Hip, rock bands make beautiful melodies

What does a rock band need to make it big? I say songs with melodies that move the listener and a great vocalist. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Aerosmith, even Daughtry have those. And although I have been doing this for many years now, I still get a big kick out of finding bands that can create beautiful melodies and have impressive singers. Here are some of them:

Devils & Angels by Melee. While the guitar is traditionally considered the best instrument for rock music, it is still a fact that piano-based rock can be so moving in the hands of the right band. Melee is one such band. How nice to find a rock CD with real music recorded by a group that is well-versed in songwriting, arranging and performing. Knowing how to do the right thing is what lifts a band out of the ordinary and this CD, filled with well-written originals, does not have one jarring note.

What Devils & Angels has should be called excellent musicianship. I hope that someday Melee songs like Can’t Hold On, She’s Gonna Find Me Here Built to Last, Drive Away, Rhythm of Rain, Frequently Baby (She’s a Teenage Maniac), For a Lifetime, Imitation, Love Carries On, Biggest Mistake, You Got, Stand Up and You Make My Dreams would be classic examples of great rock recordings from 2008. And I hope that more of the new rock bands would take a cue from Melee. Your music even if polished, can still rock.

Melee is made up of Chris Cron on lead vocals, piano and guitar; Ricky Sans, lead guitar and vocals; Ryan Malloy, bass and vocals; and Mike Nader, drums and vocals. Cron and Sans share songwriting credits and all the boys join in creating the arrangements. Great job.

Revelations by Audioslave. This one is anything but new. In fact the album is at least a year old. But I thought I should include it in my list. First because it is fantastic and a must for all rockers. Then also because I have had several people ask me about other recordings by soloist Chris Cornell ever since David Cook sang his stunning arrangement of Billie Jean in American Idol. I honestly believed that that song helped Cook clinch the title. As for Cornell, he was the soloist of the great Seattle band from the grunge era, Soundgarden. He next went solo and later hooked up with some members of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave.

Awesome is an apt description for Revelations. This is arena rock, hard, big and powerful. Cornell, fiery and emotional, has just the right pipes for these songs and it cannot be denied that having been with Rage Against the Machine has given Tim Commerford on bass, Brad Wilk, drums, and Tom Morello, guitars the strong sounds to go with it. Best of the CD are Revelations, Jewel of the Summertime, One and the Same and Shape of Things to Come. I cannot quite get where Moth is going or coming from but the mellow Until We Fall and the anthemic Wide Awake should go big with Pinoys.

And last but not least here is Fall Out Boy with the new CD Live in Phoenix. We are now quite familiar with the guys who make up the group. They are  Patrick Stump on vocals and guitar; Pete Wentz, bass; Joe Trohman, guitar; and Andy Hurley, drums. Fall Out Boy is considered one of the hottest bands in the field of mainstream rock and these boys proved this when they wowed Manila a year ago with two sold-out shows at the Araneta Coliseum.

Those who missed that concert should be happy to know that Live in Phoenix has a CD and DVD pack. It not only captures the group’s raw energy on stage, but also puts together all the hits in one album. Just think, you will be getting Thnks fr the Mmrs, Sugar We’re Going Down, I’m Like a Lawyer with the Way I’m Trying to Get You Off, This Ain’t a Scene It’s an Arms Race, Beat It and many others, live and spontaneous, one after the other.