While most people consider music a salve for the stresses of the workaday world -- why else would terms like "easy," "lite," and "smooth" infect the radio dial -- artists have always relied on song to explore harsh human realities. From the tales of broken hearts, hard times, and homicide voiced by blues singers in the '30s, '40s, and '50s to the unbridled dissonance of free jazz railing against racial inequality during the '60s to the discontent embodied by '70s hardcore punk, music has always provided an outlet for... More >>>