Before I begin, I'd like to preface that I have the utmost respect for Dave Grohl. The music that he's helped create in the last 23 years as a part of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fast track his entry to the Hall of Fame.
At the Grammy Awards this evening, Dave Grohl said something that stuck out to me while making his acceptance speech for Best Rock Performance for the Foo Fighters' "Walk".
In the speech, Grohl made it a point to mention playing instruments and working at your craft to be a better musician.
I respected the speech, but the issue that I have is that not every kid can afford instruments to play and some neighborhoods here in the Bronx have it very difficult.
There are a lot of very talented, but underprivileged kids that don't have easy access to these instruments.
A lot of people turn to rap music because it's fiscally easier to handle. All you need is the gift of wordplay and a good beat (which can be vocally or digitally manufactured) and you have a song.
R&B music is very much the same way. All you need is your voice and music (which again can be very easy to make digitally).
In a world where your parents can barely afford to pay for rent, food, or even clothing, buying a $500 electric guitar with a $300 amp isn't really the answer.
It's a lot like sports. Not everyone can pay a couple of hundred dollars for the equipment to play football whereas you only need yourself, a round ball, and a hoop to play basketball or yourself, a round ball and a couple of placeholders to play soccer.
In either case, you make do with what you have rather than what you want to have.
It's all about money. If there were schools that would offer free lectures to kids that are aspiring musicians regardless of their socioeconomic class, that would be a wonderful way to bring kids to perform, hang out with each other and learn about each other (and how people don't all live the same way) and experience the ability to make music for fun together and eventually explore making music for a living.
Again, I have no problem with what Dave said aside from not recognizing that not everyone has access to affordable instruments to play with. However, this can change with lobbying from famous musicians (*ahem* Mr. Grohl) so that they can either begin new programs for kids to learn instruments and sing or enhance programs that already exist.
If there's one musician that I have faith to incorporate this change, it's Dave freakin' Grohl.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Should Win/Will Win: The 2012 Grammies: The Big Four
Tonight marks the 54th annual Grammy Awards on the somber note of Whitney Houston's death. As sad as that news was, the show must and will go on. We still have a year of music that deserves celebration.
I will try my best to determine who will win in the Big Four and will involve a little of my personal opinion as to who should win. However, if last year's Album of the Year upset by Arcade Fire was any indication, you really don't stand much of a chance of predicting the winner for any award in the Big Four even though you do have a 20% chance.
I will start with Best New Artist:
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Who should win: Bon Iver. While Bon Iver made more of a splash on Kanye West's most recent solo effort, he is the indie darling of these awards much like Arcade Fire was last year, but much more dominant in that Justin Vernon and co. were nominated for three of the Big Four awards. It's gonna be hard to bet against him not winning one of the Big Four and this one seems to be the most likely.
Who will win: Skrillex in an upset. Something that you'll realize when looking at this category is that this is the award most likely to have upsets (Esperanza Spalding defeating Drake and Justin Bieber last year and Marc Cohn's (The guy that sang that "Walking in Memphis" song) 1992 win upstaging Boyz II Men). I just think this is going to be yet another year where Bon Iver, J. Cole and Nicki Minaj cancel each other out and Skrillex and the entire dubstep genre will be the beneficiary.
Record of the Year:
Adele - Rolling In the Deep
Bon Iver - Holocene
Bruno Mars - Grenade
Mumford & Sons - The Cave
Katy Perry - Firework
Who should win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. As if that weren't obvious. But you know something, as amazing as Adele's year is, I don't see her sweeping her six Grammy nominations, much like Norah Jones did when she swept the Big Four awards in 2003.
Who will win: Katy Perry - Firework. The indie darlings Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons cancel each other out and as strong as Bruno's Grenade was, it's going to be between Adele and Katy Perry and Katy squeaks a victory. If there is any category in the Big Four that Adele is likely to lose out on, it's this one.
Song of the Year:
Kanye featuring damn near everybody - All of the Lights
Mumford & Sons - The Cave
Bruno Mars - Grenade
Bon Iver - Holocene
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Who should win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. Again, there's not a big surprise here. Adele should roll through the competition in this category.
Who will win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. Kanye may actually be the strongest competition in this category, seeing as he wasn't in the Record of the Year category. This will be a category to watch, but I think Adele wins here.
