Power Pop That Is Not Called Power Pop But Still Is Power Pop Cause **** You?

Neapolitan · 01-06-2016, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

I'm in the camp of people that always considered power pop a wide umbrella of stuff influenced by bands like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Big Star, ELO, etc. There's a spectrum to it, but while you had The Police, Yes, The Outfield and Huey Lewis & The News in the 80's, Jellyfish were considered the premiere power pop group of the 90's. A lot of those influences have bled into the alternative rock & progressive rock world over time too, especially in recent years.

I don't consider the Police as Power Pop, they started out during the Punk movement and had Jazz, Raggae and New Wave influences. Huey Lewis & The News was more an early Rock n Roll/R&B and 80s Pop blend. Yes always changed their sound, maybe when Trevor Rabin was involved they were much more Poppish but I don't see them as Power Pop. The Jam would be a more likely candidate since they went from Mod to R&B in sound, and a few songs in between could be Power Pop. Maybe even XTC, they did songs with a Power Pop edge.

These are bands that have more or less recorded Power Pop songs, or incorporated Power Pop into their sound
Badfinger
Raspberries
Big Star
Nick Lowe (Rockpile)
The Boys (UK band)
The Knack
The Romantics
The Smithereens
The Replacements
The Outfield
Andy Bopp (Myracle Brah, Alto Verde)

Anteater · 01-06-2016, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I don't consider the Police as Power Pop, they started out during the Punk movement and had Jazz, Raggae and New Wave influences. Huey Lewis & The News was more an early Rock n Roll/R&B and 80s Pop blend. Yes always changed their sound, maybe when Trevor Rabin was involved they were much more Poppish but I don't see them as Power Pop. The Jam would be a more likely candidate since they went from Mod to R&B in sound, and a few songs in between could be Power Pop. Maybe even XTC, they did songs with a Power Pop edge.

These are bands that have more or less recorded Power Pop songs, or incorporated Power Pop into their sound
Badfinger
Raspberries
Big Star
Nick Lowe (Rockpile)
The Boys (UK band)
The Knack
The Romantics
The Smithereens
The Replacements
The Outfield
Andy Bopp (Myracle Brah, Alto Verde)

Huey Lewis & The News definitely weren't a pure power pop group: you just hear the influence in some of their key singles. As for Yes in the 80's with Trevor Rabin, they leaned heavily towards power pop with regularity. You hear it especially on stuff like 'Rhythm Of Love' and 'It Can Happen', but kudos for that list. I have no complaints.

The Batlord · 01-06-2016, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I don't consider the Police as Power Pop, they started out during the Punk movement and had Jazz, Raggae and New Wave influences. Huey Lewis & The News was more an early Rock n Roll/R&B and 80s Pop blend. Yes always changed their sound, maybe when Trevor Rabin was involved they were much more Poppish but I don't see them as Power Pop. The Jam would be a more likely candidate since they went from Mod to R&B in sound, and a few songs in between could be Power Pop. Maybe even XTC, they did songs with a Power Pop edge.

These are bands that have more or less recorded Power Pop songs, or incorporated Power Pop into their sound
Badfinger
Raspberries
Big Star
Nick Lowe (Rockpile)
The Boys (UK band)
The Knack
The Romantics
The Smithereens
The Replacements
The Outfield
Andy Bopp (Myracle Brah, Alto Verde)

Trve kvlt pöwer pöp.

Neapolitan · 01-07-2016, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Huey Lewis & The News definitely weren't a pure power pop group: you just hear the influence in some of their key singles. As for Yes in the 80's with Trevor Rabin, they leaned heavily towards power pop with regularity. You hear it especially on stuff like 'Rhythm Of Love' and 'It Can Happen', but kudos for that list. I have no complaints.

Oh... um... I avoid those Trevor albums. So I don't know, just can't image Power Pop with keyboards. :/ Basically Chris let him write the album. If you would say GTR - When The Heart Rules The Mind, or even better Asia - Heat Of The Moment then I could see something. There some nice power chords especially the latter.

Basil C. Thurston III · 01-07-2016, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

My point was that your point was pointless. Just because Big Star has a Big Following does not mean that In Flames can't have music as good or better than them. You just made the same point I did, so obviously we agree.

I think the Ramones sound more like Big Star than Anthrax does Slayer. And yet one can be lumped in with the other without a second thought, while you fight tooth and nail to separate two bands that play relatively similar styles of music?

Sounds to me like you're buying into arbitrary genre labels. So far as I know, power pop was never a scene or movement. It was just a few bands that happened to have similar influences but without much other connection. At least Anthrax and Slayer were actually part of a movement. I honestly don't see why a genre label like power pop should be restrictive when it's not even really describing an actual genre in the first place.

A following doesn't play into it at all, IMO. It's all about the sound, and soundwise, New Kids would get called power pop WAY before In Flames would, without a doubt. You want every band in a genre to sound alike and it doesn't work like that. Anthrax and Slayer both are heavy metal-type bands, with thrash components. That's why they get lumped in together. Ramones don't sound anything like Big Star, Train sounds more like Big Star than Ramones do, IMO. Power pop was indeed a scene-it started in the 60s, but really peaked in the late-70s- The Knack, Shoes, Romantics, Cheap Trick, Blondie, The Cars all were at the height of their popularity and labels rushed to sign any band that sounded remotely power pop. Power pop bands pop up all the time and have chart success- Gin Blossoms, Semisonic, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, The Cardigans, Fastball, all are power pop in the true sense of power pop. If your ears hear all those bands and their hit songs and can fit In Flames right in there with them, so be it.

Anteater · 01-07-2016, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

Oh... um... I avoid those Trevor albums. So I don't know, just can't image Power Pop with keyboards. :/ Basically Chris let him write the album. If you would say GTR - When The Heart Rules The Mind, or even better Asia - Heat Of The Moment then I could see something. There some nice power chords especially the latter.

Rabin was a killer guitarist though. His leads are amazing.

Neapolitan · 01-07-2016, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Rabin was a killer guitarist though. His leads are amazing.

Who Yitzhak Rabin? Whoever you are talking about he was no Steve Howe.

Trollheart · 01-07-2016, 06:39 PM

Neapolitan · 01-07-2016, 06:43 PM

You not only like to rub victory in the face of your opponent after a debate*, you like to torture people as well.

*The Future of Prog reference

Trollheart · 01-07-2016, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

You not only like to rub victor in the face of your opponent after a debate*, you like to torture people as well.

*The Future of Prog reference

Who's Victor?

Also, I'm not rubbing anything in your or anyone else's face; just showing what a great guitarist Rabin is. I love those albums. Well, other than his solo one. That's pretty much ****, but more because of the songwriting.

01-07-2016, 06:39 PM	#48 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	__________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018