In the past few years, it seems that the rock genre has taken a backseat to more popular genres like rap and pop. However, rock is far from dead, and it seems to be making a comeback, with albums like “Starcatcher” by Greta Van Fleet, and songs like “Angry” by The Rolling Stones and “Atomic City” by U2 making significant waves.
“Atomic City” by U2 has a very specific ring to it that scratches an itch in my mind. It only gets better as the drums, base, and the guitar swirl into each other to become synonyms, making them indistinguishable while in other parts they separate just slightly, just enough to make them their own while still remaining together.
The electric guitar solo begins at 2:10 and it slots in perfectly, you do not realize it is a solo until it is almost over from being so sunk into the lyrics. It makes you wonder if they put it in to give us time to process the true meaning of what was said. This song definitely embodies the spirit of what the old rock era sounded and felt like.
The second song up is “Angry” by The Rolling Stone is about a relationship and personally I do not like those kinds of songs much, however anybody can recognize that this is a great song, with a lot of emotion behind it.
The beginning of this song was the most descriptive part, after that it is just the same few lines. Overall this song definitely has the twang that is specific to the Stones, and I am sure that true fans of the band will love it. This song is also the single meant to introduce their newest upcoming album “Hackney Diamonds,” the first album they have released in 18 years.
The Greta Van Fleet album “Starcatcher” in simplest terms, is spectacular. I found myself forgetting that this was a new album, it gives the vibe of their old albums from their peak in 2015-2017. Listening to this album for the first time you find yourself drifting off into a daydream induced by the lyrics and emotion behind them. But then, runway blues comes on and jolts you out of it.
This song sticks out like a sore thumb, it is also very unique on this album, it is almost out of place. Some fans think that it should be a single or even have its own album made for it, and others are trying to say that it was put in as a pace changer, meant to switch up the vibe and tempo of the remaining songs.
Greta Van Fleet have been releasing music consistently for years, while the other two bands reviewed here just released music for the first time in a while. The reason I have added this album to the roster for this review is because this band embodies the 70-90’s rock vibe into the modern age.
These three bands releasing new music in the past year along with the countless indie/metal/blues/alt bands also forming and releasing new music have caused a drastic increase in fans of the genres resulting. It may not be today or tomorrow, but eventually the rock era will return to turn the world on its head once again.