And finally, the big one. Album of the Year:
Adele - 21
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans
Rihanna - Loud
Who should win: Adele - 21. No album sold within the past year has come even close. No album has had as much artist praise as 21 either. When looking at a record in the world of social media, I tend to pay attention to what other artists say and while there are strong candidates, nothing tops 21. It shouldn't be any other way, really. While I would love as a rock fan if Wasting Light pulled off a great upset here, again, it is Adele's year. Even Dave Grohl praised the work of 21 in a recent Billboard interview.
Who will win: Adele - 21. If she doesn't, I can sense a riot coming on. It wouldn't seem fair to deny Adele the album of the year when it's pretty much saved the music industry in the past year. Distribution of physical albums has been down, but that hasn't stopped Adele from selling 100,000 albums a week pretty much all of 2012. The sales and praise make it hard to bet against Adele in any category let alone this one, but somehow, I don't see her sweeping her six nominations. She will win amongst the most for any artist though.
I didn't put money on the Super Bowl and I'll be damned if I start betting on these awards now, but I hope that I'm somewhat accurate.
I will try my best to determine who will win in the Big Four and will involve a little of my personal opinion as to who should win. However, if last year's Album of the Year upset by Arcade Fire was any indication, you really don't stand much of a chance of predicting the winner for any award in the Big Four even though you do have a 20% chance.
I will start with Best New Artist:
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Who should win: Bon Iver. While Bon Iver made more of a splash on Kanye West's most recent solo effort, he is the indie darling of these awards much like Arcade Fire was last year, but much more dominant in that Justin Vernon and co. were nominated for three of the Big Four awards. It's gonna be hard to bet against him not winning one of the Big Four and this one seems to be the most likely.
Who will win: Skrillex in an upset. Something that you'll realize when looking at this category is that this is the award most likely to have upsets (Esperanza Spalding defeating Drake and Justin Bieber last year and Marc Cohn's (The guy that sang that "Walking in Memphis" song) 1992 win upstaging Boyz II Men). I just think this is going to be yet another year where Bon Iver, J. Cole and Nicki Minaj cancel each other out and Skrillex and the entire dubstep genre will be the beneficiary.
Record of the Year:
Adele - Rolling In the Deep
Bon Iver - Holocene
Bruno Mars - Grenade
Mumford & Sons - The Cave
Katy Perry - Firework
Who should win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. As if that weren't obvious. But you know something, as amazing as Adele's year is, I don't see her sweeping her six Grammy nominations, much like Norah Jones did when she swept the Big Four awards in 2003.
Who will win: Katy Perry - Firework. The indie darlings Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons cancel each other out and as strong as Bruno's Grenade was, it's going to be between Adele and Katy Perry and Katy squeaks a victory. If there is any category in the Big Four that Adele is likely to lose out on, it's this one.
Song of the Year:
Kanye featuring damn near everybody - All of the Lights
Mumford & Sons - The Cave
Bruno Mars - Grenade
Bon Iver - Holocene
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Who should win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. Again, there's not a big surprise here. Adele should roll through the competition in this category.
Who will win: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. Kanye may actually be the strongest competition in this category, seeing as he wasn't in the Record of the Year category. This will be a category to watch, but I think Adele wins here.
And finally, the big one. Album of the Year:
Adele - 21
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans
Rihanna - Loud
Who should win: Adele - 21. No album sold within the past year has come even close. No album has had as much artist praise as 21 either. When looking at a record in the world of social media, I tend to pay attention to what other artists say and while there are strong candidates, nothing tops 21. It shouldn't be any other way, really. While I would love as a rock fan if Wasting Light pulled off a great upset here, again, it is Adele's year. Even Dave Grohl praised the work of 21 in a recent Billboard interview.
Who will win: Adele - 21. If she doesn't, I can sense a riot coming on. It wouldn't seem fair to deny Adele the album of the year when it's pretty much saved the music industry in the past year. Distribution of physical albums has been down, but that hasn't stopped Adele from selling 100,000 albums a week pretty much all of 2012. The sales and praise make it hard to bet against Adele in any category let alone this one, but somehow, I don't see her sweeping her six nominations. She will win amongst the most for any artist though.
I didn't put money on the Super Bowl and I'll be damned if I start betting on these awards now, but I hope that I'm somewhat accurate.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston.
As a 5/6 year old kid growing up in the golden era of music videos, there were two artists that stood out the most, one of which being Michael Jackson and the other Whitney Houston. As of today, neither are with us. Whitney Houston was found dead at a Los Angeles hotel this afternoon at the age of 48.
