Steven Hyden (born September 7, 1977) is an American music critic, author, and podcast host. He is the author of the books Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me (2016, on rivalries in pop music history), Twilight of the Gods (2018, on the history of classic rock), (2019, co-authored with Steve Gorman about The Black Crowes), This Isn't Happening (2020, about Radiohead's Kid A), Long Road (2022, about Pearl Jam's influence on a generation), and There Was Nothing You Could Do (2024, about Bruce Springsteen's mega-selling 1984 album Born In The U.S.A.) In 2025, he announced two forthcoming books that will be critical overviews of The Strokes and U2.
He co-hosts the podcasts, Indiecast (with Ian Cohen) and Never Ending Stories (with Ian Grant and Evan Laffer), and previously hosted the podcasts, 36 From the Vault, Rivals, Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99, and Celebration Rock. He is a critic for Uproxx and previously served as staff writer at Grantland and an editor at The A.V. Club. He also has appeared as a pundit in various music documentaries, and was the story producer of HBO's popular 2024 film "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary."
Early life
Steven Hyden was born on September 7, 1977
in
Wisconsin. He graduated from Appleton East High School,
then the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
in 2000.
Career
Hyden began his career with
The Post-Crescent in 1993; then 15 years old, he contributed to a weekly section for teenagers (his first submission, hand-written, was a review of the 1993 album
Zooropa by U2).
He continued working for the paper as an intern while in college, and then joined the staff as a full-time reporter when he graduated in 2000.
He joined UPROXX as a cultural critic in July 2016.
Hyden has been regularly featured as a pundit in documentaries, including CNN's "The Nineties," "The 2000s," and "The 2010s," and HBO's "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." He has also worked behind the scenes on music documentaries, including "Woodstock 99: Peace, Love And Rage" (as consulting producer) and "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary" (as story producer).
Podcasts
Celebration Rock
From January 2016 - December 2018, Hyden hosted the
Celebration Rock podcast.
A new episode debuted weekly on Monday afternoon and usually ran about 50–60 minutes in length. Hyden and his guests covered topics ranging from "Best Rock Albums of the '10's (so far)" to hour-long interviews with artists (Rick Nielsen of
Cheap Trick,
Deftones) and hosting other critics to discuss their famous works. The podcast mostly emphasized the current rock scene, but also dove into the past with episodes and interviews about The Replacements, Cheap Trick, and others.
Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99
From July 9, 2019 to August 27, 2019,
Hyden hosted an eight episode podcast about the Woodstock '99 festival on the subscription podcast network Luminary. He later appeared as an expert on the HBO documentary
.
Rivals
From February 6, 2020 to January 27, 2021, Hyden co-hosted
Rivals, a podcast about rivalries between band-mates and contemporaries in rock, with Jordan Runtaugh.
Indiecast
In July 2020, Hyden began co-hosting
Indiecast, a podcast about
Indie rock news and trends, with Ian Cohen.
36 From the Vault
In January 2020, Hyden began co-hosting
36 From the Vault, a podcast about the
Grateful Dead's live album series Dick's Picks, with co-host Rob Mitchum.
Never Ending Stories
In 2023, Hyden began co-hosting
Never Ending Stories, a podcast about
Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour and other live recordings, with the hosts of
Jokermen, an initially Dylan-themed podcast.
Books
Inventory
In 2009, Hyden was a co-author of the book
Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists, a collection of lists from
The A.V. Club.
Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?
In 2011, Hyden published the e-book
Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation?, a critical analysis and personal reflection on 1990s
alternative rock that originally ran as a 10-part series at
The A.V. Club.
Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me
On May 17, 2016 Hyden released
Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, published by Back Bay Books.
It is a collection of essays on famous pop music rivalries throughout rock history, including Oasis versus Blur,
The Beatles versus Rolling Stones, and Madonna versus
Cyndi Lauper.
Twilight of the Gods
On May 1, 2018,
Hyden published
Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock.
The 19-chapter book is structured to resemble a double-LP, with "tracks" divided among four "sides".
Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes
On September 24, 2019,
Hyden published
Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes with co-author
Steve Gorman about the latter's time as the drummer in the American rock band The Black Crowes.
This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning of the 21st Century
On September 29, 2020,
Hyden published
This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning of the 21st Century about
Radiohead's 2000 album
Kid A and its broader cultural context and influence.
Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation
Hyden's
Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation, was published by Hachette Books on September 27, 2022.
interviewed Hyden about his publication and enquired about Pearl Jam's decision to release a number of 2000 live shows.
There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A. and the End Of The Heartland
Hyden's
There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A. and the End Of The Heartland was published by Hachette Books on May 28, 2024. It was praised by filmmaker Benny Safdie and comedian Tim Heidecker, among others, as an insightful look at Springsteen's best-selling album.
Personal life
Hyden is married
and lives in Minneapolis.
