish artist I have ever seen live. I saw him last year at Virgin Fest in Maryland, and he threw a hissy fit beforehand, coming on an hour late, and going way over into the next band's time slot, The Black Keys. He made them run short because of his pride issue, thus screwing up times for the next few bands. And he wasn't even good at all. Bad choice.



Lady Gaga? I was scared when I saw this recent cover. Not good music, scary photo.



Adam Lambert. Is he really that famous? Is American Idol still really that big of a deal? I understand that it's a big deal that he came out in the article, but it's not appealing to me at all. Wrong fan base for the Rolling Stone crowd. Excellent photography, though.



Jonas Brothers, again? Once was bad enough. Now we have to endure TWO wasted Rolling Stone covers? This isn't Tiger Beat or any other teen magazine. Maybe they're trying to appear younger and to a younger audience, but they're just not talented. They are a boy band with a pop sound that plays instruments in a mediocre fashion. I don't understand the hype. Maybe I would consider their talent if they had some, but their music is too pop-ish, nothing standout-ish, very easy to forget. This might be the biggest disappointment for me to date.



I hope they come up a knotch. Now not all of them have been bad. Some of them are mediocre or are tough to complain about. Others have been stellar in the past year (Bob Dylan, Sean Penn, U2, Green Day). Normally I get really excited each month, but this year has been more of a rollercoaster. It makes me nervous!

But, I anticipate that Rolling Stone will feature Michael Jackson on its cover. Just like when James Brown and Ray Charles died, I believe Rolling Stone will drop everything to cover his life as an artist. I expect he will be on the cover next month. I don't think that's way off. I'm sure others have predicted it too.

However, even though I don't always like who is featured on the covers, I still appreciate the photography. It's eye-catching and oftentimes genius. They have really talented photogs working at their magazine. I am always in awe of the way they craft their covers each month. Very well done in that respect.

I've had my two cents. Enough!

What do you think of Rolling Stone covers?