The Northern Irish band The Answer is amazing. They are far more blues-based than any of the aforementioned bands. Also, I would be willing to bet a lot of stuff that the singer was discovered while singing for a Led Zeppelin cover band. He doesn't sound particularly similar to Robert Plant, but if you see him... he dresses exactly the same, has very long, blond hair and the same crazy sideburns. And, like Plant, he is just as good, if not better, when playing live than recording in the studio. The guitarist is great, well trained in his blues scales and also in the art of shredding. They are a classic four-piece blues-based hard rock band that is what Led Zeppelin would have become had John Bonham not died and the Zep joined the NWOBHM until like 1983. I'm not saying that should have happened, I'm just saying that is what this sort of sounds like. They are basically Clutch with a non-baritone singer.As far as their lyrics, they are either Zepplelinesque blues texts or kind of ambiguous stuff that vaguely addresses modern issues or random stuff. At times their words seem Christian-influenced, almost gospel-y. But then they have lyrics that contradict that. For example, the best song, the hard-rocking "Under The Sky" seems to have classic bluesy Christian lyrics, like those in "In The Time Of My Dying" (Zeppelin); yet the acoustic "Not Listening" is a call for leaders, soldiers and preachers to "leave us alone". And "Preachin' " seems to be about a poor man becoming a Baptist and trying to become a preacher so that he does not have to work.
The religion stuff doesn't matter, though. They are a good band, and I will listen to them no matter their views (I still haven't established exactly what those are anyway). They kick ass.
One phrase: I HAVE MET MY MAKER
Videos:
Never Too Late - Live stuff to show you how good they are live
Under The Sky - unfortunately doesn't have the sweet bluesy beginning
Never Too Late
1 comment:
I saw this link on a mix on itunes. I like all kinds of music but my favorite is hard rock/metal which most of these bands represent. I do want to comment on the fact that you question the Christian viewpoints and lyrics in some the songs by the Answer. I am a Christian myself and this is my favorite music genre. I appreciate the music itself and really don't care about the particuliar political or moral or immoral views of the band itself. That being said I won't listen to bands or songs that glorify Satan or evil. Rock bands that do aren't doing any favors to themselves or their listeners. Sooner or later they'll find that out. I really think this blog is great and I hope this genre is discovered by more people. Too much of the music currently being pushed by the media and the record labels is crap. I really can't stand the new metal genre; death metal. The gutteral screams and obscene material of death metal is freakin crap. Here are some more bands that I think you should include in your blog: Countach, Dozer, Earthless, Gonga, Grand Magus, Halfway to Gone, Mammoth Volume, Novadriver, Red Giant, Sheavy, Spirit Caravan, and Truckfighters to name a few.
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