G Rock has never sounded better...

[RadioNYC]

It has been a while since I have been able to listen to G Rock but I was recently driving down the shore and caught the station. The Mix of Retro and new Alternative balanced perfectly. I think one of the reasons many Alternative stations had been "floundering" was they weren't sure if they wanted to be Active Rock or a HOT AC. Hearing Joy Division into Nirvana back to Interpol.... well it's what I imagined the old WHTG of the 90's would have done....

I guess my only criticism would be I remember the Imaging being too female friendly a couple years ago and now it sounds a little too hard edged.... but maybe it's just me - hey that should be the worst of it......

 

[mjb1124]

I agree that this is the best the station has sounded this decade. They've gotten back on the ball with new music and aren't falling back on "power recurrents" as much, plus they're continuing to expand their gold library as they've been since Terrie Carr came on board. The sound is very well-balanced overall. It's a happy medium between their old "adult alternative" sound and the hard rock-oriented approach of the CBS/Clear Channel powerhouses. They're mixing in edgier up-and-coming acts and less-commonly-heard gold tracks in a way that doesn't scare off casual listeners. They play their currents often enough that listeners get familiar with them, but they don't run them into the ground. And while the imaging is definitely more hard-edged than before, it also has a certain quirkiness to it, and doesn't seem to be pandering to frat boys like K-Rock's imaging has over the years.

Beyond that, I love how much they're encouraging listener input with features like the Retro Request Hour, the 5 O'Clock Shuffle, the Requestival, and Radio Kaos. Specialty shows like the Punkyard and Queens of Noise also do a lot to spice up the station. And of course, they continue to have a strong jock lineup.

Now, the station's not 100% perfect: I could do without a few of the Active-leaning bands (Puddle of Mudd comes immediately to mind), and they can still be a little slow to add certain songs (what took them so long to jump on "Well Thought Out Twinkles"?). But beyond those minor nitpicks, G-Rock these days is a prime example of how an alternative station should sound.

 

[RadioNYC]

I agree. My two best examples of how to take G Rock to the "next step" would be an example similar to WFNX in Boston or KNDD in Seattle. Both stations take a "true alternative" approach. G Rock should have been ontop of the new Arcade Fire (which has a MASSIVE following and just played a huge show). G Rock shouldn't be playing Puddle of Mudd, etc. But like you said, it's a very balanced sound that most likely can suit different types of people = ratings , $$.

I haven't heard the new morning show but I like Matt Knight, Dan Lanni - they sounded solid.

I like the new website - but I do think the G Rock logo itself looks a bit tired and should have a more "rockish" look.

I'd be interested to know if others like SoulCrusher finally agree the station is great..

 

[hubcity]

Definitely more listenable than it has been in a long time - that said, for me, Puddle Of Mudd is a guaranteed tuneout. But they got 35 minutes out of me the other day, and that's longer than it's been for a long time.

(They're still not playing The Arcade Fire. Bruce Springsteen and The Foofighters are playing The Arcade Fire, and G-Rock isn't. Has the world gone mad?!)

 

[eyg2181]

104.5 is probably the best for modern rock/alternative

 

[BigBoy41]

No way....(you must be from PA...) I live in Somerset and for some reason get a bunch of Philly stations. That station doesn't even have DJ's....and they hardly play anything new...106.3 has really good DJ's and has introduced me to alot of great new music.... there is no comparison......

 

[eyg2181]

yea, i live in pottsville, 80 miles NN of Philadelphia. and i have heard 106.3 when im with my dad in levittown, and they're good from what i heard of them. but for you, i think WMMR or The Rat (if you can get The Rat), and 105.7 is great too, thats one of my favorites too, but i dont get the rat of the hawk in pottsville. in fact i dont even get the rat in levittown. but 105.7 is like a local over there, but you lose it over by the ambler exit on the turnpike. i can get WMMR in Pottsville tho.

 

[hubcity]

104.5 is probably the best for modern rock/alternative

If its website's last 10 songs listing is accurate...

Round Here Counting Crows
The Boys Of Summer Ataris
No Woman, No Cry Bob Marley & the Wailers
Cheer Up, Boys Foo Fighters
Run-Around Blues Traveler
Cold Crossfade
POPULAR Nada Surf
Paralyzer Finger Eleven
Stop! Jane's Addiction
If You Could Only See Tonic

...not so much.

