Ruminations - May 21, 2015
by Stephanie Sollow




I love music. This shouldn't come as a surprise; I'm the editor/publisher (etc.) of a music review site after all. Because I love music, I listen to a lot of it - rock, pop, jazz, classical, ambient and subgenres of those (and sub-sub-genres). And I get in moods. For months it was listening to 70s music -- whatever was playing on SiriusXM's 70s on 7 channel. This is not and will not be a commercial for SXM, but if I'm not playing a CD or listening to the music playing in my head (yes, it happens), chances are SXM is on - in the car or in "prog central." (At "prog central" regular radio reception sucks so my savior is SXM online). Anyway, after months of being immersed in the 70s - lots of disco, r 'n' b, rock - I needed to shift gears, needed something a bit heavier. So, finding SXM's Liquid Metal a bit too much (I'm not sure I'll ever cotton to "howling hell winds" vocals), I downshifted to Octane. Still heavy, a bit of cookie-monster-vocals-ness here and there (but not from the bands I expected), but... just about the mood I wanted.

While I considered a Facebook post as each track came on, that would be a post per track and that seemed excessive [cue ironic laughter, because a) I get that accusation a lot anyway, and b) lot of this music might be accused of the same… and c) I've been doing that with videos]. So you are subject to a somewhat stream-of-consciousness answer the Facebook question, "what's on your mind?"

After hours upon hours of listening to Octane, I have several observations. And one thing I've (re)discovered is that I'm drawn to the intensely dramatic music… and sadly, it is also how I personally react to things. Would it surprise you for me to say Keats is one of my favorite poets? That whole "woe is me" of the Romantics… So maybe this is therapy? Or a sign I need therapy?....

Nope… self-analysis done (you're welcome), here's the content. Video or audio-only links to some, not all, of the tracks I mention are at the end of the article so you can "follow along," as it were.

But hey, you're thinking, this a prog site, not "pure hard rock," which is what Octane plays - so why are you even bothering? Well, frankly, I found some proggy elements in some of the music! Yeh, really? you ask, skeptically. Yes, really.

Well, first of all, I found that Three Days Grace's track "Human Race" holds elements of IQ. That element is in the intro, something that made me think of Subterranea, Dark Matter and Frequency. Oh, I don't presume that IQ was an actual influence, but… that element perked my ears. Something else in the track did as well, the guitar soloing, especially towards the end of the track -- it holds a certain neo-proggy essence of classic Marillion! (and you know -- or should know -- I love Rothery's playing). They're heavier than IQ and Marillion to be sure, and I have not done any research for this editorial, keeping it all unbiased, as it were.

Another band that has struck a chord with me (not to be cheeky) is Nothing More. While it was not the first track of theirs that I heard, nor have they played it often, it is the one that follows on with my "proggy elements" thesis -- "God Went North." It begins quite atmospherically, delicately, slowly building in intensity, losing some of the IQ feel musically, but gaining some of it vocally - as I think vocalist Jonny Hawkins here sounds a bit like Peter Nicholls (and, less so, like Steve Hogarth). But I think the same kind of dark drama those abovementioned IQ releases have.

The Nothing More track that has been in high rotation does not even hint at IQ (to me) - "Jenny." I make note of this track because… hearing the story behind the song, there is just... It's just one that gets you "there," you know? In short, the composer's sister was a troubled individual, their mother fighting cancer (which informs many if not all of the songs on the album) and that chorus lyric "she stuck around for you…" just gets me. My own ancillary anecdote, if you will indulge me: One time it was played, it made me think back regretfully to a friend I had from my last year of high school through my first year of college. When we were both in high school, I a senior, she a junior, she developed a rebellious streak after some… family turbulence. That streak grew more and more destructive over the ensuing 3 years until it became a coke habit in college (we went to the same college; I felt in some ways, I was following her path…). But on this April afternoon in 2015, I realized that I had not been a good friend because instead of trying to get her back on the right path, I, in essence, walked away (and have not spoken to her since). It might have been right to do so, lest I get dragged further off the path… Sorry, this was supposed to be about the song, not me. But isn't that what music is supposed to do? Otherwise, it'd all be instrumental stuff or vocalists would just make noises (like extreme metal's cookie monster/howling wind vocals?). Anyway, I related in a way, and generally think it's a very good song.

While nothing else struck me as particularly proggy in the same way, the sense of "drama" in much of this music does appeal, making me like pieces of music by bands that I never would have considered had I not been looking for something… different, but mainstream(ish). It is helping me circle back to prog in a way, and woo-boy, hopefully back to writing reviews. Let's say, it has re-energized my opinion-making engine.

So, some general observations: One, I do not like System Of A Down at all. Oh, the music is… okay. And some do, I'm sure; hey, whatever. But it made me agitated and annoyed, and words like awful (but more profane) came to mind. Wanting to be Zappa maybe, but… not as interesting…? Two, until I realized the intention of Octane is to feature new hard rock, I was of the opinion "man, they sure play the same songs over and over… a lot! I get high rotation, but this is ridiculous." Ok, if it's more "promo machine" than "radio station" then, ok. (Really, it's all a promo-machine, right? Radio makes you like a song so you buy it or the whole album…).

Third and last, Metallica cast a long shadow. There are a few bands that sound like Metallica - classic Metallica, at least. I'd say their career until Load (I pretty much lost interest with Metallica with that album). In one weekend's listening, I observed this notably in VolBeat and Avenged Sevenfold, but also contemporaries Pantera (or maybe Metallica sound like Pantera?). This is not so unique - how many [name band here] clones are there? In fact, a lot of the bands I've been hearing all have a similar sound even still: Starset, All That Remains, Nothing More, Bring Me The Horizon … just to take a sampling. And it occurs to me as Starset is playing as I write this sentence - Kings of Leon! Think "Use Somebody" … earnest drama. Love that track, by the way. A side comment on Volbeat -- I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but the lead vocalist sounds like James Hetfield being rockabilly Elvis; given the song's arrangement (that being "Still Counting"), I'm thinking the "rockabilly Elvis" thing is not accidental. Or Volbeat are a heavier Oingo Boingo, because Danny Elfman also comes to mind… Elfman as Elvis, of course. Octane plays "Still Counting" often, though it not a new song, as it's from circa 2006/2007.

Also, Nickelback seem to cast a shadow. Not as long as Metallica maybe, or more subtle at least. Knowing only a pair or so of their hits, this is, admittedly, based on a small sampling. I had this thought upon first hearing Theory Of Deadman's "Angel." Well, come to find, reading the bio the new SXM app includes, Theory Of Deadman were signed to Nickelback's frontman's label, so I guess "duh"... This is not a bad thing, as I've liked the Nickelback songs I've heard. While it's a little gimmicky to have a sound effect that reflects the "fly" aspect as the end of the chorus includes a vocal "go!," all conceits we'd hear in poppier music, I find I kind of like it now. The muted rumble of drums between chorus and verse at first seems like bad production - flat and lifeless and poorly mixed - but even that is growing on me, as it does underscore the idea of fluttering wings.

With that whole Nickelback thing - and to a lesser degree, Metallica … I had a similar thought about Seether and their "Nobody Praying For Me." I have to say, I figured Seether would be much more… extreme (or maybe they were but not here?).But, I guess that has been my impression of a lot of these artists that I've never heard, but whose names appear in whatever festival line up we've posted - be it with a festival page or just a calendar entry. So, they are surprising me that they are more melodic (and appealing) than I expected (and my wallet is thinking - oh geez, more money spent on CDs?). While not a track that as yet I've heard Octane play, we can maybe throw Days Of Jupiter's "Last One Alive" into this mix, as I'm listening to that track right now*. Reminds me of "Nobody Praying For Me"… both are beefy, crunchy, aggressive hard rock with sometimes gruff clean vocals. I'm ok with gruff (a la Hansi K&uum;rsch of Blind Guardian)…

