Arts Entertainments

The modern sordid rock epidemic

Since the decline of the hedonistic Glam Metal era of the 80s, Rock and Roll seemed to have been on a long-term hiatus with Grunge effectively dominating the modern rock scene. However, since the early 2000s, Glam Metal seems to be making a comeback within the underground rock community, mainly emerging from Sweden. This new movement is known as sordid rock, and today there are many seedy bands springing up from all over the world (although Sweden and Finland seem to be the most prominent). For the most part, these bands seem to have a unanimously positive response from their internet fanbase, most of whom know their 80s Glam Metal predecessors well. back “or” These guys are bringing back Glam Metal “, do these modern sleazy metal bands really give Glam Metal a good name? Of course, the good and the bad are subjective to personal opinion, so I do not pretend that my opinion is absolute.

First, let’s take a look at some of the glam metal bands of the 80s and consider the influences found in their music. Glam Metal was a very diverse genre; considering that almost all bands that played rock or metal (except extreme metal bands) were included in that category by record companies during the 80’s. A lot of Glam metal bands had strong roots in blues, funk, hard rock, pop, punk and metal that they borrowed and mixed from their rock predecessors of the 60s and 70s. If we were to specifically consider the guitarists of Glam, we would see that glam metal generated a great majority of virtuosos (ie Reb Beach, George Lynch, Nuno Bettencourt, Vito Bratta, etc.).

Sleaze rock bands

At the opposite extreme, let’s take a look at modern seedy metal bands. Sure, they have a similar image; spiked hair, leather and studs, cowboy boots etc … but is the music really there? Quickly listen to bands like Crashdiet, Dirty Penny, Vains Of Jenna, etc. and you’ll quickly realize that the only similarity between sleaze and glam metal seems to be the stereotypical anthem of sing-a-long choruses, while the rest is a mix of punk. , pop and modern rock. These bands sound more like alternative rock than glamor.

The seedy rock music formula becomes obvious rather quickly: a vocalist with a weak range and an aggressive vocal attempt that only manifests itself as a sarcastic squirrel suffering from severe constipation, a very standard rhythm section, and a lead guitarist with a limited technical and innovative pace. / Leading skill by recycling a second-rate Slash solo These bands seem to have little in common (with the exception of the image) with the obvious Glam bands like Motley, Ratt, WASP, Whitesnake, Dokken, etc. and they have more in common with the seedy punk flair of bands like Faster Pussycat, LA Guns. , Hanoi Rock and GNR. It’s not to insult seedy ’80s bands, but it seems like modern bands are just a cheap copy singing pop songs while desperately trying to appeal to the perceived stereotype of the genre. They seem to lack that raw integrity, hunger, anger, and rebellion that made older bands so interesting and no amount of hairspray, leather, and spandex is enough to bring them to the same level.

The Modern Pop Sleaze Band

There are also bands with little predominant rock influence in the music. Sleaze Rock bands like Reckless Love sound identical to modern techno pop; It only fit to appeal to a growing teen pop crowd, but trying to keep it modern and “edgy.” Unfortunately, they dress in ’80s fashion, have long hair, and wear guitars in their videos, which gives Glam metal an even worse reputation (who would have thought that was possible, right?). However, many fans claim that they are “bringing back ‘old school’ rock” simply because the image is similar. Are we so desperate for the return of Rock N Roll that if Justin Bieber grew his hair long and started wearing lederhosen we would call it Glam Metal or Hard Rock? Bands like Reckless Love are just as rock n roll as Orianthi or Adam Lambert albums, just because they market or promote themselves that way, it doesn’t.

Fun moment: Reckless Love performing for a crowd of literally 7-13-year-old girls and their parents. The lead singer proceeds to rip off his shirt for the crowd during a song and perform shirtless. While I have no problem with sexual imagery, it seems out of place and embarrassing to rip the shirt off a crowd of kids with their parents …

The Emo / Screamo Metal Sleaze Band

Definitely the worst of all the Sleaze Rock criminals.

As Emo’s popularity waned in the late 2000s, the surviving emos decided to evolve into a new race. Emos began to combine with ‘extreme’ metal genres such as death, hardcore, and screamo metal. Bands like brides black veil However, they weren’t satisfied with just extreme metal, so they started fusing their emo image with Glam Metal. Black Veil Brides shamelessly rip off Motley’s SATD image and mix it up with a sizzling emo theme to create their own mix of Emo / Screamo Sleaze Rock / Glam Metal. However, some of the members keep their side bangs to look modern. The result is an Emo Sleaze image, mixed with alternative pop rock and screamo metal. Their lyrics follow the Emo formula expressing their sadness and whining at being ‘outcast’ and appealing to the Hot Topic crowd of the teen ‘scene’. 14-year-old girls from all over with dyed black hair and lip rings find themselves singing a self-pitying chorus from Black Veil Brides.

Another Emo Sleaze Rock / Metal band is the newcomer Toxic Rose. Toxic Rose is from Stockholm, Sweden (big surprise!) And has an identical image to Black Veil Brides. The music is also identical to BVB, however screamo growling / cookie monster voices are not included.

Congratulations Toxic Rose and Black Veil Brides, you officially blew me the best Motley Crue album.

There are definitely some other seedy rock mixes out there, but I’m too lazy to list them all. Although I am a fan of Glam Metal, I cannot endorse these new Sleaze Metal bands and their supposed Rock N Roll ‘revival’. Musically, I don’t hear any similarities between ’80s Glam and New Sleaze. Their songs have no substance, they are simply bubble gum rock commercial nonsense that copy an image that they have no real understanding of. If these seedy rock guys are “bringing the glamor back” please leave it buried. Oh, and Sweden: stop, just stop.

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