Basics - Genres - Rock 3

Blogger's Notes

Hey guys, yes it's been ages. School + playing + arranging + exercising is very tiring stuff... Haha

Plus trying to start a music vlog is rather difficult. The usage of YouTube videos and all is gonna be slightly tougher than I thought. So I shall try to work out something before I continue down that path fully. I thought I might as well finish this series on Rock.

Guns and Roses



I'm pretty sure everyone knows them. With Slash coming down and everything. Great licks, druggy attitude, lots of push pull effects (yes especially in this track actually).

A unique vocalist, strong lead guitar, steady bassist and rhythm guitar, and a hard hitting drummer spells a great rock band. They have good songwriting but the variations are not as vast as Led Zep or Queen. I have a feeling that they listen to less varieties during their time, which gives them a much stronger rock feel and attitude, but comes with the drawback of sounding a bit stale across their albums...

But nonetheless a classic band you should never miss out if you ever want to know what rock is about. =)

Now... Guns and Roses is left with only Axl Rose with a completely new set up. I personally liked Chinese Democracy for its audacity and new sound it put to the band... But I understand the frustrations - they went back to using "dynamic sounding" music. Basically to say it does not something which perpetuates the loudness wars. If you wanna read more about Loudness Wars, go Google it. =)

Rush



Probably one of my favourite bands from the rock genre. Firstly they stuck together for like the longest time, secondly they kept moving and evolving their overall band sound. There's to be a lot of respect given there.

They obviously listen quite widely and change their sound with the time. They have a super nice long history on Wikipedia: Rush. And I still think that their music has always been that filled with the freedom and energy of rock with the adaptability of any great musician. =) So yup.

Mr Big



Now this band is probably my favourite out of all the rock bands. Why? Great vocalist with a bluesy feel to his great husky voice (which interesting lasted for so long!), an insanely technical bassist who has great appreciation for rock and knows how to overplay just right for rock (stunning stuff), a great energetic drummer drives the band like a b**ch and of course, who could ever forget, that great legend of a guitarist who gives the modern edge and kick in the music.

Mr Big is also one of those diverse bands which looked for different sounds. Sadly they never lasted long with one another and went off to each do their own projects or support others in theirs. Of course then they were smart enough to cash in on that recently and had a reunion. One of the smartest financial and commercial move for the music. But revival of their great tracks is also a great thing in my opinion.

A band with a bassist and guitarist who overplay by most definitions coming together to create insanely cohesive and powerful music without sounding like they're playing too much, because they can play as a band. Thus I have to give them respect. Though usually such projects don't last for long... That's why Rush is such a gem.

That concludes Rock 3 =)