I did know about Keel. When that guy put on a cowboy hay and that headset mic, it was ALL over. The Whitesnake thing is funny. Vai wasn't supposed to do Slip of the Tongue but Adrian Vandenberg got tendonitis and couldn't play. So, they sent the entire record with drums, bass, scratch guitar and vocals on it to Vai's home studio in LA. He and producer Andy Johns (Satriani, et al) put all the guitar tracks down. He was quoted as saying he got to "decorate it like a Christmas tree." I agree about Malmsteen with the exception of the album Rising Force which featured Joe Lynn Turner on vocals. The record Turner did with Rainbow was killer - the song Stone Cold was a hit for them. That Malmsteen actually had good songwriting on it as well, a shock for him. I saw him on that tour at Xcess (now City Streets on Richmond) with Lita Ford and Black n' Blue, but I also saw him on his first solo tour at Cardi's in 1986. Billy Sheehan's band Talas opened up. That was a killer show. That same year I saw Vai with Alcatrazz at Cardi's too. The craziest thing I've ever seen a guitar player do was when they were playing Hiroshima Mon Amour, which was recorded by Malmsteen on the previous record, Vai broke a string. He has one of the original Floyd Rose tremelo systems so his guitar immediately went out of tune. There were a lot of guitar players in the crowd (you know, the one's who stand with their arms crossed and say, "I can do that.") and they were all curious to see if this wierd skinny kid who played with Frank Zappa could compare to Yngwie. Well, when he broke the string, it was too late to change guitars, so he played the ENTIRE SOLO with his left hand while holding the tremelo with his right hand to keep the guitar in tune. Every guitar player in the house just stood there with their jaws hanging open. No one questioned his ability after that. It was ridiculous. Damn, I do know too much about this crap!!!
Being different doesn't keep someone from being corporate. Andrew WK may be different than your average SKorn and Limp Dickzit band, but his music is still shallow, overproduced and ripe with cliches. Probably the only unique thing about his music is that unlike the 80s **** rockers, it sounds more digital and compressed. But I'd bet he'd gladly admit to the corporate sheen in his musc. As for all the other hair metal heroes, Billy Sheehan needs to admit he's bald now. Someone should tell him, "Dude, nobody's going to want 'to be with you' as long as you have that combover." And I always find it funny to read interviews with Yngwie, as he's always claiming to have "invented" some technique on the guitar (i.e. "i came up with the minor scale"). I don't think anyone could be more arrogant about such a mediocre discography.
So is that your definition of corporate? I would like to know what it is. By that definition KISS would be 'corporate rock'. If you change the overproduced to underproduced, the Hives would be corporate rock. I assume your definition would include more though. I'm curious. You also mentioned uniqueness, but nothing is unique anymore. When I think of corporate rock I think of bands like the Goo Goo Dolls-- you know, safe and boring. WK to me seems like the anti-corporate rocker. Like the Strokes were sort of billed as. But I guess I really don't know what the term means.
Seriously: for those about to ROCK, I have an album for you... Weighing in with a solid 10.5 on the stomp-ometer (goes to 11, you see, right here on the dial)... Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (self-titled album) Has anyone heard this? Amazing.
