Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. That’s the predicament facing many of this month’s cover stars. Sound too much like the giants of rock past and that’s wrong. Try to expand sonic boundaries and that’s wrong too… But, as we’ve said before, there’s a very, very real threat that if we don’t do something about it –i.e. listen to new music, go to gigs – the music we love is going to become extinct. But here’s the great thing: rock is in safe hands.
And this issue’s Class Of 2015 is living, breathing proof. There’s a raft of brilliant bands around – I’m hesitant to say “new”, as the groups in this month’s portfolio have been doggedly paying their dues for several years, but now is their coming of age. They are all stepping out from the shadows of their forefathers and succeeding on their own terms, headlining their own arena shows, releasing their own Top 5 albums, winning their own Grammy awards…
For CR’s Class Of 2015 in all their myriad forms, there is one overarching theme, neatly summed up by Ghost: “We have so much respect for the bands that came before us, but now this is our thing, and we’re doing it our way.”
Long may they all reign.
Siân Llewellyn, Editor
