You can also do just an e-sub to Sound on Sound, for as short a period as 3 months.
I have been in the UK a few times over the past year, and had a chance to read it. It's a great mag.
Also, you can search their online archives for reviews, which I agree kick ass.
And Tape Op rules.
Recording is not bad, esp. for a newbie like me. The current two-parter on the mic closet is pretty good. But when I first joined this forum, people asked a similar q and all the regulars said, "This is the best resource, forget the mags." I was like, yeah, but if you read Home Rec and Recording, it's really true, you learn the same stuff here.
You might argue, well, yeah, but it takes a while for it all to come out here, q by q, unless you search, etc. But Recording has this like 28-part series on "Recording Basics", so presumably there's some kid in Omaha who's been poised with his pencil and notebook for 2 years and hasn't recorded yet.
I think it boils down to: Tape Op and SOS give you stuff that you really DON'T get here. The decent recording mags, at best, just collect the same info in one place.