Pete Townshend unwittingly named power pop. In the '60s, the Who guitarist used the term to describe the style of his group as a way to link them to groups such as the Beach Boys and other smart, melodic pop acts Townshend admired. Power pop, as it grew, became a lean sister to punk rock’s “burn everything down” ethos yet its musical conservatism gives it a rather nerdy air. The Weezer video for Buddy Holly where the band performed in suits and glasses was not far off from the truth.
Power pop is somewhat easy to define yet it is a sound that is easily malleable. After acts like Big Star and Cheap Trick defined the foundation in the '70s, a lot of acts began incorporating different aspects of the sound with varying degrees of success. It made a resurgence in the '80s with bands like The Knack and the dBs giving it a new wave spin. The 1990s alternative rock boom introduced a new guidebook - Kurt Cobain described Nirvana as the '90s version of Cheap Trick and the paradigm shift they inspired with Nevermind created a fertile ground for pop-minded songwriters and musicians to hit the charts running. With that in mind, here’s an exploration of ten releases that are essential for the power pop genre and also important for your rock/pop collection.
Big Star有着“邪教乐队”的标签,随行而至。考虑到他们征服全球的宏伟抱负——体现在像#1 Record这样的专辑标题中——以及他们希望成为Beatlesque流行音乐的第一和最终代表,真是令人悲哀。Radio City的挑战在于看看吉他手/歌手/词曲作者Alex Chilton是否能在没有词曲搭档Chris Bell的情况下继续进行,后者在#1 Record商业失败后离开了。听到Radio City时的松了一口气,不仅是Chilton迎接挑战的表现,而且可以说在这一过程中超越了#1 Record。这是一张在某些部分较为松散和稀疏的专辑,但他(以及其他乐队成员)在旋律和词曲创作方面并没有退步:从“你得到你应得的”到“Morpha Too”的曲目顺序中,有些是Big Star最好流行作品的记录。Chilton在铃声唤起的“September Gurls”中表现出他迄今为止最好的抒情曲,其吉他琶音来自The Byrds的曲谱,而鼓声伴随着欢快的节奏推向前进。这种方法曾被许多模仿乐队尝试,却没有哪个乐队能达到Chilton在这里所呈现的那种理想而又焦虑的感觉。