Rolling Stone Magazine: Still the Best Rock N' Roll Publication After All These Years

Rolling Stone is still the best rock n' roll magazine in the world. They just celebrated their 1,000th issue and they show no signs of slowing up. In fact, they only seem to get better. Rolling Stone is great because they are the perfect blend of mainstream and underground. They've morphed into a completely modern version of themselves without sacrificing their political edge, their semi-allegiance to whatever's popular and their keen eye for the next big thing. 

They've seen a million other music publications come and go as they're own circulation has grown. I've been a subscriber since high school and I can say without a doubt that Rolling Stone is the only magazine that I have read front to back for the better part of the last decade (and I read a lot of magazines).

One of the best parts (in my opinion) of Rolling Stone is their hard-hitting political coverage. Admittedly, their writers lean to the left, but their content is so strong that I often forget what "side" they may or may not me "advertising". They have been one of the few mainstream publications to harshly criticize the Bush administration (as is evident from their recent cover story on Mr. Bush- "The Worst President in History").

One of their greatest voices is the scathing Matt Taibbi. A cross between an intelligent everyman and a pissed off postal worker, Taibbi comes through with his column "Road Rage"- a semi regular piece which follows in the tradition of Hunter S. Thompson. Taibbi is often thrown into situations like some over (or under) publicized court case, a neglected natural disaster or a Republican fundraiser. His insights are often as funny as they are frightening.