Music-wise, at least.

They gave the new Antony and The Johnsons album 3/5, the great new Animal Collective 3.5/5, and the dastardly mediocre new Springsteen a... 5/5?!?!

lol...I think even the writers of rolling stone realise how irrelevant they are...lol

Haven't heard the Springsteen yet but I highly doubt it's flawless to even a Bruce fan.

I actually think Rolling Stone might be worthwhile for non-major bands. It's obvious that they are selling good reviews in one way or another to the majors, but they seem to have no desire to cater to the hipsters or realize that it's a lost cause so they come at non-major's with no regard for the hype machine. I haven't read the mag in a long time but I remember usually agreeing with them when it came to the reviews that they weren't being paid for.

John,
Do you think they are literally being paid for reviews? I hadn't thought about it, but it makes sense.

I don't think they actually sell out good reviews but I do think they give good reviews to keep the advertising cash rolling in and I wouldn't doubt if the labels call up major magazines like Rolling Stone and ask for a good review on albums that they need to do well. It happens at college radio stations and indie magazines as well, it just doesn't mean as much to them. What are they going to do, stop sending out John Mayer CD's? But when advertising dollars are at stake, I wouldn't doubt that Rolling Stone would oblige.

yeah, we've got the same thing in France with Rock & Folk. These guys are from the old generation, they're friends with major managers and you can tell when an article has been ordered by the record companies.
But on the other hand they are not following every trend, every hype, and they have an older audience.

what some may see as questionable reviews, RS remains the most important and successful (I gather) music publication in the USA (as Q does in the UK).

Not sure if Im crazy about the new smaller format, though.

How can call the new Animal Collective BREATHTAKING and give it their signiture 3.5 stars?

It's funny how often you see that in reviews. I see that all the time on RYM. RYM is the other way around though, people usually give 3-3.5 stars to albums they dub as terrible.