nothingfails

I felt like posting this because I noticed that the local rock station "The Fox" has actually begun widening its playlist and is beginning to play acts like Mumford And Sons. However its not sitting well with a lot of metalhead fans on their Facebook page. In the 90's The Fox was an awesome radio station to listen to, and then when nu-metal, rap-rock and the white trash red state faves like Nickelback, Kid Rock and Daughtry came along, they stopped playing anything remotely interesting and started playing just bland nu-metal and rap-rock along with the same grunge they played to death in the early 90's, and the format has stayed that way for a decade. Now they're beginning to add more alternative (Mumford, Black Keys, Foster The People, Joy Formidable) to the playlist, and I personally am liking it, and its making me want to listen to it again.

Should "Rock" stations just play the Disturbed/Godsmack type of bands or incorporate anything that has rock in it (like they did in the 90's). Even if Mumford And Sons are technically a folk band, some of their songs rock harder than any of the soccer mom music Nickelback's put out in the past half-decade, but because they don't fit the look, they shouldn't be played? WTF. I think Limp Bizkit and company ruined rock as a viable radio format and if anything, opening its doors to more alternative acts again is one of the only ways it can regain some ground and points (by this logic, some of the same people complaining about Black Keys and Mumford would've bitched if U2 and R.E.M. were played alongside Bon Jovi in the 80's too, and I would say U2/REM's music has aged better). Until now, the only way to hear any current rock that is the least bit interesting has been the public AAA station near the bottom of the dial, and how many people honestly listen to those?

Gerry P.

Heavy rock stations have always been seperate from mainstream rock stations. What a nu-metal station should be incorporating are bands like The Sword, Black Mountain and Mastodon (and The Black Keys).

Mumford & Sons belong on another format.

nothingfails

Well I wouldn't necessarily consider it a heavy rock station as they played Alanis, Sheryl Crow, even No Doubt and Hootie in the 90's when alternative was huge, but then became a cock-rock station when Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock happened and has stayed in that format for about 10 years, but just now they're beginning to open their approach back up to other styles of rock again. Some people are pissed, but it was the nu-metal/rap rock/redneck Nickelback stuff that drove me away from "rock radio" in the late 90's, I actually like the alternative stuff they're embracing again.