Post by Jesse on Feb 3, 2024 13:32:39 GMT -5
......And It Is The Worst Of Times.
If you are a fan of the likes of Foreigner, Survivor, Journey, Toto, Bryan Adams, '80's Heart, Styx, hits-era REO Speedwagon, Brian Howe-era Bad Company, Van Hagar, 90125-era Yes, etc, well I have good news for you! There are a shitton of artists cranking out albums of that '80's-styled melodic Arena Rock! A lot of it is REALLY GOOD! Nothing that quite tops the hits of the above-mentioned artists, but plenty of songs that would sound just fine played alongside those hits should a Classic Rock radio station decide to play one someday just for the sake of something different. So, if you like any of the above-mentioned artists and want to hear music LIKE that, but NOT the same old same old hits from 30-45 years ago, check out Pride Of Lions, Perfect Plan, Stan Bush, Lionville, Chez Kane, Killer Kings, Nitrate, Crossing The Rubicon, Fortune, FM, Hydra, Grand, Creye, Houston, Rian, Voyage.......shit, there are so many more to choose from.......
........and now for the BAD news if you are fans of this music: There's just TOO MUCH of it and it all starts to sound the same after awhile. One really has to spend the money to buy a bunch of these CDs and take the time to thoroughly listen to them all to find the handful of songs that can compete with the classics. I have the discretionary income (and credit card rewards points) to do just that, but who the hell else does? It's a shame, that used to be part of the job of local radio stations program directors and disc jockeys themselves. Record labels used to have a promotions department that would send copies of bands' albums (later CDs) to radio stations and even steer them toward certain songs. The program director would divie up the CDs amongst the staff and DJs to listen to and see what was worth putting on the air. NONE of this happens anymore. To the extent that it does, it would only be t the station's corporate headquarters where a handfull of people decide what gets played on ALL of their stations throughout the Country. And at some point in the mid-1990's, they decided that the standard melodic Arena Rock would no longer make the cut, no matter how good it was/is. So, again, this is where it is the WORST of times for fans of this music: you'll NEVER hear it on the radio and, after buying and listening to a few albums, as I said, it tends to all sound the same. Most of these artists are on the Frontiers label, it's a shame Frontiers doesn't come up with some sort of multi-artist compilation CD of the best music they've released, maybe a year by year thing. Kinda like K-Tel used to do. I dunno. As a fan of this style of music, there really is some awesome music being made (mostly in Europe), but I feel I gotta listen to a whole lot of "meh" music to get to it.
If you are a fan of the likes of Foreigner, Survivor, Journey, Toto, Bryan Adams, '80's Heart, Styx, hits-era REO Speedwagon, Brian Howe-era Bad Company, Van Hagar, 90125-era Yes, etc, well I have good news for you! There are a shitton of artists cranking out albums of that '80's-styled melodic Arena Rock! A lot of it is REALLY GOOD! Nothing that quite tops the hits of the above-mentioned artists, but plenty of songs that would sound just fine played alongside those hits should a Classic Rock radio station decide to play one someday just for the sake of something different. So, if you like any of the above-mentioned artists and want to hear music LIKE that, but NOT the same old same old hits from 30-45 years ago, check out Pride Of Lions, Perfect Plan, Stan Bush, Lionville, Chez Kane, Killer Kings, Nitrate, Crossing The Rubicon, Fortune, FM, Hydra, Grand, Creye, Houston, Rian, Voyage.......shit, there are so many more to choose from.......
........and now for the BAD news if you are fans of this music: There's just TOO MUCH of it and it all starts to sound the same after awhile. One really has to spend the money to buy a bunch of these CDs and take the time to thoroughly listen to them all to find the handful of songs that can compete with the classics. I have the discretionary income (and credit card rewards points) to do just that, but who the hell else does? It's a shame, that used to be part of the job of local radio stations program directors and disc jockeys themselves. Record labels used to have a promotions department that would send copies of bands' albums (later CDs) to radio stations and even steer them toward certain songs. The program director would divie up the CDs amongst the staff and DJs to listen to and see what was worth putting on the air. NONE of this happens anymore. To the extent that it does, it would only be t the station's corporate headquarters where a handfull of people decide what gets played on ALL of their stations throughout the Country. And at some point in the mid-1990's, they decided that the standard melodic Arena Rock would no longer make the cut, no matter how good it was/is. So, again, this is where it is the WORST of times for fans of this music: you'll NEVER hear it on the radio and, after buying and listening to a few albums, as I said, it tends to all sound the same. Most of these artists are on the Frontiers label, it's a shame Frontiers doesn't come up with some sort of multi-artist compilation CD of the best music they've released, maybe a year by year thing. Kinda like K-Tel used to do. I dunno. As a fan of this style of music, there really is some awesome music being made (mostly in Europe), but I feel I gotta listen to a whole lot of "meh" music to get to it.
