In recent interviews, the new American Idol, David Cook, has been predicting that his first CD will be “anthemic”. This week he talked to John Melendez of the Jay Leno show, after Cook says that his CD will be a rock record, Melendez asks him about playing with ZZ Top on the AI finale and asks:
is it going to be more that kind of rock, like a bluesy-based… ?
Cook replies,
Nah, It’ll be still kind of anthemic, I think for me, it’s just gonna be a matter of putting out songs that have something to say..
Is that an actual genre of rock music? Why does it give me visions of hair bands in large arenas full of my male classmates who thought that “2001: A Space Odyssey” was deep, their bics alight..
In more recent years, think U2, possibly the most pretentious rock band of all time. Or Spinal Tap.
Here’s a definition that doesn’t give me a lot of comfort:
Music is a pretty manipulative art-form at the best of times, but even so, Anthemic Rock is a particularly manipulative musical genre. The whole point of Anthemic Rock is to tug at the guts of the listener: to instil in him or her a peculiar sense of yearning for something that can’t quite be defined. It’s a stirring feeling, but also a slightly queasy one if you stop to think about it too much (as is my wont). But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Anthemic Rock is the fact that, when you actually stop and listen to it, the lyrics are so often working at cross-purposes to the music: while the music of Anthemic Rock is, by definition, designed to be played loud, through speakers, and heard by large groups of people at the same time to create some kind of communal experience, the lyrics are often, in fact, about cutting off the listener from the rest of the world.
I thought some more about what makes a rock song anthemic:
Accessible melody, sing-a-long chorus “We Don’t Need No Education”, “We Are The Champions” The simpler the lyrics, the easier the chorus is to learn, the more likely the band will create the massive communal experience that only loud familiar music and lots of beer and/or secondary inhalation of illegal smoke inspires. Power chords and an insistent 4-4 beat are a must.
The lyrical theme must be Serious. No little deuce coupes, endless summer nights or honky tonk women.
Living on a prayer, and Not getting fooled again are fine themes. It’s also fine to sing about “Only Rock & Roll”, “I Love Rock n Roll”, “Rock and Roll All Night” or “Old Time Rock N Roll”.
If it’s a song you danced to at weddings, or made out to in high school, it’s probably not anthemic rock. However, a rock anthem may well have been your prom theme in the 1980s:
If your neighbor played it every night in the dorm while you tried to sleep or study, then it probably is anthemic rock.
I love the communal aspect of rock music. The thrill of classic rock concerts is sitting in a hockey rink with 18,000 of your closest friends, Paul McCartney in the Garden, “Back in the USSR” with that driving beat hardwired into our collective brains, and for three minutes he was just seventeen, if you know what I mean… and so were we. At the beginning we really did think rock music would change the world, because it made us feel like we could.
While I usually like my music with sophistication, funk and groove and soul, or at least an awesome beat, I respect the power of anthemic rock. A few years ago I finally got to see one of my favorite late 60s bands, the Guess Who, with its founding members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. Mr. Bachman was also in another major band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. So naturally the concert included a few of BTO’s big hits including this:
Since TCB was not one of my favorite songs, I didn’t have a personal emotional connection to the song, but a good portion of the crowd certainly did. I couldn’t help but get swept into the party.
I say you can be anthemic without sacrificing the beat and the groove. These are tunes that make you want to dance the night away and kick some butt all at the same time..
So to the Newest American Idol I say, go write some rock anthems, and bring us all together with raucous glorious noise. But remember the words that Emma Goldman didn’t actually say, “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution.” Power chord ballads have their place, but you can’t find redemption without a saxophone:
It’s that time of year again, when the auditions, the hype, the scandals, and a few shock eliminations have come down to three people with a chance to win America’s favorite singing contest, American Idol. Or as my all-time favorite guest mentor, and original teen idol Peter Noone said so aptly “it’s a voting contest!”. While I can shake my head and lament about the artists that I might have preferred, there is one remaining contestant that has caught my interest and will get my votes, the young Midwestern rocker and crossword-puzzle-solver David Cook.
In the first audition out of Omaha, I did take notice of the kid with a geeky argyle sweater and odd spiky streaked hair who sang Bon Jovi and confessed to being a Daughtry wannabe — thinking at least his voice was less annoying than Daughtry’s, which I find merely abrasive when loud. In the early rounds, I smiled at a video package where Cook revealed he was a “word nerd” who did crosswords to relax, and Simon Cowell glowered at how “uncool” a pastime this was. Simon, Simon, what you don’t understand is that all the rock-loving librarians and bookstore girls just fell in love.