 

[ciao99]

104.5 is probably the best for modern rock/alternative

If its website's last 10 songs listing is accurate...

Round Here Counting Crows
The Boys Of Summer Ataris
No Woman, No Cry Bob Marley & the Wailers
Cheer Up, Boys Foo Fighters
Run-Around Blues Traveler
Cold Crossfade
POPULAR Nada Surf
Paralyzer Finger Eleven
Stop! Jane's Addiction
If You Could Only See Tonic

...not so much.

I smirk when I hear so - called alternative stations playing Bob Marley. Marley deserves respect, but his music is for aging baby boomers. There's a lot of good reggae out there. Why can't alternative stations move beyond the dinosaurs?

 

[SoulCrusher]

G Rock easily sounds the best it has under Press ownership. Despite the fact that it hasn't completely erased its recent past as a glorified Hot AC station (it still leans far heavier on crossover titles than most Alternative stations that I know, but Radio 104.5 in Philly is still far worse in this area) it sounds more like a full-fledged Alternative like FM 106.3 was. Yes, they play way too much Adult Contemporary fluff like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, The Killers (good Joy Division cover, though) and others, and they shouldn't be playing any Fall Out Boy / Plain White T's / Sum 41 (let's be honest - they're all just NSYNC with guitars), Coldplay (and their neo Air Supply mush) or Puddle Of Mudd (and their modernized take on Bob Seger / Sammy Hagar forklift driver rock). But they have also impressed me with the broadening of the library, a lot of good adds (The Hives, VHS Or Beta, Editors and others - on a side note, I hope they can eventually go beyond 40 Currents at some point), and most notably, all of the new features that the station has added in the last couple of months. Soliciting input from the listeners is an excellent move and can only help G Rock secure their place in this market, developing strong loyalty from their audience. It's also good for those who have listened to the format for a while, because it helps to keep things fresh and gives everyone a break from business as usual.

It's been a long time coming, but the evolution started when the station finally dropped the likes of Nickelback and 3 Doors Down from their playlist. In recent months the station has gone from being one of many stations targeting Women to serving a more eclectic audience, and recent ratings have shown that the move has paid off.

In closing: Just when I give credit for G Rock making changes for the better, they go and disappoint me. They just played Linkin Park's "What I've Done" (is there a person alive who isn't sick and tired of that sentimental fluff?), and worse still, shortly thereafter they played a song that has absolutely no place on an Alternative station: Seether & Amy Lee - "Broken". This song is basically a throwback to those cheesy love duets that came out in the '80s that I was exposed to in my youth (Up Where We Belong, Don't Know Much, After All, Endless Love - I could go on and on, but what's the point?), only slightly amped up for contemporary times. There's a place for this piece of rubbish, and it's the "Lite Rock" stations sandwiched comfortably between Phil Collins and Shania Twain. I could name tons of songs that were bigger hits on the format and songs that would fit in much better than "Broken" that they are not playing, but I won't waste your time or mine. There's a lot of difference between G Rock and other Alternative stations out there. But I suppose that despite my criticisms, the good still outweighs the bad.

 

[PleasetoShore]

Soul-lie, you are clueless. You actually think an alternative radio station shouldn't play the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Good luck on Mars, don't forget to bring some oxygen.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Soul-lie, you are clueless. You actually think an alternative radio station shouldn't play the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Good luck on Mars, don't forget to bring some oxygen.

Correction: I said less of all of those acts. There's a lot of stuff that RHCP has released in the past 15 years that veers pretty close to elevator music - in fact, I've heard some of these songs on the Lites of the world. That said, G Rock and other Alternative should play them, just a little bit less than the once an hour (or maybe once every 2 hours) that we're getting now. On a related note - I know they didn't yield that many hits, but what's the problem with playing songs from the albums when Hillel Slovak were still around? Aside from WLIR in Long Island, I never hear any station playing anything from their first three albums. That was when RHCP were really something special. Now they're the epitome of faceless white-bread pop/rock.

 

[RadioNYC]

I'm gonna have to agree w/ Soul on this one. The Chili Peppers have got to be one of the MOST overplayed acts on radio. While granted they have mass appeal, myself personally never found their music to be really THAT revolutionary.... We all know acts like The Pixies, Nirvana, Joy Division have a huge effect on what Alternative evolved into... could the same case be made about The Peppers??

