Young Rock Bands Should Be More Like GaGa

[Orange]

Says one Alice Cooper.

www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/wtf/alice_cooper_young_rock_bands_should_be_more_like_lady_gaga.html

Given his penchant for over-the-top theatrics, it should come as little surprise that Alice Cooper has a low boredom threshold. As ContactMusic notes the "Poison" singer is getting frustrated with modern bands, and feels that they should be more like his friend Lady Gaga:

"The girls seem to be the only ones doing theatrics, the guys have taken a back seat when it comes to that, Lady Gaga and the others just seem to be more creative when it comes to the stage shows. The guys have become boring, really. It just seems like young rock bands are afraid to be young rock bands. There's a lot of thrust missing from rock 'n' roll. I don't know why, everyone's trying to be very sensitive. In the 70s the last thing on our minds was sensitive."

The Coop has also got beef with the lumberjack look that has been popularized by bands such as Kings of Leon in recent years, and stated that bands should be singing less about politics, and more about girls:

"90 per cent of rock bands wear corduroy on stage, with little beards and they look like they're lumberjacks. And they sing about how much they hate oil. That's not rock 'n' roll, they should be singing about boys and girls - that's always what it's been about. Or if they are singing about girls it's always, 'I'm so sorry I was bad.' Quit being sorry!"

I'm in 100% agreement with him. In terms of modern mainstream rock, I think people are just scared to be theatrical. I think it's because some people feel that if you are theatrical, even a little bit, that you're not taking it seriously or that you're not as "real" as the band that just wears t-shirt and jeans. I think it sucks, because a band can be appealing to both the eyes and ears - but I don't think some people see it that way.

What do you think - is he offbase or does he have it right?

[Rican]

I agree. This is part of what makes Muse so fun live. They go all out.

[BRAINFADE]

I agree with him to an extent about the theatrics and stuff, but not about him telling young bands what they should and shouldn't be singing about. Actually, as someone who is in a band and writes songs, I take it as a bit of an insult. Maybe that comes across as a bit pretentious on my part, but whatever. If writing about girls and boys and stuff is what Alice likes, then that's absolutely fine. But don't be telling me or anybody else who enjoys writing music what the f*** we should say in our songs. I personally like to write about stuff that means something to me, not what someone tells me what I should be writing about.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

As far as theatrics, I'm wth him 100%. To quote Murderface, I'd like to see a bit more "zazz" in modern rock. I like my fair share of grunge, but since then bands have looked perhaps too "everyman" for their own good. Right now as far as visualy flashy hard rock acts there's Black Veil Brides, MCR, Muse as far as their live shows, and not many others. If not Gaga, at least bands could take cues from Michael Jackson, or even Henry Rollins as far as stage energy.

As for the subject matter, uh, Alice...who was it that sang "Only Women Bleed"?

[Phosphor Glow]

I like rock band that are theatrical, but I frankly prefer it to be more about the music than anything else. If the music is no good, theatrics are pointless.

[Orange]

Oct 23, 2012 18:04:35 GMT -5 Clash, Never a Meter Maid said:

As far as theatrics, I'm wth him 100%. To quote Murderface, I'd like to see a bit more "zazz" in modern rock. I like my fair share of grunge, but since then bands have looked perhaps too "everyman" for their own good. Right now as far as visualy flashy hard rock acts there's Black Veil Brides, MCR, Muse as far as their live shows, and not many others. If not Gaga, at least bands could take cues from Michael Jackson, or even Henry Rollins as far as stage energy.

As for the subject matter, uh, Alice...who was it that sang "Only Women Bleed"?

Ah, I'm glad you brought up Black Veil Brides. They're a band whose songs have a lot of meaning and are obviously very important to them, but they're treated as a joke band because they dare to look interesting. Just kind of a shame that people let their eyes determine what their ears enjoy.

[Deleted]

I think it depends on the band. If it doesn't come easy to a band, they shouldn't force it. Gaga gets enough flack for being a phony, imagine what a less charismatic band or performer would get?

[Djm Doesn't Find You Funny]

Sorry. As someone who loves progressive work, I say no thank you.

Over-the-top theatrics got old when Peter Gabriel left Genesis, and I like bands that dare to write about more than girl's body parts.

[The OP]

Alice is on to something here but doesn't know what. He knows these bands are terrible, he just doesn't know why. His theories are not especially insightful (I don't dig the lumberjack look either but it shouldn't interfere with the music) but I don't really know either.

[Tarik Dee]

Alice Cooper is still angry for expecting something different when he went to see Vampire Weekend.

[Ryanar]

This God put it best

["I'm Batman..."]

Alice Cooper rocks.

[Deleted]

I disagree with him.

For example, U2 can pull off theatrics well, but that's only because of Bono. If they had a less charismatic frontman, there's no way in hell they could do it.

Also, I don't like really over the top crap and rejoiced when Dir en grey moved away from that scene.