Whitney's legacy in music as a female artist is unparalleled.
As of 2010, she's won over 400 awards for her contributions to music and film.
Even though Katy Perry has recently threatened to break the award, Whitney Houston had 7 consecutive #1 songs on Billboard, a record that still stands for any artist.
Her second album (Whitney, 1987) became the first female album to debut at #1 at a time when debuting at #1 for any artist was a rare feat.
Her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV (Bills v. Giants) in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War was so popular that it was commercially released and, to this day, is the only version of the National Anthem to be commercially released and be certified platinum.
All of this preceded the most successful album and venture of her career, The Bodyguard movie and soundtrack in 1992. The movie sold over $400 million worth of tickets worldwide, one of the top grossing films at the time of its release and the soundtrack is one of the best-selling albums of all time, apart from it being the highest selling soundtrack of all time at 17 million albums stateside and 44 million worldwide. The album was also the first album of the Soundscan era (post May 1991) to sell over 1 million copies in a single week.
The single "I Will Always Love You", a cover of a 1974 Dolly Parton song, became the most successful single at the time of its release hitting #1 on the Billboard for a then record 14 weeks, outperforming the original song (a rarity to happen in the music industry).
The single is the second best-selling single in history only behind Elton John's 1997 remake of Candle in the Wind and netted two of Houston's six overall Grammy Awards.
Lightning struck twice for Whitney when her cover of the 1978 Chaka Khan classic "I'm Every Woman" would also outperform the original, becoming yet another worldwide smash.
Before The Bodyguard's popularity, Whitney became romantically linked to Bobby Brown, the two would marry in July 1992, putting out "Something in Common" on Bobby's album the following month, which became a moderate hit for Bobby on one of his most successful solo albums. Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown would be born the following year.
The success of The Bodyguard led Whitney to another movie venture. Waiting to Exhale in 1995 became her first movie venture to debut at #1 and led to yet another soundtrack #1 with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)".
The following year, Whitney starred alongside Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife, which did pretty well for a holiday movie and the soundtrack is the best selling gospel album of all time.
In 1997, a revamped version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella became one of the most successful TV movies in history, winning seven Emmy Awards.
In 1998, she released her first non-soundtrack album in eight years with My Love is Your Love, yet another album that netted Whitney more top 40 hits including "Heartbreak Hotel" and "My Love Is Your Love".
Her double-disc greatest hits album netted her another 10 million sales worldwide in 2000 and in 2001, because of her worldwide success, Whitney Houston signed a record contract of $100 million for six records with Arista Records, the biggest contract in music history, a contract that would seem more synonymous with sports.
However, through all of the success, there were very serious problems. These problems surfaced in the infamous 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer that was one of the most watched interviews in primetime history.
The interest in the interview unfortunately didn't translate as well into album sales and, while the album did moderately well, was not the worldwide smash that Whitney was used to having. A holiday album released the following year didn't do very well either and continued Whitney's downfall.
However, rock bottom became the reality TV show Being Bobby Brown, a show which she was originally going to stay away from. The show displayed Whitney at her very worst, but in a way helped her realize what she'd become. Word had it that the couple went through the $100 million that had been given to Whitney and then some.
After fourteen years, Whitney and Bobby divorced in 2007, leading Whitney to focus back on her music. Clive Davis overlooked what would turn out to be Whitney's last album I Look to You, in 2009.
The comeback was relatively successful. becoming her first album since The Bodyguard soundtrack to go #1. The album received critical praise, however, the album's success was stunted with a much criticized performance on Good Morning America the week of the album release.
Last year, Whitney's problems with drugs and alcohol resurfaced as she went back to rehab. It was also announced that she was working on a remake of the film Sparkle, which had just finished shooting before her death.
In three years, two of the greatest performers of my generation are no longer with us. Rihanna said it best in tweet form when she said "There are no words. Just tears." May she finally be at peace. The Grammies will never be the same without Whitney or Michael there.
Whitney's legacy in music as a female artist is unparalleled.
As of 2010, she's won over 400 awards for her contributions to music and film.
Even though Katy Perry has recently threatened to break the award, Whitney Houston had 7 consecutive #1 songs on Billboard, a record that still stands for any artist.
Her second album (Whitney, 1987) became the first female album to debut at #1 at a time when debuting at #1 for any artist was a rare feat.
