A.A. RockBlog

Being a band that has had mass solidarity back in the 70s, but not heard from much nowadays, the Eagles have been on their Hotel California Tour  since September 2019. Three Years in the Making The band had planned to tour in the latter half of 2016 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their fifth album, but due to the passing of founder Glenn Frey in January of 2016, they elected to push it back. The band The tour features the Eagles in their current, power-trio ensamble (Henley-Schmidt-Walsh), as well as Glenn Frey's son, Deacon Frey, and Vince Gill of Pure Prairie League (who a hit in 1975 with Amie ). The setlist The tour's setlist is divided into two parts. Part one is the album, Hotel California , in its entirety, accompanied by an orchestra. Part two is the Eagles' greatest hits, aside from those already played from the album. In total, there are 77 musicians performing with the Eagles folks! The tour itself As mentioned earlier, the Hotel Californ...

Rock songs have many memorable characteristics that usually center on riffs, solos, and occassionally hooks, but one of the most overlooked features of certain rock songs are their intros. What qualifies as a worthy intro? It should be noted that not every song has an intro worth discussing, but those that do usually only have their intros played in classic rock stations, but no two of those stations will play the same song the same way. Nowlet's take a look at some examples, shall we ? Steve Miller Band Threshold The intro to for Steve Miller's mega 1977 hit, Jet Airliner , is subtitled as Threshold . Consisting primarily of a dazzling aura of synthesizers I caught it on my local classic rock station and actually had to Shazam it thinking that it might be Pink Floyd. This lasts for about a minute before launching into the actual song with an instrumental of the verse and chorus. Pink Floyd Pink Floyd themselves have several noteable intros. The earliest noteable...

Brian Johnson is "back in black," according to Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame. To bring even more excitement, the band is even working a new album with him! Hearing loss and a departure In early 2016, Johnson was diagnosed as being in the early stages of hearing loss due to the exposure to loud music he was enduring on tour and doctors therefore advised him not to tour in order to avoid further complications. This was a blowback for fans as in March 2016, it was announced that Brian Johnson was officially leaving AC/DC. To finish up their Rock or Bust tour, AC/DC brought on Axl Rose. Further Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams also left shortly thereafter feeling that AC/DC was "a changed animal." To add insult to the injury, drummer Phil Rudd was charged with various crimes including threatened homocides, and marijuana and cannabis posession. New album ? It was even announced that the band was also working a new album with Brian Johnson and was even reported...

Rock and hip hop have been intertwined for quite some time now. What today is considered classic hip hop was popular about the time classic rock was born. In essence, while classic rock was born to provide something for listeners who prefer classics over the modern rock of the day, today classic hip hop has emerged for the very same reason. What set the hip hop of that time apart from today's hip-hop is the fact that many of the songs told stories and had messages. Issues covered included teenage pregnancies, the economy, and many issues prominent in the black community - most noteably, racial profiling and police brutaility. With the recent George Floyd death, I felt it'd be a good idea to veer off course and actually talk about something else. The image above depicts the band Ni**az Wit Attitudes (N.W.A.). Formed in 1987, they issued their debut album Straight Outta Compton . The album sold well but included a song that while not released as a single, caught national (...

Despite his age, Paul McCartney is known for his lengthy touring schedule. However, as with many other artists, the rest of his tour that was to have taken place in late May, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Itself The image above depicts the promotional banner for Paul McCartney's Freshen Up  world tour. The tour began in September 2018 and ended in July. Eleven days before the tour's start, Macca's seventeenth solo album, Egypt Station , was issued. As has always been the case, McCartney made a point to play at least one musical festival. The most significant on this tour was his performance at Austin City Limits in October 2018, shortly after the tour kicked off. The final show of the tour, was set to be at the Glastonbury Music Festival, but of course, the event was cancelled. Other cancelled shows: Aside from the aforementioned festival, shows scheduled to take place over late May and early June were cancelled. All these shows were t...

Folk rock is arguably one of the most forgotten rock subgenres. While some artists such as Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel have made long-lasting legacies, there is a group out there that has hit the ground running with a successful debut album and tour and is renowned for its vocal harmonies. So for your reading pleasure, here are some interesting facts. They are a soupergroup. By definition, a "supergroup" is a band in which at least one of the members was a former member of another band (disbanded or otherwise). In the case of CSNY, each member belonged to one of three different groups. David Crosby was a member of the Byrds where he was let go in 1967, Stephen Stills and later Neil Young were bandmates in Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash was a member of the Holies. They did not go for a formal name. Unlike most bands such as the ones listed above, CSNY elected to only use their last names as an identity (a la Simon & Garfunkel). Reason being, to al...

In the hard rock department, few bands have been as underrated as Guns'n'Roses. Formed in Los Angeles in 1985 with the remains of two local bands, LA Guns and Hollywood Rose, the band released their debut album in 1987, Appetite for Destruction . The album was a massive success and yielded two of their most well-known hits today. Welcome to the Jungle Their breakout hit and arguably their most-known one. The "jungle," refers to Los Angeles - in particular the south central area. In their early days, the band members rented a home along Sunset Boulevard which was filled with alcoholism, drugs, and even groupies! The line "you're in the jugle, you're gonna die," came from a homeless man Axl Rose encountered in New York City. The title itself came  from a truck driver who drove Axl from Seattle (where the song was written). Upon arrival, the driver said to Rose, "Welcome to the Jungle." VH1 named Jungle the greatest heavy metal song o...