What happened to good alternative music?
Throughout the mid to late nineties, I was pretty disappointed with rock music. The only "new" thing going on was "rap metal" and "emo", neither of which I was particularly interested in. I spent my time discovering classiical music and opera instead. I even went through a phase where I listened to country music.
Then I discovered the White Stripes. I was pretty late to the game, and didn't hear about them until Elephant was about to come out. I would listen to White Blood Cells all the way through on repeat the entire day. From there I started listening to Muse, Hot Hot Heat, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Keane, The Music, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. It all culminated in seeing KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas in December of 2004, where almost all of those bands played. What an amazing experience it was hearing those bands play back to back to back!
Since then, it seems like things have gone downhill. The newer Killers songs kind of suck. Hot Hot Heat's latest album "Elevator" sounds OK, but hardly exciting. Franz Ferdinand's new album "You Could Have It So Much Better" is a disappointment too, parts of it sound like straight Beatles rip-offs; the unique energy that the first album had is completely missing. The White Stripes' new album "Get Behind Me Satan" also sounds odd to me, with a few really odd songs. In fact, I'd say out of all their albums I like "De Stijl" then best, and then it starts to go downhill from there, although overall I'd still say I enjoyed "White Blood Cells" and "Elephant".
The "new guard" of alt rock seems to be bands like Bloc Party, Fallout Boy, The Bravery, etc. I don't really enjoy that music, it just doesn't seem to have that really great rock soul and energy that the other groups have. It's too produced and clubbish for me. Where's the great riff, the rhythm that defines "rock and roll"?
I guess sometimes things just change, and I'll have to wait for another period where I like rock. In the meantime, maybe I'll check out jazz. I have a bunch of Miles Davis and John Coltrane albums that I haven't really listened to.
Then I discovered the White Stripes. I was pretty late to the game, and didn't hear about them until Elephant was about to come out. I would listen to White Blood Cells all the way through on repeat the entire day. From there I started listening to Muse, Hot Hot Heat, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Keane, The Music, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. It all culminated in seeing KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas in December of 2004, where almost all of those bands played. What an amazing experience it was hearing those bands play back to back to back!
Since then, it seems like things have gone downhill. The newer Killers songs kind of suck. Hot Hot Heat's latest album "Elevator" sounds OK, but hardly exciting. Franz Ferdinand's new album "You Could Have It So Much Better" is a disappointment too, parts of it sound like straight Beatles rip-offs; the unique energy that the first album had is completely missing. The White Stripes' new album "Get Behind Me Satan" also sounds odd to me, with a few really odd songs. In fact, I'd say out of all their albums I like "De Stijl" then best, and then it starts to go downhill from there, although overall I'd still say I enjoyed "White Blood Cells" and "Elephant".
The "new guard" of alt rock seems to be bands like Bloc Party, Fallout Boy, The Bravery, etc. I don't really enjoy that music, it just doesn't seem to have that really great rock soul and energy that the other groups have. It's too produced and clubbish for me. Where's the great riff, the rhythm that defines "rock and roll"?
I guess sometimes things just change, and I'll have to wait for another period where I like rock. In the meantime, maybe I'll check out jazz. I have a bunch of Miles Davis and John Coltrane albums that I haven't really listened to.
posted by Chris | 8:54 PM
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