October 29, 2009
A group of rock acts are finding success with an artful brand of challenging and complex music
GRAMMY.com
Bryan Reesman
In an era marked by digital downloads, iPod shuffling and shrinking listener-attention spans, short and sweet is an effective device for transmitting musical messages to more people much faster. Despite this paradigm, a crop of upcoming and veteran rock acts are thriving with bold compositions, complex musical pieces and concepts challenging conventional rock practices. While music with such characteristics has been historically termed progressive rock by music critics, these artists could also be labeled "high-IQ" rock.
And these intelligent bands are doing well. Veteran Berklee College of Music rockers Dream Theater charted their highest Billboard 200 debut with Black Clouds & Silver Linings, which hit No. 6 in August with four of its six songs clocking in at more than 12 minutes each. Muse's The Resistance — the 1984 novel-inspired follow-up to 2006's gold-certified Black Holes And Revelations released in September —includes the symphonic three-part composition "Exogenesis," which frontman Matthew Bellamy recently told Yahoo Music is "very influenced by 20th century film music and late 19th century/20th century classical and romantic music." And UK-based Porcupine Tree recently released The Incident, a diverse concept album with an opening song that has no less than 14 movements.
Given today's industry landscape, the popularity of this brand of ambitious music is an unlikely trend. "It seems the climate is more open than ever for doing something ridiculously over-the-top and overambitious," says Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson. "I'm so happy that ambition in music is acceptable, but 20 years [ago] it was almost like ambition was a dirty word."
These musical stars have not aligned by coincidence. Other forces, including the shifting of the industry's record label infrastructure, the Internet and social networking sites, have also helped these artists. "Maybe I'm going to shoot myself in the foot here, but maybe [we're succeeding] because we're no longer at the mercy of record companies and mainstream media," says Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. "Bands can promote themselves and get their music and name out there independently with the Internet with YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. We now can make 10-minute epics and these daring artistic statements without having to cater to what the mainstream media wants to promote."
With MP3 players and the access afforded by the Internet, younger music fans now have a wider range of sounds at their fingertips compared to preceding generations.
"In this [digital] age, people consume a great deal of different music and complex music — [including] 'thinking' rock or 'progressive' music," says Pascal Globensky, keyboardist for long-running Canadian avant-progressive group Miriodor. "People download tons of music on their computer. Maybe they're trying stuff they wouldn't have before because it's somewhat accessible and, unfortunately, [sometimes] free."
Despite its length, ambition or complexity, the music of artists such as Dream Theater, Muse and Porcupine Tree showcases a commercial edge that rocks hard and contains hooks and melodies that can appeal to a larger audience. Portnoy says the new Dream Theater album does not seem commercial but stresses that upon listening to it "you'll realize that there's always a tremendous amount of importance placed on the melodic side. Even though on paper this album is daring, if you listen to songs like 'A Rite Of Passage' or 'Wither' — those are very accessible should anyone want to pay attention. We do what we do, but what we do always needs to have a hook and something that's memorable and melodic."
What adds to the appeal and success of these acts is their abilities to deliver live performances that captivate an audience. Dream Theater has played on that ideal by forming their annual Progressive Nation tour, which collects equally open-minded bands to go on the road together. Their support acts have ranged from Opeth to Dweezil Zappa to metalcore quintet Between The Buried And Me.
Wilson wagers that while the new Porcupine Tree album might not sell as well as its predecessors, more people will hear them than ever before. "I don't think album sales are an accurate indication of a band's success anymore because most people get a copy of it [an album] from a friend," says Neil Fallon, frontman for Clutch, a veteran band who released their new album, Strange Cousins From The West, on their own label this past July. "I think a real indicator is what kind of shows bands are having. There are bands that are not selling that many records but are selling out venues and making a whole lot of money on merchandise."
Independent labels are starting to take notice of this live connection. Maryland-based Cuneiform Records has been releasing adventurous and challenging music for 25 years and is now focusing its attention on youthful heavy-touring acts such as Cheer-Accident, Led Bib, Gutbucket, and Upsilon Acrux. Cuneiform founder Steve Feigenbaum says his diverse roster of bands is touring because they can play rock venues and play on bills with groups ranging from rock to punk.
"I made a very specific decision a couple of years ago that I was throwing my hat into [the ring of] these younger bands," recalls Feigenbaum. "It was a conscious decision that this is valid to what I do, this is what is now and I need to be part of this. I also have made a decision that the only way now for people to really be exposed to [music] is for bands to go out and play. It's not something that I used to look for [in new label signings], but it's something I look for now."
Ultimately, it is the adventurous musical spirit of these groups that draws their fans to them and gives them longevity. "To be able to have done this as long as we have, it was always [about] being willing to try new things and being unwilling to say we're one type of band," says Fallon. "We've never talked about it. Ever. Even before we had our first show we never talked about the kind of band we wanted to be. It was just four guys kicking around music and writing a song until we realized that we liked it."
(Bryan Reesman is a New York-based freelance writer.)
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