Alternative Sound Bytes

America doesn’t always make the right choice in American Idol, and good performers always get voted out while the less talented ones are left behind.

Good thing for Chris Daughtry, who got voted out in the 5th season of American Idol but was part of the final four, that he went beyond the popular singing talent search to carve out a name for himself in the music industry. Chris now fronts Daughtry, and alternative / rock band that has been making waves on air, starting with their singles “It’s Not Over” (with 3,276,000 point sales) and “Home” (with 1,181,000 point sales), which were released in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Daugthry also has the distinction of being in the #1 U.S. Billboard 200 for 2 weeks and the #1 U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums position for 14 weeks.

Besides Chris, the band is made up of Josh Paul on bass, Joey Barnes on drums, Brian Craddock and Josh Steeley on guitars.

The band has announced their schedule for their Spring tour pending the release of two albums, “Ursa Major” and “Ursa Minor” that are expected to be released this year. They will be in New Orleans for the first leg of the tour on March 18 as they hug the East Coast with some off-route stops in Tucson, Cleavland and St. Louis ending with a performance in San Jose California. Though no specifics as to the dates of release for the two albums are made public, Ursa Major is the group’s first major studio effort in five years making it one of the most anticipated albums by fans.
Singles have been released but only going as far as each individual song’s components for use in a mixing contest where they have encouraged fans to do stuff with them to produce a unique representation of their music. They have already chosen the winners whose work will be included in a digital compilation that would be accompanying the official album release. Ursa minor, is to be released later this year and is revealed to contain some of the B-sides of the previous album as well as rare tracks and extra’s from the Alternative rockers.

Seems the coming year would be a good one for alternative music fans the world over for Creed and No Doubt has released information that in 2009 there would be reunion tours for them. Creed who last played in 2004 has announced that it is a great possibility when the members of the band had vacant seats when their current bands have split (what’s new). Gwen and the gang have also leaked information that it would also be possible the band would be getting together for a reunion tour 2009. There are no solid facts and industry leaders are not speculating but two bands on a reunion tour, and not just any band, two of the best. Now that’s news for you. Gwen says they took a break to get their lives on the roll and to get new inspiration for the music they oh so love, good for you guys and more power.

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Chi Cheng, the bassist of the popular band Deftone is in a coma following a recent automobile accident in Santa Clara, California. His band mate, front man Chino Moreno assures the fans that Chi Leng is in serious but stable condition. The band wasnt able to update their website for a long time due to the fact that everybody were busy with Chi Cheng. Offering moral support. The singer is set to head for the hospital where Cheng is confined to visit his buddy. The Deftones formed in 1988 and toured most of their career. It was in the movie The Crow:City of Angels, Deftone gained its wide audience that pushed them into where they are now. The band is set to release their next album, early next year.

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Its nice to know that Oasis is still alive and very much kicking amidst the music scene’s shift to another genre. In fact the band just doesnt care much about what others are criticising about them. The newest Oasis album sounds much like a band refreshed, but not exactly reinvented. They have just taken it easy. After all, they are Oasis. There’s quite a few difference on their newest release. For one, there is no huge piano anthem. They certainly did away with that this time. Or friend themes like “Let There Be Love”. Their latest album radiates that rough rock n roll album they tended to do every time their critics undermine their effort. In all, the songs are driven by pounding rhythmic, distortion based psychedelic rock. It sounds energetic and cocky. Its unmistakably, Oasis!

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Another band, The Foo Fighters, sent a complaint regarding John McCain’s use of their song to promote his campaign. The rockers sent out a letter, telling the presidential candidate to stop using their song, My Hero. They only got to know that their song was being used through TV news reports. They cite that, the song was written as a celebration of the common man and his potentials. The band said that the use of the song by McCain for the election greatly contradicts the message of the song. McCain previously had a brush with the music industry for using songs by John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne. Some of them even, sued. On the other side, McCain’s spokesman, revealed that all the songs they used has every permission obtained. And they paid for licenses etc.

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Alternative music is a genre coined as a sort of catch-all for those sub-genres that are unclassified but can be traced with similarities to popular genres. This alternative music is usually those that were not released commercially and are recorded on independent labels. Some music from this category, from word of mouth, would soon find its way into the mainstream and become commercially successful.

The alternative version of hip hop has not been very popular. Artists claiming to play alternative rap or alternative hip hop are non-conformists who wish to turn from the common drug and violence-directed mainstream rap. Alternative hip-hop fuses influences from funk, rock, jazz, soul and reggae.

As there will always be popular music, there will always be a spot for alternative music. After all, there will always be music that falls somewhere in-between, music that is somewhat like but not entirely the same as what is predominantly popular at a certain period in time.

The 1990s was a decade of good music. Disco music and new wave of the 80s was taken over by alternative rock, in particular, grunge. With its heavily distorted guitar sound and voice quality so dense, grunge music embodied emotional and taboo topics and made it heard.

Often known as the “Sound of Seattle”, the top 5 grunge bands of all time are all natives of Seattle.
In enumerating the best bands of the grunge music scene then, (and justifying the choices in the process,) the following five of the biggest band names of the movement definitely made their mark in half-decade run highlighted by bands’ quick rise to fame and success but marred by problems such as drug abuse and a short period of fame for rock bands.

5. Soundgarden
Formed in 1984, Soundgarden did not actually gain recognition until the 1990s, the same time that Nirvana and Pearl Jam made grunge music “sell”. Soundgarden’s most important and most successful album was “Superunknown”, which was released in 1994. It was nominated for the “Best Rock Album” in the 1995 Grammy Awards and ranked first place in the Billboard Top 200. Their singles “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” from the said album each earned a Grammy award.

…TO BE CONTINUED…

More often than in other rock styles, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of social concern, such as drug use, depression, and environmentalism. The popular and commercial success of Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind took alternative rock into the mainstream, establishing its commercial and cultural viability. As a result, alternative rock became the most popular form of rock music of the decade and many alternative bands garnered commercial and critical success. In 2004, alternative rock received renewed mainstream attention with the popularity of indie rock and post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand, respectively.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock

One thing you will notice about bands today is that they use various things to get noticed. Some would sport outrageous hairdo while others would wear strange wardrobe outfits to go with their music. One thing about bands is you cannot enforce being conservative. Their appearance is in line with what type of music they are rendering.

That is just how general bands should be. It is not a matter of rendering good music to the folks. You have to create identity and wardrobe and representation are simply part of it so don’t be surprised.