GODSMACK – You & I
Similar artists: Enter Shikari, Don Broco, Korn, Funeral For A Friend, Lamb of God
The toughest thing is to be one of a kind and still get people to care about you. Rock musicians find this early. It’s a Catch-22. Those that have the capacity to be unique are hard to sell. And those that sound just like their contemporaries have many others doing the same kind of work as them.
The few bands that are unique and established find themselves in a very privileged position. They don’t need to struggle to introduce themselves. They don’t need to worry about their alternative rock rivals. But, they do need to provide consistency.
Godsmack began by owning a great debt to Alice in Chains. Still, they became one of the few post-grunge bands that established their own identity. Their heavy, efficient, minimalist sound and Sully Erna’s ominous vocal growl turned them into an easily recognizable proposition among the numerous interchangeable alt-rock bands.
All they need to do, as David Lee Roth might say, is to take a few left turns once in a while. Godsmack’s You & I bring an almost blues-rock approach to the dynamics with which they’ve worked throughout their career. It’s a mix that should please conservative rock fans and diehards alike. It proves that for bands, there’s no substitute for laying the groundwork.
Mark Daly – Nothing to Lose
Similar artists: Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Nirvana, Lenny Kravitz
Rock musicians are a bit like comedians. They both have to fake it some of the time. That’s because their jobs involve getting people excited. To do this, they have to turn on the charm.
Nobody can be full of energy or funny all the time. It’s almost painfully scary to imagine someone demanding this from you. This is, perhaps, why many musicians and comedians get themselves into trouble while attempting to sort themselves out.
Great ideas rarely come outpouring. They slip to cracks in the ceiling instead. All great creative minds have no choice but to be ready with a bucket. Or, at the very least, they need to record the good ideas on their phone or scribble them on paper.
Mark Daly’s Nothing to Lose does one great thing. It captures the artist at his most-energy-filled best. It’s the song that a lot of famous rock stars might get passing through their minds but ignore it. No, no! Better bottle those ideas instead in songs. You might get a hard-rocking, radio-friendly, funky-alt-rocker like this.
