Monday, March 5, 2007

Rock Bands & Religiosity

Showing clips of Led Zeppelin performances -- Stairway to Heaven and two gospel songs, Nobody's Fault but Mine & In My Time of Dying -- to demonstrate that Christian themes are "imaginatively true" for non-religious artists? That's a good thing.

Taking Rock seriously, on the other hand, is definitely a bad thing.
GWYNEDD, WALES—Calling it the planet's last, best hope for saving rock music, the Guardians of the Protectorate of Rock announced Monday that they would take the extraordinary step of unleashing a never-before-heard Jimmy Page riff, hidden for decades in a mythic, impenetrable vault.
"We who believe in the immortality of rock took a vow 30 years ago that we would never release this incredibly powerful force unless we faced a Day of Reckoning—and that day has come," said Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, one of the chosen few who helped forge the Secret Vault to Save Rock and Roll, at a press conference in the Welsh highlands. "Just look at the pop charts, and you shall know I speak the truth."

1 comment:

Adam Nowek said...

The Zeppelin moment this morning reminded me of one of my favourite bands, The Mars Volta. They're certainly explorative and, well, different in terms of musicianship, but if you can handle a weird melding of classic rock, amazing guitar work (with John from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, no less!), trumpets, crickets chirping for five minutes, and off-the-wall time signatures, then it's worth checking out. Even if the music isn't for you, the lyrics on their two most recent albums (Amputechture and Frances The Mute, the latter of which is my personal favourite) are dripping with abstract religious imagery that's particularly powerful.

Don't just believe me, go see for yourself; lyrics to Meccamputechture. When you mentioned Avison's ability to command language the way she wants to, I believe Cedric Bixler-Zavala takes that idea to a new level.