i got RS for two years and finally had enough. they rarely recommend anything very good, but of course that is totally subjective. usually there is a couple of interesting reads, but often it's not really about music. they are anti-republican in a very dumb way. if you want to get it, it should be about $4/yr at
www.bestdealmagazines.com.
i also got SPIN for a year. found a free sub online. it only comes once a month and seems a bit short. while RS had a picture of britney or avril each issue, SPIN loved to talk about the strokes. the focus is a little more on music but i didn't find it particularly interesting.
you could go british...Q mag or NME are some well-known options. i can't vouch for either, but it seems like Q could be one of the better mags?
personally i read
www.pitchforkmedia.com a lot. it is updated daily and i've found a lot of good stuff through the site. it's also funny to deal with the hipster pretense surrounding the reviews. sometimes odd music is highly lauded, like several hours of decaying drone tape loops, but i still visit regularly.
if you're into independent music,
someone recommended
paste on here a few days ago
i've head good things about
www.brainwashed.com and
www.adequacy.net but haven't really looked into them