Album 2

The Doors

The Doors' self titled debut album was one of the most successful debut of its time and still stands as one of the most definitive albums of the genre of rock. It's an influence of hard rock, which is linked to metal, psychedelic rock, and expanded on rock 'n roll as a whole. These are just the genres they influenced, their influences include classical and jazz and this is apparent in songs like Soul Kitchen, specifically the rhythm of the drums and bass and the groove linked between them. The incorporation of fast, almost blues-esque riffs combined with jazzy organ, light melodic playing contrasted with heavy guitar hooks and Jim Morrison's dark lyrical content made for a unique dynamic and something that apparently could be sold to a mass market. This was seen by Elektra Records, more specifically Morrison's contrasting stage presence with the rest of the band which is something that they liked.

Their LP was recorded and released in January 1967, roughly around the same time as "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and were made out to be revolutionaries doing things in music others thought were impossible. When "Light my Fire" was released later that year it smashed commercial success and brought all these newly discovered musical features to a wider audience.

Album 3

Tame Impala InnerSpeaker

At first thought, InnerSpeaker seems like recycled material from the late 60's mixed with art-rock from the 00's, the result of this combination sounds very bland normally, but Tame Impala have researched exactly what features need to be incorporated to make these sounds work together. The most noticable features of the record are the massive amounts of reverb on the vocals and psychedelia, which is produced by the swirling guitar sounds and chaotic jams. Influence could be derived from bands such as The Beatles, with the simple vocals, to Wolfmother to the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The basic 4/4 rhythm and pop influences keeps this band back from being a psychedelic prog opera, which is arguably a good thing because their tracks (particularly non-singles) could already be regarded as self-indulgent jams (Reference: "Jeremy's Storm"). The dynamics play a big part in these songs as they break up different sections of the same hook effortlessly by building up noise. The ending of "Expectation" is a prime example.

Another key feature to this album is that not matter how many times you listen to it you could be fooled that it was recorded 30-40 years ago, which requires not only great musicianship, but great engineering. With recording music being completely different from what it was back then, it's hard to emulate the gritty guitar, heavy rock as well as modern production methods to reinforce the polished finished product. An example of this is the sound of the tom when there is a particularly tom heavy drum fill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-uH1TAGe0I

Album 4

Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue

Born Ruffians are a Canadian based "indie rock" (this is said loosely) band and one of my all time favourites. They use a fusion of pop rock and indie to create a lighthearted, energetic version of what bands such as Vampire Weekend or MGMT tried to achieve, however with less synth, more jangly guitars and more well-structured songs. The sound they produce seems like a lot more than 3 members are playing simultaneously with thick instrumentation used throughout all the songs, ranging from harmonica to tiny synths. However aside from that they are a basic 3 piece of drums, guitar and bass that make the most of the instruments. Personally, I think the weakness and high note usage of the guitar in the songs "I Need a Life" and "In a Mirror" creates a much nicer depth rather than just bar chords being played or basic fingerpicking. It compliments the vocalist's tone and the various harmonies particularly in "I Need a Life". All this said, the main source of the energy within this album is the connection between the drummer and bassist and their simple ideas and hooks that blend perfectly.

In terms of bands that are similar, the only one I can compare them to are the Violent Femmes in their earlier days, yet more modernised and wiser from mistakes made in the post-millenium indie/art rock phase, yet still taking notes from more popular music by introducing synth or repeated, easy phrases that anyone can participate with. For that listen to "Little Garcon" if you haven't already. It's not an iconic album and probably never will be especially with their ability of releasing even less popular records. But in my opinion serves as a great example of melodic indie rock.

Album 1

Blue Album Weezer 

 

The blue is album is the first studio album by Weezer, a 90s garage-rockesque band signed to DGC Records consisting of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Matt Sharp and Jason Cropper (who left during recording of this album to be replaced by Brian Bell). They weren't known for their "rock image" so to speak, but more for their geeky, quirkiness. 

 A basic set up of two guitars, a bassist, a drummer and 3 part harmonies. They emerged in the post-grunge stage as an alternative rock band, like a lot of bands at that time, and utilise a lot of heavy power pop guitar hooks and a general alternative rock feel to it due to the density of the guitar tone, which is achieved by them tuning down half a step This distinctive sound went unnoticed for a while until releasing track 6, "Say it Ain't So" which kickstarted their popularity and alternative rock as a whole into something less exclusive, compared to bands like the Pixies or Pavement on the other end of the spectrum which hadn't really lived up to their potential in terms of mainstream success. Vocals/the main melody are arguably the most important instrument in pop music and Weezer are no exception, filling out a lot of their songs with vocal melodies of a wide scale and 3 part harmonies. Lyrically, the songs are all very personal to Rivers Cuomo (front man) touching on various topics like his brother's car accident, jealousy, alcoholism and women he had relations with; the first instance of this are the first 3 songs and whether or not they're all linked is a mystery. The order of the songs play a very important part of telling the story of the album, mixing the singles and album tracks very well, probably my favourite thing about the album