Her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV (Bills v. Giants) in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War was so popular that it was commercially released and, to this day, is the only version of the National Anthem to be commercially released and be certified platinum.
All of this preceded the most successful album and venture of her career, The Bodyguard movie and soundtrack in 1992. The movie sold over $400 million worth of tickets worldwide, one of the top grossing films at the time of its release and the soundtrack is one of the best-selling albums of all time, apart from it being the highest selling soundtrack of all time at 17 million albums stateside and 44 million worldwide. The album was also the first album of the Soundscan era (post May 1991) to sell over 1 million copies in a single week.
The single "I Will Always Love You", a cover of a 1974 Dolly Parton song, became the most successful single at the time of its release hitting #1 on the Billboard for a then record 14 weeks, outperforming the original song (a rarity to happen in the music industry).
The single is the second best-selling single in history only behind Elton John's 1997 remake of Candle in the Wind and netted two of Houston's six overall Grammy Awards.
Lightning struck twice for Whitney when her cover of the 1978 Chaka Khan classic "I'm Every Woman" would also outperform the original, becoming yet another worldwide smash.
Before The Bodyguard's popularity, Whitney became romantically linked to Bobby Brown, the two would marry in July 1992, putting out "Something in Common" on Bobby's album the following month, which became a moderate hit for Bobby on one of his most successful solo albums. Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown would be born the following year.
The success of The Bodyguard led Whitney to another movie venture. Waiting to Exhale in 1995 became her first movie venture to debut at #1 and led to yet another soundtrack #1 with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)".
The following year, Whitney starred alongside Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife, which did pretty well for a holiday movie and the soundtrack is the best selling gospel album of all time.
In 1997, a revamped version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella became one of the most successful TV movies in history, winning seven Emmy Awards.
In 1998, she released her first non-soundtrack album in eight years with My Love is Your Love, yet another album that netted Whitney more top 40 hits including "Heartbreak Hotel" and "My Love Is Your Love".
Her double-disc greatest hits album netted her another 10 million sales worldwide in 2000 and in 2001, because of her worldwide success, Whitney Houston signed a record contract of $100 million for six records with Arista Records, the biggest contract in music history, a contract that would seem more synonymous with sports.
However, through all of the success, there were very serious problems. These problems surfaced in the infamous 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer that was one of the most watched interviews in primetime history.
The interest in the interview unfortunately didn't translate as well into album sales and, while the album did moderately well, was not the worldwide smash that Whitney was used to having. A holiday album released the following year didn't do very well either and continued Whitney's downfall.
However, rock bottom became the reality TV show Being Bobby Brown, a show which she was originally going to stay away from. The show displayed Whitney at her very worst, but in a way helped her realize what she'd become. Word had it that the couple went through the $100 million that had been given to Whitney and then some.
After fourteen years, Whitney and Bobby divorced in 2007, leading Whitney to focus back on her music. Clive Davis overlooked what would turn out to be Whitney's last album I Look to You, in 2009.
The comeback was relatively successful. becoming her first album since The Bodyguard soundtrack to go #1. The album received critical praise, however, the album's success was stunted with a much criticized performance on Good Morning America the week of the album release.
Last year, Whitney's problems with drugs and alcohol resurfaced as she went back to rehab. It was also announced that she was working on a remake of the film Sparkle, which had just finished shooting before her death.
In three years, two of the greatest performers of my generation are no longer with us. Rihanna said it best in tweet form when she said "There are no words. Just tears." May she finally be at peace. The Grammies will never be the same without Whitney or Michael there.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Black History Month: Alexis Brown (Straight Line Stitch)
I've covered Straight Line Stitch before, but for those who don't know, Alexis Brown is one of the very few African American female lead singers out there in a rock band.
Straight Line Stitch formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2000 as a male-fronted band.
Alexis joined the fold in 2003 and the band has been growing exponentially in popularity. The band gained attention from Dale "Rage" Resteghini (who's music video credits include Fall Out Boy, Jim Jones, and Adelitas Way) and they filmed their debut video for Remission.
Resteghini formed a record imprint on Koch Records so that they could put out When Skies Wash Ashore in 2008, an album that netted Straight Line Stitch a Sirius Octane hit with What You Do To Me. The band draws comparisons to everyone from Shadows Fall to fellow female-fronted metalcore band In This Moment.