Then Cook kicked the door down with change-ups of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, and we all took notice. Who cares whether the arrangements were original, who is this guy? Apparently just about the only one who got the memo that the “challenge” of American Idol 7 was to take the hoary songlist of 70s and 80s that had long passed their sell-by dates and make them sound like something on a current ITunes playlist. Several very good singers who were expected to do well, particularly Michael Johns and Carly Smithson, got panned by the judges when their 80s covers sounded like 80s covers, and so got voted off the island.
Meanwhile, the hair and wardrobe people did their thing with Mr. Cook, and he evolved from “kinda cute in a dorky way, with impossible hair” to rather presentable. No one has yet been able to determine if this has involved the use of the Official American Idol Hair Extensions that volumized the luscious dos of Kat McPhee and Haley Scarnato, or just a skillful hand with scissors and gel. As a performer, Cook displayed a quiet and grounded confidence, sometimes mistaken for smugness.
As an American Idol rocker, Cook has far more versatility than Chris Daughtry. While both have the rocker’s rasp and power, Cook’s voice has a luscious warm, sandy tone that will serve him well when he starts making records for mass consumption. His interpretations are intelligent and compelling. His take on “Always Be My Baby”, which should be released to radio NOW, is a rich dark chocolate-caramel-cappucino confection (not to be confused with saccharine, none of that at all.. ) of quiet urgency, a thinking girl’s guilty pleasure pop masterpiece.
David Cook - “Always Be My Baby”
The boy now had my attention, clearly the smartest and most interesting guy in the competition. As Andrew Lloyd Webber week approached, it was apparent to me that in order to break out the pack and make American Idol history, Cook had to expose his inner theater geek, bring his best Michael Crawford and show us that he really can sing anything. Fortunately, he listened to me, and performed “Music of the Night” with sensitive phrasing and impeccable vocal control, and proved that he is a very very good singer.
My ITunes collection of the studio versions of the American Idol songs has become sorted in alphabetical order, so I hear “Little Sparrow” from Dolly Parton night immediately before “Music of the Night”. For the first song, Cook knows exactly how to use the rasp in his voice to create a perfect “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” sound. The final verse is gorgeous, searing, raw a capella. ITunes segues right into the strings and piano of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and I melt into the deep cushion created by this lush voice. Oh yes, this is the reason you watch this ridiculous show, to hear the voice that makes you melt.
But what happens if David Cook wins American Idol? Or even if he doesn’t win, and gets signed by the 19E Music Machine? Will the money changers label him Daughtry 2, and load him up with yet another album of Nickelback clone songs?
Looking at Cook’s pre-Idol music does not alleviate the fear I have. Like previous Idol contenders, including Taylor Hicks, Cook has independently-produced music available, with prior bands, and a fairly recent solo album titled Analog Heart. I don’t know if Taylor was the first to use this strategy, but it’s a brilliant one. Anyone who found Taylor’s original songs and concert performances discovered he was a creative, dynamic performer, and a sensitive songwriter. Any serious musician who contemplates the Idol experience should make sure to have music and performances available through Youtube and streaming sites, so that potential fans can check out original product and get some idea what sort of music the future Idol would produce.
For a while “Analog Heart” could be downloaded from Amazon, but that must have been too brazen to suit “The Powers That Be” in the American Idol machine. The CD can still be pre-ordered from the Amazon site:
“Analog Heart” consists of ten radio-friendly rockers, mostly following the formula of Verse, Chorus, Verse Chorus, and repeat chorus till you fill 3 minutes. The songs seem to be about the personal angst and heartbreak common to male songwriters in their early twenties. It’s all so earnest. I don’t usually listen to this type of rock music. I want my music to have style, groove and the promise of redemption. Give me a growling saxophone or a bluesy harmonica, something I can sing, clap or dance to. Do you believe in rock n roll, can music save your mortal soul, and can you teach me how to dance real slow, that’s my motto.
Mr. Cook doesn’t answer that question in “Analog Heart”. The noisy guitar rock arrangements don’t do justice to his marvelous vocal instrument. Maybe he’s only just now learned how to use it. If I was cruising the radio dial, I don’t know that I’d switch the station when these songs came on, but I don’t think anything would grab me. A couple of songs stay with me after frequent listening, notably the closing number “Silver” with its Coldplay-style piano intro, and prescient chorus that makes you wonder if Cook had been planning his current project for some time:
So take this small confession as my price to pay
I’ve never been the kind to let go
But before you up and walk away
I’m miserable without you, you know
This silver leaves me longing for gold
Second place has never carried me home
Second place has never carried me home
You think the boy wants to win? I’m quite okay with that. I hope that one thing he’s learned in the past few months is that he has the talent and savvy to stretch the boundaries of genre and make some damn fine music.
