SF-Dano wrote:Just some thoughts on the numbers here. The drop between 81 and 83 could be attributed to the beginning rise in popularity of "speed" metal bands. I know, especially in the bay area at the time, this "new" sound was becoming overwhelmingly popular with young males. It was hard to admit that Journey was my favorite band back in HS in those days. The insults would fly.
Same in the UK, SF - although Metallica didn't start catching on in a big way until 84/85. And yes...AOR or 'wimp rock' was definitely a guilty pleasure back then.
Then the drop in sales for ROR. That can be attributed somewhat to changes in the musical climate, but IMO it was mostly that ROR did not have the "sound" expected by or wanted by the majority of the fan base at that time. I know I did not immediately like the album overall at that time. It really had to grow on me. There are still a couple of songs on there I do not like at all.
You're probably right, SF. But I guess with Street Talk being such a success it's easy to see why they thought the fan base would more more accepting of that sound than they perhaps turned out to be.
Matt, you stated earlier regarding ROR, that the public was "demanding" a change in the sound of popular music and Journey's sound (If I have that wrong, sorry). I don't believe there was any such demand by the public, rather the change was forced on the public by the record companies and media outlets (radio, mtv)only playing and promoting a certain type of music.
I'm not sure if the public was actively 'demanding it' but the use of synthesizers and drum machines was hugely popular. Maybe the industry falsely created this popularity by cutting off alternatives - but did Genesis, Queen, Yes, Heart, Foreigner and Rush radically alter their sound because the record companies forced them too? I doubt it somehow. Maybe I'm being naive but I reckon they were genuinely excited by the new possibilities. And so too were Journey. They just didn't have the kind of fanbase which welcomed change, it seems.
Which has always happened whether it be the influs of disco, "new wave", rap, grunge, etc. IMO rock fans love certain bands for their signature sound, it is one of the things that sets rock fans apart from others.. And it is always a risk when a band changes that sound. Again, IMO if you are a Rock band and you are going to change it had better be for the harder and not the softer or more "bubble gum" sound. As you said, I think Rush and their fans are the exception to the rule. By the way this is all opinion with the experience of having been a teen in HS during the 80's.
I agree with you, SF - except I do think the mid-80s was an exception to the rule as well. Most of the big 70s groups radically changed their sound away from the traditional rock signature sound and toward a keyboard-driven 'pop' sound by - say - 1985. And they became more successful or at least were able to sustain their success as a result.
Also - as you say - the metal scene was thriving so if you wanted the next level in terms of guitar music there were plenty of ground-breaking metal bands to listen to. In terms of mainstream rock though guitar and traditional drums had started to sounded a bit dated. In the 1990s and in this decade the old mainstream rock bands that were still going have reverted back to a guitar-led approach. Rush are now much heavier than they were in the mid-80s and have almost come full circle to their 70s sound, haven't they?
But twenty years ago anything that reeked of the 70s was a bit of a joke and was doomed commercially. That's how I remember it anyway.
, here I is reading the type toss
and fired him to bring in your do-no-wrong hero...
