[updated:LAST EDITED ON Mar-17-03 AT 10:25PM (GMT)]Generally, I listen to rock of both the heavy and soft variant. Since I'm usually doing homework and listening to music at the same time, I'm more inclined to soft rock.
The Strokes: It's ideally of Italian/New Yorker rock. If you don't know what the sounds like, then it has a pretty upbeat acousticals with a distinct bass in the background. Julian Casablancas has a "scuzzy" voice that's got a lite tenor but the grind for harsher tones. Its easy to just listen to their album and do something else without getting preoccupied.
The Hives: Their music is streamline fast and choke-filled with a zillion grooves per second. I'm dead serious. With five members in the band, there's an abundance of good vibrations. Just imagine five rockers from Sweden with the dress sense of Elvis Presley. The vocalists and frontman, Pelle Almqvist, has one of those voices that either grate against your ears or attune to your musical wavelength. Not to mention he capers about the stage oddly reminiscent of early Mic Jagger.
Audioslave: I really liked Rage Against the Machine and that's about the only band of the "anarchist" genre that I listened to. So I was devastated when Zack De La Roche disbanded and RATM dispersed. But then I my interest was piqued when Audioslave showed up with the regulars from Rage but this time with the harsh vocals of Chris Cornell. I just recently bought their album and that's about the only thing I'm listening to right now. Seriously, the two tracks playing on the radio, Cochise and Like a Stone, do not pay true justice to the rest of the albums. The music is poetic and Chris Cornell always seems on the verge of outright rage but its in control. Honestly, each track varies in a range of emotions. Audioslave sounds more serious than Rage Against the Machine and, though not as outspoken, has pretty alluring issues.
System of a Down: I, too, enjoy the grindings of SOAD but not for the most common reasons. I like them for their richly resounded Armenian heritage heard in their songs, not for their pure rage against authority. Listen to Streamline, Deer Dance, Needles, and Shimmy for what I mean by Armenian heritage. Serj Tankian again wavers on outright screaming and controlled vocals. Daron Malakian can do amazing things with the guitar and it seems that more than one guitar is playing at the same time. The lyrics to their songs or somewhat obscure but they seem to make sense with the overall feelings of their last two albums. Favorite songs of SOAD are Mr. Jack, Nuguns, Bubbles, A.D.D, and Forest. Don't Steal This Album but buy it!