 

[hubcity]

I'm gonna have to agree w/ Soul on this one. The Chili Peppers have got to be one of the MOST overplayed acts on radio. While granted they have mass appeal, myself personally never found their music to be really THAT revolutionary.... We all know acts like The Pixies, Nirvana, Joy Division have a huge effect on what Alternative evolved into... could the same case be made about The Peppers??

Yes, up to about the time of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. "Give It Away" was absolutely a 100% energizing release for the format...though it was also part of the funk/metal hybrid bellwether that helped turn the "Alternative" format into the new Rock format (as opposed to actually being alternative.)

 

[hubcity]

Soul-lie, you are clueless. You actually think an alternative radio station shouldn't play the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Good luck on Mars, don't forget to bring some oxygen.

See, that's what I like about the posts hereabouts - they're so durn informative.

 

[PleasetoShore]

I beg to differ. RHCP represent a band that grew out of Alternative radio that the format should, and can, hold on to. Will they have to share this group with other stations? partially. Syrupy tracks don't have to be played, but theres still experimental and aggressive stuff on their last release. Even so, I'd still play the syrupy stuff during the day at WHTG. The RHCP still have the cred that the format very much needs... and yet write songs that appeal to a larger group of people (think "cume audience") than a format based on what ever flavor is hip now might normally attract. That continues to be part of what bugs the crap outta me about the Alt format. "Lets find a band, play them all the time, and then when they become a bit popular, cast them aside because we're too cool for that." Radio works on cume and TSL, the RHCP can fill both ends of that for a good alternative radio station. But, that's just my humble opinion, I'm sure you know better.

 

[hubcity]

I beg to differ. RHCP represent a band that grew out of Alternative radio that the format should, and can, hold on to. Will they have to share this group with other stations? partially. Syrupy tracks don't have to be played, but theres still experimental and aggressive stuff on their last release. Even so, I'd still play the syrupy stuff during the day at WHTG. The RHCP still have the cred that the format very much needs... and yet write songs that appeal to a larger group of people (think "cume audience") than a format based on what ever flavor is hip now might normally attract. That continues to be part of what bugs the crap outta me about the Alt format. "Lets find a band, play them all the time, and then when they become a bit popular, cast them aside because we're too cool for that." Radio works on cume and TSL, the RHCP can fill both ends of that for a good alternative radio station.

Informative post, and worthy of reply, at least 'til you got here:

But, that's just my humble opinion, I'm sure you know better.

Give me a break.

But getting back to the good bit, you've put your finger on Alternative's strength and its weakness - the wholesale jettisoning of the bands it built, and not necessarily because they've become "too popular", but because they're no longer growing artistically. In short, if you get boring, you're outta there. Today's alternative format had a very high tolerance for "boring", and it's driving people to their iPods...which will also get boring without constant feeding, so wouldn't it be nice if those people had someplace to turn to that could relieve them of that boredom? G's current success, in my opinion, is a direct result of their being far less boring lately than they've been at any time since the station changed hands in 2000.

Note that this is really only a small percentage of the market. Most people like "boring" just fine, because they don't perceive music as something that should be exciting. They'd just rather relive whatever glory days they had with whatever formed its soundtrack. And more power to 'em, because there's clearly money to be made there.

The name of the game for most folks is money made, of course, so any band (Chilis or not) is free to do whatever they'd like in their releases, but there's no reason for me to spend any further time on them. It's my opinion that whatever RHCP's cred was - that they were a cadre of full-on madmen who didn't give a damn what you thought of them as long as you came to see them - is long gone. In its place - at least by the time of "By The Way" - was a fairly calculated set of by-the-numbers nods to the bits about the band's output that seemed to spur sales and airplay. That's not to fault them; that's their job, just as it's the bus driver's job to drive the bus, when I might prefer to take the train. "Stadium Arcadium" is a bit better, incidentally, but quality wise, it still pales in comparison to, for instance, the new Bruce Springsteen album...and that should say something about the current state of Alternative.

But that's just my humble opinion.

 

[Batfink]

...that helped turn the "Alternative" format into the new Rock format (as opposed to actually being alternative.)

The one song that signified the change you speak of (I remember it well) was Plush by Stone Temple Pilots. Sure, its a classic now, but alternative radio was bastardized from its original concept forever when that song went into heavy rotation.

 

[Batfink]

By the way, is G playing "Let's Dance To Joy Division" by The Wombats yet?

 

[hubcity]

By the way, is G playing "Let's Dance To Joy Division" by The Wombats yet?

From your lips to God's ears...