The Power of Three: crazy rock

Three+songs+from+three+different+eras.

Christina Kowalski

Three songs from three different eras.

Eli Vaglica, Staff Writer

Since the 1970s and 80s, bands have gone from looking like bad guys, to selling out generically, to trying to rap and more recently appealing to “emos” (shortened from the word emotional) or people with issues.

Bands have been all over the place, but one thing is usually the same, they’re all crazy.

It’s hard to be crazier than a rock or metal band unless you’re a part of one. Then it’s a competition.

Here are three bands that show the spectrum of rock from the 1970s until now.

Rock And Roll All Nite – KISS: the 80s

Kiss/YouTube

Thrash metal adopted things from its big brother black metal like black and white face paint that would later be used by rock bands like Kiss, Black Veil Brides (more of a modern band) and a plethora of other bands. If you know a little bit about Black Sabbath or Kiss, they were trying to look as crazy as possible because that’s what was selling albums. However, they didn’t want to go as far as their predecessors. People weren’t ready for some things they were doing. The bands of the 80s were trying to just break the surface of what the “normal” of society was. Teens at this time were trying to be understood and blasting this was their way of being heard, metaphorically of course because you wouldn’t be able to hear a thing even then.

Bulls on Parade – Rage Against The Machine: the 90s

Rage Against the Machine/YouTube

Around this time there were metal bands that would rap and RATM talked a lot about equality although it’s questionable whether they had true intentions because of the reputation they’ve accumulated over the years. Nirvana had come and gone just a couple years earlier. Kurt Cobain had once said something along the lines of not wanting any prejudice people to attend his concerts. The 90s influenced a lot of what modern bands were going to do with only a slight mixture of the 80s. A common occurrence of artists in the 90s was this rebellious attitude even more so than the 80s. They were rebelling against the government, prejudice and anything they thought was worth rebelling against. I’m not saying they paved the way for Social Justice Warriors, but I’m not saying they didn’t.

King for a Day – Pierce The Veil Modern: the 2000s

King for a Day/YouTube

The rebellious attitude of the 90s and a punk rock/metal style of music combined for the music and bands that people refer to as emo, scene or screamo. They try to tear down every wall that prevents “equality”. A majority of them have the sellout motive of the 80s. They use lyrics that people can relate to as being tolerant and not judgmental. Their lyrics are quite sappy and people often make fun of the repeated themes of hating the world, ex boyfriends/girlfriends and how terrible the government and society are. If you wanted to make a song like this whole era of bands, you’d really only need those clichés.  The worst part in my mind is the fact that people think this is deep and can be used to describe their feelings.