Damn, that Sheehan quote is HILARIOUS! If he wouldn't have dyed his hair blonde every day for the last 50 years, maybe he wouldn't need Hair Club for Men! On Yngwie, the real irony is that what he did was simply take what Michael Shenker already did and just follow the logical progression. My favorite thing from Malmsteen was when he used to say he didn't listen to guitar players, particularly his contemporaries, and that he was really only influenced by classical composers. Um, er, Yngwie, Ulrich Roth was doing classically influenced, note pivoting and diminished 5th arepeggios for the Scorpions about 5 years before anyone had heard of you AND he just happened to tour your native home of Sweden often (since it is only a few hours from his country, Germany). Yeah, I'm sure you NEVER heard him or Michael Shenker. Nah, you were TOTALLY isolated. The classic was that picture of him from a few years back all bloated and dressed in the faux leopard robe being dragged out of his Hollywood home for possession of large quantities of mar1juana. He claimed it was a set up. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Kiss is the ultimate corporate band, and anyone who sees their mechandising/publicity machine would have to agree (you know its bad when Gene Simmons has a hotline 1-800-PUNISHER to buy his silly custom-model bass). Admittedly, their (and Andrew W.K.'s) lyric content isn't as silly or sappy as the Goo Good Dolls or (modern) Aerosmith's, but the "rebellious" aspects of their music is too calculated to be anything but corporate. It's custom made for beer ads and wet T-shirt contests. Edit - another way to tell if a band is corporate is if Desmond Child has "co-written" a song with them.
For me, corporate means AIMING to sell lots of records. WK knows EXACTLY what he is doing. Tom Waits sings that way but he isn't out doing hard rock records with flashy pyro-laden shows. The main difference, IMO, in corporate and non-corporate music is the aim of the music. If your first aim is to make music that SELLS, you are corporate. If your first aim is to make music for the love of it, it isn't. That doesn't mean you wouldn't LIKE to make music that sells, just that it isn't at the head of your list of priorities. Like Miles Davis when he would turn his back on the audiennce. He could care LESS if they liked it. He was there for the love of it. There is nothing wrong with being corporate. Some of my favorite artists are as corporate as hell. The ENTIRE rap music industry is corporate. WK isn't meant to be high art. That's fine. Doesn't make it bad. He is what he is.
Since someone brought up Lenny Kravitz, and I like his music and all, I felt obliged to ask, what did fans of his think of his appearance in the fly away video, or to any rock historians, is their a significant meaning to it. He's wearing a red dress if I'm not mistaken.
LOL! and I am but a padawan to the true music master's knowledge.. I may know metal/hard rock from 70-1995...but Jeff knows most of that and more..I hope to attain half of the diversity of styles/genres knowledge that he has before I depart this mortal coil.. some useless music facts.. Gene Simmons almost got a band called Mammoth signed in the mid 70's....who did this band turn into? and Gene Simmons managed a well known female Broadway singer/actress. Who was it? Ron Keel and Yngwie Malmsteen are formally connected...How? What is the connection between King Kobra and Whitesnake? and one last thing, taken in a six degrees of seperation type thing.. Connect Badlands and Rainbow.. I love useless music trivia..
Since the others go answered... and Gene Simmons managed a well known female Broadway singer/actress. Who was it? This I don't know. Don't know much about Gene. Ron Keel and Yngwie Malmsteen are formally connected...How? Yngwie Malmsteen's first band in the US was pre-arranged by Shrapnel Records owner Mike Varney as a way to bring Malmsteen to the US. The band was called Steeler and the singer was Ron Keel What is the connection between King Kobra and Whitesnake? Wow, that one I don't know. Ok, here's a couple... Name the band fronted by former Whitesnake (and Thin Lizzy) guitarist John Sykes after his departure from Whitesnake. Bonus, name the two other members of the trio. Double bonus, name TWO former well-known bands the bassist played in. What is the connection between Winger and the band Kansas? Name the band originated by Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee. While on the subject of Ozzy, name Randy Rhodes replacement and name the band he formed immediately after leaving Ozzy. Since you mentioned Malmsteen, where was the first example of his guitar playing (in the form of a single) released in the states and who was the guitarist on the B-side? Bonus points: The B-Side was paid for by an endorsement to what company. Enjoy.
