New Classic Rock?

[chrlbaseball88]

Are there any modern bands hitting it big that are about the music? I mean, bands who play their own instruments, write their own songs, and can actually sing...I would give anything to hear a new band that sounds like Crosby, Stills, and Nash...as far as I can tell that vocal harmony is longggg gone.

 

[eccentric man]

hitting it big AND quality?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

seriously.... HAHAHAHAHAHA

i've got no doubts that you'd be able to find stuff like that. especially if you start looking into independent musicians. but that's the thing, they're independent, and therefore, not coming close to making it big. on the plus side the music is generally incredibly better than what you hear on radio or tv.

the issue of vocal harmony is a touchy one though, that's something i haven't heard much of in modern music aside from bluegrass stuff. most of the time now the vocal harmonies are all handled by the main vocalist by recording overdubs in the studio. you might not be disappointed in checking out some bluegrass too (sorry i don't have names to drop though, i only hear the stuff through my cousin)

but really, why do you want to listen to a new band that sounds like an old one? why not just listen to the originals? i mean if i want to listen to something like led zep i'm NOT going to listen to nickelback, i'm going to listen to led frikking zeppelin.

 

[woodenships1969]

I think what he's saying is that he'd like to hear more bands with that level of TALENT, not bands that necessarily sound like them, and I agree...bands need to stop caring about the money and start writing things that are heartfelt...that's why classic rock has touched our hearts the way it has

 

[eccentric man]

i think more people need to stop depending on radio and tv to hand feed them new music. that shit is for teenagers, same as it's always been. same as it was when the now 'classic' rock artists were fresh and new.

i've heard reverend rock speak about how awesome it was when he first got jimi hendrix's are you experienced album back in the day. and i'm sure his parents looked down on him and smiled and let him play it, but i really don't think they were asking him to turn up third stone from the sun. same as music wench with her dad bringing her a pair of headphones after hearing pink floyd (if i remember right) so that HE didn't have to hear that 'crap'

there are LOTS of bands writing heartfelt music with talent. the issue is that IT DOES NOT SELL enough to merit attention on a large scale commercial level and therefore the onus is on the music fan to dig for the goods.

mainstream music has ALWAYS been about youth rebellion and an outlet for the soundtrack to a generation's attempt to differentiate itself from the one preceding it. to expect commercial music to grow old along with you or go back to X decade is both futile and foolish.

 

[woodenships1969]

I think after reading this, its all put into perfect perspective.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/interviews/crosby.html

 

[woodenships1969]

by the way eccentric man, are there any noteworthy bands youre listening to right now that you could share?

 

[eccentric man]

right now i think the best rock band (to my ears) getting any level of mainstream media coverage is the queens of the stone age. their last disc 'era vulgaris' is my favourite of their releases and the main guy, josh homme, is kickass guitar player and not too shabby on vocals either. he's no plant or mercury, then again he doesn't try to be. best of all if you ever check them out in concert they play stuff from their entire 10 year catalog and will jam out or shake up the singles they NEED to play every night. might be a little too heavy for someone looking for CS&N style though hehehe

zero 7's last disc (the garden) is also very good, good harmonies between male and female vocalists but it's more of a studio based group. there are 2 main producers who bring people in as necessary. then again isn't that pretty much how steely dan operated? there's one tune near the end of the disc that keeps making me think i'm hearing fleetwood mac.

the last rock band i really remember having distinct vocal harmonies was a 90s alternative group called eleven. it was a husband and wife duo based out of LA (i think he was from south america and her from russia) they had the original drummer from the red hot chili peppers for a while too. the fact that they both sang and that she was trained to sing opera offered a pretty interesting sound but where they were a 90s rock band they might still be a little too rough around the edges for someone looking for 70s style

 

[Martha Washington]

that David Crosby article is great!
sure, I think youngsters sometimes pick music in a similar way that they pick their clothes. still, I think good stuff lasts. the Pixies didn't exactly set the world on fire but when they toured a couple years back, a lot of people were interested in it. I think because sometimes "classic" just really means stuff that lasts.

 

[Martha Washington]

for whatever reason.

 

[eccentric man]

I think after reading this, its all put into perfect perspective.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/interviews/crosby.html

i'm sorry crosby comes off sounding like every other pissed off old person who's bitter about taking their time in recognizing that their generation's moment had passed. sure mtv and vh1 added a strong visual focus to the music but punk rock had already reared it's head and started sticking it to the mainstream. the music was already revolting on itself. the hippies moment had passed whether or not they want to own up to it.

i like how he goes on to call record labels cheats for his lack of business acumen, or did they put a gun to his head and force him to sign? or did he just not stay sober long enough to read the contract before signing it?. the dudes in soundgarden never shied away from telling potential musicians in their fanbase to incorporate their own publishing companies so they could negotiate distribution deals and maintain the ownership of their music. then again the cash advance to make the album wasn't nearly as big. and how can you be a big star if you don't have the big cash advance? cheats or bad business sense... i'll let you decide...

you want a good read about the music business....

http://negativland.com/albini.html

until more musicians pull their heads out of their asses and realize that having a little business sense will NOT compromise their artistic integrity they will keep getting ****** over by the major labels. and we'll have to keep hearing them whine.