No-one took up the mantle

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It took me awhile but I actually came around to KOL, but I don't think they have what it takes to "take the mantle". KOL like Wilco and Ryan Adams wear too many of their influences on their sleeve. Which isn't a bad thing, it just won't take them to the next level... To be honest, I don't think it exist right now. It has to be the right combination of wanting to be the next biggest band and the new sound.

I'll be honest, and I'm hesitant to say this, but I think the closest we may have is Kanye or Gaga...
 
green day is in between being old and young. they are not spring chickens considering the debut album was in 1992? I at least go with coldplay because they debuted this decade. i assumed we were only dealing with artists who had come since 2000. As far as who take this "mantle". Green day, like rhcp, faced the possible fate of being a one album, one era only wonder. But califorcation and American idiot saved them from that. i don't know if rem will ever come back commercially (in the us). But they already had a cult status that was bigger rhcp pre-1991 cult status before they (rem) had their run in the first half of the 90's. Rem doesn't need to saved by a big album now. Their legacy is written. Rhcp have def passed them in sales and weight in the us at this point. Pearl jam was a band that could have stayed on a high commercial level but went down this grateful dead/cult following road instead. If someone had told you that was gonna be pearl jams fate in 1993 that would have been hard to believe.
 
financeguy said:
Coldplay to me are the modern equivalent of the Police - decent musicianship, a good live draw, the occasional undeniably great single and melodies, but I always get the impression the whole is less than the sum of the parts. All traces of originality filtered out
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Just to nitpick your post a bit, I have to say that you're being way too hard on The Police, who were both massive commerically (17 weeks #1 in America -- which British band can do that now?) and extremely well-appreciated critically, and very innovative! The Police were the real thing, taken on pure musical terms (not on post-punk terms, which are too small to encompass them). Their mix of power pop + jazz textures (both Sting and Andy Summers having real jazz credentials) + reggae + new wave was extremely interesting, not to mention the fact that all three guys were the rock equivalent of virtuoso musicians! Coldplay cannot do things like that.

In all this fuss over Coldplay aping The Unforgettable Fire, y'all are forgetting one important thing... they actually ripped off A-Ha's Hunting High & Low even more!!


Green Day are great, but they're obviously too old to suddenly become "the new U2" now; they've probably commercially peaked. I agree (again) with Morgoth321 that Artic Monkeys are probably too British to win over middle America. So add my voice to the suggestions of Kings Of Leon having the best chance of being the next long-lasting stadium act of mass appeal. In fact, they've already played stadiums (supporting U2), have released 4 acclaimed albums, and they're average age is now, what? -- 22?? They've already done it all and they're probably nowhere near their peak yet.
 
financeguy said:
Coldplay are just doing different versions of Unforgettable Fire. Now, at least they have good taste in picking that album to rip off, but they have never surpassed the original, and I have no expectation that they will. Maybe they should try something different, but Chris's ego wouldn't allow at, as they might sell less records. Coldplay to me are the modern equivalent of the Police - decent musicianship, a good live draw, the occasional undeniably great single and melodies, but I always get the impression the whole is less than the sum of the parts. All traces of originality filtered out, any semi-provocative or controversial sentiments, if indeed they lurk below the surface (which I doubt) expunged in the interest of commercialism. Now, put that against U2, who released an album criticising Reagan policies right in the middle of the Reagan era, and then proceeded to sell out stadiums all over the country on the basis of that album. (Actually now that I think of it, the Police had much catchier singles than Coldplay, and better lyrics.)

Radiohead started off being influenced by U2 albums such as Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, but from the Bends onwards they had their own unique sound. From OK Computer onwards they were drifting off into cyberspace somewhere (and I mean that as a compliment).

Radiohead could have been another U2, but it was their choice to go in a different direction.
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add 1 more to the laugh list. you do know that i never contested the claim that coldplay is unoriginal right? i guess i need to clarify for the pseudo musical genius elite prancing around this thread, but it's much more fun listening to y'all talk shit.
anyway as far taking up the mantle, neither coldplay nor greenday can carry the torch.
greenday and their music is simple boring. you may like their songs on the first pass, but after the second listen you get tired. who pass 25 seriously like greenday enough to be a hardcore fan? i haven't heard anything of theirs that doesn't sound like their 1st album.
coldplay? they're like cotton candy. uuuuuummmmmmmm so sweet. can you eat 2 or more of these things in a row? if you can then coldplay is the band for you.
all of the bands mentioned KOL, AM etc, etc, may have qualities that make them appealing to the masses, but they lack the combination of qualities necessary to hold their attention for 3 decades. can they really bring the grandparents, the parents and the kids all at once to the show?
 
ozeeko said:
I think Kings Of Leon are incredibly lame. I dunno, is it just me? Their music sounds predictable as all hell, no surprises there. And the Arctic Monkeys just remind critics of indie rock or punk from the golden days of yore. Whenever a band comes out that reminds critics of something old, they jump all over it.
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I wouldn't say they're "lame"...they aren't mindfucking amazing but they can stand on their own, they really aren't all that bad.
 
