Revamping a genre for a modern generation — When hardcore punk emerged in the 80s, some bands experimented and reshaped the subgenre. The sound these bands created became post-hardcore, a style of music that mixed hardcore with other genres, say pop or R&B. In the early 2000s, post-hardcore reformed its sound. The bands Circa Survive, Saosin, and The…

He faded into obscurity for 27 years, but South Africa brought him back — Rodriguez stood there with his hand pressed in front of his mouth. Thousands of South Africans came to Cape Town in 1998 to see him. Like Rodriguez, the crowd was speechless — this couldn’t be Rodriguez. They thought he was dead and the person on stage was an impersonator. But…

The overlooked proto-grunge band and their distinguishable frontwoman — Women of color have had a tough break in rock. If they’re a woman of color, you must be a hip-hop, soul, or R&B artist. There are no other options. Sister Rosetta Tharpe invented rock and roll, yet her male contemporaries took charge. Rosetta Tharpe had her struggles, given she…

Music too close for comfort — If you dig deep enough, you’ll find genres unsuitable to the ears and for acquired tastes. Of course, plenty of music genres bend typical structures, yet these genres take it to another degree. Many of the said genres add aggressive sounds, say death metal spliced with the energy of dubstep. …

Forget becoming an influencer and content provider. The music comes first. — It’s one thing to listen to music and another to learn about music history. You can learn music history through books, movie docs, and articles. As with articles, few music writers can catch your attention. But, there are a couple who bring you in, making you come back for more…

Why can't they go away? — Being a fan of music, you need a knowledge of how the metrics of charting work; for instance, in the United States, Billboard Hot 100 catalogs the 100 best songs. Of this writing, Glass Animals' "Heat Waves" secured number one beating, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Disney's Encanto. Every…

17 minutes of raw, unadulterated music fan reactions — Two aspiring filmmakers captured a beloved underground metal documentary in 1986. Denizens of Washington D.C., Jeff Krulik, and John Heyn heard countless radio ads about Judas Priest at the Capital Centre at Landover, Maryland. So, they grabbed their cameras and mics to see what they could record. Judas Priest fans…

Abandoned and forgotten — Gen-z appreciates older music more than other generations. “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush and “Master of Puppets” by Metallica charting proves it. Gen-z realizes they don’t care about music’s age — they only want to hear good songs. As a result, it’s only fitting Gen-z discovers these songs…

We have been here before — First, metal fans criticized glam metal because bands wore makeup and used pop hooks. Also, metal buffs condemned nu-metal for its fakeness and hip-hop influences. Metalheads tore those subgenres apart until they accepted them. They realized the fun and energy of glam and nu-metal, so why dislike them? Being the…

How experimental is it? — Music fans, we have musicians we hear from time to time. We may not play their music every time, but we give them a listen whenever they release anything new. I have many of those musicians, and Avenged Sevenfold is without exception. Starting as a metalcore and punk band in…

A Preview of Elvis’ Life — “Hey, sorry to bother you, but where did you get that?” said the young woman on the bus. She was pointing to the blue guitar keychain on my backpack. It’s a keychain my mother bought me on her second trip to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. …

You can’t do this anymore — YouTube in the early 2000s was the best. Anyone can upload their 180p video of their friends doing stupid shit and go viral. That’s what happened with Smosh: they were guys lip-syncing to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme. Some creators went further, however. For example, The Lonely Island made…

In a parallel world, The Beatles keep making music — Kendrick Lamar had a point in “ELEMENT.” When he said, “Fake my death, go to Cuba, that’s the only option,” he was referring to the theory about famous musicians faking their death and moving to Cuba. The baseball cap and varsity jacket fooled the Cuban public, if true. Either way…

Future civilizations will have a blast — Spotify has a cool feature in the time capsule: it’s a playlist cataloging your most-heard songs on Spotify. I’ve used the service since 2015, meaning I was 19, turning 20 at the end of the year. I heard many screamo/post-hardcore bands from the early 2000s back then. My music tastes…

We don’t, nor should we? — The Game Awards 2022 was wrapping up by announcing Elden Ring as the game of the year. The team of FromSoftware went center stage to give their speech once declared winners. But, once they ended the speech, the unthinkable happened. An unknown guy followed FromSoftware on stage and told us…

The year of female-fronted bands and impactful themes — Turbulent times call for music. Musicians, as a result, wrote introspective and angry albums as an outcry for change. During our midterms, we had a glimmer of hope here in the United States. The US defied the odds and decided against fascism. …

Not every album is a hit — Since music hits existed, there have been flops. Mariah Carey’s Glitter didn’t receive love, and Madonna has had her stinkers. However, flops took on a different meaning in the 2010s. Users of TikTok used the term ‘flop era’ to describe disappointing music from artists. Of course, flop doesn’t mean the…

Straight from the Puerto Rican front — Deep in the bungalows of Puerto Rico, a couple of teenagers sing their hearts out on stage. While they sing, the DJ plays a steady track of percussive drums and catchy reggae samples. By merging the two, they invented a new genre, reggaeton. Of course, it took a few years…

Mexican love songs with plenty of passion — No contest. Spanish is the language of love. The softer consonants and long vowels are to thank. They help the words flow with ease. Also, the syllables and enunciations sound elegant and pleasing to the ears. You will make hearts mend if you say or type anything in Spanish. …

Forever changing punk rock one lyric at a time — Community College was fun. I was optimistic about finishing and becoming someone in the five years I went. Fortunately, I completed community college with flawless grades. Yet, I’m still working on the someone part. I could’ve finished college sooner if I had had direction and didn’t take unnecessary courses. I…