Tom Woods: The Year in Progressive Rock

[PaulConventionWV]

Yeah, I'll go through my stuff and write some good stuff down for you. I used to have a command line that I could use to generate albums and titles and so I could just copy and past but I don't remember it at the moment. I probabably have close to 10,000 albums or so. And not all have been digitized so I'd have to pick through my cds in the music room. Yes, I have a music room. Weird, huh.

You know, had you decided on moving to Japan to teach instead of China you'd have a front and center view of a phenomenon that still lives today over there. They're really big into their metal/rock. In fact, I've only bought Japanese releases for years just because they're always mastered in much better quality and they tend to have bonus tracks on them. Here in the states we just get the bare bolts basics and most of the time the quality sucks too.

But, yes, I'll make sure to get a good list of what I have from German bands for you. I don't know what kind of music you like, though. You'll have to tell me so I can thin it out a bit. There are some good swedish bands too.

I'm into any kind of rock, really. Surprise me. You don't have to give me 10,000 albums lol.

I particularly like German music when it's sung in German a la Rammstein.

 

[invisible]

LOL. Come on, you love the Scorpions, admit it!

(FYI for the casual observers: whenever anyone talks about German metal, always bring up the Scorpions as the best German band ever. )

Yeah, I'll go through my stuff and write some good stuff down for you. I used to have a command line that I could use to generate albums and titles and so I could just copy and past but I don't remember it at the moment. I probabably have close to 10,000 albums or so. And not all have been digitized so I'd have to pick through my cds in the music room. Yes, I have a music room. Weird, huh.

You know, had you decided on moving to Japan to teach instead of China you'd have a front and center view of a phenomenon that still lives today over there. They're really big into their metal/rock. In fact, I've only bought Japanese releases for years just because they're always mastered in much better quality and they tend to have bonus tracks on them. Here in the states we just get the bare bolts basics and most of the time the quality sucks too.

But, yes, I'll make sure to get a good list of what I have from German bands for you. I don't know what kind of music you like, though. You'll have to tell me so I can thin it out a bit. There are some good swedish bands too.

Ah, you're one of those people too! For me, 10,000 is just the vinyl - that doesn't even count all the other audio and video formats. I will admit to owning 3 Scorpions albums on Japanese vinyl: Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, and Lovedrive. The first 6 albums are the best ones, by far. Also got a couple MSG albums on Japanese vinyl. The only thing that compares to Japanese (and to a lesser extent, European) vinyl is DVD-A and SACD. And yes, the Japanese (and to a lesser extent, the Europeans) still actually get it, and old-school traditional metal is still very popular there.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Ah, you're one of those people too! For me, 10,000 is just the vinyl - that doesn't even count all the other audio and video formats. I will admit to owning 3 Scorpions albums on Japanese vinyl: Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, and Lovedrive. The first 6 albums are the best ones, by far. Also got a couple MSG albums on Japanese vinyl. The only thing that compares to Japanese (and to a lesser extent, European) vinyl is DVD-A and SACD. And yes, the Japanese (and to a lesser extent, the Europeans) still actually get it, and old-school traditional metal is still very popular there.

Oh no, an audiophile. Grab your wallets and run!

I refuse to get rid of my vinyl, despite many threats and attempts to force me to do so...

 

[Natural Citizen]

Oh no, an audiophile.

I can relate to that. I'm probably an audiophile. If its not absolutely perfect, it drives me nuts. Which is why I only buy the jap releases. I mean, it has to be 24 bit/96kHz or close to it just on digital stuff alone. And then the so called SHM cds are always brickwalled. Or most of the time they are. Sucks to have to spend so much time when shopping for music.

 

[Natural Citizen]

I'm into any kind of rock, really. Surprise me. You don't have to give me 10,000 albums lol.

I particularly like German music when it's sung in German a la Rammstein.

Okay. I'll poke around and gather some stuff. I just don't feel like doing it right this second is all. Not that you're asking me to. A ot of the Germans, ironically, only sing in English. It's weird. Of course, they do put out some German lyrics.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Younger people who use the term hair band don't know anything about that era. And the use of that language is demonstrative. The majority of the best stuff was coming from the Germans and other Europeans back then and it was really AOR more than anything. But then you get people who didn't live it and just don't know and so they just use that term.

Now, the American stuff? Sure. Most of that bubblegum shit you could probably call hair metal. Of course, there were a few really good American bands/sonwriters from that era that got thrown into the hairband mix and were really mislabled in that way. But that is really all that the new generation knows to compare anything from that era to.