OrARoundabout said:
I wouldn't say they're "lame"...they aren't mindfucking amazing but they can stand on their own, they really aren't all that bad.
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Unless their album tracks (meaning non hits) are absolutely polar-opposite awesome...then i can't really say i endorse this band, being that the quality of their two hit singles that i've heard would be thrown into the same category of non-offensive mainstream rock home to such bands as Nickleback and Maroon 5.
 
VintagePunk said:
I think Coldplay is as famous/reknowned as they're going to get, they've now plateaued. But yes, I do think that they're the closest we've got now, but even they are far from the stature of U2.
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:yes:

I actually just got back from a Coldplay show myself, there's a lot of love there, and a lot of energy, and they have fun within the venues they play, but their show now at the peak of their popularity doesn't even come close to Elevation/Vertigo in terms of spectacle and reverence from the band and audience for older material, let alone any of their stadium shows.
 
ozeeko said:
Unless their album tracks (meaning non hits) are absolutely polar-opposite awesome...then i can't really say i endorse this band, being that the quality of their two hit singles that i've heard would be thrown into the same category of non-offensive mainstream rock home to such bands as Nickleback and Maroon 5.
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Yeah this is what we call judging without the facts, which is how the world operates so you're forgiven. KOL's latest album features some very smoothly produced radio friendly material, but the rest of their work is very loud/swaggery southern rock (among other influences), its not at all Nickelback/Maroon 5 bland or derivative. Not to say they're highly innovative, but they aren't in the same group simply because they've broken through on the same kind of charts.
 
i just want to say that this whole taking the mantel thing really isn't that important to me. i could honestly give a fuck, and i actually would prefer U2 to not give a fuck either, and stop being so obsessed with "big bands" and just write music, even if that means they'd be then seen as miserabs like Radiohead who only want to write and play music without worrying about the charts (o those miserable bastards, how dare they write music for music's sake).
 
powerhour24 said:
Yeah this is what we call judging without the facts, which is how the world operates so you're forgiven. KOL's latest album features some very smoothly produced radio friendly material, but the rest of their work is very loud/swaggery southern rock (among other influences), its not at all Nickelback/Maroon 5 bland or derivative. Not to say they're highly innovative, but they aren't in the same group simply because they've broken through on the same kind of charts.
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i'm judging it all by their chord progressions, production, lyrics, hooks, everything bro. nothing i have heard from this band is at all original sounding or even remotely striking in the least. it's all very bland to me. you could say it was Lifehouse's (remember them) newest album and i wouldn't even notice the difference. if the rest of their music is fucking killer then i say they are morons for releasing these songs.
 
wasted time is the only one that works. and its alright, nothing amazing really but its better than their singles, i'll give u that. (was this a single). to be honest, it sounds nothing like their other shit i've heard. maybe they got something going, i dunno, i'll look into it.

this is like hearing whitney houston's "how will i know" (a good song actually) and then buying her album and discovering it's all avante garde weird experimental shit
 
If Coldplay seem to be planning their career along a U2-style template, then VLV is their Unforgettable Fire (my comparison is only in the most obvious sense, btw, not in terms of quality, which is a subjective and personal decision). By that logic, their next album will be the one that makes or breaks them as a band with genuine longevity at the highest levels of popularity. I enjoy their music, and their live show is superb, but I don't think they'll ever 'matter' as much as U2. I've no doubt that they'll end up filling stadiums, but Bon Jovi and Celine Dion can fill stadiums too. Like I said in an earlier post, lyrically Coldplay have nothing much to say, and some of their best songs are throwaway to the point of triteness. Their social conscience is very visible in Chris Martin's public persona in particular, but I don't see hear it in their music. Too much fly / sky / high rhyming going on! (Although it's fair to say that Bono is guilty of this too - Crazy Tonight, anyone?)

There's a Coldplay show next month in Dublin that's been on sale since 15th December 2008, and it's still not sold out. The venue is Phoenix Park, possibly in a big top tent, but I'm not sure what the capacity is - some say it's up to 40,000. But, much as I like Coldplay - and, yes U2 fans, it is possible to like other bands! - it is surprising that this concert hasn't sold out.
 
I dont think the youth of today (and i am only 24) has the patience for another "superband", they get bored and go off bands very easily now, which imo is a real shame because bands are unable to grow into something like U2,
 
kingofsorrow said:
add 1 more to the laugh list. you do know that i never contested the claim that coldplay is unoriginal right? i guess i need to clarify for the pseudo musical genius elite prancing around this thread, but it's much more fun listening to y'all talk shit.
anyway as far taking up the mantle, neither coldplay nor greenday can carry the torch.
greenday and their music is simple boring. you may like their songs on the first pass, but after the second listen you get tired. who pass 25 seriously like greenday enough to be a hardcore fan? i haven't heard anything of theirs that doesn't sound like their 1st album.
coldplay? they're like cotton candy. uuuuuummmmmmmm so sweet. can you eat 2 or more of these things in a row? if you can then coldplay is the band for you.
all of the bands mentioned KOL, AM etc, etc, may have qualities that make them appealing to the masses, but they lack the combination of qualities necessary to hold their attention for 3 decades. can they really bring the grandparents, the parents and the kids all at once to the show?
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why are you unable to debate without calling others' opinions "laughable". it only makes your opinions "laughable" in the eyes of others.
 
