Rolling Stone: Yay or Nay?

August 11, 2009 3:04 AM

Subscription to Rolling Stone: worth it?

The main issue isn't the music/movies/pop culture coverage, which I could get timelier and probably more unadulterated in EW -- I'm attracted to magazine writing (Esquire and the NY'er are two of my favorites) and I'm curious if Rolling Stone still runs upper-echelon pieces -- scrolling through the Amazon reviews, people seem to take issue with apparent declining quality in the magazine's writing. Obviously, I could just buy issues for a while, but saving money is always a good thing -- and none of my friends subscribe.

The current issue, featuring an evaluation of the Obama presidency including input from Paul Krugman, looked promising -- and after watching Generation Kill and reading the book, I went back and read Evan Wright's original piece on the RS site, and it was amazing. If I had been subscribing at the time, and had received that in the mail, it would've been like Christmas. Can I expect this on a semi-regular basis, or are these pieces just rare exceptions to the norm?

If it's something in between, would it be worth $20 to just take the plunge for a year and go along for the ride?

Thanks, MeFites.

posted by the NATURAL to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

IMO, your money would be better spent on Harper's. Unfortunately Rolling Stone has a confused or lost enough message at this point that it is a diluted version of what it once was.

Back when vinyl, cassettes, and CD were king people needed printed media to tell them about stuff. As for the political or social pieces that went in there then - those were the best of the best for teen-centric political views as they took column space from the bread and butter on bands that audience wanted to read about.

Now you can order your music a song at a time (oddly like an old .45), and look at music reviews online (and look at political and social stuff as well). What this means for Rolling Stone, is that in order to keep its share its written down to the level of an online review and an online political fluff piece. There are no more think pieces about mid-level bands struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom, to quote/paraphrase Almost Famous...
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:35 AM on August 11, 2009

If you're into magazine journalism, there are probably better values for your dollar (Harper's is one, The Atlantic another--maybe Vanity Fair, depending on how cheap the subscription is).

On the other hand, RS has long employed an angry drunk to write about politics (Hunter S. Thompson, P.J. O'Rourke, Matt Taibbi), and they're right up there with Playboy when it comes to reporting on drug issues.

On the other other hand, twenty bucks for a year's subscription to a weekly magazine? I say go for it. What the heck, it's twenty bucks.
posted by box at 5:21 AM on August 11, 2009

There's a reasonably good chance your local library carries the magazine -- you could go there and flip through the last few issues and see if they float your boat.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:38 AM on August 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you like The New Yorker, you may want to check out The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.

But Esquire? Esquire? What did you think of the last issue? I actually stopped reading that trying, puffed-up I'm-trying-to-be-Jay-McInerney piece because it was just. so. boring.

And it's not like they're other stuff—five products will make you a better man!—exactly make up for their declining quality. According to Gay Talese himself—the author of Esquire's self-proclaimed "best article ever," "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold"—Esquire never got back to him about his desire to write an article for their anniversary issue.

Gay. Talese. ( This was in the latest issue of the Paris Review.)

And like everyone said, Harper's—definitely.
posted by trotter at 6:17 AM on August 11, 2009

they're=their.
posted by trotter at 6:18 AM on August 11, 2009

Rolling Stone is worth it, if only because it's ridiculously cheap. And now that it's not oversized, it stacks nicely with your other magazines.
posted by ColdChef at 9:11 AM on August 11, 2009

I like Rolling Stone. I realize that its not the New York Times - but they cover a broad swath of pop-culture - with the occasional thought provoking article (see here for mefi citations) from the national desk (Matt Taibi is pretty good). I say go for it - I always enjoy reading a new issue.
posted by jourman2 at 9:41 AM on August 11, 2009

I used to subscribe to Rolling Stone for the same reasons you mention (not for music reasons) and switched to Vanity Fair a year or so ago. Even though I am WAY outside the wealth demographic that the ads are targeted for, I really like a lot of the pieces in Vanity Fair.
posted by mjcon at 10:08 AM on August 11, 2009

The Obama-eval piece is decent, even with Michael Moore involved. For some reason RS has started arriving at our apartment. I leaf through it when it gets here and only find something worth reading in about 50% of issues. (Rarely does an issue deliver multiple strong articles.) Most of each issue is apocalyptic dross: rock/pop lameness for prolonged adolescents, hipsters, and showoffy teenagers. The music stuff is largely dumb, though the movie reviews have value. Taibbi's an acquired taste, and the rest of the magazine's political material is slow-over-the-plate lefty softball stuff.

The Atlantic and Vanity Fair are probably more necessary right now, but less readable.

On the other hand, it's only 20 goddamn dollars! Just subscribe, and cancel if it sucks. No harm done.
posted by waxbanks at 11:38 AM on August 11, 2009

Oh, maybe this will sway you to Rolling Stone? I have been a Rolling Stone subscriber for years and always buy my subscription on ebay for less than $5. However, I also second The New York Review of Books.
posted by banannafish at 11:49 AM on August 11, 2009

I find about 90% of RS to be worthless drivel. I got a free subscription with some tickets I purchased on Ticketmaster, and they wouldn't let me cancel it. I flip through it while standing over the recycle bin. I did read one good article in the past year but I'm not sure it was $20 of good. Just my 2 cents.

You might like The Sun. Definitely try Harper's and The Atlantic before RS if you want journalism.
posted by min at 2:27 PM on August 11, 2009