NESP Forum

1. '80s bar rock. Don't mistake this for what ACTUALLY plays in bars these days, i.e. beer-bellied David Cooks wishing someday they could make it big like Default did. I mean that bastard child of blue-eyed soul that comes alive whenever Huey Lewis plays a corporate gig. The genre that inspired '70s blowhards like Stevie Winwood to roll with it. Is Adam Levine the last rocker on earth who wants to make women (not teens, women) dance before he nails them backstage? Did Lenny Kravitz scare everyone out of the room? I've never willingly heard a song by Taylor Hicks, but I get the feeling he could be the 21st-century Robert Palmer if he'd just put this type of music in his system.

Turn the amp up to eleven, and the genre becomes 1a. Feel-good arena rock, which is also sorely lacking. There are so many bands trying to write "Dreams," but no one is bothering to write "Panama." This is why I sometimes think Kurt Cobain was the worst thing to happen to rock, as his PC "hey, check out the Vaselines" attitude came and went, leaving hard rockers only with the wisdom that there's no need to sound like you're having any fun at all.

1. '80s bar rock. Don't mistake this for what ACTUALLY plays in bars these days, i.e. beer-bellied David Cooks wishing someday they could make it big like Default did. I mean that bastard child of blue-eyed soul that comes alive whenever Huey Lewis plays a corporate gig. The genre that inspired '70s blowhards like Stevie Winwood to roll with it. Is Adam Levine the last rocker on earth who wants to make women (not teens, women) dance before he nails them backstage? Did Lenny Kravitz scare everyone out of the room? I've never willingly heard a song by Taylor Hicks, but I get the feeling he could be the 21st-century Robert Palmer if he'd just put this type of music in his system.