- Van Halen, my largest rock influence, just sees no end of talent. Hopefully Eddie will regain his sanity one day and the band will be great again.
- Led Zepplin, probably my very first influence. An un-reproduceable sound loved by the whole world.
- Dire Straits is charectorized as the '80s stereotype band... But they are so much more, the guitar work of Mark Knopfler is truely genius, if not impossible. Their best album was titled "Brothers in Arms." Even in the Great Hitchhiker's Guide does Adams pay good tidings to them!
- The Eagles are simply one of the most classic bands of classic rock. I have wanted to visit Hotel California since I was nine, and I never have even taken any of these drugs!
- Huey Lewis & the news is a band that is a trademark of the eighties. Now that that the 80's are over, they have gone back and done the 50's as well. Whatever your past music preference, you'll love their incredible rock beat.
- Sting is probably one of the best guys on our planet at the task of wooing women. His music has made many a night a little less loneley for us all. My favorite modern album of his is "Seven summoner's tales."
- Queen is a legendary band that goes on today in a sad, pale image of it's glory days when Freddie Mercury was alive & at the helm. But oh, what glory days they were. I bet you know the lyrics to three of their songs right now.
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Hard Rock
- Mettallica is not the same as it was ten years ago, but they still are highly associated with Heavy Metal everywhere in the world. I think the reason why is because they do it better than the others.
- Megadeth is my favorite Heavy Metal band, and Dave Mustaine, their fearless leader, has both the gift of deep lyrics and Incredible guitar licks. -Watch out for those strong opinions, though.
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Alternative (alternative to rock, smartass.)
- Dave Matthews band is on a roll. They sound like a cross bettween a classic rock band and an alternative funk band... Not a normal mix. I really like how they will put absolutely any instrument or noisemaker in the sound if that's what they feel the part will need. The result is trumpets and fiddles doing a rock duet that sounds heavenly! Personally, I like "Under the table and dreaming" better than the other two, but they both have a song or two that you can't match from the first album... So I bought all three. The absolute best song is "Stay" form their latest album.
- Cake has a sound all it's own. It's somewhat Bohemian, a bit of rock, a pinch of country and a lot of jam. If they didn't put out such great "One hits" then they'd never sell an album. Fashion Nugget is their best album right now.
- U2 is that famous band that I don't have to tell you anything about, other than I went to Bono's club in Dublin and had a great time. You can meet him if you have good timeing, too. "With or without you" is one of the best songs of our time.
- Billboard music encompasses most types of music, but sadly, alternative is the only one with enough popularity for them to showcase these days. So if you're ito that knid of thing, you can look up music sales charts and find out who is on top, as well as buy thier stuff here.
Symphonic
- John Williams composed all of the world's most favorite symphonic arrangements. Star Wars, Back to the Future, ET, Indiana Jones, Etc., Etc... All of it. Much more than you can dream about. Kinda gotta admire 'em, eh?
- London Philharmonic was John William's group, already famous for a century before he came along. Only the absolute best players on earth get in, and 99% of them are turned away first.
- Boston Pops is the American version of the London Phil, almost as good, and they love to play more of today's popular type of compositions... One step behind Sinatra...:)
- Miss Saigon is the ABSOLUTE best experience on a stage. Some might argue with me about that. But they just don't have enough taste to understand it.
- Empire brass is a five piece brass band that really knows all the notes. They can play any stlye, any tempo, any song you like. They are really that good. Give 'em a shot, no five have more talent. (At brass music, that is.)
Comedy
- "Weird Al" Yankovic was an odd, to say the least, musician for a kid to learn from growing up, but somehow I made it without killing anyone yet. He is quite possibly one of the funniest people alive, in his works. If you ever see him live, then you'll be sorry, because he's quite embarrasing, but his recorded stuff is great. I recommend his middle & older stuff, but he, too, has been getting worse lately. Why does this always happen to a music troop with 12 albums behind them? Anyway, He's funny. 'Nuff said.
- Adam Sandler is a very messed up guy. We like his humor, but we also know that he must do a ton of drugs to come up with that stuff... Talking goats and stuff... too much Floyd. But he's a scream if you catch his good stuff.
- Simpson's Songs has a good sampling of the kind of music that they play, but buy one of the many different albums, (of all music types) to see how funny they really are.
That about does it for all of my MAJOR musical influences, I'd do more, but these sufficently tell the story of Brock and his music, as varied as they are, and I never try to over-tell a tale.
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