what is popular today in music?

[gregorybj]

Hey,

I really enjoyed the classic rock of the 60's to the grunge music of the 90's, but where is rock and roll going today? Is there any good rock out there or is it mostly hip hop now a days? Recently, I was not blown away by the new G and R album or the new Metallica album. It seems that these bands are not as appealing as they used to be. I have found a few bands i like in todays era such as Godsmack, and BLS, but I really have not found much that I like in rock out there today or perhaps I just have not heard it all. Any suggestions for good bands today that have good guitar and rock? I need new material to listen too and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Godbless

[Caretaker]

Wolfmother

[StratManKudzu]

Good rock is neither popular or on the radio... :cry:

[Ken Ho]

Opeth

Repeat after me

Opeth

White Stripes is worth a look too, though they are past their best.

BUt I agree with the above comment that good rock is not popular or on the radio.
John Mayer is good pop/rock, but be prepared fpor your thread to die a horrible death now.
Pearl Jam is still releasing good material.

[guitgator]

I like some of Jet's music...captures the raw spirit of rock. All one has to do is pull up top-40 charts from any prior decade to see that today's music for the masses has become far more myopic in comparison.....if you pull up this week's chart you'll see a complete domination of it by hip hop and mall-girl singers.

[re-animator]

keep looking at it with a closed mind, and i'm sure you won't find anything.

[Solomon]

Supagroup
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Rose Hill Drive
The Muggs
Atomic Bitchwax
The Hives
Dead Confederate
Black Mountain
Black Keys
The Raconteurs
The Answer
. . . .

[robelinda2]

Chickenfoot!

[Mark Ray]

Rufus Huff-CD release sometime in April. Watch out!

[bug0711]

keep looking at it with a closed mind, and i'm sure you won't find anything.


very insightful, warm and fuzzy. :love:



OP, here's a video that is relavant to your post, in more ways than 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYz_8Z_A0XE

[bduguay]

I'm hearing a lot of Feist inspired performers.
B.

[?&!]

The Scandanavians got it on lockdown. The Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Backyard Babies, Vains of Jenna, etc. Check out some stoner stuff like the aforementioned Atomic Bitchwax, Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age, Nebula, Red Fang, and Black Elk. Duff McKagan's new band (Loaded) is really good, as are Zeke, Toxic Holocaust, and The Sword. There is lots of good stuff out there, if you're willing to dig.

[big brekfest]

The Raconteurs latest is really good. great guitar work. Definately heavy on the ol' big muff sound, but that's jack white for ya.

Be sure to grab Radiohead's In Rainbows. There's a lot of hype about the band, and no, they're not the second coming. but holy hell is In Rainbows good. i LOVE johnny greenwood's guitar work. he's the king of efficiency.

I just heard a band called Fleet Foxes that was really good. very folky, simon & Garfunkel sound, but really big arrangements and some great vocal harmonies.

if you want something a bit heavier, though, Isis is still doing it right. Great prog metal. check out their latest, In THe Absence of Truth. if you don't shit during the crescendo of Holy Tears, you must hate music. For more metal along the same lines, the new Mouth of The Architect is also really incredible. favorite album of 2008.The last 2 minutes of Hate and Heartache pounds so hard i think it made me sterile.

[jalford]

Check out:
Kings of Leon
Queens of the Stone Age
Eagles of Death Metal
Muse
Radiohead
Band of Horses
Ben Harper
Dr. Dog
Gomez
Minus the Bear
Mute Math
Rogue Wave
Mars Volta

[YoungMansBlues]

keep looking at it with a closed mind, and i'm sure you won't find anything.

I don't know if you're my age (21) or not, but if you are and you have lived/grown up through all the god-awful crap put out in the last 5-10 years, then I applaud you for still having this POV :phones

Some harder bands that are still out and about making good music (IMHO, of course) include Children of Bodom, Coheed and Cambria (their last two records have been much more hard-rock thatn "prog" or whatever they're being pedaled as these days, especially the most recent release) Stone Gods, Hot Leg (the two factions of the now-fractured The Darkness) and Turisas. As far as hard bands on the radio go, there's Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry, and System of a Down.

All that said, "modern-hard-rock" is not necessarily my favorite thing, but those bands do it alright enough for me! Good luck finding something you like! :AOK

[gregorybj]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far guys.

