Where are the front men? (Rant)


I've been in a slump for a while trying to find new music. I use Qobuz and it does an abysmal job of suggesting music for me. So I browse their playlists.

Today I ran through their "Ones to Watch in 2025", mostly in the pop, rock, indie, Americana, R&B and soul categories. Probably listened to 50 or 60 songs....or parts of them.

I noticed across all the genres mentioned above that there was the absolute lack of male singers with good or interesting voices. This was for two reasons. The first is that the male singers I heard weren't interesting. The second is that of those 50-60 songs I'd say at least 75% had female lead singers.

I have nothing against female singers but amongst the ones I listened to most of them sounded identical. Its this sort of breathless, emo sounding,  slightly slurred, slightly little girl inflection often with a touch of L.A. or Detroit ghetto affectation. Song after song after song across all those genres. (Jazz seems to be spared from this blight).

I don't know who started this trend among female singers. Courtney Burnett (who I find entertaining at times) maybe? Hannah Reid of London Grammar (not as bad as most of these but still)? Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) further back? I don't mind a smattering of it but it seems like its all you can hear from female vocalists these days.

So where are the front men? Where are the guys with big voices, great range and dynamics? Charisma, swagger, stage presence? A thing of the past maybe?

n80

@sls883 and @n80 

 

I've been a member of the Riverside Fan Club since 2007 or 2008.  Fantastic Prog Band from Poland founded in 2001 by Mariusz Duda (bass, vocals), Piotr Grudzinski (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums), and Jacek Melnicki (keyboards).  Melnicki was replaced in 2003 by Michal Lapaj (keyboards).  Grudzinski (Rest In Peace) was a fantastic guitar player.  His playing on the first 3 albums reminds me of Gilmour at times, especially if you listen to the live album covering the first 3 releases or watch the live concert video they released.  Grudzinski's guitar tone is freaking beautiful -- few can match it. 

 

I HIGHLY recommend listening to Riverside's "Trilogy" -- the title the Fan Club gave to their first three studio releases: 2003's "Out Of Myself", 2005's "Second Life Syndrome", and 2007's "Rapid Eye Movement".  In 2011, the band released a 6 CD Box Set called "Reality Dream Trilogy" -- I grabbed a copy when the Fan Club got a pre-release offer.  I'm glad I did -- copies are pretty pricey now when you can find them for sale.  Another must listen is the 2008 live release "Reality Dream", which contains live performances from the Trilogy albums.

 

Tragedy struck the band in 2016 when founding guitarist Piotr Grudzinski died from a heart attack after attending a concert by The Winery Dogs in Warsaw.  The band members, especially Duda, were deeply impacted by his death.  The first album released after his death, "Wasteland", reflects the sadness and despair felt by the band.  I saw one of the early tour dates from the "Wasteland" tour, and let me tell you, Duda and the other band members left everything on the stage that night.  It was a very dark and depressing aura, but the music was spot on unreal.  I was very happy when the band announced that the touring guitarist, Maciej Meller, had been officially hired as the fourth member.  The first album after this announcement, "ID.Entity", was a drastic departure from the bleakness of "Wasteland" and showed that the band's head was in a good place.  The tour for "ID. Entity" was a drastic difference from the previous tour.  Very upbeat, cheerful.  Even thought it is bleak and apocalyptic, "Wasteland" is one of my top 4 Riverside releases (the Trilogy being the other 3).

 

If you dig Riverside, I highly recommend you listen to Lunatic Soul, a side project started in 2008 by Mariusz Duda.  Start by listening to the 2017 release, "Fractured".  It was recorded and released following the death of Piotr Grudzinski and Duda's father, both in 2016. Duda has stated that the main theme of "Fractured" is "coming back to life after a personal tragedy" and that he wanted to create an album with a positive undertone which would suggest how to cope with loss, as well as inspire to overcome fear.  2020's "Through Shaded Woods" and the first two Lunatic Soul releases are also very good.

 

We are in what I call the "2nd Generation of Progressive Rock Music" -- began around 1995 - 2000 when the original classic Prog Bands were getting older and stale, and musicians that grew up with a foot in Prog Rock and a foot in Heavy Metal found a way to fuse the two genres, giving us Prog Metal.  Bands such as Opeth, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Symphony X, and Dream Theater emerged. 

 

This led to a wave of new bands that didn't want the Metal elements, so they went back to the roots of 1960's and 1970's Prog Rock, Symphonic Prog Rock, and Fusion Prog Rock and updated the sound utilizing the newer technology and gear.  Bands emerged such as Porcupine Tree, IQ, Riverside, Soup, Spock's Beard, Arena, Mystery, Big Big Train, Anathema, The Pineapple Thief, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Airbag, Ozric Tentacles, The Neal Morse Band, Frost*, Soen, Arena -- I could go on and on and on smiley.

 

I hope you enjoy some of these bands if you have not heard them before.  Have a Very Proggy 2025!

@allenf1963 Thank you for the background on Riverside. I knew a little bit of it, but much was new.  I have most of their recordings on cd, but not all.. I'll look into the ones that I don't. I have the Lost and Found dvd of their live performance in Tilburg. I really had a greater appreciation for the band after watching that concert.

I do listen to Lunatic Soul as well.  I listen to Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief.  I'll look into the others.  I'm also a big RPWL fan. I've recently been listening to Blind Ego as well. 

 

@sls883

 

I’m happy to have given you some info about Riverside. Feel free to reach out anytime. I’ll send you some photos of framed artwork I have pertaining to the band. Here are a couple of awesome live concerts I was not sure if you mentioned seeing. I saw these tours and they are in my top 10% of live shows I’ve attended since my first concert in 1970.

"Reality Dream Tour"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HWv7YJtYCA&t=868s

"Wasteland Tour"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77aHfCIk04M&t=4393s

Listen to the "Guardian Angel" track off the "Wasteland Tour".  Just beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons, they have been about for a year or two now try their early albums such as Before the Fire and Pressure and Time. Have seen them 3 times this guy has it all in vocal range, power, dynamics and stage presence he is very much in the mould of a Robert Plant or Ian Gillan etc from the classic rock bands of the 70's.

John Arch from Arch Matheos particularly their 1st album, he's knocking on a bit but what a great voice.

+1 for Chris Stapleton.