> Despite listening to Manifesto For Futurism dozens of times within a week
> of purchasing it, I am still unable to remember a single lyric, recognise
> a single riff, or hum a single melody. There's plenty of notes, but no
> *tunes*.
>
My comments aren't directed toward Dali's, but this comment made
me decide to post.
I think that in general one of the reasons I find it so hard to
find new bands that I really *love* is that they lack that great sense
of melody. For me, a strong sense of melody in both the music and vocals
is essential in my favorite music. A musical melody that makes me want
to tap a foot or gets me "humming" it in my head and a vocal melody that
makes me want to sing along. And of course, the really great stuff
combines that with harmonies, powerful dynamics and more. I'm not
talking about a "simple" chorus or something, but rather an overall
feel which combines shorter "catchy" phrases with the song as a whole.
It's all very subjective of course -- what's a great melody to me
wouldn't be for someone else, necessarily. The technical playing is fun,
but it gets old quickly for me without the rest.
I think that their sense of melody is one of the great talents
of DT and LaBrie often adds to it with his vocals. That is what I feel
is missing from many of the prog-rock wannabees. I also think that the
classic prog bands are great examples of knowing how to create that
musical and vocal melody and combine it with everything else to make a
great tune. Bands like Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Marillion and
so on.
"Starship Troopers" by Yes came on the radio the other day and
it brought home how much I love their music. Jon Anderson's vocal
melodies and phrasing are very interesting and I can't help but want to
sing along (though I don't pretend to be able to sing). The music also
has good melody throughout and then they use some great building dynamics
at the end of the song to close it.
I think that it may be the vocal melodies which are hardest
to come by these days. There are plenty of bands who have the musical
chops to play anything they want and they can often come up with some
cool musical melodies. The problem is that their vocalist (who may
have a decent voice) doesn't seem to come up with corresponding
vocal melodies which complement the music. Often the singing is
kind of stiff or it is rhythmic but adds little to the music (and
doesn't make me want to sing along ;). Part of this may be an
issue of the style of the band, but I think that mostly they either
aren't trying or aren't good at it.
Geoff Tate doesn't just have a great voice -- there are other
vocalists out there with equal range. He knows how to create a great
vocal melody that goes with the music.
So, since I'm always on the lookout for new bands, what bands
do other Ytsejammers think have this elusive "melodic" ability in
their music *and* vocals? Of course, this is totally subjective,
and it will probably consist of people's best-of lists, but it's
the only way to find the really good stuff. :-) After I get some
feedback, I'll list some modern bands that I feel fit that category.
Steve
P.S. Much of my favorite classical music also contains great melody
(though I'm not really into opera so the classical I listen to doesn't
generally have vocals). Pieces like Dvorak's 9th Symphony, Beethoven's
5th, 9th and really most of his stuff, Tchaikovsky's 1812, 4th Symphony
and so on all have powerful melody as well as the characteristic
complexity found in classical music. Classical music without that sense
of melody (which includes most of the 20th century classical that I've
heard) just doesn't do much for me.
P.P.S. Of course, there are always exceptions to the "has to have
great melody" rule. I just find that if it does have that then I'll
almost certainly like it.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 01 2004 - 19:07:31 EST