Good music

[Reverend Joe]

As long as new people continue to discover what is great about music there'll be a need for new bands. Sure, we can all just moan about how the best has been and keep tastes stuck decades ago, or at least be open-minded enough to recognise new bands on their own merits and accept changing styles.

Why should people keep writing books? Why even keep on living, if there have been so many people before us and so many achievements most will never surpass? Because the exceptional is always a minority; and exceptional people are never discovered overnight, whatever modern tv such as MTV want us to believe. People seem to expect something exceptional every year, month or week, and as long as that's the case there'll always be enough suckers buying the next best thing.

See, this is what happens when I post hammered... I actually agree with you.

I myself also enjoy modern bands, and I appreciate their modern style. What I take issue with is our relatively modern habit of completely abandoning older styles and sounds, rather than taking the time to integrate them with newer musical movements. I don't think it is a foregone conclusion that the best is already past us. There are plenty of good bands out there today. The problem is that they are not really given the respect and attention that they should.

A few examples of what I mean:

The Dolly Rocker Movement.

(same)

Dead Meadow.

The Black Angels.

A couple other performers that I don't really like, but seem to exemplify what I am talking about:

Keb' Mo'. He is much more modern that the example I gave here, but again, the old styles can be revived and celebrated, and enjoyed just as much, as you can see here.

The White Stripes. Again, I am not the biggest fan of most of their work, and Jack White really needs to work on his guitar solos (they are kind of directionless and amateurish,) but he still captures the old Blues spirit and energy.

The point is, aside from the White Stripes, none of these guys have really hit it big, and I find that to be disappointing.

Plus, the main focus for me when it comes to music is still live performances.

Damn right. If you look at my links, you will notice they are all live. Real musicians are at their best onstage.