Rock (w/o the roll)

This blog is really a conglomerate of two genre’s of Rock. None of this roll business, just straight up Rock and the subgenre, blues based rock(which is misleading since all rock is blues based...i just mean it wears that influence on its sleeve)

As I write this, I’ll be tempted to reference alt, prog, metal, and any number of genres. The intent however is to throw my Rock into a musical centrifuge and separate the purest form of rock from the genre’s it inspired. There will be plenty of time to go into the materials that ended up away from the center later on…

So we start with rock. I mean the hard hitting stuff, the kind of rock that needs to be played loud and annoy your neighbors, parents (mine would enjoy it, but you know what I mean).

I already talked about The Doors, but hey, they rock and I needed an early example so back off! Flash forward to now(ish) and listen to this my friends. Even their name evokes the Rock gods... its just pure Rock, from concentrate. It’s the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or BRMC when they wanna be alt. They sometimes get close to the Metal line, but never cross it. Hence they came out of the Centrifuge under 100% genuine full grade rock. I consider Baby 81 one of the greatest modern rock albums, it always pumps me up. Those crunchy guitars are pretty much gifts from above(or below I suppose) Even still, they did an acoustic album that actually rocks in a more Oh Brother Where art Thou fashion.

Next on our tour, we come to a quick collection from the 90's. We Care A Lot! Got to have a shout out to my brother Matt's band Faith No More. Since my bro was a drummer and a pure dude, I was apprenticed in the ways of rock under his tutelage. Another of his rockin bands that unfortunately didn't really hit the big time was the Hellacopters. They always rocked with fun. Foo Fighters! David Grohl outdid himself on the album "One By One". It starts off with one of the coolest intro's to an album ever. Smashing Pumpkins...Zero, speaks volumes (turned up to 11)

Part 2: The White Stripes

When I think of modern rock, its hard not to contemplate the raw awesome that was the White Stripes. They come from a great tradition of blues based rock. I could start almost every post with The Beatles and trace that lineage to a current band or genre. So for the White Stripes, i'd pick Yer Blues. I'd trace it through Led Zeppelin (the obvious choice I know, but still very accurate) And then finally to Mr. Jack White's band. The started with a bang, had a fantastic go and ended with a bang. So much sound from just two people, they were weird, funny, and knew how to Jam. I like Jack White and think he will continue to rock throughout the rest of his career.

Also, there are some fun new bands w/ similar styling. Check out Band of Skulls. They definitely have potential...

Moral of the story lets turn to the wheel of Morality... "wheel of morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn...." todays lesson is: listen to more BRMC and White Stripes and your life will be enriched.

Cheers and Love,

~James