RockOnline.com Android Music Apps that Rock
I use an Anroid HTC and one of the first apps I downloaded was Pandora. There’s a lot of great music apps for download and some of them are free. If you have an Android here are some really great music apps that you should check out. SoundHound, Planet Rock, Rock Music Triva. Then of course I had to get a great background so I spent a dollar or two and loaded the Van Halen Theme.
One of the more functional apps that will run you about two dollars is Ultimate Guitar Tabs. This app gives you access to guitar tabs that you can find online for free, but it lets you save them and it has a few features that come in handy when you are practicing. It autoscrolls your tabs so you can follow along. It also lets you share your favorite tabs with your buds.
If you get a chance check out some of these great music apps and a few more like Rock Quotes and Classic Rock Music Trivia.
What are Shows Like American Idol Doing to Rock?
Are shows like American Idol hurting or helping the rock industry? It’s hard to say, but it seems to be making a cookie cutter impression on rock and letting the supposedly next big start to be chosen by millions of tweens or anyone with a cell phone. If you have ever followed a Rock band from their meager start in dive bars or playing at proms, then you understand what it’s really like to be a fan. While there is some of that element in shows like American Idol, it just isn’t the same. The contribution of a phone call to boost a contestants career just can’t compare with standing front stage, cheering on a talented rock star that you paid twelve bucks or more to see. That is a direct contribution to the career of that rock star just like buying a tshirt or their cd is a direct contribution.
American Idol just isn’t the same and it is trying to bottle a feeling that just cannot be contained. That feeling is rocking out at a rock show, hanging with the band after the show, travelling city to city just to hear another killer concert. That feeling can never be marketed on television or sold in stores, its a live only experience.
RockOnline.com Motorhead
MotorHead is a heavy metal rock band formed in Britian in 1975. The band has been through a number of different members with the creator, Ian Fraser Kilmister also known as Lemmy, has maintained the only one who has stayed all the way through.
The rock and roll band experienced a lot of success in the 1980’s with many singles topping the UK top 40 chart and has found great success on Radio 1 in Britain as well as KissFM in the US. The band has produced over 20 albums since their creation through a series of different labels. The most recent album “The World Is Yours” was just released in 2010, and the band plans on accompanying it with a tour to take place in the America’s in 2011.
The most recent performance was in early march 2011 on the Jimmy Fallon show. This coming August the band plans on playing at the Brutal Assault which is an open air music festival being held in the Czech Republic.
Do Canadian Bands Rock or Suck?
Nickleback, a rock band based out of Canada, has begun the songwriting process for a new album which has yet to have a release date announced, however it is hoped to be sometime before the end of 2011. Their last album was entitled the “Dark Horse” and was released in 2008 followed by a national tour. So far the band has debuted six albums since 1996.
The band, which began in 1995 has had a series of successful songs in a variety of music genres. While they started out as a primarily alternative rock band, throughout the almost 20 years they have been together they have sampled many other genres including pop and country.
The group has sold over thirty million records across the globe and even made the top ten in the “Artists of the Decade” article written in Billboard Magazine. The band was even chosen to perform their hit “Burn it To the Ground” at the 2010 Winter Olympics ceremony.
Does Pearl Jam Still Rock?
Pearl Jam, a rock band that gained popularity in the early 90’s is working on a new album hopefully to be released sometime in 2011. The band, while it remains intact, has also been working on a variety of side projects including solo tours and being a part of others smaller rock bands.
That being said, it hasn’t stopped them from filming a new documentary on the well-known rockers. The documentary is produced by Cameron Crowe and will be coupled with a new official book. In addition the band is planning a weekend festival in celebration of the groups twentieth year of rocking.
The recording of the new album is scheduled to start in April and will be a follow up album to the one debuted in 2009 entitled Backspacer. While the dates of the weekend long Pearl Jam festival have yet to be made official, it looks like it will take place over Labor Day weekend.
Rock Online What’s a CD?
When is the last time that you bought a CD? Have you been into a music store lately or are those all dying off too? Everyone seems to be moving over to digital music, keeping their records, 8 tracks, cd’s and tapes as nostalgic reminders of how music used to be.
Digital music has done a lot of good and a lot of bad for the industry. The good is that telling someone about a kick ass new band is ultimately that much simpler to do now. You can find young new talent and actually be a part of their rise to fame without ever leaving your computer. That freakin’ rocks. Now the bad side in the beginning was artists weren’t getting their money. That on the most part is starting to turn around finally.
New artists are making deals with iTunes and completely cutting out the middle man agent, so that means a bigger share, but doesn’t that make Apple the agent? In a way yes and no. Apple does get a hefty cut of everything from a song to an app and this consolidation of power is a bit dangerous as many independent record companies are dying out. Those calling themselves independent often are selling their music on iTunes, so how independent does that actually make them? I’m not saying iTunes is bad in anyway, but if a band is calling themselves independent, then they actually should live up to their claim. That means exclusively selling their music from their website, independent of iTunes or other MegaMonster song distributors.
Another nice benefit to society is that a lot of these rockers don’t travel, never once went on a tour and have never seen a tour bus. OK, bad for the soul of rock, makes rock a little more lazy, but great for society. Towns don’t have to worry about their girl’s virginity being lost to some out of town rocker and STD’s are on the decline. You think I’m kidding right? The problem with digital music and what it is doing to rock is that it is leaving mega bands, which are dying out rapidly, to be the only thing new rockers are going to know of concerts. Bring back the dive bar tours, bring back city to city touring night after night. Come on new guys, step it up, live up to your predecessors and rock like they used to. Probably good to stay away from all of the drugs and too much drinking, that part you can skip, but tour!
OK, Rock on.
