Ten years ago, on February 6, 2001, we launched Glorious Noise with this simple declaration: “Welcome to Glorious Noise. Coming soon: lots of opinionated essays and stories about how rock and roll can change your life…”
Phil then posted a follow-up: “Hey all, let’s get ready to rumble. Jake and I are taking our email argument about Britney Spears online. Be ready to argue about rock and roll, country, hip hop, pop and straight up poop. Let’s get it on!”
And that’s pretty much what we’ve been doing for the last decade. Ten years. That’s a long time. We’ve been lucky to work with tons of great contributors over these years, several of whom have gone on to real (i.e., paid) rockcrit/journalism jobs. That makes me very proud.
But now it’s time for a little break. How little remains to be seen. If Glorious Noise is to carry on, we’ve got to do some major behind-the-scenes overhaulage. We’ve been on the same web host since 2002, and we’ve been at least partially unhappy with them since 2007. And we’re still powered by Movable Type 3.36, which is old and creaky. I’m not suggesting we’re a complete tear-down, but we could definitely use a gut rehab.
Plus, frankly, after ten years I’m feeling a little burnt out from the daily responsibilities of editing and publishing an online music zine. It’s time for a break. A hiatus if you will. And while technically I guess one would have to describe the hiatus as “indefinite,” I don’t like the implication of that. I’m pretty sure Glorious Noise will be back. And when we do come back, we’ll be refreshed, recharged, redesigned, reinvigorated, and ready for another decade.
In other words, we want to preserve what is beautiful and special about the site and have it stay that way.
We’ll keep you up to date on our progress via Facebook and Twitter (for those of you not on Twitter, I created a special page for you), and in the meantime you’ll still be able to read lots of Todd Totale’s stuff on his Glam-Racket blog. And you can always sift through ten years of Glorious Noise Archives—relive the magic!
Thanks, everybody, for reading and for all the feedback over years. It’s been a ton of fun.
Previous birthdays:
• 2002: Happy Birthday to Glorious Noise!
• 2003 :Terrible Twos: Happy Birthday to Us!
• 2004: Happy Birthday! Three is a Magic Number!
• 2005: Glorious Noise is Four Years Old
• 2006 (belated): The Black and Orange Ball: GLONO’s Fifth Birthday Party
• 2007: Happy Sixth Birthday to Glorious Noise
• 2008: And if the Devil is Six: GLONO is Seven!
• 2009: Glorious Noise Turns Eight Years Old Today; Eight Years Ago: It started with emails…
• 2010: Glorious Noise Is Nine Years Old
Happy Birthday, GloNo. And congrats to all of the founders; you really should be proud. It’s a shame there will be a sabbatical; it’ll be missed. But it’s completely understandable. And I know I say it all the time, but still the coolest place on the web.
Congratulations, and thanks for being here lo these many years. Certainly can’t blame you for taking a break!
You’ll be missed guys. Hurry back! x
Dear GloNo-
Thanks for what you do/did. Enjoy your break. I still wear my GloNo T-Shirt!
Chris Monsma
I’m so saddened by this I don’t even know what to say.
crestfallen
Enjoy a well deserved break and come back refreshed and ready to rumble. GloNo will always have a special place in my heart.
Congratulations on this site reaching the venerable age of 10 years, it’s been fun being along for part of that ride! As for taking a break, it makes sense, and I’m pretty sure you’ll get stir-crazy quicker than you realize….
10 years? Wow. Sniff you later, jerkwads.
Everyone else, be here next week when I launch my all new website Gloryus Noize. First feature: “the 10 greatest songs I got laid to”.
Seriously: thanks, dudes. It’s been a gas.
Thanks for all your work, folks. I’ve really enjoyed making GloNo part of most every day for the last few years. Good luck and bon courage for future projects, back here or elsewhere.
Does this mean the boards shut down as well?
Wait. I assumed the boards would stay up so we could keep the home fires burning….
Thanks for everything and don’t stay away too long!
I’m turning off the internet now.
A real bummer, one of the first and few sites to stay true to itself and not get swept into the Internet hype machine. I think you’ll miss it and return, hopefully sooner rather than later. Thanks and good luck
I’ve been coming to this site for at least 8 years or so. Thanks for all the good music you turned me on to!
Dude! I just Facebook friended you and you bail?
I guess I’ll have to save up for a fixie and start going to Stereogum…
Bummer, This is and still could be a great site. Lots of stuff in here from way back when.
Glorious Noise had tremendous influence on me, in demonstrating how DIY initiative and determination can overcome the critics, the naysayers, and the doom and gloom whiners who are more afraid of failing than trying. I’ve enjoyed reading the site for years, as GN alternated between enlightening and infuriating. I’ve lost track of the number of bands I discovered through GN. Thank you Derek and Jake and everyone who ever contributed. Glorious Noise remains a interesting, informative, and remarkable website.
St.Aubin
Detroit Rock Blog
Darn. Just as I was about to haul your asses into court for refusing to publicly acknowledge that this site was, after all, MY IDEA.