Currently, I’m looking around and I hear a latin-type sound a la Ricky Martin, boy-band supergroups, and a hard metal sound.
Radio sucks. (Where’s the middle ground?)
Well, I’ll tell you straight out I have never been particularly fond of any of the above. I’m ready for a new rise in “alternative” (read as: not the new Creed album), but a true alternative from the banal drivel that currently pollutes our airwaves.
Recently, and not so recently, I’ve discovered Air, Sigor Ros, Radiohead, and others. I (did) like the alternative rock of the early to mid-90’s, too.
So anyone think they can nail the next big sound, or is it dancing monkey-boys for some time to come?
Im working on starting a new band thats kinda of a mix between the talking heads, the allman brothers, and parliment…
It’ll be the next big thing really…
Now if I can just find some lyrics…
Quote above is from this site. The recent interest in bands like The get up kids, Hot Water Music, and the promise ring. Make EMO a very strong candidate for “the next big thing”. I think bands like blink 182 and sum 41 hitting it big is heading us into a direction for harder more aggressive music.
Weezer is not quite the emo I was refering to. They are WAY to overproduced and poppy to be real emo. I think this comparison is like saying that dance music wont be the next big thing because it hit it’s height with Ricardo (Rico Suave).
If we HAVE to bring up weezer though, need I remind ya that they have been popular twice now so don’t count em out.
Here is the theory - take whatever type of music is popular at any given time, and the “next big thing” will be it’s polar opposite.
We’ve gone in myriad circles ever since the 70’s. From singer-songwriters, to disco, which swung to punk and new wave, to pure pop, to metal and hair bands, to grunge, and into bubble gum. Which is where we seem to be stuck, with the Brittney’s and NSYNC’s and the Aguilera’s and the O-Towns.
So … my prediction is … Speed Metal/Industrial hybrid.
I can’t even really thing what it might sound like, but it will be all over the friggin’ place inside of a year. Mark my words.
I’m not entirely sure that speed metal can ever become mainstream. It’ll always be a strong genre of music DGMW, and indeed its popularity may spike again soon… but to overtake the pop gods? I dare not think it so.
No widespread appeal.
I could (and have been) wrong before though.
Case in point:
Two? years ago. College town, walking down the street late on Saturday night. I hear backstreet boys. But not the radio version. I walk up to this house where a party is going on (doors wide open) and there are 4 drunk frat boys standing on top of this table singing loudly to backstreet boys… and get this — the girls are going for it! They are all over these guys.
I mean, this was possibly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life, yet… it was happening, right there in front of me!
I couldn’t believe then. I can’t believe it now. So if that type of music could (somehow) become Popular, capital “P” thank you very much, maybe there is hope for death metal yet… I just won’t be on that bandwagon, cowboy.
Music is kind of like fashion: very few real innovators, mostly just people “polishing up” 15 year old ideas.
Ramones + 15 years = Green Day and Blink 182 on the radio.
Heavy Metal was big around 1985. Nü metal is popular today.
So if my calculations are correct, the “next big thing” will be… lessee… an updating of the synthesizer-heavy “new wave” sound from years gone by. I predict it will be called “Neo-wave”.
Here is my input, a lot of the bands in the emo scene have an enormous amount of talent and are liable to take the sound to the mainstream, although some might argue that already happened with bands like Jimmy Eats World and New Found Glory. BUt as most emo fans would tell you, those bands only represent the fringe of the emo movement. My personal faves are Saves The Day, who are an amazing quartet, with a killer singer and some irrestiable tunes. These guys put on one of the best live shows i’ve ever seen and says alot cause i’ve seen Rammstein in concert ;). Alkaline Trio is slightly leaning more to the punk side, as far as the vocals and instrumentation goes, but the lyrics and attitude is all emo. These guys might make some commercial headway. Bright Eyes is basically a one man project, and this guy is amazing, poignant lyrics, heart wrenching vocals…totally Emo. So…in conclusion…i’m with pezpunk…Emo shall make its mark!!!
Ok…i’ll still stand by my statement that Emo will be the next big thing, but “future pop” might make some headway especially in Europe. This a term coined by Ronan from VnV nation, which basically describes bands like COvenant, Apoptygma Berzerk, And One , Mesh, De/Vision, Neuroticfish, Icon of Coil, and VnV Nation(obviously). All these bands have seem to be a hybrid of modern day EBM, synth-pop resonations and strong pop sensibilities. The new VnV album will sell extremly well in the alternative market in europe, that might eventually carry over to the US. So maybe skedoo is right, a synthetic revolution is around the corner.
This might have been true eight years ago, but most of the big black metal bands ended up either dead, in prison, or in pink makeup. Most of the mainstream music fans probably think they went as far as you could go when they bought their Marilyn Manson records (coming to a garage sale near you).
On second thoughts, the fact that the music is way past its use-by-date and watered down means that now is probably the time when it will become popular (see Metallica and Pantera for other examples).
It seems the next big thing will be the continued rediscovery of old, neglected music now that there’s money to be made by putting it on CD. Here goes - Lee Hazlewood will be bigger than Ricky Martin.
Emo has been exactly where it’s going to stay in terms of popularity, and I don’t see how it’s going to get any bigger. Underground music must by definition change in order to gain mainstream acceptance.
By the way…I have just joined a Japanese emocore band. I can’t wait. I’m going to write them all sorts of sensetive weepy little boy lyrics, like an emocore Blondie. How much fun is this going to be?
