Todays Rock/Metal

[noise5150]

Hi general question. I grew up in the 80's and went to college in the early 90's. I grew up listening to great shredders and great bands. I don't want to be trapped in the past and I do enjoy some stuff that's new, but I just can't seem to get into the new rock/metal bands. There are some great players out there, but not the same types of "virtuosos" today that the 80s produced. Plus, most of the rock/metal songs of the past were built upon great "licks" and creative solos but I don't seem to hear that as much today. For my taste, too many modern bands seem to tune way down and use drop-d and other open tunings instead of playing well. Why?
Your thoughts.

 

[TNT]

Music is always evolving!! I'm certainly glad musical instruments aren't (in the sense of different ones entering the picture).

Guitars have been the mainstay of rock n roll since day one; how they are played hasn't!!

 

[Slingy]

I don't like alot of new metal but I'm totally cool with not having big wanky solos. If they are done right and it fits the song then I love them.

Usually its the singer that either makes it or breaks it for me. Plenty of the older acts really get on my nerves too, especially those ones with operatic vocals, which is almost as bad as constant screaming imo.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I agree, I can't stand Linkin Park all their songs are the same, they start with a slow arpeggio, with the singer talking not singing then all of the sudded he starts shouting on top of his head and every song they do sounds similar to the last. Only good thing about them is the bass player who plays a Stingray 5

 

[Jim_F]

As much as I love the rock bands of the 80s, Van Halen (yeah - I know started in the 70s), RATT, Dokken etc. I am still finding modern bands with a 'modern' sound that will be future classics.
Bands like Mayfield 4 / Alter Bridge, Papa Roach, I loved the last My Chemical Romance album Black Parade for example, I went to see Alter Bridge play a couple of months back and great songs, great guitar playing (solos and all) and a great frontman. A good mix of 'classic' rock playing and approach within a 'modern' framework.

 

[Astrofreq]

Mastodon is obliterating all the modern metal these days. They simply rule and their drummer will be considered a legend in 30 years.

 

[RocketRalf]

I hate the Mastodon song in rockband2 . On the other side, I'm digging Avenged Sevenfold more thanks to that game. They're kinda pop-ish metal, but it sounds good.

 

[73h Nils]

Machine Head and Nevermore. Amazing bands. Start with The Blackening from MH, and This Godless Endeavour from NM.

 

[Nik_Left_RG]

+1 for machinehead.. Already saw them twice.. Will go again if they come around.. Also like the new bands like KSE and Trivium.. trivium's Shogun just blew me away..

But gotta admit, my roots are in the 90s era with a good dosage of DT(later 90s),and the likes

 

[ActofGod]

Killswitch Engage, Candiria, Hatebreed...all brutally heavy

 

[DanTheMan]

I'm totally with you there. I also grew up in the '80's and went to college in the early '90's and I just can't get into today's bands, no matter how much i want to keep up with music and not become an old fogey trapped in the past.

Maybe we miss different things, but for me, I'm always asking, "Where's the next G'n'R, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins etc?" Why haven't we seen something really new and exciting? It all sounds the same to me, using tired old formula's.

What made me feel a little better about this was reading comments on You Tube by teenagers today saying the same thing and wishing they grew up in that time period because the music was so good.

 

[73h Nils]

Reading Youtube comments never makes me feel anything close to good

 

[DanTheMan]

Reading Youtube comments never makes me feel anything close to good

LOL!

You got me there. I have no comeback.

Yeah, it's a pretty rare experience.

 

[megaroel]

I went to a slipknot concert in corpus. I seen a bunch of old dudes there haha I didn't feel to bad. Females everywhere though. The way the music is played has changed but the feel is about the same. Slipknot by the way is kinda cool, but i really don't know what there singing about.

 

[leftyguitarblue]

Mastodon is obliterating all the modern metal these days. They simply rule and their drummer will be considered a legend in 30 years.

sort of OT: They said a lot of mean-spirited things about Dream Theater and I usually don't care about "band rivalries" but f*ck them for being ignorant white trash;


Guitar World magazine interviewed MASTODON's Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher for its November 2006 issue. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Guitar World: You guys definitely have prog elements to your sound, and yet you're exciting and valid — you're cool. Why do you think you're cooler than a band like, say, DREAM THEATER?

Hinds: "Because we don't have a little Chinese girl playing bass! [laughs]"

Guitar World: Yikes!

Hinds: "And they dress all gay, too. I mean, look at them: they wear those cheesy leather pants. The lead singer especially: he's got that really gay thing going on with his hair. Plus, he sings like a f***ing opera singer and sh*t. Their hair, their clothes, their music...They're gay."

Guitar World: Now, wait a second. Are you calling DREAM THEATER a "Brokeback" band? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Hinds: "No, I don't mean 'gay' like that. I just mean...gay. [laughs]"

Kelliher: "I think what might make us 'cool' and them 'uncool' is the lack of egos in our band. We don't try to show off our amazing versatility every second."

 

[Slingy]

Wow, spoken like a bunch of true A-holes. Can't believe they actually print that.

 

[Astrofreq]

Thanks for posting that interview. I was wrong about their music being why they rule. THIS is why they rule.

Seriously though, are you guys really jumping to Dream Theater's defense? I mean, really? Who gives a crap what Mastodon thinks of the music you like. If they have said they hated The Cardigans (whom I love and you all probably hate), would I get angry about it? You're acting like JP is your friend because you bought a guitar. I guess I'm not allowed to visit this part of the site and mention a band unless they like Dream Theater.

 

[Astrofreq]

HAHA I'll tell you what. I'm from NY, about 30 minutes outside Manhattan. I'd like to see those guys from MASTODON dropped off in the worst part of the Bronx and make them walk back. Then see how tough they are.

I used to live in the Bronx. Never had a problem.

 

[glockaxis]

Well, that is one reason never to listen to Mastadon. I too miss that same era and have not found anything that comes close to it. Avenged Sevenfold has some guitar parts that remind me of Iron Maiden but then their singer starts singing and I tune out. With the way most bands sing today, why have lyrics at all? Ha Ha Ha!

 

[glockaxis]

Well-stated sixtyfour.