I used to like Goldmine in the 1990's, which was more of a newspaper style than a magazine. They focused on the classic rock and blues rock side of things with solid interviews and their writers also had a very obvious preference for recordings in vinyl.
However, to pick it up outside of subscribing, it required a trip to a big box book store chain that had several racks of magazines, including a full dedicated music rack. No local store with a smaller magazine rack ever carried it near me.
I stopped getting Circus when they completely eliminated "hair band" coverage in the early 1990's to focus solely on the so-called alternative/grunge scene. Hit Parader, Face and Rip also did a similar thing, though to a lesser extent. They still reviewed 80's rock albums, reported on them in the news feed and would do maybe one interview or story a month on an 80's rock artist (instead of several as had been the case in the past).
Today I am more aware of the business aspect of running a magazine than I was as a kid. So I understand these magazines were merely trying to survive and incorporate a bunch of new bands who were on the radio, but it didn't make me a happy subscriber at the time. I was pissed.