In 2011, the band followed the success of Skies with The Fight Of Our Lives. Unfortunately, the band has recently suffered some setbacks with the departures of two more members (drummer Kanky Lora and guitarist Kris Norris), but the band has more former members than current and it appears that they have no immediate signs of slowing down with their latest awesome single One Reason.
Straight Line Stitch formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2000 as a male-fronted band.
Alexis joined the fold in 2003 and the band has been growing exponentially in popularity. The band gained attention from Dale "Rage" Resteghini (who's music video credits include Fall Out Boy, Jim Jones, and Adelitas Way) and they filmed their debut video for Remission.
Resteghini formed a record imprint on Koch Records so that they could put out When Skies Wash Ashore in 2008, an album that netted Straight Line Stitch a Sirius Octane hit with What You Do To Me. The band draws comparisons to everyone from Shadows Fall to fellow female-fronted metalcore band In This Moment.
In 2011, the band followed the success of Skies with The Fight Of Our Lives. Unfortunately, the band has recently suffered some setbacks with the departures of two more members (drummer Kanky Lora and guitarist Kris Norris), but the band has more former members than current and it appears that they have no immediate signs of slowing down with their latest awesome single One Reason.
Black History Month: Mahlon Rhodes (Amplexus/Hawks & Wolves)
Mahlon Rhodes is an up and coming lead vocalist from Ohio who's put out music with two great projects, Amplexus and, the latest, Hawks & Wolves.
The lead singer originally made waves with Amplexus and the 2007 album Deus Ex Machina.
Mahlon's biggest influences include some of my personal favorite bands, Thrice, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Killswitch Engage, all band influences of which you can hear in the original project. They'd played shows with bands such as Norma Jean and
In 2011, Mahlon and members of Amplexus regrouped and formed the project Hawks & Wolves.
They recorded their debut EP, The Alread EP, in Woodstock in upstate NY. The EP is based around a concept of a paraplegic, mentally unstable Army veteran who creates a world away from reality, finding his freedom. The band, in a short time, has played shows with Bayside and Emery, amongst others.
You can listen to the EP on their Youtube page, including my personal favorite I Dream, I Dwell.
The lead singer originally made waves with Amplexus and the 2007 album Deus Ex Machina.
Mahlon's biggest influences include some of my personal favorite bands, Thrice, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Killswitch Engage, all band influences of which you can hear in the original project. They'd played shows with bands such as Norma Jean and
In 2011, Mahlon and members of Amplexus regrouped and formed the project Hawks & Wolves.
They recorded their debut EP, The Alread EP, in Woodstock in upstate NY. The EP is based around a concept of a paraplegic, mentally unstable Army veteran who creates a world away from reality, finding his freedom. The band, in a short time, has played shows with Bayside and Emery, amongst others.
You can listen to the EP on their Youtube page, including my personal favorite I Dream, I Dwell.
Black History Month: Sahaj Ticotin (Ra)
One of the most underrated rock singers in the game, Sahaj Ticotin is the profile for today. This one holds a special place as Sahaj was a Puerto Rican that was raised in the Bronx...like me! (He also comes from Egyptian descent which explains the band name). Influenced by Metallica, The Police, and other acts, Sahaj is one of the best singers in the hard rock genre.
In 2002, Ra put out their major label debut From One (Universal), which led to the release of one of the catchiest songs of that entire year, "Do You Call My Name".
Universal mismanaged their entire deal however, poorly promoting the 2005 follow-up Duality, which managed to pull in modest numbers despite the poor marketing for the record.
After they were dropped, they put out a live album the following year with independent Cement Shoes Records called Raw. They apparently released the album and while there was talk of a studio followup on Cement Shoes, they wound up leaving that label to self-release Black Sun in 2008, led by the single Broken Hearted Soul.
Ra has earned regular airplay of their music on Sirius' Octane with songs like Broken Hearted Soul and Supernova, the first single of their 2009 B-sides album Black Sheep.
Originally, Ra was going to call it quits so that Sahaj can focus on solo material, but late last year a new song came out called Running Blind that features Dave Chavarri of Ill Nino that is likely to be on their upcoming album due for release sometime later this year.
Sahaj will still be releasing solo material and according to his Facebook, he will be releasing the solo debut on what rock fans are labeling Super Tuesday (releases from Shinedown, Hurt, The Veer Union, etc.), March 27th.
In 2002, Ra put out their major label debut From One (Universal), which led to the release of one of the catchiest songs of that entire year, "Do You Call My Name".
