Rolling Stone October 5, 2017

TV FALL PREVIEW From a new Star Trek series to David Fincher’s serial-killer procedural Mindhunter, we run through our picks for the most exciting shows hitting the small screen this season. LIST SEXIEST MUSIC VIDEOS EVER We count down the hottest, sweatiest, kinkiest made-for-music clips by Beyoncé, Madonna, D’Angelo and others. CULTURE MEET THE BREATHARIANS They take spiritual fasting to extremes, reportedly living off only air and light. Can a person really survive without food? MUSIC MOSCOW’S METAL TRUCE Members of Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi and others look back on crossing the Soviet Iron Curtain in 1989 to promote peace. LIFE & MUSIC OF WALTER BECKER Steely Dan’s multi-instrumentalist and co-leader died in September. We pay tribute with collaborator Elliot Scheiner, while ROLLING STONE’s Hank Shteamer, David Browne, Rob Sheffield and host Brian Hiatt break down Becker’s life and legacy. Rolling Stone Music…

Gadot’s Got It EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON GAL Gadot [“The Wonder of Gal Gadot,” RS 1295]. She has a firm grasp on what’s important in life. She is the perfect embodiment of what Wonder Woman represents to us all. Dave KayajanVia the Internet I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED the Gadot cover story, especially the phrase “her aura hovers somewhere between Earth mother and glamazon.” Kathy A.Via the Internet HAPPY THAT WHEN MY excited young girls saw Wonder Woman on your cover, she was fully clothed. Shaun ReidAlameda, CA The Hater-in-Chief I AM IN FULL AGREEMENT with Matt Taibbi that Donald Trump is an abomination of the presidency [“Why Trump Can’t Quit the Alt-Right,” RS 1295]. And it’s also true that Trump is “never finished, never beaten.” In spite of his obvious racism and general meanness, his base remains solidly in support…

1. Sam Smith “Too Good at Goodbyes” The U.K. soul crooner’s first single in two years proves no one this side of Adele can top him when it comes to afflicted majesty. “Every time you hurt me, the less that I cry,” he sings, trying to play it tough over churchy R&B. But Smith doesn’t really do stoic, and his tearful falsetto ache gives this a stark power. 2. U2 “You’re the Best Thing About Me” They call it “punk Motown,” euphoric on the starlit surface but crippled inside. Bono sings about a rapture so intense it’s sure to die, making for one of U2’s great ambivalent anthems. 3. SZA “Quicksand” SZA’s contribution to the soundtrack from the excellent second season of HBO’s Insecure is a slinky Eighties synth-funk dream; she makes being “scared of love” feel awesome. 4.…

The Cage the Elephant frontman is in the midst of a tour during which the band will open for the Rolling Stones in France. La Femme “Antitaxi” Some French friends turned me on to this. It has some Kraftwerk elements to it. Somehow it feels classic, but very much in the future. Serge Gainsbourg “Lemon Incest” This song is superweird. The drum and synth sounds are very 1980s, and he’s singing it with his daughter. It’s really messed up. Os Mutantes “Ave Lucifer” This is somewhere between the Velvet Underground, the Beatles and moody Stones, but they sing in Portuguese, so it’s got a Latin flair. Jorge Ben “Ponta de Lança Africano” We listen to this on the tour bus to wake up in the morning. They play guitar like a drum, so it’s very rhythmic. The Cramps “Human Fly” I’m obsessed with this since…

U2Songs of Experience DECEMBER 1ST The past three years have tested U2 in different ways, from the fierce backlash they received for gifting 2014’s Songs of Innocence to every iTunes user to Bono’s devastating bicycle accident, which left him with several fractured bones and a shattered left arm. But those setbacks didn’t compare to another crisis Bono faced last year. “He had a brush with mortality,” says the Edge, choosing his words carefully (the band won’t go into detail on the matter). “He definitely had a serious moment, which caused him to reflect on a lot of things.” The episode caused the band to rethink Songs of Experience, a companion to Songs of Innocence that they had already been working on for more than two years. The resulting LP features less of the…

FOR YEARS, ANYONE WHO WANTED TO USE THE bathroom while visiting Walter Becker’s studio in the countryside of Maui was directed outside. There, on one of the walls of a primitive, wood-slatted outhouse, they’d find a gold-record plaque for Steely Dan’s Aja – which, over time, began oxidizing and tarnishing in the ocean air. It was a prime example of the irreverence, unflashiness and dark humor that Becker, who died at 67 on September 3rd, displayed his whole life. There were few, if any, rock stars like him. He looked and acted like a droll college professor, and in conversation he could expound on Samuel Beckett’s plays, delve into the details of the Manhattan Project or rattle off the names of sidemen on obscure jazz records. Becker was as much an architect…