This way to the stars

Old School

I suddenly have this liking for old school rock bands of the bygone decades. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns n' Roses, Radiohead...all of these sound much better than many of today's popular rock bands. I don't want to name names, but they really are saturating the hit lists of MTV and various radio stations. All they do is strum some repetitive power chords, write angsty lyrics about their ex-girlfriends and BLAM! you now have a song which can legitimize their rocker-dude image.

I want something different and more complex than that; I want songs with killer guitar solos, complex and layered harmonies, weird instruments other than the guitar (like church bells, turntables, African drums...), and lyrics that actually have something interesting and meaningful to say. I guess I found those qualities in the songs of 80s-90s hard rock bands. I would have liked 70s rock too - like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, etc. - if their songs didn't sound a little like country music to my Asian ears, although their guitar work is memorable.

I found a lot of great old songs in my blast to the past (courtesy of Limewire and Amazon.com). My favorites are:

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, The Man Who Sold The World
Pearl Jam - Garden, Alive
Guns n' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine, November Rain
Smashing Pumpkins - I of the Mourning, 1979, Stand Inside Your Love, Cherub Rock, Today
Radiohead - Paranoid Android, Let Down, Just

I wish I could've heard them sooner; but then again, back then I was happily caught up on whatever the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys served up. If you ever want to take a break from today's mainstream, listen to these bands. They blew the crap out of my mind, hehe. ;)

And oh yeah: the Smashing Pumpkins are now one of my favorite favorite bands, second only to Incubus. :D I love their combination of electronica + dream pop + heavy metal. Can anyone buy me the Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness cds? Pleeeease?

posted by steph @ 6:47 PM