Universal mismanaged their entire deal however, poorly promoting the 2005 follow-up Duality, which managed to pull in modest numbers despite the poor marketing for the record.
After they were dropped, they put out a live album the following year with independent Cement Shoes Records called Raw. They apparently released the album and while there was talk of a studio followup on Cement Shoes, they wound up leaving that label to self-release Black Sun in 2008, led by the single Broken Hearted Soul.
Ra has earned regular airplay of their music on Sirius' Octane with songs like Broken Hearted Soul and Supernova, the first single of their 2009 B-sides album Black Sheep.
Originally, Ra was going to call it quits so that Sahaj can focus on solo material, but late last year a new song came out called Running Blind that features Dave Chavarri of Ill Nino that is likely to be on their upcoming album due for release sometime later this year.
Sahaj will still be releasing solo material and according to his Facebook, he will be releasing the solo debut on what rock fans are labeling Super Tuesday (releases from Shinedown, Hurt, The Veer Union, etc.), March 27th.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Black History Month: Kele Okereke (Bloc Party)
Kele Okereke is the lead singer behind the British UK band Bloc Party, a band who's debut album Silent Alarm was the indie darling of 2005, winning praise from publications like British heavyweight NME.
Interestingly enough, Franz Ferdinand's lead singer Alex Kapranos gave Bloc Party a hand after hearing a demo of "She's Hearing Voices". The live session they played on BBC led to what became the debut single off of Silent Alarm, "Banquet".
Silent Alarm went platinum in Britain with succeeding singles, such as "Helicopter".
Silent Alarm was so popular amongst indie rock fans that it had been re-released with B-sides such as "Two More Years" and later as a remix album.
The remix album led them to explore a dancier side of Bloc Party (as if there wasn't a dance-y side already) with A Weekend in the City, led by the lead single "The Prayer". "I Still Remember" became their most successful song radio wise here in the States.
Towards the end of the A Weekend in the City era, they put out a non-album single called "Flux" that hinted at the sound of the band's next album Intimacy.
"Mercury" was the first single off of Intimacy. Intimacy was originally released as a download and later physically (with added bonus tracks), which wasn't terribly common a few years ago. Unfortunately, due to the music industry bottoming out, Bloc Party's third album wasn't nearly as successful, so they decided to go on a hiatus after 2009's non-album single "One More Chance".
All of the members of Bloc Party moved onto their own projects, including Kele's 2010 debut solo album The Boxer, which was led by the electronica-infused lead single "Tenderoni".
The band reconnected in 2012 with plans to work on their upcoming fourth record.
What I like about Bloc Party is that they put out so much material. There are so many B-sides that they have put out that are every bit as good as their album material. It'll be interesting to see where Bloc Party goes with this album...whether they put out something closer to Kele's solo album or whether they go back to their Silent Alarm roots.
Interestingly enough, Franz Ferdinand's lead singer Alex Kapranos gave Bloc Party a hand after hearing a demo of "She's Hearing Voices". The live session they played on BBC led to what became the debut single off of Silent Alarm, "Banquet".
Silent Alarm went platinum in Britain with succeeding singles, such as "Helicopter".
Silent Alarm was so popular amongst indie rock fans that it had been re-released with B-sides such as "Two More Years" and later as a remix album.
The remix album led them to explore a dancier side of Bloc Party (as if there wasn't a dance-y side already) with A Weekend in the City, led by the lead single "The Prayer". "I Still Remember" became their most successful song radio wise here in the States.
Towards the end of the A Weekend in the City era, they put out a non-album single called "Flux" that hinted at the sound of the band's next album Intimacy.
"Mercury" was the first single off of Intimacy. Intimacy was originally released as a download and later physically (with added bonus tracks), which wasn't terribly common a few years ago. Unfortunately, due to the music industry bottoming out, Bloc Party's third album wasn't nearly as successful, so they decided to go on a hiatus after 2009's non-album single "One More Chance".
All of the members of Bloc Party moved onto their own projects, including Kele's 2010 debut solo album The Boxer, which was led by the electronica-infused lead single "Tenderoni".
The band reconnected in 2012 with plans to work on their upcoming fourth record.
What I like about Bloc Party is that they put out so much material. There are so many B-sides that they have put out that are every bit as good as their album material. It'll be interesting to see where Bloc Party goes with this album...whether they put out something closer to Kele's solo album or whether they go back to their Silent Alarm roots.
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