When music genres collide
I was listening to Rage Against the Machine the other day, and it got me thinking about their unique style which combines rap,metal, funk and more. I decided to investigate some bands that have combined different musical styles and share them with you all.
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine formed in the early 90s and found early success with their self titled album. Their music has a great combination of rap, rock and metal. Whether they believe so or not, I think Rage Against the Machine have had a huge influence on the forming of the Nu Metal era - made famous by bands such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, System of a Down and Korn. Rage Against the Machine released 4 studio albums, with the latest being 2000s Renegades. Rage Against the Machines members have gone on to form other successful groups, including Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club and The Prophets of Rage
Here is the brilliant song ‘Bombtrack’ from the first album:
Shining (NOR)
Shining (NOR) (not to be confused with Shining, the black metal band) are a band from Norway which combines metal and heavy rock with Jazz - they even have an album called BlackJazz. The use of synthesisers and a saxaphone combined with guitar, bass and drums gives them a truly unique sound. A song that really highlights their unique sound is Healter Skelter from their Blackjazz album:
Apocalyptica
Apocalyptica is a band comprised of four cello players, combining classical music with heavy metal! They are probably best known for their debut album ‘Plays Metallica by Four Cellos’ - as you can guess this album is all Metallica covers played by the four cellos - and is brilliant. Apocalyptica have collaborated with many rock/metal musicians over the years - here is a the song ‘I'm not Jesus’ featuring Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stonesour) on vocals:
Pendulum ft In Flames
Pendulum are predominantly an electronic and Drum n Bass but are known to experiment with rock and metal. Their album Immersion released in 2010 is one of my favorite albums, and features the track Self vs Self and features vocals from Death Metal band In Flames. I grew up with metal (as I'm sure you can tell), and this was one of the tracks that got me into electronic and drum n bass - it is such a great merging of two completely separate types of music. I found a really cool video of this song with live drums overdubbed:
Korn Featuring Skrillex
Korn has been a successful and popular nu metal band dating back to their self titled album in 1994. However it was their tenth studio album ‘The Path of Totality’ which was the most polarizing, and had its fair share of critics. This album was a fusion of Korns nu metal sound with electronic and dubstep, featuring popular electronic and dubstep artists such as Skrillex, Datsik and Kill The Noise. I really enjoyed the album, and liked that they decided to take a risk and try something completely new. Here is the lead single from The Path of Totality - Narcissistic Cannibal (produced by Skrillex and Kill The Noise):
Parov Stelar
And now for something completely different let me introduce Parov Stelar - the pioneer of electro swing music. Electro swing combines swing and jazz (often sampling swing songs from the 50s) with electronic and pop music. Parov Stelar have grown to be one of my favorite bands - the music is so upbeat and original - and I love their music videos too. The music has evolved over the years, with the latest release ‘The Burning Spider’ taking on more of a blues sound (we saw them on the current tour, and it was one of the best live shows I have ever been to - the energy was unreal!). Here is the song Demon Dance:
Run D.M.C
Thought I would finish with one that most of you will know - Walk This Way. The song Walk This Way was originally released by hard rock band Aerosmith in 1975. In 1986 rappers Run DMC covered this song, adding to it their unique style of rap, and becoming highly influential in the creation of the sub genre raprock:
I hope you enjoyed my selection and always welcome any thoughts or feedback!
Hey @conradt! We've just upvoted your post, as suggested by @freyman in this post :-) This is what he said about you:
Yeah !!!!
Thanks for the nomination @freyman :)
Thanks so much @ftlob! I really appreciate it :)
I love bands that mix & match music styles. Run D.M.C is a classic. Thank's for two new bands that I had no idea of: Parov Stelar and Shining. And I also have to agree with you on Parov Stelars music video. It is good.
Now I got a terrible urge to list my favorite bands and songs!
Glad you enjoyed! Parov Stelar are brilliant the demon diaries and the the burning spider are masterpieces.
Feel free i always welcome music suggestions 🙂🙂
Rage had some great tracks. I always thought it must be difficult to maintain that level of anger when you're rich and famous though
They were a top 90s band. I remember seeing them at the big day out. Good times ☺
Yeah i know right! And they arent even the most angry - imagine eminem trying to keep up the anger - some of his older songs are next level
Ha yeah i was thinking of Eminem as well
Some great bands/vid's :)
Thanks glad you enjoyed :)
Its Amazing.. i grew up with beatles in my household my mom loved them. Then in HS i got into Hip hop and metal. When I got married i traveled with Natives at pow wow and then discovered Natives singing hip hop/rap in their Native American language its amazing to see how much music moves different parts of the world. Love your post!
Wow @orlena sounds like you really have a diverse range of musical taste!
I do ... i have an open ear.
I too love a band that can switch and mix things up a bit! Love your selections here too. Not sure if you know, but I taught high school for years, and one day one of my Seniors was talking about "this great new band", which happened to be Rage Against The Machine. I had recently bought their CD (haha you know it's the 90's when:), and this kid was going on and on about it, so the next day I surprised him and gave it to him. All day he would see me in the hall and shake his head, smile and say, "I can't believe my English teacher gave me a Rage CD!" haha
Thanks for the memory! I'd forgotten all about that :)
Thanks @lynncoyle1 :) I didnt know you were a teacher....
I wish my teachers at school listened to good music, most of them did not!
hahaha I agree. I actually hated high school and I just knew that when I became one, I could be different and really make a difference in kid's lives. I actually stay in touch with so many of my past students who are now adults with children of their own. It's pretty awesome actually.
I finally did my first post for the positivity challenge by the way 😅 Thank you again for the nomination!
I am a trained kindergarten teacher and I love it. I think your brave being a highschool teacher I couldnt do it! I am teaching english here in Spain at the primary schools and I find it a bit more difficult.
Awesome I will check it out now!
Well that's something I didn't know about you @conradt !! After raising my own children, I think that there's a lot of bravery involved teaching the younger grades as well 😅
Yeah it is hard work but I enjoy it :)
I think no matter what grade you teach, if you do it well, it IS hard work. It kills me to see those teachers who don't put the time and effort into it...it is the most important 'job' I think...we are molding our future adults! How much more important can you get?!
Couldnt agree more @lynncoyle1 - I take my job very seriously and I know how important it is. I see my job ad a privilege.