It's not likely to happen until U2 retire leaving a HUGE vacuum and a new band comes along with a similar attitude (popularity and critical acclaim) with a NEW sound and then they would have to make culturally relevant music and to be able to change their sound effectively every decade. U2 has a good system that deals with negotiating ego in the band so if a majority of members don't like an idea then it dies. Lots of bad ideas get weeded out that way. Also all the band members get the same money so all members are motivated to invest in the end product.

Usually ego-artists (The Police?) can't take criticism as well so they breakup or their music suffers. Then there is the cultural relevance aspect that adds weight to the music that few bands can muster without imitating U2 or sounding totally pretentious.

What I also like about U2 is their attempt on each album to try and make every song good so it's harder to press the skip button.

KUEFC09U2 said:
I dont think the youth of today (and i am only 24) has the patience for another "superband", they get bored and go off bands very easily now, which imo is a real shame because bands are unable to grow into something like U2,
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This is definately true and there are more choices now so attention can get fractured. Of course U2 came at a time when music was predictable and bland and there was a hunger for another Beatles type band to replace The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd.

I've got a couple of questions for any musicians. Is it also possible that a lot of ideas have been done before and musicians are running out of ideas? Is the template of bass/guitar/drums/vocals limiting for a new sound?
 
^

Probably why hip-hop became so big for a while. People were tired of the Nickleback style songs (though weren't tired of the actual band.....).

Rolling Stone has been throwing a lot of love towards Rob Thomas and I just don't see it. He's bland, and his music and band was bland.

Hip hop at least started getting creative with some of their beats, even when they were sampling old songs.

Of course now the same thing has set in with that genre. I'm so tired of the computer-synth voice that every rap artist has to use in their songs.

It's funny how everything goes in cycles. Guitars in, then it's electronic beats, then it's back to guitars. Heavy metal, Weezer type, John Mayer, Killers/Coldplay.

What has been amazing is that U2 has survived every swing in the music industry. They have adapted, and at times been in front of what's changing.

I'm hoping their next album can continue that tradition. Right now there is not a lot of substance at all. NLOTH seemed to be a much more substance driven album, and maybe SOA or whatever it'll be called can take that even further.
 
ozeeko said:
wasted time is the only one that works. and its alright, nothing amazing really but its better than their singles, i'll give u that. (was this a single). to be honest, it sounds nothing like their other shit i've heard. maybe they got something going, i dunno, i'll look into it.

this is like hearing whitney houston's "how will i know" (a good song actually) and then buying her album and discovering it's all avante garde weird experimental shit
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Their most popular songs these days tend to be their fucking worse...but I could understand why you don't care for them.

Look into some of these:
YouTube - Kings of leon-Taper jean girl

YouTube - Kings of leon - Pistol of fire [LYRICS IN DISCRIPTION]

YouTube - Kings Of Leon - King Of The Rodeo
 
To be fair to Coldplay here,they are way bigger today that U2 were after their 4th album.U2 began to play arenas with TUF,while Coldplay started with their second album.
 
Spoutnik said:
To be fair to Coldplay here,they are way bigger today that U2 were after their 4th album.U2 began to play arenas with TUF,while Coldplay started with their second album.
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I was thinking this very thing today. Thing is tho, i can see their particular journey ending within the next album or so.
 
Spoutnik said:
To be fair to Coldplay here,they are way bigger today that U2 were after their 4th album.U2 began to play arenas with TUF,while Coldplay started with their second album.
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On the other hand, Coldplay have been putting out records for at least 10 years, which is the equivalent to U2 at the Lovetown tour, at which point Bono and co. had been (for 2-3 years) bigger than Coldplay has ever been.
 
Spoutnik said:
To be fair to Coldplay here,they are way bigger today that U2 were after their 4th album.U2 began to play arenas with TUF,while Coldplay started with their second album.
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When U2 were on their way up, there were no "instant stars" like there are today, it was very normal for the rise to fame to take several albums. That's changed, and it's always bugged me that it has.
 
VintagePunk said:
When U2 were on their way up, there were no "instant stars" like there are today, it was very normal for the rise to fame to take several albums. That's changed, and it's always bugged me that it has.
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The reason why Coldplay rised up quicker than u2 after 4 album each,is that Coldplay had much more hits than U2 had.Don't forget, u2 built their fame has a live act early on,not has album sales."Sunday bloody Sunday","I will follow","New year's day", were not top 40 radio hits.They only began having little top radio commercial air play with "Pride".Coldplay on the other hand,they began very early with "Yellow".
 
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