For rock and metal fans tell your favorite groups

Whateverman

Whateverman

Well-known member
As a kid of 11, my family moved from a suburb with lots of kids around to a very rural place. It was a huge culture shock to me, and I realized quickly that if I didn't make friends with only kid who lived within a quarter mile from my house, I wouldn't have friends.

Chris was about my age - and we both started taking drum lessons from the same teach at exactly the same time. The school was tiny (138 kids, kindergarten thru 6th grade), so everyone knew everyone else - and maybe because we were boys, Chris and I had a drumming rivalry. It was friendly, but still ever-present.

Chris' enjoyment of music was different from mine. One thing he was more drawn to than me was pop; he liked simple-but-good song-writing, great vocals, good lyrics, etc. While they were hardly a pop-py band, Soundgarden's later material started to take on pop aspects, with catchy riffs and great vocals; their music simplified and got better.

Anyhoo, Chris Cornel (lead singer) went on to form Audioslave with members from Rage Against The Machine - and THAT band took off, for all the reasons my friend Chris (not Cornell!) looked for. Chris sorta got me hooked on them, and ever since then, I've been amazed at the way they straddled that line between pop and rock.

 
F

Faithoverbelief

Active member
Whateverman said:
Just to keep this thread alive, I'll spam a bit...

When I started playing, I'd subscribed to Modern Drummer, and often bought albums based on something said by the people being interviewed. By the end of high-school, I'd assembled a collection of pretty bad albums; turns out noteworthy drummers aren't a reliable benchmark for good music :D

This realization came crashing home one day at college. I'd gone to buy a shirt or some pants, and was in a mall elevator heading up to the top floor of K-Mart (I think). Over the muzak system comes a song from one of my favorite groups at that time, Chick Corea's Elektric Band. I owned the album, and was actually horrified that the store considered one of the tracks on it lame enough to get people to buy clothes.

I'm not joking when I say it actually hurt a little. The band truly is amazing, and even today the members are world-famous and considered legendary. Nonetheless, I actually went and listened to the album when I got home - and I realized just how bad some of it sounded. It WAS worthy of K-Mart if you didn't understand what was going on musically.

That was the moment I started distancing myself from Rush and a bunch of the prog rock / fusion I'd grown to idolize. I don't mean to insult these genres or anyone who still likes/loves 'em; I still go back to both from time to time. Still, it's a style of music where you can get so wrapped up in what's happening that you stop listening to it like the average person.

For anyone who's interested, below are two cuts from the band in question. Don't listen to the second one, because it's one of their finest, and is still a favorite of mine, and really doesn't sound like muzak at all. The audience goes nuts when they play it live today, because the soloing and technicality are off the charts.

Listen to the first one, for laughs, because I believe it's the song that sorta changed my musical life some 30 years ago - in a K-Mart mall elevator...


Click to expand...
www.npr.org

Chick Corea, Jazz Fusion Pioneer, Has Died Of Cancer At 79

The wide-ranging keyboardist, composer and bandleader died Feb. 9 of cancer. He was one of the fathers of jazz fusion, with his work spanning from acoustic jazz to his own interpretations of Mozart.
www.npr.org www.npr.org

If you didn't hear.
 
LifeIn

LifeIn

Active member
I like OK GO - especially their innovative music videos. "I Won't Let You Down" is one of their best.
 
Whateverman

Whateverman

Well-known member
I feel I owe this thread a small debt, for introducing 80s jazz fusion several posts ago...

Since I was in grade school, my friends and I paid attention to what was being shown & said in TV commercials. Beyond saying that we found advertisements interesting when you really paid attention to them, I can't explain WHY we paid that much attention. Anyhoo, as I grew up, different things about commercials would grab my attention, and one of those things was the music being played in the background...

For several years, Nissan car commercials in the early 2000s could be found with some pretty interesting songs. One of those songs was this one: "Revolution Get Down", by The Bellrays. Straight-ahead balls-to-the-wall rock n roll, and sung by a woman who really did embody genre in a way few women have (in my opinion). Enjoy!

