As a fan of hardcore, I can straight up tell you that its all about the scream. Screamers like Dennis Lee of Alesana can make you want to bathe in Holy Water. It’s a guttural almost scary sound that comes deep from the throat and is often referred to as a growl.
So as I am sitting here void of electronics due to lack of power source I am stuck listening to traditional radio yet again.
Lets take a moment to consider old time screamers to present day.
Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin was one of the most notorious screamersof rock. Yet listen to him today and he sounds like an adolescent boy, such a high pitched whine. He sounds more like Hayley Williams than the god of cock-rock. Yet in the 70s this was the devils roar.
This was the screamer your parents yelled ‘turn it down’ too. Its actually sort of funny to hear how Plant will play with his own echo- but in his day, pure genuis.
It seems to me as rock has evolved so has our tolerance. I couldn’t sit through Zep for more than an hour without tearing out my own lungs. They maybe masters of their craft but there are many masters who remain as historic icons. I don’t want to fly in the Wright Brothers plane, but I’m dang glad they got that going.
Same goes for ‘Classic Rock’, look I cant tolerate the whine. Ozzy, Plant, even Young.. They just make me cringe. Yet they are the forefathers of what ‘hard rock’ has become.
I listen to Mike Hranica of Devil Wears Prada or Alan Young of Four Year Strong and I hear a whole new level of sound- grittier, tougher, more passion than thrust. Lets face if we put Dennis Lee and Robert Plant in a boxing ring… Plant would leap the rope to protect his hair and his pants would split.
I want my power back- I want to charge my iPod… Ive had enough of this "Been a long time since I rock and rolled crap" but its still fun to air guitar too.