Keeping rock alive

I read somewhere that every generation chooses the music that it will be identified with. Rock was the obvious choice in the ’60s and its ensuing descendants, hard rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave, etc., etc. served as the soundtrack of the years that followed. It is very obvious that a big change has now occurred because the present generation has anointed hip-hop as its music of choice.

This is why hip-hop, in its assorted forms, now dominates the hit charts. That is also why, rock music sales is at its lowest nowadays. This is very unfortunate, but take heart rockers. Rock remains vital, is constantly evolving and will be around in wait for its likely turn, back to the top again.

Three of today’s best bands, which are helping to make this happen, are The Fray, Kasabian and Kings of Leon. All three consistently produce noteworthy albums, have a strong presence in the charts, have no qualms about taking on new challenges and most important of all, they make songs with very good melodies. Here are the bands’ latest releases.

Scars and Stories by The Fray. The band with the most commercial sound today comes from Denver. It is made up of Isaac Slade, piano and vocals; Joe King, guitars and vocals; Dave Welsh, guitars; and Ben Wysocki, drums. Among its early hits are Over My Head (Cable Car) and the No. 1 seller, How To Save A Life.

As before, the new album is made up of catchy tunes with a strong pop bent and Slade’s emotional singing style is better than ever. He sounds fantastic in Heartbeat. Best of the lot is Munich, where the vocals and the arrangement come together to a cohesive whole. But expect radio to love Turn Me On and I Can Barely Say. The other cuts are The Fighter, Run For Your Life, The Wind, 1961, Here We Are, 48 To Go, Rainy Zurich and Be Still.

Velociraptor by Kasabian. The award-winning British band is composed of Tom Merghan, vocals; Sergio Pizzorno, guitars; Chris Edwards, bass; and Ian Matthews, drums. It previously released the albums Kasabian, Empire and West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. The guys rock harder and louder but like The Fray, the strong point in every Kasabian album is the excellent quality of the songwriting. You can pare the songs down to the basic and still have melodies and lyrics you can relate, too.

Like the dinosaur of the title, Kasabian literally growls in the CD. Credit that little gimmick to some guys having fun. I am sure they had lots with the album because they went through everything in the rock spectrum and came up with their own versions.

Good old rock in Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To, big arena rock in Days Are Forgotten, emo in Goodbye Kiss, lyricism in La Fee Verte, electronica in I Hear Voices, grunge in Re-wired, techno in Switchblade Smiles and others in Man Of Simple Pleasures, Neon Noon, Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter From The Storm) and the fierce Velociraptor.

Talihina Sky, The Story of the Kings of Leon. This is not a new album. This is even better. This is a documentary or as they say nowadays each time a docu about a rock star or band comes out, this is a rockumentary. This is about how Kings of Leon rose from abject poverty to success with its music. This is the same group behind the hits Only By The Night, Sex On Fire, Use Somebody, Come Around Sundown, Closer, Radioactive and others.

Kings of Leon is composed of the brothers Nathan, Caleb and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew. The name Kings of Leon was chosen to honor their grandfather, Leon Mitchell Followill of Talihina, Oklahoma. So now you know from where that interesting name comes from. Their father and uncle is a Pentecostal evangelist who refuses to be paid for his work. He only takes what the churches give him. As a result the family was very poor.

Find out how these boys struck pay dirt with their music and how the family feels about having rock stars in their midst in the movie. At the helm of the film are new directors Stephen Mitchell and Casey McGrath. They combined new materials with home movies, road footage, and behind-the-scenes shots to create an honest and loving portrait of one of today’s most successful groups. Great viewing even if you are not a Kings of Leon fan.