Where are the front men? (Rant)

@sls883 Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it. I was into prog rock in college and still listen to the old stuff so I'll give it a try.

@stuartk I'm familiar with some of those particularly Stapleton. Will look into the others. I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.

@grislybutter Thanks. Will look them up.

@kennymacc I agree with you. Probably because I'm older (61) and turning into a codger. It is easy too always look back and say things were better "back then". On the other hand sometimes it is true. And for me "back then" included the rise of disco. All the classic rock stations (it was just called rock) were changing format to disco and easy listening. It was awful. So we definitely go through stages where music stagnant or declining. I firmly agree that that's where we are now. Music is manufactured by teams of writers, computers and marketers. And it sounds like it.

This is evidenced by the decline of the band in general. There are very few 'bands' topping the charts these days. Mostly just marketable individuals singing what they are told to sing with studio and touring musicians......many of whom just push play on the synth track.

I guess one of the things that also strikes me as telling is the alt/indie market. It is ironic to me that they all sound EXACTLY the same. It is time for alternative to alternative and independent form the independence.

@ghdprentice I think it is great you are enjoying new music whatever it might be. Everyone has different tastes and criteria for what moves them. I also listen to stuff like Radio Paradise. I enjoy it but rarely hear anything new that catches my ear.

There are two issues I have with Qobuz. First, their algorithm, if they even have one, for suggesting music tailored to me just isn't very good. It is mostly just stuff I have recently listened to. Amazon and Apple do a much better job. Second, their search engine is a joke. It is like pulling teeth just to find something you already know the name of. But, I stick with them because I hate sending money to the big brother/ leviathan companies like Apple and Amazon.

@n80 

I'm familiar with some of those particularly Stapleton. Will look into the others. I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.

Got it. If you are not familiar with Black Pumas, their studio stuff pales by comparison with their live performances. Listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOKfK8y4_MQ

Jason Isbell 

I guess my rant has more to do with brand new stuff.

by definition, you won't hear brand new stuff until 2 years from now :)

@stuartk Gave it a brief listen. I like what I’m hearing. Will dig deeper.

@acman3 I’ve listened to Jason Isbell a little bit and for some reason he just hasn’t hooked me in. Are their songs you particularly like? I'll give them a listen.

But that brings up another issue. There are several artists that I love and listen to all the time like Mark Knopfler and Neko Case who put out lots of albums some of which I can’t find a single song that I like and other albums that are all time favorites of mine. So with any artist with a body of work like that you might listen to two or even three albums, give up on them, and miss amazing stuff.

And I’ll admit, I’m an impatient listener. If a song doesn’t hook me in right away I tend to move on. That’s not always fair to the song.......but most of the time it is.