(Vocals, b. 1970) By making music that incorporates eclectic influences from folk, hip hop, rock, electronica and studio prowess, Beck Hansen has become one of the most influential American solo artists. Early EPs, albums and singles like the classic ‘Loser’ were released on a variety of labels. When Beck signed to Geffen he retained the ...
Jones followed his stint as a founder member of The Clash with the genre-hopping BAD. He enlisted filmmaker Don Letts on ‘effects’ and adventurously married punk, hip hop and electronica on 1985’s This Is BAD. The album’s single, ‘E=MC2’ scored highly in the UK. Jones recruited old chum Joe Strummer for the similar No. 10 Upping Street (1986). An ...
and resumed his solo career. He worked briefly as a pro-wrestling scriptwriter, before returning to music as a performer and remixer. Modulate (2002) and Body Of Song (2005) added electronica to his rock template, while Long Playing Grooves (2002) was a full-on dance album released under the pseudonym LoudBomb. District Line was released in 2008, Life And Times ...
Blur (1997), represented a radical change in direction influenced by American indie-guitar bands, particularly Pavement. In this environment, Coxon’s angular guitar work thrived. On 13 (1999), gospel and electronica were added to the blend. Early in the sessions for Blur’s seventh album, Think Tank (2003), Coxon’s increasing distance from his bandmates led to his departure. Having already released ...
The most mercurial guitarist of his generation, Jeff Beck (b. 1944) has never conformed to the conventional image of a guitar hero. He has repeatedly left or broken up bands before their commercial potential could be realized. He restlessly changes style from one album to the next, refusing to be tied down musically. And his live appearances are intermittent. ...
Deep Purple he released an entertaining live set with former pupil Vai and fellow axe-man Eric Johnson, entitled G3 In Concert (1997). Ever open-minded, he even experimented with electronica on Engines Of Creation (2001). Styles & Forms | Eighties | Rock Personalities | Saxon | Eighties | Rock ...
American guitarist Joe Satriani is widely credited with pioneering the rock-instrumental style in the 1980s, opening up the genre for guitarists like Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen. His talent for creating highly evolved music, using a pop-song structure with tuneful melodies before applying his own virtuoso skills, has made him one of the most successful ...
, Frusciante released his tenth solo album, The Empyrean (2009), with contributions from Flea, Josh Klinghoffer and Johnny Marr. Since leaving the Chili Peppers, he has explored electronica, releasing two further solo albums to a mixed critical reception. Frusciante is an emotional and melodic guitarist who possesses great technical ability, and many of his live solos ...
Leicester. There is more to the four-piece than a simple rock template, however, with much of the band’s sound augmented by multiple vocal sections and a chatter of electronica in the same vein as Primal Scream’s mid-period albums. Self-assured, arrogant and growing in stature by the day, Kasabian might well have won over even the harshest detractor. ...
to her own music, Madonna worked with British musician/producer William Orbit on the ambitious Ray Of Light (1998), which restored her commercial pre-eminence. The album expertly blended pop with electronica, ambient trance and quasi-psychedelia whilst the lyrics were largely personal, with Madonna reflecting on her recent motherhood. Further collaborations with Orbit followed on Music (2000), which developed its ...
(Electronica group, 1995–present) Like fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, Portishead were pioneers of the trip hop sound. Although the band – Geoff Barrow (keyboards), Beth Gibbons (vocals), Adrian Utley (guitar) and Dave MacDonald (drums) – kept a low media profile, their debut album Dummy (1996) with its laid-back, almost trance-like beats over which Gibbons sang was voted record ...
over a decade of cult success. Albums and singles pulsed out occasional sounds of potency, with Jarvis Cocker’s droll observational lyrics fitting snugly over indie guitars that brushed occasional electronica on tracks like ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’. By the time of His ‘N’ Hers (1994) Russell Senior (guitar), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Steve Mackey (bass), Mark Webber (guitar) and Nick Banks (drums) ...
Rock’s most famous and celebrated hippie band, known more for its anything-goes, drug-hazed concerts and legions of ‘Deadhead’ fans than for its body of studio work, The Grateful Dead grew out of a union between singer-songwriter/lead guitarist Jerry Garcia (1942–95), songwriter/rhythm guitarist Bob Weir (born 16 October 1947) and keyboardist/singer Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan (1946–73). They were to become ...
Rattle And Hum’s apparently haphazard sequencing resulted in a lack of cohesion. Achtung Baby (1991) was a deliberate attempt to forge a new direction, incorporating elements of dance and electronica, which caused much conflict within U2’s ranks. Containing ‘The Fly’ and ‘One’, Achtung Baby was lyrically darker than its predecssors but a touch of irony was beginning to temper ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–84) A synth-pop ‘side project’ which featured members of other electronica and post-punk bands, including Midge Ure, Billy Currie of Ultravox, Gary Numan’s entourage, and Barry Adamson (bass) and John McKeogh (guitar) of Magazine. Steve Strange, a key new romantic catalyst, sang. Several evocative, ground-breaking hits followed, including ‘Fade To ...
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David Bowie
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