Up until 1995, animated films were typically hand-drawn, hand-painted cels painstakingly created by skilled artists who had to draw each frame of an animated film by hand. Computers had just begun to aid in the creation of more difficult shots (like the ballroom dance in 1991's Beauty and the Beast), but there had yet to be a whole film made entirely by computer animation... until Toy Story. Twenty-four years ago, Toy Story changed the way we view animation forever. Not only was it this incredible tale about how kids' toys come to life when no one is watching, but it was truly an animation marvel--and the introductory project for a new little animation studio called Pixar. Its success spawned a sequel four years later that was easily better than the original in every way. And eleven more years later, we were given Toy Story 3, which took the series to new, emotional heights. And with each film, it was exciting to see these characters really come to life with more detailed and more breathtaking animation. If any characters deserved to benefit from the growth of computer animation, it was easily these toys. Now, another nine years later, we have the unexpected (but oft-talked-about) Toy Story 4, a hilarious and emotional possible conclusion to a series that has lasted for nearly a quarter of a century...

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We often think of an artist with a national debut album as rookies. But in truth, it's a small, small percentage of artists that truly take off within a few months of joining together as a band. (One of the few exceptions here is Jars Of Clay, but even they took a while to grow into the success they had as new recording artists.) Residence/Centricity Music synthpop band Apollo LTD may be new on the national scene, but years of toiling away behind the music industry curtains has sharpened their artistic acumen, and their...

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Back in 2016, Comrades released their first album on Facedown Records, and it was a good one. Lone/Grey was a unique blend of post-hardcore and melodic indie rock which was finely and effectively executed, and the final result was a memorable and extremely enjoyable album that showed a bright future for the band. Since their formation in 2008, the trio had consisted of husband and wife Laura and Joe McElroy, along with drummer and unclean vocalist Ben Trussell. However, the year after Lone/Grey's release, Trussell parted ways with the band. His replacement was John Gaskill, a longtime veteran of bands like Life In Your Way, Endeavor, and Converyor. With a tweaked lineup and lots of positive momentum from their first Facedown release...

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