Add in to that mix the highly played Highly Suspect with "Lydia" -- grungy in the Soundgarden mold; my thought was the vocals recalled Chris Cornell, who is seeing a lot of airplay himself with his collaboration with Zac Brown and "Heavy Is The Head." But in hearing that very Brown/Cornell track now (time has passed), maybe Cornell isn't exactly the right reference point, though oddly, maybe Zac Brown is? (Whom I'd not heard before -- heard of, yes, as a country artist; heard no). On that "Heavy Is The Head," call that grungy country metal... And that country metal vibe comes out in Theory Of A Deadman's "Low Life"... yeehaw! Maybe this also reflects a Nickelback influence, too, but as I said, I have not heard all that much Nickelback to say definitively. When "Lydia" came on again an hour later, the other reference point that came to me, a hint of Steven Tyler in tone (who is releasing a country album...). The music on "Lydia" is heavy, sludgy, but for all that, sparse and open, vocals filling most of the space.

One more thing on vocals -- many of these groups' vocalists all seem to sound alike, making my use of the "info" button my car unit or going back to the web player much more frequent. The songs don't sound alike, but it does seem as the same vocalist is making the rounds. It's a mid-tone, slightly whiny style that is otherwise kind of non-descript. I don't know where the roots are planted, but there are many branches. To be sure, prog rock has the same problem. Bands that want to sound like Yes, so they hire a Jon Anderson-like, or want to sound like Gabriel-era Genesis and hire a Gabriel sound-alike... or whatever. Mostly it's vocals, but sure, Rothery's guitar lines are influenced by Gilmour, but I don't think (and I'll underscore the "I" part) never felt that a particular solo sounded exactly like something from Gilmour. Style yes... but...well, let me not digress.

Anyway, just a random list of bands to support my point (no links), just to take today's playlist**: Matt McAndrew - "Counting Of Love" (though also this song reminds me of Black Crowes' cover of "Hard To Handle," but bland), Thousand Foot Krutch - "Falls Apart," which is the very next track -- until I looked, incidentally, I thought the previous track was Thousand Foot Krutch, so right there that illustrates the point --, a few songs later, Evans Blue - "Erase My Scars," which very well could be Nothing More (compare vocals to those in the oft played "Jenny")…

There are, of course, bands that get played that are already accepted as being somewhat prog-friendly (certainly in the pages of Prog) -- just to return to the prog angle -- Amaranthe being one of them. The title track to their latest gets a lot of airplay, but I mention them here as this ties in with another common theme - there seems to be a lot more women fronting rock bands. Sure, we have had Pat Benatar, Heart, Blondie, etc. just to look at the 80s (never mind decades of girl groups from the Supremes to the Runaways to the Go-Gos and on and on. And in our prog/prog-friendly realm, it's not uncommon (randomly: Magenta, White Willow, Renaissance, Touchstone, IO Earth, Epica, many a Arjen Lucassen project, Nightwish…). But I'm talking about the more male dominated heavier rock (hard rock on up to the extreme metal), just seems like more women taking the lead. Maybe it was ever thus and I only think it's unique.

Anyway, with Amaranthe, it was of Ms. Benatar that I thought of, vocally, as the band is heavier (that is Elize, of course, not male vocalist Henrik… well, now that would be something!). Certainly on "Massive Addictive," though true to on the linked to "Drop Dead Cynical" (could not find "Massive Addictive" as a free stream for illustrative purposes, but the other illustrates my comment just the same). Not like Benatar, but something unexpected, at least to me: The vocalist for Halestorm, Lzzy Hale, has a gospelly vibe to her vocals - well, at least when I heard the band doing an acoustic version of "Dear Daughter." Not so on "Freak Like Me," however; there I think of Pink, honestly. There's a sultriness to her delivery. And then nothing like either on the track getting the most rotation now, "Mayhem."

Some other random thoughts I had while listening to Octane, mostly over a single weekend in late April. Turbowolf's "Rabbit's Foot" -- even as I find the vocals too whiny, and atypical for the heavy beats, grinding guitars, etc. of this track - there's something endearing about it. I think -- 80s hair metal/pop metal vocals meets modern more-than-heavy metal. I mean, less aggressive instrumentation and this could be oh… I don't know, Kajagoogoo? (Well, ok, maybe not… then again…).

Aside from the spoken word part - which I don't hate, but don't love either - I like the more musical vocal delivery on Thousand Foot Crutch's "Untraveled Road." Limp Biskit is cited as an influence (or Linkin Park… I thought of Eminem) … but listening to some of the guitars, I thought of Big Country! Oh, no, not the bagpipe sound of their big hit, but deeper into that fab debut album The Crossing. A wall of chiming guitars… Ah, if only I could pinpoint the exact reference in my head (though maybe another spin of The Crossing is warranted). But honestly, the melodic part might just as easily come from more modern prog groups (those not dipping into the well-worn Genesis/Yes/Crimson/etc. pool).

To round out my thoughts, I like Breaking Benjamin's single "Failure" (just dark and moody enough for me; full album out in June); Red's "Darkest Part Of Me," (video is a longer version than I've been hearing, but I have to say, like the video, too. I can palpably feel the emotion in this track and that is what I love about music - any music), Bring Me The Horizon's "Drown" (even with the screaming; my thought at this moment, Coldplay without the sparkle and shine… like someone took sandpaper to Coldplay. I do like Coldplay***). Yeh, I realize that there seems to be a theme developing here… no, I shan't provide more anecdotes.

I have not listened to much Taylor Swift, but I Prevail's cover of "Blank Space" is likeable; Five Finger Death Punch's cover of Bad Company's "Bad Company" not so much. I didn't at first, but I am coming to like Enter Shikari's "Last Garrison" - mostly that titular refrain behind the "chorus," as there some's thing oddly cheerful in the shouted "still alive!" lyric that seems weird… Euphoric? There's probably other songs they've played that prompted some thought - serious, snarky, complementary or disparaging - but I've run outta steam…

Anyway, to conclude, I will admit, after 9 hours of listening on that first immersive weekend (was also working on this very website in ways not obvious) ... I had to switch to lighter, more diverse fare offered by Classic Rewind... a transition from Def Leppard ("Foolin'), to the Clash ("Should I Stay Or Should I Go"), to Fleetwood Mac ("The Chain"), to the late Robert Palmer and "Addicted To Love." Not that the fare on Octane was bad - though I did switch when System Of A Down came on, as I found the vocals very off-putting (don't even recall the track title now). But with a few exceptions, it felt like I had heard the same five songs over and over and over... That said, 70s on 7 does seem to play certain artists over and over too much (Bee Gees, for one) ... or sometimes too heavy on the disco and I need to switch to Classic Vinyl or Classic Rewind... and sometimes it's switching from the umpteenth playing of "Freebird" or whatever to… something else.

*interestingly, this comment became true again as I got back to this point in editing this essay from the first word, as their entire Only Ashes Remain album started auto-streaming. I like it; not suitable for a prog site necessarily, but I like it.

**I'm not sure now what "today" was, as I have composed this over several days so… just go with it

*** "Clocks" has some Marillion-like keyboard bits me thinks.


May 24: Actually, the Elvis thing in VolBeat is stronger in "Sad Man's Tongue"... and in the Metallica shadow, I left out Godsmack...


Three Days Grace - "Human Race", Nothing More - "God Went North", Nothing More - "Jenny", Volbeat - "Still Counting". Theory Of A Deadman - "Angel", Seether - "Nobody Praying For Me", Highly Suspect - "Lydia", Amaranthe - "Drop Dead Cynical", Thousand Foot Krutch - "Untraveled Road", Breaking Benjamin - "Failure", Red - "Darkest Part Of Me", Bring Me The Horizon - "Drown"








Copyright © by ProgressiveWorld.net All Right Reserved.

Published on: 2015-05-21 (1603 reads)

[ Go Back ]
Content ©