Here's what I found:

Isis
opeth

these bands are progressive rock or metal. alright, but i will take dream theater any day over them.

Redwall
supagroup
black motorcyle club
rose hill drive
mugs
the hives
Black keys
black mountain
Raconteurs
The answer

These bands all have those high pitch singers and are great examples of pop rock. They generally have a similar sound. BMC, Raconteurs, and The answer seemed to appeal to me the most out of this group. However, pop rock is the music I do not like in this day and age.

The Hellacopters
tubonegro
backyard babies
vains of jena
fu mancha
queens of the stone age
red fang
black elks
zeke
the sword

these bands are all just ok with me.

Toxic holocaust had too much screaming for me and atomic bitchwax was just another punk band to me.

All of your suggestions are good, but I can not get into all bands,
In case you are wondering what I do like, here is my answer:phones

Jimmy Hendrix
Led Zepp-a given favorite
beatles-good, but was not into their psychodelic stuff
ozzy
metallica-not what they used to be though
g&R-axles voice is annoying after awhile
stone temple pilots
third eye blind
dream theater
Black Label society-zakk wylde can flat out play
Godsmack
Alice in Chains-wish they were still around with Layne Staley
Nirvana-I miss em
Soundgarden-miss em too
Pearl Jam-great singing and guitar playing
Van Halen-I am not a fan of the 80's sound, but i love his guitar playing
korn is alright
Nine inch nails
Pantera
Incubus is pretty good
whitesnake has had a great history of good guitarist
Rage against the machine-has Tom Morello, but I was not into the rapping
Audioslave-Rage with chris cornell, great combination
The Who-classics
Joe Satriani-fanominal guitarist
Steve Vai-famominal, but wierd guitar player
Andy Timmons-just discovered him
Eric Johnson
Jeff Beck-my favorite guitar player of all time!!!!!!!

I will add on as I think of more

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far though!!!
Godbless

[gregorybj]

Some harder bands that are still out and about making good music (IMHO, of course) include Children of Bodom, Coheed and Cambria (their last two records have been much more hard-rock thatn "prog" or whatever they're being pedaled as these days, especially the most recent release) Stone Gods, Hot Leg (the two factions of the now-fractured The Darkness) and Turisas. As far as hard bands on the radio go, there's Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry, and System of a Down.


I like system of a down alright. Coheed and cambria has good guitar, but I dislike the singers voice.

Thanks for your suggestions!!

[gregorybj]

[QUOTE]Check out:
Kings of Leon
Queens of the Stone Age
Eagles of Death Metal
Muse
Radiohead
Band of Horses
Ben Harper
Dr. Dog
Gomez
Minus the Bear
Mute Math
Rogue Wave
Mars Volta[QUOTE]

Mars Volta has good ideas, but I am not into the singer or the guitar player that much.
Radiohead is insightful and has great ideas that I intend to use in my own recordings.
I need to check out the other bands that you suggested though

Thanks!!

[citrus]

Probably the most poppy and hooky song oriented of modern harder rock bands on the radio right now would be the Foo Fighters...The first 3 Albums are great in my opinion.I lost interest afterward but they got even more popular.There is nothing really new or cutting edge about that band but Dave Growl is the Phil Collins of the 90's and beyond.Talor is Chester Thompson.

[brooksrocco]

You guys are just listing bands you WISH were popular (or more popular, for that matter).


Wanna know what the kids really are listening to right now? Here are two.

Justice (http://www.myspace.com/etjusticepourtous)

Paramore (http://www.myspace.com/paramore)


The slightly older kids?

TV On The Radio (http://www.myspace.com/tvotr)


Recreational Hipsters?

Animal Collective (http://www.myspace.com/animalcollectivetheband)


Badass Mother****ers?

Boris (http://www.myspace.com/borisdronevil)






OK, maybe I added that last one, cause I wish they were popular ;)

[Solomon]

Yeah, but he said guitar based rock music.

Otherwise people would have listed MGMT, TV on the Radio, Foal etc.

[brooksrocco]

Ok, then replace Justice with Does It Offend You, Yeah? (http://www.myspace.com/doesitoffendyou)

Electro Rock is the current trend, among the kids anyway.

[Scott K]

The Kooks
Minus the Bear
A Rocket to the Moon
The Maine

[Atmospheric]

lot's of dancers, and lights... lotsa lights, fireworks, etc. Anything that will make the audience feel like they are witnessing a spectacle. Sound not important because people will talk on their cellphones during the entire show anyway.

