Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen recently spoke with Listen Next! about where the next great band will come from once they, and other prominent musicians, retire.
Collen responded (per blabbermouth.net), “I don’t know. I’m still waiting, actually. You hear a lot of stuff out there, but it’s few and far between. There’s a problem, I think, and I think it’s the TikTok and YouTube crowd.”
He continued, “When bands or artists would write before, it would be because they wanted to be an artist and wanted to express themselves and write songs and share them and go, ‘Wow. Check this out’, as opposed to, ‘Wow. Look at me. Please love me. I don’t wanna sound like an old dude, but that’s what I noticed. And I’m still waiting for someone like Prince or [LED] Zeppelin or something that has a bit more something to it. There’s very little stuff.”
“Metallica‘s great; when you see ’em, there’s a big difference,” Collen said. “Guns N’ Roses are awesome. I don’t see that anymore; I don’t see that star power. I don’t see that kind of thing. So that’s what I’m waiting for. There hasn’t been any of that. Nirvana was… Obviously, Foo Fighters is an offshoot of Nirvana. And I love the Foo Fighters; I think they’re great. But when Nirvana came out, I was, like, ‘Woah, this is amazing.’ The Sex Pistols — amazing. But I’m just waiting — still waiting.”
When the interviewer implied that the rock scene is lacking, the guitarist said, “That question comes up quite a bit. People go, ‘What about this?’ And I don’t hear anything. I hear derivative stuff and stuff that’s not inspired. You wanna get inspired. So, yeah, I’m still waiting. It’s like in every genre of music. In hip-hop, it’s the same deal. You’re waiting to hear… Or R&B. You listen to the old R&B — you listen to Stevie Wonder, you listen to Marvin Gaye and stuff like that — nothing is like that anymore and that kind of soul and vibe and everything. I think we’ve kind of comfortably got into something else that doesn’t really demand that kind of excellence. It’s rare that that kind of talent comes along.”
Def Leppard’s latest album, Diamond Star Halos, was released on May 27th. The band are currently on The Stadium Tour, with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett. Remaining dates can be seen below.
August:
5 Boston, MA Fenway Park
6 Boston, MA Fenway Park
8 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
10 Orchard Park, NY Highmark Stadium
12 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park
14 Minneapolis, MN U.S. Bank Stadium
16 Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium
19 Houston, TX Minute Maid Park
21 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
22 Arlington, TX Globe Life Field
25 Glendale, AZ State Farm Stadium
27 Inglewood, CA SoFi Stadium
28 San Diego, CA Petco Park
31 Seattle, WA T-Mobile Park
September:
2 Vancouver, BC BC PlaceSunday,
4 Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium /Stade du Commonwealth
7 San Francisco, CA Oracle Park
9 Las Vegas, NV Allegiant Stadium
18 Responses
Can Lizzy Hale be considered the next big rock star? She is hosting a show on AXTV, and she has the talent to sing AND play guitar. Halestorm doesn’t get the recognition they deserve, IMO (although i will admit i haven’t heard their new album yet, i LOVE most of their earlier stuff).
Rival Sons should be huge, and they aren’t, that is sad. Still pains me that Gretta played SNL, and Rival Sons didn’t! They have an AWESOME singer, and AWESOME guitar player, and an AWESOME drummer!! If promoted right they all can be stars. Same for Royal Blood. They are more popular over seas but should be a bigger deal in the states. And very talented. Other than that, it is really sad that the day of the Rock Star is long gone. Back in the day I knew every member from all the bands I liked, and would fight all my friends on who is a better guitar player, better drummer, etc…today no one can name any member of a band.
Hi Mike,
I cannot speak for anyone, but myself. While Lzzy Hale is obviously a fan of 80’s rock, and even took vocal lessons from Steve Whiteman of Kiz, Halestrom to me, still has that numetal sound, which I, personally, am not a fan. The Pretty Reckless is okay, as well, but again, I am not wowed.
As for Rival Sons, I agree. Jay Buchanan has a great voice and a Jim Morrison vibe, but I think Airbourne really embodies what a rock band should be. All killer, no filler and just upbeat kick ass music, I hope they gain momentum as they go.
Dana – is it too late for Airbourne? I will admit i am not familiar with them, but haven’t they been around for a really long time?
OK, I SHOULD give them a try…where should I start?
No, Michael, they have only been around maybe since 2005?
Start with Black Dog Barking and Runnin’ Wild, which “broke” them here in the States. Let me know what you think, I turned both Doug R., and Rattlehead, on to them.
D 🙂
Yes you did, Dana, and I am still turned on! 😉
Dana, you absolutely turned me on to Airbourne! After a few listens to some of their tunes, I went out and bought all their CDs. You also turned me on to Tora Tora, another great band I never would have discovered without your solid recommendation.
Thank you, Rattle.
XO
You can’t go wrong with Airbourne! If you want loud, ass-kicking, straight up, in your face rock and roll, no bullsh-t or gimmicks, then Airbourne is the band for you!
Dana – i thought I was downloading Black Dog Barking, i actually downloaded Breakin’ Outta Hell!! I will give it a listen later today…hope this wasn’t a mistake!
No Michael,
That’s fine, Rattle loves that record, as do I. But, please get Black Dog Barking and Runnin’ Wild, as well
I like Halestorm but I don’t love them. I have much respect and admiration for the amazing Lzzy Hale though. She is special for sure. Airbourne is a tremendous band but I doubt any of the bands we’ve all been collectively discussing will ever be arena headliners in today’s world. See my previous comments for my opinion as to why.