 
S

Stirling Bartholomew

Active member
I talk regularly with two (doom, stoner) metal performers who walk where I walk. Been playing 20 years and they are half my age but we know some of the same artists. I took a long shot and mentioned Allice Cooper and the woman opened her coat to show me she was wearing an Alice Cooper shirt. I told her I remembered what room I was in on the 4th floor of Upper dorm SPC in '69 when Mike T and John B, two rock climbers from Boulder Colorado, told us about what happened at the Alice Cooper concert they had just attended. These fellows loaned Steve G my highschool buddy their pristine copy of Disraeli Gears so he could tape it at 7 1/2 IPS on a old Roberts tape deck his father picked up in a pawn shop in NYC. From several months I heard the Cream mixed up with Rubber Soul and Revovler booming down the hall every morning on my way to the washroom to brush my teeth. I was playing Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane mixed with Thelonious Monk, Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Dave Brubeck, Paul Horn, Herbie Mann and Carman McRae at my end of the hall. I have told this story before.
 
Last edited:
F

Faithoverbelief

Active member
Whateverman said:
I feel I owe this thread a small debt, for introducing 80s jazz fusion several posts ago...

Since I was in grade school, my friends and I paid attention to what was being shown & said in TV commercials. Beyond saying that we found advertisements interesting when you really paid attention to them, I can't explain WHY we paid that much attention. Anyhoo, as I grew up, different things about commercials would grab my attention, and one of those things was the music being played in the background...

For several years, Nissan car commercials in the early 2000s could be found with some pretty interesting songs. One of those songs was this one: "Revolution Get Down", by The Bellrays. Straight-ahead balls-to-the-wall rock n roll, and sung by a woman who really did embody genre in a way few women have (in my opinion). Enjoy!

Click to expand...
I used to take my daughter to the movies almost every weekend. There was a commercial I don't remember what for but they played this song and I loved it.

My daughter found out the song and band and got me the CD lol.
 
Whateverman

Whateverman

Well-known member
Here's another entry in the straight-ahead rock category. This is an interesting band that's been around for a lot longer than you'd guess.


ps. Yes, this song in particular makes me think of certain users here...
 
Bob1

Bob1

Active member
Whateverman said:
I feel I owe this thread a small debt, for introducing 80s jazz fusion several posts ago...

Since I was in grade school, my friends and I paid attention to what was being shown & said in TV commercials. Beyond saying that we found advertisements interesting when you really paid attention to them, I can't explain WHY we paid that much attention. Anyhoo, as I grew up, different things about commercials would grab my attention, and one of those things was the music being played in the background...

For several years, Nissan car commercials in the early 2000s could be found with some pretty interesting songs. One of those songs was this one: "Revolution Get Down", by The Bellrays. Straight-ahead balls-to-the-wall rock n roll, and sung by a woman who really did embody genre in a way few women have (in my opinion). Enjoy!

Click to expand...
This didn't really do much for me I'm afraid. But speaking of straight-ahead balls-to-the-wall rock performed by a woman... may I humbly suggest Sister Sin. This particular song was my first introduction to the band.

 
Whateverman

Whateverman

Well-known member
Bob1 said:
This didn't really do much for me I'm afraid. But speaking of straight-ahead balls-to-the-wall rock performed by a woman... may I humbly suggest Sister Sin. This particular song was my first introduction to the band.

Click to expand...
That didn't do much for me, either :D

However, it was a perfect example of what I was talking about, and I always appreciate finding women who can rock. They're pretty rare, IMHO, and for that reason I think Sister Sin is a great addition to the thread...
 
Bob1

Bob1

Active member
Whateverman said:
That didn't do much for me, either :D

However, it was a perfect example of what I was talking about, and I always appreciate finding women who can rock. They're pretty rare, IMHO, and for that reason I think Sister Sin is a great addition to the thread...
Click to expand...
Well, if that didn't do much for you my second song post will probably do even less for you😂.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top