It's kinda good if you can sing well enough that the pitch corrector doesn't have to work too hard, but maybe not (you listening Kanye?).

Oh yeah, big hooters for da girls and six-pack abs for the guys.

That's what's popular in "music" these days.

[gregorybj]

Probably the most poppy and hooky song oriented of modern harder rock bands on the radio right now would be the Foo Fighters...The first 3 Albums are great in my opinion.I lost interest afterward but they got even more popular.There is nothing really new or cutting edge about that band but Dave Growl is the Phil Collins of the 90's and beyond.Talor is Chester Thompson.


Foo Fighters are pretty good!

[MikeNiteRail]

What is popular in music today it not being a musician or making music.

No one (mainstream audiences) listens to music anymore. The talk like they do, but they don't. They watch it on Entertainment Tonight, E!, Access Hollywood, Mtv, etc. They watch it at concerts, and they watch it in the latest fashions, but no one listens. In fact, you don't even see musicians making music anymore. You see entertainers, but not musicians (unless the camera accidently catches one standing behind an entertainer).

What is really sad is that there are a few good musicians out there getting face time, but the lay person can't tell the difference. Most people can't tell the difference between Carrie Underwood and the other blonde country singer from American Idol who didn't even win. Most people also think Christina and Brittney have a lot in common.

If you want to be popular in today's scene you have to create and market an image. Then you have to diversiy by selling perfume, selling a clothing line, acting in movies, and making your own label of alcohol. You have to think like Nike, Sony, and Coke...not like Coltrane.

It is 100% like high school, actually. You blindly follow what is "cool" with no questions asked and don't worry about anything meaningful. Do everything you can to keep up with the current trends and then after four years wonder why you have no friends, your life has peaked, and nobody cares anymore.

[dverna]

Radiohead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq_7TJ0298Q

Exit Calm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO-TrLxP14E

Verve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO5Qp5PR0FY

[airwarrior]

Black Keys!

[gregorybj]

lot's of dancers, and lights... lotsa lights, fireworks, etc. Anything that will make the audience feel like they are witnessing a spectacle. Sound not important because people will talk on their cellphones during the entire show anyway.

It's kinda good if you can sing well enough that the pitch corrector doesn't have to work too hard, but maybe not (you listening Kanye?).

Oh yeah, big hooters for da girls and six-pack abs for the guys.

That's what's popular in "music" these days.

hahahah!!! that is popular today!! rap and hip hop is overrunning the scene as well as country. I miss the days when mtv promoted rock, now its just hip hop vids

[gregorybj]

What is popular in music today it not being a musician or making music.

No one (mainstream audiences) listens to music anymore. The talk like they do, but they don't. They watch it on Entertainment Tonight, E!, Access Hollywood, Mtv, etc. They watch it at concerts, and they watch it in the latest fashions, but no one listens. In fact, you don't even see musicians making music anymore. You see entertainers, but not musicians (unless the camera accidently catches one standing behind an entertainer).

What is really sad is that there are a few good musicians out there getting face time, but the lay person can't tell the difference. Most people can't tell the difference between Carrie Underwood and the other blonde country singer from American Idol who didn't even win. Most people also think Christina and Brittney have a lot in common.

If you want to be popular in today's scene you have to create and market an image. Then you have to diversiy by selling perfume, selling a clothing line, acting in movies, and making your own label of alcohol. You have to think like Nike, Sony, and Coke...not like Coltrane.

It is 100% like high school, actually. You blindly follow what is "cool" with no questions asked and don't worry about anything meaningful. Do everything you can to keep up with the current trends and then after four years wonder why you have no friends, your life has peaked, and nobody cares anymore.

that is agreeable.

[kanderson]

Try listening to some "Black Stone Cherry" or some "Black Keys"...

[geetarboy]

For newer heavier stuff, check out:

-Mastodon
-The Sword
-High On Fire

[indravayu]

hahahah!!! that is popular today!! rap and hip hop is overrunning the scene as well as country. I miss the days when mtv promoted rock, now its just hip hop vids

MTV hardly plays videos anymore, hip hop or otherwise.

Hip Hop is dead as a genre, anyway...nothing original coming out anymore.