Ah well. If folks didn't live it then they didn't live it. And they have no idea what they missed. None. That era was one of the best times to be alive on planet Earth. Economy was right, culture was right, people were happy. Man, I could go on and on. Heh...

I kinda get that, even though I was born in 89. The movies from that decade seemed pretty light-hearted and fun (not to generalize, but it just felt different. Sometimes I wish I would have lived through that. Oh, well, I guess you gotta make your own life...

History is always written by people with an agenda or it's a severely condensed and establishment friendly version of the reality. Just as today, it rarely reflects reality. Music is the same. The music that was popular on MTV was not necessarily the music that was popular with the people. A "historical" music special on TV might say that Poison (the band) was the pinnacle of "hair metal". The reality is, they were a joke. It's like saying that Romney was the height of political thought in 2012.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

Okay. I'll poke around and gather some stuff. I just don't feel like doing it right this second is all. Not that you're asking me to. A ot of the Germans, ironically, only sing in English. It's weird. Of course, they do put out some German lyrics.

I think they're trying to appeal to the larger English audience. I can't say I blame them, but I always think it's more authentic if it's in the mother tongue, especially since I speak some German, so I like to decipher the lyrics.

Oh, and I just looked up some Japanese Rock and I'm finding it pretty interesting. I'm listening to 54 Nude Honeys right now.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

I can relate to that. I'm probably an audiophile. If its not absolutely perfect, it drives me nuts. Which is why I only buy the jap releases. I mean, it has to be 24 bit/96kHz or close to it just on digital stuff alone. And then the so called SHM cds are always brickwalled. Or most of the time they are. Sucks to have to spend so much time when shopping for music.

Don't get me started on the travesty of "digital music". The crimes that have been committed since the advent of digital music are legend, to those who know. The industry has catered to the lowest common denominator. The ignorant masses with no ear, and now we have all those that only know digital compression and loss. And then there is artificial loudness only made possible through digital manipulation. The original digital sampling standard was set to the maximum that the inferior technology of the time could handle. "Eh, most people won't be able to notice the loss." Then on top of that came compression, with another layer of "well, most people won't notice the loss".

Oh, well, the vinyl still pops and skips... :o

 

[Natural Citizen]

Just a few of us here in this thread, go ahead and post your top 5 German bands of all time.

Hm. That's a tough one. Here is why. Unlike American bands who treat their music like a product and only a product, the foreign artists you'll see working with a dozen or so different bands and putting out albums to conform. And so you'll see keyboard players, bassists, guitarists and vocalist/songwriters synergizing across the entire board. It's not like they just market a band and try to sell the band. It's different.

And then you have male and female artists too. A good example of a German female artist (who has been around for 30+ years, btw) is Doro Pesch. Now we call her the Metal Queen. And she is just that. She's badass. Now she can scream with the best of them because she has an amazing set of pipes but she also has a beautiful voice in the ballad department.

And, of course, you have Bormann who basically fronts for around a dozen or so different bands. All of them are really good german bands. You could probably just wiki Michael Bormann to see some of those bands.

There are just so many.

Actually, Jaded Heart may be my favorite German Band but only so far as the older stuff. From '94-2004 to be exact. The newer stuff is really good too but they have a new vocalist since Bormann left back in '04. Actually, what the band did was fire him and claim copyrights because he was working with so many other bands. Which sucked because he founded the band in the first place. And so I stopped buying their stuff just on principle. That new Swedish guy they have can wale, though. And they can play too.

But its hard to decide on any top 5. Like I said, they do it differently abroad. Everyone is kind of everywhere.

 

[Natural Citizen]

The industry has catered to the lowest common denominator.

This is really interesting in a lot of ways. In the age of digital downloads what has happened as a side effect is that there will never be another classic rock song or band. Ever. The thing is that music is only as popular as the latest download. It's popular for a day or so and then the masses move on to the next download. The whole concept of classic rock has just been destroyed by the digital era of music.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Yeah, I'm liking this recommendation right from the start....

Edit: Yeah, this is a Dream Theater clone. Nothing wrong with that if they do a good job, or expand a bit beyond that.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

And then you have male and female artists too. A good example of a German female artist (who has been around for 30+ years, btw) is Doro Pesch. Now we call her the Metal Queen. And she is just that. She's badass. Now she can scream with the best of them because she has an amazing set of pipes but she also has a beautiful voice in the ballad department.

Of course. Doro. And as soon you said Doro, it reminded me of Udo. We also have the classic music of Accept.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Of course. Doro. And as soon you said Doro, it reminded me of Udo. We also have the classic music of Accept.

Yeah, those two play a lot of shows together.

She's smokin hot too.