meet groovy guitar runs and 70s progressive rock-inspired synthesizers. The fact that the elaborately staged heavy metal flirts with pop sensibilities is related to their common origin with the giants of pop Abba, as all of their musical output to date bears witness to Abba's inspiration: the infectious hooks and melodic choruses that couldn't have come from the pen of Agnetha, Björn and co. The success of this unconventional formula clearly works for Ghost, as they not only fill stadiums around the world for their elaborate live performances, but even reap critical laurels, winning a Grammy in the " Best Metal Performance" category back in 2016. The band Ghost - heavy metal with the spirit of Abba Photo by Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP, File Instead of this rather one-dimensional use of the mascot, though (Ghost also flaunt an iteration of Papa on all five of their previous works), the band expands the potential and presents a living mascot in the form of Papa, who also sings all of the songs. The intention behind the outfit is to be a sort of mascot for the band perhaps a nod to the heavy metal legends from England, Iron Maiden, and their iconic mascot named Eddie, which adorns every single album cover in a wide variety of ways. The popular listener-friendliness of the created sounds from a bygone era is maintained at the expense of reverence: the entire formation apparently pays homage to none other than the Horned One himself, as evidenced by the symbolism of the costumes, the macabre lyrics, and the individual interview statements, thereby bestowing upon Him an appropriate reception in front of a majestic backdrop in stadium form in glorious reverence.Įven the figure of Papa Emeritus is reminiscent of a kind of zombie pope, as he wears a traditional bishop's habit and numerous layers of makeup and prosthetics on his face that disfigure him beyond recognition. Let the curtain rise for the nameless ghouls, led by Papa Emeritus, now Emeritus IV, aka Tobias Forge, from Linköping, Sweden, who are reviving the long-established tradition of stadium rock in the 21st century. But then, around the turn of the millennium, a paradigm shift occurred that would propel the new burgeoning culture of hip-hop to the top of the charts, gradually pushing the stodgy stadium rock of the old generation into oblivion. Bands like Boston, Journey or Kansas created a not-to-be-despised niche for themselves, where, as the name already reveals, whole stadiums were made available for concerts, in order to provide the necessary space for the elaborate productions and, of course, to profit from them.Įvergreens like “More Than A Feeling,” “Don`t Stop Believing,” or “Carry On My Wayward Son” literally crave to be absorbed and sung along by an audience as large as possible. Above these constellations, a subspecies was enthroned, which could hardly be more theatrical and yet clearly more suitable for the masses: Stadium Rock. In the times when mainstream popularity still held rock and roll in its favor, countless currents developed within the genre, intrinsically forming the polar opposite of each other from glam to grunge and from heavy metal to punk.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |