Intelligence in Modern/Mainstream Rock. . . Where???

[lindalove]

I have to do a DJ for a wedding, wants me to play a lot of metal, so I got a list of songs to play. Downloaded them all & checked them out, most of it is the same thing, & most of it was crap.

You have guitar players who only play with one finger on the fret board through out the entire song with the same riff through out the entire song & sometimes the same damn note through out the entire song (doesn't even sound like a note). No solos anymore, if there is one, it's a wannabe solo of other guitarists (mainly Kirk Hammett). Solos may not be important to songs, but I still like them. The sound they pick is horrible too, you got this low tuned sound (from playing on one finger only), if they want a deep heavy sound, they should at least pick up a 7 string guitar & play with the correct finger positions so the guitars won't sound like a fart. Also the tuning of the guitars are horrible, either they don't know how to tune a guitar, or their way of tuning a guitar suck.

The drummers & bassists do most of the work, so I'll give them some credit, though you got a lot of crappy drummers & bass players too. The vocalists. . . ARE THEY EVEN VOCALISTS???

You got the vocalists that shout as if they want to beat the living shit out of you, bark as if they're about to puke, use some lame punk wannabe voice, & they rap too. I can't stand rap in the rock genre (though I don't mind Rage Against The Machine, because the band kicks ass & the singer sings about some intelligent shit). Sometimes you got some good band members, yet you have the singer to fuck it all up. You got bands like Linkin Park (the worst, imo), System of a Down (I don't know how these not laugh at the way the vocalist sings), Korn, etc. . . Also they write shitty lyrics, from "SHUT UP BECAUSE I F*CKING HATE YOU" as the chorus, to " Everybody’s going to the party have a real good time.".

Another thing I can't stand is that they either always get these muscular band members (mainly the vocalist) & most of them are crappy musicians, or they'll get these band members who look like punk wannabes'. Also they like to play like other bands like Tool, Metallica, all the originals.

I also can't stand it when they do a cover of a cool song. You got bands that play a really cool Black Sabbath song, with growling vocals. Also they aren't hitting the right notes.

Most people who like that shit call intelligent bands either "crap" or "old & not original" (yet the bands they like all sound the same).

NOTE: I'm not talking about all bands that exsist now, I still like Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Tool, Audioslave, etc. . .

[drainpipe]

I'll assume you don't want metal with harsh vocals.

Porcupine Tree is a good progressive rock band that has been mentioned many times in this forum. They have catchy accessible songs without cliched lyrics. Deadwing is a good starting album. If you like Porcupine Tree, check out Opeth's Damnation album*. Dream Theater's definitely another winner. To put it lightly, you don't have to worry about deficiencies in the lead guitar department with them. Check our their Images and Words album. I assert that Iron Maiden is still relevant enough to be included in this (their DoD and BNW albums were terrific). Everyone loves Iron Maiden. Show me someone who says they do not, and I'll show someone who has not heard "Hallowed Be Thy Name." Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and the rest of the stoner rock genre are also terrific if that's your cup of tea. They have a fairly fuzzy sound, but they're catchy enough.

And just to blow their nu-metal minds, slip in a few In Flames songs from The Jester Race. It's accessible enough to someone used to having a little harshness in music might like it.

*I do NOT want this to be another huge shitfest about Opeth and Damnation not being a good representation. There is no reason to recommend any album but Damnation when you're not talking about death metal. That was the reason I mentioned Damnation in the other thread and not something like BWP or Still Life.

edit: Oh yeah... you're DJing which probably means people will be dancing. Some of the bands won't work because they like to change their tempo a lot which makes for awkward dancing. And yeah, the music most people dance to is crap. It's unavoidable.

[Martian]

Part of DJ'ing someone else's function is swallowing your pride and spinning what the host wants to hear. If these people want crappy metal at their party, then play crappy metal. That said..

Metal really, really isn't my genre of choice, but I'll reiterate what I said in a prior thread. The talent is always there, you just have to dig for it. When a genre goes mainstream it gets flooded with a bunch of 'me, too' bands who try to rip off the original acts to make some cash. Look at all the pop punk that came out after Green Day. It doesn't mean Green Day isn't good, just that all the people who try to copy them (poorly) are.

Using that example because when you mentioned drummers and bassists carrying a track Longview popped into my head.

[skinnymofo]

if you want guitar driven metal
look into the late 80s thrash scene
Megadeth, anthrax, etc

and for defense of System of a down, the song lyric you listed is a play on war which you seem to have missed or just not cared?
Byob ~ bring your own bombs/beer.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by skinnymofo

and for defense of System of a down, the song lyric you listed is a play on war which you seem to have missed or just not cared?
Byob ~ bring your own bombs/beer.

System's lyrics are a lot more intelligent than people give them credit for. As for Serj's voice...I'm sad that there wasn't enough of it on their latest album.

[braindamage351]

If you think Rage Against the Machine is intelligent I don't see how you could think System of a Down is stupid.

[Shpoop]

I'd like to suggest Ra. They are not quite as heavy as some of the ones you've named, but I think they are heavy enough. On the surface, they sound "mainstream," but when you really listen, they are very unique. There is a fair amount of middle-eastern twang in them, and they really have great talent on all parts. I really recommend checking them out...some of my favorite songs, in case you don't want to check out them all:
Only, Sky, On My Side, Superman, Undertaken, Take me away....but really, all of their songs are good.

[spectre]

Originally Posted by skinnymofo

if you want guitar driven metal
look into the late 80s thrash scene
Megadeth, anthrax, etc

Totally agree on that suggestion.

BTW, Anthrax does a great cover of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."

[docbungle]

Maybe some old Faith No More? Like the "Real Thing" album.

Or 'Love is a Fist" from Mr. Bungle

At least it's different from what everyone else is talking about.

[Derwood]

"Everybody's going to party, have a real good time,
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine."

This song is about Iraq. Perhaps the "screaming part" that is hard to understand would make that easier to understand, since they sing "Why don't Presidents fight the war, why do they always send the poor?"