Oh hell, I'm bored. Jeff, I think it's obvious that when someone uses the term 'corporate rock' that it is meant to be derogatory. I think your definition is way too broad. For instance, what about when WK was on an indie label? Was that corporate rock? How can it be corporate if no one knows about it? Don't you think that there are many indie artists whose main goal is to sell albums? How can they be corporate? I'm confused. To me corporate has a lot to do with what the industry is trying to push on you at any given time. Also, how do you know when an artist's main goal is to sell albums? Have you talked to AWK? Do you just assume that all party rock is corporate? What if their main goal is to have fun and play live? Just to PARTY HARD? Is that corporate? Do you think AWK started out thinking 'I'm going to try playing party rock and use a lot of synthesizers, I think that'll sell well'? I mean, maybe he did, but how do you know? I agree. An analogy I like to use around music snobs is preferring to watch, say, Seinfeld to watching the Discovery Channel or some artsy 'film'. Seinfeld isn't meant to be high art either, but it sure is better than anything else out there. Maybe it's corporate TV.
I was talking about 70s KISS. They starting out just wanting to put on a show. They didn't even sell anything until ALIVE! came out. Their record company was about to go belly up. Then they turned around and made 'Destroyer', which was a bit of a gamble. What about 'The Elder' album? They were experimenting. The thing is the radio and MTV never really embraced KISS. You never hear KISS on the radio. KISS has always been about putting on a show for the fans. At this point in their careers they're all about money, but why do bands like The Who and the Stones still tour? For art?
1. No idea 2. Rob Morgenstein drummed in both bands 3. Badlands 4. Brad Gillis and I think you mean Night Ranger, although it was my understanding that he left Night Ranger and then returned after playing with Ozzy. 5. No idea
Ok, I'm bored too. 1. No idea The band was Blue Murder with Carmine Appice on drums and Tony Franklin on bass. Franklin played with the Firm (Jimmy Page & Paul Rogers) as well as Kajagoogoo, a new wave band in the 80's. 2. Rob Morgenstein drummed in both bands Close but not quite. Actually, Rod played with guitarist Steve Morse, both as a solo artist and in the Dixie Dregs. Morse replaced Kerry Livgren in Kansas. 3. Badlands He did have a band called Badlands, but the most famous band was Ratt. He was roommates with Warren DeMartini and essentially thought he would be great for the gig when he left to play with Ozzy. At the time, Ratt was just a bar band. 4. Brad Gillis and I think you mean Night Ranger, although it was my understanding that he left Night Ranger and then returned after playing with Ozzy. Good one. I looked it up and you are correct. 5. No idea Malmsteen's first single "release" was on a pull-out "sound page" (one of those floppy vinyl singles) in Guitar Player Magazine. It was a solo instrumental song that ended up on his first solo record. The guitarist on the B-side was little known Steve Vai. He was doing the song Blue Powder which would later appear on his second album. The B-side was an endorsement for Carvin amplifiers. Oh, and it included Stu Hamm on bass who would go on to play with Satriani and do a number of solo records.
Actually this is incorrect. Jake did play with an earlier incarnation of Ratt (called Mickey Ratt) before his Ozzy gig. Plus, Ratt released their first album in 1984 which is when Jake was in the middle of his Ozzy gig (his last Ozzy album was Ultimate Sin in 1986). You got me on the Rob Morgenstein thing. Would you believe me if I said I knew that was the right answer but was too lazy to spell out the connection? Didn't think so . . . I can't believe I spending my Saturday night talking about the family trees of butt rock bands. Can we change the subject to something that doesn't suck?
subtomic gets the two he tried... Mammoth= VH was kinda easy for any VH fan.. and the Badlands/Rainbow..loved that Born Again album.. I think RM95 was referring to my 2nd one...if so...correct. Jeff gets the Steeler connection and you actualy touched on the connection between King Kobra and Whitesnake.. Blue Murder.. Carmine Appice played with Sykes in Blue Murder as has already been established....he was also the man behind KK..he essentially recruited a bunch of youngsters to play some metal with him after his days as Rod Stewart's drummer and before he did Blue Murder. love to stick around and help yall fight your boredom, but I gotta get back up to the hospital... peace
