Overview
Objectives
- Describe how artists like the Rolling Stones have maintained a commercial and touring presence for over 50 years
- Explain how Ian Anderson has collaborated with classical musicians to create new interpretations of the music of Jethro Tull
- Consider how musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rent address contemporary issues using rock music
- Define “jukebox musical” and provide several examples
- Recall the concept of a “supergroup” and provide examples of this type of ensemble in the 21st-century
Supergroups
We have previously encountered the concept of the supergroup. The band Cream, formed in 1966 by Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker, is generally considered the first rock supergroup. Supergroups have continued to proliferate since then. This section considers several 21st-century supergroups.
Heaven & Hell is a particularly interesting supergroup because all its members were also members of the band Black Sabbath at various times. As we have learnt, Black Sabbath was an important heavy metal group during the 1970s, and their lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, fired in 1979, was replaced with Ronnie James Dio. Other members of the band quit and returned sporadically during the 1980s. In 2006, four members of Black Sabbath from various iterations of the Dio-era band joined forces. This group included guitarist Tommy Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ronnie James Dio, and drummer Vinny Appice.
Iommi and Butler were founding members of Black Sabbath in the late 1960s, although each had left the band at various points. The group performed and recorded together frequently during the 1980s and 1990s, but they did not formally adopt the name Black Sabbath until 2006.
The members of the group decided to call themselves Heaven & Hell instead of Black Sabbath because they wanted to make clear that they were only going to play Black Sabbath songs written after 1979—that is, after Osbourne had left the band and Dio had become the lead singer. Heaven & Hell released two live albums where they performed Dio-era Black Sabbath songs. In 2009, they also released one studio album called The Devil You Know, which featured new material written by each of the four members of the band. The single "Bible Black ♫," from the 2009 album The Devil You Know, tells the tale of a man trapped in an evil version of the Christian Bible. The track’s unusually opening features an acoustic guitar, which is soon joined by an electric guitar. As "Bible Black ♫" builds in intensity, the acoustic guitar is completely replaced by the electric guitar. Heaven & Hell had plans for additional tours and recording projects, but those were cut short by Dio's unexpected death in 2010.
Another 21st-century supergroup is the band Atoms for Peace. Its members include Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Joey Warokner (Beck and R.E.M.), and Mauro Refosco (Forro in the Dark). Yorke had originally assembled the group in 2009 to play in his first 2006 solo album, The Eraser, which featured electronic sounds almost exclusively. Yorke, however, wanted to create a group that could play the music also in live concerts.
The ensemble continued to collaborate and eventually released an album titled Amok (2013) that consisted of entirely new material. All the album’s songs were initially conceptualized electronically by Yorke. He then took the electronic renditions to the group of musicians, who reworked the songs with their instruments in the studio. Although the individual musical personalities of the band’s members do come through, critics have generally regarded Atoms for Peace music as an extension of Yorke’s work with Radiohead. On the single "Judge, Jury, and Executioner," for example, Flea’s characteristic basslines are coupled with Yorke’s eccentric humming styles of vocalizations. (Note: "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" is currently not available to hear through Spotify due to Yorke’s claims that he and other musicians are not paid fairly.)
Other groups that might seem like unlikely matches at first have also been assembled. Probot was a heavy metal project spearheaded by Dave Grohl, who was the drummer for Nirvana and is currently the rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the Foo Fighters. In 2004, he created Probot, an album where he collaborates with other musicians to produce heavy metal music that departs stylistically from most of his previously recorded music. Grohl recorded most of the instrumental parts on the album, and then he invited other musicians to provide the vocals for the tracks. For example, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead is heard on "Shake Your Blood ♫," while "Big Sky ♫" features Tom G. Warrior—lead singer of death metal bands including Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Triptykon. Another interesting partnership is that between the surviving members of the glam rock band Queen and singer Adam Lambert, who was the runner-up on season 8 of American Idol. The collaboration, styled Queen + Adam Lambert, has toured internationally since 2011, performing music from Queen’s catalogue with Lambert as lead vocalist.
"That's why 60,000 people go ape when the Stones play 'Satisfaction.' The songs are part of their legacy, and you fall back in love with them over the years."
"For those that don't know much about 'American Idiot' or Green Day, just know that it's my generation's The Who's 'Tommy' or Pink Floyd's 'The Wall.' It was an album that really spoke to a generation. The theatrical show encapsulates that feeling and brings it to an even wider audience."
"The dialogue [for American Idiot came from diary entries and other Armstrong statements in a booklet with the deluxe version of the American Idiot CD."