[mc5nrg]

You can heck out one of the Scandinavian's main insprirers:
Scott Morgan whose recent work includes the Hydromatics, Powertrane in the USA and the Solution in Sweden.

www.scottmorganmusic.com (http://www.scottmorganmusic.com)

[greggorypeccary]

What is popular in music today it not being a musician or making music.

No one (mainstream audiences) listens to music anymore. The talk like they do, but they don't. They watch it on Entertainment Tonight, E!, Access Hollywood, Mtv, etc. They watch it at concerts, and they watch it in the latest fashions, but no one listens. In fact, you don't even see musicians making music anymore. You see entertainers, but not musicians (unless the camera accidently catches one standing behind an entertainer).

What is really sad is that there are a few good musicians out there getting face time, but the lay person can't tell the difference. Most people can't tell the difference between Carrie Underwood and the other blonde country singer from American Idol who didn't even win. Most people also think Christina and Brittney have a lot in common.

If you want to be popular in today's scene you have to create and market an image. Then you have to diversiy by selling perfume, selling a clothing line, acting in movies, and making your own label of alcohol. You have to think like Nike, Sony, and Coke...not like Coltrane.

It is 100% like high school, actually. You blindly follow what is "cool" with no questions asked and don't worry about anything meaningful. Do everything you can to keep up with the current trends and then after four years wonder why you have no friends, your life has peaked, and nobody cares anymore.

Wow, and I thought I was an old curmudgeon! You perfectly summed up why I don't pay attention to what is new and popular. :AOK

[Solomon]

Beatles did a lot of what you are criticizing, no? Matching suits, certain haircut, branched out into cartoons and movies, etc. The only difference between then and now is the medium is much more fragmented. I would also add that the counterculture was co-opted by corporations and became nothing more than fashion by 1969. Same as it ever was.

[Tone_Terrific]

why I don't pay attention to what is new and popular. :AOK

If you are 14 y.o. the entertainer model still works and there is an ENORMOUS pile of recorded music to hear that could sound fresh.

If you are 44 y.o., or more, you may not have heard it all, but the chances of a new breakthrough act that will inspire you to fandom are slim.
Every genre of pop music has been milked to dryness and the skill level of both the musicians and the listener has dwindled as each form is regurgitated. Not that the musicians are bad, rather, the bar was raised so high by the 80's that new achievements in the field of pop/rock are near impossible.
Hip/hop/rap is easily identifiable so has managed to cut out its own market.

BTW, I am aiming for the crusty curmudgeon award, myself. Stiff competition, here.:D

[MikeNiteRail]

Wow, and I thought I was an old curmudgeon! You perfectly summed up why I don't pay attention to what is new and popular. :AOK


I am 28. :o

The good news is we have more access to music then every before...that makes it easier to find the band that don't suck. The downside is they aren't as easy to find playing within an hour of your house.

[Josh O]

newer type stuff I've taken a liking to over the past few years

Wolfmother
Black Light Burns (if yoou liked Wes Borland but just couldn't stomach Limp Bizkit because of Fred Durst, ya gotta check BLB out for sure)
Beck (always liked Beck, he's forever changing himself)
White Stripes
The Atomic Bitchwax
Killswitch Engage
The Donnas
Radiohead
Interpol

[big brekfest]

For newer heavier stuff, check out:

-Mastodon
-The Sword
-High On Fire

I approve of this message.

I LURVE me some Mastadon, and The Sword rocks my shit. The latest album especially.

High on Fire is pretty god damn sweet too. I saw them a few months back and that dude can work a guitar proper like. I did, however, have to leave early. that was THE LOUDEST band i've ever seen. not necessarily ear piercingly loud, but my ears were so fatigued by the wall of sound blasting the audience. I couldn't take anymore. i thought my ears were going to bleed. i felt really lame and really old (and i'm still in my 20s!)

[Tenacious E]

There's still lots of good music out there in all styles of rock. And although they're not new, as long as groups like Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and the Black Crowes are putting out albums there will always be a few great styles of music to listen to.

And for the last time, go buy a Coheed and Cambria album. They're grrrrrreat! :AOK

[svenhoek]

The View
Arctic Monkeys
Fratellis
The Thermals
Carbon Silicon
The National (Best American band out there right now)
Rose Hill
Flogging Molly (just to mix it up a bit)
Tossers